[Advaita-l] mUlAvidyA etc

[subhanu saxena]

Sri Bhaskar wrote:
 
Kindly let me know whether Sri SSS misunderstood the concept of avidyA  in 
any of the above description from vivaraNa perspective ??   I am sure he 
says avidyA the concept which has been introduced by paNchapAdika/vivaraNa 
is neither agrahaNa nor anyathAgrahaNa it is something else.  Kindly 
clarify.

Namaste Bhaskar, I would recommend you read VPP Vivarana-prasthanam to get a comprehensive view of Sri Swamiji's discussion of Vivaranam's statements on ignorance. Section 245 is interesting as well as page 790 of the English translation published as The Method of the Vedanta, where the imagined nature of ignorance according to Vivaranam is discussed and the dialectic consequence of having something that is itself super-imposed/imagined as a device to be taken as the cause of a superimposition (sugamA has more detail on the difference of a nimitta-naimittika-bhAva cause and effect figurative relationship vs an upAdAna-upAdeya-bhAva cause and effect figurative relationship).
 
In VPP, Ista Siddhi-prasthanam is also interesting as a compare and contrast study with the teachings of Panchapadika and Vivaranam. This is not for everybody but if you are interested in understanding better the genesis of a number of important ideas in the advaita orthodox tradition, then I would recommend a study of Mandana Misra's Brahma Siddhi. Whilst different to Shankara's tradition, a number of important concepts are met here , including the notion of anirvachanIyata, as well as the influence Mandana's writings had on the Bhamati school. Mandana also points out explicitly the avidyopAdAna-kAraNa school of advaita as distinct from the adhyAropa-apavAda school of Shankara. 
 
Regards
Subhanu