[Advaita-l] Nyayasudha Objections 1

[Venkatraghavan S]

The advaita position is that bheda vAkyas in the shruti are not to be taken
as pramANa for bhedatvam.

1) For any means of knowledge to be a pramANa, it has to reveal things that
are not previously known. That there is bhedA is well known through
everyday experience. One does not need the vedA to tell us that fire is
hot, it is knowable via pratyaksha. Similarly we experience bhedA everyday,
and therefore we don't need the vedA to tell us that bhedA is satyam.

2) Further, if vedA was a pramANa to reveal bhedatvam, then those cultures
that did not have vedA, would all be advaitins, as they would have no means
of knowing that bhedA is there. That is clearly not the case, every culture
around the world only talks about bhedA.

Therefore vedA's tAtparyam cannot be bhedA. However, there is no other
means to know about abhedatvam other than shruti. Hence vedA's pramANatvam
is only possible when abhedA vAkyAs are taken as pramANam.

Your second point about vAchyatva of padas needed for a vAkya to be
arthavAda is irrelevant. We are not saying abheda vAkyas  are arthavAda. It
is abheda vAkya that have padAs referring to an avAchya brahman. Bheda
vAkyas have padAs that have vAchyatva, so by your own rule, they can be
arthavAda.

Regards,
Venkatraghavan
On 11 Mar 2016 5:23 p.m., "Srinath Vedagarbha via Advaita-l" <
advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:

> On Sat, Mar 5, 2016 at 10:39 AM, Anand Hudli via Advaita-l <
> advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:
>
> > >Then other set of vAkyas has to forego and thereby step into shrutahAna
> > >territory!
> > >That's fine, buy again, what happens to other set of vAkya-s?
> >
> > The topic of Bheda-shrutis vis a vis the abheda-shrutis is discussed in
> > detail in the advaitasiddhi. Suffice it to say that, one solution is to
> > accept Bheda-shrutis, those vAkyas of the shruti that seem to deal with
> > duality, as describing vyAvahArika bheda, since there cannot be be any
> > bheda at the pAramArthika level.
>
>
> This exactly is what dvaitins do not agree. Bheda or no bhEda at the
> ultimate level has to come only after doing samanvya of both type of
> vAkya-s as these vAkyas are our starting point. Instead what's been done is
> we decide the hEtu first that "since there cannot be be any bheda at the
> pAramArthika level" type and then using this kind of hEtu one is explaining
> away bhEda vAkyas as arthavAda.
>
>
>
>
> > Bheda shrutis play a role similar to the
> > role played by arthavAdas in the context of a vidhi, vide mImAMsA sUtra -
> > vidhinA tu ekavAkyatvAt stutyarthatvena vidhInAM syuH, 1.2.7. Just as
> > arthavAda vAkyas are not independent pramANas but do help by supporting
> and
> > commending the enjoined act (vidhi), bheda-shrutis too serve the purpose
> > of supporting the abheda-shrutis. Taken independently, they are not
> > pramANas for revealing Brahman. Hence, there is no shrutahani.
> >
>
> arthavAda is one of tAtparya linga-s, and can be applied only when
> vAchyatva of pada-s in vAkhya is accepted. It cannot be done so in the paxa
> where all pada-s are considered as lakShya only.
>
> /sv
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