________________ (5) has the capacity to witness or enlighten all that comes into contact with him. The Advaitins, however, are quite conscious of the utility of vyavasaya or what they call vrttijnana. It is necessary, according to them to remove the ajnana of a particular object. Vrttijnana is caused by sense-object contact. Atman which is consciousness cannot repel avidya as it reveals the latter. It is only vrttijnana which can dispel ignorance. The experience, 'This pot appears now shows that the pot-condioned consciousness is now rid of ajnana, which has been obscuring it before. It must be remembered that in this case no new knowledge is born as consciousness that reveals it is permanently there. The author next takes up the question why vytti is to be accepted and why it flows through sense and pervades the object. Vitti is an offshoot of the mind which removes ajnana veiling our object-conditioned consciousness. When that is removed the consciousness that becomes identified with the mind-conditioned consciousness reveals the object with the result that we cognise the object. The above is accepted only in the case of perception of external objects and not for the perception of the mind and any of its qualities. In respect of cognition arising from anumana, sabda etc., vrtti arises within the mind and repels such ajnana as obscures the object concerned. Ajnana, as we are told, has two aspects, viz., one that obscures existence and another that obscures the perceptual appearance. Both these aspects are removed by perception only, but, other
