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Oppiliappan List Archive: Message 00023 Jul 2006

 
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MahAsiddhAntha- The Great Final decision.

1. The argument that Brahman is nirvisesha is criticised.

Ramanuja dismisses the whole puirvapaksha argument 
as 'anAdharaneeyam, unsupported by any pramaANa. Brahman, NarAyaNA, 
is the oupanishadhaparamapurusha, the Supreme being, described by the 
upanishads, which say 'yamaivEsha vrNuthE thEna labhyathE, the Self 
is attained only by those who are chosen by Him.  The arguments of 
those who are devoid of the guNavisesha, that is, bhakthi, by which 
they become qualified to be chosen, who lack the knowledge of the 
purport of the sruthivaAkyas and the implication of the means of 
knowledge, pramANas, is kutharka, illogical and hence to be dismissed.

All pramAnas have  saviseshavasthu, something with attributes only as 
their object. So there can be no valid means of cognition for 
perception without attributes, nirviseshaprathyaksham. Visesha is 
what separates a thing from other things. In the example of blue 
lotus, blueness is what separates the lotus from red lotus for 
instance. Similarly the lotus separates its blueness from others like 
that of the sea or sky. So when a thing is perceived, it is the 
attribute which causes its perception as distinct from other things 
and which is exclusive to that object. Actually attributelessness 
itself becomes an attribute because there can be no valid knowledge 
otherwise. All perceptions ae in the form 'I saw this ' which 
necessitates a perceiver and an object perceived. Both being viseshas 
the perception is savisesha only.

If the perception which is savisesha is to be proved to be nirvisesha 
by any syllogism,  the hetu  must be something which is found only in 
brahman. As in the syllogism 'the mountain is fiery because it has 
smoke,' the smoke is the hethu which is associated with fire only and 
always. In Brahman therefore there must be some hetu which is present 
in Brahman only and always. If the advaitin can supply such a hethu 
it becomes an attribute and not identical with Brahman.

It cannot be said that when the Brahman is proved with this attribute 
to be nirvisesha, this visesha ceases to exist along with the other 
viseshas as it is not tenable. If this attribute disappears Brahman 
cannot be proved to be nirvisesha. Hence the existence of a 
attributeless entiity cannot be proved. 

Perception cannot be separated from the perceiver and the 
perceived.It shines only by making the thing perceived by the 
perceiver.Anubhuthi as maintained by the advaitin to be self 
illumined not dependent on  anyhting else, is thus disproved. 
Ramanuja says that he will prove that even in sleep and swoon there 
is only savisesha anubhuthi. When it is said that the anubhuthi is 
eterna, it becomes savisesha having eternity as its attribute. Thus 
it is proved that anumana or inference through arguments, cannot be 
the pranANa to prove nirviseshathva of Brahman.It remains however to 
examine the other pramANas , namely sabda and prathyaksha to prove 
that all perception is only savisesha.. 




  







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