THE ONE VERSUS MANY IN VEDAS:- IN THE LONG MISTORY (Homo sapiens) a basic question has persisted to be an unsolved puzzle “Is the universe monistic pluralistic?” Whether man is primitive or civilized, illiterate or highly educated, he does perceive the pluralistic world, he appreciates the diversity in Nature, & thus gets a prima facie evidence of the existence of multiplicity among the real things of the world. He believes his sense-perceptions. He gets knowledge about the external world through his five sense-organs, viz., eyes, ears, nose, taste-buds in the mouth, & skin receptors. He relies on his sense-perceptions. And so is the world of plurality real for him. Man saw the vast Earth & the infinite sky. He could not estimate the dimensions of the sky. He could not conceive of the boundaries of space. He could not make out the millions of galaxies. Even our own galaxy (the Milky Way) was unknown to him. But he could discern the Sun, the Moon, some planets of our solar system & the innumerable stars in the night sky. He observed diversity on the Earth. Mountains, rivers, seas & oceans, hills & valleys are numerous & scattered. The nonliving objects on the Earth are too many. There are also diverse forms of life here varieties of plants & animals. There are varieties of human beings. There are families, genera & species. In each species, there are many individuals. Man observed all this diversity in Nature. And so did he recognize pluralism in Nature. VEDATIC NON-DUALISM:- THERE ARE DIFFERENT Schools of Vedanta. Prominent among them are non-dualism (advaitavada) of Sankara, qualified non-dualism (visitadvaitavada) of Ramanuja & dualism (dvaitavada) of Madhva. The doctrine of non-dualism with reference to monism versus pluralism will be discussed in this chapter. The quintessence of Advaita Vedanta may be given at the outset: Brahman alone is real. The world of plurality is illusory. The world-appearance is caused by the superimposition of nescience (avidya) on Brahman. The individual soul (self or jiva) is the same as the Supreme Self or Brahman. Brahman:- Brahman is satya (Reality). It alone exists. Nothing else exists. “Whatever exists is existent (yadasti tat satyam).” This is a tautology, an analytical. The root of the verb sati is as (which means “is”). The word satya (as + kyap) means “that which exists”. Whatever is given in the subject is the same in the predicate. This statement in the predicate. This statement is always true & cannot be contradicted in any condition. “Whatever is existent is Brahman (yat satyam tad brahman).” “Brahman” is a name given to the ontologically existent Being. Question does not arise on the truth or falsity of this statement. It does not need any proof for its truth. Brahman is nameless (anamaka). We could have used any other name for it, & still our concept could have remained unaltered. Maya:- maya is the power (sakti) of Brahman. It is the self-power of the divine Being (devatmasakti). Endless & eternal, so is Maya, being the power of the former. Although it is coeternal with Brahman, it is not an entity second to Brahman that is non-dual. It is not in dependent (asvatantra) of Brahman. It is dependent on God (isvarasraya, paramesvasraya). UNCERTAINTY & PROBABILITY:- THE STATEMENT “A is A” is certain. It is an analytical statement & necessarily true. The statement “A is B” or “A is C” is synthetic. Such a statement may or may not be true. Whether it is true or not can be ascertained only by verification, which is empirical & depends upon our sense-perception. Again, there is no way of being sure of the correctness of the sense-perception. Hence the truth or the falsity of the verification of a synthetic statement is a matter of probability. THE INVERD PIPAL TREE:- THE UNIVERSE is compared with an inverted papal (asvattha) tree, with roots above & branches below (urdhvamulamadha-hsakhamasvatthah). Below & above spread its branches, nourished by the strings (gunas); sense-objects are its buds (adhascordhvam prasrtastasya sakha, gunapraveddha visaya-pravalah). The Kathopanisad also uses the same simile; it compares the world with an inverted papal tree (urdhvamulo vaksakha, eso’ svstthah). An infinitesimally tiny seed germinated; a sprout appeared; it grew & became the world-tree.*******************************************{motilal banarsidass}