[Advaita-l] [advaitin] 'Satyasya Satyam..' of the Upanishad explained in the Bhagavatam

[Michael Chandra Cohen]

Namaste Subbuji,

"Relative reality" is misleading and oxymoronic. Reality cannot be partial
or not real - the law of excluded middle - either something exists or does
not exist. Snake is not a relative reality - it is rope misperceived.  The
fear of snake is a reaction to the misperception of rope but not a reaction
caused by the 'relative reality' of an imagined snake. To impose reality
upon error or misperception whether 'borrowed' or 'relative' or 'temporary'
etc. is a misguided teaching.  In that way we need to view vyavaharika. It
is only a perception taken to be real.
,
Here are 5 pages of citations from SSSS's The Method of the Vedanta/MOV and
elsewhere that correct this misunderstanding of Bhasya.

On Wed, Sep 24, 2025 at 2:22 AM V Subrahmanian <v.subrahmanian at gmail.com>
wrote:

> In the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 2.3.6 is the famous mantra, a part of
> which reads:
>
> अथात आदेशो नेति नेति न ह्येतस्मादिति नेत्यन्यत्परमस्त्यथ नामधेयं सत्यस्य
> सत्यमिति प्राणा वै सत्यं तेषामेष सत्यम् ॥ ६ ॥
>
>  Now therefore the description (of Brahman): 'Not this, not this.' Because
> there is no other and more appropriate description than this 'Not this.'
> Now Its name: "The Truth of truth.' The vital force is truth, and It is the
> Truth of that.
>
> The gist of the mantra is: the term 'prāṇā:' signifies the entire
> creation, both at the individual level and the cosmic level. At the
> individual level we have the subtle body, the sense organs, that illumine
> the creation outside the body. The world outside, being insentient, get
> illumined by the subtle body/organs. This two-fold categorization can be
> compared to the 'kṣetram' (field) of the 13th chapter of the Bh.Gita. There
> too in the 5th and the 6th verses the entire kṣetram is presented as
> consisting of the subtle body of the individual and the outside world. This
> is termed 'satyam', in its primary sense, vācyārtha. And the 'satyam' of
> that ('prāṇā:' - kṣetram) is Brahman, the absolute Satyam.
>
> From the above study of the mantra, we derive the meaning: the first
> 'satyam' (satyasya) is the created world. This has only a
> dependent/relative reality. It derives its reality from Brahman, the
> Absolute Satyam.
>
> It is interesting to note that we have a verse in the Bhagavatam that
> brings out the above two levels of reality:
>
> आत्मानमेव आत्मतया अविजानतां
>
> तेनैव जातं निखिलं प्रपञ्चितम् ।
>
> ज्ञानेन भूयोऽपि च तत्प्रलीयते
>
> रज्ज्वां अहेर्भोगभवाभवौ यथा ।। 10.14.25
>
> A person who mistakes a rope for a snake becomes fearful, but he then
> gives up his fear upon realizing that the so-called snake does not exist.
>
> Similarly, for those who fail to recognize You, Brahman, as the Supreme
> Soul of all
> souls, the *expansive illusory material existence arises,* but knowledge
> (realization) of You (Your True Nature) at once causes it  (the variegated
> world of plurality) to subside.
>
> In the above verse we see the expression of relative reality, the world,
> and the Absolute Reality, Brahman. This is exactly the teaching of the
> Upanishad through the pithy statement: satyasya satyam.  The rope is the
> Satyam and the snake is the satyam, in the analogy of the Bhagavatam. There
> itself, the relatively real, the world, is contrasted with the Absolutely
> Real, Brahman. The state of ignorance is signified by the world and the
> state of realization is conveyed by the term Brahman. One can recall the
> verse 2.69:
>
> या निशा सर्वभूतानां तस्यां जागर्ति संयमी ।
>
> यस्यां जाग्रति भूतानि सा निशा पश्यतो मुनेः ॥ ६९ ॥
>
> 2.69 The self-restrained man keeps awake during that which is night for
> all creatures. That during which creatures keep awake, it is night to the
> seeing sage.
>
> Here the waking and sleep are symbolic of real and unreal: For the Jnani,
> the waking means the Absolute Truth. For the ajnanis waking is to the
> relative world.
>
> The relatively real has no reality of its own and hence is only
> dependently real, paratantra satyam. On the other hand, Brahman, the
> Absolute Reality, does not need to acquire reality from any other source.
> The world needs reality from Brahman. All this is implied by the
> Upanishadic statement: satyasya satyam.
>
> Why does the Upanishad call the vyavaharika, the world, 'satyam'?  The
> Upanishad is alluding to, doing anuvāda of, the uninformed person holding
> the world to be real, untaught.  This has to be corrected. Hence the
> Upanishad *as though* holds the world to be satyam and goes on to teach,
> in the manner of 'from the known to the unknown', and the adhyāropa-apavāda
> nyāya, the truth that Brahman is indeed the absolute Satyam.
>
> There are many such verses in the Bhagavatam that carry the Upanishadic
> purport.
>
> Om Tat Sat
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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