Slokas 44 to 48

Hari Aum,

Prostrations at the Lotus Feet of AMMA.

Sloka 44:
rajjvaGYaanaatkshaNenaiva yadvadrajjurhi sarpiNii .
bhaati tadvachchitiH saakshaadvishvaakaareNa kevalaa ..

Meaning: For a moment if we forget the rope we perceive the snake .So also a person perceives the world in the consciousness people see the world.

Explanation: In the earlier sloka sankaracharya explained through an analogy the illusory nature of jeeva. Now he explains the illusory nature of the world and the substratum behind it.

For a moment a person forgets what ever he is seeing is rope , immediately he sees snake in place of the rope. Similarly the world is perceived by us , due to ignorance of the substratum of the world being consciousness or brahman. As we do not realize that the essence of all whole world , is the indwelling consciousness principle.
So in order not to get deluded by the world, one should always remember that the substratum of the entire world is nothing but consciousness or Brahman and what ever is perceived is only a name and form which is illusion.
The whole world seems to exist but actually doesn’t really exist. Thus the mithya world is clearly explained. That which is mithya is neither real nor unreal.That which doesn’t exist is asat. That which always exists is sat. World exists for a short period of time we live, hence its neither asat nor sat. One should negate the names and forms seen in the world and assert that Brahman alone is present everywhere. When one negates nama roopam , Brahman as the substratum alone remains. So if substratum of Brahman is present the world exists. World doesn’t exist without Brahman. Hence world is just an illusion in Brahman, the reality being the substratum. Once the illusory nama roopam is not seen, the only entity consciousness is perceived everwhere. This is the state a person attains, after negating nama roopam and asserting that Brahman alone is present in the whole world.


Sloka 45:
upaadaanaM prapaJNchasya brahmaNonyanna vidyate .
tasmaatsarvaprapaJNcho.ayaM brahmaivaasti na chetarat.h ..


Meaning: The material cause of the world is Brahman alone. Hence Brahman pervades the whole world and there is nothing apart from it.

Explanation: we have seen the nature of the Jeeva and world being explained in the earlier slokas. Now the material cause of the world is discussed in this sloka. This helps a seeker , to view everything in the world as Brahman.If we know that pot id made of mud, we wouldn’t see pot different from mud, likewise when we know that Brahman is the substratum of the world, dualities vanish.
Any effect has 2 causes the material cause and the efficient cause. For example for a mud pot the material cause is mud and the efficient cause is the potter. Likewise the material cause as well as the efficient cause of the world is Brahman alone. The names and forms we view are due to the power of maya in Brahman. Maya is the power of Brahman, due to which names and forms are seen and is the material cause of world. But as maya is part of Brahman we can consider that Brahman is the material cause.
As the substratum of the creation is Brahman the whole world is pervaded by Brahman. The whole world is nothing but Brahman alone. This helps a seeker to view the world he perceives as Brahman alone. Understanding the nature of the world and its substratum a person never gets deluded in the world of dualities.

Sloka 46:

vyaapyaavyaapakataa mithyaa sarvamaatmeti shaasanaat.h .
iti GYaate pare tattve bhedasyaavasaraH kutaH ..

Meaning: Pervading entity and entity being pervaded by both are illusion as there only exists atman everywhere. Knowing this great truth what is the necessity of showing the difference between the pervaded entity and the pervading entity.

Explanation: In the earlier sloka sankaracharya spoke about the illusory world and its substratum of Brahman. He has mentioned that world is an illusion in Brahman, the illusion being the effect in the cause of Brahman. In this slokas he contradicts the theory with reasoning.
Inorder to wake up a dreaming person , he should be told that the dream is only an illusion and truth is the waking state. This helps him to attain the waking state.
A person who is woken up needn’t be told about the dream state as dream state doesn’t exist. Once the ignrorance is removed there are no differences perceived. The same logic is used by the author to negate the cause and effect theory.
In reality there is no cause and effect , everything is Brahman alone. The world is not at all present. This is from the perspective of a Jnaani.
But for a person who sees the world ,this wouldn’t appeal , as he sees world as existing, hence the theory of cause and effect is useful. But once he realizes the truth , he doesn’t perceive the world but only Brahman.
Hence there is no entity which pervades the whole universe as mentioned earlier as Brahman and there is no entity being pervaded by the pervading entity i.e the world.
As there exists only ultimate truth of Brahman.
As world is an illusion in Brahman ,hence it really doesn’t exist. So as world is an illusion, there is no necessity of associating a cause to the illusory world, as its not real. Hence Brahman is not a cause of world that doesn’t really exist. Rather Brahman alone exists.

Sloka 47:

shrutyaa nivaarita.n nuuna.n naanaatva.n svamukhena hi .
kathaM bhaaso bhavedanyaH sthite chaadvayakaaraNe ..

Meaning: Sruthi themselves negate duality many many times. So how will the duality exist ? Only the non-dual Brahman exists.

Explanation: As proof to the statement made in the earlier sloka that there is no cause and effect theory and that everything is one entity of nature of consciousness, the author gives reference to the sruthi quotations.
As per sruthi its stated that “Neha nana asthi kincha” Meaning there is no trace of duality whatsoever.
The same point is reiterated in this sloka. As sruti proclaim that there is no duality at all. So how can there be illusionary world in Brahman. It means that there is no duality and only Brahman exists, which is one alone. So how can a person see duality in the world, when the scriptures clearly proclaim that the world is just an illusion. With clear proof from the scriptures and from the experience of the jnaani’s who have followed the path mentioned by the scriptures and perceive the world as Brahman alone, it removes all doubts from the mind of the seeker about the Brahman as the only entity pervading the whole universe.


Sloka 48:

doshho.api vihitaH shrutyaa mR^ityrmR^i.rtyu.n sa gachchhati .
iha pashyati naanaatvaM maayayaa vaJNchito naraH

Meaning : If a person sees duality sruti says that he will be born many many times.
The person who sees duality is deluded by maya.

Explanation: After explaining that nothing exists here but Brahman alone and providing the sruthi quotations to support the same, sankaracharya now mentions the consequences a person would face ,whose sees the duality in the world.
Author warns the about the consequences of not able to view the world as Brahman. According to sruthi, a person gets deluded in the world due to influence of maya , the power of brahman. He sees duality in the world. He sees various names and forms. He thinks the world is permanent. He seeks happiness in the world, as a result his life becomes full of sorrow and keeps running after wordly objects seeking them ,doing actions and thereby accumulating good/bad karmas and being born many times to exhaust the karma. Thus a person getting deluded and will end up in the chain of birth and death. Whereas a person who has the strong conviction, sees no duality in the world , he attains samabhavam, who has attained the state perceives only his self in all and all in his self. Such a person is a liberated soul.
The author warns people of the results of not seeing the world as pervaded by Brahman.
Given the consequences people might put an effort to seek the truth , rather than getting deluded in the world. Any amount of effort in this direction is always beneficial as its like a bank deposit .In the next birth one would start from where he has left in the previous birth.
Thus the author explains the nature of the world , through sruti and yukti and also mentions the consequences of getting deluded in this world.

Hari Aum