VyAvahArika vritti / AvidyA vritti / Issue 5 ( pancamAdyAya )

Substantiating the priori and post priori arguments and conclusions, we denominate that the perceptibility of the premises undermines the knowledge of the absolute being. The mahavakyas ( aham brahmAsmi – yajur vEda ; Tatvamasi – sAma vEda ; sarvam kalvidam Brahmam ) vociferously proclaim that ‘Brahma abinnatvam’ is not realized due to mAya which is quasi-eternal not qualifying unto Brahman. The vijnana – conscience of brahmAbinnatvam is the cause for bAva moksha – the reflection of moksa. Instead of moksa Adi Sankara mentions it as bAva moksha since it is the primal knowledge about the undifferentiated Brahman that leads to superior knowledge that self is Brahman that liberates towards the ultimate moksha (yEnAdvitIyamAnandam Brahma sampadyatE budAh – the knowledge of unduality leads the wise to get mixed with the supreme being). The concept of I’ness a manifest of prakriti is due to the false knowledge. It is known as mAya. There starts the issue of whether mAya and avidya are same. Maya is two by classification. “Evam pumsAm mahAmAya suddhAsuddhasva rUpiNi” – siddhAnta panjara hymn – 132 ie., the mahAmAya is classified into two one being pure and other impure. The pure mAya that gives purity in mind makes one realize self to be Brahman whereas the impure-asuddha mAya generates avidya. Avidya is the cause for sordid thoughts distorting the oneness with Brahman. On the other hand suddha mAya makes one realize that ‘I am ignorant’ (limited knowledge). Ignorance is postulated by mAya in two dimensions on the same domain. It on the pervasive mode ( akatithakatanA Shakthi ) that Brahmam himself occupies through maya on the surface of the material world as Jiva (witnesses the process of world - vikshEpa shakthi). But to jIva his svAtantarya (falsehood) makes him feel that he is different from the Brahman. If this is true where comes the difference between kshEtra (field of activities) and kshEtrajna (knower of the field)? By stating “ kshEtra jnAm cApi mAm viddhi” BG- 13:3 “ I am also the kshetrajna – apparently means He is Kshettra either. surEshwarAchArya makes the Krishna vAkya tenable saying “parAthmano apyananthasya kshEtrajnyathmavidhayA KshEtrajnyacchApi mAm viddhIthyEvam sathyUpapadhathE ” - BrhadhAranyaka Bashya vArtika – Verse 175 that “supreme self though infinite ( NirguNa ) attains the status of kshEtrajna by means of avidhya. Here the schools of bhAmAti and vivarana differ in establishing the loci of avidya unto jIva and Brahman respectively. It is important we perceive it correctly about the semblance of conscious being pervaded into avidya by the Brahman. Thus avidya too is Brahman centric. Else, it would wrongly tend to mean that there is one plane ( avidya ) where Brahman could not pervade, which is arbitrarily absurd. Advaita scientifically explains the essential unity between kshetra and kshetrajna ; jIva and Ishwara amidst the cacophonies of empirical distinctions between the same. Hence both are valid. The scrutiny of vritti jnAna about avidya persists until the primal ignorance is subsided. The vritti jnAna exists on the vyAvahArika level only. The momentary knowledge that annihilates the avidya instantly puts the jIva on the paramAthika level which makes jIva experience the oneness with Brahman. The ignorance about real self is realized by pure scriptural knowledge (“shAstra yOnithvAth”) because it is illusory in its appearance (due to mAya). Thus we glean the distinction between mAya and avidya as defined by Adi Shankara himself. SurEshwarAchArya’s attempt to propagate that avidya and mAya are synonymns is not against the notions of ShankarAchArya since the former is the reminiscence/result of the latter.

Avidya Vritti of VyAvahArika vritti will continue …