[Advaita-l] Maya and Avidya

[V Subrahmanian]

Dear Raghav ji,

In Advaita too all sadhana up to and including aparoksha jnana, is in the
realm of Prakriti.  It may be named variously as Maya, Mother, Devi,
Shakti, etc.  Since Brahman is akarta, nishkriya, kevala sakshi, all
bandha-moksha vyavahara is in the Maya level with Brhaman just providing
the consciousness.  While in Sankhya, Pradhana is svatantra, in Advaita it
is brahma adheena, and the adheenatva is just what is said above. The
Kanchi Acharya, in his Advaita Sadhana, that was painstakingly translated
by Prof V.K. ji and published in Advaitin forum years back, says: Shiva or
Shakti leads the sadhaka to the ultimate realization and once that happens,
erases itself.  Vyavaharika satya comes to an end.

Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa said in a similar vein:  There is Avidya Maya
and Vidya Maya.  When we pray and propitiate the latter, the former
releases her grip of bondage and it is the latter that succeeds in
redeeming the jiva from bondage. The whole play is within the realm of
sattva, rajas and tamas.  He also told the famous story of three robbers
and the wayfarer where the first two bind and the third releases.

regards
subbu

On Thu, Sep 17, 2020 at 6:08 PM Raghav Kumar Dwivedula via Advaita-l <
advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:

> Namaste Subbu ji and Shrinivas ji
>
> A similar figurative idea of the beneficent aspect of Prakriti is presented
> in the sAMkhya kArikA.
>
> vatsavivṛddhinimittaṃ kṣīrasya yathā pravṛttirajñasya |
> puruṣavimokṣanimittaṃ tathā pravṛttiḥpradhānasya || 57||
>
> Just as is the secretion of milk, which is unconscious, *for the sake of
> nourishment* of the calf, so is the creation of the Pradhana for the sake
> of the release of Purusha.
>
> nānāvidhairupāyairupakāriṇyanupakāriṇaḥ puṃsaḥ |
> guṇavatyaguṇasya satastasyārthamapārthakaṃ carati || 60 ||
>
> By manifold means does *benevolent Prakriti*, possessed of the gunas,
> pursue, in a
> manner in which it has no interest of its own, the object of Purusha who
> makes no
> return, being devoid as Purusha is of the gunas.
>
> Om
> Raghav
>
> On Thu, 17 Sep, 2020, 3:03 PM V Subrahmanian via Advaita-l, <
> advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:
>
> > On Thu, Sep 17, 2020 at 10:48 AM Shrinivas Gadkari via Advaita-l <
> > advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:
> >
> > > Namaste,
> > >
> > > A simpler explanation of these terms for those who may be interested:
> > >
> > > mAyA : A key to deciphering the (possible) original meaning of this
> word
> > > can be found in local Indian languages. For example, in Marathi, this
> > word
> > > means "motherly love". In-fact word mAya or mAyI means mother.
> > > Ishvara's involvement in/ with the world in out of motherly love, mAyA.
> > > Hence this worldly involvement does not lead to any binding karma.
> > >
> >
> > In a way, this theory finds approval in the Panchadashi.  It says
> 'Ishwara
> > srishti (involving Maya) is not binding.  On the other hand, is useful
> (for
> > moksha sadhana).  Jiva srishti (involving avidya) is binding.  The
> example
> > given is: Ishwara creates a female body, a maamsa maya stree. But the
> jiva
> > sees her in so many ways, mother, sister, wife, daughter, etc. etc. all
> > these are manomaya stree-s.  The former is innocent, the latter is
> binding.
> >
> > regards
> > subbu
> >
> > >
> > > On the other hand, jIva-s involvement in world is mixed with "incorrect
> > > understanding of things = avidyA" to a larger or lesser extent. This
> > > involvement in worldly affairs, to the extent it is rooted in avidyA,
> > > leads to binding karma.
> > >
> > > Hence the emphasis of overcoming avidyA with vidyA, jnAna, vijnAna.
> > > Hence the repeated claims that avidyA is the cause of all sorrow.
> > >
> > > Regards,
> > > Shrinivas Gadkari
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