[Advaita-l] Samvadi Brama

[Venkatraghavan S]

Namaste
Firstly why this is an example of samvAdi bhrama. The quoted instance is
said to be a bhrama because the person superimposes the gem upon gem light
and runs after it. The gem and its light are different. So the bhrama here
is  him confusing the gem light for the gem (it is not a bhrama if he
infers that light must have come from the gem, but it is if he thinks that
light *is* the gem). It is samvAdi because the person gets the object he
desires.

If that is not a very convincing example of samvAdi bhrama, (personally I
don't think it is a great example), one can consider another.

A person mistakes a dust cloud for smoke, and infers fire there. It happens
to be correct because fire happens to be actually present there,
coincidentally. Thus an incorrect perception still gives the right result.

Secondly, when in the ninth chapter of the panchadashi, VidyAraNya svAminah
is comparing upAsana to samvAdi bhrama, he is meaning it in a couple of
senses:
1) It is a deliberate superimposition taught by the shAstra which the
upAsaka practices as an article of faith. Like the prescription of viShnNu
upAsana on the sAligrAma stone. The sAligrAma is not viShNu, but an upAsana
imagining viShNu in that Alambanam gives a positive result (puNya). Thus,
while it is samvAdi bhrama, the shAstra that prescribes it is still a
pramANa because following its instruction produces the results outlined in
shAstra; or,

2) Where someone has had paroksha jnAna of brahman, but not aparoksha
jnAna, upAsana of brahman is prescribed. That is, he knows that shAstra is
teaching him tattvamasi, but he is unable to accept ahambrahmAsmi, because
of various obstacles. For him, the upAsana of ahambrahmAsmi is prescribed.
Here the content of upAsana is not invalid (for ahambrahmAsmi is valid
knowledge), but the upAsana is not a direct means to aparoksha jnAna.
vichAra or enquiry is the direct method. However despite upAsana being only
an indirect method, it is prescribed because that person needs it to
graduate to the next level - namely, enquiry.

Regards,
Venkatraghavan