Page:A History of Indian Philosophy Vol 1.djvu/473

 x] Locus of Ajiiiina 457 ence is also indicated by the fact that the infinite bliss of Brahman does not show itself in its complete and limitless aspect. If there was no ajfiana to obstruct, it would surely have manifested itself in its fullness. Again had it not been for this ajfiana there would have been no illusion. It is the ajfiana that constitutes the sub- stance of the illusion; for there is nothing else that can be regarded as constituting its substance; certainly Brahman could not, as it ,is unchangeable. This ajfiana is manifested by the perceiving consciousness (siik#) and not by the pure consciousness. The perceiving consciousness is nothing but pure intelligence which reflects itself in the states of avidya (ignorance). Locus and Object of Ajilana, AhaI!lkara, and Anta1).karaI)a. This ajfiana rests on the pure cit or intelligence. This cit or Brahman is of the nature of pure illumination, but yet it is not opposed to the ajfiana or the indefinite. The cit becomes opposed to the ajfiana and destroys it only when it is reflected through the mental states (VTtti). The ajfiana thus rests on the pure cit and not on the cit as associated with such illusory impositions as go to produce the notion of ego "aham." or the individual soul. Vacaspati Misra however holds that the ajfiana does not rest on the pure cit but on the jiva (individual soul). Madhava reconciles this view of Vacaspati with the above view, and says that the ajfiana may be regarded as resting on the jiva or individual soul from this point of view that the obstruction of the pure cit is with reference to the jiva (Cimniitriisrita11l aj'fuinam j'ivapakapiititviit j'ivtisritam llcyate VivaraI)aprameya, p. 48). The feeling CI I do not know" seems however to indicate that the ajfiana is with reference to the per- ceiving self in association with its feeling as ego or " I "; but this is not so; such an appearance however is caused on account of the close association of ajfiana with antal).karaI)a (mind) both of which are in essence the same (see VivaraI)aprameyasarpgraha, P.4 8 ). The ajfiana however does not only rest on the cit, but it has the cit as its viaya or object too, i.e. its manifestations are with reference to the self-luminous cit. The self-luminous cit is thus the entity on which the veiling action of the ajfiana is noticed; the veiling action is manifested not by destroying the self-luminous character, nor by stopping a future course of luminous career on the part of the cit, nor by stopping its relations with the vi!?aya,