[Advaita-l] ***UNCHECKED*** Extremely powerful reasoning for 'Aham Brahmasmi' in the Bh.Gita

[Sudhanshu Shekhar]

Namaste,

//When we say Jiva is Kshetra, the question that would arise is: Is jiva
jaDa since the chapter defines kshetra as jaDa, which alone requires an
agent other than itself to reveal/illumine it.//

If jIva is defined as AbhAsa i.e. chit-AbhAsa, then it is mithyA. MithyA is
jneya. Anything jneya is kshetra. It will be Jada as well.

In HastAmalakIya bhAshya:
अत्रोच्यते — बोधो हि नाम चैतन्यमभिप्रेतम् ; न च ज्ञानं चैतन्यम् ,
जन्यज्ञानस्य ज्ञेयत्वेन घटादिवज्जडत्वात् । ज्ञेयं हि ज्ञानम् , घटज्ञानं मे
जातं पटज्ञानं मे जातमिति साक्षादनुभूयमानत्वात् ।

In Advaita Siddhi,

धर्मिभूतमुखादिनैरपेक्ष्येण तद्धर्मभूतरूपादिप्रतिबिम्बादर्शनात् ,
प्रतिबिम्बस्याव्याप्यवृत्तित्वनियमेन लौहित्यस्य स्फटिके
व्याप्यवृत्तिप्रतीत्ययोगाच्च । लौहित्ये स्फटिकस्य त्वारोपे तस्य
प्रतिबिम्बत्वम् , स्फटिके लौहित्यारोपे तु तस्य मिथ्यात्वमिति विवेकः ।
(Advaita Siddhi)

AbhAsa is always mithyA. Pratibimba is not mithyA.

So, in case of AbhAsa-vAda, jIva is AbhAsa. AbhAsa is mithyA. Kshetra is
mithyA. Hence, it will be bAdha-sAmanAdhikaraNya if we are to say "jIva is
Kshetrajna" or "jIva is Brahman" just as "kshetra is Brahman".

//As jivas we do not experience that we are jaDa, being revealed by an
external agent; on the other hand we experience that we are sentient and it
is we that reveal objects (including our body-mind complex, after we are
exposed to Vedanta).  //

The chit-AbhAsa in ahamkAra does reveal objects but is itself revealed by
sAkshI. That is to say, sAbhAsa-ahankAra is revealed by
avidyA-upahita-chaitanya which is sAkshI. The revealing by jIva is known as
vyavasAya whereas revealing of (jnAta, jneya and jnAna) all three together
is anuvyavasAya. So, jIva is also known/revealed by sAkshI.

We do feel that we are Chetan. But a little enquiry shows that what we take
to be ourselves is also a mere jneya.

Regards.

On Sat, 21 Oct, 2023, 10:03 am V Subrahmanian, <v.subrahmanian at gmail.com>
wrote:

>
>
> On Sat, Oct 21, 2023 at 4:14 AM Sudhanshu Shekhar <
> sudhanshu.iitk at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Namaste V Subramanian ji.
>>
>> JIva is Kshetrajna can be understood in two ways:
>>
>> 1. JIva is kshetra. And there is bAdha-sAmanAdhikaraNya resulting into
>> jIva being stated kshetrajna.
>>
>
> Namaste
>
> When we say Jiva is Kshetra, the question that would arise is: Is jiva
> jaDa since the chapter defines kshetra as jaDa, which alone requires an
> agent other than itself to reveal/illumine it.  As jivas we do not
> experience that we are jaDa, being revealed by an external agent; on the
> other hand we experience that we are sentient and it is we that reveal
> objects (including our body-mind complex, after we are exposed to
> Vedanta).
>
> regards
> subbu
>
>
>
>>
>> Just as "world is Brahman", similarly "jIva is Brahman".
>>
>> Here, jIva is AbhAsa which is mithyA and is sublated completely through
>> the statement "jIva is Brahman".
>>
>> 2. JIva is pratibimba. Pratibimba is Satya. Here, "jIva is Kshetrajna" is
>> mukhya-sAmAnAdhikaraNya.
>>
>> Here, the vAchya-artha of jIva is NOT within kshetra. In the previous
>> model, vAchya-artha of jIva (the AbhAsa) will come within the purview of
>> kshetra.
>>
>> ========
>>
>> Thus, when jIva is stated to be Kshetrajna, depending on the model of
>> AbhAsa and pratibimba, we have to take as to whether the vAchya-artha of
>> word jIva will be kshetra (mithyA) or non-kshetra (Satya).
>>
>> Regards.
>>
>>
>>>
>>>