Guest guest Posted December 16, 2007 Report Share Posted December 16, 2007 Namaste According to advaita vedAnta everything other than (1) brahman and (2) non-existent things like the horn of a rabbit, is mithya. The whole universe, including all the 14 worlds, is mithya. mithya is the same as anirvachaniya. According to all AchAryas of advaita, avidya is not just absence of knowledge. It is something positive, bhAvarUpa. Being different from brahman it is also mithya. That is why Sankara has said—brahma satyam jagat mithya. jagat means the whole universe. mithya is of two kinds- pratibhasika and vyAvahArika. The first category includes rope-snake, shell-silver, and dream objects. All these must have a vyAvahArika substratum. The second category, vyAvahArika, includes everything that we experience and also all the other worlds. Sankara says that even the world of the Creator God brahmaji (brahmaloka) comes within samsAra. These have the pAramArthika, brahman, as substratum. Isvara Himself is only mithya because He is a blend of brahman and mAyA. S.N.Sastri Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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