[Advaita-l] avidya vs maayaa - What is the difference? Part III

H S Chandramouli hschandramouli at gmail.com
Fri Dec 2 03:29:11 CST 2016


Namaste Sri Venkatraghavan Ji,

Reg  << In summary, the prevalent views are 1) one is a subset of the
other 2) the
two are different configurations of the same fundamental guNas 3) They are
two different amshas (parts) of the same prakriti, with one amsha being
vikshepa pradhAna and the other AvaraNa pradhAna 4) they are absolutely the
same.

Therefore, your view that avidyA and mAya have been considered as different
in VedAnta shAstra is correct, >>,

I am surprised at the conclusion you have drawn. All the four options
mean the same.  Avidya and mAya constitute the same  entity. They are
considered different aspects or parts of the same entity in the four
options you have cited. Hence they cannot be considered different as
far as the four options you have presented are concerned.

I am also surprised that Bhamati view perhaps is not covered in these
four options. I do believe it could not have been leftout by Sri
Dikshitar. Maybe by oversight you might have missedout. Just a guess.
Though I am not sure I think mAya (as kArana for creation ) and avidya
(as located in jivas) are considered different in Bhamati. I am open
to correction. In the view of SSS avidya and mAya are different.
Ofcourse his views are much later to the time of Sri Appayya
Dikshitar.

In my understanding of the bhashya, avidya and mAya are the same.

Regards


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