[Advaita-l] Advaita-The Vedanta.

[Sunil Bhattacharjya]

Dear friends,

Samvrtti and Vyavaharika are no different as both refer to the phenomenal world, which is not eternal.  At different times different equivalent terminologies do appear. The Pedagogical methods have also been different at different times and any scholar has to understand these. Let us look at some examples below:

(i)
The Sukshmabhoota of Vedanta is the Tanmatra or Matra of Sankhya. 

(ii)
Just as there is no separate Atman in Advaita and Atman is nothing but Brahman, so also there is no separate Atman in Buddhism.  One who read Buddhism knows that Lord Buddha did also mention Brahman in Tevijja sutta and other works.
(iii)

In Advaita the Jivanmukta even after the Jnanodaya continue to live in the body of the five koshas till he or she becomes Videhamukta or freed from the body of the five koshas. Lord Buddha also says exactly the same thing in the Prajnaparamita and its smaller versions  Diamond-sutra and Hrdayta-sutra, albeit somewhat differently. He says shunyata is achieved when one leaves the five skandhas (the five koshas). Nagarjuna also had been telling from the rooftop that Shunyata does not mean non-existence. But who would listen to him? One who looks positively at Shunyata would see that Advaita's Videhamuktata is no different from Shunyata.  

(iv)
If one looks at Buddhism chronologically quite a lot of doubts on Budhhism would disappear. Nagarjuna was the first to unveil the Mahayana doctrine as it was closely guarded till then. During Asanga and Vasubandhus time there was severe competition between Sravastivada and Mahayana and Vasubandhu a staunch Sravastivadin changed his loyalty from Sravastivada to Mahayana under the influence of his half-brother Asanga. Later on came the Yogacara and other dialectical work of Dignaga and Dharmakirti. Much later Shantaraksita and others tried to unify the divergent groups. In the maze of these developments the scholars were dumbfounded more because of the wrong chronology propagated by the protagonists of the AIT (Aryan Invasion Theory). That is why in the past the Itihasa was considered important. Along with the Puranas, the Itihasas enjoyed the status of the fifth Veda (courtesy Chandogya and Brihadaranyaka Upanishads)

Regards,
Sunil KB


________________________________
 From: Srikanta Narayanaswami <srikanta.narayanaswami at yahoo.com>
To: advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org 
Sent: Wednesday, August 15, 2012 7:37 AM
Subject: Re: [Advaita-l] Advaita-The Vedanta.
 
To: 
"A discussion group for Advaita Vedanta" <advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org>



Dear friends,

Adi Sankaracharya  was referring to the Neerisvara Sankhya of his times. Neerisvara Sankhya or Godless-Sankhya (not necessarily atheistic) came into vogue during his tiomes.  Sankhya-sutra said that "Isvara Asiddha", ie. the existence of Isvara cannot be proved. That is also the reason Lord Buddha did not talk about God as he said that people would be confused either way if he asserted or denied the existence of God. Adi Sankaracharya  was not referring to Kapila's  original Sankhya, which was Vedantic. 


Vasubandhu, the Sarvastivadin turned Mahayani, used the terms like "Maya" also. The word Vyavaharika was also used by the Buddhists before Adi Sankaracharya.


Regards,
Sunil KB
_________________________________________________________________________________
Even the "Mimamsakas"say that "Iswara"is"Asiddha".That is wahy they give importance to the performance of "karma"
Buddha preached his concept in many ways to stress that this world is not eternal.He said,"Sarvam duhkkam,sarvam nissvabhavah,sarvam nairatmyam,Nirvanam shantham".
There is vast difference between the "Vyavaharika satyata'used by Adi Shankaracharya,and the way Buddhists use.The Buddhists donot use the word,"Vyavaharika satyatva",but use the word,"Kalpita samvrtti",which means mental construction.The Buddhists "Maya"is without substratum or adhara,for its appearance,where as,the "Maya'of the Advaitin is with the "substratum",or "saadhara".
 
In the Email quoted by SriSunil Bhattacharya,only the explanation on the word "Paratantra"was written by me,and not  the portion quoted by him.
N.Srikanta.
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