[Advaita-l] Ishvara-authored Srishti avidyākrta - Says Shankara

[Praveen R. Bhat]

Namaste Subbuji,


2016-05-20 12:44 GMT+05:30 V Subrahmanian via Advaita-l <
advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org>:

> There is a thinking that the creation stated in the Shruti, as authored by
> the Sarvajna Ishvara (Brahman) is not mithyā but it is very much satya.
> And that the one imagined by the jiva alone is a product of avidyā.
> Shankara denies such a distinction and says that the creation taught in the
> shruti as authored by Ishwara (Brahman) is also avidyākṛta alone.
>
...

Thanks for quoting Shankarabhashya from various places to establish the
mithyatva of the Ishvarakrta jagat. Somehow, people seem to hold on to
adhyAropa of creation and forget that there is an apavAda coming up. Even
if they consider apavAda, they still don't give up the adhyaropita jagat!
The details of the creation are irrelevant to a mumukShu since
avAntaravAkyas are not mokShakAraka.


> Again, Shankara cites shruti passages where Ishwarakṛta sristhti is taught
> and also a Vyasa smriti (MB) to show that creation is mithya. These are
> just a sample of the innumerable tell tale evidences in Shankara's bhāsya
> for the jagatmithyātva.  The above passages were shown especially because
> it can be said that the Manduky, being ajati-vada specific, could be having
> a bias on jiva-imagination.


Even if Mandukya is hypothetically accepted to have some specific ajAtavAda
bias, it should not matter to one whose goal is mokSha, since all
Upanishads work with different levels of adhikAris. Especially so, if one
has understood the ekavAkyatA of the entire range of Vedas, which is to
reveal the already existing jivabrahmaikya. Why even different Upanishads,
in Kena itself, the adhikAribheda is indicated during the course of the
Upanishad and Bhashyakara further gives examples of Virochana and Indra.

In other words, based on the adhikAritvam of the sAdhaka, one mahAvAkya may
be sufficient for mokSha, many avAntara vAkyas may be needed for some
others before the mahAvAkya, while some may need more Upanishads, including
creation stories and multiple prakriyAs. Moreover, Mandukya needs no help
from other Upanishads to be interpreted as already clarified in Muktika,
which says about Mandukya so: माण्डूक्यम् एकम् एव अलं मुमुक्षूणां
विमुक्तये.

gurupAdukAbhyAm,
--Praveen R. Bhat
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