[Advaita-l] Can a mithyA-vastu produce an effect? असत्यवस्तुनः अर्थक्रियाकारित्वम्

[Venkatesh Murthy]

Namaste

There can be objection from Visistadvaiti-

Looking at  the unreal shell silver the man feels joy. He wants to
pick up the silver. Looking at rope as unreal snake he feels fear. He
wants to run away. What is the cause of joy? What is the cause of
fear? It is not silver but Jnana this is silver. It is not snake but
Jnana this is a snake. The unreal silver cannot be cause of real joy.
The unreal snake is not the cause of real fear.  The Jnanas are the
causes. But the Jnanas are real.  Real causes real. Advaiti has
accepted this. He says Mithya Maya causes Jagat. Like that Mithya
snake cannot be cause of real fear.  Mithya woman in dream cannot
cause real joy. The real Jnanas in every case are causing it.

The Advaiti cannot say unreal object can have real Jnana because the
Sribhashya has said Arthasya Pratibhasatvameva Hyalambanatve
Apekshitam. The appearance of the object is sufficient to have Jnana.
Even though the object is later found to be unreal the Jnana is real.

2011/5/17 V Subrahmanian <v.subrahmanian at gmail.com>:
> Namaste.
>
> The srImadbhagavatam has one more verse where the concept of 'असत:
> साधकत्वम्’ is taught:
> In the uddhavagita chapter 24 verse 22 the Lord says:
>
> एषा बुद्धिमतां बुद्धिः मनीषा च मनीषिणाम् ।
> *यत्सत्यमनृतेन* इह मर्त्येनाप्नोति माऽमृतम् ॥
>
> //Herein lies the wisdom of the wise, and the cleverness of the intelligent,
> that in this very birth they attain Me, the Real and Immortal, *by means of
> something that is unreal* and mortal.//
>
> By unreal and mortal is meant the human body-mind complex.  With this as the
> means one puts the effort and attains the goal of the Real and Immortal.
>
> Although unreal, the body serves to attain the real, the Atmatattvam.
> Actually, Atman is not 'attained' but only the ignorance that separates one
> from his Atman-nature is what is dispelled.  And in this process, the body,
> the very product of avidya, is used to grow out of ignorance.  Thus, the
> sAdhakatvam of an asadvastu, the body, is taught by the Lord.  We have seen
> elaborately the Shankara bhashyam in connection with this concept.
>
> As a corollary, the Lord is also teaching that unreal, asatya, and mortal,
> anitya, are the same. In the manner of Shankara's bhashya, anityatva being a
> characteristic of anything that is sa-avayava, is vikAri and therefore not
> real.  That which is satya cannot and does not undergo changes.  His famous
> definition of satyatvam is:
>
> यद्रूपेण यन्निश्चितं तद्रूपं यन्न व्यभिचरति, तत् सत्यम् ।  यद्रूपेण
> यन्निश्चितं तत् तद्रूपं व्यभिचरति, तदनृतमित्युच्यते । अतो विकारोऽनृतम्,
> ’वाचारंभणं विकारो नामधेयं मृत्तिकेत्येव सत्यम्’, एवं सदेव सत्यम्
> इत्यवधारणात् ।
>
> //As for satyam, a thing is said to be satyam, true, when it does not change
> the nature that is ascertained to be its own; and a thing is said to be
> unreal when it changes the nature that is ascertained to be its own.  Hence
> a mutable thing is unreal, for in the text, ‘All transformation has speech
> as its basis, and it is name only.  Clay as such is the reality.’ (Chandogya
> Up. 6.1.4), it has been emphasized that, that alone is true that Exists
> (Ch.Up. 6.2.1)
>
> Also in the commentary to the Gita verse 2.16, the Acharya says:
>
> यद्विषया बुद्धिर्न व्यभिचरति तत्सत्, यद्विषया व्यभिचरति तदसत् …।
>
> [That is said to be Real, of which our consciousness never fails; and that
> Unreal, of which our consciousness fails.]
>
>
> An article detailing this concept of 'anitya is asatya' can be accessed
> here:
>
>
> <goog_345294304>
>
> http://adbhutam.wordpress.com/2009/08/05/the-world-is-anitya-but-is-it-mithya/<goog_345294304>
>
>
>
> <goog_345294304>
>
> Regards,
>
> subrahmanian.v
>
>
> <goog_345294304>
>  <http://adbhutam.wordpress.com/2009/08/05/the-world-is-anitya-but-is-it-mithya/>
>
>
> 2011/4/24 V Subrahmanian <v.subrahmanian at gmail.com>
>
>> Namaste.
>>
>> In the category of 'asatya vastu' that produces a valid effect, in other
>> words असतः साधकत्वम् , here is another set of examples:
>>
>> http://www.broward.org/library/bienes/lii14010.htm
>>
>> //Latitude and longitude are the basic tools of map-making. They are the
>> language used by mapmakers to communicate accurately about the locations of
>> the various places on planet earth. Latitude and longitude are *imaginary
>> lines* traced on the surface of the earth for the purpose of locating a
>> specific place.//
>>
>> http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_are_the_uses_of_latitude_and_longitude
>>
>>
>> http://www.worldatlas.com/aatlas/imagee.htm
>>
>> // On the map shown, and for that matter on all other maps, the Arctic
>> Circle, Antarctic Circle, Equator, Prime Meridian, Tropic of Cancer and
>> Tropic of Capricorn are *imaginary lines.* //
>>
>>
>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equator
>>
>> // In simpler language, the Equator is an *imaginary line* on the Earth's
>> surface equidistant from the North Pole<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Pole>and South
>> Pole <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Pole> that divides the Earth into
>> a Northern Hemisphere <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Hemisphere>and a Southern
>> Hemisphere <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Hemisphere>. The
>> equators of other planets <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planet> and
>> astronomical bodies are defined analogously. //
>>
>> (see this URL for the 'purpose/use' of the Equator)
>>
>> http://www.funtrivia.com/askft/Question63882.html
>>
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-- 
Regards

-Venkatesh