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CHAPTER IX
THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE ABSOLUTE SELF
The Samkhyas consider Prakrti as an independent Real
substance, in the same way as the Purusa. Therefore, they
cannot, having regard to the theory of satkaryavada, account
for the outcome of a qualityful Prakrti from a qualityless
Purusa. But as the Non-Dualistic Vedanta holds that though
Maya may be eternal, it is neither Real nor independent, but
is, as stated in the Gita, a 'folly' (moha), an 'ignorance'
( ajnana ), or an 'illusion ( maya ) seen by the organs', the objec-
tion based on satkaryavada, does not in the least affect the
Non-Dualistic doctrine. If a son is born to a father, we can
say that he is the result of the guna-parinama of the father ;
but when there is only one individual, namely, the father, and
he is seen appearing sometimes in the guise of an infant, and
sometimes of a young man, and sometimes of an old man,
there does not exist, as we readily realise, the relation of cause
and product, or of guna-parinama between the man and his
various disguises. In the same way, when we have come to
the conclusion that there is only one Sun, we say that the
reflection of that Sun seen in water is a kind of illusion, 1 and
that there is cot another Sun which has come into existence
by guna-parinama ; and astronomy tells us that when once
the true form of a planet has been defined by means of a
telescope, that form of it which we see by the naked eyes, is
only an appearance resulting from the weakness of our eyes
and the immense distance of the planet from us. From this,
it becomes clear that a particular thing cannot be looked
upon as an independent, real, and existing thing, merely on
account of the fact that it is actually perceptible to our eyes
and other organs. Then, why should we not make use of the
same argument in the philosophy of the Absolute Self, and
say that the qualityless Parabrahman which has been
defined by the telescope of the knowledgeful (spiritual) eyes- is
the only thing which is Real, and that the Names and Forms,
which are visible to the knowledgeless natural eyes, is not the
product or result of, or something which has come out of, this
Parabrahman, but is purely a deceptive and illusory
appearance due to the incapacity of our organs ?
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