sribhashya-mahasiddhantha-pramananuppatthi

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4.Pramana anupapatthi.

 

Scriptures do not prove avidhya

 

Advaitin quotes the text 'anrthena hi prthyoodAh,(chan.8-3-2) these

which are true are covered by what is untrue,' to prove the existence of

avidhya . But Ramanuja refutes the view that the word anrtha means what

is unreal or undefinable, that is avidhya. He says that the word only

denotes what is opposite of rtha which means such actions which are done

to attain the supreme, without a desire for fruit. This is made clear

by the text 'rtham pibanthou sukrthasyalokE, two enjoyers of the

inevitable results of work,'(katO. 1-3-1) and hence the opposite karma

which results in samsara is anrtham,

'rtham-karmaphalAbhisanDhirahithamparamapurusha aradhanavesham

thathprapthiphalam; athra thadvyathiriktham samsarika phalam anrtham,

brahmaprapthivirodhi.' This is the meaning of the chandogya text

quoted, says Ramanuja, viz.'sarvAh prajAh aharahrgacchanthyah Etham

brahmalokam na vindhanthi anrthEna hi prathyoodAh, all these beings

here, though they go daily into the world of brahman,(brahman in the

form of the world) yet do not find Him, for they are carried away by the

untrue.' (chan.8-3-1)

 

The next text from Yajurveda 'nAsadhAseeth no sadhAseeh'(yajur. 2-8-9)

asath did not exist ; sath did not exist,' goes on to say that thamas

existed and by thamas it (brahman) was concealed before and could not be

well known. Advaitin takes the word thamas to mean avidhya which was

neither sath nor asath but Ramanuja questions it saying that if this

were accepted then the word 'before ' would be meaningless as brahman

is concealed even now. Moreover the expression neither sath existed nor

asath could very well refer to Brahman also. So , says Ramanuja, the

text actually describes the cosmic rest,apyaya. The word 'before ' means

before creation when thamas is the state when the sath, that is jiva and

asath , the matter were in subtle condition and did not exist as such.

This is proved by another text 'avyaktham akshare leeyathE; aksharam

thamasi leeyathe,( subAla up.2) the unmanifest is dissolved in the

immutable, akshara and the akshara dissolves in thamas.'Hence the word

thamas denotes 'achithsamashtirupAyAh prakrtheh sukshmAvastha uchyathE',

the subtle matter in the form of prakrthi from which the world evolves.

 

The text 'mAyAm thu prakrthim vdhyAth mAyinam thu

mahesvaram,'(svet.4-10) does not refer to anirvachniya avidhya but the

prakrthi is referred to as mAyA from which this wonderful world has

come out. The owner of mAya is isvara who controls it but is not under

its influence.this is evident from the previous sentence of the same

text 'asmAnmAyee srjathE visvamEthath, from this the owner of mAya

creates this world.

 

It is the jiva who is bound by mAyA as proved by the text 'anAdhi mAyayA

supthah yadhA jivah prabudhyathE,(MAnd.11-29) when the jiva who sleeps

due to beginningless mAyA wakes up.' The Lord Himself says in the

Gita'mama mAya dhurathyayA, my mAyA is difficult to transcend. Thus

there is no support for the anirvachneeya avidhya from the sruthi texts

nor for its being a positive entity.

 

 

 

The text 'thathvamasi ' is explained by the advaitin to mean the

identity of the jiva with Brahman and due to the incongruity between the

two, namely, the limited knowledge and power of a jiva , who is in

bondage as compered with the infinite, omniscient and omnipresent and

omnipotent Brahman, it is necessary to postulate the existenc of avidhya

which conceals Brahman so that the identity is not seen. Ramanuja

refutes this and says 'aikya upadesasthu"thvam" sabdEnApi

jivasarirakasya bramaNa Eva abhiDHAnAth uppannathara.' The expression

of identity between jiva and Brahman suffers no inconsistency because

the word 'thou' also implies Brahman only who is the inner controller of

the jiva being the inner self of the jiva who forms the saria of

Brahman. This is denoted by the text 'anEna jivena AthmanA anupravisya

namarupe vyakaravani,(can.6-3-2) I will enter this jiva as its Athma and

make name and form.'

 

 

 

Advaitin cites passages from VishnupuraNa which claim that Brahman alone

is the reality and the world is only empirically real. But Ramanuja says

that the real import of the passage is that in the world made up of

sentient and insentient beings, the jivas are not affected by the

chansges in the insentient and they are eternal and hence they are

termed as existent while the insentient which is different and

destructible are said to be nonexistent. But both have Vasudeva as their

inner self. It is shown to be thus in the passage 'thAnisarvANi

thdvapuh; thatsarvam vai harervapuh,; (VP.1-22-86-38) all that is His

sarira,' and by the words'sa Eva sarvabhoothAthmA visvarupO yathO

avyayah, (VP1-2-69) He alone is the Self of all beings, with cosmic for

and immutable.'

 

 

 

In all the passages in the VishnupurANa ,says Ramanuja, there is no

evidence of Brahman being nirvisesha nor for the avidhya which is

neither aSath nor asath abiding in Brahman. The terms nAsthi and asathya

indicate nonexistence but not anirvachniya. These two words denote

insentient objects not because they are nonexistent, tuccha or unreal,

mithya but only because they are perishable.

 

 

 

To sum up, Athma, is adhimadhyAntharahitha, without beginning, middle

and end and always of the same nature and hence it is referred to as

existent. The insentient, achethanam is the object of enjoyment for the

jiva and is transformed according to the karma of the jiva and

perishable . Therefore it is termed as nonexistent.The objects which are

existent or nonexistent with reference to time, place or action are

aparamArTHa, unreal and the Athma alone is fit to be cognised as asthi,

existent and hence paramArTHA, real. The same view is expressed in

vishnupurANa by MattrEya-'vishNvADHAram yaThA chaithath thrailoOkyam

samavasTHinam; paramArTHascha me prOktho yaTHAjnAna praDHAnathah, you

have taught me how these worlds are supported by vishNu and how Athma

,jnana as his svarupa is paramArTha, real, being important.'