[Advaita-l] [advaitin] Re: avidyA is adhyasta (superimposed) in AtmA

[Bhaskar YR]

praNAms Acharya Sri Jaishankar prabhuji
Hare Krishna

My humble thoughts on this bhAshya vAkya :

tasmāt parabrahmavyatirekeṇa saṃsārī nāma na anyat vastvantaramasti । tasmātsuṣṭhūcyate ‘brahma vā idamagra āsīt tadātmānamevāvet ahaṃ brahmāsmīti' (bṛ. u. 1 । 4 । 10) —' nānyadato'sti draṣṭṛ nānyadato'sti śrotṛ' ityādiśrutiśatebhyaḥ । tasmāt parasyaiva brahmaṇaḥ satyasya satyaṃ nāma upaniṣat parā ॥ iti bṛhadāraṇyakopaniṣadbhāṣyam dvitīyādhyāyasya prathamaṃ brāhmaṇam ॥


  *   It is simply saying there is no multiplicity in Chaitanya and it is ekaM eva adviteeyaM.  This bhAshya vAkya is not meant to prove Ashraya and Vishaya but it is only saying brahman is the ONLY satyasya satyaM.  I hope you agree with me that the whole scriptural teaching, sAdhana, AcharyOpadesha etc. meant for the jeeva to realize that he is brahman.  It is not there to declare that the jneya brahman (brahman to be realized) is the Ashraya and Vishaya for avidyA.  Since jeeva is also nothing but brahman and jeeva Chaitanya is nothing but that ‘eka rasaM’, It is addressed to jeeva only as brahman not brahman as jeeva.  It is the same jeeva that realizes that he is brahman by getting rid of avidyA or if I say the same in other terms, he realizes that he is nirguNa nirvishesha brahman by (figuratively) acquiring the paramArtha vidyA. By holding the bhAshya vAkya-s like above, we cannot build an argument that since brahman is alone at the beginning, he himself becomes jeeva by gaining the avidyA or by losing his innate nitya Shuddha buddha mukta svarUpa. As we all know and as said above, by sAdhana, IshwarAnugrana, AcharyOpadesha the paramArtha jnAna can be acquired, but it cannot be lost or OTOH, avidyA can be effaced but not acquired afresh. In the same bruhadAraNyaka there is story of prince lost his parents and brought up by hunter and thought that he is hunter by birth and later realized he is not hunter but from royal family.  It is something like this, The right way of narrating this story is hunter (jeeva) realizing his true nature and became king (brahman) and definitely not other way round i.e. prince acquiring ignorance and became hunter.



  *   As I do with others,  I cannot continue this discussion with your goodself with some sort of freedom and free expression, hence just sharing my thoughts and will take it whatever you say in reply.



  *   Humble praNAms once again



Hari Hari Hari Bol!!!



bhaskar