Advaita-Sudha
On Vidyaranya's note on six-fold transcendental Meditation.
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Cit cāya the pratbimba the reflection of the Consciousness is non-doer and non-enjoyer (akarta and aboktha) enters into the mind-body. Mind body complex is always dependent. This complex is subjected to transmigration. There are two mistakes that jiva does to perpetuate this metempsychosis. First mistake is that we think ‘I am dependent’ and secondly we resort to take refuge of world for our support. Not knowing that we commit these mistakes we identify us with the mind body complex. We say ‘I am in problem’. Thus we subject the Sāksi ‘I’ with pains. We must realize that mind is mere substance and it is not substantial. The discrimination of mind and Sāksi must be endeavored. Mind is mithya, vikara and Drsya. Sāksi is Sathya, avikāra and Drg. This Drg Drsya viveka, Vidyaranya indicates is the means for liberation. Within this body there exists two principles namely, Manas, which is substance, and Sāksi, which is substantial. Since these both are in close proximity we tend to identify manas with Sāksi Caitanya. Such a mix is the cause for Samsāra. Avarana Sakthi of māyā is responsible for veiling the true nature of Drg Drsya Viveka, where Vidyāranya says ‘ Cit Cāyā samāvēsa Jivah Vyavahārikah’ the reflected consciousness alone becomes the embodied Jiva which operates on the phenomenal world which is the cause for Samsara that is unreal.


Maya does not create Saksi caitanyam the notion of ‘aham asmi’. It is not Mayikam. Caitanyam is Vastavam. Saksi is uncreated. Maya gives the body-mind complex, which is the cause for samsara. Caitanyam is avyavaharyam. Body-mind complex is vyavaharyam. Maya’s avarana Sakti conceals the real nature of Caitanya in the Body-mind complex. It obscures the real distinction between Vastavam and Mayikam or the Drk and Drsya. This sathya mithya difference is not conceived and thus the samsara perpetuates. Mayikam is called Jivatvam. Jivatvam is subjected to six fold transformations, namely, asti, jayate, vartate, viparinamate, apaksiyate and vinasyati. This changing course of Jiva is termed by Vidyaranya as ‘sargam’ meaning that which changes. That, which is changeless, is Consciousness. This Caitanya is not part, product or property. What is ‘presence’ then? When one says ‘world is present’ and that it changes, the adjective change seems to correspond to ‘is’ also, but in actuality it directly corresponds to World alone and not to the existence ‘is’. ‘Is’ness in Vedanta denotes the Adhistana – the suddha caitanyam while the objects related with it are empirical by nature. The change is thus super imposed on the subjective level of existence, which is devoid of any attribute or adjuncts. The cause of samsara as a pain is due to the Avarana Sakthi alone and not the Visepa sakthi of Maya. Avarana makes the jiva have the aviveka of Drk and Drsya. Thus even in the state of Jivan Mukti, the Jivan hood is devoid of Avarana but not the Viksepa. Sravana manana nidhidhyasana alone is the means for annihilation of Avarana Sakthi that gives the true knowledge about the Vasthava Saksi. Vidyaranya says, ‘avrtau tu vinastayam bede bathe yapayathi tat’- with the distinction between the Drk Drsya the avarana Sakthi gets removed, and thus jivanhood disappears. Vidyaranya explains the ‘Tat’ pada viveka here. Brahma-sargayor bedah vibhati – the difference between the satya and mithya is appreciated. Do we experience the Suddha Nirvisesa Caitanya? Vidyaranya answers – all our experiences have five components of which three belongs to Brahman and two belongs to creation. Three are vasthavam and two are mayikam. Our experiences are mixed with these two. The five components are viz, 1) asti – ‘is’ 2) Bati – known ‘sarvam vastuni jnatatvena ajnatatvena va bAti’ everything that we know is known to be either known or unknown 3) Priyam – dear’ness / desire 4) Nama – names 5) Rupa – form / property / Guna. Thus all experience with sat-cit-ananda is experiences with the first three components and last two with the Prapanca. Thus with the sathya amass of all anubhava’s which is changeless the Nirvisesa Cinmatram Brahman is ever experienced. Jnanis are aware of this experience while ajnanis don’t.

The indiscrimination of sathya and the mithya takes place both in the subjective and the objective level. Subjective mix is the drk-drsya aviveka is caused due to avarana. Second aviveka is that between Brahman the Jagat. The former is internal and the latter is external. The two aviveka’s cause for samsara. All human experience is packed between these two types of aviveka’s. Experience at five stages: step 1) knowing that vastu ‘is’ (asti) there indicating sat sambhanda. 2) Vastu is ‘Known’ – (bhati) Chit sambhanda 3) I ‘like’(priyam) that Vastu. This indicates the ananda sambhanda. ‘yatra yatra ananda hetutvam; tatra tatra priyatvam’ 4) Nama – we ‘name’ the Vastu 5) Rupa – we perceive the ‘Form’ of the Vastu. Vidyaranya says all these five steps operate simultaneously. The sat-chit-ananda sambhanda is eternal with all our experiences, which we do not experience. They are the substratum of all empirical cognitions. The first three components of the experience is Brahma rupa which Vidyaranya calls ‘adhya trayam Brahma rupam jagat rupam tato dvayam’. The last two are Mayikam. The ananda, which manifests is not uniform. Experiential pleasure is not permanent. Mind that fluctuates the ananda seems to fluctuate. The pratibimbha ananda varies in degrees. As taitiriya laments IndrAnanda is different from Jivananda while Devananda is different. Samkhyan subscribing to the tara-tamya ananda beda, says that Atman or Purusa is mixed anatma is prakrti. Each atman is different and they are all all-pervasive. Caitanyam, which is one body, differs from the other. Vidyaranya says the existential experience with first three components is indivisible. The sat-chit-ananda elements are the same. Vidyaranya says ‘sat-chit-anandAh abhinnAh’. It is important that we note that Vidyaranya indicates ananda in plural norm. By this it means, that ananda in ananta, which is infinite. It is figurative usage not in physical sense. So plurality is the aupadika beda and not the vastava bedah. It is like fire pervading iron and water. Iron becomes red hot with heat while water takes heat but never becomes red hot. Thus sat-chit-ananda varies in correspondence with the reflective power of mind, but in potentiality it is invariable and inherent in all three grades of beings – deva, tiryak and Nara. There is no lack of Brahmanubhava or samadhi. Only thing we lack is the power of internalizing such Brahmaniubhava. Shravana alone is done but not nidhidyasana. Doing nidhidyasana the aspirant internalizes the Brahmanubhava. This is known as ‘samadhi abhyasa nidhidyasana’

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