The Theory of Advaitavada

(analysis by Mohantji at Narmada Tat)

The fundamental principle of Advaitavada is based upon the original sayings of the Upanishads as “brahma satya jagat mithya”.

In words of Acharya Shankara :

“ardha sloke prabakshyami yaduktam granthakotibhih

Brahma satyam jagat mithya jivo brahmaiba naparah

Idameba tu sachchatram-iti Vedanta dindimah”(Brahma Gyanavali Mala)

The simple and straightforward explanation of the above verse is as follows. “Brahma is the only eternal Principle pervading the whole creation; it is the only ever-existent Truth. All else are illusion i.e. false. Though Jivatma is identified with Brahma, the Cosmic Being and there exists no separate entity besides this cosmic principle; all are manifestations of the Brahman but due to our blurred vision of the senses the world appears real. The Jivatma or the individual being is none other than the Cosmic Being, Brahman and the whole universe as Brahman itself. This is the famous declaration of the Vedanta. The eternal Brahman is Truth sublime, absolute consciousness and ever-permeating Bliss of the Satchidananda.

It is the self-illuminated consciousness, the Highest Principle of creation irrespective of time, space and region. These are the direct experiences gained by ancient seers in their highest level of Supramental realm, i.e. aparokshanubhuti. The world as we see around us appears to be a place for mere enjoyment for common man which is totally wrong and misleading. Acharya Shankara never assigned any negative interpretation to the existence of worldly happenings. Here the meaning of ‘illusion’ or falsity is owing to the extreme paucity of eternal values. We can explain it with a few concrete examples. Just see, when you stand near a river or pond in daytime you can notice your shadow in water. But when you move away from the water body you will no longer find your shadow in it. Therefore the shadow does not exist independently and it is associated with your body as object. In this manner the world and its happenings are false. ‘The term Jagat (the world) is illusory’ is a self-justified statement.

“gachchati-iti jagat” (gam dhatu+ou pratyaya) i.e. that is ever-moving, ever-changing, ever-fleeting, always inconstant. What else can we assign to this ever-changing universe except illusion ? Next what is True ?

“kalatrayam-abadhitam satyam”i.e which is ever-existent in Trikalas. That which existed before, still now existing and will exist as it is can truly be termed as Ishwara (non-perishable). It is the Truth sublime, i.e. satyam. Any object that did not exist before but finds its manifestation in material form can never be termed as Truth or Satya. Now when you are surprised to see sky-scrapers of amazing dimensions which never existed in the past and will certainly undergo deformation or demolition may be, due to natural happenings or man-made disaster can never be given the name of Truth. Change is inevitable for all worldly objects or happenings as it is the law of the Creatrix Nature. In this manner whichever undergoes birth, growth, change and death is being rightly given the name as Untruth or asatya.

According to some interpreters i.e. teekakaras, the meaning of jagat refers to our sense-perception of objects. Therefore all visible things may be classified under the surname jagat or nashwara. The Supreme Being Brahman is invisible to our material eyes. As one cannot recognize the characteristics of metal gold in a golden vessel and it is difficult to find the special character of mango in the particular sweet aam papad in the same way the whole world and its activities are shrouded with innumerable pleasurable experiences which are basically untrue by close scrutiny as they are short-lived. The concept of the son of an infertile woman exists though it is purely unreal. Thus the world is neither true nor false. Nor it is illusory. The objects around us are untrue in the sense that they do not exist transcending time and space. The object which is neither sat nor asat even it is not sadsat is false or asat. For example one can have illusion of snake in a rope in darkness but soon it subsides when the fact is revealed. In this case the snake of imagination in rope is false. False objects can never exist forever. But the concept of untruth is a matter of human knowledge. In this way the whole world is Maya or Nashwara.

Let us explain the concept of falsehood or asat with the help of one more instance. Suppose the parents are accompanying their only child for an evening stroll by river-side and it is a moon-lit night. The child, being playful throws a stone into water. Soon ripples are created and the moon seemed to be dancing under water. The child is now under the impression that there is a dancing moon underneath water surface and he gets elated. The parents explained the facts to the kid. The moon is not dancing. The image of the moon underneath water is dancing due to reflection on water surface. The moon is there in the sky. It is not dancing, thus its image cannot dance. The stone thrown by the boy disturbed the water surface thus creating an illusion of the dancing moon. So whatever we see with our naked eyes is not always true. The Supreme Truth is beyond sense-perceptions and that is the reason why Acharya Shankara assigns falsity, illusion to all worldly objects and their happenings. The realized Yogi in inner vision of the Self in the enlightened consciousness can experience the eternal Truth, Brahman. One who has attained “swaroopasthiti” can envision the Ultimate Reality and its all-pervading nature. The great scientist-yogis term this false vision of man as “Bhranti-darshan” owing to Relativity of vision. When one transcends the region of relativity and ascends to the highest realm of Turiyatita one can reach the Ultimate Reality and can have uninterrupted Bliss of the Satchidananda. When one transcends all illusory visions due to Relativity he arrives at the highest plane of the Supramental Consciousness, i.e. Tooriyabhoomi where Truth reigns the Supreme. One can understand the verse of the Gita “ nabhavo bidyate satah” The whole universe floats like a snake of the rope in the all-pervading Brahman in His infinite ocean of consciousness. Therefore the concept of the universe as illusory is logically justified.

Originally published at www.speakingtree.in.