Miscellaneous - Religion   

Cause of bondage

CHENNAI: The quintessence of Advaita philosophy is summed up by Sankara as follows: “Brahman is the Reality; the phenomenal world is unreal; the soul is indeed Brahman, and is not different from It.” Those who know this truth are the men of wisdom (Jnanis) whereas the majority who do not have this insight are ignorant and hence in bondage (Samsaris). It becomes apparent then that bondage is the result of man’s ignorance about his true nature and that the world of plurality evident to his senses is unreal.

It is easy to accept ignorance about one’s spiritual nature as it is said to be beyond sensory experience but to dismiss the world as unreal is very difficult for even advanced spiritual seekers as experience is tangible and contradicts it.

In his discourse, Sri P.M.Vijayaraghava Sastrigal said it was possible to accept the unreality of the world if a person understood that his eyes deceive him many a time. Human eye sees the moon as the size of a person’s hand but in reality it is very large; it is easy to accept this when it is understood on a scientific basis that it is because of the distance that is appears small. But, one who is not aware of it — as in the case of a child — will only think that it is small because that is the evidence of seeing it for oneself. So also are the examples of mistaking mother-of-pearl for silver and rope for a serpent. These are what the eyes perceived but eventually understood as illusions. So human senses can cause misapprehension and mislead an individual.

These are different types of illusions and certainly the unreality of the world of sensory experience is different from mistaking a rope for a snake as the snake exists only in the perceiver’s imagination. The world is experienced by all. According to Advaita Vedanta this universe of diversity that is the field of human sensory experience and activity is ultimately not real, which can be understood only when the non-dual Self (Atman) is experienced.

As the Self is the sole Reality, the diversity that is experienced is due to Maya, which scriptures describe as indeterminate: “neither real nor unreal” (Anirvachaniya). Hence the world which is the effect of Maya exhibits its traits.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Cartoonscape
The Hindu Crossword 9097
Solution to Puzzle 9096
Cause of bondage
dated December 18, 1957: NATO conference
dated December 18, 1957: Bee’s eye view
dated December 18, 1957: Agriculture education
Weather

Copyright © 2007, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu