[Advaita-l] [advaitin] Prahlada's Advaitic realization - Vishnu Purana

[Sudhanshu Shekhar]

Hare Krishna Bhaskar prabhu ji.

> Just curious to know how uttama adhikAri-s of Advaita sAdhana would
> explain this advaitic realization of bhakta-s like prahlAda, rAmakrishna
> parama haMsa, hanuman etc. coz. for them Ishwara is just a by-product of
> thick and dense avidyA in jeeva and there is NO Ishwara at all in Advaita
> paramArtha jnAna!!  It can be noted that as per uttama adhikAri-s of
> Advaita,  it is not just Ishwara jeeva abedha, it is total denial of
> Ishwaraastitva as it is just jeeva’s avidyAkruta product!!
>
You did not pay attention to the crucial part of the siddhānta of
eka-jīva-vāda which says that there have been no jñānīs ever.

All such references which include mukti, bhakti etc are arthavāda and
intended for the eulogy of Brahma-vidyā.

When one discards the entire seen as a dream, these questions are answered
easily.

Māṇḍūkyakārikā may be referred to where all the jīvās seen now are equated
to jīvās seen in dream.

And it should not be dismissed that these are from paramārtha. The
following statement by Āchārya may be paid special attention:

व्यवहारसत्यविषये जीवानां जन्ममरणादिः स्वप्नादिजीववदित्युक्तम् । उत्तमं तु
परमार्थसत्यं न कश्चिज्जायते जीव इति ।

So, it is the so called vyāvahārika jīvās which are equated with
dream-jīvās. Now, we know that there are no other jīvās in dream other than
me. Rest should be clear.

Also see the following:

जाग्रतो दृश्या जीवाः तच्चित्ताव्यतिरिक्ताः, चित्तेक्षणीयत्वात् ,
स्वप्नदृक्चित्तेक्षणीयजीववत् । [4.66]

The jīvās seen in waking are non-different from citta, on account of being
seen by citta, like the jīvās seen by citta-of-swapna-dr̥k.

न हि स्वप्ने हस्ती हस्तिचित्तं वा विद्यते ; तथा इहापि
विवेकिनामित्यभिप्रायः। [4.67]

In a dream, there exists neither the elephant nor the citta-of-elephant.
Similarly, here also is the case for people with discrimination. This is
the purport.

यथा स्वप्नमयो जीवो जायते म्रियतेऽपि च ।तथा जीवा अमी सर्वे भवन्ति न भवन्ति च
॥ [4.68]

Just as jīvās in a dream take birth and also die, similarly all these jīvās
(in waking) appear and disappear.

यथा मायामयो जीवो जायते म्रियतेऽपि च । तथा जीवा अमी सर्वे भवन्ति न भवन्ति च
॥ [4.69]

Just as jīvās conjured by magic take birth and also die, similarly all
these jīvās (in waking) appear and disappear.

यथा निर्मितको जीवो जायते म्रियतेऽपि च । तथा जीवा अमी सर्वे भवन्ति न भवन्ति
च ॥ [4.70]

Just as jīvās conjured by medicines and charms take birth and also die,
similarly all these jīvās (in waking) appear and disappear.

मायामयः मायाविना यः कृतो निर्मितकः मन्त्रौषध्यादिभिर्निष्पादितः ।
स्वप्नमायानिर्मितका अण्डजादयो जीवा यथा जायन्ते म्रियन्ते च, तथा
मनुष्यादिलक्षणा अविद्यमाना एव चित्तविकल्पनामात्रा इत्यर्थः ॥ [4.70]

Māyāmayaḥ (of 4.69) means that which is created by a magician. Nirmitakaḥ
(of 4.70) means that which is created by mantra and medicine. Such jīvās
created by dream, magic, medicine or charms, born of eggs etc take birth
and die. Similarly, these jīvās such as humans etc are non-existent and are
merely the vibrations of mind.

न कश्चिज्जायते जीवः सम्भवोऽस्य न विद्यते । एतत्तदुत्तमं सत्यं यत्र
किञ्चिन्न जायते ॥ [4.71]

No jīva whatsoever is ever born. There is no source of it. This is that
highest truth where nothing whatsoever is born.

व्यवहारसत्यविषये जीवानां जन्ममरणादिः स्वप्नादिजीववदित्युक्तम् । उत्तमं तु
परमार्थसत्यं न कश्चिज्जायते जीव इति । उक्तार्थमन्यत् ॥ [4.71]

The birth and death etc of (waking) jīvās was stated to be like the birth
and death of jīvās created by dream-magic-medicine. That was stated only
within the ambit of vyāvahārika-satya. The highest pāramārthika-satya is
this alone that no jīva whatsoever is born.

Regards.
Sudhanshu Shekhar.