Atma Bodha Verse 06
Hari AUM
samsAra: svapnatulyOhi rAgadveshAdhi san.kula: |
svakAle satyavadbhAti prabOdhe satyasadbhavet ||
Translation :
This world(samsAra:) is like a dream, filled with likes and dislikes. While
dreaming, the dream appears to be real; after awakening from the dream it is
known to be un-real.
Explanation :
With this verse, bhagavatpAda explains the nature of the
world and how we relate to it. The world that we experience is samsAra, it
is the "world" that is perceived by us in our waking state. This
"world" is "felt" through our senses, is conditioned by the
likes and dislikes of our ego and is cognized by our mind to yield our
perception of the world. This world is declared to be un-real!
Un-real in what sense? In the sense that it is like a dream
which only **appears** to be real but is simply an illusion created by our mind.
This is a very fundamental issue of advaita ontology and has been fully dealt
with in the more advanced texts ( for starters, please refer to the series of
posts by ShrI Anand Hudli on advaita siddhi in advaita-l archives ). For now, it
is explained as thought it were an "illusion".
How do we know that we are dreaming? Can we know that we are
dreaming, while still dreaming? Of course, we cannot. It is only upon awakening
from the dream can we say, "hey I was dreaming". Similarly, the
non-existence of the world can be known only upon awakening from our
"dream" i.e. after the dawn of jnAna.