Gaudapada's Karika

[Vidyasankar Sundaresan]

On Tue, 27 May 1997, Ramakrishnan Balasubramanian wrote:

> GK: gauDapAda kArikA
> ______________________________________________________________________________
>
> Vidyasankar wrote:
>
> >The difference between the two states is that in the waking state there is
> >a large degree of correspondence in the world perceived by two observers,
>
> As I mentioned in my reply to Allan's mail, the same correspondence is found
 in
> the dream state also. The comparisons go this way:
>
> a. correspondence between my physical world and Allan's.
> b. correspondence between my dream world and the world as per an entity in my
>    dream.
>
> Comparing my dream world (as I see it from my waking state) and Allan's dream
> world (which he relates to me in my waking state) have the following flaws:
>
> 1. the comparison is obviously not similar as I have shown in points (a) and
>    (b) above.
> 2. assuming there are multiple jIva-s, which _cannot_ be assumed a-priori. By
>    following the analysis in the GK, it can be shown that the existence of
>    multiple jIva-s cannot be logically proved. In fact the exact opposite
>    conclusion is reached.
> 3. assuming that there is an objective reality, which is not apriori known.

I agree with 1 above. As far as 3 is concerned, it is more an inference
than an assumption. Not that that grants better validity to it.

Coming to 2, let us not assume multiple jIvas, but so long as we talk of
"creatures of the world," we can admit of multiple antahkaraNas (the
internal organ, made up of manas, citta, buddhi and ahankAra). Now, let us
take three such creatures, for the sake of convenience, all human beings,
called A, B and C, who are neighbours. If all three are awake, there is a
large degree of correspondence in the world perceived by them. Now, let
any two enter the dreaming state for a while and then wake up, while the
third one keeps awake throughout. Each of the two dreamers creates his own
dreaming world, which is not accessible to the third antahkaraNa. However,
the third one has continued in the waking state all the time, and the two
dreamers wake up to the same physical world that the third one has been in
throughout.

Now, there is a correspondence in the waking state world perceived by A, B
and C, when all three are awake. But neither C who keeps awake, nor A and
B, who both dream, can even talk of correspondence or otherwise between
the dream worlds perceived by A and B. However, even without going through
any deep reasoning, both A and B can validly say that each created his own
dream world out of his own mental constructions. None of A, B and C can
validly say such a thing about the waking state world, without subjecting
all three states (waking, dream and deep sleep) to a thorough analysis as
found in the GK. Rigorously, all this only says that the waking state
differs from the dream state in certain particulars, although most draw an
easy conclusion that it is therefore more real.

Thus, even for those who subscribe to the "waking world is more real than
dream" view, the name viSva for the waking state Atman makes a lot of
sense.

>
> >which is why this state of the Atman is called viSva (meaning universal)
> >in the upanishad.
>
> According to shrI sha.nkara the name vaishvAnara has the following two
> interpretations:
>
> 1. vaishvAnara is the same as vishvAnara, and he is so called because he leads
>    all the creatures in the world to their enjoyment.
> 2. vaishvAnara means that he is the soul of all creatures in the world.
>

There is an extended correspondence drawn between the four pAdas of the
Atman and the four descriptions of brahman, both in the mANDUkya upanishad
and in later advaita writings. In the vArttikA to SankarAcArya's
pancIkaraNa, suresvarAcArya equates vaiSvAnara with virAT, taijasa with
hiraNyagarbha and prAjna with ISwara. Of course, the equation of
turiyAtman with (nirguNa) brahman is the basis of all advaita vedAnta.

Vidyasankar