[Advaita-l] Re: Ishvara in advaita vEdAnta

[jagannathan mahadevan]

>
> there is no real modification. it is we who superimpose sarvaj~natvAdi
> guNAs on brahman and call this brahman conditioned by mAyA as Ishvara.
> this Ishvara is the same as jagad/dRshya kAraNa.
>
> -------------------------------------------
namaskAram shrI amuthan,

You have said it correct. I too meant the same. Ishvaratva is only
from the standpoint of jIvatva. The very question as to what or who is
Ishvara presupposes jIvatva of the questioner. In the same text
(vivekachUDAmaNi: verses 243-244), it is pointed out that the identity
of jIva with Ishvara is implied in the mahAvAkyas. Recognizing this
identity is possible only through recognition of the vastu or the
permanent which is brahman. This is so because both jIva and Ishvara
are modifications of Atman or brahman. So even before we talk of a
goal of assuming the nature of Ishvara we have the goal of recognizing
the identity of jIva and Ishvara with brahman, the basis for both.
Only then are we in a position to recognize the identity of jIva with
Ishvara. So, really, there is no parallel goal at all and the only
goal is to achieve self-knowledge.

Jagannathan.