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

[Bhaskar YR]

praNAms Sri Anand Hudli prabhuji
Hare Krishna

mukhyo vedAntasiddhAntaH ekajIvavAdAkhyaH| imameva
dRShTisRShTivAdamAcakShate| asminshca pakShe jIva eva svAjnAnavashAt
jagadupAdAnaM nimittaM ca| dRshyaM sarvaM prAtItikam|

This ekajIvavAda is the main siddhAnta of vedAnta. It is also called dRShTisRShTivAda. In this theory, the jIva itself is the material and efficient cause of the world, due to its own ignorance. All perceived objects are illusory.

>  IMHO, replacing the jeeva with the Chaitanya / brahman (though brahman is not restricted to particular nomenclature, we use these terms with different meaning in mind during vedAntic discussion) would make the above more functional.  Because this ekamevAdviteeya brahman which is Upanishad purusha, it is ekaM that which is main siddhAnta of vedAnta.  And it is that ekamevAdviteeya Chaitanya first thought of becoming bahu sOkAmayata bahusyAm prajayeyeti and it is that Chaitanya that creates this world according to it's own previous srushti.  dhAtA yathA pUrvamakalpayat and it is that jeeva / Chaitanya / brahman is the abhinna nimittOpadAna KAraNa of his own srushti.  Shankara clarifies this in sUtra bhAshya : sarva vedAnteshu cha Ishwara hetukA eva srushtayO vyapadishyante.  However, I don’t know how to reconcile the brahman's own ignorance with this srushti prakriya.  Perhaps this is due to  'bad practice' of treating both avidyA and mAya as synonyms in the later works of Advaita.  


Who is this single jIva that creates the world? The VivaraNa prameya saMgraha of BhAratI tIrtha gives this conclusive and unambiguous reply:

tathAhi- yastvaM mAM prati bandhamokShavyavasthAM pRcchasi sa tvameka eva sarvakalpanAdhiShThAnabhUtashcidekarasa AtmA, tvadanye muktA mucyamAnA mokShyamANAshca sarve jIvAH tvadavidyayA svapna iva kalpitAH

To you who ask us about the scheme of the bound and liberated, (we say) you alone are that jIva, the source of imagination of the entire world, wholly the essence of Consciousness, Atman. Other than you, the liberated, being liberated, and going to be liberated jIvas are all creations of your avidyA like in a dream.

>  the above reminds me shankara's clarification with regard to avidyA in sUtra bhAshya.  Question: to whom does this avidyA pertain to ??  answer: to you, who is asking this question. Counter question : am I not Ishwara / brahman according to shAstra??  siddhAnta : if you realize that you are secondless brahman then there is no avidyA whatsoever to anyone.  

Hari Hari Hari Bol!!!
bhaskar