[Advaita-l] A Vedantic message

[Bhaskar YR]

praNAms Sri Kalyan prabhuji
Hare Krishna

By the word "brahman", I mean the one and only nirguNa and nirvishesha brahman. 

>  Yes, that one and only nirvishesha brahman is the abhinna nimitta upAdAna kAraNam for the jagat.  Sarva vishesharahitOpi jagatO mUlaM ityavagatatvAt astyeva brahma.  matsthAni sarva bhUtAni...na cha matsthAni bhUtAni pashya me yOgamaishvaryaM declares geetAchArya.  

I am making this clarification because there are some viewpoints that avidya is the material cause of the world OR that brahman needs a shakti to create.

> We are (atleast I am ) not part with your first statement i.e. for the jagat avidyA is the upAdAna kAraNa.  For that matter even paramArtha vidyA itself is not capable to create anything afresh nor it has the capacity to destroy anything that is existing, under these circumstances, how can tuccha, heena, abhAva rUpa avidyA can be the material cause for this nigUdha and vaividhyamaya jagat??  It is because of this reason only I think  even in DSV theory they have attributed anAditvaM to six entities.  And your second statement that brahman needs Shakti to create...Yes, brahman uses his inherent power to create for the sake of jeeva-s, this Shakti is addressed as mUla prakruti, avyAkruta beeja Shakti, akshara etc.  And definitely it is not brahmAshrita avidyA.  Otoh, it is brahmAnanya, which comes into projective force when brahman is treated as jagatO mUlakAraNaM and to maintain sarva vedAnta siddhAnta i.e.  Ishwara hetuka srushti and to protect what is supposed to be "vedAnta maryAda".  

Hari Hari Hari Bol!!!
Bhaskar