[Advaita-l] [advaitin] 'Satyasya Satyam..' of the Upanishad explained in the Bhagavatam

[Michael Chandra Cohen]

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1nRVRxzyvj0GR3PH19DdL1dj5_wIreq5a/view?usp=sharing



On Wed, Sep 24, 2025 at 9:47 AM Krishna Kashyap <kkashyap2011 at gmail.com>
wrote:

> namaste Michael Ji,
> where are the 5 pages of citations from SSSS?
>
> *Best Regards,*
>
> *Krishna Kashyap*
>
>
>
>
> On Wed, Sep 24, 2025 at 5:36 PM Michael Chandra Cohen <
> michaelchandra108 at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Namaste Subbuji,
>>
>> "Relative reality" is misleading and oxymoronic. Reality cannot be
>> partial or not real - the law of excluded middle - either something exists
>> or does not exist. Snake is not a relative reality - it is
>> rope misperceived.  The fear of snake is a reaction to the misperception of
>> rope but not a reaction caused by the 'relative reality' of an imagined
>> snake. To impose reality upon error or misperception whether 'borrowed' or
>> 'relative' or 'temporary' etc. is a misguided teaching.  In that way we
>> need to view vyavaharika. It is only a perception taken to be real.
>> ,
>> Here are 5 pages of citations from SSSS's The Method of the Vedanta/MOV
>> and elsewhere that correct this misunderstanding of Bhasya.
>>
>> On Wed, Sep 24, 2025 at 2:22 AM V Subrahmanian <v.subrahmanian at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> In the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 2.3.6 is the famous mantra, a part of
>>> which reads:
>>>
>>> अथात आदेशो नेति नेति न ह्येतस्मादिति नेत्यन्यत्परमस्त्यथ नामधेयं सत्यस्य
>>> सत्यमिति प्राणा वै सत्यं तेषामेष सत्यम् ॥ ६ ॥
>>>
>>>  Now therefore the description (of Brahman): 'Not this, not this.'
>>> Because there is no other and more appropriate description than this 'Not
>>> this.' Now Its name: "The Truth of truth.' The vital force is truth, and It
>>> is the Truth of that.
>>>
>>> The gist of the mantra is: the term 'prāṇā:' signifies the entire
>>> creation, both at the individual level and the cosmic level. At the
>>> individual level we have the subtle body, the sense organs, that illumine
>>> the creation outside the body. The world outside, being insentient, get
>>> illumined by the subtle body/organs. This two-fold categorization can be
>>> compared to the 'kṣetram' (field) of the 13th chapter of the Bh.Gita. There
>>> too in the 5th and the 6th verses the entire kṣetram is presented as
>>> consisting of the subtle body of the individual and the outside world. This
>>> is termed 'satyam', in its primary sense, vācyārtha. And the 'satyam' of
>>> that ('prāṇā:' - kṣetram) is Brahman, the absolute Satyam.
>>>
>>> From the above study of the mantra, we derive the meaning: the first
>>> 'satyam' (satyasya) is the created world. This has only a
>>> dependent/relative reality. It derives its reality from Brahman, the
>>> Absolute Satyam.
>>>
>>> It is interesting to note that we have a verse in the Bhagavatam that
>>> brings out the above two levels of reality:
>>>
>>> आत्मानमेव आत्मतया अविजानतां
>>>
>>> तेनैव जातं निखिलं प्रपञ्चितम् ।
>>>
>>> ज्ञानेन भूयोऽपि च तत्प्रलीयते
>>>
>>> रज्ज्वां अहेर्भोगभवाभवौ यथा ।। 10.14.25
>>>
>>> A person who mistakes a rope for a snake becomes fearful, but he then
>>> gives up his fear upon realizing that the so-called snake does not exist.
>>>
>>> Similarly, for those who fail to recognize You, Brahman, as the Supreme
>>> Soul of all
>>> souls, the *expansive illusory material existence arises,* but knowledge
>>> (realization) of You (Your True Nature) at once causes it  (the
>>> variegated
>>> world of plurality) to subside.
>>>
>>> In the above verse we see the expression of relative reality, the world,
>>> and the Absolute Reality, Brahman. This is exactly the teaching of the
>>> Upanishad through the pithy statement: satyasya satyam.  The rope is the
>>> Satyam and the snake is the satyam, in the analogy of the Bhagavatam. There
>>> itself, the relatively real, the world, is contrasted with the Absolutely
>>> Real, Brahman. The state of ignorance is signified by the world and the
>>> state of realization is conveyed by the term Brahman. One can recall the
>>> verse 2.69:
>>>
>>> या निशा सर्वभूतानां तस्यां जागर्ति संयमी ।
>>>
>>> यस्यां जाग्रति भूतानि सा निशा पश्यतो मुनेः ॥ ६९ ॥
>>>
>>> 2.69 The self-restrained man keeps awake during that which is night for
>>> all creatures. That during which creatures keep awake, it is night to the
>>> seeing sage.
>>>
>>> Here the waking and sleep are symbolic of real and unreal: For the
>>> Jnani, the waking means the Absolute Truth. For the ajnanis waking is to
>>> the relative world.
>>>
>>> The relatively real has no reality of its own and hence is only
>>> dependently real, paratantra satyam. On the other hand, Brahman, the
>>> Absolute Reality, does not need to acquire reality from any other source.
>>> The world needs reality from Brahman. All this is implied by the
>>> Upanishadic statement: satyasya satyam.
>>>
>>> Why does the Upanishad call the vyavaharika, the world, 'satyam'?  The
>>> Upanishad is alluding to, doing anuvāda of, the uninformed person holding
>>> the world to be real, untaught.  This has to be corrected. Hence the
>>> Upanishad *as though* holds the world to be satyam and goes on to
>>> teach, in the manner of 'from the known to the unknown', and the
>>> adhyāropa-apavāda nyāya, the truth that Brahman is indeed the absolute
>>> Satyam.
>>>
>>> There are many such verses in the Bhagavatam that carry the Upanishadic
>>> purport.
>>>
>>> Om Tat Sat
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google
>>> Groups "advaitin" group.
>>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send
>>> an email to advaitin+unsubscribe at googlegroups.com.
>>> To view this discussion visit
>>> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/advaitin/CAKk0Te2DhSz1vLeK3p1UDv%3DMkCGP_BgfWaiz7%2BDrfaEruxnG7w%40mail.gmail.com
>>> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/advaitin/CAKk0Te2DhSz1vLeK3p1UDv%3DMkCGP_BgfWaiz7%2BDrfaEruxnG7w%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer>
>>> .
>>>
>> --
>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
>> "advaitin" group.
>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an
>> email to advaitin+unsubscribe at googlegroups.com.
>> To view this discussion visit
>> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/advaitin/CAAz9PvFMxQWjdAiLdLRXc66Ko7FV%2BUHcHuE_fg_p0RcgotWf7g%40mail.gmail.com
>> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/advaitin/CAAz9PvFMxQWjdAiLdLRXc66Ko7FV%2BUHcHuE_fg_p0RcgotWf7g%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer>
>> .
>>
> --
> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
> "advaitin" group.
> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an
> email to advaitin+unsubscribe at googlegroups.com.
> To view this discussion visit
> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/advaitin/CANkLSMmVZaeGa-WNj2dQ%3DgBvqk0TqMHHVt-j-co9EZ17htTdNQ%40mail.gmail.com
> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/advaitin/CANkLSMmVZaeGa-WNj2dQ%3DgBvqk0TqMHHVt-j-co9EZ17htTdNQ%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer>
> .
>