[Advaita-l] Ishwara's Mayashakti is the same as jiva's avidya - Shankara

[V Subrahmanian]

In the oft-debated Brahma sutra bhashya:  तदधीनत्वादर्थवत् ॥ ३ ॥ 1.4.3
Shankara agrees that like the Sankhya, the Vedantin too must accept a
Shakti that is responsible for the creation, etc. of the world:


परमेश्वराधीना त्वियमस्माभिः प्रागवस्था जगतोऽभ्युपगम्यते, न स्वतन्त्रा । सा
चावश्याभ्युपगन्तव्या । अर्थवती हि सा । न हि तया विना परमेश्वरस्य
स्रष्टृत्वं सिध्यति । शक्तिरहितस्य तस्य प्रवृत्त्यनुपपत्तेः ।

Shankara says: without that Shakti, the Brahman of the Vedanta is incapable
of doing anything.

Now, the interesting part is, Shankara goes on to say the other purpose of
this same Shakti:

अविद्यात्मिका हि बीजशक्तिरव्यक्तशब्दनिर्देश्या परमेश्वराश्रया मायामयी
महासुषुप्तिः, यस्यां स्वरूपप्रतिबोधरहिताः शेरते संसारिणो जीवाः ।

This Beejashakti that has been admitted (for Ishwara's creation activity)
is avidyAtmikA, also called avyakta, is mAyAmayee mahAsushupti in which the
samsArin jiva-s 'sleep' being devoid of the awareness of their true nature.

Now, here Shankara, in the same breath, identifies the Shakti with that of
Ishwara and also as that which deludes the jiva as well. I am not
highlighting his use of the terms avidya, maya, shakti, beeja, avyakta - in
this single sentence, which is irksome to some. What I am highlighting is
just this much: the same Ishwara shakti is the one that deludes the jiva as
well, keeping the latter in samsara.

It is this latter shakti that is called 'tattva agrahanam' in Mandukya. It
is the same that is in the KArikA: anAdimAyayA suptaH  1.16.  The simile of
'sleep' in the kArikA and the above bhAshya is significant indeed. In fact
this identification alone has been pointed out before by me by the use of
'yayA' by Shankara in the Gita Bhashya. Here too, similarly, Shankara
identifies the two as one Shakti by the pronoun 'yasyAm.'

If Shankara had not held mAyA and avidyA to be the same, he would be at
fault to write the clause:  यस्यां स्वरूपप्रतिबोधरहिताः शेरते संसारिणो
जीवाः ।. This is because the Shakti which he admits as the one without
which Ishwara 'can't do anything' should have nothing to do with the jiva.

This is one more instance where Shankara holds both as forms of the same
Shakti: one form in the hands of Ishwara and the other form holding jiva in
its grip.

warm regards
subbu