Namaste SF ji
It is not propitiatory to say that vaiSNava do not like sayujya mukti. It might be a general observation. It take your word in right spirit.
There was Meerabai who merged into bhagavAn.
There are many vaiSNava saints and Saiva saints who are of liberal mindset. Their ISTa devatA will always be their chosen deity and they do have un- shaking faith in their chosen deity. They do not come into limelight.
For advaita, explanation related to Brahman and mukti is difficult because words can be intepreted in different ways.
The word 'merging' would mean an act of dissolving, which technically does not happen. It's difficult to explain. Taking in right spirit, we can understand what does it mean from advaita POV. But if we think that a soul, individual identity), actually merges in the body of a personal deity like caturbhUja viShNu then thing is different.
In advaita at any point of time,
You CANNOT negate your own self.
You CANNOT become non-existent.
There is no death of individual soul. Hence we speak of jIva being 'wrong notion'.
So advaita begins with the search of Self. It is an inner journey. Until the true nature is realized, we are still in duality and in vyavahArika plane. So tiny jIva with limited adjuncts and the dual world is existent for us. But, there is a conscious effort to know the true nature.
Something merges, something is destroyed, shows an act, a transformation, which advaita does not accept. But under ignorance, advaita does accept mAyA and this world as relative reality.
Since GYAna is not opposite to relative reality, relative reality is not negated after Self Realization. World appears as Brahman In simple words, world appears, but GYAnI knows that duality is illusion and in reality only Brahman only exist.
e.g. we experience sun veiled (covered) by clouds, but we know that sun is never veiled by clouds
e.g. we see horizon, meeting of earth and sky, but still we know the reality
Only avidyA is negated by GYAna, as they are opposite to each other. Knowledge and ignorance are of opposite nature.
avidyA mAyA is gone, but vidyA mAyA remains. If we do not consider this, then jIvanmukti cannot be explained. After prArabhdha is finished, body drops, one attains videh mukti, now there is no experience other than the Self / Brahman.
In simple words, jIva shruShTi is destroyed (within mind). ISvara shruShTi remains after GYAna.
Hari OM
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