[Advaita-l] Binary nature of Jnana

[V Subrahmanian]

Contd from previous post

The Jeevan Mukti Viveka and the Panchadashi itself affords the possibility
of the aparoksha jnani having occasionally seeming vipareeta bhavana which
will not affect the liberated state.  Sri Vidyaranya argues that there is
no no hard and fast rule that the Jnani should not get such a fleeting
occasional viparita bhavana like for example that 'I am a mortal'. All that
is required is that he knows that such a bhavana is mithya.

{Śrī Vidyāraṇya has written in the Vāsanākṣayaprakaraṇa of the
Jīvanmukti-viveka:
nanu jñānino rāgādyabhyupagame dharmādharmadvāreṇa
janmāntara-prasaṅga iti cenmaivam adagdhabījavadavidyāpūrvaka-
kāmādereva mukhyarāgāditvena punarjanmahetutvāt
। jñāninastu dagdhabījavad-ābhāsamātrā eva
rāgādayaḥ।30

Objection: If attachment and aversion are admitted in a knower of the
Truth, then, on account of the resulting merit and demerit, there would
arise the contingency of his being reborn after death. Answer: Such
is not the case. Likes and dislikes that are akin to uncooked seeds
(capable of sprouting) and foreshadowed by avidyā (and, so, by the
erroneous identification of the Ātman with the mind) are the ones that,
by virtue of their constituting the primary variety of attachment and
aversion, cause rebirth. The attachment and the like of the knowers
of the Truth are, however, like burnt seeds (which are incapable of
sprouting) and merely have the appearance of the primary ones.
Acharyal referred not only to the cessation of the misidentification of
the Ātman with the mind but also to the absence of forgetfulness about
the falsity of the mind. About the latter, it is said in the
Jīvanmuktiviveka,
subsequent to the passage cited earlier:
...tatkāle mukhyavadevābhāsamānānāṁ bādhakatvāt
rajjusarpo'pi mukhya-sarpavadeva tadānīṁ
bhīṣayannupalabhyate tadvat ।
tarhyābhāsatvānusandhānānuvṛttau na ko'pi bādha iti cecciraṁ
jīvatu bhavān। iyamevāsmadabhimatā jīvanmuktiḥ ।31
Though they be mere appearances of the primary likes and dislikes of
the ignorant and incapable of contributing to rebirth) the likes and
dislikes of the knower would, while they last, cause trouble like the
primary likes and dislikes. A false snake seen in the place of a rope
causes, for the time being, fear just like a real snake. The case of the
apparent likes and dislikes is like this. Objection: There would be no
trouble at all (even temporarily) if the falsity of the apparent likes
and dislikes were kept in mind. Answer: May you live long! This
(keeping in mind the falsity) is what we regard as marking jīvanmukti.
The possibility of apparent erroneous notions causing transient
delusion in a knower of the Truth is stated by Bhagavatpāda as follows
in His Brhadāraṇyaka-upaniṣad-bhāṣya on the passage (I.4.10):
...na ca viparītapratyayo vidyāvata utpadyate । ...kvacittu
vidyāyāḥ pūrvotpanna-viparītapratyaya-janita-saṁskārebhyo
viparīta-pratyayāvabhāsāḥ smṛtayo jāyamānā viparītapratyaya
bhrāntim-akasmātkurvanti ।yathā vijñātadigvibhāgasyāpyakasmāddigviparyaya-
vibhramaḥ ।32
Erroneous notions (such as that one is an agent and that one
experiences pleasure and pain) cannot arise in the knower of the
Truth…Sometimes, however, recollections that stem from the
impressions formed by the erroneous notions that arose prior to
enlightenment and which have the appearances of erroneous notions
crop up and suddenly delude him as to their being actual erroneous
notions just as even one who knows the directions well sometimes
suddenly becomes confused about them.
In the Pañcadaśī, it is said:
bhogakāle kadācittu martyo'hamiti bhāsate ॥33 (VII.245cd)
naitāvatā'parādhena tattvajñānaṁ vinaśyati ।
jīvanmukti-vrataṁ nedaṁ kintu vastusthitiḥ khalu ॥34
(VII.246)
Sometimes, during the period of enjoyment, the idea, “I am a man”
may seem to be. By this much defect, the knowledge of the Truth
will not perish. This (the eradication of such notions) is not any vow of
jīvanmukti (to be observed by the enlightened one without any slip
whatsoever). On the other hand, this is actually how the matter stands.}


warm regards
subbu

On Mon, Jul 4, 2022 at 10:48 PM V Subrahmanian <v.subrahmanian at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Namaste
>
> That the last thought, irrespective of the content of that thought, which
> is involuntary no doubt, that occurs or arises to the aparoksha Jnani at
> the moment of death has no say whatsoever on his liberated state which is
> guaranteed beyond any doubt whatsoever, is thus discussed and settled by
> Swami Vidyaranya with reason at the the end of the second chapter of the
> Panchadashi:
>
> http://shankaracharya.org/panchadasi_trans_2.php#1
>
> 102. When the intellect disregards the notions of duality, it becomes
> firmly established in the conception of non-duality. The man who is firmly
> rooted in the conviction of non-duality is called a Jivanmukta (liberated
> in life).
>
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