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"Avil vi belongs to that very person in whom it appears"; he who sees it, lus it" (1731 aya aku). He also states, that, Avidyā is something which can be experienced by one's own self (6919777714) and something which has one's own self for its support of locus (11977).62
Mäyā and The World :
Closely allied with the doctrine of Māyā is the nature of the world. Müya is the causal potentiality of the world. World is creation of Māyā, just name and form. It is real for the all practical pursposes, but not real like a Brannan, in the ultimate sense. Sankara never denies the pragmatic or relative reality of the empirical objects of the world. When he calls them 'Unreal it is always from the ultimate point of view that he does so. Whenever, Sankara says that world is Māyā or Mithyā, it means, he wants to emphaisze the ultimate in reality of the world. His recognition of the three fold existence (Sattātraya)-Prātibhäsika, Vyāvahārika and Pāramārthika, is a point that needs to be borne in mind in this connection. The world is Vyāyahārika reality, but it becomes sublated when right knowledge dawns.63 So, long as we are in this world, we cannot take it to be unreal. This phenomenal world and worldly objects exist because we all experience them.64
Ignorant critics declare that l'or Sankara this mundane world is mere illusion, dream and thus, he is an illusionist. But this criticism is far from the truth. For Sarkara, the world is not an empty dream. It is objective and not creation of individual fancy. It has common objective reference. The world of object is not on par with dreams. The dream world is private and personal. The world of experience is public and has an objective referance. It also satisfys the pragmatic test. For from condemning this world to be unreal, Sankara claims some sort of reality even for error and dillusion. It is the real which appears and hence every appearance must have some degree of truth in it, though none can be absolutely true. Objects, seen in a dream are quite real as long as the dream losts. The water in dream can quench the thirst in a dream. It is only when we are awake that we can realize the falsity of the dream states. So long as rope is mistaken for a snake, it is sufficient to frighten the person who mistakes it. Similarly, so long as we are engrossed in ignorance, the world is quite real for us. It is only when true knowledge dawns that the world becomes sublated. This world becomes ontologically less real when Brahman is realized.65 Sankala rightly points out that the world of waking state cannot be reduced to the level of dream objects though it
quite rent in a dreant
states.
