[Advaita-l] Significance of Mula Avidya

[V Subrahmanian]

On Fri, Oct 27, 2017 at 5:52 PM, sreenivasa murthy via Advaita-l <
advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:

> Dear Friends,
>
>  I have afeeling that the  statement "The wrong knowledge did not arise
> through any pramana; it is not pramana janya." is not in tune with the
> mantra 2-5-19 of BruhadaraNyaka Upanishad and Sri Shankara's commentary to
> mantra 2-2-12 of Mundaka Upanishad. Sri Shankara writes : brahmaiva ukta
> lakShaNam idaM yat purastAt agrE abrhmEva avidyAdRuShTInAm
> pratyavaBasamAnam ||  Mantra 7-25-2 of Chandogya upanishad states thus:
> AtmaivEdagM sarvam || So the five senses which are the pramanas for the
> knowledge of the external objects are the manifestation of Atman Only.
>    From the above statements it becomes clear that the knowledge based
> upon the data furnished by the senses are nothing but avidya.  Hence the
> the conclusions drawn  by the mind based upon the data  furnished by the
> senses is avidya and it is laukikapramANajanitaM.
>
>    Sir Arthur Eddington , an eminent Physycist, gave a series of lectures
> in the Cambridge University and they were published in a book form titled "
> The Nature Of the Physical World".I request the learned members to read the
> First lecture in that book. Really it is an eye opener. The  book is
> available on the web.
>
>  With respectful namaskars,Sreenivasa Murthy.
>

Dear Sir,

What you say above is correct from the ultimate standpoint. Shankara has
said in the Adhyasa bhashya that all pramana prameya vayavahara is in the
realm of avidya. However, in vyavahara we do make a distinction between
prama and bhrama. The former is right knowledge, the one that arises due to
a proper pramana being activated as for example, when the eye comprehends a
form. The latter, bhrama, is wrong knowledge or misapprehension, when the
appropriate pramana, instrument, has not generated the knowledge. The
example is: a man imagines a snake in the place of a rope. He has no doubt
contacted a thing there but understood it to be something else. Here the
eye, the pramana, has been unsuccessful in generating the right knowledge.
The reasons could be defective eye, poor or inadequate conditions to
generate the right knowledge etc. So, the prama-bhrama distinction in
vyavahara is there that everyone follows.

regards
subbu

>
>
>
>       From: V Subrahmanian via Advaita-l <advaita-l at lists.advaita-
> vedanta.org>
>  To: A discussion group for Advaita Vedanta <advaita-l at lists.advaita-
> vedanta.org>
> Cc: V Subrahmanian <v.subrahmanian at gmail.com>
>  Sent: Friday, 27 October 2017 11:43 AM
>  Subject: Re: [Advaita-l] Significance of Mula Avidya
>
> On Fri, Oct 27, 2017 at 10:51 AM, Ravi Kiran via Advaita-l <
> advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:
>
> > On Fri, Oct 27, 2017 at 12:10 AM, V Subrahmanian via Advaita-l <
> > advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:
> >
> > > The Vedanta teaches that knowledge dispels ignorance. Hence, to be
> > > dispelled, such an avidyā has to be an existent, positive, bhāvarūpa.
> >  If
> > > such ignorance is not admitted to be bhāvarūpa, knowledge cannot dispel
> > > anything.
> >
> >
> > In rajju-sarpa or shell-silver bhrama, if sarpa jnAna (in rajju) or
> rajata
> > jnAna (in shell) is accepted as positive bhAvarUpa vastu, how can arising
> > of rajju jnAna or shell jnAna later, dispel the ajnAna vastu, as jnAna is
> > vastu-tantra and not kartru-tantra or kAraka ?
> >
>
> Right knowledge dispels wrong knowledge. When the wrong knowledge 'this is
> a snake' is dispelled, there ceases the (wrong) perception of the snake.
> The person gets the right knowledge, which no doubt is vastu tantra: he has
> known the vastu. rope, there, through the right pramana. The wrong
> knowledge did not arise through any pramana; it is not pramana janya.
>
>
>
> >
> >
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