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

[V Subrahmanian]

On Sep 24, 2016 3:15 PM, "Praveen R. Bhat via Advaita-l" <
advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:
>
> Namaste Raviji,
>
>
>
> There is NO difference whatsoever in brahman before creation and after
> creation. The creation stories should not be taken as idam ittham. They
are
> adhyAropa to explain the world that we perceive. If you go ahead and still
> differentiate in brahman prior to creation and that after creation, you
> will have to explain where from this creation cropped up? You will surely
> have to answer that it indeed came from Ishvara, who is nothing but
brahman
> with mAyA upAdhi. Then where was mAyA? Was it different from brahman in
> which case advaita will become dvaita, or is it same as brahman in which
> case brahman will not remain pure. Sureshvaracharya says that this mAyA/
> avidyA rests in brahman itself, without affecting it in Naishkarmyasiddhi
> (NS). Some may differentiate between terminologies of avidyA and mAyA, but
> with the principle of Occam's razor, if you just see mAyA as that
universal
> avidyA, it has to have its locus in sat padArtha brahman itself. If you
> differentiate between both and say Maya is shakti of brahman and avidyA is
> seen in individuals, where would this individual avidyA have its locus?
> Mind you, there is nothing other than brahman. jIva is brahman, (unless
you
> think jIva has an anAtmA component like some do).


This is in tune with what the Bhāṣyakāra argues in BUB 1.4.10:


How can there be avidya for Brahman?


Yes; it can't be. Yet we do not see any sentient entity other than Brahman.
Hence it is quite alright to have Brahman as the one endowed with avidyā,
now dispels it by vidyā and attains its native sarvātmabhāva.


regards

vs


ter at advaita-vedanta.org <listmaster at advaita-vedanta.org>