[Advaita-l] Question about Sri Vidyaranya's JMV & jnani matra

[Balasubramanian Ramakrishnan]

Dear Bhaskar,

I am not sure what you think eka-jIva-vAda is - from the stuff below it
seems you think it's some kind of theory that a single jIva is creating
something. Assuming that's what you think that's far from what it is.
Please see bhagavatpAda-s commentary to gauDapAda-kArika-s 2.16:

jIvam kalpayate pUrvam.

First of all, pUrvam is not a point in time here.

bAhya-adhyAtmikAnAM bhAvAnAM itaretara nimitta-namittikatayA kalpanAyAM kiM
mUlaM iti |
ucyate -
jIvaM hetu-phalAtmakaM |
ahaM karomi, mama sukha-duHkhe ityevaM lakaShaNam |
anevamlakShaNa eva, shuddhe Atmani rajjvAmiva sarpa kalpayate pUrvaM |

The understanding is that from the experience of vyavahAra and using the
correct means of knowledge, we understand that shruti declares the
brahmAtma ekatvam. How is this to be understood then in terms of why we see
multiplicity? We understand that there is a superposition of the individual
I, which is pUrvaM in the sense of being the root cause, which creates a
wrong understanding of inside the self vs outside the self , etc. When this
is the case, it  would be silly to imagine that "other" jIva-s (which are
themselves a result of the "pUrvam", i.e., superposition of the I) have
some extra, special reality. This is what the term eka-jIva-vAda succinctly
expresses. When this is understood questions like "What happens to the
j~nAni after realization", etc. are equally not valid questions.

Ramakrishnan

On Thu, Mar 28, 2019 at 3:34 AM Bhaskar YR via Advaita-l <
advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:

> praNAms Sri Ananda Hudli prabhuji
> Hare Krishna
>
> It's been very long time since we see on this list.  How are you
> prabhuji??  Happy  to see you again.  Hope you would continue to
> participate in list activities regularly.  Just some observations from my
> side.
>
> We have, in the past on this list, discussed the eka-jIva-vAda as being
> the siddhanta prescribed for advanced seekers. It may be useful to see
> that, in the context of EJV/DSV, the question relating to a jnAni and his
> activities, sense of having a body, etc. gets transformed with an entirely
> different meaning! When the seeker is the only jIva there is and even
> entities such as Guru, other jIvas, jnAni's etc are admitted to be
> imaginations of the sole seeker, serving the purpose of guiding him or
> inspiring him, it is the so-called onlooker's (seeker's) viewpoint that
> becomes important. For, the jnAni's viewpoint is not so much relevant, as
> long as such a jnAni is *not* the seeker, but someone else. The jnAni's
> viewpoint may still be relevant as a guide of what to expect after the rise
> of jnana, but not so much as the experience of a jnAni other than the
> seeker.
>
> >  IMHO, Eka jeeva vAda (EJV) / drushti-srushti vAda (DSV) should not be
> confused with jeeva's avidyA kalpita prapancha and force us to say since
> you are seeing it is there lest nothing exists everything is buddhi
> parikalpita only...very close to vijnAna vAda which we know shankara
> refutes.  Even if we take there is only one jeeva ( the sole seeker) the
> jeevatva comes for him due to his association with buddhi (antaHkaraNa /
> upAdhi).  bhAshyakAra clarifies as long as jeeva has the relationship with
> buddhi he would not be able to get rid of samsara so jeevatva.  After the
> dawn of samyakjnAna, his association with upAdhi comes to an end so is his
> socalled jeevatva.  So, here I reckon saMsAritva, jeevatwa  due to
> unintelligible linking of his svarUpa Chaitanya with upAdhi and taking
> himself as sOpAdhika paricchinna Chaitanya ( a jeeva) .  This relationship
> will go when he realizes that he is upAdhirahita (nirupAdhika) paripUrNa
> chaitanya.  So, this paripUrNa Chaitanya is nothing but the brahman and the
> jeeva ( the realized Chaitanya)  knows that he is avichhinna Chaitanya as
> he has no more association with upADhi.  For him there is no creation, no
> dissolution, no mOksha and no bandha.  Under these circumstances, how can
> this paripUrNa jnAni can have the rAga-dvesha, avidyAlesha, prArabdha karma
> etc. when everything is brahmamaya ??  And when that sole seeker falling
> short of that mark even by millimeter he is not samyak jnAni and his state
> is called avidyAvasthA by bhAshyakAra.  Yattu sarvAtmabhAvAt arvAk
> vAlAgramapi anyatvena drushyate nAhamasmeeti tadavasthA avidyA.  This
> clearly shows the that the single jeeva, jeevatva his saMsAritva, his
> bandha-mOksha etc. only till the dawn of samyak jnana.  And when he
> realized this bhUma vidyA the very jeeva ( the cognizer / vijnAnAtman) will
> become that Atman who is free from the evils of sin and the like.  Where
> can avidyAlesha, upAdhi-buddhi, kAma-krOdha etc. fit in this scenario.
> Don’t you think jnAni's Continuation association (identification) with his
> own set of upAdhi propagating the theory SDV and more importantly
> jeeva-jeeva bedha etc.
>
> Hari Hari Hari Bol!!!
> bhaskar
>
>
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