[Advaita-l] Dvaita Vaada - Vadiraja Teertha's Nyayaratnavali Slokas 310 - 314 Pativrataa Stree

[kuntimaddi sadananda]

Q. Is shravana manana nidhidhyaasana involves vidhi or not? 

I am reminded of the story by my teachers.

Once a wife gave her husband, perhaps on his birthday, a small gold chain. The fellow wore it and he wanted to show it off and walked 4 miles to his friend and proudly displaced his gold chain that his wife gave him. The friend also looked at it closely and complimented this husband for the fine gift he has received from his wife. The after chit-chatting for another half an hour and solving all the world's problems, the fellow returned back to his house. As he was trying to remove his heart, to his horror he found that the gold chain that his wife gave him was missing. He searched and searched and could not find it around his neck. Thinking that he must have left it at his friend's house he ran back 4 miles, and stormed into his friends house asking him if he has seen his gold-ring. The friend said, it should be around your neck since you never removed it. After close examination they found out that, being very thin or subtle,the gold chain  was hidden
 in the inner folds of the collar of his shirt. The fellow was relived that he found at last his gold-chain, and lived ever happy. 

Now the question is, Was the 4 miles of running (sadhana) necessary (vidhi) to discover the gold chain?.

 If one says it is necessary, the answer is wrong, as per Bhamati school, since he never lost the chain to begin with and the chain was with him all the time.

Vivarana school will disagree and various acharyas of that school  have different opinions about it, some saying that the 4 miles of running is necessary since without that he did not gain the knowledge that he was the possessor of the chain he thought he lost. Therefore the 4 miles of running is a vidhi for the discovery of the chain.

The correct answer - as per some acharyaas - is that  the 4 miles of running is necessary to discover that the 4 miles of running is not necessary. 

The shravana, manana and nidhidhyaasa, depending on the adhikaaris - are necessary to discover that shravana, manana and nidhidhyaasana are not necessary, since Attma is self evident and eternally present. 

All sadhanas are necessary to discover that all sadhanas are not necessary since I am nithya suddha mukta swaruupaH. 

Hari Om!
Sadananda