[Advaita-l] Real, unreal and mithyaa

Nithin Sridhar sridhar.nithin at gmail.com
Tue Dec 10 08:30:23 CST 2013


Sadananda ji,

I agree with you. I would just like to point out that, in the English
discussions on Advaita, the usage of the word "Unreal" is usually not
applied for the "Non-existing objects like son of a barren women" i.e. not
applied for Asat nor for Tucham. Instead rightly or wrongly, it is applied
for "Mithya" itself. Hence, there is so much confusion.

-Nithin



On Tue, Dec 10, 2013 at 7:52 PM, kuntimaddi sadananda <
kuntimaddisada at yahoo.com> wrote:

> PraNAms
>
> Perceptual world is not real or unreal. Hence it is called mithyaa which
> is sat asat vilakshanam.
>
> Real is clearly defined - that which does not undergo any modification -
> Only infinite cannot undergo any modification, by definition. Brahman is
> infiniteness itself. Brahman cannot undergo modification. Hence He cannot
> be the cause for creation since creation involves a modification.
>
> If there is a creation, then the cause cannot but be Brahman since there
> is nothing else other than Brahman. But by above statement Brahman cannot
> be the cause for anything. Hence only way to account the creation since it
> appears to be real for the perceiver is by adhyaasa that Shree Subbuji
> mentioned. It is appears to be there but really not there since what is
> there is only Brahman which cannot be perceived.
>
> Hence whatever is perceived and we think is real is not really real since
> it is only apparently real.
>
> Unreal cannot even appear for perception - For unreal there is no locus
> for existence and therefore for experience it has to exist Hence unreal is
> like vandyaputraH
>
> The world is experienced - therefore it is neither real not unreal - hence
> it is called mithyaa.
>
> In fact Shankara says anything that is seen or perceived is mithyaa -
> dRshyatvaat.
>
> For these it is not logic but Vedanta is pramAna. Logic relays on
> Pratyaksha pramANa for validation. That which is beyond the pratyaksha
> pramANa cannot be established by logic. It is useless to argue using logic
> on these aspects.
>
> Hari Om!
> Sadananda
>
>
> --------------------------------------------
> On Tue, 12/10/13, Sujal Upadhyay <sujal.u at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>  Subject: Re: [Advaita-l] Real vs. Unreal
>  To: "A discussion group for Advaita Vedanta" <
> advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org>
>  Date: Tuesday, December 10, 2013, 7:38 AM
>
>  Dear Nitin bhai,
>
>  I think unreal does not mean mithyA. Or say what is the
>  english word for
>  asatya?
>
>  Satya = Real / truth
>  asatya = ?
>  mithyA (in between) = ? - that which is transient
>  experience.
>
>  My English is poor
>
>  Also what is the difference between anitya and mithyA?
>
>  According to my understanding, anitya means that which is
>  non-self and is
>  perishable. So if I destroy a cloth, it's irreversible end
>  product is ash,
>  which is visible.
>
>  While in snake-rope analogy, when snake disappears, it does
>  not leave any
>  trace, like it's curved path, etc.
>
>  Adi Shankara in Tatva Bodh defines both anitya and mithya
>  separately.
>
>  In Jnana Drishti, the world is negated and not destroyed.
>  that is nirvikalp
>  samadhi. Then there is another word, satvam khalu-idam
>  brahma. 'Idam' :)
>
>  Sri Ramana Maharshi says, when you look at shadow, then sun
>  is not visible,
>  when you look at sun, you cannot see shadow. Similarly, when
>  you clearly
>  experience this world, you do not experience Brahman. when
>  you clearly
>  experience Brahman which world is not visible.
>
>  Body is Jnani is Jnana itself (consciousness). It is not
>  physical body, but
>  the substratum of entire universe is his body (i.e.
>  Brahman).
>
>  Aum
>
>
>  OM
>
>  Sujal Upadhyay
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