Non-difference (Abheda)
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Non-difference is the nearest English translation of the
Doctrine of Non-difference
Audolomi (
In
Nature of Non-difference
According to the Theory of the Pre-existent Effect, there is no annihilation of the existence, nor is there any creation of the non-existent, which means, there cannot be anything new or the destruction of what exists; and that there is no relation between cause and effect. With regard to the non-difference of the cause and the effect the general views are that, a) the difference (negation of non-difference) of the cause and effect is the essence (swarupa) of the cause and the effect, and the non-difference of them is their relation of identity; b) that difference of cause and effect is their essential quality and that their non-difference is the negation of that difference, and c) that both difference and non-difference are essential qualities of the cause and effect and are equally positive in character and colour. These views lead to the reasoning that non-difference of the cause and effect cannot be taken as absolutely different from them, non-difference is not an attribute different from cause and effect and if difference is interpreted as constituting the essential nature of the cause and effect, with non-difference qualifying it as an attribute then a rational conception of the relation between cause and effect cannot be formed. It is held that the effect before its manifestation remains undifferentiated in the cause, because the causal substance is the substance of the effect as a substance therefore, the effect cannot be different from the cause, it evolves out of the cause, it exists inseparable from the cause and at the time of destruction it merges in the nature of the cause. Also, specific features that constitute the effect are not different from the cause. Thus, the entire world which prior to its manifestation is existent in an unmanifest state in the nature of
Implication
Non-difference is the essential (svabhavika) condition - He who knows the highest Brahman becomes Brahman Himself [7] and Being Brahman he goes to Brahman,[8] while the distinction of souls from Brahman and each other is due to their limiting adjuncts (internal organs, sense-organs and the body), and the Upadhis that are produced, in accordance with the actions of the individual souls, as essentially non-different and different from Brahman.[9] Advaitins maintain the view that there is complete undividedness (akhandata) or identity (tadatmya) of the individual soul and Brahman; the former is the latter limited by artificial conditions (upadhis). According to
Significance
With regard the meaning of
References
- Brahma sutraIII.ii.26
- ISBN 9788120806511.
- ^ Adi Shankara. Brahma Sutra Bhasya. Kolkata: Advaita Ashrama. pp. 286, 334, 630.
- ^ Sri Chandrasekhara Bharati of Sringeri (1973). Sri Samkara's Vivekacudamani. Mumbai: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan. p. 225.
- ISBN 9788177550740.
- ISBN 9788120808942.
- ^ Mundaka Upanishad III.ii.9
- ^ Brihadaranyaka Upanishad IV.iv.9
- ISBN 9781406809640.
- Unifying Hinduism: Philosophy and Identity in Indian Intellectual History. Columbia University Press. p. 43.
- ISBN 9788188951208.
- ^ Katha Upanishad II.iii.13
- ^ Taittiriya Upanishad II.ix.1
- ^ Chandogya Upanishad VI.viii-xvi
- ^ Brihadaranyaka Upanishad II.iv.14, IV.v.15
- ^ Adi Shankara. Brahma Sutra Bhasya. Kolkata: Advaita Ashrama. pp. 336, 623–632, 890.