[Advaita-l] In Advaita alone the jiva is not jaDa

[kuntimaddi sadananda]

Subbuji - PraNAms
Thanks Sada ji for the response.  When it is said // jeeva cannot operate without the support of Iswara // what is the 'support' from ishwara and what is it that is 'supported'.  Rangaramanuja says in the Kenopanishat bhashyam for the very first verse: 
 Impelled by whom does manas, prana, eye, etc. function in their fields?  This is the question of the disciple.  Rangaramanuja says: The disciple knowing that the insentient mind, prana, etc. cannot function without being impelled by a sentient entity, he poses this question.
------------It means the chaitanya jeeva cannot operate the BMI equipments without the help Iswara - aham vaiswanaro bhuutva still applies. He is the controller and creator of the gross worlds and the appropriate BMIs as per the karma of the jeevas. Creation is only subtle materials (acheta vastu) into grosser forms for Jeeva to operate, of course with the help of Iswara who is also the antaryamin of the jada prapancha. Both jeevas and Jagat form His body as Virat swaruupa.  
This does not mean jeevas are achetana vastu- They depend on Iswara for all physiological functions. Hence, He is called the controller and controls all the phenomenal world - akaasha, vaayu etc as per Kathopanishat statements. 
Jeeva thinks I am independent of Him - that forms his avidya. 
Hari Om!Sadananda
---------------------From this it is clear that the impelling by chaitanyam is required only for the insentient things. Is  the jiva insentient?  Only if this is so can the statement // jeeva cannot operate without the support of Iswara //  be true.  And if this is true, then the jiva is jaDa.  If the jiva is separated from the mind, prana, organs etc. which alone require the impelling by the Chaitanyam, then what is the status of the jiva in Visistadvaita?  They hold that the jiva is 'nitya paratantra' as Velukkudi Krishnan Swami has said. If the jiva is forever dependent on Vishnu, then for what is the dependence? What is the manner of control Vishnu have on the jiva, even in mukti?  These questions have to be clearly answered.  Shankara has never left these questions unanswered. For him, only the jaDa mind, prana, indriyas are impelled by Chaitanyam.  Once the jiva knows that he is not the anaatma jaDa manas, etc. he realizes that he is the chaitanyam that impels these.  So, the jiva free of kshetram, jaDa anatma is not in need of any impelling by any higher entity.  Hence the jiva is not jaDa.  In other systems that hold the jiva to be forever under the control of Vishnu, the jiva has to be jaDa alone.  
Shankara in the antaryami brahmana of Br.Up. too has very unambiguously stated: the body-mind complex of the prithvi, etc. devataas alone are impelled by the antaryami.  And the mantra there culminates in teaching: your Atma is the antaryami.  This is the mahavakya there: like tat tvam asi.  This idea is not found in other systems.
regardssubbu  
avidya of jeeva is also beginningless but can end when jeeva recognizes the above facts and surrenders to the Lord -maam evaye prapadyante maayaam etaam  tarantitE-is very much emphasized where maam stands of Lord Narayana and eva is emphasized as He is the only one (His avataaras included as Him only) who can give moksha. Lakshmi helps the jeeva in preparing jeeva for moksha like mother prepares and dresses after cleaning all the dirt and presents the child to the father. Hence 'Shree' becomes very important in Shree Vaishnavism. 
Hari Om!Sadananda