[Advaita-l] Avidya as part of Sukshma Sharira: Sutra Bhashya and its glosses and Vivekachudamani

[H S Chandramouli]

Namaste.

I am not sure that the puryashtaka  mentioned  in BSB 2-4-6  relates to the
individual jIvAs. It refers to  jIvAs as a whole, at the samashti level.
At the individual  jIva level,  the definition for sUkshmasharira  met with
in various advaitic texts  is that it comprises  seventeen (or nineteen)
components, These are five jnAnendriyAs, five karmendriyAs, five prANAs
(prANa,apAna,vyAna,udAna and samAna), manas  (including chitta) and buddhi
(including ahamkAra). (In the nineteen component version,
manas,chitta,buddhi and ahamkAra are separately  listed).

The verses  98 and 99 of VC mentioned by Subrahmanian Ji also pertain to
the samashti level. This is also clear from the verse 110 cited in the
post. यया जगत्सर्वमिदं प्रसूयते  refers to Creation as such.

The same understanding is reflected in BUBV 1-4-205 and tIkA copied below.

BUBV 1-4-205  //  अविद्याकर्मसंस्कारास्तेजोऽप्् क्ष्मासूत्रसंश्रयाः I

                                  खे लीनास्त्वस्तितामात्रा अव्यक्ताख्याः
सहाऽऽत्मना LI  //

The tIkA of Sri Anandagiri on this observes  inter alia as follows

//  अस्यार्थः -- अविद्या मिथ्याज्ञानमहंग्रहश्च I कर्म धर्माधर्मौ  I संस्कारा
नानारूपकार्यवासनाः I………….I  ते च साभासप्रत्यगविद्यारूपा भोक्त्रा
सहाव्यक्तशब्दा भवन्तीति I  //.

I don’t think kAraNa sharIra of the individual jIva is intended.

My understanding.
Regards

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On Sat, Sep 16, 2023 at 6:31 PM H S Chandramouli <hschandramouli at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Namaste Sudhanshu Ji,
>
> Reg  //  Here, he posits ajnAna as the bIja for avidyA-kAma-karma. So, it
> needs to
> be ascertained as to whether the avidyA, the constituent of linga-sharIra,
> is same as the ajnAna of kAraNa-sharIra, which is also known as mUlAvidyA
> //,
>
> avidyA-kAma-karma are effects  forming part of  lingasharIra which is the
> upAdhi for jIva. The root cause (bIja) for upAdhitva  is  AtmAjnAna
> (veiling of Atman).  The vyAkhyAna for VC  by  HH Sri Chandrashekhara
> Bharati Swamiji  observes as below on verse 99 cited by Subbu Ji
>
> //  ननु  असंगत्वोन केनाप्यनुपधीयमानस्य  आत्मनः कथं लिङेंन सोपाधिकत्वं
> इत्यत  आह  स्वाज्ञानतः, स्वस्वरूपस्य इदानीमज्ञातत्वात्  तन्मूलकः कल्पितः
> उपाधिरित्यर्थतः I  //.
>
> Hence mUlAvidyA includes both AtmAjnAna  (AvaraNa)  and  avidyA-kAma-karma
> (vikshepa).
>
> Regards
>
> On Thu, Sep 14, 2023 at 7:21 PM Sudhanshu Shekhar via Advaita-l <
> advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:
>
>> Namaste V Subramanian ji,
>>
>> very nice write-up. Thanks.
>>
>> Actually, the combination avidyA-kAma-karma is used by AchArya at several
>> places indicating the same as upAdhi of jIva. Following are some of the
>> instances:
>>
>> 1. अविद्याकामकर्मविशिष्टकार्यकरणोपाधिरात्मा संसारी जीव उच्यते
>> (BrihadAraNyak 3.8.12)
>> 2. अयमेवाविद्याकामकर्माभिमानवान् यज्ञादिकर्म कृत्वा
>> अस्माल्लोकाद्धूमादिक्रमेण... (Aitareya 2.4.1)
>> 3. स मनआख्योपाधिः जीवः अविद्याकामकर्मोपदिष्टां दिशं दिशं सुखदुःखादिलक्षणां
>> जाग्रत्स्वप्नयोः पतित्वा गत्वा अनुभूयेत्यर्थः... (ChhAndogya 6.8.2)
>>
>> Thus, avidyA-kAma-karma are upAdhi for jIva is well-accepted in bhAshya.
>>
>> However, Anandagiri mentions in ChhAndogya -- सुषुप्ते स्वरूपावस्थस्य कथं
>> प्रच्यवनमित्याशङ्क्याऽऽह – स्वरूपेति । *अविद्याकामकर्मणां बीजमनाद्यज्ञानं*
>> तस्य ब्रह्मविद्याख्येनाग्नीना न स्वापे दाहस्तन्निमित्तं सुषुप्तस्य पुनः
>> स्वरूपप्रच्यवनमिति सम्बन्धः ।
>>
>> Here, he posits ajnAna as the bIja for avidyA-kAma-karma. So, it needs to
>> be ascertained as to whether the avidyA, the constituent of linga-sharIra,
>> is same as the ajnAna of kAraNa-sharIra, which is also known as mUlAvidyA.
>>
>> Further, bhAshya does use vidyA-karma-pUrvaprajnA as a set at many places.
>> 1. यथाक्रमो भवति यादृशेन परलोकप्रतिपत्तिसाधनेन
>> विद्याकर्मपूर्वप्रज्ञालक्षणेन युक्तो भवतीत्यर्थः
>> 2. तस्मात् एतत् त्रयं शाकटिकसम्भारस्थानीयं परलोकपथ्यदनं
>> विद्याकर्मपूर्वप्रज्ञाख्यम्
>> 3. संसारहेतुश्च विद्याकर्मपूर्वप्रज्ञा वर्णिता
>> 4. विद्याकर्मणी — विद्या च कर्म च विद्याकर्मणी विद्या सर्वप्रकारा विहिता
>> प्रतिषिद्धा च अविहिता अप्रतिषिद्धा च, तथा कर्म विहितं प्रतिषिद्धं च
>> अविहितमप्रतिषिद्धं च, समन्वारभेते सम्यगन्वारभेते अन्वालभेते अनुगच्छतः ;
>> पूर्वप्रज्ञा च — पूर्वानुभूतविषया प्रज्ञा पूर्वप्रज्ञा
>> अतीतकर्मफलानुभववासनेत्यर्थः
>>
>> Thus, the usage of vidyA-karma-pUrvaprajnA as the cause of samsAra and as
>> an enjoyable to jIva is accepted in bhAshya.
>>
>> However, bhAshya uses avidyA-karma-pUrvaprajnA as the upAdhi of jIva.
>>
>> 1. जीवो मुख्यप्राणसचिवः सेन्द्रियः समनस्कोऽविद्याकर्मपूर्वप्रज्ञापरिग्रहः
>> पूर्वदेहं विहाय देहान्तरं प्रतिपद्यत इत्येतदवगतम्
>> 2. स प्रकृतः प्राणः, अध्यक्षे अविद्याकर्मपूर्वप्रज्ञोपाधिके विज्ञानात्मनि
>> अवतिष्ठते;
>>
>> Thus, we may note the following:
>> 1. avidyA-kAma-karma is undisputedly accepted by bhAshya as the upAdhi for
>> jIva.
>> 2. avidyA-karma-pUrvapajnA is accepted by AchArya as the upAdhi of jIva.
>> 3. VidyA-karma-pUrvaprajnA is accepted by AchArya as samsAra-hetu, means
>> to
>> attain other lokAs, enjoyables of jIva.
>>
>> One cannot argue that there is error in the reading "जीवो मुख्यप्राणसचिवः
>> सेन्द्रियः समनस्कोऽविद्याकर्मपूर्वप्रज्ञापरिग्रहः पूर्वदेहं विहाय
>> देहान्तरं
>> प्रतिपद्यत इत्येतदवगतम्" and avagraha sign should be ignored. This is so
>> because AchArya has clearly accepted avidyA-kAma-karma as the upAdhi for
>> jIva. And स प्रकृतः प्राणः, अध्यक्षे अविद्याकर्मपूर्वप्रज्ञोपाधिके
>> विज्ञानात्मनि अवतिष्ठते; holds avidyA-karma-pUrvaprajnA as the upAdhi for
>> jIva. Now, both vidyA (by ignoring avagrah after अध्यक्षे)  and avidyA
>> cannot be upAdhi for jIva. Hence, one has to accept
>> avidyA-karma-pUrvaprajnA as the upAdhi.
>>
>> Regards.
>> Sudhanshu Shekhar.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> >
>>
>>
>> --
>> Additional Commissioner of Income-tax,
>> Pune
>>
>> sudhanshushekhar.wordpress.com
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