The Two "Dreams”

Drik Drisya Viveka 9

Verse 35

Brahmanyavasthita Maya vikshepa avritirupini ।

Avrityakhandatham tasmin jagajjīvau prakalpayet ॥ 35॥

Maya which is in Brahman with the two-fold power of projection and concealment projects the Jiva and the world and veiling Brahman’s indivisible (infinite) nature appears as the world and Jiva (Vyavaharika Jiva)

Verse 36

Jivo dhisthachidabhaaso bhaved bhokta hi karmakrt ।

Bhogyarupamidam sarvam jagat syadbhutabhautikam ॥ 36॥

Jiva (Vyavaharika Jiva) as Chidabasa performs various actions and enjoys the world of panchabhuthas and their products as objects of enjoyment.

The author has earlier talked about the Paramarthika-Jīva ‘I’ that is identical with the infinite Brahman. He is now explaining how the Vyavaharika-Jiva arises from Paramarthika-Jīva or oneself. Remembering the earlier verses on the two powers of Maya, let us imagine a state in which the Vyavaharika universe is not present but only the non-dual Brahman alone is present as Paramarthika Jiva.  In other words, I, the Paramarthika-Jīva, alone is present.  Brahman, with its Maya-sakthi that has two-fold power of projection and concealment, projects a dream which is the physical universe and this physical body-mind complex.  Then the Paramarthika-Jiva enters into a dream state for the sake of experiencing the physical world of pancha-bhuthas as Chidabasa in the body-mind complex and with that identification with the Chidabhasa and the body-mind complex becomes the Vyavaharika-Jiva.  Once the dream is entered into, the fact that the dream is a dream is forgotten for the dreamer in the dream and the dream is very real at the time of dream. A dreamer will never accept the dream as dream while in dream and he does not remember his higher nature, the waker, while in dream.  Due to the concealing power of Maya that comes into operation for the Chidabasa-turned Paramarthika-Jiva, his Paramarthika status is forgotten and the projected world of  pancha-bhuthas also gains a higher degree of reality for him and becomes very much Real for him.  This Vyavaharika-Jiva becomes the doer in the body-mind complex and due to various actions performed, gathers punyam and papam. The doer Jiva becomes the experiencer Jiva as well.   This continuing dream experience cannot be stopped except by waking up.  Only waking up will give the realization that the dream was only a dream.   Until that time the Vyavaharika-Jiva keeps doing a variety of actions and the cycle of action and experience of results continues. Gaining Athma jnanam, knowledge of Self, does that waking job when one realizes one’s higher nature and gets liberated from this cycle.  The universe, the body complex and Chidabhasa are all within the dream of the Paramarthika-Jiva who has chosen to identify with Chidabhasa, its inferior version.  Sastras teach that experiencing the dream is fine but understanding that it is only a dream is important. But most of the people fail to do that because immersed in engagement with the mithya world of pancha-bhuthas they do not want to wake up from the dream.

Verse 37

Anadhikalamarabhya mokshat purvamidam dvayam ।

Vyavahare sthitam tasmad ubhayaṃ vyavaharikam ॥ 37॥

These two (Chidabasa Jiva and waking universe), existing from beginningless time, are involved in all transactions and exist till Jiva attains liberation (spiritual awakening) and therefore both are called vyavaharikam.

This verse gives the reason why the waker-jiva is called the Vyavaharika-jiva and the waking universe, the Vyavaharika universe. This Vyavaharika-jiva, the Chidabasa, is involved in all the transactions. The Paramarthika-Jiva is beyond all transactions of Vyavaharika-jiva similar to the waker being not involved in any of the dream transactions. The beginning of the waker-jiva and the waking universe in which the transactions are going on cannot be known just as the beginning of a dream cannot be ascertained. The dreamer cannot say when the dream started and the waker also cannot say that as he knows about dream vaguely only after waking up. From beginning-less time, this Vyavaharika-jiva and the Vyavaharika universe continue to exist in transaction. This dream transaction will end only on spiritual awakening that happens with the gaining of Self-knowledge, Athma Jnanam.  Until then the Vyavaharika-jiva continues in these transactions and therefore this jiva is called the Vyavaharika-jiva. The dream example is the best way to explain this state of affairs. The waker projects the dream body-mind and the dream world, enters into it, forgets his higher waker nature and enters into dream transactions and experiences the results thereof and remembers the dream vaguely only later.  Learning from this example that happens every night, one can understand that the waking experience is also another kind of dream.

Verse 38

Chidabhasasthita nidra vikhshepa avritirupini ।

Avritya jivajagati purve nutne tu kalpayet ॥ 38॥

Sleep, associated with Chidabasa and of the nature of concealment and projection, at first covers the Jiva (Vyavaharika) and the cognized universe, but then (Jiva) imagines them (Jiva and world in dream) afresh.

Of the three jivas, Paramarthika-Jiva, Vyavaharika-jiva and Pratibhasika-jiva, the author has talked about the Paramarthika-Jiva in verses 32, 33, and 34 and the Vyavaharika-jiva in verses 35, 36 and 37. Now in verse 38, the Pratibhasika-jiva is described. The Paramarthika-Jiva projects the Vyavaharika-jiva  and the Vyavaharika-jiva projects the Pratibhasika-jiva.  In the Vyavaharika-jiva, which is the consciousness reflected in the waker’s body-mind complex, there is a power called nidra-sakthi. This power is very similar to Maya-sakthi and has the projecting and the concealing capacities. With these powers of projection and concealment, the nidra-sakthi creates a new dream-jiva and the dream world and simultaneously covers the waker and his world. The dream-jiva is referred to as new in the verse to indicate that the dream-jiva is different from waker and is not aware that he is originally the waker. Just as Vyavaharika-jiva is the Vyavaharika--Chidabasa associated with the waker’s body experiencing the waking universe in the waking state, Pratibhasika-jiva is the Pratibhasika-Chidabasa associated with the dream body experiencing the dream universe in the dream state. Thus both the waking-jiva-world and the dream-jiva-world are projections of  Paramarthika-Jiva in two layers. Since both Vyavaharika-jiva and Pratibhasika-jiva are projections, both of them are like dream only.  The dream’s effects can be resolved by waking up.  The first waking-up is to get out of the dream samsara. The second waking-up is to get out of the waking samsara. 

Verse 39

Pratitikala evaite sthitatvat pratibhasike ।

Na hi svapnaprabuddhasya punah svapne sthitistayoh ॥ 39॥

These two objects (namely, the Pratibhasika-jiva and the dream world) are

Pratibhasikam on account of their having existed only during the period of (dream) experience. It is because no one after waking up from dream sees those objects when one dreams again.

The waker-jiva and the waking world are false projections just as the dreamer-jiva and the dream world are. They are all mithyā.  In this verse it is pointed out that even though both the waking and dream states are unreal, there is a gradation in that unreality. Because of this gradation alone, the waking state is called Vyavaharika and the dream state is called Pratibhasika even though both are projections. Even though the waker’s world is unreal, there is continuity for this waking world and thus the waking world has an empirical reality. It does not have absolute reality being a projection, but has transactional reality. However the dream does not have any continuity from one dream to another. The dream world exists only as long as it is experienced. When a particular dream is over, the world associated with it ceases to exist never to be retrieved. The dream does not have an empirical reality or a continuing reality and so cannot be called Vyavaharikam. When the dream is experienced, it is real for only the dreamer and so is called Pratibhasikam, subjective reality. After waking up from a dream, the same dream never continues while dreaming again and these dream objects also do not exist during the subsequent waking or dream states.. Thus they have only a brief, fleeting subjective existence and are called Pratibhasikam.

 ----------------------------