Advaita holds that Brahman, pure being-consciousness, alone is ultimately real; the world of many things is neither simply real nor simply unreal but an appearance (maya) superimposed on Brahman.
A question
What is reality?
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Quick answer
Editorial overview
Indian philosophy offers many carefully argued answers. Advaita holds that only Brahman is ultimately real and the world is an appearance (maya); Vishishtadvaita and Dvaita treat the world as fully real, either as God's body or as eternally distinct from God. Sankhya counts two realities, consciousness and nature; Nyaya-Vaisheshika lists categories of real things; Buddhist schools speak of impermanence, dependent origination and emptiness; Jainism insists reality is many-sided. Each answer is tied to a theory of how we know.
Concepts involved
Philosophical perspectives
Different answers, each in its own terms. None is ranked.
Ramanuja holds that the world and selves are real and form the body of Brahman; reality is one, but internally differentiated.
Sankhya describes two fundamental realities: many conscious purushas and a single unconscious prakriti whose evolutes make up mind and matter.
Vaisheshika analyses reality into categories (padarthas) such as substance, quality and action, with atoms as the ultimate constituents of material things.
Nagarjuna argues that all things are empty (shunya) of independent existence because they arise dependently; emptiness is not a hidden substance but the absence of intrinsic nature.
Jainism holds that reality is complex and many-sided (anekanta): any statement captures only some aspects, so claims should be qualified by standpoint.
Kashmir Shaivism treats the world as the real, self-expression of consciousness (Shiva) through its own power (Shakti), not as illusion.
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2.16
The unreal has no being; the real never ceases
असत्की सत्ता नहीं, सत्का अभाव नहीं
नासतो विद्यते भावो नाभावो विद्यते सत:।
The unreal has no existence and the real never ceases to be; the seers of truth have seen the essence of both.
असत्का भाव विद्यमान नहीं और सत्का अभाव विद्यमान नहीं; तत्त्वदर्शी महापुरुषोंने दोनोंका तत्त्व अनुभव किया है।
The Gita's compressed criterion: what is unreal has no being, and what is real never ceases to be.
Go deeper
- 1 · Gita verseBhagavad Gita 7.4Krishna's two natures: the lower eightfold prakriti and the higher conscious nature.
- 2 · Gita verseBhagavad Gita 13.1The field and the knower of the field.
- 3 · Interactive25 Tattvas ExplorerExplore the 25 principles of Sankhya.
- 4 · InteractiveMany-Sided RealitySee how a claim looks from several standpoints.
- 5 · Conceptशून्यताShunyataThe Madhyamaka alternative to substance-based views.
Primary sources
References to the texts behind each perspective.
- Mandukya KarikaSource not yet ingested
- VivekachudamaniSource not yet ingested
- Sri Bhashya (Ramanuja)Source not yet ingested
- Sankhya KarikaSource not yet ingested
- Vaisheshika SutrasSource not yet ingested
- Mulamadhyamakakarika · 24.18Source not yet ingested
- Tattvartha SutraSource not yet ingested
- Pratyabhijna HridayamSource not yet ingested
The Gita’s answer
Grounded in Sadhak Sanjivani.
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