PGS : Atma Bodha - Verse 07

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|Hari AUM|

 

Atma Bodha Verse 07 :

tAvatsatyam jagadbhAti shuktikA rajatam yatha |

yAvannjnAyate brahma sarvAdhiShThAnam advayam ||

 

Translation :

The apparent reality of the phenomenal world is like the

illusion of silver in nacre. This illusion persists until

the realization of the non-dual brahman as the ground of

all existence.

 

Explanation :

As in Verse 06, the theme here is to

explain the apparent reality of the phenomenal world(herein

referred to as jagam). We have already been told that this

phenomenal world is like a dream. In this verse, the world

is likened to the illusion of silver in nacre. Of course,

once we wake up from the dream ( i.e. spiritual awakening

),

this illusion is lost and we understand Reality ( Brahman )

as non-dual(advayam i.e. without a second ) and as the

ground(adiShThAnam) of all( sarvam ) existence.

 

Notably, this is the first time in this text that

bhagavatpAda has equated jnAnam with the realizaiton of

Brahman. So far, we have seen jnAnam equated with the

intuition of our own true Self. Now, we see that jnAnam

also

leads to us "waking up" from the dream of this manifold

world and to the realization of the Ultimate Reality.

In fact, these three realizations, namely,

Self-Realization,

Realization of the un-reality of the phenomenal world and

the Realization of the Supreme Reality are not different.

We are being led slowly to the ultimate thesis of Advaita,

Atman is Brahman.

 

As mentioned in the notes to the previous verse, it is

crucial that the "illusory" nature of the world is

understood correctly. In advaita texts many examples, like

the Snake-and-Rope or Silver-in-nacre are offered to

explain

it. Often, one is led to the conclusion(wrongly) that

advaita is very illusionist (mAya-vAda) etc. In this verse,

ShrI Shankara explains very clearly that the Brahman is

the substratum and the ground of all existence. This is a

very key concept in advaita and worth remembering

throughout

our study of other advaitic concepts like mAya etc.

 

Explanation of the silver-in-nacre analogy

---------

In this verse, ShrI Shankara offers an analogy to the

illusionary nature of the world. He says it is like the

illusion of silver-in-nacre. Let us say you are walking

along the beach early in the morning. Ahead of you, you

spot

a shining object which you identify as a silver coin. Upon

closer inspection, you realize that the shining object you

had seen is in fact an oyster shell, whose smooth and

reflective inner surface had shone brilliantly in the sun

light.

There are three immediate facts in this analogy :

1. The perception of the silver coin is an illusion

i.e. there was no silver coin there at all.

2. There has to be an actual reflective object ( like the

shell ) for the illusion to have taken place.

Otherwise, you would not have perceived it in the first

place.

3. The "illusion" had taken place only in your mind. The

shell was never affected by it i.e. the shell did not

"change" in to the silver coin and then revert back to

being a shell. It was a shell before you saw it, it was

a shell when you mistook it for the silver coin and it

still is a shell after you have realized your error.

 

Now, let us relate the analogy to the world and

brahman.

1. The perception of the **manifold** world is an illusion

i.e. it is like the silver coin.

2. There is an actual existence which is True Reality i.e.

brahman. Because the illusion of the world has to have

a substratum to rest on just as a movie needs a screen

to play on.

3. This "illusion" i.e. of the perception of the world is

entirely in your mind. Brahman has been, Brahman is

and Brahman shall forever be Brahman. It has never

changed as it is beyond change. It is only up to us to

correct our error.

 

To introduce some more vedantic terminology, this

"illusion"

or projection of a "false" manifold world on to the non-

dual brahman is called adhyAsa or super-imposition. The

sublation of this super-imposition by the dawn of correct

knowledge(jnAna) is called apavAda. Hence, the method of

advaita is sublation of super-imposition upon the non-dual

brahman which is the ground of all existence ( adhyArOpa

apavAda ).

 

PS : Apologies for the verbosity. Had to state some

concepts

up front. Havind covered this ground, I shall try to

keep future posts limited.

 

 

 

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