Sambodhi 1984 Vol 13 and 14

Author(s): Dalsukh Malvania, Ramesh S Betai, Yajneshwar S Shastri
Publisher: L D Indology Ahmedabad

Page 86

Avidya-its asraya and visaya
their very existence to it. But this avidya is dispelled by the adventitious vidya."
81
Mandana recognises two kinds or aspects of avidya-non-apprehension and misapprehension. It has two functions-concealing the light (of the.. atman) and projecting appearances. It projects in the waking and dream states, and in deep sleep it conceals or envelops and is of the nature of dissolution. These two aspects, non-apprehension and misapprehension, are related as cause and effect. The causal aspect is present in deep sleep and both the aspects in dream and waking conditions. 8.
It can be seen that Mandana has in a way put forth in so many, words the problems that would arise out of Sankara's philosophical stand. He has very clearly described Avidya as sadasadanirvacaniya, as having avarana and viksepa fakti, as of the nature of agrahana (non-apprehension) and viparyaya-grahana (misapprehension). He regards the jivas as the asraya (locus) of avidya though the jivas are in reality non different from Brahman. He very clearly says that avidya is natural to the jivas. It may be noted that Sankara also says that mutual superimposition of atman and anatman is naisargika (natural) and therefore anadi (beginningless). Mandana is very bold when he says that avidya belongs to the jivas. Even Sankara will not outright disagree here for he also says, as we have seen, that avidya belongs to him, i.e. the individual soul, who asks about it. Mandana takes Avidya primarily in the sense of a pre-natal disposition or obliqueness which does not allow a person to apprehend the Ultimate Reality and makes him conceive the Ultimate Reality otherwise. It is in this aspect that Avidya turns out to be a potency that is responsible for the world of appearance. Mandana like Sankara has not discussed what sort of a cause of the world avidya is. He also does not explain why if avidya belongs to the jivas, all the Jivas have a common experience of the things of the world.
Vacaspati seems to have drawn much of his inspiration from Mandana. He speaks of Avidya being two-fold and says that all appe irançes originate from Brahman in association with the indefinable tvo-fold avidya or as having the two-fold avidya for their auxiliary cause (sahakarikarana). Of this two-fold avidya, according to Amalananda, one signifies the beginningless positive entity and the other the series of beginningless false impressions (purva-pūrva-bhrama-samskarah) The appearance of the distinct personality of the individual souls is due to a beginningless series of false confusions Avidya has jiva for its asraya
Sambodhi XIII-11