Shakti and Shakta: Essays and Addresses on the Shakta Tantrashastra c19.12

c19.12

It seems to me that Sañkara who combats Sâñkhya is still much influenced by its notions, and as a result of his doctrine of Mâyâ he has laid himself open to the charge that his doctrine is not Shuddha Advaita. His notion of Mâyâ retains a trace of the Sâñkhyan notion of separateness, though separateness is in fact denied. In Sâñkhya, Mâyâ is the real Creatrix under the illumination of Purusha. We find similar notions in Sañkara, who compares Chit to the Ayaskântamani, and denies all liberty of self-determination in the Brahman which, though itself unchanging, is the cause of change. Jnâna Kriyâ is allowed only to Îshvara, a concept which is itself the product of Mâyâ. To some extent the distinctions made are perhaps a matter of words. To some extent particular notions of the Âgamas are more practical than those of Shaṅkara who was a transcendentalist.