[Advaita-l] ***UNCHECKED*** Re: [advaitin] rope has some problem in rope snake analogy :-)

[Bhaskar YR]

praNAms Sri Venkatraghavan prabhuji
Hare Krishna

The snake in the rope snake adhyAsa is not imagined "in the mind". Rather the adhyAsa takes place in the locus outside, which leads to the experience, "I see a snake there (e.g. in the passageway)". The locus is not the seer's mind, but the location of the rope.


?     I don't know the context in which you are saying snake is not imagined in the mind.  But bhAshyakAra clearly says the sarpa is 'buddhi parikalpita' ( just one example in chAdOgya : rajjvAdi sarpAdyAkAreNa 'buddhiparikalpitena')!!  The rajju-sarpa example has been given to drive home the point that there is no sarpa in rajju and sarpaavayava are mere imagination.  OTOH, brahman (rope) is transactionless as someone else is the nimitta to 'see' the sarpa in vyavahArarahita rajju.  And as a result, when the rajju is examined properly we conclude that though it appeared like a snake ( at the time of congnition during the abhAva of rajju jnana) it was not a snake it was / is  rajju only.  We never ever think in our sublated (bAdhita) jnana that there was sarpa outside apart from our mental imagination.


  *   IMO saying locus is outside for the adhyAsa is clear cut definition of arthAdhyAsa which is NOT the result of jnAnAdhyAsa and these two are mutually exclusive.  Anyway, will wait for your further elaboration.


Hari Hari Hari Bol!!!
bhaskar