Ramanuja's Summary of the Advaitin's Position - 1

[S. Sriram]

I don't want to rehash the arguments, but for the sake
of completeness on this thread.

> From: "Vidyasankar"
>On the other hand, there
>are no Sruti statements that uphold bheda in the state of moksha. (So long

Sve. 1-6 "Knowing the self and the directing power as distinct,
and thereby favoured by that power he attains immortality"

Ramanuja notes in the VedarthaSangraha (VS 118) quoting Sve 1-6
"Thus the direct means for the achievement of immortality
is laid down to be the understanding of the difference
between the individual self and the supreme controller.

In the previous stanza i.e. VS 117 Ramanuja states

It may be asked, "What is your final position? Do
you uphold unity or plurality or both unity and
plurality ? Which of these forms the substance of
the Vedanta on your interpretation? We reply that we
uphold all three as they are all affirmed in the Veda.
We uphold unity because Brahman alone exists, with all
other entities as its modes. We uphold both unity and
plurality, as the one Brahman itself, has all the
spiritual and physical substances as its modes and
thus exists qualified by a plurality. We uphold plurality
as the three categories, sentient selves and non-
sentient existents and the supreme Lord, are mutually
distinct in their substantive nature and attributes
and there is no mutual transposition of their
characteristics.

Translation by S.S. Raghavachar

On a separate note B. Shankar refers to VS Ramachandran.
His book Phantoms in the brain (a very interesting read)
posits in effect to a "progressive Vedanta"(my term not his) where a
God-zone in
the temporal lobe of the brain brings out the essence of the inseparableness
of cit & acit
and "myth as metaphor" would seem to be the bridge between
the personal and the impersonal - In which context here is an interesting
puzzle from a Joseph Campbell book i.e. How many dimples are the
optimal number for a golf ball ? (This answer was computer generated
taking into consideration flight characteristics)

Thanks
Srinivasan Sriram