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The gist of Sri Bhashyam on "chatussootri" by Dr.NSA

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padmini ranganathan • December 6, 1999 


MAHA POORVAPAKSHA : THE GREAT OBJECTION :
(This objection is by the advaitin)

1. THE ONLY REALITY IS BRAHMAN :

Brahman is pure consciousness and is opposed to all
differences. This is divested of all qualities.  All
differences of plurality  of knowers, objects of
knowledge, acts of knowledge are all  superimposed on
that one Brahman. The Upanishads teach this reality. 
"In the beginning, there was that only which is the
one without a second", " That which is not seized,
which has no eyes or ears, no hands or feet, which is
all pervading, permanent, most subtle, the 
imperishable" "He who is without parts, without
Actions, without fault, without taint" "You cannot see
the seer of the sight",  "You cannot think of the
thinker of the thought", "Brahman is  Bliss", "All
this verily the self", He who see any difference here 
goes from death to death". Hosts of such Shruti Vakyas
declare that  Brahman alone is reality and there is
not second thing other than that. Even the Puranas
especially the Vishnu Purana declares the same 
truth.    Undifferentiated Brahman is the sole reality
and everything  else is unreal. 

2. WHAT IS UNREALITY ? :

Falsehood or mithyathwa is that which is appearing in
the present and  which is destroyed by the cognition
of the real. The example is the 
"Rope - Serpent". The serpent is a false appearance in
the rope and when the ropeness  of the rope is known
it is eliminated. Similarly, the entire world with 
all its differences of God, men, creatures and
immovable matter are  wrongly imagined in the one
non-second Supreme Brahman. The appearance 
of plurality is due to beginningless avidya or
nescience. The Shrutis  and Smritis point out to this
kind of beginningless avidya which cannot 
be defined either as something that is or something
that is not.

3. TERMINATION OF AVIDYA BY TRUE KNOWLEDGE :

This avidya comes to an end when the knowledge of
oneness of the  undifferentiated Brahman is realised.
The scriptures declare this also - 
"He who sees this does not see death", "He sees this
as one."

When he beholds that which is high and low, the knots
of the heart  become united and all doubts are solved
and all his karma become  destroyed.

There are various authorities in the scriptures that
declare that Brahman is the only one and non second
being of the nature of pure knowledge or
consciousness.

"Sathyam, Jnanam, Anantham Brahama",

"Vijnanam (knowledge), Anandam is Brahman"

"Let one meditate upon one as the self"

Thou art That "

"I am Thou Oh ! Holy Deity and Thou art me".

"What I am that is He"

What He is that I am "

	The sutrakara also affirs the same think in Sutra 4 -
1 - 3.

The Vakyakara also supports this view. So it is quite
proper to entertain the view that bondage which is
unreal will be destroyed along with its root cause by
the realisation of oneness of the Brahman and the
Atman.

4. SCRIPTURE OR SASTRA IS MORE POWERFUL THAN
PRATYAKSHA OR PERCEPTION  :

It may be objected that the termination of the view of
difference is opposed to the evidence of perception.
How can Sastrajnana eliminate difference which is
within the experience of all. To this, we answer as 
follows :

When we have the illusion of a snake in a rope, if we
get the knowledge that this is a rope and not a
serpent, that knowledge sets aside the 
serpent which is perceived. In the same way, the
knowledge that this is Brahman and not the universe
sets aside all differences. It may be 
further objected that there is contradiction between
two perceptions in the example, but the conradiction
between Sastra and Pratyaksha is not like that. Sastra
is based on perception. To this we ask like this - 
What is the cause of this kind of sublation between
two equal cognition's ?

REPLY - The first one is caused by a defective cause
whereas the other is not so.

We say that the same consideration holds goods between
Sastra and Pratyaksha. 
Example : The flame seems one to perception, but on
the ground of observation that the different particles
of the vick and the oil are consumed in succession, we
infer that there are many distinct flames 
succeeding one another. Here we accept that inference
is valid and pratyakasha is sublated by that. Even so
pratyaksha is contradicted by scriptures that expound
the oneness of Brahman.

5. DUALITY TEXTS ARE CONTRADICTED BY UNITY TEXTS : 

The analogy of the apacchadanyaya is to be followed in
deciding the meaning of the scriptures. As in that
analogy the earlier one is sublated by the later one.
Here also the earlier texts referring to duality are 
sublated by the later texts that teach oneness of 
Atman and release from bondage by realising it. These
unity texts cancel the duality texts. 

6. THE SAGUNA AND NIRGUNA TEXTS :

To continue..........

Pranamams
dAsI
padmini

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