[Advaita-l] [advaitin] Re: pratiyogI-jnAna being mandatory for abhAva-jnAna

[Raghav Kumar Dwivedula]

Namaste Sudhanshu Ji
You have clearly pointed out a fatal logical flaw in the reasoning employed
by Sri SSS ji who incorrectly asserted that abhAva-jnAnam is possible
without pratiyogI-jnAnam. The consequence of what you wrote is that Sri SSS
ji got it wrong at the first step itself.

Therefore from a logical standpoint, we assert avidyA as jnAnAbhAva, or
mere absence of self-knowledge. Moreover, (lest we jump and say tarkasya
apratiShThAnAd),  it is also "sArvatrika lokAnubhava" that abhAva jnAnam is
not possible without pratiyogI-jnAnam which even children will attest to,
as you pointed out.

I remember reading of  the example.
I walk in to an empty room. I can assert that "there is no parnassus in
that room".(even without knowing what parnassus is.) Because I know that
parnassus is an object (viShaya). And all of us have pre-existing knowledge
of "viShayatva",  that any viShaya will have some shape, dimensions etc.
And therefore viShayatva-abhAva in that room can be asserted. So even
without knowing that parnassus is a type of marsh grass, I can get the
knowledge of parnassus-abhAva.

The pratiyogitA for the abhAva jnAna is not for paranassus-tva , rather it
is for viShayatva which inheres in parnassus.
Or viShayatva (i.e. , parnassus-niShTha-viShayatva) is the
pratiyogitA-avacchedaka for knowledge of parnassus-abhAva.

I do hope that that this mistake by Sri SSS is rectified in future editions
of his works, without saying that this is merely emic (sAmpradAyika) logic
or that it is bhAShyAxara bahirbhAvAt etc.

Om
Raghav



>