Definition for Anirvachaniya

[Guest guest]

Dear Shri Nair,

 

You have said:--

 

" No, Sir, anirvacanIya cannot be ignorance. The conclusion that this

duality or IshwarA's vibhUti or lIlA is anirvacanIya demands

considerable thinking and analysis on the part of the concluder. It

is a knowledgeable conclusion and not the fool's usual I don't

know " . AnirvacanIya is therefore knowledge, still empirical, which

propels the enquirer into more sublime areas of thought, total

surrender and bhakti. It is the very basis of spirituality,

incidentally, not restricted to Vedanta or India alone. It applies

the world over in as much as it relates to intelligent enquiry about

God and creation " .

 

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By the above I suppose you mean that ignorance (i.e., the avidyA or ajnAna

of advaita vedAnta) is not anirvacanIya.

 

The following statements of eminent advaita AchAryas say just the

opposite:--

 

1. Padmapada- .one of the four disciples of Sri Sankara- He says in his

work, PanchapAdikA--- mithyA ca tad ajnAnam ca mithyAjnAnam- mithyA iti

anirvacanIyatA ucyate—Meaning--The word 'mithyAjnAnam' used by Sankara in

his adhyAsa bhAshya means ajnAnam which is mithyA. By the word 'mithya' the

quality of being anirvacanIya is stated. In short this means that ajnAna,

which is the same as avidyA is anirvacaniya. and anirvacaniya means the same

thing as mithya.

 

2. Swami Vidyaranaya says in his work 'VivaraNaprameyasangraha' :--

 

anAdi-anirvacanIya-bhAvarUpa-ajnAnam—Meaning—ajnAnam is beginningless,

anirvacanIya, and positive in nature That means, ajnAnam is not just absence

of knowledge, but it is something positive, though it is mithya, i.e., it

cannot be categorized as either real or unreal. This is the view of other

advaita Achryas also.

 

3. Vacaspati misra says in his work 'Bhamati' which is a commentary on

Sankara's bhAshya on brahma sutra—anirvAchya-avidyA—avidyA is anirvAcya,

which is the same as anirvacanIya.

 

This has become rather technical, but anirvacanIya and avidyA are also terms

which have specific meanings in vedAnta and have to be understood as having

those meanings.

 

Sri Sankara has also described avidyA as anirvacanIya, but I am not able to

quote the references immediately. I would request Shri Sampat to quote them.

 

S.N.Sastri