there is only the non-dual Reality

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ADVAITA BODHA DEEPIKA[LAMP OF NON-DUAL KNOWLEDGE][Originally

Sri Shankaracharya and other great Sages hadwritten several works like the commentary on the Vedanta Sutrasand thus furnished the methods for those engaged in Self enquiryto accomplish their purpose.From those, Sri Karapatra Swami later condensed thesalient

points

into

Sanskrit

verse in a work of twelve chapters,called Sri Advaita

Bodha Deepika.Still later, some great man seems to have translated thisinto Tamil prose. For some unknown reasons only some eightchapters

of

the

same are found published.]ON SUPERIMPOSITION25. Disciple: All the shastras proclaim that this samsara is thehandiwork of Maya but you say it is of Ignorance. How are thetwo statements to be reconciled?Master: This Ignorance is called by different names such as Maya,Pradhana, Avyakta (the unmanifest), Avidya, Nature, Darknessand so on. Therefore the samsara is but the result of Ignorance.26. D.: How does this ignorance project the samsara?M.: Ignorance has two aspects: Veiling and Projection(Avarana—Vikshepa). From these arises the samsara. Veilingfunctions in two ways. In the one we say "It is not" and in theother "It does not shine forth."27-28. D.: Please explain this.M.: In a discourse between a master and a student, althoughthe sage teaches that there is only the non-dual Reality theignorant man thinks "What can be non-dual Reality? No. Itcannot be." As a result of beginningless veiling, though taught,the teaching is disregarded and the old ideas persist. Suchindifference is the first aspect of veiling.29-30. Next, with the help of sacred books and graciousmasters he unaccountably but sincerely believes in the nondualReal, yet he cannot probe deep but remains superficialand says "The Reality does not shine forth." Here is knowledgeknowing that It does not shine forth yet the illusion ofignorance persists. This illusion that It does not shine forth, isthe second aspect of veiling.