[Advaita-l] Sri Shankara Declares

[Praveen R. Bhat]

Namaste Adityaji,

On Mon, Apr 2, 2018 at 1:12 PM Aditya Kumar via Advaita-l <
advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:

>  The main difference between a dream object and an object in waking state
> is that dream objects don't serve any practical utility. I can't cook with
> a dream vessel, can't use the gold obtained in dreams etc.


​ ​​This utility argument has been refuted in Mandukya karika by showing
that the comparison is improper just like apples with oranges. The waking
object is as useless to a dreamer in the dream as the dream object is
useless in waking for a waker! You can surely cook using dream vessel in
dream while even the cooked food in waking is useless to satiate dream
hunger, let alone the vessel. The waking gold of even an emperor has no
value to a dreamer experiencing himself as a beggar! Ergo, there is no
difference between the two. The utility argument is also dismissed by the
nailcutter example in the Chandogya 6th chapter mantra.



> 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.


The pramANatva of waking is also w.r.t. to waking which is equally true of
a dream during the dream.
​
gurupAdukAbhyAm,
--Praveen R. Bhat
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