Chapter III – Advaita Prakarana (On Non-duality)
K 15-20 It is difficult to teach non-duality which is the final teaching of the Upanishad because the intellect is obsessed with worldly affairs which thrive on duality. There are three categories of students, the lowest, mediocre and the sharpest depending upon their maturity of intellect. A sharp intellect can understand that the world is like a dream, whereas Brahman alone is the reality. It is difficult for other two types of intellect. Therefore, the Upanishads introduce them to creation by using metaphors of clay-pot, gold-ornament, fire-spark, etc. As the teaching progresses, creation is negated by saying that effect is not different from the cause. Existence of the creation does not belong to it. The creation borrows it from Brahman which is the substratum and creation is superimposed upon It.
Because of Veda’s temporary acceptance of creation and duality, there are many schools of duality which consider that duality is real. They have conflicting theories of creation. Advaita does not argue with them because they are in any case mithya to be negated later. The final teaching of the Upanishads is non-duality. No doubt duality is experienced but it does not prove reality. Brahman is the only reality and the world of duality is an appearance upon Brahman due to maya power. If creation is really real, liberation will be out of question which would contradict the scriptures. The problem with dualists is that on one hand they talk about Brahman as unborn and free from sufferings and on the other hand they talk about a real world full of sufferings.
K 21-26 The essential nature of fire is hot. It cannot become cold. Likewise, an entity which is immortal cannot become mortal and vice-versa. The essential nature of Brahman is immortality. That is to say, It is eternal and changeless. If world has originated from Brahman, it will mean Brahman has undergone change thereby contradicting the essential nature of Brahman. Consequently, there is no real creation. It is an appearance like a mirage. If for argument’s sake, it is assumed that there is change from mortality to immortality, then such an immortality is of no use because it may become mortal later.
Gauḍapada says that the Veda should be read in its entirety. Reliance on selective statements is prone to contradictions. The Vedas, considered as a whole, does not talk about the actual creation of the world but only a seeming origination of the world. Vedic texts are same whether creation is real or appearance. Therefore, when Vedas talk about creation, it should be interpreted as seeming creation in the spirit of harmonious construction because the same Vedas talk about non-dual Brahman.
Katha Upanishad 2.1.11 says, “there is no diversity here”. It means that if some where the Vedas talk about creation, it is to be understood as apparent creation manifested due to maya power of Brahman as stated in the passage, “The Lord, on account of maya is perceived as manifold” (Br. Up 11. 5. 19).
The Upanishad (Br Up 3.9.26) uses, ‘not this’, ‘not this’ to point towards reality, i.e. Brahman. The dual negation is to negate both formed and formless constituting the empirical world. Shankaracharya concludes with comment: “Thus the definite conclusion arrived at by hundreds of Vedic texts is that the reality of the Self that is co-extensive with all that exists within and without, and is birthless, is one without a second, and there is nothing besides. [Swami Gambhirananda. Eight Upanishads, Advaita Ashrama]
K 27-28 Gaudapada relied on scriptures to support non-duality. He now uses reason to arrive at the same conclusion. In a magic show, an elephant is born. It is an effect which presupposes a cause, i.e., a magician. A non-existing thing cannot be the cause, like a barren woman cannot be the cause of a child. Similarly, even if one provisionally accepts the world as an effect, reason points to an uncaused cause—Brahman. Since Brahman is birthless, It cannot itself have a cause; otherwise, an infinite regress would follow. Being birthless Brahman is the only reality and is non-dual.
K 29-32 The similarity between the two states, waking and dream has been explained earlier in detail. During dream duality of subject and the object is created by the mind. In the waking state, all the experiences are eventually thoughts in the mind. Just as in dream, the mind projects duality in the waking state as well. No doubt, in both the states, the play of the mind is in Consciousness which is the substratum. There is no duality when the mind is at rest during sleep. The mind can also be brought to rest by yogic practice, e.g., samadhi. There is a Vedantic way of ‘removing’ the duality. The teacher with the help of scripture, teaches that the mind and the world are mithya and Self is real. For a knower of the Self, the mind continues to experience duality, but he is free from the illusion that duality is ultimately real.
K 33–38 The Self is not an object of knowledge because It is the very Consciousness that illumines the mind. The mind has to recognize that the Self is the witnessing Consciousness and that the real nature of the jiva is none other than the Self. This recognition takes place in the mind, even though the mind itself is mithya. Since the mind is mithya, Self-knowledge, too, belongs to the empirical order and is mithya. The Self alone is absolutely real.
A knower of the Self does not destroy the mind but understands its nature and disciplines it. The mind of a jnani is ever alert. It continues to experience duality but no longer takes it to be real. Such a mind is very different from the mind in deep sleep. In deep sleep, the mind is dormant; in Self-knowledge, it is awake, alert, and free from delusion. Shankaracharya explains the term ‘samadhi’ used in K 37: “Samadhi means divine absorption, so called because the Self is realized through the insight arising from the deepest concentration (samadhi). Or it is called samadhi because the Self is itself the object of concentration.”
—Swami Gambhirananda, Eight Upanishads, Advaita Ashrama
K 39–40 The knowledge that the Self is non-dual is called Asparsa-yoga (the Yoga of Non-contact), because everything other than the Self is understood to be mithya. All relationships are therefore mithya. The knower of the Self is complete in himself and does not depend upon external supports for security or happiness.
Gauḍapada points out that Asparsa-yoga is difficult because most people seek emotional security from external sources, including God. Although Advaita teaches fearlessness, an immature mind sees fear in the very fearlessness that Advaita proclaims. Only a mature seeker, who has received the Vedantic teaching through the traditional method, can gradually become free from dependence upon external supports and discover security in the Self alone.
K 41–48 In Upadesa Sahasri Shankaracharya points out that prarabdha has the power to influence even a knower of the Self. Therefore, a jnani must remain alert. Lasting peace, called liberation, also requires vigilance and mastery over the mind.
Gauḍapada says that just as an ocean could, figuratively speaking, be emptied with a blade of grass through persistent effort, the mind too can be brought under control by sustained practice, even though it is constantly surrounded by objects of desire. Even the attraction to sleep is treated as one such obstacle. A seeker should not be attached even to the joy experienced in meditation. Such joy belongs to the mind and is therefore mithya
“Constantly remembering that everything is full of misery, one should withdraw the mind from the enjoyments born of desire. Constantly remembering that the birthless Brahman alone is all this, one no longer perceives the born, namely, the manifold world of duality.”
“One should awaken the mind merged in sleep; one should again quieten the distracted mind; one should recognize when the mind is tinged with desire or latent tendencies; and one should not disturb the mind established in equipoise.”
—Translations by Swami Gambhirananda, Eight Upanishads, Advaita Ashrama
When the mind has been made steady through these disciplines, it is no longer distracted by objects of desire or overcome by sleep. Abidance in the Self becomes firm, and the mind owns up the limitless bliss that is the very nature of the Self. This is liberation—the end of rebirth and the attainment of everlasting freedom.
Contd