[Advaita-l] [advaitin] Does the Vivarana argument lead to an existent avidya? SSSS's comment

[Murali Krishna Mudigonda]

The statement "Śaṅkara nowhere teaches a third ontological category" is
technically true but misses the point. Vivaraṇa does not teach a third
ultimate category. It teaches that within the empirical reality of
vyavahāra, which Śaṅkara himself utilizes, avidyā functions as if it were a
positive entity—a necessary postulate to make sense of the journey from
ignorance to knowledge, from bondage to liberation, exactly as Śaṅkara
intended.

Murali

On Sun, 7 Dec, 2025, 8:28 pm Sudhanshu Shekhar via Advaita-l, <
advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:

> Namaste Michael ji.
>
> These are strong arguments based on our stipulated textual criteria.
> > Ignoring them doesn't refute them and should cause doubt about one's
> > ability to refute them.
> >
>
> I agree that ignoring them does not refute them. But there is an
> alternative method to get the response since I am not interested in
> responding to cut and paste of AI response, even if you take ownership of
> that.
>
> The alternative method is this - you ask AI to present a refutation of your
> response as per VivaraNa. You may get enough material to counter question
> that. And then, if you like, you can ask for a refutation of that as per
> SSSS ji. And thereafter, you can ask for refutation as per VivaraNa. This
> can go on *ad infinitum*.
>
> It is disrespectful to cut and paste an AI response to a human response
> which has been provided out of love, respect and concern.
>
> Regards.
> Sudhanshu Shekhar.
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