[Advaita-l] Is the agrahaNa (jnAna abhAva) in sushupti, a product of mUlAvidyA??

[Jaishankar Narayanan]

Namaste,

The agrahanam mentioned by Bhashyakara in this bhashya has to be looked at
in the context of the discussion which is about whether advaita is the
atmasvarupa and satya or dvaita is satya. Bhasyakara is arguing all dvaita
perception is due to avidya. In this context Bhashyakara is using the word
agrahanam (non perception of dvaita) to indicate the svayamprakasha
atmasvarupa (self existing and self revealing nature of atma). This can
never be due to avidya. So one has to be clear about the contextual meaning
of the words before spinning fancy theories. The vanamAla vyAkhya here
clarifies

न विद्यते ग्रहणं स्वेनान्येन वा यस्य तदग्रहणम् ,
स्वयञ्ज्योतिःस्वभावमद्वैतमिति यावत्
na vidyate grahaṇaṃ svenānyena vā yasya tadagrahaṇam ,
svayañjyotiḥsvabhāvamadvaitamiti yāvat

that which is not perceived by oneself or others, that is agrahanam, which
is self-revealing nature non dual thus it is (to be understood)

with love and prayers,
Jaishankar

On Wed, Jun 18, 2025 at 3:41 PM Bhaskar YR via Advaita-l <
advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:

> praNAms
> Hare Krishna
>
> The bhAvarUpa avidyAvAdins say mUlAvidyA is mother of all other three
> types of avidyA and thus mUlAvidyA is 'different' from these three types of
> avidyA and jnAna abhAva type of avidya i.e. agrahaNa is also a product of
> mUlAvidyA.  IOW, the agrahaNa which has been accepted in the state of
> sushupti is just an effect (kArya) of kAraNAvidyA (mUlAvidyA).  Sri SSS
> quotes the following bhAshya vAkya from taittireeya Upanishad (2-8) to
> refute the baseless theory of mulAvidyAvAdins :
>
> sushuptegrahaNamapyavidyAkrutamiti chet??  Na svAbhAvikatvAt, dravyasya hi
> tattvamavikriyA, parAnapekshatvAt, vikriyA na tattvaM, parApekshatvAt, na
> hi kArakApekshaM vastunastatvaM, satOvisheshaH kArakApekshaH, visheshashcha
> vikriyA, jAgratsvapnayOshcha grahaNaM visheshaH, yaddhi nAnyApekshaM
> svarUpaM, tattasya tattvaM, yadanyApekshaM na tattatvaM anyAbhAve abhAvAt
> tasmAt svAbhAvikatvAjAgratsvapnavanna sushupte visheshaH.
>
> If it is asked agrahaNa (not knowing / jnAnAbhAva) in sushupti is also a
> product (effect) of avidyA alone. Is it not??  Here it is to be noted that
> bhagavatpAda directly answering the question, which mulAvidyAvadins holding
> as siddhAnta (i.e. agrahaNa is also a product / effect of mUlAvidyA) he
> clarifies : NOT SO!! For it is but natural (svAbhAvika).  For an entity not
> undergoing any change or transformation is its svarUpa / svabhAva (very
> essential nature of that entity/being) for these is no need of another
> thing for it.  Undergoing changes is not svabhAva for another thing is
> needed for that purpose.  Whereas for the svabhAva of a vastu no kAraka
> (agent of action) WHATSOEVER is needed.  He explains like this and
> concludes : therefore because of the reason that in shushupti the fact of
> not knowing is svAbhAvika (natural) it is NOT vishesha / product / effect
> (a special feature) born out of something else (here in this case
> mulAvidyA).
>
> The same time further emphasized by bhAshyakAra in sUtra bhAshya : when
> there is no distinctive cognition or qualified knowledge in sushupti there
> does not exist any other special feature whatsoever (tAvatsushuptaM na
> kvachitvishishyate).  Because of the reason that therein one has indeed
> become merged with sadrUpa brahma ( the ultimate / Shuddha Chaitanya/pure
> existence), it is quite reasonable to say that he does not see anything.
>
> I think with this clear cut definition and clarification by bhAshyakAra
> about agrahaNa in sushupti,  we can comfortably close the mUlAvidyA case
> and conclude and refute the baseless assertions like mulAvidyA is the
> mother of other three types of avidyA and it is like Atman existing in all
> the three states uninterruptedly etc. etc.   It is simply bAshyabAhira and
> need to mention shuruti, yukti and anubhava viruddha too.
>
> Hari Hari Hari Bol!!!
> bhaskar
>
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