Atma - 64-Dṛśyate śrūyate

Atmabodha Commentary by Swami Paramarthananda

(Verse 64)
dṛśyatē śrūyatē yadyad brahmaṇō’nyanna tadbhavēt | tattvajñānācca tadbrahmā saccidānandamadvayam ||

In the previous ślōkā he said anything experienced different from Brahman is mithyā. That
mithyātvaṁ he is clarifying here.

Yad yad dṛśyatē – whatever is seen, yad yad śrūyatē – whatever is heard; he has referred to two and we have to supply whatever is smelt, whatever is tasted and whatever is touched, in short whatever is experienced– all of them tat Brahmaṇaḥ Anyat na bhavēt – it does not exist separate from Brahman. Why? – Because the existence in every one of them belongs to Brahman.

Like what? yathā mṛd sattayā ghaṭa sattāvān. So the ghaṭasya sattā – the existence of the pot is borrowed from the existence of the clay. Similarly whatever we see doesn’t have an existence of its own.

Why can’t we say they have the existence of their own? Why can’t we say pot has got existence of its own? If pot has an existence of its own, if it has got svatassattā, then we have to rely on the verse of Gītā, nāsatō vidhyatē bhāvāḥ na abhāvō vidhyatē sataḥ – if the pot had its own existence, it will never lose its existence. It will be eternally existent. The very fact that the pot appears and disappears itself shows that it doesn’t have existence of its own. And therefore, Brahmaṇaḥ Anyat na bhavēt.

One may say that “But I see them as though different from Brahman”. The Ācāryā says that “if you see so, it is your ajñānaṁ”. yatra ajñānaṁ tatra ghaṭa dṛṣṭiḥ yatra jñānaṁ tatra mṛd dṛṣṭiḥ. Yatrahit dvaitaṁ iva bhavati tatra itara itara itaraṁ paśyati, itara itara śṛṇōti. Similarly yatra ajñānaṁ tatra jagat dṛṣṭiḥ, yatra jñānaṁ tatra Brahma dṛṣṭiḥ.

That is what he says. Tattva jñānāt – so once the tattva jñānaṁ comes, yasmin sarvāṇi bhūtāni ātmaiva abhūt vijānataḥ; Brahmaivēdaṁ viśvaṁ idaṁ variṣṭaṁ; Puruṣa ēva idagũṁ sarvaṁ; brahmārpaṇaṁ brahma haviḥ – all of them. mayi tadātmiyaṁ idaṁ sarvaṁ. All these indicate that for a jñānī, Ātmā ēva asti. So tattva jñānāt tat Brahma – tat is emphasized – tat means yat pūrvaṁ jagat āsīt – what was earlier in the form of the world – the same world is now Brahman. Yat pūrvaṁ sarpaḥ āsīt, tadēva vastuḥ idānīṁ rajjuḥ; yat pūrvaṁ dṛṣṭiṁ jñānamayīṁ kṛtvā paśyēt Brahma mayaṁ jagat.

Then one should not ask, did the world change into Brahman? The counter question is did the snake change into rope? The change was not outside. The sarpa buddhi, bhramā buddhi was replaced by pramā buddhi. Similarly jagat buddhi has been replaced by Brahma buddhi. The effect of bhrānti is gone.

What is the nature of this Brahman? Saccidānandamadvayaṁ – that which is
sachchidānanda advaya svarūpaṁ.