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CHAPTER IX
THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE ABSOLUTE SELF
As this Thing-in-itself has no-
qualities of Name, Form etc., it is impossible that it should ever-
become perceptible to the organs like eyes etc. But not only
can one form a definite inference, by means of one's Reason,
that it must exist in an imperceptible form, though it is
invisible to the eyes, or unsmellable by the nose, or untouchable
by the hand, but one has also to come to the conclusion that
the immutable 'THAT ' in this world is the real Thing-in-itself.
This is what is known as the Fundamental Real in the world.
But, some foolish foreign scholars and some local scholars
considered as 'philosophers ', without taking into account these
technical Vedantic meanings of the words ' satya ' and ' mithya ',
or taking the trouble to see whether or not it is possible for the
word 'satya' to have a meaning different from what they think,
ridicule Vedanta by saying : " that world which we actually
see with our own eyes is called ' mithya ' (illusory) by the
Vedantists I Now, what is to be done ?" But as Yaska has said
it, a pillar is not to blame because a blind man does not see
it 1 It has been stated over and over again in the Chandogya
(6. 1 and 7. 1 ), Brhadaranyaka ( 1. 6. 3), Mundaka (3. 2. 8),
Prasna. (6. 5 ), and other Upanisads that the ever-changing
(that is, perishable) Names and Forms are not real, and
that he who wishes to see the Real (that is, permanent)
Element, must extend his vision beyond these Names and
Forms ; and these Names and Forms have in the Eatha (2. 5}
and Mundaka (1. 2. 9) been referred to as 'avidya', and ultimately
in the Svetasvataropanisad as 'maya' [1]. In the
Bhagavadgita, the same meaning is conveyed by the words
'maya' 'moha', and 'ajnana'. That which existed in the
commencement of the world was without Name and Form, that
is, it was qualityless and imperceptible; and the same thing
later on becomes perceptible and qualityful, as a result of its
acquiring Names and Forms [2].
Therefore, the mutable and perishable Name and Form is given
the name 'Maya' and the visible or qualityful world is said to
be the illusory Mayic drama or 'lila' of the Isvara. From this
point of view, the Samkhya Prakrti is nothing but Maya
composed of the sattva, rajas and tamas constituents, that is to
say, Maya possessing Name and Form, though it might be
imperceptible ; and the creation or extension of the perceptible
universe, described in the eighth chapter as having sprung from
this Prakrti, is also the evolution of that Maya embodied in
qualityful Names and Forms ; because, whatever quality may
be taken, it is bound to be visible to the organs, that is to say,
to be embodied in Name and Form. All the Material sciences
fall in this way into the category of Maya.
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