Truly Ignorance has no beginning, but it has an end

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ADVAITA BODHA DEEPIKA[LAMP OF NON-DUAL KNOWLEDGE][Originally

Sri Shankaracharya and other great Sages hadwritten several works like the commentary on the Vedanta Sutrasand thus furnished the methods for those engaged in Self enquiryto accomplish their purpose.From those, Sri Karapatra Swami later condensed thesalient

points

into

Sanskrit

verse

in

a

work

of

twelve

chapters,called Sri Advaita

Bodha Deepika.Still later, some great man seems to have translated thisinto Tamil prose. For some unknown reasons only some eightchapters

of

the

same

are

found

published.]THE REMOVAL OFSUPERIMPOSITION1. Disciple: Master, Ignorance is said to have no beginning; itfollows that it will have no end. How can the beginninglessIgnorance be dispelled? Being the ocean of mercy you can pleasetell me this.2. Master: Yes, my child; you are intelligent and can understandsubtle things. You have said right. Truly Ignorance has no beginning,but it has an end. It is said that the rise of knowledge is the end ofIgnorance. Just as the sunrise dispels the darkness of night so alsothe light of knowledge dispels the darkness of Ignorance.3-4. To avoid confusion, everything in the world can beconsidered by analysing its individual characteristics under thecategories: cause, nature, effect, limit and fruit. But thetranscendental Reality being non-dual is beyond all thesewhereas all else, from Maya onwards, being wrongly seen on It,are subject to the above analysis.5. Of these, Maya has no antecedent cause because it isnot the product of anything preceding it, but remains inBrahman, self evident and without beginning. Before creationthere could be no cause for its manifestation, yet it manifestsand it must be by itself.6. D.: Is there any authority for this statement?M.: Yes, Vasishta's words. He says: Just as bubblesspontaneously arise in water so also the power to manifest namesand forms rose up from the all powerful and perfect transcendentalSelf.