[Advaita-l] [advaitin] Shankara compares and contrasts Prātibhāsika, Vyāhārika and Pāramārthika

[Michael Chandra Cohen]

Namaste Sudhanshuji
//The tell me, how do you agree with Dr Hegde that PSA postulate the
ontological reality for world without any standpoint. I have given citation
of PanchadashI and Tejobindu commentary which clearly postulate that
avidyA/world are mithyA from avidyA-drishTi, and tuchchhA from
Brahma-drishTi. //

I don't believe Dr. Hedge denies the standpoints presented in your
citations (though I could not access SLS reference). Rather, she is
pointing elsewhere:
By redefining vyāvahārika and pāramārthika not merely as
standpoint-relative conditions of cognition but as effects standing in
different relations of sameness or difference of reality to their causes
(sama-sattā / viṣama-sattā), the PSA converts an epistemic distinction into
an ontological hierarchy. Once that move is made, the world can no longer
coherently be described as anirvacanīya, since it has already been assigned
a determinate, though lower, degree of reality. Thus the three-sattā scheme
ceases to be merely methodological and becomes a graded metaphysics,
introducing precisely the “degrees of reality” that SSS rejects.🙏

On Sat, Jan 31, 2026 at 10:00 AM Michael Chandra Cohen <
michaelchandra108 at gmail.com> wrote:

> Venkataraghavan sir,
> SSS's only interest is presenting PTB as intended. Further, purvapaksa
> based on tarka and sabda is the traditional manana to arrive at that
> intention. There is no one to converted here - we all have the same
> interest. However, endowing vyvarhara with a relative reality is contrary
> to PTB, illogical and an anirmoksa position, as SSS points out.🙏
>
> On Sat, Jan 31, 2026 at 9:18 AM Sudhanshu Shekhar <
> sudhanshu.iitk at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Namaste Michael ji.
>>
>> It is not true that I have not studied PSA - I have not studied like you
>>> have no doubt but that is hardly the point.
>>>
>>
>> The tell me, how do you agree with Dr Hegde that PSA postulate the
>> ontological reality for world without any standpoint. I have given citation
>> of PanchadashI and Tejobindu commentary which clearly postulate that
>> avidyA/world are mithyA from avidyA-drishTi, and tuchchhA from
>> Brahma-drishTi. There are hundreds other supporting citations. I don't want
>> to flood the mail. It is actually common sense. Snake is illusory from the
>> frame of reference of non-rope. Snake is tuchchha from
>> rope-frame-of-reference.
>>
>> How can you not know this basic postulate of PSA and venture to refute
>> them by relying on half-baked articles of Dr Hegde and incorrect
>> understanding of SSSS ji.
>>
>> Just appreciate what you are doing. In the name of some
>> shuddha-ShAnkara-prakriyA, you are contradicting common sense as well as
>> omniscient SAyaNAchArya, the commentator of VedAs. For what purpose? For
>> what use?
>>
>>
>> Regards.
>> Sudhanshu Shekhar.
>>
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