In dissolution there remains only the non dual Brahman

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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.]THE REMOVAL OFSUPERIMPOSITION7-9. Disciple: Maya cannot but have a cause. Just as clay cannotbecome a pot without the agency of a potter so also the Powerall along remaining unmanifest in Brahman can manifest onlywith Isvara's will.Master: In dissolution there remains only the non-dual Brahmanand no Isvara. Clearly there cannot be His will. When it is saidthat in dissolution all are withdrawn from manifestation andremain unmanifest, it means that the jivas, all the universe, andIsvara have all become unmanifest. The unmanifest Isvara cannotexercise His will. What happens is this: just as the dormant powerof sleep displays itself as dream, so also the dormant power ofMaya displays itself as this plurality, consisting of Isvara, His will,the universe and the jivas. Isvara is thus the product of Maya andHe cannot be the origin of His origin. Maya therefore has noantecedent cause. In dissolution there remains only Pure Beingdevoid of will, and admitting of no change. In creation Mayahitherto remaining unmanifest in this Pure Being, shines forth asthe mind. By the play of mind, plurality appears as Isvara, theworlds and the jivas, like magic. Maya manifest is creation, andMaya unmanifest is dissolution. Thus of its own accord, Mayaappears or withdraws itself and has thus no beginning. Thereforewe say there was no antecedent cause for it.10-11. D.: What is its nature?M.: It is inexpressible. Because its existence is laterinvalidated, it is not real; because it is factually experienced, itis not unreal; nor can it be a mixture of the two opposites thereal and the unreal. Therefore the wise say that it is indescribable(anirvachaniya).