Chapter 2: Sānkhya Yoga – Yoga of Contemplation on Self: Verse 16
नासतो विद्यते भावो नाभावो विद्यते सत: ।
उभयोरपि दृष्टोऽन्तस्त्वनयोस्तत्त्वदर्शिभि: ॥
nāsato vidyate bhāvo nābhāvo vidyate sata:
ubhayor-api dṛṣṭo’ntas-tvanayos-tattva-darśibhi: – 2.16
The ‘unreal’ has no expression. The ‘real’ will never cease to be. By experts in the knowledge of Truth, the difference between the two (the Real and the Unreal) has clearly been ascertained.
Chapter 2: Sānkhya Yoga – Yoga of Contemplation on Self - Verse 16
Ma Gurupriya
‘Real’ denotes that which is ever present. ‘Unreal’ denotes that which is never present. They are opposites.
Apply the principle to the world, fleeting constantly. Any change implies extinction of whatever is, and emergence of something else. World is thus not Real.
Is it unreal then? No. We notice it, hence cannot dismiss it. So, it is neither Real nor Unreal; hence indescribable, an illusion. When our intelligence analyses it, it loses credibility, like darkness when examined with light; like dream on waking up from it. Such vanishing existences are part of our life and experience.
Apply this to sukha-duhkhas. Both of them go on vanishing. Their substratum alone survives intact. That is the real, and sukha-duhkhas a mere illusion.
Sensory knowledge is not final, conclusive. We have intelligence as well, to evaluate and adjudge it properly.
