[Advaita-l] Caricature of Advaita, Shankaracharya, etc. by the Gaudiya head

[V Subrahmanian]

On Mon, Oct 17, 2022 at 10:06 PM V Subrahmanian <v.subrahmanian at gmail.com>
wrote:

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> https://harekrishnarevolution.wordpress.com/2017/10/25/what-is-mayavada-philosophy/
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//The Māyāvāda philosophy confirms this. *Daṇḍa-grahaṇa-mātreṇa naro
nārāyaṇo bhavet*: “Simply by accepting the *daṇḍa* of the order of
sannyāsa, one is immediately transformed into Nārāyaṇa.” Therefore Māyāvādī
*sannyāsīs* address one another by saying *oṁ namo nārāyaṇāya*. In this way
one Nārāyaṇa worships another Nārāyaṇa.
Actually an ordinary human being cannot become Nārāyaṇa. //

This is a misconception and misrepresentation of Advaita. The contemplation
prescribed for a sannyasin who has not yet realised Truth is not that he is
saguna Narayana. On the other hand it is the contemplation of the nirguna
Narayana.  Says the Vivekachoodamani:

नारायणोऽहं नरकान्तकोऽहंपुरान्तकोऽहं पुरुषोऽहमीशः ।
अखण्डबोधोऽहमशेषसाक्षीनिरीश्वरोऽहं निरहं च निर्ममः ॥ ४९५ ॥

 I am Narayana, the slayer of Naraka; I am the destroyer of Tripura, the
Supreme Being, the Ruler; I am knowledge Absolute, the Witness of
everything; I have no other Ruler but myself, I am devoid of the ideas of
"I' and "mine".

Here 'naraka-asura' signifies Avidya, the root cause for the hellish
samsara.  And 'Tripura' signifies the Triad of States: waking, etc. The
second line says it all: I am the Infinite Pure Consciousness, not subject
to any other being, free of ego and mine-ness.  Incidentally the worse also
brings out the Hari Hara abheda concept that a vaidika Sannyasi takes into
account.

regards
subbu