[Advaita-l] Shankara and DrishTi-SrishTi vAda - eka jeeva vaada

[Anand Hudli]

>* Quote from इष्टसिद्धि ( translation by A J Alston as appearing in the *>*
work “ The Method of the Vedanta “. This itself is a translation of the *>*
sanskrit work Vedanta Prakriya Pratyabhijna by Sri SSS) << There is no *>*
defect at all in our view. For we accept that the universe is the work of *>*
mAyA. And mAyA and its effects are indeterminable as either a reality or as
*>* an unreality. On our system, there is not even a suspicion of the
defects *>* that affect the doctrine that the world is totally real and the
doctrine *>* that it is totally unreal >>. Unquote. *> > > >* Thus the
position of इष्टसिद्धि is very different from the position taken *>* by
PrakAshAnanda that << Perception itself is Creation( only jnAnAdhyAsa ) *>*
>> . This statement ( attributed to PrakAshAnanda in Sidhantaleshasamgraha *
>* ) is also very different from what you state above that “PrakAshAnanda *>*
makes use of this effectively to *>* deny any separate existence of the
creation from the seer”. SDV also *>* holdson to such a view. *> >

Although VimuktAtman does not explicitly address DSV and devotes
considerable attention to khyAtivAdas, there are many ideas in the
इष्टसिद्धि which are crucial for PrakAshAnanda. Apart from
"दृग्दृश्ययोर्भेदनिरासः", see for example,
किं सर्वजीवभेदकल्पनाहेतुरेकैवाविद्या, उत प्रत्येकमेका? आद्ये कल्पे एकस्य
धिया अविद्याक्षय एकमुक्तौ सर्वमुक्तिस्त्वत्पक्षे एव; मत्पक्षे तु
एकमुक्तावेकमुक्तिरेव, अनेकाभावात्। (6.19) Is the cause of the notion of all
jIvas one avidyA or is there one ignorance per jIva? In the first case, if
there is the destruction of (the one) avidyA and liberation for one jIva,
there would be liberation for all, according to your doctrine (of many
jIvas). In our doctrine (of one jIva) there is liberation for one jIva
(with such destruction of avidyA), since there are not many jIvas (but one
jIva).

Again, in 6.20:

ब्रह्मादिभेदजातं चेत्त्वन्मोहेनैव भाति ते।
स्वप्नवत्किं न सिद्धं ते मोहोऽन्यो येन कल्प्यते॥
यथा स्वप्ने ब्रह्मादिस्थावरान्तं चेतनाचेतनभेदजातं त्वन्मोहेनैव ते भाति
नान्यमोहेन, न च वस्तुभूतम्, नाप्यन्येषां भाति त्वद्बोधेनैव बाधदृष्टेः,
यैश्च सहासीत्संवादस्ते ते पृष्टा न सोऽस्माभिः कृत इत्याहुः प्रबोधे;
अतो नाज्ञान्तराविद्यान्तराणि स्वप्ने कल्प्यन्ते - तथा जागरितेऽपि
त्वन्मोहेनैव सर्वस्य ते भानान्न तानि कल्प्यानि, तैर्विनापि सर्वभेदसिद्धेः।

In a dream, different conscious and inert things from Brahman to immovable
objects appear through your own ignorance, not through the ignorance of
another, nor are they substantial (real), and they do not appear to others,
since they are sublated upon your waking up (from the dream), (as for
example), your interactions with others (in your dream) are denied by them
in the waking state. Hence, there are no other ignorant persons or other
ignorances in a dream. In the same way, (other ignorant persons or other
ignorances) should not be assumed in the waking state, since everything
appears due your own ignorance, and the differences (or different objects
in the waking state) can be established without such an assumption.

Further, VimuktAtman devotes the 7th chapter to a defense of the
eka-jIva-vAda. For instance, in 7.29, he says all vyavahAra consisting of
division into plurality of selves, merit, sin, heaven, learned, ignorant,
Guru, disciple, liberated, unliberated, etc. is due to the non-Self and
avidyA, and is to be accepted as a dream is.

तदविद्याविलसितं सर्वमनात्मजातम्, आत्मनश्च बहुत्वम्,
पुण्यपापस्वर्गोत्तरविद्वदविद्वद्गुरुशिष्यमुक्तामुक्तादिविभागव्यवहारश्च
स्वप्न इवेत्याद्यभ्युपेयम्।

Anand