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Degrees of Reality in Jainism, Buddhism and Vedanta
reality and shows, with his intellectual sharpness and logical vigour, how we proceed and progress from lower to higher level of existence.
The term Pratibhasika literally means existing only in appearance, that which appears to exist for a brief moment to a single individual. A person sees a snake (in darkness) where there is a rope, silver where there is a shell, water where there is only mirage, a thief where there is trunk of tree. In dream, sometimes, he sees a dream-lion, tiger and so on. These perceptions are peculiar to the single individual and last only for a few minutes. But they are real experiences and hence cannot be dismissed as onreal. According to Sinkara, whatever is perceived must be admitted to be so for real. An unreal thing is never perceived by any one. No one has ever seen the hare's horn or the sky-lotus. These are all merè words with no objects corresponding to them in the real world. If something is perceived by one individual even for a brief moment, it must be granted to be so for real.53 Water in a dream can quench thirst in a dream and a person bitten by a snake in a dream may feel himself dead in the dream.54 Sometimes the person who imagines that he as placed his foot on a snake, takes fright, perspires, trembles all over the body. In the same way, objects that are seen in dreams are real as long as they last. The snake that is perceived in a repe lasts for a brief moment and then vanishes after keen observation. Similarly, the dream lion is created when the dream starts and it dissolves when the dream breaks up. These, sanke on a rope, silver in a shell, dream lion etc, are real creations, but they are sublated when a higher experience takes place. Here in all these cases a lower order of reality is superimposed on a higher order. It comes into existence with the perception and goes out of existence with the cessation of the perception. Though, these objects are perceived by an individual for a brief moment, they are perfectly real until higher experience takes place. These objects that are perceived by an individual for a few minutes, belong to the lowest order of reality, known as pratibhasikastta. This pratibhasika experience is not completely real as it suffers contradiction. The unreality of the effects of this imaginary standpoint can be realized only when the empi rical standpoint is attained. The snake seen in a place of rope disappears. when we come to know that there is only a piece of rope lying in that place. The rope which remains after keen observation, certainly, belongs. to a higher order. It can be perceived by anybody and any number of times. It is the same to the same individual and same to the different individuals at the same time. So also the shell, mirage and trunk of Sambodhi XI-26
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