Tattva-viveka Prakriyas in Vedanta (वेदान्ते तत्वविवेक-प्रक्रियाः)

Vedanta texts are the source of knowledge to understand Brahman and Atman. According to Advaita Vedanta, Brahman and Atman are one and the same and they are termed as Satyam (Real) and everything else is Mithya (unreal). That is tattva-viveka, a discriminative enquiry, viveka, for which the object is tattva, Satyam or the truth. Shruti terms Atman as Satya, thus tattvaviveka involves a discriminative enquiry about the Atman. This enquiry involves a process a procedure, a prakriya. In grammatical terminology we use the term Prakriya (Samskrit: प्रक्रिया) to derive various grammatical forms of words (rupa-siddhi). Here the term prakriya is used in a similar sense as a method of enquiry, an analysis, to help us understand a particular topic in Vedanta. These methods of enquiry are employed in Vedanta to understand Atman and Brahman. The ultimate aim of every human is to attain freedom, happiness, and overcome limitations of the body. However, the inherent problem of every human is the lack of knowledge (avidya) to distinguish between the Ahamkara (I-ness) and the Atman (Consciousness, Self). Ahamkara is when the Atman is wrongly superimposed with the attributes of the Sharira (body) - I am tall, I am angry, I am young etc., by the Buddhi (intellect).

To understand the nature of Ahamkara and Atman, various texts in the Vedanta tradition describe some methods of enquiry to achieve the knowledge about the tattva or Atman. A sadhaka engages in a discriminative enquiry to sort out Atma-tattva which is Satyam from everything else i.e., Mithya.

Introduction

According to Advaita Vedanta, the concept of Satyam and Mithya (सत्यं मिथ्या च), is fundamental to the understanding of Brahman. Only when we perform a series of analytical steps of what is Satyam and differentiate it from Mithya can we realize the Brahman or Atman. One importance for this whole pursuit is that these steps are cognitive in nature. Atman is distinct from everything else, and it is to be realized by a person, no amount of theoretical teaching would help if the sadhana part is not performed.

For example - the entire body can be viewed as per to different models. In a biological model, it can be reduced to a bunch of cells. But the bunch of cells themselves, as we see in a laboratory, cannot be called a body. But the body is nothing but a definite arrangement of cells and without the cells there is no body. So in this model the body is reduced to cells. From another standpoint, body is just minerals, calcium, carbon etc., - simple minerals, but minerals are not the body. It is very clear that the body, which seems to have its own existence, is reducible to all these minerals. And therefore, this body is mithya (unreal) and this kind of analysis continues until the level of molecules and atoms which cannot be seen with the naked eye as pratyaksha pramana.

Atman, also cannot be seen by the eyes and has to be comprehended by other pramanas (means of knowledge), namely Shabdapramana. In this process of understanding to dispel ignorance (avidya), the Vedanta Darshana, gives us some methods to reason and resolve the differences between what is real and unreal.

Defining Atman

Atman (आत्मन्), in Advaita Vedanta, is the same as Brahman, Pure Consciousness, immanent, transcendent and self-luminous. It transcends the subject-object (कर्त-कर्म) duality and trinity of knower, known and knowledge. Atman is the one who experiences everything, in whose presence alone and for whom all experiences take place. It is the only Reality. The tragedy of human intellect is that it tries to know everything as an object. Whatever can be presented as an object is necessarily relative and changing, for that reason it is Mithya or unreal. To resolve this inherent human problem, our seers have enumerated three ways to identify Atma and overcome ignorance through the process of enquiry (vichara).

In Tattvabodha, written by Shri Adisankaracharya, we find the lakshana vakyas (defining words) of Atman as follows,

स्थूलसूक्ष्मकारणशरीराद्व्यतिरिक्तः पञ्चकोशातीतः सन् अवस्थात्रयसाक्षी सच्चिदानन्दस्वरूपः सन् यस्तिष्ठति स आत्मा ।

That which is distinct from the gross, subtle and causal bodies, beyond the five sheaths, the witness of the three states of experience, that which exists in the form of consciousness and of the nature of existence-consciousness-limitlessness is the Atman.

Shariram is Atman - Confusion is Universal

Every human being is born with an inherent ignorance and confusion that each individual regards himself or herself, the body as such, as a person. If a person say's "I am tall," or "I am thin," it definitely conveys that "I am equal to the body." In saying that "I am tall", it means that "the tallness of the body is my tallness." Therefore the ‘I’, the atman, has the attribute of tallness or shortness, maleness or femaleness, which means that atman is equated to the body.

Such inability to discriminate between the I-principle and the Atman, exists at birth and is always present while we are going about in our activities of the daily life. From this ignorance arises the mistake of superimposition (adhyasa) at all times. Now, this is generally personal, psychological and a basic universal mistake. It is a universal mistake, because each individual has a physical body, each individual has a set of senses, each individual has a mind. And each individual is conscious of himself or herself as a person, and is born with self-ignorance.

Then again, the body being one and everything else being separate from this body, naturally, there is a conclusion about location also. So with reference to the pervasiveness of the body, every individual finds himself wanting. There is a sense of incompleteness with reference to pervasiveness. And again, there is inadequacy with reference to abilities, skills and so on. Thus we have varieties of limitations centered on the physical body. To overcome this sense of lack, inadequacies and limitedness, one has to go through the process of self-enquiry to recognize Atman, which is satyam.

Tattva-viveka Prakriyas in Vedanta

A viveka, a discriminative enquiry leading to the knowledge of Atma-tattva is called tattva-viveka. And what is tattva - this Atman, being ananta-sat, is the tattva, the reality, of everything. To resolve the confusion about Atman, to perform the tattva-viveka, there are particular analytical processes, which like prakriyas in grammar, when applied in Vedanta lead us to recognizing the Atman. Here the term prakriya is used to represent a method of enquiry, analysis, to help us understand what is what. In the definition of Atman given in the previous section, we can identify three prakriyas to discern the Atman. We can summarily present the processes to identify Atman as follows.

1. Sharira-traya viveka - The analysis of the three shariras - स्थूलसूक्ष्मकारणशरीरा । Sthula, Sukshma, and Karana shariras. A prakriya wherein the process of the distinguishing of the Atman, or recognizing the Atman, as independent of the three shariras, bodies is elaborated.
2. Pancha-kosha viveka - The three bodies, as mentioned above, are divided into five layers, Annamaya, Pranamaya, Manomaya, Vijnanamaya and Anandamaya koshas. The layers are from the standpoint of our own experience, and we find there are five common levels of experience which we mistake for Atman. To sort this out we have the process of discerning the koshas from Atman.
3. अवस्था-त्रय-विवेकः ॥ Avastha-traya viveka - Every individual has these three states of experience, waking, dream and deep sleep and the proper way to analyze them to find out what is Atman and what is not is discussed here.
4. Karyakarana viveka - The knowledge about cause and effect of this srishti also helps one resolve about what is Atman.

Avastha-traya viveka

In the process of enquiring and understanding about the avastha-traya (अवस्था-त्रयम्) we are lead to the knowledge of Atman. In this process of analysis we deduce whether Atman has the attributes of the waking state to assume the status of being a waker, whether it has the attributes of the dream to become the dreamer, or sleep to be the sleeper, or is free from all these attributes. As defined in Tattvabodha, Atman is अवस्थात्रयसाक्षी i.e., it is free from all the attributes of these states, and is a witness to all three states of experience, called as avastha-traya-saakshin. It is distinct from all the shariras, and all three states of experience.

Sharira-traya

It may be noted that the Sthula-sharira being gross, is tangible and visible. The Sukshma-sharira is not visible but cannot be missed. It can be comprehended but is not a tangible object like the sthula-sharira. The sukshma-sharira is that in whose presence the body is alive, and in whose absence the body is dead. Now, third sharira is the Karana-sharira, and is the cause of the other two shariras. This is more of an adjunct than the body itself, it is the karana, the cause, for Sacchidananda-Atman to be a Jiva, an individual who has the sense of doership, and therefore does actions, gathers karmas, and because of that is born again and again.

Are sharira-traya and avastha-traya connected with each other?

Karana-sharira has no beginning, it is anadi, without a beginning, and doesn’t exist by itself. Avidya (also called ajnana) in Karana-sharira is of Reality, Sat-svarupa-ajnana. An object is not known to a person, and therefore, ignorance always resides in a conscious person, and itself is not real. There is no ignorance, as such, independent of the consciousness which is Atman.

Avidya or Maya

Avidya (ignorance) can rest only in consciousness, so either the conscious being has ignorance, or the consciousness itself has this ignorance. But atman is jnana-svarupa, so it cannot be ignorance in any manner. This Avidya cannot exist independently of Atman. Any ignorance, whether it is ignorance of an object or ignorance of oneself, does not exist independently, but depends upon conscious, sacchidananda-atman. Therefore this Atman is the ashraya for Avidya. An ashraya is the basis, that which gives reality to this very ignorance. And this Avidya is also, without a beginning, (anadi) but we cannot say it is Ananta (endless). It is mithya, because it is dependent on Atman for its existence. It is neither independently existent, Sat, nor is it nonexistent, or Asat, but it has some kind of existence, yat kinchit bhavam asti. It is indescribable and indefinable for it is neither real nor unreal nor both (sadasadanirvachaniya). This Avidya is also called Maya (माया) as per some schools of thought and characteristically covers or conceals or projects another thing effectively leaving the true nature of the Self or Atman hidden to the person (maya avarana or maya vikshepa).

Drshtanta for Avidya and Atman

Here in the explanation of Avidya, we come across the phrase - yat kinchit bhavam asti (as per Vedantaparibhasha). It is neither real nor unreal. Yet it is the natural and common practice of people that they wrongly superimpose the object and its attributes upon the subject and viceversa. This co-mingling of the subject and the object, this mixing up of the truth and error, this coupling of the real and unreal (मिथ्याज्ञाननिमित्तः सत्यानृते मिथुनीकृत्य ) is called superimposition (अध्यासः) error (भ्रमः), illusion (माया), ignorance (अविद्या).