[Advaita-l] Shankara accepts Rama's 'ignorance' and its removal - Upadeśasāhasrī

[V Subrahmanian]

In the Tattvamasi chapter of the Upadeśasāhasrī we have:


US-P18.099ab   एवं विज्ञातवाक्यार्थे श्रुतिलोकप्रसिद्धितः ।
US-P18.099cd   श्रुतिस्तत् त्वमसीत्याह श्रोतुर्मोहापनुत्तये ॥
US-P18.100ab ब्रह्मा दाशरथेर्यद्वदुक्त्यैवापानुदत् तमः ।
US-P18.100cd तस्य विष्णुत्वसंबोधे न यत्नान्तरमूचिवान् ॥


99, 100. Just as Brahmâ removed the Ignorance' of the son of Daśaratha by
means of words only, but did not teach him any action in order that he
might know that he was Vishnu; so, in order that one's ignorance may be
removed the Śruti, teaches one 'Thou art That' when one has learnt the
meanings of the subordinate sentences according to the Śrutis and popular
word-meanings.

The statement of Brahmā addressed to Rāma is there in the Valmiki Ramayana.

Anyone wanting to read more may see these pages in Hindi-Sanskrit:

Hindi:
https://archive.org/details/UpadeshSahasriPt.GajananShastriMusalgaonkar/page/%E0%A5%A8%E0%A5%A7%E0%A5%AE/mode/2up


Sanskrit
https://archive.org/details/AVnY_upadesh-sahasri-with-pada-yojanika-of-rama-tirtha-1914-nirnaya-sagar-press/page/n265/mode/2up


The Ancient Advaitic text Sankshepa shariraka of Sarvajnatma Muni too has a
verse on the Rama-Brahma episode.

  The *Upadeśa Sāhasrī* is cited multiple times in the *Naiṣkarmya Siddhi*.
The author of the *Naiṣkarmya Siddhi*, Sureśvarācārya (a direct disciple of
Adi Shankara), explicitly quotes verses from the *Upadeśa Sāhasrī* to
validate his own teachings and establish authoritative support for his
arguments from a recognized source.

warm regards
subbu