| Summary: | Advaita Vedanta, as a philosophy, is also known as radical non-dualism and
therefore cannot accommodate a concept such as an Avatara. The concept
Avatara can best be described, yet not comprehensively in the English language,
as âincarnationâ. Although the teaching of this philosophy was not established by
Shankara, one could confidently admit that he firmly established it as a philosophy
to be reckoned with.
Advaita Vedanta, being a philosophy focused on radical non-dualism, in that it
states: There is none other than the Absolute Brahman, could not conceive of any
other than Brahman. This being is so, the world and everything in it, including
humans and Avatara should never exist; yet in the philosophy of Shankara it does
âexistâ, albeit at an empirical level. This is possible because of the following
arguments presented by Shankara in support of an empirical reality.
ï· The first argument is based on the understanding of what reality is.
According to Shankara, the understanding and testing of reality is based on
the criterion of truth. For something to be true it has to have an element of
non-contradiction and has to survive through the three periods of time: past,
present and future. In other words it must be immutable and permanent. For
Shankara, Brahman is the only reality (paramarthika) and everything else is
false: it is neither real nor unreal (e.g. the world and everything in it).
ï· The relationship between Brahman and the empirical world can be
described by the term vyavaharika. This relationship is similar to an
example of a rope and a snake. In this example, the rope appears as a
snake for one that views this from a distance. Yet when one gets closer,
one realises that it is not a snake but a rope. It can therefore be said that
the snake was a superimposition on the rope. The rope was real but the
snake was false. From afar the snake looked real but is in reality unreal or
not real. Similarly Shankara explains the relationship between the world and
Brahman. The world is a superimposition on Brahman. Upon correct knowledge, the world disappears and only Brahman remains. The world,
one can therefore say, is an illusion.
ï· This illusion according to Shankara is brought about by Maya and is related
to terms such as: appearance, ignorance, superimposition, power,
deception and falsehood. For Shankara this is the principle of becoming
and appearance through which the absolute non-dual Brahman becomes
diversified and manifold.
ï· The state in which Brahman is therefore consciously associated with Maya
to create the universe is called Ishvara (god). This causes an ontological
dilemma for the status of Maya. The best way for Shankara to define Maya
was to say that it is neither existent nor non-existent. If Maya was existent,
then his philosophy of absolute non-dualism becomes questionable
because there would be another reality. If non-existent, then the empirical
world would not exist. To resolve this dilemma Shankara posits the idea of
two levels of truth which includes two aspects of Brahman, Nirguna
Brahman (Absolute Brahman) and Saguna Brahman (Brahman with
attributes (Ishvara) or one could say âa superimposed Brahmanâ).
ï· Ishvara (Saguna Brahman), being the âsuperimposed Brahmanâ has other
aspects emanating from it. According to Shankara the three most important
emanations are Brahma (creator), Vishnu (preserver) and Shiva
(destroyer). The Brahmasutras have also confirmed that there were other
gods created as well.
ï· With this creation of the world, other created beings were responsible for
the preservation of dharma (duties) in this world. When adharma began to
overpower dharma, something had to be done to bring stability in the world.
For this reason, Vishnu incarnated himself as Krishna. This incarnation
became better known in Hinduism as Avatara.
ï· It was necessary for Shankara to concede to the Avatara notion, because
many of his followers worshipped an aspect of Ishvara. His theory was that
the worship (bhakti) of other gods and deities was simply a means to
moksha, but cannot directly attain moksha. The purpose for bhakti was a
way to prepare the devotee to be purified so as to acquire knowledge,
which, according to Shankara, removes Maya (veil of ignorance) thus
liberating the jiva from bondage to attain Brahman realisation or moksha.
ï· Finally, in considering and understanding radical non-dualism, this research
has proven that, within his philosophy of Advaita Vedanta, Shankara is
forced to incorporate and utilise the concept of Avatara within the ambits of
the Hindu religious tradition. This then constitutes the finding of this
research.
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