[Advaita-l] [advaitin] 'Adhyaropa apavada' found in Vivarana and other texts

[Michael Chandra Cohen]

Sudhanshuji, According to Smt Hegde's recent paper, you are markedly
mistaken about adhyaropa/apavada's use by Post-Sankara Advaita:

" SSS denounces the PSA—with the sole exception of Sureśvarācārya—for not
recognizing adhyāropāpavāda as the chief pedagogical method of Advaita
Vedānta. According to SSS, the failure to correctly understand the method
has led to the reification of concepts like avidyā (ignorance); this, in
turn, has undermined the central tenets of Advaita Vedānta. While
avidyā—its nature, locus, etc—has engendered considerable discussions in
academia,5 the method of adhyāropāpavāda itself has not been subject to
critical examination.6 The pedagogic method, therefore, warrants scrutiny."

fn 4 " 4 We see here a nuanced difference in the interpretation of
adhyāropāpavāda. For SSS, the ‘achievement’ of adhyāropāpavāda is strictly
negative i.e., the removal of ignorance; for the PSA, on the other hand,
while the method operates negatively, its ‘achievement’ is a ‘positive
indication’ of brahman. Traditional commentators (PPV, p. 499; SŚ 1.257,
etc.) and modern scholars (Comans 2000, p. 290ff; Rambachan 1991, p. 69,
etc.) accord precedence to ‘positive’ indications over negations, and
therefore frame adhyāropāpavāda within the context of ‘indication.’ Comans
writes, “… negation itself functions in the context of lakṣaṇā … It is not
sufficient merely to say: “not a snake, not a snake!”, the substratum of
the error must also be positively pointed out (“this is not a snake, it is
a rope!”) …,” (Comans 2000, p. 289). This, SSS vehemently refutes. See
Saraswati 1990, p. 82. "

On Fri, Aug 16, 2024 at 10:14 AM Sudhanshu Shekhar <sudhanshu.iitk at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Hari Om,
>
>> It can't be said that post Shankara Advaitins did not know this or did
>> not approve of it.
>>
> Whoever has said this has no idea as to what post-Shankara advaitins said.
> adhyAropa-apavAda is the basic framework upon which all prakriyAs operate.
> Without adhyAropa-apavAda, srishTi in advitIya nishkriya Brahman and its
> subsequent negation cannot be explained.
>
> adhyAropa-apavAda is like UPI, whereas the prakriyAs are like different
> apps viz GPAY, PhonePe, CRED etc. These all use UPI, but offer seemingly
> different interface.
>
> Regards.
> Sudhanshu Shekhar.
>
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