The real object of the description
of creation The Upanishads describe the creation, sustenance and dissolution
of the universe. This should not, however, be taken to mean that creation,
etc, are real. According to Advaita, creation is not real, but is only
a superimposition on Brahman, which alone is real in the absolute sense.
The universe,
which is a transformation of maayaa, is anirvachaniiya.
It cannot be described either as real or as unreal. It has empirical reality
only. The description of creation, etc, in the Upanishads is only to bring
out the truth that Brahman, the cause, alone is real. The
effect, universe, has no independent existence
apart from the cause, Brahman.
The following passages from
S'rii S'ankara's Bhaashya bring out the real purpose
of the statements about creation, etc, in
the Upanishads. Br.up.2.1.20.S.B.-tasmaat upakramopasamhaaraabhyaam------------
-------vaakyaani iti. From the introduction
and conclusion it is clear that the passages
speaking about the origin, sustenance and dissolution of the universe are
intended only to strengthen the idea that the individual
self is the same as the Supreme Self. Br.up.2.1.20.S.B.-tasmaat
ekaruupaikatvapratyayadaarDhyaaya----- -------------paramaatmanaH Therefore,
the mention in all the Vedaanta texts of the
origin, sustenance and dissolution of
the universe is only to strengthen our idea
of Brahman being a homogeneous entity,
and not to tell us that the origin, etc, is
real.
Nor is it reasonable to
suppose that a part of the indivisible,
transcendental Supreme Self becomes the relative, individual
self, because the Supreme Self is intrinsically
without parts. The theory of vivarta
Advaita Vedaanta explains the creation of the
world by the theory of vivarta. This
theory is different from the theory of aarambha
vaada of Nyaaya-Vais'eshika and
the pariNaama vaada of Saankhya. According to
aarambha vaada the effect was not pre-existent in the cause and is something
new
which has come into existence. This
theory is also called asatkaarya vada, because
according to this the kaarya, effect, did
not previously exist. According to the
pariNaama vaada, the effect was existent
in the cause and is only a transformation
of the cause. It is therefore also known as
satkaarya vaada, because the kaarya,
effect, was existent in the cause. According
to Advaita, the effect is not an actual transformation
of the cause.
Brahman is immutable
and there can be no transformation of it. It only serves as the substratum
(adhishThaana) for the appearance of the universe, just as the rope serves
as the substratum for the appearance of the
illusory snake. This nature of the universe
as a mere
appearance on Brahman is brought out beautifully by Sures'vara in the
following verses:- Naishkarmyasiddhi.1.1-I
offer my salutation to Hari, the destroyer
of darkness and the witness of the intellect,
from whom the universe consisting of
ether, air, fire, water and earth has arisen like a snake from a garland.
Taitt. Up. Bhaashya Vaartika.2.378 : He, the Supreme Lord, the controller of maayaa, having created the universe with His maayaa, entered that very universe in the same way as a garland can be said to enter the illusory snake projected on it. (By this, the statements in the taitt.up.2.6.1 and the Br.up.1.4.7 that the Lord, having created the universe, entered into it, are also explained). This appearance of the universe is due to avidyaa, or nescience, which conceals Brahman by its veiling power (aavaraNa s'akti) and projects the universe by its power of projection (vikshepa s'akti). The universe is therefore said to be only a vivarta, or apparent transformation, of Brahman. Like the illusory snake with rope as the substratum, the universe is illusory, or mithyaa, with Brahman as the substratum. But there is a vital difference between the illusoriness of the rope-snake and that of the universe. While the snake is purely illusory, or praatibhaasika, the universe has empirical, or vyaavahaarika, reality.
That means that the universe is real for all those who are still in ignorance of Brahman. It loses its reality only when Brahman is realized as the only reality and as identical with one's own self, or, in other words, when identification with the body- mind complex completely disappears. Bondage is nothing but identification with the body-mind complex. This identification being due only to the ignorance of the truth that one is really the aatmaa, which is the same as Brahman, it can be removed only by the knowledge of one's real nature as Brahman. Madhusuudana Sarasvati therefore says in Siddhaantabindu that the following statements in the s'ruti, which say that bondage ceases when Brahman is known, establish by implication the illusory nature of the universe:- MuND.up.2.2.8-When that Self, which is the cause as well as the effect, is realized, the knot of the heart is cut asunder, all doubts are resolved and the effects of past karma are destroyed.
S'vetaas'vatara up.3.8 :
By knowing that Self one goes beyond death. Ch.up.7.1.3-
The knower of the Self goes beyond sorrow.
It is further pointed out in Siddhaantabindu that the following statements
bring out explicitly the illusoriness of the
universe:- Br.up.3.4.2-Everything other than the Self is subject to destruction.
Br.up.4.4.19-There is no difference whatsoever in it (Brahman). Br.up.2.3.6-Now
therefore the description
(of Brahman)-Not this, not this. Bearing in
mind the real import of the statements
about creation, we may now go into the description of creation
as found in the Upanishads and other Vedaanta
texts.
Creation of the subtle elements
: Taitt.up.2.1.1.S.B.-tasmaad etasmaad brahmaNaH aatma- svaruupaat-----
From that Brahman, which is identical with the indwelling self, aakaas'a,
space, was created. aakaas'a means,
that which is possessed of the attribute
of sound and provides space for all things
that have form. From that aakaas'a was born vaayu, air, which has two attributes,
namely, its own quality, touch, and sound, the quality of its cause, aakaas'a.
From air was produced agniH, fire, with three qualities, namely,
its own quality, colour and
the qualities of air and space. From fire was born aapah,
water, with its own quality, taste, and the
qualities of fire, air and space. From water
was produced the element, pr.thivii, with
its own quality, smell and the qualities of
water, fire, air and space. These
are the five subtle elements. In Ch.up.6.2.3,
the
creation of only three elements is mentioned,
namely fire, water and earth.
S'rii S'ankara says here
that it is logical to assume that, after creating space and air, Brahman
created fire. The intended meaning
is that all these have originated from sat, Existence, or Brahman and are
therefore sat alone. The statement that all these
elements arose from Brahman is
clarified in Panchadas'i 1.18 by saying that these
elements arose at the command of iis'vara from that aspect of prakr.ti
in which
tamas predominates.