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

[kuntimaddi sadananda]

Shree Venkatesh Murthyji - PraNAms
All these questions can be answered simply by analyzing the problem more carefully in terms of the associated corollaries. 

1. Samashti vaaasanas belong to samashti only. If I am born in a family because of my vaasanaas, the parents have their vaasanas, the siblings have their vaasanaas and the midwifes have their's. They are together form samashTi - is it not? - vyashTi vaasanaas diverging at individual level and collectively framing the result or environment conducive to those samashTi and vyaShTi vaasanaas. 

2.SamashTi vaasaanas together forms the maaya shakti that is the topic of the discussion in the title. Avidya from the point of vyashTi and maaya from the point of samashTi - only name change since the individual avidya is eliminated by jnaanam at the individual level. If Devadatta realizes his father or son, yagnadatta does not realize. However Devadatta's realization will have bearing on them depending on their vyashTi vaasanas. Ramana Maharshi's mother and Brother got involved later as the story goes. 

3. Iswara's role is clear - he handles the samashti while vyashTi vaasanaas gets appropriately accounted at individual level. I think Shankara defines this clearly in the statement that he defines Iswara -  ... abhinna nimitaa upaadana kaarana... I do not remember the rest of the lines before and after. 

4. When He creates a particular loka and jiivas who have to occupy that loka with appropriate BMI's, which are different from those in other lokas - He is accounting both samashTi and vyaShTi's too that pertain to that Loka. 

5. God himself become many - bahushyaam - prajaayeyeti - on what basis? All this discussion in this thread - I am sure as I have not studied them - should have pointed out that maaya and avidya are two sides of the same coin- one from samashTi and the other from vyashti. 

Everything fits in if one properly analyzes. There is nothing new in this. 

With this I stop.
Hari Om!Sadananda
.


    From: Venkatesh Murthy <vmurthy36 at gmail.com>


I like the explanation but there will be more questions. If there are
Samashti Vaasanaas who will have them? If it is God it will not depend
on Jnani or Ajnani. God can make even Ajnani do His work. Why only
Jnani? Like Krishna made Bhima, Arjuna, Abhimanyu, Ghatotkacha and
others do His work. They were not Jnanis.

There will be exceptional Jnanis like Govindapada living in a cave and
not coming out. What will Samashti Vaasanaa do then? Jnanis living in
cave alone will not have Samashti and Vyashti Vaasanaas both. They
will not do any God's work and die as Jeevanmuktas. Nobody even will
know them.