[Advaita-l] Gaudapada and Shankara hold the waking objects to be mithya

[Bhaskar YR]

praNAms 
Hare Krishna

The purpose of rope-snake analogy would be served by knowing the real nature of rope.  And it is not meant to teach/ show the non existent sarpa.  IOW, its purpose is to remove the ignorance of what really existing (rope) and give its right knowledge i.e. rope only during avidyA period appearing as snake.  I think this is very important point to be remembered to know the real nature of jagat. Like knowing the real nature of jeeva after getting rid of jeevatva or jeeva bhAva.  The kArikAkAra in his subsequent kArika-s explains the same thing.  Just as only the rope remains after negating all the imaginations of snake etc., when shruti teaches neti, neti, when all the imaginations are eliminated one comes to know that all this is Atman and nothing but Atman.  Just see kArika 2-38, tattvaM AdhyAtmikaM drushtvA tattvaM drushtvA tu bAhyataH, tattveebhutastadArAmastatvAdaprachyutO bhavet.  When jeeva loses his jeevatva his prAtrutva also gets sublated and what remains for him is brahman and brahman only.  If we ignore the existing rope and say both rope and snake are mere imagination of mind it is nothing but the assertion of Buddhists vijnAnavAda.  It is tureeya only appearing as Vishwa, taizasa, prAjna, if Vishwa (the conditioned jeeva) thinks that he is seeing ONLY jagrat it is his ajnAna janita parichinna drushti and through that drushti whatever he perceives is his imagination only, when this jeeva realizes AtmajnAna, his jeevatva/bhava would go and he realizes that he is tureeya.  Likewise, the world during ajnAna dasha appearing different from brahman but after jnana he realizes what has been stated in kArika 2-38.  So, we have to be careful while explaining the real nature of jagat otherwise no wonder we will be labelled as pracchanna bauddha-s.  

Hari Hari Hari Bol!!!
bhaskar