ajAti vAda

a measure of reality with respect to the observed universe, and is similar in many
respects to the notion of prakRti in sAm.khya. Still, it is denied that this mAyA has an
independent existence or reality of its own. It is made absolutely dependent on brahman,
which is the sole reality. It is this position that differentiates advaita vedAnta from the
dualistic sAm.khya, although some authors of the bhAmatI school may write in such a
way as to make this distinction very fuzzy indeed. Inasmuch as the only independent
cause is brahman as ISvara, and so far as it is held that the mAyA disappears when
brahman is truly known, this view is still non-dual in its teaching. This notion of
brahman as ISvara, with attributes, who appears to be different from the creation, is
therefore described as the "taTastha-lakshaNa" - a temporary description for the
purposes of explaining creation to those who seek one. This temporary description does
not mean that non-duality is compromised. The sRshTi-dRshTi view may help the
layman to understand the fact that throughout the ages, advaitins have by and large been
very devoutly religious people, who worship their chosen deity. They do not think that
this affects non-duality in any way. So much for vyavahAra.
ajAti vAda :-
The notion that mAyA has no reality in itself, and that brahman is the only real, allows
the sRshTi-dRshTi vAdin to "graduate", so to speak, to ajAtivAda, the view that no
creation really occured ever. Although one initially starts looking for brahman as the
ontological basis of the perceived universe, advaita also recognizes that this search for
origins is ultimately futile, as far as moksha is concerned. It is pointed out that moksha
means that the Atman is fully known as brahman Itself. Therefore, understand the Atman
first, theories about how this creation came about can wait. Until now, the questioner has
been concerned mainly with explaining the external world, which (s)he knows only
through the operation of the senses. The identity propounded by the upanishads (between
the Atman and brahman) opens up an even more fascinating inner world that is not seen
by the eye, not heard by the ear and not felt by touch. It is this inner search that allows
the sAdhaka to acquire the jnAna to deny mAyA any reality whatsover. At this stage,
brahman, which was previously understood to be with attributes, is understood in its
essence to be really nirguNa. This essential nature of brahman is described as "svarUpalakshaNa"
- a description that captures the real nature of brahman. When brahman is
apprehended as the nirguNa, without any attributes, mAyA completely disappears. The
universe too, consequently has to disappear. This is the most difficult thing for anybody
to understand and accept, because the senses constantly seem to remind one of the
presence of the universe. But then, the unitary understanding of the Atman as identical to
brahman occurs only at the turIya (the fourth) state, not in the jAgrat (waking), svapna
(dream) and sushupti (deep sleep) states. As the mANDUkya upanishad reminds us, the
turIya is adRshTam (unseeable), avyavahAryam (non-relational), agrAhyam
(ungraspable), alakshaNam (without any attributes), acintyam (unthinkable),
avyapadeSyam (cannot be indicated as an object), ekAtma-pratyaya-sAram (the essence
of cognition of the One Atman), prapancopaSamam (that into which the entire universe
is resolved), SAntam (peaceful), Sivam (auspicious), advaitam (non-dual).