[Advaita-l] Brahmakara vritti refuted

[Michael Chandra Cohen]

Namaste Sudhanshuji

//The verse is MANDUkya 2.36 and not 2.39.// Yes, my error - glad you
caught it

//I am afraid SSSS ji has missed the point. While the existence and
consciousness aspect of Self are indeed evident, what is covered is the
Brahma-swarUpatA. That means, the infinite bliss hood of Self is covered.//
What is this covered 'bliss-hood' that you are reifying as an identifiable,
attainable, distinct quality of Brahman when all the texts tell these
attributes are only imagined in this way for purposes of instruction.
Consider the many vakyas that deny positive terms related to the Absolute
Subject Self: He knows, and there is no knower of Him' (3vet.Ill.19), 'You
cannot kno» the knower of knowing' (B^had. III.iv.2), 'That from which
words fall back without attaining access, together with the mind'
(Taitt.II.9), 'It is not born, neither does it die' (Kafha I.ii.18),
'Though really unborn, it appears as if born in many different forms'
(White Yajurveda xxxi.l9)_

//This is because the Ananda-swarUpa of Brahman is covered by ajnAna.
That covering can be removed only through BrahmAkArA-vritti.That covering
can be removed only through BrahmAkArA-vritti//
 I do not believe you can find reference to Brahmakaravritti in PTB. Nor,
any conversation depicting Ananda as you state - hidden unlike Sat and
Chit. So too with the notion of cover/avarana - a wrong notion covers truth
- taking a snake for a rope is a kind of covering. It is not however some
positive entity that has the power to delude, project and cover the
almighty.

//SSSS ji missed the non-illumination of Brahma-swarUpa which cannot be
explained unless a covering is accepted.//
Swamiji has written hundreds of books in multiple languages systematically
and meticulously refuting the notion of any kind of cover of the ever
resplendent, self-evident, Brahman completely in turn with PTB.  The
vivarana of Brahman is the speculation of later Vedanta only.

enough said....


On Sun, Feb 2, 2025 at 2:25 PM Michael Chandra Cohen <
michaelchandra108 at gmail.com> wrote:

> Namaste Raghav,
>
> //The vRtti nominally called brahmAkAra vRtti entails no phala vyApti,
> there
> is only vRtti-vyApti.//
> I don't believe you can find proper reference in
> Prasthanatraya Bhasa citing Brahmakara Vritti, .It, along with the notions
> of vritti vyapti and phala vyapti are inventions of later Vedanta, not
> Bhasyakara. The idea of separated functions relies on the false and
> unnecessary assumption of an avarana shakti covering that must be removed -
> thus, mulavidya. Instead, it is a matter of simply removing false, doubtful
> notions about an object. Consciousness pervades the object whether it is
> known or not known. As Kulkarni notes, the real nature of the Self pervades
> the Vrittis ( pratyaya ), not the vrittis pervade the Self"
>
> And we find Sankara in MaK3.33 saying, "The Knowers of Brahman describe
> knowledge, *i.e.,* the mere essence of thought, which is unborn and free
> from all imaginations as1 non-different from Brahman, the ultimate
> Reality, which is also the object of knowledge. This is supported by such
> Scriptural passages as, “Like heat from fire, knowledge (*Jñānam*) is
> never absent from the knower (*Ātman*),”"
>
> Kindly take a look at Kulkarni here - just a couple of pages:
> http://www.adhyatmaprakasha.org/php/bookreader/templates/book.php?type=english&book_id=048&pagenum=0000d#page/37/mode/1up
>
> Regards, Michael
>
>
>
> On Sun, Feb 2, 2025 at 10:14 AM Raghav Kumar Dwivedula via Advaita-l <
> advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:
>
>> Namaste Michael ji
>> It is well-known in vedAnta sAmpradAya that Brahman is never objectified
>> by
>> a vRtti, being the svarUpa of the subject, the viShayin himself.
>>
>> The vRtti nominally called brahmAkAra vRtti entails no phala vyApti, there
>> is only vRtti-vyApti.
>>
>> I request you to kindly refer this key fact of absence (or superfluity) of
>> phala vyApti,  due to which, although there is vRtti required for jnAna,
>> still it does not amount to any objectification of Brahman.
>>
>> So, I am afraid,  SSSS ideas on brahmAkAra vRtti don't have any relevance
>> to the way brahmAkAra vRtti is understood in the tradition.
>>
>> However his refutation may perhaps apply to other mImAmsakas who believe
>> in
>> an upAsanA type of a repeated creative visualization, a type of adhyAsa
>> upAsanA,  " I am Brahman."
>>
>> Vedanta knows better. brahmAkAra-vRtti is pramANa-prAptA and that too
>> without phala vyApti.
>>
>> I am Brahman. Not "I know Brahman". SSSS does not seem to understand the
>> absence of phala vyApti idea.
>>
>> Om
>>
>>
>> On Sun, 2 Feb, 2025, 4:30 pm Michael Chandra Cohen via Advaita-l, <
>> advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:
>>
>> > "Therefore, having known this (tasmād evaṁ viditvā), one should direct
>> > memory (smṛtim yojayet) towards the non-dual (advaita)." Mandukya Karika
>> > 2.39
>> >
>> > HH SSS Vivrti:
>> > There is no need for acquiring an awareness-modification (vṛtti-lābhaḥ)
>> of
>> > the Self (ātman) for its knowledge (vedanam). For, in the case of the
>> Self
>> > (ātman), which is already self-evident (sva-yam-prasiddhaḥ), knowledge
>> > (vedanam) does not require the generation of an awareness-modification
>> > (vṛtti-sampādana) related to its object (viṣaya). Even though the Self
>> > (ātman) is directly present, immediately evident (avyavahitaḥ), and the
>> > very essence of the inquirer (jijñāsuḥ-svarūpa-bhūtaḥ), yet, due to the
>> > superimposition of name and form (nāma-rūpa-viśeṣa) imagined by
>> ignorance
>> > (avidyā-kalpitaḥ):
>> > (1) To those whose intellect is deluded (hṛta-buddhi), it appears as if
>> > unknown.
>> > (2) It seems as if separated from itself due to the obstruction caused
>> by
>> > duality (dvaita-bhāva-vyavahita-iva).
>> > (3) It appears as if something distinct from oneself (sva-smāt anya
>> iva).
>> > Thus, the false cognition of the reality of duality
>> > (dvaita-bhāva-satyatva-buddhiḥ) alone is what must be eliminated
>> > (nivartayitavyā), not an effort made towards the cognition of the Self
>> > (ātma-vedane
>> > yatnaḥ kartavyaḥ).
>> >
>> > from HH SSS, Mandukya Rahasya Vivṛtti (MRV2-38), Pages 390-258 Chatgpt
>> > Translation
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