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क्यों चिंता करें सही-गलत की? || आचार्य प्रशांत, आइ.आइ.टी खड़गपुर सत्र (2020)
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5 years ago
Brahma Satya Jagat Mithya
Vedanta
Illusion
Right Action (Karma)
Ego (Aham)
Brahman
Truth (Satya)
Completeness (Purnata)
Description

Acharya Prashant addresses the question of why one should worry about right and wrong actions if Vedanta states the world is an illusion. He clarifies that the statement 'the world is an illusion' (Jagat Mithya) is incomplete without its counterpart, 'Brahman is the Truth' (Brahma Satya). Since Truth is singular, if Brahman is the only Truth, then nothing else can be true, including the person making the statement. The right to declare the world an illusion belongs only to one who also knows themselves to be an illusion—one who can say, 'Only Brahman is the Truth, and I too am an illusion.' For the person asking the question, the question itself is not an illusion; otherwise, they would not have asked it. If the question is real to them, the world is also real to them. Therefore, as long as the world has not become an illusion for an individual, the distinction between right and wrong action is undoubtedly real and necessary. One must be concerned with choosing the right action precisely because the world is not yet an illusion for them. The world only becomes an illusion when the ego becomes an illusion. Since the ego is still real for the individual, they must worry about right action. When the world truly becomes an illusion, the questioner, the speaker, and the question itself will all dissolve, and nothing will remain. Until then, the path to this realization involves making the right choices. Right action is what leads one towards completeness and eliminates the ego. To say 'I am' is to affirm the ego, which is the root of suffering. To end suffering, one must eliminate the ego, which is what 'the world is an illusion' truly signifies. Until one reaches that state of completeness, it is essential to live a righteous life and perform right actions that can erase the current state of suffering and incompleteness.