Advaita Vedanta – Part 8

Definitions (along with explanation) covered in this issue:
“Adrishtam (Imperceptible/Invisible)”;
“Dharmah (1. Propriety/Righteousness 2. Essence)”; “Dvaitam (Dualism/Duality)”; “Advaitam/Advayam (Monism/Non-dualism/ Non-duality)”; “Adhyaaropa-Apavaada (Superimposition & Refutation)”;
“Neti, Neti (not this, not this)”; “Shrutih (‘Heard’ – ‘Veda-s’)”; “Smritih (‘Remembered’ – ‘Guide for living’)”; “Nyaayah (Logical argument)”

57. “ADRISHTAM & {Imperceptible/Not experienced (yet)}”:

“na + drishta” = “adrishta” – literally means “not seen.” Extending this to all the sense organs, it means “invisible; imperceptible; unobserved; not experienced (yet); unforeseen; unknown...
In day-to-day usage, it is also used for “luck (good or bad); destiny; fate; etc.”
Moreover, it is being used only in the sense of “good luck” in some parts of India!
However, in Vedaantic parlance, its meaning is mainly confined to “Fruit of a deed, which does not fructify (not experienced) till one’s death, but accompanies him/her beyond death and is experienced either in ‘heaven or hell‘, as a reward of his/her “Punyam (merit) or Paapam (demerit).”

58. “DHARMAH 
{1. Propriety/Righteousness  2. Essence/Characteristic(s)}”:

In our day-to-day usage, this word can mean any of  the following:
“Religion; Law; Virtue; Righteousness; Merit; Duty; Piety; Propriety; Morality; Ethics; Nature; Disposition; Essence/Essential Character/Characteristic(s); Manner/Mode; Devotion; Charity; Yama (God of death)…“

The “Sanskrit Dhaatu (root)” for this word is “dhri“, whose significant meanings are “to hold/uphold, to carry, to sustain, to contain, to endure, to curb..“
It is defined as “Dhaarayati; Dhaaryate iti Dharmah|” – “That which is held and which  holds.” 
Hence the famous quote “Dharmo rakshati rakshitah|” – “Dharma that is protected protects (us).”

In Vedaantic parlance, ‘Dharmah’ is mainly used in the sense of the following:
(1) Propriety/righteousness: “Dhaaranaat Dharmah” – That which supports, sustains, unites, integrates and harmonizes the individual and society, when followed faithfully.
‘Adharmah (na+dharmah)’, on the other hand, is that which ‘is not held properly’ and consequently causes division and conflict. 
It can also be interpreted as the “Act performed in line with the prescription of scriptures.”
It does not stop at that and means a lot more!
It ensures integration of one’s ‘thoughts, words & deeds’ as well as the integration  of one’s ‘mind & intellect’ too. If everyone follows ‘Dharmah’, it can integrate families, communities, nations and the world too!
‘Dharmah’ holds one in the form of ‘Adrishtam’ (explained earlier) and gives him/her a good result.

(2) Essence/Characteristic(s):
‘Dharmah’  has one more significant meaning – “The inherent nature (essence) of an entity, without which that entity cannot exist.” For example, ‘flow’ is the essential nature of any ‘liquid‘, while ‘heat’ is the essential characteristic of ‘fire.‘ 
Accordingly, “to possess humanity and live intelligently (because only human beings are endowed with ‘intellect’)” is the ‘Dharmah’ of any human being. The highest ‘Dharmah’ of a human being is to abide in his/her own true nature, which is ‘Sat-Chit-Aananda (Existence-Consciousness-Bliss).’
However, even this “Dharma” (along with “Adharma“) too loses its relevance at the “Paaramaarthika-satya (Absolute Reality)” level. [That is why Nachiketas asks Yama (Lord of death) {Kathopanishad} to teach him about “That Thing which Yama sees as “different from ‘Dharma & Adharma‘, different from ‘Krita & Akrita (cause and effect)’ and also different from “Bhoota & bhavishya (the past and the future).”
{“Anyatra Dharmaad-anyatra-adharmaad-anyatra-asmaat-kritascha-akritaat| Anyatra bhootaachcha bhavyaachchya yat-tat-pashyasi tad-vada||} – Kathopanishad 1-2-14
In other words, he is seeking the knowledge connecting to “Aatman/Brahman“, wherein all the pairs of opposites mentioned in this stanza (and many more!)  are irrelevant.]

59. “DWAITAM (Dualism/Duality)”:

The word “Dwaitam” is related to “dwi + ita” -> “dweeta” (for the reason of being two different realities).
It is the doctrine which declares that “Eeshvara” – the ‘Creator-Sustainer-Destroyer‘ is different from ‘Jeeva’ (and ‘Jagat’ too) and both are treated as distinct realities (see under ‘Eeshvara & Jeeva’ for their characteristics).

In fact, except ‘Advaita’, all other doctrines of ‘Indian Philosophy’ consider ‘Eeshvara’ to be different from ‘Jeeva’ and ‘Jagat.’

60. “ADVAITAM/ADVAYAM (Monism/Non-dualism/Non-duality)”:

It is related to the adjective ‘Adviteeya/Advaya’ (‘na + dviteeya’/’na + dvaya’) = “the One without a second ” {“naasti dvayam yasya“}. It is ‘unique.’
The doctrine of ‘non-dual philosophy’ is also called ‘Advaitam.’

The doctrine of ‘Advaita-Vedaanta (Doctrine of Non-duality/Monism)’ is primarily based on “Uttara-meemaamsaa of Baadaraayana.” 
As mentioned earlier, this has been popularised by Shankaraachaarya, as an extension of the “Ajaata-vaada (Doctrine of ‘non-creation’)” propounded by Gaudapaada (Guru of Govinda-bhagavatpaada, who in turn was the Guru of Shankaraachaarya), in his famous ‘Maandookya-kaarika-s.’

As per this doctrine, there exists “One and only One homogeneous entity”, {‘Aatman/Brahman‘}, which is the ‘Absolute Reality’, characterized by ‘Sat-Chit-Aananda.’
It never changes, but  ‘appears as something else’, viz. this ‘phenomenal & transient world’, in which plurality/difference is being perceived. In fact, it is nothing but an illusory appearance (‘Maayaa’) of ‘Brahman’; the true Self, ‘Aatman’, is not at all different from ‘Brahman.’
(The oft-quoted example of  ‘Appearance of a rope as a snake’‘ explains the phenomenon of this ‘Vivarta.‘ (Really speaking, here the rope has not changed into something else (snake), but it is ‘only manifesting’ like that. The moment it is known that it is nothing but illusion, the ‘real rope’ alone remains!)
In other words, this doctrine emphasises that there are no such separate entities – “Jeeva, Jagat & Eeshvara‘, once the identity between ‘Brahman (Paramaatman)’ & ‘Jeeva (Aatman)‘ is realised.
It is worth remembering here the following quote (attributed to Shankaraachaarya), which mentions ‘Advaita’ in a nutshell:

“Brahma Satyam, Jagat Mithyaa; Jeevo Brahmaiva naaparah|”
{“Brahman alone is Truth and this Jagat is unreal; Jeeva is none other than Brahman! (“na + aparah” = not another)}”

61.”ADHYAAROPA-APAVAADA (Superimposition & Refutation)”:

As mentioned earlier, “Adhyaaropa” or “Adhyaasa” is a ‘superimposition’ – a ‘mistaken ascription’ to something, of an essential nature or attribute ‘not belonging to it.’ 
‘Apavaada’, on the other hand, is “refutation/sublation/denial/sublation/ negation/contradiction/elimination” of the existence of the superimposed object.
“ADHYAAROPA-APAVAADA” is one of the principal methods of teaching ‘Advaita’, whereby an attribute is applied to ‘Brahman’ initially (erroneously) and this phase is ‘Adhyaaropa.” Later it is ‘taken back’, once the point is understood.

For example, the 5 ‘Kosha-s’ are explained as to ‘where from they have evolved, what their characteristics are…’ etc. Up to this stage, it is ‘Adhyaaropa.’  Later, each of these ‘Kosha-s’ is negated, by proving that the same is unreal (‘Mithyaa’) and this portion is ‘Apavaada.’

62.”NETI, NETI (Not this, Not this)”:

This phrase (“na + iti = Neti“) is used for negation of each element of ‘Anaatman’, by appropriate reasoning, to arrive at ‘Aatman.’ This is done by one’s ‘Buddhi (Intellect)’, whenever it is thought that the ‘Aatman (Self)’ might be ‘something’ that is ‘observed’, like ‘body, vital airs, mind‘ etc. However, this ‘Aatman (Self)’ cannot be anything that is ‘seen, thought or known!’ Ultimately, it is the ‘Subject‘, but not any object.

63.”SHRUTIH (‘Heard’ – ‘Veda-s’) “:

This word literally means “hearing.” It has the following meanings in our common usage: “hearing; ear; sound in general; Veda known by revelation; learning...
In our context, its  meaning is confined to “all Veda-s, which also incorporate Upanishad-s.“
It is believed that these works contain ‘orally’ transmitted ‘sacred wisdom’ from the ‘dawn of time.’
(Please see under main menu, section ‘Veda-s’ too, for more connected information.)

64.”SMRITIH  (‘Remembered’ – ‘Guide for living’)”:

The main literal meaning of this word is “remembrance.” It has the following meanings in common usage:
“remembrance; recollection; memory; calling to mind; law-book; discrimination/ discretion; traditional law given by human authors…“

In our context, it  means “material remembered & written subsequently.”
In practice, it refers to “books of law (in the sense of ‘guidance for living‘), which were written based upon the knowledge available in the Veda-s.” ‘Paraashara-smriti, Manu-smriti’ etc. come under this category. 

Even ‘Bhagavad-geetaa’ is considered to be a ‘Smritih’, as it had been ‘remembered’ (and told again) by ‘Lord Krishna.‘ {In the first three Shloka-s of the 4th chapter of ‘Geetaa’, He tells ‘Arjuna’ that it was first taught by Him to ‘Vivasvaan’, who in turn taught the same to ‘Manu’ and ‘Manu’  in turn passed on the same to ‘Ikshvaaku.‘  The Lord also added that He was teaching ‘Arjuna’ the same scripture again, as it was lost owing to a longer lapse of time.}

If at all any clash is found between the prescriptions given in ‘Shruti’ and ‘Smriti’, only the ‘word’ of ‘Shruti’ shall prevail.

65.”NYAAYAH (Logical argument)”:

This word literally means “that, into which a thing goes back.” Following are the meanings of this word found in common usage:
“rule; law; justice; method; manner; virtue; honesty; likeness analogy, popular maxim..“
It is also applicable to one of the 6 philosophical systems, whose principal exponent was ‘Gautama.’
In our context, its  meaning is confined to “Logical argument”, synonymous with ‘Yukti’ – ‘argument/reasoning‘, which leads to a ‘standard/rule.’