maya and avidya

[Guest guest]

One S.S. has sent me good explanatory note on teachings of Acharya

Shankara.

 

1) In Shankara's commentaries, he never equates avidya (ignorance) and

maya. In the Brahma Sutras he says:

 

" Name and form, fashioned by avidya, as though they were identical with

the omniscient Lord, but indefinable as the same or distinct from Him

(referring to name and form), which are (still referring to name and

form) also the seed form of this universe of phenomena (the empirical

universe), are also called in the Shruti and Smriti maya, shakti, and

prakriti " . (Sutra Bhashya 2-1-14)

 

Shankara consistently fashions maya as avidya-kalpita or fashioned by

avidya.

 

1) In his introduction to the Brahma Sutra Bhashyam, he makes it clear

that the root of our misery and illusion is avidya (ignorance) which has

a precise definition of the natural innate human tendency of

superimposition (adhyasa) of the real and the not real leading to

duality (a perceived difference between the knower, known, and the means

of knowing).

 

2) Maya is then name given to that illusion, fashioned by this avidya.

It appears as the seed of name and form in the universe giving the

illusion of duality where none exists.

 

3) All descriptions of maya of a separate indescribable (anirvachaniya)

shakti, or independent entity are descriptions from post Shankara

commentators who probably missed the true implication of the above

quote, and felt the need to further justify the duality in the universe,

where Shankara felt no such need.

 

4) Shankara is consistent in his position that avidya has no reality

from the paramartha (transcendental) standpoint, and that it is simply a

natural tendency for us to see duality when there is none. All we have

to do is to direct all our efforts to burn away the ego, or 'I' sense,

which leads to evaporation of the distinctions of knower, known, means

of knowledge (pramatr, prameya, pramana). Again, in his intro to Brahma

Sutra Bhashyam (adhyasa Bhashyam) he states that this is the sole

purpose of the Vedanta is to remove this avidya by removing

misconceptions through neti, neti. When all misconceptions are removed,

the truth shines of its own accord.

 

SS

 

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c s shah

http://www.neovedanta.org

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