Advaita
Advaita (IAST)Translation: "non-dual"
From Mandukya Upanishad (Verse 7, Verse 12)
A Sanskrit-English Dictionary (Monier-Williams)
Sanskrit: अद्वैत
Transliteration: A-dvaita
Translation: "destitute of duality, having no duplicate, peerless; sole, unique; epithet of Vishṇu"
Sanskrit: अद्वैतम्Transliteration: A-dvaitam
Translation: "non-duality; identity of Brahmā or of the Paramātman or supreme soul with the Jivātman or human soul; identity of spirit and matter; the ultimate truth; title of an Upanishad"
A Concise Dictionary of Indian Philosophy
Sanskrit: अद्वैत
Transliteration: Advaita
Translation: "non-dualism; non-duality; “not-two” (from a – “not” + dvaita – “dual, two”)"
Definition:
- A term used to indicate a position of non-duality adopted by various Indian schools of thought. Advaita Vedānta adopts a position of absolute non-duality while all other uses of the term accept internal distinctions within their various types of monism. Thus, in its latter usages, it signifies the interconnectedness of everything which is dependent upon the non-dual One, Transcendent Reality.
- Advaita Vedānta is commonly referred to as Advaita because it was the first and, perhaps, the greatest exponent of this idea. It is one of the six orthodox (Āstika) schools of Indian philosophy and the first school of Vedānta philosophy. It has no individual founder, for its roots are to be found in the Vedas, and particularly the Upaniṣad – though its greatest exponent is Śaṅkarācārya Bhagavatpāda. Its central teaching is the oneness of the individual soul (Jīva) with the Absolute (Brahman). It affirms the non-duality of Brahman, the non-reality of the empirical world, and the non-difference between the individual soul and Brahman (Brahma Satyam, Jagan-Mithyā, Jīvo Brahmaiva Nā’parah). Its basic source books are the Upaniṣad, the Bhagavad Gītā, and the Brahma-Sūtra.
- The key concept in Advaita Vedānta is ignorance (Avidyā / Māyā). This explains the otherwise perplexing distinction between the formless (Nirguṇa) and the having form (Saguṇa) Brahman, between the non-dual Reality appearing as individuals and as God (Īśvara). It accounts for Advaita’s metaphysics, epistemology, and ethics.
The Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy
Advaita, also called Uttara Mimāmsā, in Hinduism, the non-dualistic form of Vedanta. Advaita Vedanta makes an epistemological distinction (not a metaphysical one) between the level of appearance and the level of reality. This marks off how things appear versus how they are; there appear to be a multitude of distinct persons and physical objects, and a personal deity, whereas there is only ineffable Brahman. This doctrine, according to Advaita, is taught in the Upanishads and realized in an esoteric enlightenment experience called moksha. The opposing evidence provided by all experiences that (a) have a subject-consciousness-object structure (e.g., seeing a sunset) and evidence a distinction between what one experiences and oneself, or (b) have a subject/content structure (e.g., feeling pain) and evidence a distinction between oneself and one’s states, is dismissed on the ground that these experiences involve “the making of distinctions.” Critics claim that moksha itself, as an experience in which something allegedly is learned or grasped, also must involve “the making of distinctions.”
Mundaka and Mandukya Upanishads (Swami Sharvananda)
Sanskrit: अद्वैतं, अद्वैत
Transliteration: Advaitaṃ, Advaita
Translation: "the unity/unitary"
Commentary: "The absolute state of consciousness, strictly speaking, can be called neither unitary nor dual; the conception of one necessitates the conception of two. Hence, the transcendental is beyond one or two. But still, that state is signified in the scriptures as 'one without a second' 'unitary' etc., simply to negate in that consciousness the three kinds of differentiation, viz., Vijātīya Bheda (generic differences), Svajātīya Bheda (differences among the members of the same species) and Svagata Bheda (internal differences of limbs or parts of a body). The transcendental is absolutely devoid of all possible conceptions of divisions and differentiation which are brought about in our mind by the play of time, space, and causation."
References:
- Monier-Williams, Monier (1899). A Sanskrit-English Dictionary: Etymologically and Philologically Arranged with Special Reference to Cognate Indo-European languages. Oxford: Clarendon Press
- Grimes, John (1996). A Concise Dictionary of Indian Philosophy: Sanskrit Terms Defined in English. Albany: State University of New York Press
- Audi, Robert (1999). The Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy, Second Edition. New York: Cambridge University Press
- Sharvananda, Swami (1920). Mundaka and Mandukya Upanishads: With Sanskrit Text; Paraphrase with Word-For-Word Literal Translation, English, Rendering and Comments. Mylapore, Madras: Sri Ramakrishna Math
