[Advaita-l] [advaitin] Caricature of Advaita, Shankaracharya, etc. by the Gaudiya head

[Bhaskar YR]

praNAms
Hare Krishna

I had said it is simultaneous, not prior to creation.


  *   So prior to creation brahman does not have avidyA and as soon as he thinks about  creation or wanted to be many avidyA takes place simultaneously alongwith creation in brahman.  Is this what br.up. saying us??

If it's not brahman that is affected by avidya then the question arises who has avidya?


  *   So we are struggling to realize the brahman who has avidyA !! 😊

If the answer is given that it is jeeva, then who is this Jiva? He is not the body, not the mind, and eventually by neti neti it appears that he too remains only a witness and he is Atman only. Then who has avidya?


Ø     bhagavatpAda answered this question in sUtra bhAshya.  The person who is asking the questions about locus of avidyA is having this avidyA!!  But is this person not brahman asks the pUrvapaxi?? bhAshyakAra clarifies,   If you know/realize that then there is no avidyA to whosoever.

I remember in this context abhinava vidyatirtha swamin says that the Jiva is the mixture of the mind and Atman.


Ø     And in taitereeya bhAshya bhAshyakAra says avidyA is antaHkaraNa dOsha, the subsequent question what is antaHkaraNa then?? is mute here as the avidyA has been explained to the jeeva who is suffering from avidyA.
 These are not the qualities or attributes of parabrahman, it is the ‘svabhAva’ of parabrahman see the itareya introductory bhAshya.
What are? Sarvajnta isn't svabhava of nirguna brahman. It's only isvara narayana who has sarvajnta and sarvashakthatva.


Ø     I have asked you to check itareya shruti introductory bhAshya.  And you can also check sUtra bhAshya 1.1.5.  Yes, Ishwara’s sarvajnatvaM, sarvashaktitvaM etc. are in the realm of avidyA kshetra as it is upAdhi vishesha vyavahAra but it does not mean we can deny the svabhAva of parabrahman.  Please refer the quotes and if required we will discuss it further.
      It is as good as saying since there is no outside objects to ‘see’, the eyes do not have its seeing power 😊 The seeing or cognizing power is inherent and whenever situation demands these power will be exercised.
That doesn't seem to be a right example. When brahman alone exists from parmartha, what is there to know? In your example if an object appears then the power of seeing will be known. When there is no jagat and only brahman exits, what can be known other than the knower?


Ø     Yes that is exactly the point eventhough when there is nothing to be known, knower’s knowing power cannot be denied as it is inherent in HIM. Perhaps you may be having the Ishwara’s sarvajnatvaM etc. has been explained as due to avidyAkruta upAdhi ( in sU. Bh. 2.1.14) but that is not an accurate deduction to conclude that sarvajnatvaM is wholly a mere figment of avidyA.  Yes, brahman may not be the knower of all from the pAramarthic standpoint as there is really nothing else to be known.  But the consciousness of the knowing nature itself, is the intrinsic nature of braman/reality and as such it can never be isolated from brahman.  Check the bhAshya references quoted above.

Hari Hari Hari Bol!!!
bhaskar