Advaita Vedanta Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ====''Adhyaropa Apavada'' - imposition and negation==== {{See also|Neti neti|l1=Neti Neti}} Since Gaudapada,{{sfn|Nelson|1996|p=29}} who adopted the Buddhist four-cornered negation which negates any positive predicates of 'the Absolute',{{sfn|Raju|1971|p=177}}{{Sfn|Sarma|2007|pp=126, 143-144}}{{refn|group=note|1. Something is. 2. It is not. 3. It both is and is not. 4. It neither is nor is not.{{sfn|Garfield|Priest|2003}}}} a central method in Advaita Vedanta to express the inexpressable is the method called ''Adhyaropa Apavada''.{{sfn|Nelson|1996|p=29}} In this method, which was highly estimated by [[Satchidanandendra Saraswati]], a property is imposed (''adhyaropa'') on Atman to convince one of its existence, whereafter the imposition is removed (''apavada'') to reveal the true nature of Atman as nondual and undefinable.{{sfn|Murthi|2009|pp=158-159}} In this method, "That which cannot be expressed is expressed through false attribution and subsequent denial."{{sfn|Shah-Kazemi|2006|p=5}} As Shankara writes, "First let me bring them on the right path, and then I will gradually be able to bring them round to the final truth afterwards."{{sfn|Shah-Kazemi|2006|p=5}} For example, Atman, the real "I," is described as [[Sakshi (Witness)|witness]], giving "it" an attribute to separate it from non-self. Since this implies a duality between observer and observed, next the notion of "witness" is dropped, by showing that the Self cannot be seen and is beyond qualifications, and only that what is remains, without using any words:<ref group=web name=adhyAropa_apavAda>{{Cite web |url=https://www.advaita-vedanta.in/adhyaropa-apavada |title=''adhyAropa apavAda'' |access-date=29 January 2022 |archive-date=29 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220129091002/https://www.advaita-vedanta.in/adhyaropa-apavada |url-status=live }}</ref> {{blockquote|After one separates oneself i.e. 'I' or Atman from the sense objects, the qualities superimposed on Self are also negated by saying that which not being and not non-being, cannot be described by words, without beginning and end (BG 13.32) or as in Satyam Jnanam Anantam Brahman, beyond words, beyond mind and speech, etc. Here there is an attempt to negate the earlier attribute like being witness, bliss, most subtlest, etc. After this negation of false superimposition, Self Alone shines. One enters into the state of Nirvikalp Samadhi, where there is no second, no one to experience and hence this state cannot be described in words.<ref group=web name=adhyAropa_apavAda/>}} Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page