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

[Hari R]

Tameva bhantamanubhati sarvam
tasya bhaasa sarvidam vibhaati

Explains the same idea beautifully.


On Wednesday, September 24, 2025, V Subrahmanian via Advaita-l <
advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> 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
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