virodhaparihaara-questions10 to 14

October 31, 2006

- Saroja Ramanujam

saranagathi-owner

Tuesday, October 31, 2006 12:05 PM

virodhaparihaara-questions10 to 14

10.jeevEsvarayOh ubhayOrapi vibhuthvam aNuthvam cha pramANEshu kaTHyathE.kaTHam asya aNUthvam Isvarasya vibhuthvam EVa ithi niyamah upapadhyathE?

Sasthra has established that both jiva and the Lord are atomic, aNu, but all pervading,vibhu. But vedantha has shown the Lord only as vibhu. If vibhuthva is due to the ability to entry into all beings and pervading all for an atomic entity like the jiva inspite of its being aNu why could not that be the case for the Lord as well?

This could not be accepted, says Desika.

vibhuthva aNuthva bhEdhEna jeevEsaniyamAth sruthou

smrthisuthrAnusArAccha nANuthvam brahmaNi sTHitham.

From sruthi smrthi and Brahmasuthra it could be seen that Brahman is not aNu because the difference between the jiva and Isvara has been ascertained in terms of vibhuthva and aNuthva.

The sruthi says, 'ArAgramAthro hyavarOhi dhrshtah,(Svet.5-8) the individual self which is as small as the tip of the goad,is seen to be different from Brahman. The smrithi also affirms the vibhuthva of the Lord in 'mayA thatham idham sarvam jagadhavyakthamurthinA,(BG.9-4) all this universe is pervaded by Me in unmanifest form.' Brahmasuthra confirms the aNuthva of the jiva and the vibhuthva of Brahman.'nANuh athacchruthEh ithi na,itharADhikArAth, (BS.2-3-22) If it is said that it is not atomic because of scriptural statement as otherwise, it is not so, as the subject matter of those texts is Brahman.'

This refers to the text 'sa vA Esha mahAn aja AthmA, (Brhd.4-4-22) that self is infinite and unborn,' which could prove that it is not atomic

But the suthra refutes this by saying that it is Brahman who is referred to in those texts as can be understood from the context, the subject matter of which is Brahman. But the reference to Brahman as being atomic as in the statement 'anOraneeyAn,' smaller that the atom or as in dhaharavidhya,where Brahman is said to abide in the small space within the lotus of the heart (Chan.8-1-1) is for the sake of upAsana.Desika says this matter can be understood from the study of Sribhashya 'vistharasthah bhAshyE Eva anusanDHEyah.'

11.Ekasmin sarirEpANipAdhAdhishu sarvathra sukhaduhkhOpalambhAth sarva upalambha viruddhamaNuthvam.

The soul being atomic there cannot be the experience of pain and pleasure in all parts of the body.

This is not so, says Desika.

vibhthvE api hi jeevasya jnAnAdhEva sukhAdhikam

anyaTHA sarvagam thathsyAth jnAnam chEdhiha thathsamam

The pain and pleasure is only due to the dharmabhuthajnAna, attributive consciousness of the self and is felt where it operates as otherwise the jnAna being everywhere it will be felt all over.

If it is claimed that the jiva is vibhu, all-pervading or occupies the whole body, there is no reason for the pain and pleasure being felt in one place only. Hence it is only appropriate to accept that the individual self is atomic as declared by the sruthi and the pain and pleasure is felt in other parts of the body due to the vyApthi, pervasion, of the dharmabhuthajnAna. This is compared to the light of the lamp which pervades the whole place though the lamp is situated in one place only, or like the light of the eye being inside the organ of sight is able to illuminate everything everywhere or like the mind which is able to cognise anything in the world through the power of yoga and so on.

12. SoubhariprabrtheenAm nithyANAm mukthAnAm cha anEka sariraparigrahE sarvathrApi sarirEshu svrupasAnniDhyAbhAvAth bAhyEshu vishayEshu iva aham buddhih na sambhAvyathE.

The yogis like soubhari, the released and etrnal souls are suppose to occupy several bodies at the same time in which case the soul cannot be present in all bodies and so even if the experience in all bodies can be had through the dharmabhuthajnAna, ahambuddhi, the notion of 'I' cannot exist in all bodies.

Desika says the ahambuddhi is present in all sarira.

ahambuddhih yaTHaikasmin sarirEpi cha samsThithA

sarvathra vyavahArArhA thaTHAnyathrApi dhrsyathAm

The concept of 'I' exists only in the self but is extended to the whole body. Simlarly in the cases stated above the concept of 'I' is seen in all the bodies assumed.

Desika asks the opponent whether the concept of 'aham' is all-pervading like the jiva or restricted to one part only.It could not be the first because it is due to nescience which is not accepted as all perveding even by the opponent (who is assumed to be advaitin) and it could not be the latter either because the aham buddhi is seen with respect to all parts of the body.If it is argued that it is due to the mind going to the parts, even the mind is atomic and the same objection holds good. Hence as shown in the suthra 'pradheepavath AvEsah thaTHA hi dharsayathi,(BS.4-4-15) which means that as the light of the lamp pervades all the place, the released soul, though atomic is able to enter into all bodies to enjoy the bliss.

13. sruthisvArasya anurODHEna jeevasya aNuthvam ithi AmOkshasTHAyee ithi nirNEthavyam.

As declared in the sruthi it should be accepted that the atomic nature of the jiva is only till the release.

This argument is based on the sruthi text 'vAlAgrasathabhAgasya sathaDHA kalpithasya cha; bhAgO jeevah sa vijnEyah sa cha anathyAya kalpathe,(Svet.5-9) the size of the individual self is of the tip of the hair divided into hundredth of its hundredth part and yet it is infinite.

The self is declared as atomic by sruthi texts such as 'ArAgrmAThra,' etc. and that it is changeless, kootastha, ' nithyO nithyAnAm chEthanaschEthanAnAm, he is the eternal of all the eternals and sentient of all sentients.' (Kato.2-5-13) The suthra 'pradheepavath'(BS.4-4-15) shows how the atomic self is able to occupy all the bodies through the pervasion of the dharmabhuthajnAna at the state or release.The question as to how the dharmabhuthajnana becomes infinite in the state of release is answered by Desika by citing the example of the rays of the sun which pervades the whole world at once. Similar to this the natural jnAna of the jiva becomes infinite through the will of Isvara in the state of release.Just as the lustre of the gem is not created through cleaning it the natural jnAna which is infinite shines in the state of release like the rays of the sun or the light of the lamp.

14.EkasminnEva bahu sarirapaigrahE sarvANyapi sarirANi ekEnaiva aDHishTithAni ithi vakthum sakyathE ithi EkajeevavAdhah prasajyathE.

If one self is able to take many bodies it would amount to EkajeevavAdha.

Eka jeevavAdha is that there is only one real self and all the rest is an illusion.

The reply to this is given by Desika as follows:

sukhaduhkhAdhi bhEDHE thu nanAthva vyavasTHithih

anthahkaraNabhEdhEna prathisanDHA nirAkrthih

If there is only one soul the sukha and duhkha in one sarira will be experienced in all the sariras. But this is not the case.It cannot be argued that due to the difference of mind and intellect in different bodies the experience is different as there is no valid proof for the same.So it is only reasonable to assume that the souls are different in different bodies.