Advaita Vedānta
Advaita Vedānta · a-dvaita veda-anta, “the Vedānta of non-duality”
Advaita Vedānta stands as one of the most profound and influential philosophical traditions of India. Rooted in humanity’s natural urge to rise above mere survival and explore the deeper truths of existence, it represents the culmination of centuries of rational inquiry and mystical insight. Indian philosophical systems—collectively called darśanas, or “ways of seeing”—seek to understand the nature of the world, the individual, the Divine, and the ultimate purpose of life. Among these, Vedānta occupies a preeminent place, drawing its authority from the Upanishads, the Brahmasūtras, and the Bhagavadgītā.
Within Vedānta, Advaita (“non‑dualism”) offers a strikingly radical vision: Brahman, the Absolute, is the only reality, and all multiplicity—individual jīvas, the world, and every form of experience—arises from ignorance (avidyā) and appears through superimposition (adhyāsa). Systematized by Gauḍapāda and brought to its classical expression by Ādi Śaṅkarācārya, Advaita teaches that the essence of the individual (Ātman) is not different from Brahman. Moksha is attained not through ritual or external action, but through knowledge—recognizing one’s true nature as pure, undivided consciousness. The Agni Purāṇa gives this teaching as the Advaita Brahma-vijñāna that Bharata spoke to the king of Sauvīra, with the dialogue of Ṛtu and Nidāgha, and calls Brahma-jñāna the sword that cuts down the tree of saṃsāra made of ajñāna.
Introduction
Man is often described as a rational animal. Once the animal in him is reasonably satisfied by the provision of basic biological and some psychological needs, the rational part gets an opportunity to evolve to higher levels. Philosophy, including metaphysics, is one of the highest aspects of this evolution.
Darśanas
The Indian philosophical systems have developed not only as a result of intellectual speculation but also of mystical intuition. Hence the name darśana (literally, ‘seeing’) is usually applied to them. The topics most commonly discussed by these darśanas are generally four in number:
- Nature of the physical world, its origin and evolution
- Nature of man and other living beings
- Existence of Parameśvara, His nature and attributes
- The goal of human life and the way of attaining it.
Different standpoints and differing views of these topics of discussion have naturally led to a variety of schools. These schools are broadly divided into two classes: the āstika and the nāstika. The former accept the authority of the Vedas whereas the latter do not.
Vedānta Darśana
The Vedānta Darśana is the last of the former schools but has gained the most important place among them. A judicious combination of reasoning and acceptance of the authority of the Vedas as well as a long unbroken tradition are responsible for its gaining the prominent place.
Although the prasthānatraya (“the three great paths”), namely the Upanishads, the Brahmasūtras, and the Bhagavadgītā, are the basis of the Vedānta Darśana, it is the Brahmasūtras (also called Vedāntasūtras and Śārīrakasūtras) of Bādarāyaṇa Vyāsa that occupies the key position. The sūtras (aphorisms), being quite terse and often ambiguous, have naturally led to widely differing interpretations, resulting in the three well-known systems of Vedānta: Advaita, Viśishṭādvaita, and Dvaita.
The word Vedānta itself means “the end” or “the essence of the Vedas.” It is the Upanishads that mainly comprise the Vedānta since they normally form the last part of the Vedic literature and contain the quintessence of their teaching.
Advaita Vedānta
The Advaita Vedānta Darśana owes its systematisation as a formidable doctrine to Gauḍapāda (7th–8th century A.D.) who wrote his famous Kārikās on the Māṇḍūkyopanishad, and Śaṅkara (A.D. 788–820). Śaṅkara’s commentaries on the prasthānatraya and also a few independent treatises form the bedrock on which the later Advaitins built their edifice.
Brahman, the Only Reality
Advaita means “non-dual,” “one without a second.” The system derives this nomenclature from the fact that it recognises Brahman (the Absolute) as the only reality and denies permanent reality to the world as also to the individual jīvas. The entire edifice of Advaita metaphysics is built upon the foundation that Brahman is the only reality, brahma satyam. This premise is based firmly on the famous Upanishadic statement:
सदेव सोम्य इदमग्र आसीत्, एकमेवाद्वितीयम्
sadeva somya idamagra āsīt, ekamevādvitīyam
“Dear (Śvetaketu)! In the beginning (before creation) Reality (or Brahman) alone existed, the one without a second.”– Chāndogya Upanishad, 6.2.1
Anirvacanīya Khyāti
The world of multiplicity is a matter of our day-to-day experience. It becomes necessary to explain how Brahman, the One without a second, appears as this world of multiple names and forms. The explanation offered by Advaita is anirvacanīya-khyāti, its theory of erroneous cognition which defies logic.
Perceiving silver in nacre in moonlight or snake in rope in insufficient light are stock examples given by Advaitins. In both cases, there is an erroneous perception brought about by the impression of silver and snake from an earlier idea, superimposed now upon nacre and rope under favourable conditions. This superimposition, called adhyāsa or adhyāropa, is responsible for mithyājñāna (false knowledge) that the object perceived is silver or snake.
The silver or the snake perceived is neither sat (real) nor asat (unreal). It is not unreal like “the son of a barren woman” since it is actually perceived. Neither is it real since it disappears when the substratum is perceived as it is. To explain this peculiar phenomenon, Śaṅkara creates a third type of perceived objects: sad-asad-vilakshaṇa (different from both the real and the unreal). The khyāti or cognition itself is described as anirvacanīya, incapable of any precise definition.
Ajnāna or Avidyā
The basic cause of this erroneous perception is termed as ajnāna or avidyā (ignorance), which is said to be bhāvarūpa (existent) and endowed with two powers: āvaraṇaśakti (veiling power) and vikshepaśakti (transforming power). It veils the true nature of nacre and rope, showing up silver and snake in their place by apparent transformation.
Such transformed appearance is called vivarta of the original, and the theory propounding this is Vivartavāda. Since this avidyā does not make the substratum disappear but makes them appear as something else, it is described as bhāvarūpa.
Māyā
An attempt is made to explain how this world of duality has evolved from the non-dual Reality called Brahman in the Upanishads. The world of duality can be broadly divided into dṛk (the seer) and dṛśya (the seen), and further into innumerable jīvas (living beings) and countless objects of creation.
Brahman, the indivisible Reality, appears divided due to avidyā, causing the one Ātman (Self) to appear as many jīvas. It is māyā that causes the world of phenomena and is avidyā at the cosmic level.
Three Degrees of Reality
Śaṅkara accepts three degrees of reality:
- Prātibhāsika-satya (apparent truth, illusory appearance) – illustrated in wrong perception of silver in nacre or snake in rope.
- Vyāvahārika-satya (practical reality) – illustrated by the world of daily experience, true for day-to-day existence.
- Pāramārthika-satya (absolute reality) – the highest Truth, which is Brahman or Ātman without attributes (nirguṇa) and forms (nirākāra), incapable of being described except in “neti, neti” (“not this, not this”).
Creation
Brahman associated with māyā is Saguṇa Brahman or Īśvara (Parameśvara, the ruler of creation). This aspect of Brahman is responsible for creation, preservation, and destruction of the world. For Śaṅkara, the world process is only a vivarta (illusory appearance) due to adhyāsa on Brahman.
Although śruti (Upanishads) describe the steps of evolution, Śaṅkara regards them as taṭasthalakshaṇa (casual indicators) that help direct seekers to the truth, while Brahman’s true nature (svarūpalakshaṇa) is sat-cit-ānanda (eternal reality, pure consciousness, unalloyed bliss).
Jīva
This Brahman or Ātman, which is sat-cit-ānanda, has inexplicably become involved in the body-mind complex due to avidyā. This involvement, with avidyā stated to be anādi (beginningless), causes the Ātman to be designated as jīva.
The jīva, Ātman in bondage, has five kośas (sheaths) and three śarīras (bodies), performs actions motivated by desires, experiences pleasure and pain due to karma, and undergoes transmigration until moksha. Śaṅkara declares that when the jīva is stripped of upādhis (limiting adjuncts), it is identical with Brahman as its essential nature is sat-cit-ānanda.
Sādhanās and Mukti
The main reason for Ātman identifying as jīva is tādātmya (false identification) with the mind and body due to adhyāsa. The remedy is apavāda (de-superimposition) by denying this identification through sādhanacatushṭaya (fourfold discipline):
- viveka (discrimination between eternal and non-eternal),
- vairāgya (dispassion),
- śamādishaṭka (six virtues like self-control),
- mumukshutva (desire for liberation).
One should approach a competent guru and learn through śravaṇa (hearing), manana (reflection), and nididhyāsana (contemplation). The mahāvākyas (“That thou art”, “I am Brahman”) produce deep conviction of one’s identity with Ātman.
Through nididhyāsana, one can practice de-superimposition, realizing “I am not the body, senses, mind, or ego,” leading to mukti (moksha) even while living (jīvanmukti). After the body falls off, one attains videhamukti (liberation from future bodies), the continuity of the body in jīvanmukti being due to prārabdha-karma.
Jīvanmukti and Videhamukti
Two kinds of mukti are envisaged in Advaita: jīvanmukti (liberation while living) and videhamukti (liberation after death). The Vivaraṇa school upholds that mukti is simultaneous with jñāna, making jīvanmukti possible. The Bhāmatī school holds that even after jñāna, the body’s continuation due to prārabdha-karma implies a trace of avidyā, which ends with the body’s death, leading to videhamukti.
Locus of Avidyā
A frequently discussed topic in Advaita metaphysics is the locus of avidyā. Since Brahman is the only reality, it alone is the āśraya (locus) and vishaya (object) of avidyā. This view is held by Sureśvara and Padmapāda. In contrast, Vācaspati Miśra holds that jīvas are the loci of avidyā, with each jīva having its own avidyā.
Advaita in the Agni Purāṇa
The last chapters of the Agni Purāṇa are Agni deva’s teaching on Brahma-jñāna, given to Vasishṭha. One of them bears the name Advaita Brahma-vijñāna, “the knowledge of Brahman without a second”.
Avidyā, the cause of bondage
In the chapter before it, Agni deva gives the teaching that King Keśidhvaja once gave to Khāṇḍikya Janaka. The sense of self (ātma-buddhi) in what is not the self, born of avidyā (ignorance), is the cause of the bondage of saṃsāra. This ajñāna is of two kinds: ahaṅkāra, the sense of “I”, and mamakāra, the sense of “mine”. The jīva who takes the body for himself, covered by the darkness of moha, thinks, “I am this body made of the five bhūtas”, and in the same way says “mine” of sons, grandsons and the rest. The wise man looks evenly on this body, which is not the self. In truth the ātmā is full of peace, full of knowledge and stainless; sorrow and ignorance belong to Prakṛti, not to the ātmā. As water touches fire only through a vessel, so the ātmā, through its contact with Prakṛti, seems to take on ahaṅkāra, mamakāra and the rest, while in truth it is different from them and imperishable.
The mind attached to the objects of the senses is the cause of bondage; turned away from them, it is the cause of jñāna. Drawing the mind back, one should remember Hari, and to one who meditates on him Hari gives the state of Brahman; as a lodestone draws iron, Brahman draws to itself the one who meditates on it. Brahma-jñāna is the knowledge of that tattva in which all differences are removed, which is pure being alone, beyond the reach of words, known only by the ātmā itself: that is the supreme form of Bhagavān Vishṇu, formless, unborn and imperishable. The knowledge of difference is made by ajñāna.
Source: Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 379
The Advaita Brahma-vijñāna that Bharata spoke
Agni deva says: “I shall tell the Advaita Brahma-vijñāna that Bharata spoke.” King Bharata did tapas and the pūjā of Vāsudeva in the kshetra of Śālagrāma. Through his love for a deer he remembered it at the hour of death and was born as a deer; keeping the memory of his former birth, he gave up that body and was born again. In that birth, possessing Advaita Brahma-jñāna, he moved about the world like a dull, unknowing man. The king of Sauvīra pressed him into unpaid labour, and he carried the king’s palanquin, so that his prārabdha karma might be exhausted.
When the king asked him whether he was tired, being so stout, the brāhmaṇa answered that he was not stout, was not carrying the palanquin and bore no burden: the palanquin rested on shoulders, the shoulders on the chest, and so down to the feet on the ground. The five bhūtas carry everyone, swept along in the current of the guṇas; the guṇas are subject to karma, and karma is gathered by avidyā, in all jīvas. The ātmā is pure, imperishable, at peace, without guṇas and beyond Prakṛti; it is one and the same in all living beings, and it neither grows nor decreases.
The king touched his feet and asked who he was. The brāhmaṇa taught that to use the word aham, “I”, of what is not the self and take that for the ātmā is delusion; when the ātmā in every body is one, “who are you, who am I” have no meaning. A palanquin is only pieces of wood joined in a certain way; man, woman, bull, horse, elephant, tree and bird are names the world lays on bodies born of karma. The tongue, teeth, lips, palate and throat utter “aham”, yet none of them is “I”; the head, the belly and the feet are not “you”. He told the king that the highest good is not wealth, sons or kingdom gained by worship, but the attainment of the Paramātmā; that the oneness of the Paramātmā and the jīvātmā is paramārtha, the highest truth; and that the ātmā is one, all-pervading, the same everywhere, pure, without guṇas, beyond Prakṛti, free of birth and change, made of knowledge, unattached and all-powerful.
Then he told the saṃvāda of Ṛtu, the son of Brahmā, and his disciple Nidāgha, the son of Pulastya. After a thousand divine years Ṛtu came to Nidāgha’s city on the river Devikā and taught him that hunger and thirst belong to the body, that the ātmā is all-pervading like space and neither comes nor goes, and that the whole world is the form of the one Paramātmā named Vāsudeva, in which there is no difference at all. After another thousand years he came again and found Nidāgha waiting at the edge of the city while the king rode in on his elephant. Nidāgha climbed onto Ṛtu to show which was the king and which the elephant; Ṛtu asked, “Then who am I, and who are you?” At once Nidāgha bowed and said, “Truly you are my guru, for no one else has a mind so refined by Advaita.” Ṛtu said: “I came to teach you Brahma-jñāna. I have taught you the Advaita that is paramārtha and the essence.” Nidāgha became a knower of Advaita, saw all beings as not different from himself, was freed from ajñāna and attained mukti.
Bharata told the king that he too would attain mukti in the same way: “You, I and this whole world are the form of Vishṇu, who alone is one and all-pervading. As the one ākāśa appears different through colours such as yellow and blue, so to deluded sight the one ātmā appears as many.” The king, having received this essence of knowledge, was freed from saṃsāra. Agni deva said: “Constantly contemplate this: for the tree of saṃsāra, which is made of ajñāna, Brahma-jñāna is the sword.”
Source: Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 380
The end of ajñāna
At the close of the Yama-gītā, the teaching of Yama to Naciketas, the Agni Purāṇa says: as soon as the pot is broken, the space in the pot becomes one with the great space; so the freed jīva attains oneness with Brahman. The jīva, whose nature is Sad-Brahman, by the power of ajñāna thinks itself different from Brahman; as soon as ajñāna and its effects are removed, he becomes free of old age and death. Agni deva tells Vasishṭha that the arising, through vedānta-jñāna, of the understanding that all everywhere is Brahman is the ātyantika pralaya, the final dissolution.
Source: Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 382
Post-Śaṅkara Advaita
Although Śaṅkara wrote prolifically, clearly enunciating his doctrines, there are places where aspects of doctrines remain vague or open to multiple interpretations. The growth of post-Śaṅkara Advaita literature led to various prasthānas (schools of thought):
Vārttika-prasthāna
Founded by Sureśvara (9th century A.D.), this school is named after the vārttikās (commentaries in verse) on Śaṅkara’s bhāshyas on the Bṛhadāraṇyaka and Taittirīya Upanishads. According to this school:
- Brahman is the material cause of the world, not māyā.
- The locus of avidyā is Brahman, not the jīvas.
- Avidyā is one only, not many.
- Mahāvākyas can directly produce cognition of the Self as Brahman, making meditation on their meanings unnecessary.
- The jīvas are but ābhāsas (fallacious appearances) of Brahman in individual minds.
This theory is known as Ābhāsavāda, contrasted with Pratibimbavāda and Avacchedavāda.
Vivaraṇa-prasthāna
Attributed to Padmapāda (9th century A.D.) and Prakāśātman (A.D. 1200), named after the Pañcapādikāvivaraṇa. Key doctrines include:
- Avidyā as jaḍātmikā śakti (force of material nature), the material cause of the world.
- Avidyā is bhāvarūpa (a positive entity), but not real.
- Synonyms include māyā, prakṛti, avyakta, avyākṛta, tamas, and śakti.
- Called avidyā when āvaraṇa power dominates, māyā when vikshepa power dominates.
- Māyā at the cosmic level, avidyā at the individual level.
- Avidyā rests on Brahman but acts on the jīvas.
- Jīvas are pratibimbas (reflections) of Brahman in the antaḥkaraṇa (mind).
This theory is known as Pratibimbavāda, contrasted with Ābhāsavāda.
Bhāmatī-prasthāna
Established by Vācaspati Miśra (A.D. 840), centred on his commentary Bhāmatī on Śaṅkara’s Brahmasūtra Bhāshya. This school holds:
- Brahman is the material cause of the world but not the locus of avidyā.
- Avidyā is supported by jīvas and māyā is an accessory cause.
- Avidyā cannot abide in Brahman, but in the jīvas, and is plural.
- Vācaspati distinguishes:
mūlāvidyā (kāraṇāvidyā, primal nescience)
- tūlāvidyā (kāryāvidyā, derivative nescience)
This school leans toward Avacchedavāda (theory of limitation) where avidyā limits Brahman like a pot limits space, making it appear as a jīva. Mahāvākyas do not produce immediate cognition; it is the mind seasoned by meditation that does so.
Other Notable Doctrines
- Dṛshṭisṛshṭivāda: The world is created simultaneously with perception.
- Ekajīvavāda: There is only one jīva in bondage; upon its moksha, everything else disappears.
Prakāśānanda (15th–16th century A.D.) is the chief proponent of these views.
Polemical Literature
Criticism from other Vedāntic schools and Buddhists led to the growth of polemical Advaita literature, with two significant works:
- Khaṇḍana-khaṇḍa-khādya by Śrīharsha (12th century A.D.)
- Advaitasiddhi by Madhusūdana Sarasvatī (16th century A.D.)
It is to the credit of Advaita Vedānta that even now, it attracts respectful attention from scholars of the highest calibre, both Eastern and Western.
Sources
- Three Systems of Vedanta, an Introduction by Swami Harshānanda
- Agni Purāṇa, Chapters 379–380, 382