Posted on: 04 Feb 2005
[Is it not correct to say that we realize Brahman when the ignorance disappears as said by Shankara?]
Shankara said “Jnanadevatu Kaivalyam”, which means that one can achieve the grace of the Lord through divine knowledge. Ignorance regarding the real form of the goal (Brahman), the path and the individual soul should be removed by the real knowledge of these three items. People think that if the ignorance is removed, the world and the body disappear and the soul alone remains, which is Brahman. This is not the correct understanding of Shankara’s teaching. The world is created through [apparent or self-imposed] ignorance of Brahman. But Brahman is aware of itself throughout that ignorance. Such ignorance is only an apparent artificial cover of Brahman used for Its entertainment. The world is the imagination of Brahman, which is completely in the awareness. It is like the daydream imagined by a person in his waking state, for his entertainment. It is not the night dream that comes in sleep. In this dream, the dreamer is controlled by the dream. But Brahman controls this dream-creation.
It is true that the ignorance of Brahman is the essence of the creation. But Brahman is not in the grip of the ignorance whereas the ignorance is in the grip of Brahman. The Veda says that the wind and the sun function due to the fear of Brahman (Bheeshasmaat…). This means that even during the period of creation, in which the sun and wind exist, Brahman controls the creation. When you are watching the television, you can enjoy only when you are under the ignorance that the scenes shown in it are really happening. If you look at the screen and the television box and realize that the entire cinema is just false imagination, your entertainment disappears. While watching the cinema, you must not know the future story. The ignorance of the future story alone can create anxiety and interest in the cinema that leads to real entertainment. The soul is not the Lord since the Veda says that the souls are controlled by the Lord (Aatmeshwaram…).
When the ignorance of the soul disappears, only the daydream of the human being can disappear; not the world. [The world is not a daydream of a person. It is the daydream of Brahman or God.] Saying that the world is a daydream of the soul contradicts practical experience. The human being caught in the grip of a night dream reveals the real state of the individual soul. When the Lord dissolves the world, this world disappears but remains in the subtle state (Avyaktam). When the cinema is stopped the scene on the screen disappears, but the scene in the film reel remains the same. The cinema can be projected in the same way if the film is protected. The Veda says the same (Dhataa Yatha Purvam…).
The Veda says that you can get salvation only through ignorance and you can attain God only through knowledge (Avidyaya Mrityum Teerthva…). The salvation means the breakage of these worldly bonds. You have to break these worldly bonds only while ignorance continues. The ignorance makes you believe that:
1. The world is real and the bonds are real.
2. The human incarnation is only a human being and not the Lord.
3. The human being has to sacrifice to the human incarnation, his own hard earned fruit of work, which is real.
4. The work done by the human being is done by consuming the energy of that human being.
5. This entire world is not the wealth of the Lord and even if it is the wealth of the Lord, this human being is not the Lord.
When all these factors are real, the ignorance of the human being is full and the sacrifice to God by the human being is also real. The Lord also forgets that He is the Lord and feels Himself as only a human being. Then only the Lord can enjoy that sacrifice. If you come out of ignorance and think that what ever you have earned is the wealth of the God including yourself, then the sacrifice done by you is only returning back God’s own wealth. In such a case it is not sacrifice at all. Therefore, the sacrifice becomes real only when the world becomes real and the ignorance continues. For the individual soul, the world is real and so the sacrifice done by any human being is real. The Lord enjoys the love of His devotee through that sacrifice. Then only is the Lord pleased. Therefore, salvation means surpassing the worldly bonds under the influence of the bond with the Lord. The next line of the same mantra says that you should recognize, achieve and also please the Lord by the real knowledge. The foremost step in this is recognizing the Lord. The true path is sacrifice and the inseparable identity of the Lord is the divine knowledge of the Lord. By this identity alone one should recognize the Lord.
After recognition, you must serve the Lord through sacrifice, which can happen only under ignorance. You should continuously serve and please Him. But the Lord is pleased only under ignorance.