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Oppiliappan List Archive: Message 00107 Jul 2006

 
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The knower is not ahamkara which is the product of ignorance.

Advaitin claims that anubhuthi is without a knower, asraya and  the 
known, vishaya. Due to illusion  it appears as the knower as the 
shell silver appears as silver. Anubhuthi is the adhishtAna or 
substratum of illusion like the silver and hence real. Ramanuja says 
that this is untenable. The perception is always is of the form 'I 
perceive, ' and not as 'I am the perception.'  Anubhuthi  shows the 
knower to be separate from the object of perception as when Devadatta 
is seen having a staff, it is not the perception of the staff alone 
but also the one who is holding the staff. So  the experience 'I 
perceive' shows the 'I' having the anubhuthi, and is not of anubhuthi 
only.

Ramnuja refutes the view that the concept of knower is an 
illusion,mithyA, as in the  identification of AthmA with the body  
saying 'I am stout'etc.If so, even the identification if anubhuthi 
with the AtmA would be delusion because it is perceived by the one 
under illusion. If it is argued that the knowledge of Brahman which 
removes all illusion does not affect perception, anubhuthi ,(the 
perception in the abstract meaning and not that of objects) and hence 
it is not an  illusion, then the same argument holds good for the 
Self which is having the perception.and is hence the knower and 
therefore cannot be mithyA.     

` Advaitin contends that since the Self is devoid of changes it 
cannot be the knower.  Knowing involves changes as knowing is an 
action and the AthmA is actionless. To be a knower requires an object 
to be known and the action of knowing, all of which are the effects 
of avidhya. So the knowership abides in ahamkara and not in the Self. 
Otherwise the imperfections of the body will adhere to the Self. 
Ramanuja refutes this. JnAthrthva, knowership does not belong to the 
ahamkara which is jada, It is distinguished from the Self on the same 
grounds that the body and other objects which are all dhrsyas, 
objects of perception, are , being outward, being perceived. Ahamkara 
is also perceived and hence not the perceiver.. It is also the 
product of avidhya and therefore jada. Being not the perceiver the 
ahamkara cannot be the knower.

The reason given to show that the knower is not the Self, namely, 
that it is subject to change, is not correct, says Ramanuja, 'na cha 
jnAthrthvam vikriyaAthmakam jnAthrthvam hi jnAnaguNAsrayathvam jnAnam 
cha asya nithyasya svAbhAvika dharmathvEna nithyam; nithyam cha 
Athmanah "nAthmA sruthEh" ithi vakshyathi.'  The knower is not 
subject to changes . JnAthrthvam, knowership, has jnAna as its 
attribute and jnAna is the essential attribute of the Self which is 
eternal and hence jnAna is also eternal. That the Self is eternal is 
shown by the suthras ' nAthmA srutheh'(BS.2-3-18), jnO athaEva (2-3-
19 which means that the Self is not a product but is eternal and so 
is  the knowledge which is its attribute which is  confirmed by the 
sruti texts.
It could not be argued that if jnAna is eternal and the essential 
characterestic of the Self, then one should be knowing all at all 
times because the jnAna though unlimited by nature attains samkocha 
vikAsa, contraction and expansion depending on the state of bondage 
and that of release. The contraction of jnAna is not svAbhAvika, 
natural  but  is due to the amount of karma at a particular time and 
therefore it is karmakrtha, effect of karma. Thus the Self is 
changeless in reality. So the jnAhrthva, knowership pertains only to 
the Self and not to ahamkara, ego.
Advaitin comes up with an explanation that  the ahamkara appears to 
be the knower due to close proximity with the perception, anubhuthi 
created by the falling of shadow upon one another. Ramanuja asks 
him 'kA chitcchAyApatthih? kim ahmakAracchAyApatthih samvidhah 
uthasamvicchAyApatthih ahamkaarasya? na thAvath samvidhah jnAthrthva 
ANbhyupagamAth;nApyahamkArasya, ukthareethyA thasya jadasya 
jnAthrthva ayOgAth.' It should be specified as to the shadow of which 
falls on which. Either ahamkara casts its shadow on the samvid or 
vice versa. Samvid is not accepted as the knower as shown already and 
ahamkara is jada being the product of avidhya, and therefore cannot 
be the knower.There is yet another valid reason for neither of them 
to be the knower, says Ramanuja, 'dhvayOrapi achAkshushthvAccha,na hi 
achAkshushANAm cchAyA dhrshtA,' both being not seen by the eye and a 
thing not seen is not known to cast a shadow.
If it is said to be similar to the situation where a piece of iron 
put into the fire attains the heat of the fire and thus the 
knowership appears in ahamkAra with the contact of anubhuthi that 
also fails to prove the point. Since anubhuthi itself is not a knower 
it cannot impart the knowership to ahamkAra.
Advaitin tries to surmount this difficulty by saying that neither 
ahamkAra nor  anubhuthi is the knower. AhamkAra only reflects 
anubhuthi like a mirror and gives an appearance of anubhuthi to be in 
it.So ahamkAra seems to be the knower of anubhuthi. This argument is 
forwarded on the basis that the concept of knower is not real 
according to the theory of advaita.Even this cannot be accepted 
because ahmkAra is incapable of  manifesting anything being a jada 
and anubhuthi is said to be self-proved and manifests everything else 
including ahamkAra. Ramnuja quotes from 'Athmasiddhi' of Yamunacharya 
to disprove this explanation. It says,'shAnthAngAra iva Adhithyam 
ahamkArO jadAthmikA svayamjyothisham aAthmAnam vyanakthi ithi na 
yukthimath,' AhamkAra being insentient cannot manifest the Athma, 
which is self illumined as an extinguished fire cannot manifest the 
Sun. 
As anubhuthi is self-proved according to the advaitin it is 
contradictory to ahamkAra which is jada and if anubhuthi is said to 
be manifested by ahamkAra it ceases to be anubhuthi as per the  
theory of advaita. To quote from Athmasiddhi 
again, 'vyangthrvyangyathvamanyOnyam na cha syAt prAthikoolyathah 
vyangyathvE ananubhuthithvam AthmanisyAth yathA ghatE.' The 
relationship of the manifestor and manifested cannot happen between 
two entities of conflicting nature.It cannot be said that like the 
rays of the Sun enter through a hole are manifested on the hand 
samvid is manifested in ahamkAra because the rays of the Sun are not 
manifested by the palm which only obstructs them and they manifest 
themselves. 
.
Ramanuja asks, 'kimchAsyasmvitsvarupasya Athmanh ahamkAra nirvarthyA 
abhivyakthih kim rupA?,' what is the nature of the manifestation of 
samvid, which is Athman, for advaitins? It is not produced since 
samvid or anubhuthi is said to be unoriginated. Nor does it appear, 
as the anubnuthi is said to be not the object of another perception. 
It cannot also be an indirect manifestation through another means 
like the sense-contact with the object or by removing the obstruction 
that prevents manifestation.The first kind is seen in the perception 
of jati by seeing the vyakthi, the object that belongs to the jati 
and the perception of the face in the mirror by the contact of the 
eye with the image.The second is the removal of defect from the 
perceiver which obstructs the perception, as the control of mind and 
senses through samadhamadhi in order to help the comprehension of the 
sasthras, which provide the knowledge of Brahman.Ramanuja dismisses 
both kinds of manifestation of anubhuthi by ahamkara by quoting from  
Athmasiddhih. "KaraNAnAm abhoomithvAth na thathsambandha hEthuthA; 
ahamarThasyaboddhrthvAthna sa thenaiva soDhyathE." The first is not 
possible since anubhuthi is not an object of sense perception and the 
second also is impossible since ahamkara is the perceiver according 
to advaitin and hence cannot remove its own defect. 
Neither does Ahamkara  help perception in the way that a lamp helps 
the eye to perceive the object which was hitherto in darkness. There 
can be no obstacle to be removed in the case of perception through 
ahamkAra. AjnAna cannot reside in anubhuthi which is self -luminous 
and ajnAna can only be removed by jnAna. Since samvid is said to be 
of the nature of jnAna, being the same as Atman,ajAna cannot reside 
in it  as jnAna and ajnAna are mutually exclusive. AjnAna, ignorance 
can reside only in the knower and not in the known, like ghata. Since 
anubhuthi, identical with Athma for advaitin, is not the knower  but 
a mere perception and a witness ajnAna   cannot reside in it. 
Moreover if ajnana is said to be a bhava padhArtha, a positive entiy 
it will be refuted later. If on the otherhand it is  mere absence of 
jnAna, it is not an obstacle and comes to an end as soon as the jnAna 
arises. So by no reason whatsoever ahamkAra can manifest anubhuthi.
Also the contention that anubhuthi is manifested by ahamkAra as 
abiding in it is not acceptable. The manifesting agents like a bright 
light do not show the object they manifest, as abiding in them. Even 
a mirror does not manifest the face but only the light does it which 
when reflected inside the mirror shows the face as though it is 
inside the mirror.Similarlt the jnAna is the manifestor and not the 
ahamkAra. anubhuthi being self-proved is not perceived by the eye and 
hence ahamkAra cannot show it as an erraneous perception appearing 
itself as a knower. AhamkAra is therfore not the knower and thre real 
knower is the Self and the anubhuthi is not the Self.






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