[Advaita-l] Sleep, tamas and brahman

[Bhaskar YR]

agrahaNa of suShupti is analogous to total darkness. When you are in a completely dark room, there is no vision of anything. So one can argue that there is no mistaking a rope for a snake, and hence no fear! This leads to a happiness which springs from the lack of duality. Duality causes fear and also lack of duality means lack of fear. However, this is not the same as Brahman experience which is a positive experience. It is analogous to being in a brightly lit room, so brightly lit that there is again no vision of objects in the room.
It is an intense, blinding light which destroys all duality.

praNAms Sri Anand Hudli prabhuji
Hare Krishna

IMHO, if the jnAnAbhAva is similar to tamaH pradhAna total darkness, shruti-s like bruhadAraNyaka ( 4-3-21 to 4-3-32 ) and chAdOgya 8-3 to 6) would not have described the ineffable glory of this peculiar state which is effortlessly and freely available to every jeeva.  Yes, we can say sushpti is 'andhakAramaya' when we are giving the special preference to the validity of waking state and measuring the credentials of other two states from this.  But when we assume the philosophic position of the witness of all the three states without any prejudices with regard to  only one state, this andhakAramaya state comes to have entirely another meaning that which has been beautifully narrated by shruti / bhAshya in an unambiguous way.  Since prabhuji, you are not a stranger to these statements of bhAshya /shruti I only prompted to say tena na pruthaktvena vyavasthitaani karaNAni vishyAscha, tadabhAvAt vishesha darshanaM nAsti (br.bh. 4.3.23)..Not because of blindness it is because of upAdhi upashAntatva ekatvaM being experienced here.  tadvA asyaitad aticchanA apahatapApmA abhayaM rUpaM And because of this abhaya rUpaM jeeva is crystal clear like water, this is parama lOka, parama Ananda, parama saMpattu..(br. 4.3.32).  

This is only my understanding of this state when it is viewed without any biases prabhuji.  I know tradition differ from these interpretations as they have to accommodate mUlAvidyA / kAraNA vidyA / brahmAshrita anirvachaneeya avidyA in sushpti which is not at all jnAnAbhAva or agrahaNa of that ekatvaM.

Hari Hari Hari Bol!!!
bhaskar