[Advaita-l] j~nAna, aj~nAna and sarvaj~natvam

[V Subrahmanian]

On Wed, Aug 10, 2011 at 7:27 AM, Ramesh Krishnamurthy <rkmurthy at gmail.com>wrote:

>
> There is another term, sarvavid, which implies knowledge of all things in
> vyavahAra. Ishvara in the sense of the samaShTi is said to be a sarvavid.
> In fact, one often finds both descriptions (sarvaj~na and sarvavid) applied
> to Ishvara in the same verse/sentence. If sarvaj~na itself meant knowledge
> of all things in vyavahAra, the use of 'sarvavid' would be redundant.
> _______________________________________________
>


I had in mind the above too when I wrote the earlier post:  The
Mundakopanishat has this very expression in the mantra: yaH sarvajnAH
sarvavit yasya jnAnamayam tapaH... where Shankara gives the meanings:
sarvam sAmAnyena jAnAti iti sarvajnaH [He who knows everything in general is
sarvajnaH], sarvam visheShENa vetti iti sarvavit [He who knows everything in
particular, that is in their particularised aspects is a sarvavit]. Ishwara
has both these.  This distinction merges in the word sarvajnaH if it is used
without the sarvavit accompanying.  Generally, the word sarvajnaH is used
only with regard to Ishwara and occasionally with regard to very exalted
Rishis like Vyasa where trikAlajnAna is attributed.  Otherwise a jnani is
only a sarvam sAmAnyena vEtti iti sarvajnaH where he possesses the knowledge
of that which underlies everything.  And that is Brahman.  Knowing,
realizing, Brahman as the substance of everything including himself is what
makes a person an aparoksha jnani.

There is a word 'sarvavit' with reference to a jnani too in the Bh.Gita 15th
chapter end.  Here, it is to be taken in the manner of sarvam sAmAnyena
vEtti alone for the shAstra does not promise/claim the Ishwara's sarvajnatva
to a person who gets aparoksha jnanam.  Look at the bhashyam here!! -

//यः माम् ईश्वरं यथोक्तविशेषणम् एवं यथोक्तेन प्रकारेण असंमूढः संमोहवर्जितः
सन् जानाति 'अयम् अहम् अस्मि' इति पुरुषोत्तमं सः* सर्ववित् सर्वात्मना सर्वं
वेत्तीति सर्वज्ञः *सर्वभूतस्थं भजति मां सर्वभावेन *सर्वात्मतया* हे भारत।।//


Regards,
subrahmanian.v