[Advaita-l] [advaitin] 'Satyasya Satyam..' of the Upanishad explained in the Bhagavatam

[V Subrahmanian]

Dear Michael ji,

Shankara and Sureshwara have accepted three levels of Reality in the
Taittiriyopanishad.  Here is the blog detailing that:

https://adbhutam.wordpress.com/2010/02/17/paramarthika-vyavaharika-satyam/

warm regards
subbu



On Wed, Sep 24, 2025 at 5:36 PM Michael Chandra Cohen <
michaelchandra108 at gmail.com> wrote:

> Namaste Subbuji,
>
> "Relative reality" is misleading and oxymoronic. Reality cannot be partial
> or not real - the law of excluded middle - either something exists or does
> not exist. Snake is not a relative reality - it is rope misperceived.  The
> fear of snake is a reaction to the misperception of rope but not a reaction
> caused by the 'relative reality' of an imagined snake. To impose reality
> upon error or misperception whether 'borrowed' or 'relative' or 'temporary'
> etc. is a misguided teaching.  In that way we need to view vyavaharika. It
> is only a perception taken to be real.
> ,
> Here are 5 pages of citations from SSSS's The Method of the Vedanta/MOV
> and elsewhere that correct this misunderstanding of Bhasya.
>
> On Wed, Sep 24, 2025 at 2:22 AM V Subrahmanian <v.subrahmanian at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> In the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 2.3.6 is the famous mantra, a part of
>> which reads:
>>
>> अथात आदेशो नेति नेति न ह्येतस्मादिति नेत्यन्यत्परमस्त्यथ नामधेयं सत्यस्य
>> सत्यमिति प्राणा वै सत्यं तेषामेष सत्यम् ॥ ६ ॥
>>
>>  Now therefore the description (of Brahman): 'Not this, not this.'
>> Because there is no other and more appropriate description than this 'Not
>> this.' Now Its name: "The Truth of truth.' The vital force is truth, and It
>> is the Truth of that.
>>
>> The gist of the mantra is: the term 'prāṇā:' signifies the entire
>> creation, both at the individual level and the cosmic level. At the
>> individual level we have the subtle body, the sense organs, that illumine
>> the creation outside the body. The world outside, being insentient, get
>> illumined by the subtle body/organs. This two-fold categorization can be
>> compared to the 'kṣetram' (field) of the 13th chapter of the Bh.Gita. There
>> too in the 5th and the 6th verses the entire kṣetram is presented as
>> consisting of the subtle body of the individual and the outside world. This
>> is termed 'satyam', in its primary sense, vācyārtha. And the 'satyam' of
>> that ('prāṇā:' - kṣetram) is Brahman, the absolute Satyam.
>>
>> From the above study of the mantra, we derive the meaning: the first
>> 'satyam' (satyasya) is the created world. This has only a
>> dependent/relative reality. It derives its reality from Brahman, the
>> Absolute Satyam.
>>
>> It is interesting to note that we have a verse in the Bhagavatam that
>> brings out the above two levels of reality:
>>
>> आत्मानमेव आत्मतया अविजानतां
>>
>> तेनैव जातं निखिलं प्रपञ्चितम् ।
>>
>> ज्ञानेन भूयोऽपि च तत्प्रलीयते
>>
>> रज्ज्वां अहेर्भोगभवाभवौ यथा ।। 10.14.25
>>
>> A person who mistakes a rope for a snake becomes fearful, but he then
>> gives up his fear upon realizing that the so-called snake does not exist.
>>
>> Similarly, for those who fail to recognize You, Brahman, as the Supreme
>> Soul of all
>> souls, the *expansive illusory material existence arises,* but knowledge
>> (realization) of You (Your True Nature) at once causes it  (the variegated
>> world of plurality) to subside.
>>
>> In the above verse we see the expression of relative reality, the world,
>> and the Absolute Reality, Brahman. This is exactly the teaching of the
>> Upanishad through the pithy statement: satyasya satyam.  The rope is the
>> Satyam and the snake is the satyam, in the analogy of the Bhagavatam. There
>> itself, the relatively real, the world, is contrasted with the Absolutely
>> Real, Brahman. The state of ignorance is signified by the world and the
>> state of realization is conveyed by the term Brahman. One can recall the
>> verse 2.69:
>>
>> या निशा सर्वभूतानां तस्यां जागर्ति संयमी ।
>>
>> यस्यां जाग्रति भूतानि सा निशा पश्यतो मुनेः ॥ ६९ ॥
>>
>> 2.69 The self-restrained man keeps awake during that which is night for
>> all creatures. That during which creatures keep awake, it is night to the
>> seeing sage.
>>
>> Here the waking and sleep are symbolic of real and unreal: For the Jnani,
>> the waking means the Absolute Truth. For the ajnanis waking is to the
>> relative world.
>>
>> The relatively real has no reality of its own and hence is only
>> dependently real, paratantra satyam. On the other hand, Brahman, the
>> Absolute Reality, does not need to acquire reality from any other source.
>> The world needs reality from Brahman. All this is implied by the
>> Upanishadic statement: satyasya satyam.
>>
>> Why does the Upanishad call the vyavaharika, the world, 'satyam'?  The
>> Upanishad is alluding to, doing anuvāda of, the uninformed person holding
>> the world to be real, untaught.  This has to be corrected. Hence the
>> Upanishad *as though* holds the world to be satyam and goes on to teach,
>> in the manner of 'from the known to the unknown', and the adhyāropa-apavāda
>> nyāya, the truth that Brahman is indeed the absolute Satyam.
>>
>> There are many such verses in the Bhagavatam that carry the Upanishadic
>> purport.
>>
>> Om Tat Sat
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
>> "advaitin" group.
>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an
>> email to advaitin+unsubscribe at googlegroups.com.
>> To view this discussion visit
>> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/advaitin/CAKk0Te2DhSz1vLeK3p1UDv%3DMkCGP_BgfWaiz7%2BDrfaEruxnG7w%40mail.gmail.com
>> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/advaitin/CAKk0Te2DhSz1vLeK3p1UDv%3DMkCGP_BgfWaiz7%2BDrfaEruxnG7w%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer>
>> .
>>
> --
> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
> "advaitin" group.
> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an
> email to advaitin+unsubscribe at googlegroups.com.
> To view this discussion visit
> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/advaitin/CAAz9PvFMxQWjdAiLdLRXc66Ko7FV%2BUHcHuE_fg_p0RcgotWf7g%40mail.gmail.com
> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/advaitin/CAAz9PvFMxQWjdAiLdLRXc66Ko7FV%2BUHcHuE_fg_p0RcgotWf7g%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer>
> .
>