THE Doctrine of Maya - HolyBooks.com
THE Doctrine of Maya - HolyBooks.com THE Doctrine of Maya - HolyBooks.com
""""""""""""132 THE DOCTRINE OF MAYAthey produce any real knowledge to the Atman,whose very nature forbids all such bondages.The idea of divine worship and grace may be supported for the sake of the ordinary minds unableto go round the higher path of pure knowledge.But surely the idea of grace, etc., is not an exaltedconception. Truly speaking, grace is only possiblewhen there is a direct and perfect communion inother words, anbetween the two formsidentityof consciousness. This fact, too, shows that the ultimate nature of man and God is Consciousness."So long as our ignoranceis not cast away by theacquirement of knowledge which alone iscapable of ousting its opponent liberation is impossible. Without such a knowledge, mere devotion or deeds will never lead one to the same goal.As to the differentiation between the knower(jnata),knowledge (jnana),and the known (jneya),we have to repeat that the distinction is certainlyfictitious in the absolute sense. It is made by usand it is real for all our practical purposes. Themetaphysical truth does not attempt to devourthe world in its practical aspect. The knowledgeremoving avidyaif we are at all to say removalof avidyais not unreal. Unreal knowledge cannotdestroy unreality. Knowledge in the lower sense ofa relation between subject and object is ofcourse unreal, but such knowledge is unable to givea deathblow to avidya. On the dawning of trueknowledge the artificial distinction between sub-
"""""OBJECTIONS WITHIN THE VEDANTA 133andBy what shall we? jectobject vanishes.know knower (the subject the of all knowledge)"as was so forcibly asked by Yajnavalkya.These are in brief the seven difficulties whichRamanuja perceived in the doctrine of Maya. Aswill appear from what we have said above, Ramanujas criticism rests on the whole on a misunderstanding of the genuine Advaita standpoint. Allthrough he has been treating Maya as if it were aconcrete reality, even perhaps existing in space, etc.We do not accuse him even because he attempted toreject Sankara s premises. But we fail to see hisconsistency, when even on his own premises hefalls short of furnishing a really adequate explanation of the relation between God and the Universe.His doctrine of divine grace, devotion, etc., isaptto appeal strongly to many Christian theologians,who will therefore naturally prefer his philosophyto that of Sankara. Be as itmay, to us it seems evident that Sankara s analysis of Reality went muchfurther than Ramanuja s. The impersonal conception of the Absolute, we hold, isthere isany real meaning intruly personal, ifpersonality."Thisis how we will meet those who cannot hold any suchdoctrine to be the ultimate if it destroys the idea ofthe divine personality.Now, coming to the objections of the Purnaprajfiaswho hold the absolute separateness of theindividual soul and Brahman it is obvious that thegeneral drift of their attacks must be directed against
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""""""""""""132 <strong>THE</strong> DOCTRINE OF MAYAthey produce any real knowledge to the Atman,whose very nature forbids all such bondages.The idea <strong>of</strong> divine worship and grace may be supported for the sake <strong>of</strong> the ordinary minds unableto go round the higher path <strong>of</strong> pure knowledge.But surely the idea <strong>of</strong> grace, etc., is not an exaltedconception. Truly speaking, grace is only possiblewhen there is a direct and perfect <strong>com</strong>munion inother words, anbetween the two formsidentity<strong>of</strong> consciousness. This fact, too, shows that the ultimate nature <strong>of</strong> man and God is Consciousness."So long as our ignoranceis not cast away by theacquirement <strong>of</strong> knowledge which alone iscapable <strong>of</strong> ousting its opponent liberation is impossible. Without such a knowledge, mere devotion or deeds will never lead one to the same goal.As to the differentiation between the knower(jnata),knowledge (jnana),and the known (jneya),we have to repeat that the distinction is certainlyfictitious in the absolute sense. It is made by usand it is real for all our practical purposes. Themetaphysical truth does not attempt to devourthe world in its practical aspect. The knowledgeremoving avidyaif we are at all to say removal<strong>of</strong> avidyais not unreal. Unreal knowledge cannotdestroy unreality. Knowledge in the lower sense <strong>of</strong>a relation between subject and object is <strong>of</strong>course unreal, but such knowledge is unable to givea deathblow to avidya. On the dawning <strong>of</strong> trueknowledge the artificial distinction between sub-
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