Fundamentals of Vedānta about the goal and means were covered from verse 1 to verse 5. Now from verse 6 to verse 9, the topic of the world is mithyā as the result of superimposition is presented, and clarifying the reason for the wrong notion to be there. It is very difficult to accept that there is only non-dual brahman while we perceive many-ness and varieties of objects of likes and dislikes in this world, thus ācārya explains in the next verse.
saṁsāraḥ svapnatulyo hi rāgadveṣādisaṅkulaḥ |
svakāle satyavadbhāti prabodhe satyasadbhavet || 6 ||
The world is indeed like a dream, endowed with objects of likes and dislikes. It appears to be real in its own time, and not real upon waking.
saṁsāraḥ - life of becoming, is described as crowded with objects of like, dislike, etc. - rāgadveṣādisaṅkulaḥ. When we see other objects which are different from me, I will go after it if I like it and I will avoid it if I don’t like it. This is the life of becoming, where we keep trying to change (including holding on) the situation in our life. In our life, we go through three states of experience daily, but we all think only the waking state is real compared to the other two (dream and deep sleep) states. But ācārya says that the waking state is svapnatulyo hi - indeed is similar to the dream world. Why is it so? svakāle satyavadbhāti - because it appears to be real in its own time. All the dream objects which are the cause of likes and dislikes are projected by our mind, appearing real in the dream itself. Similarly, likes and dislikes of all the objects in waking state are also the projection of our mind, appearing real.
We think among all states of experience, the waking state is the real one, but actually it is as unreal as a dream when one is not deluded by ignorance. Don’t you agree that we also think that dream is real when we are in it? prabodhe satyasadbhavet - and it would be established as really non-existence upon waking up. Similarly the waking world is real for us because we haven’t woken up from this ignorance yet, being deluded in the ignorance of non-dual ātmā. But for the wise person who has woken up from this ignorance, waking is as mithyā as dream, it doesn’t hold the reality on its own. When we know the real nature of those objects is me alone, what kind of desires would I have towards them?
How mithyatvam - status of false appearance of the world affects us?
āvatsatyam jagadbhāti śuktikā rajatam yathā |
yāvanna jñāyate brahma sarvādhiṣṭhānamadvayam || 7 ||
Just as silver is seen to be real until shell is known. Similarly the world appears to be real as long as non-dual brahman which is the basis for the entire world is not understood.
śuktikā bhāti - appearance of silver on the shell continues yāvanna rajatam jñāyate - until the truth of the shell is revealed, thus it is mithyā - appears real until the reality is revealed. Similarly tāvatsatyam jagadbhāti - the world appears to be satyam - real, yāvanna jñāyate brahma sarvādhiṣṭhānamadvayam - until one understands the support of the world is brahman. Brahman is non-dual, but appears to be many names and forms.
Until we understood that the entire world is mithyā, they create likes and dislikes in us. Therefore śāstra always has two kinds of illustration to explain how we are deluded by this mithyā world, either we go after it, just like seeing silver in the shell or we dislike it, just like seeing snake in the rope. In the same way because of the appearance of this non-tangible world, we are bound by our likes and dislikes.
If the world is only appearance, how should we understand about the process of creation, sustenance, and resolution of the world talked about by śāstra itself?
upādāne’ khilādhāre jaganti parameśvare |
sargasthitilayānyānti budbudānīva vāriṇi || 8 ||
The world attains creation, sustenance, and resolution in brahman who is the material cause, support of all. Just like bubbles in the water.
Brahman as the basis for the entire world is formless, attribute-less, can’t be perceived by any sense organs. If this is so, how do we communicate such brahman? Therefore śruti reveals brahman through adhyāropa-apavada-prakriya - the methodology of superimposition and negation, as the method of communication, presented brahman as creator-sustainer-ground of resolution of the world. Brahman is given a status of abhinna-nimitta-upādāna-karanam - the intelligent and material cause which doesn’t undergo any change, and the world is the effect. The commitment here is to show that the effect world doesn’t exist apart from the cause Brahman. With that intention alone the creation, sustenance, and resolution of the world is talked about.
But after superimposed the status of creator, sustainer, and ground of resolution upon brahman, they are being negated, because there is no real creation, sustenance, and resolution happened.
Generally the material cause of any product undergoes some changes to become the effect. This kind of material cause is called parinami-upādāna-karanam - changing material cause, like milk become curd. But in the case of the world, brahman is changeless material cause - vivarta-upādāna-karana. Brahman with māyā upadhi is presented as material cause since it is the support of the effect (without which the effect can’t exist) and the cause of the birth of the effect.
budbudānīva vāriṇi - just like bubbles is born in the water, sustained in water, and resolved back into the water. In another way of saying, water creates bubbles, sustains the existence of the bubbles, and resolves back the bubbles into its own form. There is no difference between bubbles and water, only appearance different. In the same way upādāne’ khilādhāre jaganti parameśvare sargasthitilayānyānti - the world attains creation, sustenance, and resolution in brahman (with māyā upadhi) who is the material cause, thus it is the support of all. Because brahman lending the existence to all the manifested names and forms through the process of manifestation, sustenance and resolution, therefore it is said that all to be resolved back into brahman. Reality speaking the basis for the entire process doesn’t undergo any change, only appearance different.
If I can identify with satyam brahman, the whole world is just like bubbles, where its futility is not worthy for me to go after.
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