[Advaita-l] What is the difference between Maya and avidhya ?T

[Ravi Kiran]

Thanks for this information, Raghav Ji

Interesting read ..

On Fri, Sep 23, 2016 at 3:45 PM, Raghav Kumar <raghavkumar00 at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Namaste
> Maybe this is useful. Link of Sri Subrahmanianji post given at the end.
>
> avidyA is upAdAna kAraNa while brahman reflected in avidyA ( triguNAtmikA
> mAyA) is the nimitta kAraNam.
>
> Quote starts here -
> "In the bhashyam for the Brahma Sutra 1.1.5 ईक्षतेः न अशब्दम् we have an
> interesting question-answer:
>
> Brahman 'saw/deliberated/desired' and therefore we conclude that It is
> chetana vastu.
>
> Now, this Brahman is the subject, ईक्षणकर्ता. What is the object, karma,
> that is 'seen' by the kartA Brahman?
>
> Says the bhashyam: किं पुनः तत्कर्म, यत्प्रागुत्पत्तेः ईश्वरज्ञानस्य विषयो
> भवति ? इति । What is the object, karma, that is 'seen' by the kartA
> Brahman, prior to creation? तत्त्वान्यत्वाभ्यां अनिर्वचनीये नामरूपे
> अव्याकृते व्याचिकीर्षते इति ब्रूमः ।
> //Name and form, we reply, which can be defined neither as being identical
> with Brahman nor as different from it, unevolved but about to be evolved.//
>


> This 'object' vishaya, for Brahman, the kartA, prior to creation, is:
> avidyA/mAyA/mUlAvidyA.
>

1) If this is admitted prior to creation, how it is reconciled with -

nitya-shuddha-buddha-mukta Brahma svarUpa, as in

Sruti vAkya - sad eva, saumya, idam agra AsId ekam evAdvitIyam - In the
beginning, .. there was **existence alone** ?

2) can we know the source of this interpretation of bhAshya  ( अनिर्वचनीये
नामरूपे अव्याकृते) as mUlAvidyA and its definition as upAdAna kArana, bhAva
rUpa (Ashrita in Brahman) ?

It is with this basic material that Ishwara/Brahman creates the world which
> is the manifest form of the unmanifest. Thus, in the analysis done by
> Shankaracharya, we have a neat subject-object-predicate tool involved. The
> subject is: Brahman. The Object: is the avyaktaa/maayaa/avidyaa/
> mUlAvidyA/unmanifest/shakti/beeja-shakti. The predicate: is the
> ईक्षणक्रिया the act of 'seeing/deliberating/desiring'. It is this
> predicate that became the vital ground for the Vedantin to refute the
> saankhyan proposition and clinch the issue in favour of the Brahman of the
> Upanishads. And that clinching reasoning is: BECAUSE 'seeing' can be a
> property of only a sentient being. Now, four important corollaries stem
> from the above Bhashyam: 1. Shankara teaches that there is a विषय-विषयि
> realtionship between avidyA and Brahman. 2. Avidya is the viShaya and
> Brahman, the viShayI. Therefore, the viShaya, AvidyA/ajnAna/mAya has to be
> a bhavarUpa vastu. 3. This bhAvarUpa avidyA is the upAdaana kAraNam for the
> world. It is with this shakti Brahman becomes the Creator. 4. This
> bhAvarUpa avidyA is viShaya for Brahman 'before' creation. In other words,
> prior to adhyAsa, there is a cause and this cause is avidyA."
>
> http://www.advaita-vedanta.org/archives/advaita-l/2010-March/024077.html
>