[Advaita-l] Dream is not real, so is the waking - Say the Veda and Vedavyasa

Sudhanshu Shekhar sudhanshu.iitk at gmail.com
Tue Sep 12 08:55:26 EDT 2023


स्वप्नः स्वकाल एवास्ति नान्यदा सुप्तिजागरौं ।
तथैवेति स्वप्नसाम्यात् त्रयः स्वप्ना उदीरिताः || 17

Amazing. Thanks a lot...

On Tue, 12 Sept 2023, 18:09 V Subrahmanian, <v.subrahmanian at gmail.com>
wrote:

>
>
> On Tue, Sep 12, 2023 at 3:54 PM Sudhanshu Shekhar via Advaita-l <
> advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:
>
>> Namaste V Subramanian ji.
>>
>> How exactly is deep sleep termed as dream?
>>
>
> Sri Vidyaranya in his Anubhutiprakasha, on Aitareya Upanishad, says:
>
> स्वप्नः स्वकाल एवास्ति नान्यदा सुप्तिजागरौं ।
> तथैवेति स्वप्नसाम्यात् त्रयः स्वप्ना उदीरिताः || 17
>
> Dream is present only during its existence; not during sleep and waking.
> In the same way, being of the nature of dream, all the three states are
> stated by the Upanishad as three dreams.
>
> स्थूलसूक्ष्मबीजप्रपञ्चाः त्रयः स्वप्नाः - The gross, subtle and causal
> worlds are three dreams - explains Upanishad Brahma Yogin for the Aitareya
> mantra.
>
> Also since there is ignorance about the Truth, which persists in all three
> states, the svapnatvam of all three are admissible. We get this reasoning
> from the Mandukya Karika:
>
> अनादिमायया सुप्तो यदा जीवः प्रबुध्यते ।
> अजमनिद्रमस्वप्नमद्वैतं बुध्यते तदा ॥ १६ ॥
>
> regards
> subbu
>
>
>>
>> Regards
>>
>> On Tue, 12 Sept 2023, 15:36 V Subrahmanian via Advaita-l, <
>> advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:
>>
>> > Even if the object, person and events seen in a dream seem real at the
>> > time, on waking up it is known that they are not real. Vedanta takes
>> this
>> > experience as an example and concludes that the samsara/bandha
>> experienced
>> > in the waking is not real.
>> >
>> > In the Bhagavatam and Brahmasutras, Veda Vyasa has called dream as
>> Mayika,
>> > illusory. The meaning of 'maayaa' as God's will, Ishwarecchaa, does not
>> > hold good here.
>> >
>> > Dream creation is by the jiva - Srimad Bhagavatam
>> >
>> > In this chapter of the Bhagavata, as an analogy for the Supreme Lord
>> > creating the world and entering into it, is said to be akin to the
>> creation
>> > of the Jiva creating the dream by his mind out of his Avidya shakti:
>> >
>> > श्रीमद्भागवतपुराणम्/स्कन्धः १०/उत्तरार्धः/अध्यायः ८६
>> > https://sa.wikisource.org/s/v4e
>> >
>> > श्रुतदेव उवाच -
>> > नाद्य नो दर्शनं प्राप्तः परं परमपूरुषः ।
>> > यर्हीदं शक्तिभिः सृष्ट्वा प्रविष्टो ह्यात्मसत्तया ॥ ४४ ॥
>> > यथा शयानः पुरुषो मनसैवात्ममायया ।
>> > सृष्ट्वा लोकं परं स्वाप्नं अनुविश्यावभासते ॥ ४५ ॥
>> >
>> > Just as a sleeping man appears to have created the world with his own
>> > illusion (ignorance) and entered it, so the Supreme Lord dwells as if he
>> > has created this world with his magical power and entered it. From this
>> > illustration, the Srimad Bhagavatam reveals that the creation of the
>> world
>> > and the entry of the Supreme Being into it is also illusory and not
>> real.
>> >
>> > This premise is accepted only in Advaita alone.
>> >
>> > The Brahmasutra also says the same:
>> >
>> > मायामात्रं तु कार्त्स्न्येनानभिव्यक्तस्वरूपत्वात् ॥ ३ ॥ 3.2.3
>> >
>> > Shankara's commentary for the fact that the creation in a dream is
>> > illusory; not real:
>> >
>> > तुशब्दः पक्षं व्यावर्तयति । नैतदस्ति — यदुक्तम् , सन्ध्ये सृष्टिः
>> > पारमार्थिकीति ; मायैव सन्ध्ये सृष्टिः, न परमार्थगन्धोऽप्यस्ति ।
>> >
>> > सूचकश्च हि श्रुतेराचक्षते च तद्विदः ॥ ४ ॥ 3.2.4
>> >
>> > Upanishad and Shankara Bhasya passages on the creation of dream is by
>> the
>> > jiva himself:
>> >
>> > श्रुत्यन्तरे ‘स्वयं विहत्य स्वयं निर्माय स्वेन भासा स्वेन ज्योतिषा
>> > प्रस्वपिति’ (बृ. उ. ४ । ३ । ९) इति जीवव्यापारश्रवणात् । इहापि ‘य एष
>> > सुप्तेषु जागर्ति’ (क. उ. २ । २ । ८) इति प्रसिद्धानुवादाज्जीव एवायं
>> कामानां
>> > निर्माता सङ्कीर्त्यते । तस्य तु वाक्यशेषेण ‘तदेव शुक्रं तद्ब्रह्म’ इति
>> > जीवभावं व्यावर्त्य ब्रह्मभाव उपदिश्यते — ‘तत्त्वमसि’ (छा. उ. ६ । ९ । ४)
>> > इत्यादिवत् — इति न ब्रह्मप्रकरणं विरुध्यते ।
>> > Brihadaranyaka Upanishad: 4.3.9:
>> >
>> > स्वयं विहत्य स्वयं निर्माय स्वेन भासा स्वेन ज्योतिषा प्रस्वपित्यत्रायं
>> > पुरुषः स्वयं ज्योतिर्भवति ॥ ९ ॥
>> > Dhruva says:
>> >
>> > श्रीमद्भागवतपुराणम्/स्कन्धः ४/अध्यायः १२
>> > https://sa.wikisource.org/s/aw4
>> >
>> > मन्यमान इदं विश्वं मायारचितमात्मनि ।
>> > अविद्यारचितस्वप्नगन्धर्वनगरोपमम् ॥ १५ ॥
>> >
>> > Dhruva realizes that this world is imagined in him by the Maya power of
>> > Ishwara. He gives an illustration for this: Just as a dream, Gandharva
>> > nagara (a phantom city) is created by ignorance, so the world is
>> created by
>> > the maya power of Ishwara.
>> > From this statement we know incidentally: The dream-creation is by the
>> > jiva, endowed with avidya.
>> >
>> > Even in the Garuda Purana, Veda Vyasa elaborately says that dream is
>> > illusory and unreal, the waking world is also the same. For this the
>> > Brihadaranyaka Upanishad gives the well-known illustration 'Chariot,
>> horse,
>> > road - all imagined in a dream':
>> >
>> > यथा रथादयः स्वप्ने सन्तो नैव च सत्यतः ॥ १,२३६.३६ ॥
>> > तथा जाग्रदवस्थायां भूतानि न तु सन्निधौ ।
>> >
>> > Chariots, etc. seen in dreams are not real. Thus the objects of
>> > consciousness are not real ones. (Bru. Upa. न तत्र रथा, न रथयोगा, न
>> पन्थानो
>> > भवन्त्यथ रथानरथयोगानप्तः सृजते ..the Advaita meaning of this famous
>> mantra
>> > can be seen here in this Puranic verse.)
>> >
>> > द्वैरूप्यं मायया याति जाग्रत्स्वप्नपदज्ञ (क्ष) योः ॥ १,२३६.३७ ॥
>> >
>> > Objects take different forms in waking and dream (vasanamaya).
>> >
>> > एवमेतत्परं ब्रह्म स्वप्नजाग्रत्पदद्वये ।
>> > सुषुप्तमचलं रूपमद्वयं पदमुच्यते ॥ १,२३६.३८ ॥
>> >
>> > Similarly, Para Brahman takes different forms in the waking state.
>> >
>> > मायाविचारसिद्धैव विचारेण विलीयते ।
>> > आपातरहिता सापि कल्पनाकालवर्तिनी ॥ १,२३६.३९ ॥
>> >
>> > We believe things to be real without questioning that they are made of
>> > maya. By reflection it is evident that they are false: vicharena
>> viparyeti.
>> > They exist only in our imagination.
>> >
>> > In the Srimad Bhagavatam, Yashoda marvels at the sight of the entire
>> > universe in the child Krishna's mouth and muses:
>> >
>> > ŚB 10.8.40
>> > किं स्वप्न एतदुत देवमाया
>> > किं वा मदीयो बत बुद्धिमोह: ।
>> > अथो अमुष्यैव ममार्भकस्य
>> > य: कश्चनौत्पत्तिक आत्मयोग: ॥ ४० ॥
>> >
>> > 'Is it a dream, God's Maayaa or my own imagination?' From this too we
>> know
>> > that dreams are not real. Because as an analogy for impossible
>> happenings
>> > in the world we say 'What, are you dreaming ?' There is very popular.
>> >
>> > The Upanishads themselves call the three states including sleep as the
>> > 'three dreams':
>> > Aitareya Upanishad:
>> >
>> > 1.3.12 त्रय आवसथाः त्रयः स्वप्नाः
>> >
>> > Thus in many places the Upanishads and the Puranas say that dreams are
>> not
>> > real and by that example, the waking world is also not real.
>> >
>> > A short video in Kannada by the Puthige Mutt (Madhwa) Seer on dreams:
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> https://drive.google.com/file/d/1kVxgL_63KUuGMpMHJrWaEpM5d88hCNVS/view?usp=sharing
>> >
>> > Om
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