THE Doctrine of Maya - HolyBooks.com

""""DEVELOPMENT OF ITS CONCEPTION 75to be laughed at and pooh-poohed by the man inthe street. But we must carefully note that thissort of Pantheism is not the essential doctrine ofthe Upanisads. It rests on a mere misunderstanding of the position, which implies that all is theAtman, since nothing can exist (or have a satta)independent of the Atman. When one has realizedthe true nature of the Atman, e.g.,a man who iscalled jivanmukta, he does not see anything besidesthe Atman. So long as he has his body, he is withinthe world of imperfections and he, too, has to makesome concession in saying that this world (whichreally does not exist in his view) too is not anythingbesides the Atman. Such a man, being quiteintoxicated with the true bliss (dnanda) of theAtman, will meet all questions by the word Atman." Others who are stillignorant of their blindness deny that they are blind and consequentlylaugh at the spontaneous utterings of such aVedantist.As a matter of fact, there is a strange anomalyin such a knowledge of the Atman. The humanintellect is not made to grasp the reality by its powerof reason and 1by use of words. There are limitations and imperfections inherent in it. It breaksdown the moment itattempts to go beyond a certainpoint, its legitimate boundary. The ultimate realityrefuses to be chopped up into bits in order to1 Cf. naisa tarkena matir apaneya this knowledgecannot be reached by mere reasoning." KathaUp. i. 2,9.