[Advaita-l] Raama and advaita - a mocker

[Vidyasankar Sundaresan]

I'm not unnecessarily complicating the issue. Your question, restated
below, presupposes that ignorance is something that you "really suffer"
from and that the said ignorance is "genuine."

I'm saying that when you want an answer about the Ramayana from Advaita
Acharyas (as opposed to general people who have an affinity to advaita),
your questions should not be ill-posed.

Suppose I say, "no, Rama was only acting out his role as a man in that
avatara, so he did not really suffer from ignorance." That will leave room
for the possibility that other men really suffer from ignorance. However,
it is not as if another jIva, whom we do not consider an avatara-purusha,
"really suffers" from ignorance. Obviously however, when we say that even
bandha-moksha vyavahAra operates only in the mithyA realm, that special
exemption of Rama from ignorance will be an imperfect, if not an incorrect
answer, coming from an Advaita Acharya.

Suppose I say, "yes, Rama was like any other man in that avatara, so he
really suffered from ignorance?" Obviously, as an advaitin, I will not say
such a thing at all, because there is nobody that is "really" affected by
ignorance.

Either way, an answer of the kind you are looking for is impossible, but
only because of the way your question is framed. That is what I'm pointing
out. It's not an unnecessary complication; it is the answer that we give.
We don't use words like real and genuine in loose ways when we are talking
about philosophical problems like this.

Thanks,
Vidyasankar

On Mon, Apr 10, 2017 at 9:44 AM, Kalyan <kalyan_kg at yahoo.com> wrote:

> Sri Vidyasankarji, with all due respect to you (and I have a lot of
> respect for you) let us not unnecessarily complicate the issue. The
> question is very simple and straightforward. According to advaitins, did
> Rama really suffer from ignorance in the Ramayana? Or was he only acting as
> if he has suffered from ignorance, while in reality being aware of his true
> nature as the Atman all the time?
>
> Regards
> Kalyan
>
> --------------------------------------------
> On Mon, 4/10/17, Vidyasankar Sundaresan <svidyasankar at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>  Subject: Re: [Advaita-l] Raama and advaita - a mocker
>  To: "A discussion group for Advaita Vedanta" <advaita-l at lists.advaita-
> vedanta.org>, "Kalyan" <kalyan_kg at yahoo.com>
>  Date: Monday, April 10, 2017, 12:42 PM
>
>  What do you mean by genuine
>  ignorance? And which jIva, according to you, genuinely
>  suffers from genuine ignorance?
>  This is not a deflection of your question, but a
>  call for clarification of your terms.
>  Vidyasankar
>  On Apr 10, 2017 8:02
>  AM, "Kalyan via Advaita-l" <advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org>
>  wrote:
>  Namaste
>  all
>
>  Just curious. Do advaitins believe that Rama has suffered
>  genuine ignorance in the Ramayana or is it merely a play?
>  Please justify your statements using works of advaita
>  AchAryas.
>
>  RegardsKalyan
>
>
>
>      On Monday, April 10, 2017 11:31 AM, Venkata sriram P
>  via Advaita-l <advaita-l at lists.advaita-
>  vedanta.org> wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
>   Namaste Murthy Ji,
>
>
>
>  ................
>
>  I earnestly request Sri Subramanian or any other
>  knowledgable members to
>
>  show /teach me the methodology for cognizing the same truth
>
>  ....................
>
>
>
>  Who would teach whom ?
>
>
>
>  After certain stage of sAdhana in vichAra mArga, one is
>  one's own spiritual master.  The Srimad Bhagavatam
>  (11.7.20) says:
>
>
>
>  आत्मनो
>  गुरुरात्मैवपुरुषस्य
>  विशेषतः ।
>
>  यत्प्रत्यक्षानुमानाभ्यां
>  श्रेयोऽसावनुविन्दते
>  ॥ ११.७.२०
>
>
>
>  "An intelligent person, expert in perceiving the world
>  around him and applying sound logic, can achieve real
>  benefit through his own intelligence. Thus sometimes one
>  acts as one's own instructing spiritual master"
>
>
>
>  You may please ponder over this profound statement made in
>  Uddhava Gita, which is taught to Uddava by Bhagavan
>  Krishna.
>
>
>
>  regs,
>
>  Sriram
>
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