Vivarta-Vada
Vivarta-Vāda (IAST)
Translation: "the theory of apparent change / phenomenal appearance"
A Concise Dictionary of Indian Philosophy
Sanskrit: विवर्तवाद
Transliteration: Vivarta-Vāda
Translation: "the theory of apparent change; the theory of phenomenal appearance"
Definition:
Translation: "the theory of apparent change / phenomenal appearance"
A Concise Dictionary of Indian Philosophy
Sanskrit: विवर्तवाद
Transliteration: Vivarta-Vāda
Translation: "the theory of apparent change; the theory of phenomenal appearance"
Definition:
- The Advaita Vedānta theory of causation which posits that the world is an illusory appearance superimposed by ignorance (Avidyā) on the Absolute (Brahman).
- See Ābhāsa-Vāda.
The Upanishads: Volume II (Swami Nikhilananda)
"Śankara does not admit the existence of any causality in Brahman, which is Pure Being, but says that causality operates only in the empirical sphere, in the realm of becoming. The universe is not a chaos but a cosmos. Brahman is its ground in the sense that the rope is the ground of the illusory snake. The appearance of the world does not effect any change in Brahman Itself. This view is known as Vivarta-Vāda, the "doctrine of false transformation or apparent change." (According to Sāṅkhya-Yoga and Nyāya-Vaiśeṣika, change or transformation is real.) The cause of apparent change is Māyā. It is a power, inscrutable to the finite mind, which inheres in Brahman and is responsible for the appearance of the universe and the individual self. The universe constantly changes; yet through these transformations something persists. These two facts give rise to the idea of unity in diversity. Śankara denies any relationship between these two entirely disparate entities. Yet an ignorant man establishes a relationship between them and states that the unchanging Brahman either creates the universe or transforms Itself into it. This is Māyā. The same is true of the individual creature. No relationship is possible between the changing body and the unchanging spirit (Ātman). They are as opposed to each other as light and darkness. It is through ignorance that one establishes a relationship between them.
The Spirit, which is the underlying Reality behind the universe, is Brahman, or the non-dual Absolute. Whatever reality the world reveals is derived from It. Hence, when a non-dualist negates the world, he only denies its existence when conceived as independent of Brahman. Brahman is devoid of both unity and diversity, which are the characteristic features of the world. It transcends all empirical attributes and is described in the Upanishads by the well-known formula Neti, Neti—"Not this, not this." This Brahman is identical with the inmost spirit in the individual creature. It is not an abstraction. The reality of Brahman can no more be doubted or denied than can the reality of the individual. The very doubter or denier is Brahman."
The Spirit, which is the underlying Reality behind the universe, is Brahman, or the non-dual Absolute. Whatever reality the world reveals is derived from It. Hence, when a non-dualist negates the world, he only denies its existence when conceived as independent of Brahman. Brahman is devoid of both unity and diversity, which are the characteristic features of the world. It transcends all empirical attributes and is described in the Upanishads by the well-known formula Neti, Neti—"Not this, not this." This Brahman is identical with the inmost spirit in the individual creature. It is not an abstraction. The reality of Brahman can no more be doubted or denied than can the reality of the individual. The very doubter or denier is Brahman."
References:
- Grimes, John (1996). A Concise Dictionary of Indian Philosophy: Sanskrit Terms Defined in English. Albany: State University of New York Press
- Nikhilananda, Swami (1952). The Upanishads: Volume II—Śvetāśvatara, Praśna, and Māndukya with Gauḍapāda's Kārikā. New York, New York: Harper & Brothers Publishers. p. 18.
