Fwd: Regarding the verses 'Maayaavadam asat shaastram...'

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V Subrahmanian

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Feb 16, 2023, 2:35:08 AM2/16/23
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Here is a post that I made in another group, but relevant here in the context of the topic // Is the prediction of Shankaracarya in Padma Purana authentic? ‘Mayavadam Asat Shastram’ – Jaya Nitai Gauranga//  

Please read the complete post along with the links given.  Almost all points covered in the Gaudiya's article are covered.

On Mon, Feb 13, 2023 at 8:10 PM Damodara Dasa <damoda...@gmail.com> wrote:
|| Hare Krishna ||

You may consider these slokas from Padma Purana, Uttara Khanda.
They show a very specific purpose of Lord Shiva and explains or
harmonizes opposing stances of vaisnavas and advaitins as well as
others; and that too without diminishing but rather glorifying the
position of Lord Shiva.

==================================

Padma Purana, Uttara, 236 (Lord Shiva Speaks to Mata Paravati)
-----------------------------------------
māyāvādamasacchāstraṁ pracchannaṁ baddha ucyate
mayaiva kathitaṁ devi kalau brāhmaṇarūpiṇā 7

apārthaṁ śrutivākyānāṁ darśayanlokagarhitam
svakarmmarūpaṁ tyājyatvamatraiva pratipādyate 8

sarvakarmmaparibhraṣṭairvaidharmmatvaṁ taducyate
pareśajīvapāraikyaṁ mayā tu pratipādyate 9

brahmaṇosya svayaṁ rūpaṁ nirguṇaṁ vakṣyate mayā
sarvasya jagato ‘pyatra mohanārthaṁ kalau yuge 10

vedārthavanmahāśāstraṁ māyayā yadavaidikam
mayaiva kalpitaṁ devi jagatāṁ nāśakāraṇāt 11
--------------------------------------

Actually the above verses are a denigration of Veda Vyasa himself.  

The reason for their not being authentic is explained with reasoning in the URL given below: 

 

दैत्यानां नाशनार्थाय विष्णुना बुद्धरूपिणा।

बौद्धशास्त्रमसत्प्रोक्तं नग्ननीलपटादिकम्॥ ६-२३६-६ ॥

मायावादमसच्छास्त्रं प्रच्छन्नं बौद्धमुच्यते।

मयैव कथितं देवि कलौ ब्राह्मणरूपिणा॥ ६-२३६-७ ॥

अपार्थं श्रुतिवाक्यानां दर्शयल्लोँकगर्हितम्।

कर्मस्वरूपत्याज्यत्वमत्रैव प्रतिपाद्यते॥ ६-२३६-८ ॥

सर्वकर्मपरिभ्रष्टैर्वैधर्मत्वं तदुच्यते।


Regarding the incompatibility of these two lines with not only Advaita as taught by Shankaracharya but the Vedanta shastra taught by Veda Vyasa too, here is an old post in this forum:


The first highlighted line has a slightly different reading as seen in many transliterations:

svakarmarUpam tyAjyatvam atraiva.....

In the Bhagavad GItA (admitted by all as a work of Veda Vyasa) we have verses like:

na karamaNAmanArambhAt naiShkarmyam purusho'shnute (BG 3.4)

and 'naiShkarmyasiddhim paramAm sannyAsenAdhigacChati (BG.18.49)

And the Vedic utterances like 'na karmaNA na prajayA dhanena, tyAgenaike amRtatvamAnashuH''  (kaivalyopanishat and mahAnArAyaNopanishat) , 'nAstyakRtaH kRtena'(munDaka up.)  

None can succeed in mapping these two lines with Advaita and Vedanta in general. 

Moreover, many vaiShNavas don not consider Shankaracharya to be a 'brAhmaNa' which Shiva is supposed to be saying in the above.  


And there are debates on the 'kartRtva' of that asat shAstra' : whether it is Shiva Himself as explicitly said in the above verses, or a person in whom Shiva's ''Avesha' took place.     
 

There are several such inconsistencies across the various 'pramANa vAkyams' shown from various purANas, all of which are supposed to be authored by Veda VyAsa!!  Someone showed me another classification of puranas into saattvik, etc. from another purana, maybe, the gAruDa.  While some puranas overlap, there are others which are quite contradictory in the two classifications.

  

परेशजीवयोरैक्यं मया तु प्रतिपाद्यते॥ ६-२३६-९ ॥

ब्रह्मणोऽस्य स्वयं रूपं निर्गुणं वक्ष्यते मया।

सर्वस्य जगतोऽप्यत्र मोहनार्थं कलौ युगे॥ ६-२३६-१० ॥

वेदार्थवन्महाशास्त्रं मायया यदवैदिकम्।

मयैव कल्पितं देवि जगतां नाशकारणात्॥ ६-२३६-११ ॥

ब्रह्मणोऽस्य स्वयं रूपं निर्गुणं वक्ष्यते मया।

सर्वस्य जगतोऽप्यत्र मोहनार्थं कलौ युगे॥ ६-२३६-१२ ॥

 


There are several verses across the puranas which declare the world to be mAyA.  One might have one's own interpretation of the word and that is how we have so many schools of thought, each vehemently condemning the other and holding one's own as the ''çorrect .  Here is one such, from the srImadbhAgavatapurANam:

यदिदं मनसा वाचा चक्षुर्भ्यां श्रवणादिभिः । 

नश्वरं गृह्यमाणं च विद्धि मायामनोमयम् ।। ११-७-७ ।।

श्रीधर-स्वामि-टीका -

ननु गुणदोषाभ्यां विषमे लोके कुतः समदृष्टिः स्यामत आह – यदिदमिति । मन आदिभिर्गृह्यमाणं मनोमयत्वान्मायेति विद्धि । तदपि न स्थिरं, किंतु नश्वरं विद्धि ।। ७ ।। 

So, here is another ''self-contradiction' across VyAsa's own works, vyAsa declaring his own work as mAyAvadam and that it is ásacchAstram''  And one can point out verses from puranas of vyAsa himself which teach 'jivaparyoraikyam', etc. stated above.   And one can argue that such verses are not of that meaning etc.  And eternally go on such debates..  

In the Garuda Purana, in seven chapters core Advaita is taught:  

  This is a 13 page article in Kannada with citations from the Garuda Purana's five chapters that are full of Advaitic teaching. Shankara's bhashya quotes too are given.  Even those without Kannada knowledge can read the article by confining to the Sanskrit Devanagari verses and the Bhashya passages.



There is simply no limit to the obvious, unambigous Advaitic teaching in the Bhagavatam, Vishnupuranam, Garuda, Padma, Skanda, Shiva, etc. 

This Padma  Purana verse is a straight hit at the 'maayaavaadam'set of verses of the Padma itself:


भीष्म उवाच
निर्गुणस्याप्रमेयस्य शुद्धस्याथ महात्मनः
कथं सर्गादिकर्त्तृत्वं ब्रह्मणो ह्युपपद्यते १


पुलस्त्य उवाच
शक्तयः सर्वभावानामचिंत्या ज्ञानगोचराः
यत्ततो ब्रह्मणस्तास्तुसर्गाद्या भावशक्तयः २

अचिन्त्यानन्तशक्तिमत्या देवतायाः बुद्ध्यादिसम्बन्धः चैतन्याभासः देवतास्वरूपविवेकाग्रहणनिमित्तः .. Shankara's Chandogya Bhashya.

Anandagiri's gloss on it: 
ननु चिदात्मा कूटस्थोऽसङ्गोऽद्वितीयश्चेष्यते स कथं बुद्ध्यादिभिर्भूतमात्रादिभिश्च चिदात्मनः संसृज्यते तत्राऽऽह – अचिन्त्येति । सत्त्वादिप्रकारैरशक्यचिन्तनीयाऽनादिरनिर्वाच्या सम्यग्ज्ञानमन्तरेण नाशशून्या दण्डायमाना या मायाशक्तिस्तस्या विषयत्वेनाऽऽनाश्रयत्वेन च ...

In this chapter Shuka Maharishi says to Parikshit:
श्रीमद्भागवतपुराणम्/स्कन्धः १२/अध्यायः ५
त्वं तु राजन् मरिष्येति पशुबुद्धिमिमां जहि ।
न जातः प्रागभूतोऽद्य देहवत्त्वं न नङ्‌क्ष्यसि ॥ २ ॥
'Let go of the ignorance of 'I will die'. You have no birth even.'
मृत्यवो नोपधक्ष्यन्ति मृत्यूनां मृत्युमीश्वरम् ॥ १० ॥
अहं ब्रह्म परं धाम ब्रह्माहं परमं पदम् ।
एवं समीक्ष्य चात्मानम् आत्मन्याधाय निष्कले ॥ ११ ॥
दशन्तं तक्षकं पादे लेलिहानं विषाननैः ।
न द्रक्ष्यसि शरीरं च विश्वं च पृथगात्मनः ॥ १२ ॥

Bhagavatam:
सर्ववेदान्तसारं यद् ब्रह्मात्मैकत्वलक्षणम् ।
वस्तु अद्वितीयं तन्निष्ठं कैवल्यैकप्रयोजनम् ॥ १२ ॥

The Bhagavatam has many rajju-sarpa analogies to show the world is not real. Also that bandha - moksha is manaHkalpita is explicitly stated by Bhagavan to Uddhava.  These ideas are there in the Gaudapada Karika. 

Also, in Advaita, Vishnu is stated to be Ishwara by Shankara in many places. So, this Padmapurana verse is not applicable to Advaita:
svāgamaiḥ kalpitaistvaṁ ca janānmadvimukhānkuru
māṁ ca gopaya yena syātsṛṣṭireṣottarottarā 107
Many Ramanuja and Madhwa followers aver that Shankara held Harisarvottama. 

Om tat sat


 

Padma Puran, Uttara, 70 (Lord Shiva Speaks to Mata Paravati)
------------------------------------------------
brahmādayaḥ surāḥ sarve prasādācchārṅgadhanvanaḥ
māṁ covāca yathā mattaḥ pūjyaḥ śreṣṭho bhaviṣyasi 105

tvāmārādhya tathā śaṁbho gṛhīṣyāmi varaṁ sadā
dvāparādau yuge bhūtvā kalayā mānuṣādiṣu 106

svāgamaiḥ kalpitaistvaṁ ca janānmadvimukhānkuru
māṁ ca gopaya yena syātsṛṣṭireṣottarottarā 107

eṣa mohaṁ sṛjāmyāśu yojanānmohayiṣyati
tvaṁ ca rudra mahābāho mohaśāstrāṇi kāraya 108

atathyāni vitathyāni darśayasva mahābhuja
prakāśaṁ kuru cātmānamaprakāśaṁ ca māṁ kuru 109

tatastaṁ praṇipatyāhamavocaṁ parameśvaram
brahmahatyā sahasrasya pāpaṁ śāmyetkathaṁcana 110

na punastvadavijñānaṁ kalpakoṭiśatairapi
tasmānmayā kṛtā sparddhā pavitraḥ syāṁ kathaṁ hare 111

tanme kathaya goviṁda pāyaścittaṁ yadicchasi
tataḥ prasanno bhagavānavocattattvamātmanaḥ 112

yenāhamadhikastasmādabhavaṁ naganaṁdini
tameva tapasā nityaṁ bhajāmi staumi ciṁtaye 113

paramo viṣṇurevaikastajjñānaṁ muktisādhanam
śāstrāṇāṁ nirṇayastveṣastadanyanmohanāya ca 114

dānaṁ vinā ca yā muktiḥ sāmyaṁ ca mama viṣṇunā
tīrthādimātrato jñānaṁ mamādhikyaṁ ca viṣṇutaḥ 115

abhedaścāsmadādīnāṁ muktānāṁ hariṇā tathā
ityādi sarvamohāya kathyate sati nānyathā
tenādvitīya mahimo jagatpūjyo ‘smi pārvati 116
---------------------------------------------

V Subrahmanian

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Feb 16, 2023, 7:17:11 AM2/16/23
to A discussion group for Advaita Vedanta, Advaitin

In the set of the Padmapurana alleged verses on Mayavadam asat shaastram, there is this verse:


कर्मस्वरूपत्याज्यत्वमत्रैव प्रतिपाद्यते॥ ६-२३६-८ ॥

सर्वकर्मपरिभ्रष्टैर्वैधर्मत्वं तदुच्यते।

which means: In this doctrine (Advaita) alone the giving up of the very nature of karma.  There is a variant reading: 

svakarmarUpaM tyAjyatvamatraivapratipaadhyate || Pa Pur 6.236.8 || (The giving up of one's ordained duties is .....)


That such a charge does not apply to Advaita is clearly established here: 

https://groups.google.com/g/bvparishat/c/sDJvRaqyoys/m/wbtzziMBGIAJ


Now additionally, we see the Bhagavatam, in the Uddhava Gita ,has this instruction by Bhagavan to Uddhava:


श्रीमद्भागवतपुराणम्/स्कन्धः ११/अध्यायः १२


तस्मात्त्वमुद्धवोत्सृज्य चोदनां प्रतिचोदनाम्।
प्रवृत्तिं च निवृत्तिं च श्रोतव्यं श्रुतमेव च १४।
मामेकमेव शरणमात्मानं सर्वदेहिनाम्।
याहि सर्वात्मभावेन मया स्या ह्यकुतोभयः १५।

Therefore, My dear Uddhava, abandon the Vedic mantras as well as the procedures of supplementary Vedic literatures and their positive and negative injunctions. Disregard that which has been heard and that which is to be heard. Simply take shelter of Me alone, for I am the Supreme Personality of Godhead, situated within the heart of all conditioned souls. Take shelter of Me wholeheartedly, and by My grace be free from fear in all circumstances.

So, the Lord himself is asking Uddhava to give up enjoined work.  This is nothing short of Sarva karma sannyasa.  The purport of the Bh.Gita famous verse: sarva dharmaan parityajya.. is echoed here. The commentary of Sridhara Swamin is below:
यस्मादेवंभूतो मद्भजनप्रभावः तस्मात् त्वं चोदनाम् = श्रुतिं, प्रतिचोदनाम् = स्मृतिं च | यद्वा विधिं च निषेधं च उत्सृज्य मां शरणं याहि | [Since such is the power of being devoted to Me, Uddhava, give up the veda and smriti. Or, having  given up the injunctions and prohibitions take total refuge in Me.]

Thus while Veda Vyasa himself has taught the giving up of karma the Padmapurana allegation on Advaita is quite preposterous.  

Om Tat Sat


On Thu, Feb 16, 2023 at 1:06 PM V Subrahmanian <v.subra...@gmail.com> wrote:

V Subrahmanian

unread,
Mar 6, 2023, 12:49:26 AM3/6/23
to A discussion group for Advaita Vedanta, Advaitin

Karma is enjoined to become freed from action:

श्रीमद्भागवतमहापुराण

एकादश स्कन्ध—तीसरा अध्याय..


कर्ममोक्षाय कर्माणि विधत्ते ह्यगदं यथा ॥ ४४ ॥

 नाचरेद् यस्तु वेदोक्तं स्वयं अज्ञोऽजितेंद्रियः ।

 विकर्मणा हि अधर्मेण मृत्योर्मृत्युमुपैति सः ॥ ४५ ॥

 वेदोक्तमेव कुर्वाणो निःसङ्‌गोऽर्पितमीश्वरे ।

 नैष्कर्म्यं लभते सिद्धिं रोचनार्था फलश्रुतिः ॥ ४६ ॥



The Bhagavatam says that action is enjoined with a view to free one from action. This is called Naishkarmyasiddhi.  In Advaita alone this concept is admitted.  


Here is yet another instance where the alleged Padma Purana verses are clearly a refutation of Veda Vyasa:


मायावादमसच्छास्त्रं प्रच्छन्नं बौद्धमुच्यते।

मयैव कथितं देवि कलौ ब्राह्मणरूपिणा॥ ६-२३६-७ ॥

अपार्थं श्रुतिवाक्यानां दर्शयल्लोँकगर्हितम्।

कर्मस्वरूपत्याज्यत्वमत्रैव प्रतिपाद्यते॥ ६-२३६-८ ॥

सर्वकर्मपरिभ्रष्टैर्वैधर्मत्वं तदुच्यते।


The above verse alleges:  In Mayavada (Advaita) alone the giving up of actions by their very nature is taught. 


One can easily see how this is a denigration of what Veda Vyasa has said in the Bhagavatam.  Many more instances of such statements of Veda Vyasa from the Bhagavatam itself and Bhagavadgita have been already shown.


regards

subbu 


 

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