Aparokshanubhuti-09

Verse No 15

• The material cause of both ignorance and volition is Brahman alone — eternal, unchanging, and imperishable.
• The world, though unreal in the absolute sense, functions as real until knowledge dawns, like the illusory snake seen in a rope.
• Brahman is free from all six types of modifications (birth, existence, growth, change, decay, death), since it is one (eka), indivisible, and subtle (sūkṣma) — beyond sense perception.
• The distinction between Brahman (cause) and world (effect) is only conventional, not real — as with clay and pot.

Verses No 16

This verse powerfully refutes the duality of jīva and Brahman:

• The sense of “I” in every being is fundamentally identical — pointing to non-duality.
• The Self is:
• Beyond the senses (sūkṣma),
• The knower (jñātā),
• The witness (sākṣī),
• Unchanging (nirvikāra),
• Eternal and undivided (sat and avyaya).
• Therefore, this experienced “I” is Brahman.
• There is no real difference between the individual self and the absolute.