[Advaita-l] Request for Review: 21 Foundational Axioms of Advaita Siddhānta

[Vikram Jagannathan]

Namaskaram,

Through His grace, and as part of my ongoing Vedānta mananam, I have been
pursuing a svādhyāya focused on a thorough analysis of Viśiṣṭādvaita’s
criticisms of Advaita, alongside identifying Advaita's robust defense
against these dialectical objections. As a prelude to this study, I have
attempted to formulate a concise set of 21 axiomatic statements that, in my
understanding, systematically capture the conceptual foundations of
Advaita-siddhānta.

The set is divided into two distinct levels:

   - *Level 1 - 3 Root Axioms:* These are the most basic and irreducible
   foundational propositions, constituting the fundamental basis of Advaita
   Siddhanta.
   - *Level 2 - 18 Explanatory Axioms:* These are intended as derivative or
   explanatory formulations that systematically unpack and extend the
   implications of those foundational propositions across core themes such as
   the ontology of Brahman, the mechanics of avidyā, epistemology, and mokṣa.


The purpose of this formulation is not merely summarization, but conceptual
testing: namely, to determine whether these 21 statements together yield a
framework that is internally coherent, doctrinally faithful, and
sufficiently precise to withstand major lines of criticism. My working
hypothesis is that many criticisms directed at Advaita arise from
ambiguity, incompleteness, or misunderstanding at the axiomatic level.
Accordingly, this effort seeks to identify whether a sufficiently clear and
rigorous foundational set can serve as a stable basis for subsequent
defense and analysis.

I would be deeply grateful if the members of this group would kindly review
these axioms and comment especially on the following points:

   - Their conceptual accuracy from the standpoint of Advaita-siddhānta
   - The extent to which the 18 explanatory axioms are valid derivations or
   expansions of the first 3
   - Whether any formulation is overstated, incomplete, imprecise,
   redundant, or potentially misleading
   - The grammatical correctness and appropriateness of the Sanskrit
   phrasing (samāsa, sandhi, syntax etc.)


I submit these formulations in a spirit of study and correction. Any
comments, objections, refinements, or corrections from the learned members
here would be sincerely valuable and gratefully received.

Many thanks in advance for your time and guidance.

Level 1: The Root Axioms

L1-1
ॐइत्येतत्प्रत्यगात्मा ब्रह्म; अभेदः।
oṃ ity etat pratyagātmā brahma; abhedaḥ.
Oṃ, this inner Self is Brahman; non-difference.

L1-2
अनाद्यध्यासोऽविद्यैव; अधिष्ठानज्ञानेन बाध्या।
anādy adhyāso'vidyaiva; adhiṣṭhāna-jñānena bādhyā.
Beginningless superimposition is avidyā itself; it is sublated by knowledge
of the substratum.

L1-3
त्रिपुटीप्रत्ययात्मकव्यवहारो मिथ्या; बाध्यत्वात्।
tripuṭī-pratyayātmaka-vyavahāro mithyā; bādhyatvāt.
Transactional existence, being of the nature of triadic cognition, is
mithyā; because of sublatability.

Level 2: Explanatory Axioms

Group 1: Ontology of Brahman

L2-1
परमार्थोऽभेदब्रह्म; व्यवहारस्त्रिपुटीप्रसिद्धः; तेन विरोधपरिहारः।
paramārtho'bheda-brahma; vyavahāras-tripuṭī-prasiddhaḥ; tena
virodha-parihāraḥ.
The ultimate is non-different Brahman; transaction is established through
the triad; thereby contradiction is resolved.

L2-2
अभेदवस्तु निर्विकारम्।
abheda-vastu nirvikāram.
The non-difference-entity is changeless.

L2-3
ब्रह्म स्वतःसिद्धं स्वयम्प्रकाशम्।
brahma svataḥ-siddhaṃ svayaṃprakāśam.
Brahman is self-established and self-luminous.

L2-4
कार्यं कारणादनन्यत्; नामरूपमात्रत्वात्।
kāryaṃ kāraṇād ananyat; nāma-rūpa-mātratvāt.
The effect is non-other than the cause; as it is merely name and form.

L2-5
व्यवहारे ब्रह्म विवर्तकारणम्; माया परिणामिनी।
vyavahāre brahma vivarta-kāraṇam; māyā pariṇāminī.
In Transactional existence, Brahman is the transfiguration-cause; māyā is
what undergoes transformation.

L2-6
जीवजगदीश्वरसत्ता ब्रह्माश्रया परतन्त्रा।
jīva-jagad-īśvara-sattā brahmāśrayā paratantrā.
The existential reality of jīva, world, and Īśvara is dependent, resting on
Brahman.

Group 2: Mechanics of Avidyā

L2-7
अविद्या भावरूपाप्यनिर्वचनीया; न द्रव्यम्; आश्रयवादो व्यवहारमात्रः।
avidyā bhāva-rūpa-apy anirvacanīyā; na dravyam; āśraya-vādo
vyavahāra-mātraḥ.
Avidyā, though of positive appearance, is indescribable; it is not a
substance; discussion about its locus is merely transactional.

L2-8
ज्ञातृकर्तृभोक्तृभावादिभेदप्रतीतिः सर्वाविद्याकृता।
jñātṛ-kartṛ-bhoktṛ-bhāvādi-bheda-pratītiḥ sarvāvidyā-kṛtā.
All appearance of difference, inclusive of the states of being a knower,
doer, and enjoyer, etc., is caused by avidyā.

L2-9
अविद्यावरणविक्षेपशक्तिद्वयात्मिका; सुषुप्तावावरणप्राधान्यं,
जाग्रत्स्वप्नयोर्विक्षेपात्मकोऽध्यासः।
avidyā-āvaraṇa-vikṣepa-śakti-dvayātmikā; suṣuptau āvaraṇa-prādhānyaṃ,
jāgrat-svapnayor-vikṣepātmako'dhyāsaḥ.
Avidyā consists of the dual powers of concealment and projection; in deep
sleep concealment is predominant, while in waking and dream superimposition
is of the nature of projection.

L2-10
जीवोऽविद्योपाधिविशिष्टब्रह्म; ईश्वरो मायोपाधिविशिष्टब्रह्म;
साक्षिचैतन्यमेकं सर्वत्र।
jīvo'vidyopādhi-viśiṣṭa-brahma; īśvaro māyopādhi-viśiṣṭa-brahma;
sākṣi-caitanyam ekaṃ sarvatra.
The jīva is Brahman qualified by the adjunct of avidyā; Īśvara is Brahman
qualified by the adjunct of māyā; witness-consciousness is one everywhere.

L2-11
मोक्षो बाधमात्रः; नोत्पत्तिः।
mokṣo bādha-mātraḥ; notpattiḥ.
Liberation is mere sublation; not a production.

L2-12
कर्मोपासनेऽन्तःकरणशुद्ध्यर्थम्; ज्ञानमेव बाधहेतुः।
karmopāsane'ntaḥkaraṇa-śuddhyartham; jñānam eva bādha-hetuḥ.
Action and upāsanā are for the purification of the inner-instrument;
knowledge alone is the cause of sublation.

Group 3: Epistemology and Liberation

L2-13
जीवन्मुक्तेः प्रारब्धप्रतीतिस्तिष्ठति; व्यवहारसत्यताबुद्धिर्न तिष्ठति।
jīvanmukteḥ prārabdha-pratītis tiṣṭhati; vyavahāra-satyatā-buddhir na
tiṣṭhati.
For the liberated while living, the appearance of prārabdha remains; belief
in the reality of transactional existence does not remain.

L2-14
अनिर्वचनीयत्वं न च त्रिकालाबाधितत्वं न च त्रिकालाभावत्वम्।
anirvacanīyatvaṃ na ca trikālābādhitatvaṃ na ca trikālābhāvatvam.
Indescribability is neither non-sublatability in all three times nor
non-existence in all three times.

L2-15
त्रिपुटीप्रमाणानि व्यवहारे प्रमाणानि; ब्रह्माप्रमेयम्।
tripuṭī-pramāṇāni vyavahāre pramāṇāni; brahmāprameyam.
Triadic means of knowledge are means in transactional existence; Brahman is
not an object of knowledge.

L2-16
उपदेशक्रमे आरोपः; सिद्धान्तेऽपवादः।
upadeśa-krame āropaḥ; siddhānte'pavādaḥ.
In the teaching-sequence there is superimposition; in the conclusion there
is rescission.

L2-17
श्रुतिवाक्यमभेदज्ञानजनकं त्रिपुटीबाधे पर्यवस्यति।
śruti-vākyam abheda-jñāna-janakaṃ tripuṭī-bādhe paryavasyati.
The sentence of śruti produces knowledge of non-difference and culminates
in the sublation of the triad.

L2-18
महावाक्येषूपाधित्यागेनैक्यबोधः।
mahāvākyeṣu upādhi-tyāgena aikya-bodhaḥ.
In the mahāvākyas, the knowledge of unity arises through the abandonment of
adjuncts.

prostrations,
Vikram