[Advaita-l] Clarification requested

[UH SUBRAMANYA]

Dear Karthik,
To reinforce Amuthan's clarification, I would like to add the following:
Shri Shankaracharya  has stated " Brahma satyam jagan Mithya Jivo brahmaiva 
na paraH", which means that the world in which we live is unreal and the 
only reality is Brahman. Jeevathma is nothing but Brahman. To understand 
what is Mithya ( Unreal) we have to understand what is Sathya, which is 
defined by Shankara as " YadrUpenNa Yannishchitam TadrUpeNa na vyabhicharati 
tat satyaM" which clearly states that Sathya is one which do not change with 
time. Hence Mithya is the opposite of that. World is changing every moment. 
He clarifies in Vivekachudamani with the following Shloka (252), the same 
example Mr. Amuthan has given of Dream and Waking state.
"Nidrakalpita Deshakala vishaya Jnatradi sarvaM yathA MithyA tadvad Ihapi 
Jagrati jagatswajnana KaryatvataH"
Hence this world is Unreal in Paramarthik Bhasha  (but it may appear true in 
Loukik Bhasha).
There are innumerable quotes on this in various Books.
Regards,
Subramanya UH
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Amuthan" <aparyap at gmail.com>
To: "A discussion group for Advaita Vedanta" 
<advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org>
Sent: Tuesday, September 18, 2007 5:18 PM
Subject: Re: [Advaita-l] Clarification requested


> namo nArAyaNAya!
>
> On 9/18/07, Karthik Subramanian <karthikvathula_at_yahoo.com> wrote:
>>   The following is the passage :-
>>
>>   "The World is true. An object is defined to be 'True' if it exists in 
>> any one of the three divisions of tim i.e. past, present or future. For 
>> instance, we see a temple and the knowledge 'This is a temple' arises. 
>> The temple is 'true' because the temple continues to exist.
>>   Suppose, we mistake a rope to be a snake. After close inspection, we 
>> realize that it is not a snake but only a rope. Now, the knowledge 
>> regarding the snake is a false one and hence the snake is also 'false'. 
>> Since the knowledge regarding the world is not as said in the above 
>> illustration, the world is 'true'."
>>
>
> in advaita, truth is defined as that which is cannot be negated (by
> any valid means of proof). negation in time is just one aspect of this
> definition. just as the perception of a snake is negated by the
> knowledge of the rope, so also is the perception of duality in the
> form of 'aham' (the subject 'i') and 'mama-idam' ('mine' and 'this',
> i.e. body, world etc.) negated by the knowledge that arises out of
> vedAnta-SravaNa. in particular, the world perceived in the waking
> state is also found to be unreal upon proper enquiry. the following
> verses from upadeSasAhasrI should help in understanding the advaitin's
> response to the objection (words within brackets are included based on
> the context for making the meaning clear):
>
> 'svapnaH satyo yathA..AbodhAddehAtmatvaM tathaiva ca |
> pratyakshAdeH pramANatvaM jAgratsyAdA..AtmavedanAt ||' (11.5)
> 'as is the reality of the dream (known to be false) upon waking up, so
> is the identification of the Self with the body (known to be false).
> the means of knowledge like (sense) perception in the waking state
> (through which the world is known) are valid only before the Self is
> known.'
>
> 'sadasmIti pramANotthA dhIranyA tannibhodbhavA |
> pratyakshAdinibhA vApi bAdhyate digbhramAdivat ||' (18.7)
> 'the knowledge "i am brahman" (is alone true and) arises from proper
> evidence (i.e. SrutivAkya-s like 'tattvamasi') whereas the other
> knowledge (like "i am a knower, i am a doer, i am an experiencer"
> etc.) is produced because of error. the means of knowledge like
> (sense) perception (through which the world is known) are sublated (by
> the knowledge of the Self) just as the error regarding directions (is
> negated upon enquiry)'.
>
> 'pratilomamidaM sarvaM yathoktaM lokabuddhitaH |
> avivekadhiyAmasti nAsti sarvaM vivekinAm ||' (18.95)
> 'all this which have been spoken (i.e. relations like
> viSeshaNa-viSeshya between the perceived world and the perceiving
> subject) from the viewpoint of common people (i.e. those who assume
> the perceived world to be real) is false and exists only because of
> ignorance (of the Self). to those possessed of discriminative insight
> (between the Self and non-Self), all these (- the perceiving subject
> and the world of duality) do not exist.'
>
> thus, advaita's viewpoint is that duality is surely negated when the
> Self is known. since the Self is known only by proper enquiry, it
> follows that the reality of the perceived world is negated upon proper
> enquiry.
>
> vAsudevaH sarvaM,
> aparyAptAmRtaH.
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