When there is a correct insight into the cause, the nature of the effect is also known simultaneously. In fact, when there is a concentration of the mind on the real substance of the cause, the shape or the form of the effect will not present itself in perception. When there is an entirely free occupation of Consciousness in the knowledge of the substance, or the cause, there will not be perception of the name and form of it, as these do not exist independently by themselves. Truly speaking, the potness of the pot vanishes when the idea of its reality is sublated. Knowledge is nothing but the vanishing of ignorance, but this need not always be necessarily followed by the vanishing of the name and the form. However, in certain cases even the name and the form vanish, as, for example, in the recognition of the rope on the sublation of the snake. Now, the name and the form of the snake entirely vanish when the rope is seen clearly, but when the clay in the pot is seen, the form of the pot is still visible to the eyes. In the mistaking of a rope for a snake, there is pure ignorance unconditioned by any external factor and hence it is called Nirupadhika-bhrama, i.e., ignorance without any conditioning factor. That is why when this ignorance is removed there is a sudden vanishing of the effect of the ignorance; but in the latter instance, namely, the perception of the pot in clay, what is involved is not pure ignorance alone, but also certain other factors, such as the interference of the potter with the clay by means of instruments etc. As there is an external limiting factor here, in addition to ignorance, it is called Sopadhika-bhrama, i.e., ignorance with a conditioning factor associated with it. This is the reason why the form of the pot continues to be seen even when one begins to see the clay alone in the pot. Nevertheless, the appearance of the effect does not in any way affect one’s knowledge, because what affects one is not the existence of anything outside, but the erroneous notion which one has of that thing. Take, for instance, the case of a person standing in front of a mass of water where the person’s reflection is seen in the water in an inverted position. The reflection is seen by everyone, but no one ever takes this reflection for the real person, and nobody takes an interest in it, though it is visible to the eyes. So, this visibility need not really or necessarily mean reality. Likewise, the visibility of the effect need not obstruct one’s knowledge of its truth, and it is the doctrine of the Vedanta that knowledge alone is the highest aim of human existence, whether or not objects are seen with the eyes, with their usual names and forms.

Now, coming to the point, as there is no transformation of the clay when it becomes the pot, it is a case of Vivarta, or appearance, and not Parinama, or transformation as in the case of milk becoming curd. Nothing happens to the clay when it becomes a pot, and nothing happens to gold when it becomes the ornament. However much the pot or the ornament is beaten, the substance out of which it is made will ever remain, though the shapes may change. In Parinama, or transformation, the effect can never become the cause again. In Arambha, or the production of an effect different from the cause, there would be the duplication of the characteristics of the cause present in the effect since these thinkers hold that the characteristics of the cause are carried over to the effect, and yet these characteristics independently exist in the cause and effect differently.

In the Chhandogya Upanishad, Sage Uddalaka gives three examples, namely, clay, gold and iron, to show the non-difference of the cause and the effect, and to teach that by the knowledge of the cause, all its modifications or effects are also known at once. The knowledge of the cause means at the same time the knowledge of all its effects also. It may be doubted as to how a knowledge of truth could involve a knowledge of what is false. Inasmuch as it is clear that a separate existence of the effect is not true, it is only from the point of view of ordinary sense-perception that the effect is regarded as a modification plus the substance of the cause. Really, there is, in the effect, nothing in addition to the cause, the clay alone being real in the pot and the modification being something independently existent in its own right. Hence, when it is said that the knowledge of the cause is at once a knowledge of the effects, a knowledge of falsity is not implied. What is meant is that there is nothing real in the effect which is apart from the cause. There is no point in trying to know what is false, because it serves no purpose. The aim of human life is knowledge of Truth. Here, again, it may appear that, in the knowledge of the effect, nothing new is known, and we mean nothing different when we say that there is such a thing as knowledge of the cause or knowledge of the effect. We mean the same thing, though we use two different words, viz., cause and effect. Yes, it is true that there is absolutely no difference whether we say that the cause is known or that the effect is known, and from the point of view of the knower, or the Jnanin, there is nothing surprising in this. But it is a great wonder to those who regard the effect to be absolutely different from the cause and those who consider the effect to be a transformation of the cause, or that there is no such thing as a cause at all. In crass material perception, as also in dualistic, logical perception, there is this defect of the apparent isolation of the effect from the cause, or the assertion of the effect alone without any regard for the cause.

The Upanishad teaching is different. In this teaching, the unity of all things is intended, and, when it is said that by a knowledge of ‘one thing’, ‘everything’ else is known, what is intended to be conveyed is not that there is any real diversity, such as “all” things, but that there is only one thing which appears as the many things, and when this one thing is known, the many-ness of the many things will vanish. By the knowledge of the One Brahman, the whole Universe is known, not as a multifarious conglomeration of objects, but as an eternal being, one and secondless of the nature of Sat-Chit-Ananda (Existence-Knowledge-Bliss), as different from name and form, which is the nature of the world.

Sage Uddalaka states that Reality is Sat, Existence. The Aitareya Upanishad says that it is Prajnana, Consciousness. Sanatkumara says that it is Sukha, Bliss. Thus, Sat-Chit-Ananda is the nature of Brahman. Names and forms are not existent independently of Sat-Chit-Ananda, but are appearances on its basis. It does not mean that there is a name and form of the world apart from Sat-Chit-Ananda. What is meant is that when we divest the Universe of its Sat-Chit-Ananda aspects. there would be no names and forms to be experienced separately, just as when we remove all the clay in the pot, there would be no separate pot to be seen. When the Universe is divested of Sat-Chit-Ananda, it itself is not. Thus, there is no creation apart from Brahman. It is that One Being that has become the many, or, rather, appears as the many. The scripture says that the One Supreme Being diversifies itself, as it were, into the various names and forms. There was, in the beginning, only the unmanifest, or the Avyakrita, the matrix of all things, wherein all the names and forms were hidden as a tree is hidden in the seed, and hence we cannot say that the names and forms are really different from the Avyakrita, just as we cannot say that the tree is different from the seed. The names and forms are potentially present in the Avyakrita, and the two, viz., the Avyakrita and the names and forms of the world, are like the obverse and the reverse of the same coin, the Avyakrita being the cause, and the names and forms being the effect. Yet this Avyakrita is indescribable in words. It is a Power that is inscrutable. No mind can think it, because even the mind is an effect. All the Jivas are subsequent to creation. Hence the causal condition of creation cannot be known by the Jivas. This Avyakrita-Sakti is having Brahman as its foundation. This cause of change is based on the Changeless, and it undergoes many modifications such as the subtle and the gross Universe of varieties. This is also called Maya (illusion), Prakriti (matrix), or Karana (cause), all meaning the same thing, denoting finally the unmanifested condition of the Universe. The director of this Sakti is Isvara, God. He is Brahman possessed of unlimited powers, the Eternal appearing as the Immanent Ruler of the temporal. He is the Lord over all things, the Controller of Maya, not affected by it in any way.

The first modification of this Avyakrita is Space (Akasa). Space has Existence; it is revealed in Consciousness, and it is the source of Joy to all living beings. These three are the aspects of Brahman in Space, but the special feature of Space is spatiality or extendedness, by which we measure distance and recognise all sorts of difference of one from the other. This latter feature is not real, while the former three characters are real. Extendedness or spatiality was non-existent prior to the manifestation of Space. It will not be there also after the dissolution of the cosmos. Metaphysically, what is not in the beginning and not in the end, is not also in the middle. Sri Krishna mentions this to Arjuna when he says that all beings have the unmanifest as their beginning, and the unmanifest as their end, but they are manifest only in the middle. That which does not persist in the three periods of time cannot be called the eternal or the real. The real is that which is continually present in all the three periods of time. Just as clay is present in the pot and all the modifications which it undergoes, so Sat-Chit-Ananda, the essential nature of Brahman, follows everything and is concomitant with all things. It persists in every form of existence, whatever be the changes that it may undergo. The true existence is revealed in the consciousness of the negation of spatiality. In profound spiritual states of meditation, Space is not felt to be existent. There is no idea even of Time or of objects. There is only a feeling of perennial bliss, because, in the spaceless condition, Sat-Chit-Ananda manifests itself. When spatiality is forgotten altogether, what is it that remains? Not merely a negation or a void. If you contend that it is just void, or nothing, there is no harm, because you are conscious of what you call void or nothingness. As it is revealed in the conscious state, it cannot be equated with non-existence. It is the highest real conceivable, and it is also the highest bliss, because of the absence of likes and dislikes, the desirable and undesirable, friend and foe, etc. As it is an impartial condition unconnected with the objects of the world, that alone is real Bliss, wherein one is above the notions of the desirable and the undesirable. One is exhilarated when one comes in contact with the desirable; one is sunk in sorrow when confronted with the undesirable; but true Bliss is experienced only in the absence of both. There is no such thing as ‘real’ pain because pain is not an essential condition of the Self, it is a passing state. Both exhilaration and grief are psychological conditions, and they come and go. They are not permanent states of experience. The mind is transient and, hence, its conditions, viz., pleasure and pain, also, are transient. The permanent being is the Bliss of Brahman alone.

In Space and the other four elements, Sat-Chit-Ananda is present equally, and this can be known by a careful distinction of its presence from names and forms. Special features of things restrict them to their individualities, but in all things there is something which is above such restrictions. For example, reverberation of sound is a special feature of Space, motion and touch are of Air, heat and light of Fire, liquidity of Water, and hardness of Earth. These are the qualities special to the elements mentioned, but ‘Existence’ is commonly seen in all these, and this ‘Existence’ is nothing but the revelation of Brahman. All things in the world are existent (Sat), are revealed (Chit), and are objects of endearment (Ananda) to someone or other, at different times. These characteristics of Existence, Consciousness and Bliss are the essence of Brahman, while the special qualities, such as confinement to a locality in space, appearance only at a particular time, etc. belong to the individuality of things. By a careful analysis of the visible world, it is possible to isolate Sat-Chit-Ananda from nama-rupa (name-and-form), the General Existence from particular appearances.

An object has five features in it. Existence, Consciousness, Bliss, Name and Form. The first three belong to what is eternal. The latter two pertain to the temporal world. This is how we should endeavour to separate Reality from appearance in all our perceptions. When we look at the waves we are just looking at the Ocean. When our mind is deeply concentrated on the depths of the Ocean, we forget the separate existence of the waves. All these things of which the Universe consists are ripples, bubbles and waves in the Ocean of Sat-Chit-Ananda. When the mind visualises an object, let it recognise in the object the profound depths of Brahman, which is its Reality, and without which it cannot be. The independent existence of names and forms is not true. Names and forms do rise and fall as waves in the Ocean. Thus, with an effort of intelligence one should discover Brahman in this world, and when this discovery is effected to an adequate extent, the mind will never be able to go astray as before, among sense-objects. The more one ignores the external crust of name and form, the more does one go deep into the truth of Brahman and the more is Brahman discovered in this world, and the more also is one detached from names and forms. When, by such a practice, one acquires real knowledge and is established firmly in that knowledge, one becomes a liberated soul, Jivanmukta, whether objects exist or not. This rare experience is had by the practice of Brahmabhyasa, which consists in thinking of Brahman alone always, speaking about That alone, conversing with and awakening each other on That alone, and totally depending on That alone at all times, as one’s ultimate refuge. When this practice is continued for a long time, without remission in the middle, with wholehearted devotion, then all the Vasanas, or mental impressions, of past births recede completely and get destroyed in the end, and the names and forms just appear as expressions of Brahma-Sakti (Power of Brahman). As clay appears as pot, etc., so does this Brahma-Sakti appear as the many things of the world. As the dream of a Jiva projects variegated objects, so does the Cosmic Maya manifest things, sustain them and withdraw them in the end. Just as fantastic things can appear in dream, so do marvellous things appear in this world. One may see oneself flying in dream, or see oneself beheaded, a moment may look like a series of years, dead persons may make their appearance, and so on. These are all the fancied visions which we can have in dream and it is difficult to say what is proper and what is improper, what is consistent and what is not, etc. in a dream. Consistency, method, law, rule, etc. are valid only in a particular plane of existence or state of consciousness, and the logic of one state cannot be transferred to another; one level of experience cannot be judged from the point of view of another. Everything looks all right when it is directly experienced in relation to the law of the particular realm; but when it is judged with the standard of the law of another realm, it may look erroneous and even meaningless. Such is the wonder of this creation, whether it is individual or cosmic, whether it is projected by the mind of the Jiva or by the Cosmic Maya. All things, such as the five elements, the different worlds, the individuals, the inanimate things, etc., are manifestations of the one Power of Brahman. They appear to be different from one another, as conscious, unconscious, etc., because of the manifestation or non-manifestation of mind and intellect in them. The degree of intelligence in a particular being is determined by the degree of consciousness of Brahman revealed through the psychological organs in accordance with their varying subtleties. Brahman is commonly present in all things, whether intelligent or non-intelligent. The difference is in name and form and the degree of the rarefied condition of the internal organs.

The changing objects of the world are in many respects similar to the changing moods of the mind. Just as the mind takes different forms in the Jiva, the Cosmic Mind also takes various shapes, and these shapes are called the Universe. Though there is a great difference in the degrees of reality manifested by the individual mind and the Cosmic Mind, yet, the manner of the construction of the world is similar in both the cases. Though the creation of the mind of the Jiva is short-lived, and the creation of the Cosmic Mind is more enduring, there is this similarity between the two that both are non-eternal in the end, and are subject to withdrawal into their causes. Therefore, it is essential for a seeker of Truth to abandon the notion of reality in the names and forms of the world, though they appear to one’s perception. When there is an abandonment of interest in names and forms, meditation on Brahman becomes unobstructed in every way. The obstacles being centred in the desire for contact with names and forms, there is no chance of obstacles presenting themselves when such a desire is wiped out from the mind by beholding Sat-Chit-Ananda through the names and forms. Just as a firmly seated rock is not affected by a flood of water flowing over it, so is the immovable Brahman unaffected by the variegated changes in names and forms that appear on its background. Just as, in a mirror, which has really no holes in it to contain anything, the vast space with its contents of solid objects may be reflected, the world of names and forms is reflected, as it were, in Brahman, though the world is not really contained in Brahman, Brahman being unaffected and unattached, even as the mirror does not contain the objects within it. But, just as one cannot see the reflection of objects in a mirror without there being a mirror first and without observing the mirror even before seeing the reflection, it is impossible for one to merely see names and forms without first confronting the Existence of Brahman. When we see, when we open our eyes, really the Existence of Brahman is spread out everywhere, and on this Existence the names and forms are superimposed. One thing is mistaken for another. Brahman is mistaken for a world of objects. When Sat-Chit-Ananda is beheld through the names and forms, let the intellect by fixed on it, and let it not be again diverted to the names and forms. This is the essence of Vairagya and Abhyasa, the withdrawal from sense-perception and practice of concentration on the One Reality. Thus, Brahman is portrayed as an unworldly Existence, in the sense that the world is not contained in it, but only superimposed on it, and its essential Being is Existence-Knowledge-Bliss, and not name and form. It is in this that one should try to fix oneself. To those who have, by the continuous habituation of themselves to this practice, the feeling that there is no world outside of Brahman, the world is Brahman only appearing. (Verses 1-105)