[Advaita-l] [advaitin] Avidya for Srishti kartA brahman/Ishwara? Prashnopanishad bhashya

[Bhaskar YR]

praNAms
Hare Krishna

IMO in the below vedAntin’s answer there is super blend of pAramArthika and vyAhArika status of Chetan, in pAramArthika (a) it is Shuddha Chaitanya and in vyAvahArika it is jeeva Chaitanya (b)!! Though it is Shuddha Chaitanya always, when we are talking about bandha, mukti, sAdhana etc. we have to consider this jeeva Chaitanya.  With this (a) and (b) we can see vedAntin’s answer :

Vedantin's Answer: No, for it is held by us that though the Self is but one


  *   This is (a)

still, in a state of ignorance, there occur to It apparent distinctions created by the pre- sence or absence of the limiting adjuncts constituted by the names and forms of objects.


  *   This is (b) in the domain of duality where jeeva swayed by ignorance.

The creation of some sort of distinction in the Self by ignorance is admitted as a concession, so that talk about the bondage and freedom of the Self in the scriptures may be possible.


  *   This is meant for (b) who has to elevate himself to (b) and it is not there to prove or conclude that (a) is having the bondage freedom etc.  And it is clear from the below where (a) is explained in its true nature.

In reality, however, one should stand by the unconditioned Entity which is one without a second, which is beyond the reach of all sophists, and which is admitted as fearless and auspicious. There can be no agentship, no enjoyership, nor any action, instrument, or result, where everything is reduced to non-duality.

In the above discourse, the word Self means Brahman, the Creator Consciousness.


Ø     So in the above discourse there is an admixture of jeevAtma and paramAtma and commonly used as self and contextually we have to understand to whom it has been addressed and which is defined.

Another conclusive passage by Shankara in the above vein in the same bhashya: Here it is even more explicit: Shankara says Brahman is assisted by all accessories that are created by Avidya, for the purpose of Brahman being/becoming a Creator:


Ø     See sUtra bhAshya where bhAshyakAra explained how brahman can create without any upAdhi and sahakAri kAraNa and the purpose of creation.

Conclusion:  Since avidya is generally thought of to be associated with the jiva alone and not with Ishwara/Brahman the Creator, the explicit usage of avidya-created name form upadhi for Brahman brings us to conclude that for Shankara the māyā shakti that is used by Brahman for creation, is none other than Avidya. Even with the meaning avidya = adhyasa, it is only jiva that is associated with adhyasa and not Brahman/Ishwara.  Since Shankara uses the term Avidya as the power that creates name/form upadhis that are at play in Brahman creating the universe, this conclusion gets even more strengthened. In the view of Shankara the avidya shakti and the māya shakti are non-different.


  *   Sorry to say very wrong conclusion there is no avidyA shakti, it is mAya shakti which is not different from shaktivanta, mAya and avidyA can never be equated at any stretch of imagination.  mAyA shakti used by brahman is right but that is none other than avidyA is very wrong conclusion.  In the srushti prakriya we have follow bhAshyakAra and shruti which say Ishwara creates the jagat for the sake of jeeva to experience their respective pApa puNya.  There are exclusive chapters / adhikaraNa dedicated to discuss these issues in brahma sUtra.

Hari Hari Hari Bol!!!
bhaskar