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

[V Subrahmanian]

On Sat, Sep 27, 2025 at 4:57 AM Michael Chandra Cohen <
michaelchandra108 at gmail.com> wrote:

> Namaste Subbuji,
> Please help me understand, the Tait bhasya is referring to how Brahman
> created the world, as it were, 'entered into' it as well, and now answers,
> what Brahman does after it enters ."It became the formed and the formless"
> which nonetheless "still continue to be inseparable from the Self in time
> and space." Then, from this premise follows the notions
> of vyavarhara vishaya and paramartha satta,  Then peripheral to the main
> discussion comes this notion of water as the vishaya of vyavarhara and
> mirage water as anrta. And you are saying It is by virtue of this last
> sentence ALONE in the whole bhasya, that you wish to establish pratibhasika
> satta as a distinct state from vyavaharika. Please, do I have that right?
> Are there other references you can easily share? Regards, 🙏🙏🙏,
>

Namaste Michael ji,

Please do not conclude that the statement of different levels of reality is
a peripheral matter.  In truth, this idea is crucial to the Shankara
Advaita.  It is the seminal point of Advaita.  Its pervasion throughout the
prasthana traya bhashya is something to be seen, realized, to be
appreciated. I shall mention a few out of the countless instances where
this concept is repeatedly highlighted by Shankara.

In the Brahma sutras is a section to determine the state of dream.  There
in 3.2.4, Shankara says:  Nor should it be concluded that the world of
waking made of ether, etc. elements is* not absolutely real.* We have
eminently established in BSB 2.1.14 that the entire world (including the
dream and sleep) is illusory: māyāmātra. Prior to the realization of
Brahman, the waking world remains in an orderly fashion. The world of
dream, though, is negated everyday upon waking.

At the beginning of the very long bhashya for BSB 2.1.14, Shankara recalls
what was said in the earlier portion: The distinction between the Enjoyer
and the experienced inert world was stated as a matter of vyāvahārika. But
this distinction does not exist in the pāramārthika since the cause and
effect are non-different from each other.  Thus Shankara holds the world of
experience to be unreal from the absolute standpoint.

In the commentary to the last verse of the 13th chapter of the Bh.Gita,
Shankara says, following the Gita teaching there: There are two
requirements mandatory for liberation: 1. the knowledge that one is
distinct from the inert prakriti and 2. that this* prakriti is
non-existent. *

In fact this verse is a mirror-verse of the 2.16 where too this teaching is
contained, though in different words: That which is existent, Brahman, the
Paramartha Satyam, will never go out of existence.  And that which is not
there, will never gain existence. This corresponds to the Self and the
not-self of the 13th ch.last verse.

In the Mundaka Bhashya Shankara says: the entire creation is a figment of
imagination of the mind.

One can give examples endlessly from the Bhashya, the Vartika and Gaudapada
for the idea of two types/levels of reality.

There are innumerable such instances where Shankara has pointed to the two
types of reality.  It's this feature of Shankaran Advaita that sets it
apart from the other schools of Dvaita, etc.

warm regards
subbu


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