Ishwara's Mayashakti is the same as jiva's avidya - Shankara

[V Subrahmanian]

In the oft-debated Brahma sutra bhashya:  तदधीनत्वादर्थवत् ॥ ३ ॥ 1.4.3 

Shankara agrees that like the Sankhya, the Vedantin too must accept a Shakti that is responsible for the creation, etc. of the world: 

परमेश्वराधीना त्वियमस्माभिः प्रागवस्था जगतोऽभ्युपगम्यते, न स्वतन्त्रा । सा चावश्याभ्युपगन्तव्या । अर्थवती हि सा । न हि तया विना परमेश्वरस्य स्रष्टृत्वं सिध्यति । शक्तिरहितस्य तस्य प्रवृत्त्यनुपपत्तेः ।

Shankara says: without that Shakti, the Brahman of the Vedanta is incapable of doing anything. 

Now, the interesting part is, Shankara goes on to say the other purpose of this same Shakti: 

अविद्यात्मिका हि बीजशक्तिरव्यक्तशब्दनिर्देश्या परमेश्वराश्रया मायामयी महासुषुप्तिः, यस्यां स्वरूपप्रतिबोधरहिताः शेरते संसारिणो जीवाः ।

This Beejashakti that has been admitted (for Ishwara's creation activity) is avidyAtmikA, also called avyakta, is mAyAmayee mahAsushupti in which the samsArin jiva-s 'sleep' being devoid of the awareness of their true nature. 

Now, here Shankara, in the same breath, identifies the Shakti with that of Ishwara and also as that which deludes the jiva as well. I am not highlighting his use of the terms avidya, maya, shakti, beeja, avyakta - in this single sentence, which is irksome to some. What I am highlighting is just this much: the same Ishwara shakti is the one that deludes the jiva as well, keeping the latter in samsara. 

It is this latter shakti that is called 'tattva agrahanam' in Mandukya. It is the same that is in the KArikA: anAdimAyayA suptaH  1.16.  The simile of 'sleep' in the kArikA and the above bhAshya is significant indeed. In fact this identification alone has been pointed out before by me by the use of 'yayA' by Shankara in the Gita Bhashya. Here too, similarly, Shankara identifies the two as one Shakti by the pronoun 'yasyAm.'

If Shankara had not held mAyA and avidyA to be the same, he would be at fault to write the clause:  यस्यां स्वरूपप्रतिबोधरहिताः शेरते संसारिणो जीवाः ।. This is because the Shakti which he admits as the one without which Ishwara 'can't do anything' should have nothing to do with the jiva. 

This is one more instance where Shankara holds both as forms of the same Shakti: one form in the hands of Ishwara and the other form holding jiva in its grip. 

warm regards

subbu 

   

[sunil bhattacharjya]

Dear Subbuji,

Though Mother Parvati is one with Lord Shiva in the Ardhanaareeshvara, Mother Parvati (Shakti) appeared as ten Mahavidyas, as given in the stotra "Kali, Tara Mahavidya, Shodashi (Lalita or Kamakshi), Bhuvaneshvari,  . .....", She assumed the dark form of Kali as the "first Mahavidya", to create the world. After the creation Lord Shiva helped her get back to the fair complexion. When the Rishi Uddalaka left his body in a cave, the mother Chandika picked  up his skull and danced happily as one of her worthy sons, had gone beyond the cycle of birth, and Mother Chandika /Kali put that skull in her garland of skulls. In the Puranas Lord Krishna also said  that we should pray to Mother Parvati for liberation. Gaudapadacharya also told Adi Shankara to write his last bhashya on  the "Lalita Trishati" and he did. Further, Adi Shankara took his samadhi at the feet of mather Lalita in Kanchipuram, and not in Badari. It was Abhinava Shankara, and not Adi Shankara, who took his samadhi in a cave in Badari.

Mother Parvati's blesssings are required fo success in the material world also. Lord Krishna advised Arjuna tp pray to mother Durga (Mother Parvati) for success in the Mahabharata war and that time, to  my knowledge, was during the time of Navaraatri.

Regards

Sunil KB

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