[Advaita-l] What are different types of Adhyasa-s?

[kuntimaddi sadananda]

Chadramouliji - PraNAms
Thanks for the post. I was a little lazy to do my homework. Shree S.N Sastriji had some post on this on the artha and jnaana adhyaasa(s). I will try to dig up the posts.
Thanks.
Hari Om!Sadananda

 

   On Monday, January 28, 2019, 5:02:24 PM GMT+5:30, H S Chandramouli <hschandramouli at gmail.com> wrote: 
 
 


Pranams Sri Sadananda Ji,  

Reg  << Withoutgetting confused with these names, what are different typesadhyaasas and how one can explain these in simple and understandablelanguage? >>,  

AdhyAsa is never an easy concept. The fact that laterAchAryas like Sri Ramanujacharya and Sri Madhvacharya and others were verycritical of the concept itself and would never accept it itself shows that itis not an easily understood concept. Some of the complexities could beappreciated from the following.

Simply translated, it means superimposition. The fundamentaldefinition of adhyAsa as given by Sri Bhagavatpada himself in the AdhyAsaBhAshya of BS.   

<< अध्यासो नामअतस्मिंस्तद्बुद्धिरित्यवोचाम । >>    

<< adhyAso nAma atasmiMstadbuddhirityavochAma |>>  

Translation by Swami Gambhirananda    << And we said that superimposition means the cognition ofsomething as some other thing >>. 

Elsewhere in the Bhashya, while presenting the definitions ofother DarshanAs obtaining at that time concerning superimposition, Sri Bhagavatpadaconcludes that there is no difference amongst all the DarshanAs as far this lakshaNais concerned. ( It might have been so at the time the Bhashya was written. I amnot sure if Sri Ramanujacharya or Sri Madhvacharya would have agreed ).

This lakshaNa given by Sri Bhagavatpada is elaborated to acertain extent in another adhyAsa lakshaNa statement in the Bhashya  

<<  कोऽयमध्यासो नामेति । उच्यते — स्मृतिरूपः परत्र पूर्वदृष्टावभासः । तं केचित् अन्यत्रान्यधर्माध्यास इति वदन्ति । >>   

<<  ko.ayamadhyAsonAmeti | uchyate — smRRitirUpaH paratra pUrvadRRiShTAvabhAsaH | taM kechitanyatrAnyadharmAdhyAsa iti vadanti | >> 

Translation by SG  << What is it that is called superimposition?? Theanswer is ::  It is an awareness, similarin nature to memory, that arises on a different (foreign) basis as a result ofsome past ex[erience >>. 

Right  at this stageitself, there is considerable disagreement in the understanding of thislakshaNa amongst advaitins themselves. For example, BhAmati and VivaraNa. Notto mention the latest interpretation by Sri SSS.  

The classifications you have listed are needed to understandthe term adhyAsa (superimposition) in all its complexities in differentcontexts. It is not as if one classification would fit the bill or make itunderstandable in all contexts. It would be best to choose the classificationswhich suit the context best.

Regards