[Advaita-l] How is AkAsha Niravayava

[kuntimaddi sadananda]

PraNAms
If I remember, when AkAsha is equated to Brahman in Bri. Up. Shakara defines AkAsha as prakAsha - or the light of consciousness. In that sense, it is niravaya.  
However, AkAsha as space is not as it is a product or creation and is inert - a product of the mind too - since it is not perceived in the deep-sleep state. 
Hari Om!Sadananda

 

    On Monday, June 17, 2019, 10:40:31 AM EDT, V Subrahmanian via Advaita-l <advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:  
 
 On Mon, Jun 17, 2019 at 7:17 PM Praveen R. Bhat via Advaita-l <
advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:

> Namaste Subbuji,
>
> On Mon, Jun 17, 2019 at 11:12 AM V Subrahmanian via Advaita-l <
> advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:
>
> > Another related topic for discussion is: Before PanchikaraNam the
> elements,
> > including Akasha, were sukshma bhuta-s, which are not perceptible to the
> > common sense organs. In Panchikarana, the element Akasha is 'divided' as
> it
> > were into to halves first and one half is further divided into
> > four......This makes Akasha endowed with parts even at the sukshma bhuta
> > stage.
> >
>
> avayava doesn't mean a part in the sense of one half of AkAsha, else one
> quarter of brahman would make even brahman an avayavi. It means a limb
> which is separate than the whole, or upAdAnakAraNa part which has to be
> necessarily different from the kArya whole. In this case, parts of
> sUkShmAkAsha have not come together to make whole sUkShmAkAsha and nor are
> they different from sUkShmAkAsha.
>

Namaste Praveen ji,

With regard to Brahman what you say is perfectly fine. Sayanacharya in the
Purusha sukta commentary says for the lines 'पादोऽस्य विश्वाभूतानि:
त्रिपादस्यामृतं दिवि -

यद्यपि सत्यं ज्ञानमनन्तं ब्रह्मेत्याम्नातस्य परब्रह्मण इयत्तया अभावदर्शनात्
अंशचतुष्टयं न निरूपयितुं शक्यं तथापि जगदिदं ब्रह्मस्वरूपापेक्षया
अत्यल्पमिति विवक्षित्वा पादत्वोपन्यासः |

[Even though since there is not seen to be a limit, confines, for the
Brahman that is taught as Satyam, Jnanam, Anantam,  it is impossible to
demonstrate four parts in Brahman, yet with a view to inform us that in
relation to Brahman, the created world is extremely little sized, the idea
of quarter (one-fourth) is stated by the Veda]

However, can this be said with reference to Akasha? I know that the five
bhutas, in their sukshma avastha are all not sAvayava, yet the teaching of
panchikarana (and trivrt karana in Chandogya) with the clear demonstration
of the same in the Panchadashi with a mathematical diagram, gives the
feeling that half, one-eight, etc. is possible with the sukshma bhutas in
order to make them capable of creating the gross universe. There are
expressions such as 'AkAsha-pradhaana' in the panchikrta akasha,
prithvi-pradhana in the panchikrta prithvi, etc. while the other bhutas are
gauna/apradhana.

Hence my hypothesis.

Upon hearing the reference from you, I looked up the krtsnaprasakti
adhikaranam and one part of the bhashya seems to give a lot of material for
vichara:

BSB 2.1.29:  This is a refutation of the Sankhya claim:

तत्रापि कृत्स्नप्रसक्तिर्निरवयवत्वात्प्रधानस्य प्राप्नोति,
निरवयवत्वाभ्युपगमकोपो वा । ननु नैव तैर्निरवयवं प्रधानमभ्युपगम्यते ;
*सत्त्वरजस्तमांसि
हि त्रयो गुणाः ; तेषां साम्यावस्था प्रधानम् ; तैरेवावयवैस्तत्सावयवमिति —*
नैवंजातीयकेन सावयवत्वेन प्रकृतो दोषः परिहर्तुं पार्यते, यतः
सत्त्वरजस्तमसामप्येकैकस्य समानं निरवयवत्वम् एकैकमेव चेतरद्वयानुगृहीतं
सजातीयस्य प्रपञ्चस्योपादानमिति — समानत्वात्स्वपक्षदोषप्रसङ्गस्य ।
तर्काप्रतिष्ठानात्सावयवत्वमेवेति चेत् — एवमप्यनित्यत्वादिदोषप्रसङ्गः । *अथ
शक्तय एव कार्यवैचित्र्‌यसूचिता अवयवा इत्यभिप्रायः, तास्तु
ब्रह्मवादिनोऽप्यविशिष्टाः । *तथा अणुवादिनोऽप्यणुरण्वन्तरेण संयुज्यमानो
निरवयवत्वाद्यदि कार्त्स्न्येन संयुज्येत, ततः
प्रथिमानुपपत्तेरणुमात्रत्वप्रसङ्गः ; अथैकदेशेन संयुज्येत, तथापि
निरवयवत्वाभ्युपगमकोप इति — स्वपक्षेऽपि समान एष दोषः । समानत्वाच्च
नान्यतरस्मिन्नेव पक्षे उपक्षेप्तव्यो भवति । परिहृतस्तु ब्रह्मवादिना
स्वपक्षे दोषः ॥ २९ ॥

This is yet another part that is interesting:
ब्रह्मसूत्रभाष्यम्द्वितीयोऽध्यायःप्रथमः पादः सूत्रम् २७ - भाष्यम्

……… तुशब्देनाक्षेपं परिहरति । न खल्वस्मत्पक्षे कश्चिदपि दोषोऽस्ति । न तावत्
कृत्स्नप्रसक्तिरस्ति । कुतः ? श्रुतेः — यथैव हि ब्रह्मणो जगदुत्पत्तिः
श्रूयते, एवं विकारव्यतिरेकेणापि ब्रह्मणोऽवस्थानं श्रूयते —
प्रकृतिविकारयोर्भेदेन व्यपदेशात् ‘ सेयं देवतैक्षत हन्ताहमिमास्तिस्रो देवता
अनेन जीवेनात्मनानुप्रविश्य नामरूपे व्याकरवाणि’ (छा. उ. ६ । ३ । २) इति,
‘ *तावानस्य
महिमा ततो ज्यायाꣳश्च पूरुषः । पादोऽस्य सर्वा भूतानि त्रिपादस्यामृतं दिवि*’
(छा. उ. ३ । १२ । ६) इति चैवंजातीयकात् ; तथा हृदयायतनत्ववचनात् ;
सत्सम्पत्तिवचनाच्च — यदि च कृत्स्नं ब्रह्म कार्यभावेनोपयुक्तं स्यात् , ‘
सता सोम्य तदा सम्पन्नो भवति’ (छा. उ. ६ । ८ । १) इति सुषुप्तिगतं
विशेषणमनुपपन्नं स्यात् , विकृतेन ब्रह्मणा नित्यसम्पन्नत्वादविकृतस्य च
ब्रह्मणोऽभावात् ; *तथेन्द्रियगोचरत्वप्रतिषेधात् ब्रह्मणो, विकारस्य
चेन्द्रियगोचरत्वोपपत्तेः ; *तस्मादस्त्यविकृतं ब्रह्म । न च
निरवयवत्वशब्दकोपोऽस्ति, श्रूयमाणत्वादेव निरवयवत्वस्याप्यभ्युपगम्यमानत्वात्
; शब्दमूलं च ब्रह्म शब्दप्रमाणकम् , नेन्द्रियादिप्रमाणकम् ;
तद्यथाशब्दमभ्युपगन्तव्यम् ; शब्दश्चोभयमपि ब्रह्मणः प्रतिपादयति — अ
कृत्स्नप्रसक्तिं निरवयवत्वं च ; लौकिकानामपि मणिमन्त्रौषधिप्रभृतीनां
देशकालनिमित्तवैचित्र्यवशाच्छक्तयो विरुद्धानेककार्यविषया दृश्यन्ते ;………


If X is a vikara, it has to be indriya gochara, perceptible. [Is Akasha a
vikara? Yes, it is prakriti-vikara, kaaryam. Yet, it is not admitted to be
indriyagochara in Adviata; it is saakshi vedya.]


Sri Sudhamshu:  Based on the above vyabhichara, I think the rule
'niravayatvaat avyayam' can have an exception with akasha.


regards

subbu




>
>
> Kind rgds,
> --Praveen R. Bhat
> /* येनेदं सर्वं विजानाति, तं केन विजानीयात्। Through what should one know
> That owing to which all this is known! [Br.Up. 4.5.15] */
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