[Advaita-l] Debunking Drishti-Srishti Vada and Eka Jiva Vada - part 1

[V Subrahmanian]

On Thu, Jul 20, 2017 at 1:31 PM, Anand Hudli via Advaita-l <
advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:

> Furthermore, in the anubhUtiprakAsha, vidyAraNya uses the term "coradvAra"
> (coramArga) or shortcut to refer to DSV. This implies there is a longer
> route, the rAjamArga so to speak, without which a shortcut does not make
> sense. Please see:
>
> http://lists.advaita-vedanta.org/archives/advaita-l/2016-May/041351.html
>
> SDV, DSV, etc are prakriyAs for attaining the same result, and hence no
> prakriyA is exclusive in nature nor meant for all people.


Dear Anand ji,

What you say above that the prakriya-s are not exclusive in nature is quite
reasonable.

Swami Paramarthananda ji hadarticulated a well-known point in a crisp
manner:  Karma/bhakti yoga is incomplete without Jnana yoga. And Jnana yoga
is impossible without the earlier practice of karma/bhakti yoga.

I wish to cite some verses in the Advaita tradition to draw a similarity:

We have the famous verse:

Amalaananda in his Bhāmatīkalpataru has said:

निर्विशेषं परं ब्रह्म साक्षात्कर्तुमनीश्वराः ।
ये मन्दास्तेऽनुकम्प्यन्ते सविशेषनिरूपणैः ।
वशीकृते मनस्तेषां सगुणब्रह्मशीलनात् ।
तदेवाविर्भवेत्साक्षादपेतोपाधिकल्पनम् ॥

This verse is so famous that I have found that non-advaitins too are
familiar with it.

The scripture, out of compassion, prescribes saguṇa brahma upāsana for
those who are 'manda', incapable of realizing the nirguna brahman. When
they have tamed their mind by saguna brahma worship, etc. then the
realization of nirguna brahman is only a matter of happening.

In the Ratnaprabha commentary for the BSB 2.1.14 (आरम्भणाधिकरणम्), a verse
is cited, which I think is of Amalananda or the Sankshepashariraka:

कृपणधीः परिणाममुदीक्षते क्षयितकल्मषधीस्तु विवर्तताम्  (source not
provided). [‘The unprepared aspirant understands only the ‘creation,
transformation’ scheme whereas the one who has purified his mind of all
dross is able to appreciate the ‘transfiguration’ vivarta, of Atman/Brahman
as appearing as the world and jIva-s.’]

There is the yet another famous verse of the Sankshepashariraka 2.61:

विवर्तवादस्य पूर्वभूमिः वेदान्तवादे परिणामवादः ।
व्यवस्थितेऽस्मिन् परिणामवादे स्वयं समायाति विवर्तवादः ॥


[The doctrine of transformation (sAnkhya) is the one that just precedes the
doctrine of transfiguration (vivarta) of the Vedanta.  Once the former is
well grasped, the latter falls in place by itself.]

On the lines of these analogies I think it would be proper to say that the
SDV would be incomplete in some sense or the other, without the core
aspects of the DSV. And the DSV would be impossible to attain for someone
who has not passed through the SDV earlier.

We have accepted in the Vedanta tradition that for an uttamādhikārin the
mere shravana of the mahavakya is sufficient for attaining liberation.
However, it is also accepted that this adhikārin is someone who has put in
sufficient efforts in his previous births to now attain this status.
Similarly for someone to be genuinely attracted by the DSV (that is
admitted as the pre-eminent position of the Vedanta ) and its practice, he
should have prepared himself by first having practiced the core aspects of
SDV.

That way, instead of pitching the two prakriya-s as one vs. the other, it
would be beneficial,reasonable and realistic to see them as having
parasparāpekṣā, paurvāparyakrameṇa. One evolves into the other.

Another famous verse, thought to be of Sureshwaracharya:

यया यया भवेत् पुंसां व्युत्पत्तिः प्रत्यगात्मनि । सा सैव प्रक्रियेह स्यात्
साध्वी सा चानवस्थिता ॥

Since the aspirants' make-up can be varied, whichever method that serves
one's avowed purpose, is good enough. After all, *the proof of the pudding
is in the eating*  ['The real value of something can be judged only from
practical experience or results and not from appearance or theory.']
https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/the_proof_of_the_pudding_is_in_the_eating


warm regards
subbu



> I agree advanced sAdhakas and even jIvanmuktas may find DSV suitable to
> view the world.
>
> Anand
>
> On Thu, Jul 20, 2017 at 12:49 PM, Anand Hudli <anandhudli at hotmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> > For those who feel inclined to SDV the "tattvamasi" upadesha, with the
> > usual jahadajahallakShaNa directly leads to brahmajnAna. Here the
> "tat"pada
> > represents the upahita caitanya, not the shuddha caitanya as implied by
> > "satyaM jnAnam anantaM brahma". For those inclined to DSV/EJV the
> > "tattvamasi" upadesha directly leads to brahmajnAna. However, here the
> > "tat"pada is the anupahita caitanya or shuddha caitanya. The
> > jahadajahallakShaNa is applied only to the "tvam" pada.
> >
> > I had written earlier about this: http://lists.advaita-
> > vedanta.org/archives/advaita-l/2016-May/041400.html
> >
> > So it depends on what one is prepared to accept for the "tat"pada -
> > whether "tat" represents Ishvara with all His attributes such as
> > sarveshitva, sarvajnatva, sarvavyapitva,sarvAntaryAmitva,
> > sarvaniyAmakatva, etc or the shuddhacaitanya- and what one is prepared to
> > accept for the "tvam"pada - a jIva with alpajnatva, etc. or the lone jIva
> > who is responsible for all sRShTi through dRShTi. Strange as it  may
> seem,
> > it is possible to have a view with Ishvara and just one jIva. Advanced
> > upAsakas, for example, may see God everywhere, including in other people
> > and animals. There will be no other jIvas but just the upAsaka and God.
> The
> > upAsaka may or may not be willing to accept Ishvara as the jIva's
> creation
> > as in DSV/EJV. If he is not willing to do so, he may subscribe to the
> view
> > of Ishvara-sRShTi. PrakAshAnanda, the author of the well known work on
> DSV,
> > VedAntasiddhAntamuktAvali  was said to have been an upAsaka in the
> tantric
> > mode of worship. Many other advaitins, such as appayya dIkShita,
> > madhusUdanasarasvatI, and several Sringeri lineage AchAryas were/are
> ardent
> > upAsakas of forms of Ishvara.
> >
> > Anand
> >
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