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Upanishads · Sarasvatīrahasya 4.20
॥
Devanāgarī
चितिच्छायासमावेशाज्जीवः स्याद्व्यावहारिकः । अस्य जीवत्वमारोपात्साक्षिण्यप्यवभासते
Transliteration (IAST)
citicchāyāsamāveśājjīvaḥ syādvyāvahārikaḥ | asya jīvatvamāropātsākṣiṇyapyavabhāsate
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
चिति-छाया-समावेशात्citi-chāyā-samāveśātfrom the entry of the shadow of consciousness
जीवः स्यात् व्यावहारिकःjīvaḥ syāt vyāvahārikaḥthere is the empirical living being
अस्य जीवत्वम् आरोपात्asya jīvatvam āropātits living-being-ness, by superimposition
साक्षिणि अपि अवभासतेsākṣiṇi api avabhāsateappears on the witness as well
Translation
From the entry of the shadow of consciousness there is the empirical living being; and its living-being-ness, by superimposition, appears on the witness as well.
Version
017749591ce7 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
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It is worth noting the word vyāvahārika, "empirical," for it is technical in this school and explains its whole structure. She distinguishes three degrees of being. Pāramārthika — "by the highest reckoning": what truly exists.
Vyāvahārika — "empirical": what one deals with; the world, bodies, people. Prātibhāsika — "apparent": the snake in the rope, the silver in the shell, a dream. This construction is clever and answers the usual reproach: if the world is deception, why do you eat?
The answer: the world is not apparent, it is empirical; it is real on its own level. It is worth giving this its due: the distinction is honest, and it saves the teaching from absurdity. Let us add, however, that the Vaiṣṇava side objects to it, for her objection is not empty.
She says: there are no degrees of being. A thing either exists or it does not; and "exists halfway" is a turn of phrase, not a state. Her own resolution was cited when reading the Varāha (3.15) and the Kṛṣṇa-upaniṣad (2.4): the world is real, but not independent; it is a transformation of His power, not His appearance.
Read this way, three degrees are not needed: two relations suffice — independent and dependent; and the dependent is not thereby made less existent, just as a reflection in a mirror is not made less existent by depending on a face.