[Advaita-l] Mithya and Maya

[Sunil Bhattacharjya]

You can look at it from this angle. Lord Krishna says in the Bhagavad Gita that He created this world from a part of His. That way all creation is Brahman and this Jagat is Brahman if we realise the truth. This means when we attain Brahmajnana everything is Brahman. Khalvidam Brahma. But as long as we do not see through Maya we cannot see the unity or oneness. These concepts were never sorted out in the ancient past through exchange of written notes. The Guru used to clarify the doubts of the disceples sitting in front of them . If one word or sentence confuses the disciples that could be sorted out then and there. If the great Adi sankara could have imagined that there would be such a great controversy over the word "Mithya" then he would have certainly written another treatise entirely explaining what he meant by the word "Mithya". But probably he hoped that we would be intelligent enough to understand what he meant.
 

--- On Tue, 9/1/09, Anbu sivam2 <anbesivam2 at gmail.com> wrote:


From: Anbu sivam2 <anbesivam2 at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [Advaita-l] Mithya and Maya
To: drdbharadwaj at gmail.com, "A discussion group for Advaita Vedanta" <advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org>
Date: Tuesday, September 1, 2009, 9:01 PM


Quote: "We can aver that the jagat is 'not false' only from the point of
view of the
perception of the senses, indriyas."

What Bharadwajji is highliting is something like this:
Actually Indriyas are part of the jagat!  Now tell me: are the indriyas
mithya too or not?

Mithya should be understood as 'there is nothing in it'.  In English we use
the term 'unreal' or 'false'.
Thus indeed such terms as ephemeral, transcient etc are the characteristics
of jagat that is finally concluded as mithya.  Once you understand mithya
then all these 'something' about nothing becomes irrelevant!

Brahman on the contrary is Sathyam.  There *is* something and that something
is actually full!

Thus 'Brahma Sathyam, Jagan mithya' could be understood.



On Tue, Sep 1, 2009 at 1:34 AM, Dr D Bharadwaj <dr.d.bharadwaj at gmail.com>wrote:

> Dear Shyam,
>
> I do not contend that the jagat is, indeed, ephemeral, transient,
> impermanent etc. I am sure Sri Sankara had meant this too.
>
> But I am not sure that the word 'mithya' connotes something like 'anithya'
> it as a 'meaning'. Can you check it?
>
> The word may not mean 'false' in the sense of 'non existing'. But it may
> mean false in the sense of seeming to be what it is truly not or not being
> what it seems to the senses, say like a mirage or silveriness in a shell
>  or
> a rope that 'seems' like a snake.
>
>
> We can aver that the jagat is 'not false' only from the point of view of
> the
> perception of the senses, indriyas.
>
> Since, now, the gross perception is more widely and insistently accepted
> than before, and trying to exclude other perceptions as 'false' in turn, we
> seem to feel 'uncomfortable' in accepting the epithet, 'false'. It should
> not be so for those who acknowledge possibility of the other perception
> from
> which this sense limited perception is indeed 'false'. We need not be
> apologetic about that 'meaning'. It is like the one that wakes up  from
> sleep choosing to call the dream perception 'false'.
>
>
>
>
> *SrIramaNArpaNamastu*
>
>
> Dr. D. Bharadwaj
> drdbharadwaj at gmail.com
> dr.d.bharadwaj at gmail.com
>
> sarvE bhavanthu sukhinah
> sarvE santhu niraamayaah
> sarvE bhadrANi pasyanthu
> maa kaschit duhkhabhAg bhavEt.
>
>
> On Tue, Sep 1, 2009 at 10:31 AM, Sarma KV <sarmakv at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > Dear Sri Jaldhar,
> >
> > The word *mithya* doesn't mean "false." It means "transient", not
> constant,
> > not permanent, not lasting (naSvaram = bound to perish), and
> > not-independent. Jagat is leela.
> > In contrast brahma is satyam. It is not-transient. It is independent,
> > Sudhdham and nityam.
> >
> > This is Sankara's view behind using the word "*mithya*" rather than "*
> > asatyam*" or some other word to mean "false."
> >
> >
> > On Mon, Aug 31, 2009 at 11:50 PM, Jaldhar H. Vyas <
> jaldhar at braincells.com
> > >wrote:
> >
> > > Rajeev Kumar who recently joined the list asked
> > >
> > > 1. What actually Sankaracharaya meant by Gagat Mithya and Maya ?
> > >>
> > >
> > > Advaita Vedanta is not idealistic in the philosophical sense meaning it
> > > does not believe "it is all in your head"  There is an objective
> reality
> > out
> > > there.  But what your senses perceive is not it.  This is due to
> > Bhagavans
> > > power of delusion which manifests in two forms: veiling the true nature
> > of
> > > things, and causing the illusion of reality to unreal things.  This
> > avidya
> > > (ignorance) in a jivatma causes it to think of the world-appearance to
> be
> > of
> > > multiplicity and its contents (including himself) to have finite
> > beginnings
> > > and ends.  Jnana or knowledge is the realization that this
> > world-appearence
> > > in all its names and forms is mithya (false) and only the one, eternal,
> > > imperishable Brahman exists.
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > --
> > > Jaldhar H. Vyas <jaldhar at braincells.com>
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