Sureshvara and Mandana Mishra

[Jaldhar H. Vyas]

On Fri, 19 Dec 1997, Cyber Maadhva Sangha wrote:

> So my query is, how is it that
> Sureshvara and Mandana Mishra are identified as two people, holding
> diverse views on a key point?  I was under the impression that the
> Advaitic tradition identifies the two as the same person.  Saying that
> Mandana Mishra held the view that `mAyA' alone is the cause of the
> world when he was a pUrva-mImAmsaka, and later changed his views when
> he became Sureshvara, seems implausible for at least two reasons.
> One, because `mAyA' is a Vedantic concept that finds no mention in
> pUrva-mImAmsaka thinking (at least as far as I know).  Second,
> Prakashananda would surely not be naive enough to follow the lead of
> one who had changed his own mind on the subject after meeting his
> teacher.
>

First I do not think it implausible that a Purva Mimamsaka could have
views on Maya.  As both Darshans deal with the interpretaion of Shruti
there would naturally be some overlap. There are several examples of
people who have written on Purva and Uttara Mimamsaka topics.  And we also
have thinkers who wrote seperate works in different Darshans, a prime
example being Vachaspati Mishra who has written authoritative works in
Samkhya, Yoga, and Nyaya as well as Vedanta.  We know that Mandan Mishra
wrote a work on sphotavada which isn't a view of Purva or Uttara Mimamsa.
That doesn't automatically make him a Grammarian.

Secondly, is it established that Prakashanand Yati was a follower of
Mandan Mishra?  He may have had similiar views but that doesn't
neccessarily mean anything.  My understanding was he lived
several centuries after the era of Mandan Mishra and Shankaracharya
Perhaps he just "discovered" ideas which had been discussed and dealt with
before but which he was unaware of? Not having read his work I can't say
for sure.  (my understanding is that he is not in the mainstream of
Advaita thought.)

--
Jaldhar H. Vyas <jaldhar at braincells.com>