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4. VYAKTA – REGARDING THE OBJECTIVE REALITY OF THINGS.
A fourth Ganadhara named Vyakta too decided to approach Mahāvīra with reverence and have his doubts dispelled. Mahāvīra accosted him by his name and gotra as Vyakta Bhāradvāja and told him straightaway that he had a doubt as regards the five elements Earth, Water, Fire, Air, Ether and that that was so because he found apparently conflicting statements in the Veda. One of them says : Svapnopamam vai sakalam ity esa brahmavidhir añījasă vijñeyah-which Vyakta interpreted as meaning, Everything is but of the nature of a dreain (like a dream); this brahma-vidbi, way of the ultimate truth should be understood truly and instantly', and hence he was inclined to believe that there is nothing like the elements. On the other hand there are statements like dyāvāp?thivi sahāstam - Taitt. Brah 1. 1. 3, přthivi devatā, āpo devatāḥ-which establish the existence of the elements. Hence Vyakta was confounded whether the elements are really existent or not. But the fact was that he did not know the true meaning of, and the logic behind, the Vedic statements. Before explaining this Mabăvīra proceeds to expound Vyakta's doubt in clear terms to himn (1687-89).
Vyakta believes that the elements are like objects seen in a dream or like objects created by magic-illusory, having no real existence. A poor man may see in his dream elephants, and horses at his door and his coffers full to the brim with jewels and gold. But he awakes as poor as he was, for all the dream-objects were unreal. So also in an illusion projected by a magician, utensils of gold, jewels, pearls and silver and parks, flowers, fruits may be seen, but they are all unreal. Similarly the elements we perceive empirically are unreal, because they topple down when subjected to the test of reason. If one doubts
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