[Advaita-l] [advaitin] Re: avidya vs maayaa - What is the difference? - Part 4

[Bhaskar YR]

praNAms Sri Venktraghavan prabhuji
Hare Krishna

Since there is nothing personal in this.  I would like to see your general observation/ comments from the siddhAnta drushti (now a days I am getting this type of tendency very strongly in my mind, perhaps symptoms of jnana drushti ☺ Yesterday when I was watching the senseless debate by politician who has the prefix ‘mAya’ to her name  on demonetization  I was thinking, yes there is a meaning in equating mAyA with avidyA ☺

No worries at all - I'm not offended in any way. I was merely making a factual point that the inner workings of any mind are known only to the witness of that mind. Any specific comment made about anyone else's mind would not be based on directly perceived facts and hence speculative.


Ø     Yes, you are absolutely true.  What one thinks about oneself and what he thinks about other only he knows others can only guess or speculate.  It is because of this reason only abhAva rUpa avidyA is ekarUpa whereas adhyAsa is nAnAvidha as we have nAnA upAdhi / antaHkaraNa.  Not knowing the true nature of ours is common to one and all ajnAni-s whereas due to which what each and every jeeva thinks about himself and others is quite unique to himself.  I may see the sarpa in place of rope due to my pUrva saMskAra, some one else may think that it is just a crack on the floor due to his pUrva saMskAra of his cracked house ☺  and someone else a bhakta may see the same rope as nirmAlya hAra which he has offered to ishta devata yesterday ☺ Likewise, for all of us, stree, purusha, nadi, nada, thataaka, sthAvara, jaMgama etc. universally available for common perception whereas husband, wife, son, in-laws, poor, rich, intelligent, idiot are unique identification of individual.  This happens only due to eshaNa, kAma due to atasmin tadbuddhiH..  shankara explains this beautifully in adhyAsa bhAshya : yathA putra bhAryAdishu vikaleshu sakaleshu vA ahameva vikalaH sakalO vA iti bahyadharmAnAtmana adhyasyati…If my son sneezes due to cold I get head ache, if my wife coughs my heart beats fast, if someone  making a hole on the wall of MY HOUSE, I feel like as if they are making the hole in my heart ☺  is it not the phala of ahaMkAra and mamakAra is this not the avidyA ??  ☺

By the way, this is not relevant to shAstra (its more about personal sAdhana) so if you would like to continue the conversation on these lines, please mail me privately and I would be happy to respond where relevant.


Ø     Oh thanks for your offer prabhuji.  I shall keep this in mind.

Hari Hari Hari Bol!!!
bhaskar