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Elements of Vis'istAdvaita: Aside 3: Omitted point

From the Bhakti List Archives

Venkat Nagarajan • May 31, 1999 


Dear bhagavatas,
(Don't miss the VedArtha Sangraha statement at the end it is a must
read!)
The previous posting stated:
1. Advaita and Vis'istAdvaita are axiomatic
2. two mutually exclusive axiomatic doctrines can 
coexist, however, only one can be truth 
However, I mentioned that both are rationale.  
This is not altogether true!
1. Avidya as an adjunct is the cornerstone of advaita; 
without avidya, advaita falls apart.  Not withstanding that 
fact that avidya has no scriptural sanction, the lion of
 logic (Sri. Vedanta Desika) and our great RAmAnujAchArya 
have undertaken scathing attacks of this concept( to  
explicate the fact that this adjunct has been used to 
draw illogical conclusions.)  
These counter arguments are irrefutable! 
These will be outlined in detail in future posts (after the posts on
classification of reals is complete.)

VedArtha Sangraha verse 1 beautifully states:

Gloriously triumphs the sage yAmuna, who dispelled
 the delusive darkness filling the world in the shape of 
doctrines devoid of both scriptural authority and reason 
maintaining that a) the highest brahman itself is bereft 
of knowledge and is caught up in illusion and hence 
wanders in the realm of transmigration; b) it is 
conditioned by an alien adjunct and is rendered 
helpless and that; c) it has become the seat of evil.

This is just the start, RAmAnujAchArya then goes on
 to analyse and dismiss each variation of the original 
Advaita (that existed during his time.)

What a beautiful and most perfect siddhantham we 
have.  I fail to see why some in our Sri Vaishnava 
community fail to recognize this; they make illogical 
statements such as Advaita is the ultimate, we all 
have to end up there.  I have a hard time digesting 
such irrational statements, it makes me want to cry.
 
Adiyen