[Advaita-l] Sri Shankara Declares

[Bhaskar YR]

praNAms Sri Aditya Kumar prabhuji
Hare Krishna

>  A traditional advaitin may come up with the following arguments to strike the similarity between jAgrat and svapna.

The main difference between a dream object and an object in waking state is that dream objects don't serve any practical utility.

>  likewise, a waking world object would not serve any utility in dream state.  So, waking state objects serves ONLY waking world's practical utility and dream world's object serves the purpose in its corresponding state ONLY i.e. dream.  

I can't cook with a dream vessel, can't use the gold obtained in dreams etc. Further, dream is not a pramana but the waking state world is pratyaksha pramana. Although pratyaksha is lesser pramana, it is still a pramana nonetheless. However dreams cannot be pramanas.

>  well when we look at these things with the above view point, the answer is quite clear, all 'socalled' objects hold water only in its respective domain :-) 

A mirage and an oasis are never the same. It need not be the same for Brahman to be ultimately real. The only pointer is that we can draw similarities between dream state and waking state. We only infer the other two states in waking state. Inference is again rooted in practical evidence. The only similarity between dream and waking state is the triad of experiencer,experienced and the experience. In sushupti this triad is absent.

>  the mAndUkya, kArika-s and bhAshya on it vehemently argue to prove both waking and dream are one and the same and Atman is avasthAteeta.  Shruti also elsewhere says tasya traya avasathA trayi svapnAH :-) But it does not deny the srushti of Ishwara which is available for us in jAgrat avasthA.  Hence bhAshyakAra elsewhere clearly differentiates the two states and categorically says that in dream objects there is no 'smell' of paramArtha where as for the srushti , which is available for our day to day transaction, Ishwara is the both material and efficient cause.  

>  As you know all these things need to be understood keeping different prakriya-s in mind.  

Hari Hari Hari Bol!!!
bhaskar