[Advaita-l] [advaitin] Request for Review: 21 Foundational Axioms of Advaita Siddhānta

[Vikram Jagannathan]

Dhanyosmi, Sudhanshu ji!

I am re-listing the updated formulations for other esteemed members' review
& opinion.

Level 1
Foundation of Advaita Siddhānta

L1-1
ॐइत्येतत्प्रत्यगात्मा ब्रह्म; अभेदः।
oṃ ity-etat-pratyagātmā brahma; abhedaḥ.
Oṃ, this inner Self is Brahman; non-difference.

L1-2
अनाद्यध्यासोऽविद्यैव; अधिष्ठानज्ञानेन बाध्या।
anādy-adhyāso’vidyaiva; adhiṣṭhāna-jñānena bādhyā.
Beginningless superimposition is avidyā itself; it is sublated by knowledge
of the substratum.

L1-3
त्रिपुटीप्रत्ययात्मकव्यवहारो मिथ्या; अखण्डाकारज्ञानेन बाध्यः।
tripuṭī-pratyayātmaka-vyavahāro mithyā; akhaṇḍākāra-jñānena bādhyaḥ.
Transactional existence, being of the nature of triadic cognition, is
mithyā; it is sublated by impartite cognition.

Level 2
Exposition of Advaita Siddhānta

L2-1
परमार्थोऽभेदब्रह्म; व्यवहारस्त्रिपुटीप्रसिद्धः; तेन विरोधपरिहारः।
paramārtho'bheda-brahma; vyavahāras-tripuṭī-prasiddhaḥ; tena
virodha-parihāraḥ.
The ultimate is non-different Brahman; transaction is established through
the triad; thereby contradiction is resolved.

L2-2
अभेदवस्तु निर्विकारम्।
abheda-vastu nirvikāram.
The non-difference-entity is changeless.

L2-3
ब्रह्म चैतन्यम्; स्वतःसिद्धं स्वयम्प्रकाशम्।
brahma caitanyam; svataḥ-siddhaṃ svayaṃ-prakāśam.
Brahman is consciousness; self-established and self-luminous.

L2-4
कार्यं कारणादनन्यत्; नामरूपविकारमात्रम्।
kāryaṃ kāraṇād-ananyat; nāma-rūpa-vikāra-mātram.
The effect is non-other than the cause; it is merely a modification in
name-form.

L2-5
व्यवहारे ब्रह्म विवर्तकारणम्; माया परिणामिनी।
vyavahāre brahma vivarta-kāraṇam; māyā pariṇāminī.
In Transactional existence, Brahman is the transfiguration-cause; māyā is
what undergoes transformation.

L2-6
जीवजगदीश्वरसत्ता ब्रह्माश्रया परतन्त्रा।
jīva-jagad-īśvara-sattā brahmāśrayā paratantrā.
The existential reality of jīva, world, and Īśvara is dependent, resting on
Brahman.

L2-7
अविद्या भावरूपाप्यनिर्वचनीया; न द्रव्यम्; आश्रयवादो व्यवहारमात्रः।
avidyā bhāva-rūpa-apy anirvacanīyā; na dravyam; āśraya-vādo
vyavahāra-mātraḥ.
Avidyā, though of positive appearance, is indescribable; it is not a
substance; discussion about its locus is merely transactional.

L2-8
ज्ञातृकर्तृभोक्तृभावादिभेदप्रतीतिः सर्वाविद्याकृता।
jñātṛ-kartṛ-bhoktṛ-bhāvādi-bheda-pratītiḥ sarvā-avidyā-kṛtā.
All appearance of difference, inclusive of the states of being a knower,
doer, and enjoyer, etc., is caused by avidyā.

L2-9
अविद्यावरणविक्षेपशक्तिद्वयात्मिका; सुषुप्तावावरणप्राधान्यं,
जाग्रत्स्वप्नयोरावरणविक्षेपात्मकोऽध्यासः।
avidyā-āvaraṇa-vikṣepa-śakti-dvayātmikā; suṣuptau-āvaraṇa-prādhānyaṃ,
jāgrat-svapnayor-āvaraṇa-vikṣepātmako'dhyāsaḥ.
Avidyā consists of the dual powers of concealment and projection; in deep
sleep concealment is predominant, while in waking and dream superimposition
is of the nature of concealment and projection.

L2-10
जीवोऽविद्योपाधिविशिष्टब्रह्म; ईश्वरो मायोपाधिविशिष्टब्रह्म;
साक्षिचैतन्यमेकं सर्वत्र।
jīvo'vidyopādhi-viśiṣṭa-brahma; īśvaro māyopādhi-viśiṣṭa-brahma;
sākṣi-caitanyam ekaṃ sarvatra.
The jīva is Brahman qualified by the adjunct of avidyā; Īśvara is Brahman
qualified by the adjunct of māyā; witness-consciousness is one everywhere.

L2-11
मोक्षो बाधमात्रः; नोत्पत्तिः।
mokṣo bādha-mātraḥ; notpattiḥ.
Liberation is mere sublation; not a production.

L2-12
कर्मोपासनेऽन्तःकरणशुद्ध्यर्थम्; ज्ञानमेव बाधहेतुः।
karmopāsane'ntaḥkaraṇa-śuddhyartham; jñānam-eva bādha-hetuḥ.
Action and upāsanā are for the purification of the inner-instrument;
knowledge alone is the cause of sublation.

L2-13
जीवन्मुक्तेः प्रारब्धप्रतीतिस्तिष्ठति; व्यवहारसत्यताबुद्धिर्न तिष्ठति।
jīvanmukteḥ prārabdha-pratītis-tiṣṭhati; vyavahāra-satyatā-buddhir-na
tiṣṭhati.
For the liberated while living, the appearance of prārabdha remains; belief
in the reality of transactional existence does not remain.

L2-14
अनिर्वचनीयत्वं न च त्रिकालाबाधितत्वं न चाप्रतीयमानत्रिकालाभावत्वम्।
anirvacanīyatvaṃ na ca trikāla-abādhitatvaṃ na
ca-apratīyamāna-trikāla-abhāvatvam.
Indescribability is neither non-sublatability in all three times nor
non-manifest non-existence in all three times.

L2-15
त्रिपुटीप्रमाणानि व्यवहारे प्रमाणानि; ब्रह्माप्रमेयम्।
tripuṭī-pramāṇāni vyavahāre pramāṇāni; brahmāprameyam.
Triadic means of knowledge are means in transactional existence; Brahman is
not an object of knowledge.

L2-16
उपदेशक्रमे आरोपः; सिद्धान्तेऽपवादः।
upadeśa-krame āropaḥ; siddhānte'pavādaḥ.
In the teaching-sequence there is superimposition; in the conclusion there
is rescission.

L2-17
श्रुतिवाक्यमभेदज्ञानजनकं त्रिपुटीबाधे पर्यवस्यति।
śruti-vākyam-abheda-jñāna-janakaṃ tripuṭī-bādhe paryavasyati.
The sentence of śruti produces knowledge of non-difference and culminates
in the sublation of the triad.

L2-18
महावाक्येषूपाधित्यागेनैक्यबोधः।
mahāvākyeṣu-upādhi-tyāgena-aikya-bodhaḥ.
In the mahāvākyas, the knowledge of unity arises through the abandonment of
adjuncts.

prostrations,
Vikram

On Mon, Mar 9, 2026 at 9:06 PM Sudhanshu Shekhar <sudhanshu.iitk at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Namaste Vikram ji.
>
> I am in agreement with the write-up.
>
> Regards.
> Sudhanshu Shekhar.
>
>