Vedanta - Discussion Forum I (introductory))

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<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->According to Swami Vidyaranya's Panchadasi (Chapter 1), Maya is Shuddha-satva (Pure Sattva), and Avidya is impure sattva (i.e. Sattva mixed with Rajas and Thamas.) Now, the reflection of Brahman in Maya (Pure Sattva) is called EESHVARA, and the reflection of the very same Brahman in Avidya is called the JIVA. The difference is that, Eeshwara perfectly and completely controls Maya, while Jeeva is IN the control of Avidya. The former is the controller, while the latter is the controlled.

In the example of the moon, I am assuming it means the Brahman when reflected in a calm intellect is Sat (Eeshwara?) and in a turbulent mind is Asat (Jeeva?). Am I even close on my assumption.?

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Sunderji,
Though i cannot answer whether you are close with your assumption. But i will try to answer from what i had heard from my Guru last year, which incidentally is very similar to your reference to Panchadasi.


I will try to roughly translate what he had told me in Tamil. Certain things could be lost in translation as well as my forgetfullness.

[Brain dump]
He had said that Eswara is the manifestation/ reflection of the Brahman in the Mayic domain, and even Jeeva is a reflection. But it is a impure one as it is clouded by Avidya.

The whole domain of maya can be split into several layers /planes similar to the ISO OSI layers (thanks to your analogy). Eswara lies in the higher planes while the jeeva is in the lower plane. Jeeva is controlled by Maya on account of its association with avidya, whereas Eswara controls Maya. Through Bakthi and renouniciation, jeeva gets disassociated from Avidya and thereby the influence of maya on it reduces. As the jeeva rises up to the higher planes of maya, the influence of maya reduces similar to air pressure reducing at higher altitudes. When the entire avidya vanishes, the jeeva identifies himself with Eswara and this stage is called Moksha. At this stage the jeeva identifies Eswara as the reflection of the Brahman, but not Brahman yet. Even at this stage, the jeeva is still in Maya though not controlled by it. When the jeeva completely comes out of the mayic domain, it attains mukthi and then it is no longer Jeeva.

Radha-Kalyanam signifies this union where Krishna signifies the Brahman while Radha signfies a Jeeva in Maya. In Radha Kalyanam, Radhe loses her identity and becomes one with Krishna, then there is no Radha and hence no Maya. That is why Krishna never meets Radha after his days in Brindhavan as she is no longer a seperate entity.

[/Brain Dump]
I may have even quoted him completely out of context, but at least i have tried my best.