Atmabodha – Clarity and Purity

Hari Om!

Q1: I do not know what you mean by Bhatta-Prabhakara because Bhatta and Prabhakara are two groups under mimamsaka.

The bhaṭṭa school says, the consciousness conditioned by the (individual) ignorance is the Self citing scripture such as “prajñā (consciousness conditioned by the individual ignorance) alone is the bliss sheath” (Māṇḍū U 5); because in deep sleep there is the knowledge and there is ignorance, and also because of experience such as ‘I do not know me’.

The prabhākara (school of mīmāmsa) and tārkika-s (nyāya and vaiśeṣika schools) say, the absence of knowledge (ajñāna, the ignorance) is the Self citing scripture such as “there is the bliss sheath that is the Self different and more internal (to the intellect)”, (Tai Up 2.5.1); also because ajñāna, the ignorance is the resolution place of the intellect and the others (all instruments), and also because of experience such as ‘I am ignorant’ and ‘I am an ignorant person’ and so on.

I have cited above paragraphs from Vedanta Sara. The Mandukya Karika is another reference that gives more clarity on these topics.

Q2: The stark contrast in Jaina school of philosophy says that atma, the Self are many. There is an atma in each jiva. They also say the size of that atma is the size of the body that embodies that atma.