|| shrIvishhNave namaH ||

   Verse 1 of the advaita-siddhi

   mAyAkalpita-mAtR^itA-mukha-mR^ishhA-dvaitaprapaJNchAshrayaH

  satya-GYAna-sukhAtmakaH shruti-shikhottha-akhaNDadhIgocharaH |

 mithyA-bandha-vidhUnanena paramAnandaika-tAnAtmakaM

  mokshhaM prApta iva svayaM vijayate vishhNur-vikalporjjhitaH ||1 ||

    Translation based on siddhivyAkhyA of Balabhadra bhaTTAchArya  and GauDa-brahmAnandI (laghu-chandrikA) of BrahmAnanda

   VishhNu shines supreme, He who is the substratum (basis) of the world of duality beginning with the notion of cognizer (mAtR^i), of duality that is false and fabricated by mAyA, He whose nature is Existence, Consciousness, and Bliss, He who is realized by the undifferentiated (undivided) direct experience arising from the mahAvAkyas of vedAnta, He who by shaking off the false bonds (of mAyA) has attained, as it were, mokshha wholly consisting of supreme bliss, and He who becomes free from all variety, manifoldness (vikalpa).   (1)

   BrahmAnanda clearly identifies VishhNu with jIva, the individual soul, the pervader. vishhNuH vyApakaM jIvasvarUpam.h | This individual soul (jIva) attains as it were, mokshha or liberation and shines as VishhNu, the supreme Brahman.

   What is mokshha and what is bandha (bondage)? The vArtikakAra has said: "avidyAstamayo moxaH sA cha bandha udAhR^itaH" Mokshha is the complete dissolution of avidyA, and bondage is that avidyA.

   BrahmAnanda interprets "mithyAbandhavidhUnanena - vikalpojjhita" as brahmAtmaikya-aGYAnarUpabandhasya tAdR^ishhAstamayena dR^ishyashUnyaH. Bondage is the ignorance of the identity of Brahman and Atman (individual self). Once such ignorance is fully removed, there is nothing "seen" (as only the seer dR^ik remains).

   Balabhadra interprets shrutishikhottha-akhaNDadhIgocharaH as vedAnta-janya-akhaNDasAxAtkAravishhaya, that thing which is the content of the indivisible (undifferentiated) direct experience arising from the (mahAvAkyas) of vedAnta.

   viTThaleshopAdhyAya explains the whole process described in the first verse of the advaita-siddhi as follows:

 vishhNuH (jIvaH) vastutaH satyaGYAnasukhAtmako .pi san.h,

 mAyAkalpitamAtR^itAmukhamR^ishhA-dvaitaprapaJNchAshrayo jAtaH,

 mukto .api san.h aGYAnena baddhatvena bhrAnta ityarthaH |

 tatashcha vastuto baddhasya tattvena bhrAntasya mumuxAsaMbhavAt.h

 sa mumuxu san.h gurumanusR^itaH tataH tadupadishhTa-shruti-shikho-

 ttha-akhaNDadhIgocharo .abhUt.h |  nishhkAmakarmopAsanAnushhThAn-

 ena shraddhaikAgrachittaH san.h AtmAnaM satyaGYAnasukharUpabrahm-

 atvena sAxAtkR^itavAn.h | tatashcha mithyAbandhavidhUnanena

 vikalpojjhitaH mithyAbandhApagamAt.h tatprayuktavikalpena duHkhena

 rahitaH san.h paramAnandaikatAnAtmakamoxaM prApta iva |

 avAstavasaMbandhabhramasyaiva satvAt.h moxarUpasya tatsaMbandha-

 abhAvAchcha iva ityuktam.h | IdR^ishaH san.h vijayate svaprakAsha-

 rUpotkarshhavAn.h ityarthaH |

 VishhNu (as the jIva), even being actually of the nature of Reality, Consciousness, and Bliss, is the substratum of the false world of duality beginning with the notion of cognizer that is fabricated by mAyA. Even though He (the jIva) is liberated, due to being bound by ignorance, He is under delusion. (If) He is actually bound and (really) deluded by reality, from that (it follows that) desire for liberation is impossible. (But this is not so.) Being desirous of liberation He follows a (worthy) Guru. From the vedAntic teachings of that (Guru), He has comprehended the undivided Brahman. By performing actions without desire for fruits thereof and by  performing upAsana (worship and meditation), being of one-pointed mind and dedicated, He has directly realized the Self as the Brahman which is essentially Reality, Consciousness, and Bliss. Thereupon, by the removal of the false bonds (of mAyA), and being freed from the associated sorrow, (He) has attained mokshha or liberation which is wholly bliss. Because of the presence of the illusion of being related (to duality in the state of bondage), which is not real, and because of the absence of that relation in mokshha, the (word) "iva", as it were, is stated. Being so (liberated and in His real state), He (VishhNu) shines supreme by His own brilliance.