[INDOLOGY] Mayavada (was Lines to an Advaitin)

[Michael Williams]

I would just add that the Mādhvas usually use the term māyā-vādin to 
refer to Advaitin philosophers. It is clear that it has a pejorative 
force, particularly in texts like the Madhvavijaya (the most famous 
biography of Madhva). The Madhvavijaya makes a lot of the fact that the 
compound can be interpreted as a straightforward statement of the 
Advaitins' position (they are "philosophers who hold that [the world] is 
illusion"), but also with a pejorative sense as "a proponent of the 
fraudulent/false philosophy”. The Mādhvas widely refer to themselves by 
contrast as tattva-vādins ("proponents of the doctrine that [the world] 
is real" / "proponents of the truth").

Best wishes,

Michael Williams


Am 09.04.2020 01:38, schrieb Dean Michael Anderson via INDOLOGY:
> I notice that this post uses the term 'mayavada' in referring to
> Advaitins. This is appropriate in this context I suppose because it is
> offering an alternative perspective to Advaita.
> 
> But some of the Advaitins I have spoken to say that that is a term
> coined by their opponents and that it is inaccurate, even if it has
> been adopted by some ill-informed Advaitins to refer to themselves and
> become part of the popular speech. These Advaitins say that the
> emphasis should be on 'avidya' or 'mithya' rather than 'maya'.
> 
> I wonder if anyone has any comments about this or could point me to
> some publications that discuss it.
> 
> Note: I am interested in the scholarly discussion of these terms and
> the associated concepts, not in a discussion about which is the
> supreme realization. :-)
> 
> Best,
> 
> Dean
> 
> Harsha Dehejia via INDOLOGY <indology at list.indology.info> wrote:
> 
> Friends:
> 
> Inspired by Madhav Deshpande and with a long history of my polite
> confrontations with Advaitins I propose to write 100 lines.
> I am a staunch Krishna rasika. Writing in English deprives my lines of
> the majesty of Sanskrit. However what English lacks in the melody and
> rhythms of Sanskrit it will hopefully make up in its rasa.
> 
> Wait O! Advaitin, before I accept your mayavada
> Let me tarry a bit and enjoy the lotus face of Krishna.
> 
> Kind regards,
> 
> Harsha
> Prof. Harsha V. Dehejia
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