[Advaita-l] Mirage water analogy for the world in the Bhagavatam

[V Subrahmanian]

*The Mirage Analogy for the World in the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam*


मृगतृष्णां यथा बाला मन्यन्त उदकाशयम् ।
एवं वैकारिकीं मायां अयुक्ता वस्तु चक्षते ॥ ११ ॥

(श्रीमद्भागवतपुराणम्/स्कन्धः १०/उत्तरार्धः/अध्यायः ७३)

Just as those who lack discernment (viveka) mistake a mirage for a body of
water, in the same way, the ignorant perceive this illusory world
(māyā-prapañca) as real.
Therefore, the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam describes the world as being like a mirage
(mṛgatṛṣṇā). The view is that māyā is not the ultimate reality
(pāramārthika satya).

*Śrīdhara Svāmī’s Commentary:*


किञ्च अवस्तु सद्वस्तुतया पश्यन्तीत्याहुः - मृगतृष्णामिति । वैकारिकीं
सृष्ट्यादिविकारापन्नाम् अयुक्ता अविवेकिनः |

People imagine something to exist when in fact it does not. This refers to
māyā (or prakṛti), which appears as this manifest world, a product of the
transforming Māyā.


In the Advaita literature there is this analogy extremely widely used to
show the world to be mithya.

regards

subbu



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