[Advaita-l] [advaitin] The Three states/types of Reality (sattaa-traividhyam) - Taittiriya Shankara Bhashya

[Michael Chandra Cohen]

Namaste Subbuji & Raghav Kumar Dvivedula,
I hope these citations clarify. I'm happy to provide refences mentioned if
requested:

"Sankara’s distinction between the standpoint of nescience and
the standpoint ofknowledge is not the same as that between different
grades of reality (pratibhasika, vyavaharika, paramarthika) set up by
his later followers. Anything experienced in the state of nescience
is a superimposition on the Absolute and has no reality whatever
except as the Absolute. This holds equally true of waking exper¬
ience, dream and sense-illusion. For there can be no perception
without a perceiver, and the perceiver himself, as we have seen,63 is
the result ofan erroneous mutual superimposition of the Self and the
not-self."Alston Sourcebooks v3pg105

Of importance here is the fact that SSS does not concede to the PSA’s
conception of different ‘degrees’ of reality (Alston 2004a, p. 105; Barua
2015; Hacker
1995c; Saraswati 1996b, p. 23). According to the PSA, the vyāvahārika is as
an illusory
change (vivarta) of brahman, [and] an effective change (pariṇāma) of
māyā/avidyā
(tatra brahma vivartamānatayā upādānam avidyā pariṇamamānatayā)
(Siddhāntaleśasaṅ-
graha [SLS] p. 74). Because pariṇāma is [understood to be] the emergence of
an effect
with the same level of reality as its material cause (pariṇāmo nāma
upādānasamasattākakāryyāpattiḥ),
and vivarta is [understood to be] the emergence of an effect with
a different level of reality from its material cause (vivarto nāma
upādānaviṣamasattākakāryāpattiḥ)
(Vedāntaparibhāṣā [VP] pp. 85–86), the vyāvahārika is accorded a
‘lesser degree’ of reality than brahman:15 it is characterised as
‘sadasadbhyāmanirvacanīya’
(indeterminable as real or unreal) ([na] bhidyante na cābhinnāḥ na vā
bhinnābhinnāḥ
kintvanirvacanīyā eva) (Bhāmatī 1.4.27). Accordingly, the world cannot be
characterised
as ‘sat’ because of its ultimate sublation post-gnosis; it cannot be
characterised
as ‘asat’ because of its apparent manifestation pre-gnosis. Combining the
two perspectives
of vyāvahārika (pre-gnosis) and pāramārthika (post-gnosis), the PSA attempt
to
absolutely—i.e., without reference to standpoints—establish the ontological
status of the
world as ‘indeterminable as real or unreal’. SSS, on the other hand, does
not discuss the
ontological status of the world without reference to epistemic standpoints;
it is analogous
to (absolute) statements about motion without a fixed point of reference.

fn 15Eliot Deutsch offers a precise explanation of ‘level’/‘degree’ of
reality: “Two orders
of being can be said to be on different levels: (1) when,
epistemologically, because of
differences in kind between them (temporal, qualitative, and so on),
relations cannot
be established rationally between them; (2) when, logically, assertions
made about
one of the orders from the standpoint of the other may legitimately violate
the formal
requirements that govern the thought of the one order when confined to
itself…and
(3) when, axiologically, different grades of value are ascribed to the
orders”, (Deutsch
1969, pp. 25–26).:
from: Hegde, Śaṅkara’s Two Truths as Pedagogy

On Thu, Jan 29, 2026 at 8:21 AM Raghav Kumar Dwivedula via Advaita-l <
advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:

> On Wed, 28 Jan 2026 at 11:38 PM, V Subrahmanian via Advaita-l <
> advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:
>
> > On Wed, 28 Jan, 2026, 11:06 pm Michael Chandra Cohen, <
> > michaelchandra108 at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > > namaste subbuji, It's not Chatgpt that is adding anything, but rather
> > that
> > > the traditional presentation of the three levels of reality is a later
> > > schema.not found in PTB systematically.
> > > Your one Tait reference is not sufficient to establish the three-level
> > > ontology as a systematic doctrine in the Upanishads or Shankara's
> > Bhashya..
>
> Why?
>
>
> > > That's confirmed by
> > SSS, Hacker, Alston,
> > > and a host of other objective observers not just CHATGPT
> >
> > >
> >
> > Then all of them are the candidates for Shankara's censure in the Gita
> > Bhashyam:
> >
> >  // Those despite their scholarship in many disciplines, who have not
> > understood this Vedanta in accordance with the tradition,
> > are to be rejected like an ignorant one is. //
>
>
> Yes ji. Either we reject taittirīya upaniṣad and nāsadīya sūkta or we
> reject SSS and chatGPT. Following the LEM, I prefer to accept
> taittirīya upaniṣad and nāsadīya sūkta and reject SSS/chatGPT models
> trained on the English Vedanta of Alston and Hacker.
>
> >
>
> >
> > Regards
> >
> > >
> > > On Wed, Jan 28, 2026 at 12:17 PM V Subrahmanian <
> > v.subrahmanian at gmail.com>
> > > wrote:
> > >
> > >> Chat gpt does not know that neither the shruti nor Shankara posit
> three
> > >> types of ontological realities. The absolute reality is only one. That
> > one
> > >> alone has appeared into the vyavaharika and the error-based
> > events/objects
> > >> in the world. What is Chat gpt adding to this? Nothing.
> > >>
> > >> On Wed, Jan 28, 2026 at 6:06 PM Michael Chandra Cohen <
> > >> michaelchandra108 at gmail.com> wrote:
> > >>
> > >>> Namaste Subbuji
> > >>> I've prompted Chatgpt to offer this reply,
> > >>>
> > >>>
> > >>> ------------------------------
> > >>>
> > >>> Thank you for collecting these references and especially for
> > >>> highlighting Śaṅkara’s gloss on *“satyam cānṛtam ca satyam abhavat”*
> in
> > >>> Taittirīya 2.6.1. The distinction you draw between *paramārthika* and
> > >>> *vyāvahārika* is certainly helpful pedagogically.
> > >>>
> > >>> That said, one caution may be worth adding.
> > >>>
> > >>> The presentation risks suggesting that the *three-level scheme
> > >>> (paramārthika–vyāvahārika–prātibhāsika)* is explicitly taught by the
> > >>> Śruti itself. Textually, however, this taxonomy does not appear in
> the
> > >>> Upaniṣads as a formal doctrine, nor does Śaṅkara introduce it as an
> > >>> ontological stratification of reality.
> > >>>
> > >>> In the Taittirīya bhāṣya, for example, Śaṅkara does not posit “levels
> > of
> > >>> being.” Rather, he restricts the *scope of the word satya*
> > contextually:
> > >>>
> > >>> व्यवहारविषयमापेक्षिकं सत्यम् … एकमेव हि परमार्थसत्यं ब्रह्म
> > >>>
> > >>> Here *vyāvahārika satya* simply means “empirically valid for
> > >>> transactional purposes,” like water contrasted with a mirage; it does
> > not
> > >>> denote a second grade of reality. Ontologically speaking, he is
> > explicit: *Brahman
> > >>> alone is real; everything else has only dependent or borrowed status
> > >>> (mithyā).*
> > >>>
> > >>> So in Śaṅkara the terms function *epistemically and pedagogically*,
> not
> > >>> as a three-tier metaphysics. The later “three orders of reality”
> > framework
> > >>> is a convenient explanatory schema developed by the tradition, but it
> > >>> should not be read back into the Śruti or into Śaṅkara as if he were
> > >>> proposing a graded ontology.
> > >>>
> > >>> Framed this way, the passage reinforces his consistent method: not
> > >>> constructing intermediate realities, but progressively sublating all
> > >>> empirical standpoints into non-dual Brahman.
> > >>> ------------------------------
> > >>>
> > >>> 🙏🙏🙏
> > >>>
> > >>> On Wed, Jan 28, 2026 at 6:29 AM V Subrahmanian <
> > v.subrahmanian at gmail.com>
> > >>> wrote:
> > >>>
> > >>>> This post has the Bhashya, Sureshwarachar's Taittiriya Bh.Vartika,
> > >>>> Vanamala and Sayana Bhashya:
> > >>>>
> > >>>>
> > >>>>
> >
> https://adbhutam.wordpress.com/2010/02/17/paramarthika-vyavaharika-satyam/
> > >>>>
> > >>>> In the Bhashya, Shankara specifies three types of 'reality' based on
> > >>>> the Taittiriya mantra: *सत्यं च अनृतं च सत्यमभवत् . *For Vedantins,
> > >>>> the Taittiriya Upanishad is the Pramana for the Three types of
> > reality.
> > >>>>
> > >>>> The Bhashya for the above passage is:
> > >>>>
> > >>>>  सत्यं च व्यवहारविषयम् , अधिकारात् ; न परमार्थसत्यम् ; एकमेव हि
> > >>>> परमार्थसत्यं ब्रह्म । इह पुनः व्यवहारविषयमापेक्षिकं सत्यम् ,
> > >>>> मृगतृष्णिकाद्यनृतापेक्षया उदकादि सत्यमुच्यते । अनृतं च तद्विपरीतम् ।
> > किं
> > >>>> पुनः ? एतत्सर्वमभवत् , सत्यं परमार्थसत्यम् ; किं पुनस्तत् ? ब्रह्म,
> > ‘सत्यं
> > >>>> ज्ञानमनन्तं ब्रह्म’ इति प्रकृतत्वात् ।
> > >>>>
> > >>>> SSS translates the Bhashya thus:
> > >>>>
> > >>>>
> > >>>> (ಭಾಷ್ಯಾರ್ಥ)
> > >>>>  ಸತ್ಯವು ಎಂದರೆ ವ್ಯವಹಾರವಿಷಯವಾದ ಸತ್ಯವು ; ಏಕೆಂದರೆ (ವ್ಯವಹಾರದ ವಿಷಯದ್ದೇ) ಈ
> > >>>> ಪ್ರಕರಣವು. (ಇದು) ಪರಮಾರ್ಥಸತ್ಯವಲ್ಲ ; ಏಕೆಂದರ ಪರಮಾರ್ಥಸತ್ಯವಾದ ಬ್ರಹ್ಮವು
> ಒಂದೇ,
> > >>>> ಇಲ್ಲಿಯೋ ಎಂದರೆ ವ್ಯವಹಾರ ವಿಷಯವಾದ ಬಿಸಿಲುಕುದುರೆಯ (ನೀರ) ಮುಂತಾದ ಅನೃತಕ್ಕೆ
> > ಹೋಲಿಸಿದರೆ
> > >>>> (ಸತ್ಯ) ವಾಗುವ  ಆಪೇಕ್ಷಿಕವಾಗಿರುವ ನೀರು ಮುಂತಾದದ್ದನ್ನೇ ಸತ್ಯ ಎಂದು
> > ಕರೆದಿರುತ್ತದೆ.
> > >>>> ಮತ್ತು ಇದಕ್ಕೆ ವಿರುದ್ಧವಾಗಿರುವದು ಅನೃತವು.
> > >>>>
> > >>>> (ಪ್ರಶ್ನೆ :-) ಇದೆಲ್ಲವೂ ಆದದ್ದು ಯಾವದು ?
> > >>>> (ಉತ್ತರ :-) ಸತ್ಕವು ; ಪರಮಾರ್ಥಸತ್ಯವು.
> > >>>> (ಪ್ರಶ್ನೆ :-) ಆ (ಪರಮಾರ್ಥಸತ್ಯ )ವೆಂಬುದಾದರೂ ಯಾವದು ?
> > >>>>
> > >>>> 2. ಹೋಲಿಕೆಯ ಸತ್ಯ, ನೀರು ಬಾಯಾರಿಕೆಯನ್ನು ಹಿಂಗಿಸುತ್ತದೆ ; ಬಿಸಿಲು ಕುದುರೆಯ
> ನೀರು
> > >>>> ಹಿಂಗಿಸುವದಿಲ್ಲ ಆದ್ದರಿಂದ ನೀರು ಆಪೇಕ್ಷಿಕಸತ್ಯ ; ಬಿಸಿಲು ಕುದುರೆಯ ನೀರು
> ಅನ್ನತ.
> > >>>>
> > >>>> Translation of SSS's translation:
> > >>>>
> > >>>> *(Translation of the Bhāṣyārtha)*
> > >>>>
> > >>>> By *satya* (truth) is meant *vyavahāra-satya*—empirical or
> > >>>> transactional truth; because the present context pertains to
> empirical
> > >>>> dealings. This is not *pāramārthika-satya* (absolute truth); for the
> > >>>> absolute truth, Brahman, is one alone. Here, in contrast to the
> unreal
> > >>>> entities of empirical experience such as the mirage-“water,” those
> > things
> > >>>> like actual water—which are relatively true (*āpekṣika*)—are spoken
> of
> > >>>> as *satya*. That which is opposed to this is *anṛta* (untruth).
> > >>>>
> > >>>> *(Question):* Then what is that which truly is?
> > >>>> *(Answer):* *Sat*—the absolute truth.
> > >>>>
> > >>>> *(Question):* And what indeed is that (absolute truth)?
> > >>>>
> > >>>>    1.
> > >>>>
> > >>>>    Although inert objects such as stones are also effects of the
> > >>>>    conscious Brahman, consciousness does not manifest distinctly in
> > them. *(Sūtra
> > >>>>    Bhāṣya 2.1.6)*
> > >>>>    2.
> > >>>>
> > >>>>    Comparative truth: water quenches thirst, whereas the water of a
> > >>>>    mirage does not. Therefore, water is *relative truth*, while
> > >>>>    mirage-water is *unreal*.
> > >>>>
> > >>>> The point to be noted is:
> > >>>>
> > >>>> *SSS is not refuting Shankara and the Taittiriya Upanishad stating
> > >>>> three types of reality:* The pāraarthika reality is Brahman, the
> > >>>> vyavaharika reality is given the analogy of water and a third
> > category, the
> > >>>> 'unreal' which is also a part of the creation, is given the analogy
> of
> > >>>> mirage water by Shankara.
> > >>>>
> > >>>> Thus, the Upanishad itself gives three types of reality.* If SSS was
> > >>>> opposed to the three types of reality, he should have disagreed with
> > the
> > >>>> Upanishad and Shankara, *and by extension, with Sureshwara, who in
> the
> > >>>> Taittirya Vartika has explicitly named two satyas: vyavaharika and
> > >>>> paramarthika.
> > >>>>
> > >>>> More details can be seen in the linked article.
> > >>>>
> > >>>> warm regards
> > >>>> subbu
> > >>>>
> > >>>>
> > >>>> --
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> > >>>> <
> >
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> > >
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