(A few people might appreciate the joke! Google will give you the answer.)
Q: I am trying to appreciate what is meant by the ‘unmanifest state’. Two ‘explanations’ present themselves:
1. The unmanifest is itself an upādhi like deep sleep. It’s a state or a subtle object
2. The unmanifest is not an upādhi. It’s pure Brahman, with a label ‘māyā’ for the purpose of discussing creation. It is not a state or subtle object
I think it’s #2, but I have heard that deep sleep is equated with the māyā upādhi (at the micro level) or the unmanifest. This seems a bit confusing to me as I view the deep sleep experience as an occurrence within manifestation. Can you please clarify?
2. I believe the Gīta says something like: When Brahmāji awakes it is manifestation and when he sleeps it is un-manifestation. This makes me think maybe it is like deep sleep! If this is the case, then what about before Brahmaji? This would indicate that there is something other than, or standalone from, the unmanifest or prior to the unmanifest (Brahmaji’s sleep state).
Some clarification would be greatly appreciated!
A: There are some questions that can really bother a seeker who uses their intellect too much! This is not a personal criticism – I have done precisely this sort of thing in the past. I once agonized about karma and reincarnation.
The problem with any such topic is that it relates to an attempt in vyavahāra to ‘explain’ something that is mithyā. And it carries the same warning as does the use of metaphor – don’t try to take them beyond the bounds of their applicability!
All of the teaching of Advaita (and I mean ALL) is mithyā. You will have heard of adhyāropa-apavāda. This applies to everything. Some teaching is introduced to help you to advance your understanding. Then it is taken back and a more subtle teaching presented. Ultimately, everything is taken back.
You will also have heard of ajāti vāda. There has never been any creation; there is only ever the non-dual Brahman. Therefore, what could be the possible meaning of pralaya?
It is possible that you know all of this already and are simply asking about how Advaita copes with this concept in the intermediate stages. I have to say that I don’t know! I don’t recall coming across anything on the topic in the past 50 years. (Mind you, this doesn’t mean that I haven’t – my memory sometimes does not stretch to last week!) I tried asking Copilot-ChatGPT but the answer there was pathetic and of no help at all. The closest I could find in my ‘spreadsheet of references’ was to Muṇḍaka 2.3.7. Śaṅkara says in his bhāṣya: “Whatever was mentioned above, like karma and vijñānamaya-ātmā (i.e. ahaṃkāra), all of them, when all the reflecting mediums are gone, become one with the eternal one which, like the space is not subject to decay, and which is limitless and infinite, and which is that Brahman.” And he then quotes from Bṛhadāraṇyaka Up. 4.4.25 and 2.5.19 and Māṇḍūkya Up. 7.