Apparent vs Real Transformation (Vivarta & Pariṇāma)
Milk truly becomes curd — but a rope only seems to become a snake. Which is the world?
How does the one reality become the many-faceted world? Indian thinkers framed the question as a choice between two models of causation. In real transformation (pariṇāma), the cause actually turns into the effect, the way milk really becomes curd and is used up in the process. In apparent transformation (vivarta), the cause only seems to become the effect while remaining wholly unchanged, the way a rope in dim light appears as a snake without ever ceasing to be a rope. Which model a school adopts decides whether the world is a real modification of the absolute or only its appearance.
How it traveled
- UpadeśasāhasrīKālaḍi (Kaladi) · 710explains
- VivekacūḍāmaṇiŚṛṅgeri (Sringeri) · 1400explains
Key passages(18)
Vivekacūḍāmaṇi · Śaṅkara (traditionally ascribed; authorship doubted)
Vivekacūḍāmaṇi · Śaṅkara (traditionally ascribed; authorship doubted)
'And as, my dear, by one nugget of gold all that is made of gold is known, the difference being only a name, arising from speech, but the truth being that all is gold?
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That which arises from the contact of object with sense, at first like nectar, but at the end like poison, that happiness is declared to be Râjasika.
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All beings are unmanifested in their beginning, O Bhârata, manifested in their middle state and unmanifested again in their end. What is there then to grieve about?
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