Conclusion - Drik Drisya Viveka

Drik Drisya Viveka 10

Verse 40

Pratibhasikajivo yastajjagat pratibhasikam ।

Vastavam manyate'nyastu mithyeti vyavaharikah॥ 40॥

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Verse 41

Vyavaharikajivo yah tajjagad vyavaharikam ।

Satyaṃ pratyeti mithyeti manyate paramarthikah ॥ 41॥

He who is the Pratibhasika Jiva thinks the Pratibhasika world as real  but the Vyavaharika Jiva regards (that Pratibhasika world) as unreal.  He who is the Vyavaharika Jiva sees this Vyavaharika  world as real.   But the real Jiva (Paramarthika- Jiva) knows it to be unreal.

The author says that in dream, the Pratibhasika Jiva refuses to accept the Pratibhasika -jagat as an unreal projection. To see it as an unreal projection the Jiva has to wake up and gain the knowledge that he is the Vyavaharika Jiva.   As a Vyavaharika Jiva, the dream is effortlessly seen to be mithya. The same is true for the Vyavaharika Jiva with regard to the waking world, when he wakes up to his real nature as the Paramarthika-jiva.  The waker- Jiva never accepts the waking world as unreal as long as he is ignorant of the higher ‘I’.   This Jiva looks upon the waker’s world as absolute reality even though it is another projection consisting of simple name and form without any substantiality of its own.  There is an important difference that needs to be noted. When one wakes up from dream and understands that he is not the dream-jiva but he is the waker- jiva, the dream physically disappears. But when one wakes up from this Vyavaharika dream through Self-knowledge and claim that he is the Paramarthika -jiva, this world does not instantaneously disappear. The Vyavaharika - jiva and the Vyavaharika -jagat will continue to appear for some more time until the exhaustion of Jiva’s prarabdha karma. One example that is given to illustrate this is the blue sky continuing to appear as blue even after the knowledge that there is no blue sky.  The sense-organs will continue to report the world as it is even after the world is known to be unreal, but the cognitive understanding of the unreal nature of the world remains for the Jnani-jiva who claims that he is neither the Pratibhasika-Chidabhasa nor the Vyavaharika - Chidabhasa but is the Paramarthika-jiva, and knows that the waking world is mithya.

Verse 42

Paramarthikajivastu brahmaikyaṃ paramarthikam ।

Pratyeti vikshate nanyad vikshate tvanrutatmana ॥ 42॥

But the Paramarthika Jiva sees its identity with Brahman (alone) to be real. He does not see the others, (for) he knows them to be illusory.

The Pratibhasika-Jiva sees the dream world as real and when he wakes up and becomes the Vyavaharika-jiva, the dream world becomes unreal and the waking world seems real. When the Vyavaharika-jiva “wakes up” through Self-knowledge, he recognizes that he is the Paramarthika-Jiva, and then the waking world becomes unreal, and the oneness of the waker with Brahman is recognized.  “I am Brahman” becomes a fact for that Jiva.  By constant sravanam, mananam and nididhyasanam he retains that fact in the surface of the mind all the time. Gaining Self-Knowledge through  sravanam, mananam is not sufficient but establishment in the knowledge through nididhyasanam is required for this knowledge to become one’s second nature and instinctive. The fact that one is the Paramarthika-Jiva should be foremost in the mind all the time when alone or interacting with the world.  The one that is established as the Paramarthika-Jiva will not invoke the Vyavaharika-jiva and the Pratibhasika-Jiva beyond what is necessary for the carrying out the duties of those two ahankaras.  Even as he transacts in these roles, he constantly remembers that they are mithya because the world can be tackled only by seeing it to be mithya.  If this is forgotten, the world will become satyam as the world’s capacity to bind the Jiva is very powerful.  That is how a Paramarthika-Jiva interacts with the world as a Jivanmukta Jnani.

Verse 43

Madhuryadravasaityani neeradharmastarangake ।

Anugamyatha tannishte phene'pyanugata yatha ॥ 43॥

Verse 44

Sakshisthah sacchidanandah sambandhad vyavaharike ।

Taddvarenanugacchanti tathaiva pratibhasike ॥ 44॥

Just as characteristics of water as sweetness, fluidity and coldness appear to inhere in the waves,  and then also in the foams for which the waves are the substratum, so also Existence, Consciousness and Bliss which are the (natural characteristics of Sakshi) appear to inhere in the Vyavaharika-Jiva  on account of its relation (with Sakshi) and through it similarly inheres in the Pratibhasika-Jiva.

The author points out that the Paramarthika-Jiva alone has the independant Sat-Chit-Ananda, and the Vyavaharika-Jiva  and Pratibhasika-Jiva do not have these independently. The Paramarthika-Jiva lends these to the Chidabhasa Vyavaharika-Jiva  . The Vyavaharika-Jiva  in turn lends the Sat-Chit-Ananda that it has borrowed to the Pratibhasika-Jiva. The author gives an example to explain this sequential borrowing of Sat-Chit-Ananda.  Imagine a lake or an ocean. Upon the lake there is a wave. There is a bubble upon that wave. The attributes of the water are borrowed by the wave and are given to the bubble. Water has three intrinsic attributes, sweetness, liquidity, and coolness to the touch. These three attributes of water pervade the wave. The small bubble on top of the wave also has these three attributes. Water does not give the three attributes directly to the bubble. Water lends the attributes to the wave and the wave in turn lends them to the bubble.  Similar to the example cited, water is the Sakshi, the Paramarthika-Jiva, the wave is the Vyavaharika-Jiva and the bubble is the Pratibhasika-Jiva.    Sakshi, the Paramarthika-Jiva whose intrinsic nature is Sat-Chit-Ananda is like water that lends Sat-Chit-Ananda to the Vyavaharika-Jiva, like water lending sweetness, liquidity and coolness to waves and through the Vyavaharika-Jiva  the three characteristics to Pratibhasika-Jiva like water to foam the three qualities through wave. 

Verse 45

Laye phenasya taddharma dravadyah syustarangake ।

Tasyapi vilaye nire tishthantyete yatha pura ॥ 45॥

With the disappearance of the foam (in the wave), its characteristics such as fluidity

etc. merge in the wave; again with the disappearance of the wave in the water, these characteristics merge, as  before, in the water.

Fluidity, coldness and sweetness that are the attributes of the water were lent to waves when they were formed.  Waves in turn lent these three attributes to foam when it was formed.  This verse describes what happens to the borrowed attributes when foam and wave that are only temporary are resolved.  The attributes are not destroyed when the bubble bursts because they are not the attributes of the bubble. The attributes remain with the wave. When the wave resolves, the attributes are not destroyed but remain with the water. The condition, i.e., the water that is obtained in the wave and the bubble remains the same with its attributes even after the resolving of the wave and the bubble.

Verse 46

Pratibhasikajivasya laye syurvyavaharike ।

Tallaye sacchidanandah paryavasyanti Sakshini ॥ 46॥

With the disappearance of the Pratibhasika Jiva (in the Vyavaharika Jiva) Existence,

Consciousness and Bliss (which are its characteristics) merge in the Vyavaharika Jiva. When that also disappears (in Sakshi) these characteristics (finally) merge in Sakshi.

The previous verse described what happens to the attributes such as fluidity etc., when foam resolves in wave and wave resolves in water.  This verse describes that in the same way, when the dream-Jiva resolves, the Sat-Chit-Ananda gets resolved into the waker-Jiva and at the time of dissolution of all the waker Jivas, the Sat-Chit-Ananda is not destroyed but remain with the Sakshi, the Paramarthika-Jiva.  When the dream- Jiva resolves upon waking up from the dream, the Sat-Chit-Ananda that was present in the dream comes back to the waker- Jiva.  The ‘I am’ is common to all the Jivas, ‘I’ being the consciousness and ‘am’ being the existence. The ‘I am’ is satyaṃ and anything added to the ‘I am’ is mithya. The waker- Jiva is dissolved during three states. These three states are deep sleep and death, dissolution of the universe and videhamukti. At the time of deep sleep and death or total dissolution of the universe, which are temporary states, the waker- Jiva is temporarily dissolved. Upon videhamukti, the waker- Jiva is permanently dissolved and the Sat-Chit-Ananda remains as the Sakshi Chaitanyam, one with Brahman.  The Sakshi Chaitanyam is always present and in Sakshi Chaitanyam alone the waves and bubbles of creation arise and fall.

Acknowledgement 

With the above verse 46, the text Drik Drisya Viveka concludes.  While concluding the series of blogs on Drik Drisya Viveka, I wish to record my deep debt of gratitude to the speeches and writings on this subject, of:

1)    Swami Paramarthananda

2)    Swami Nikhilananda &

3)    Swami Gurubhakthananda

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