Real Meaning of ‘ Mithya/मिथ्या’

Real meaning of ‘Mithya/मिथ्या ‘

We commonly hear the great sentence “Brahma Satyam jagat Mithya.” (ब्रह्म सत्यं जगत् मिथ्या।)

And the most common interpretation of “Jagat mithya ”  is  “This world/ Jagat is false”.
This interpretation is not true.

Most of the people get confused by this sentence.  They think that how can this world be false as it is being seen, heard and experienced at every moment. This confusion gives rise to doubts regarding the vedanta teaching.

They are right from their point of view because they are experiencing every happening in the world. How can they  agree the statement ‘world is false/Mithya?’

Misinterpretation leads to misunderstanding of the terms used in vedanta teaching- the very reason; the people consider this philosophy as unrealistic and difficult to live with.
But if the terms and concepts used in vedanta are properly understood,  it is the best philosophy to live with peacefully at ease.

There is no parallel world in english which can explain the satisfactory meaning of this term ‘Mithya/मिथ्या. ( Meaning of the word ‘Mithya’  is certainly not ‘the false/incorrect/गलत.’)

Thus to understand the satisfactory and logical meaning of the term ‘ mithya’ , we need the help of few sanskrit words.

# सत् / Satyam/ The Truth.
# असत्/ Asatya/ Not the Truth.

The meaning of the satyam/सत् is – That which exists eternally. That which exists in the past,  present and future. That means it is not bound by time.
And only the Non dual Brahman is the Sat.

The meaning of Asat/असत्  is- That which is not Sat. It is opposite to the Sat/ Eternal Existence.That means, which never exists is asat. ( which doesn’t exist in any period of time)

For example-  Blue elephant,  horns of the rabbit, son of the barren / infertile woman never exist. These are non existant entities and called asat/असत्.

The meaning of ‘Mithya’/मिथ्या is –  ‘That which is neither Sat nor Asat.’
Thus Mithya is that which can not be called as Sat because it is not eternally present and not the asat  because it is not  non- existant too.

We can understand this concept with the example of a gold necklace.
We see gold necklace as the beautiful, bright, shiny, precious ornament.  We become happy and delighted when we wear it. People around us also see it and appreciate it.

From this findings we are sure of its ( gold necklace) existence. We can not say that gold necklace is non existent. So it is confirmed that gold necklace is not asat/असत्.

Now we will see can it be called Sat.
Gold necklace was made by the goldsmith out of the gold he already had. Gold was there before the making of the necklace. It is when the goldsmith has given a particular shape to the gold, it is named as necklace.  That means necklace was not there before its making.
Now, will this necklace will remain forever?
No….it will change. Goldsmith can melt it to make the another ornament.  Thus existance of the necklace is not eternal. It exists for certain period of time. So it is not sat.

We have just now learnt that,
‘That which is neither sat nor asat is Mithya.’
So the gold neckless can be called as Mithya.

In nutshell, that which has the beginning and the end is Mithya. During the period from beginning to end, it remains for our experience in a particular name and form.

We can call the gold as ‘Sat’ in this example. Because it was present before the making of the necklace,  it is present in the necklace now, and will be there even after melting the necklace.

Brahman is Sat…eternally present. World is created, sustained, destroyed ( dissolution) again and again. The Brahman is the only Existence Principle. Thus  ” Brahma Satyam….” is understood.

Why is the jagat called Mithya?
This world/ jagat is ever changing. It is created, sustained and destroyed and again created. Nothing in this world is permanent.  Nothing remains the same in this world.  So we can say that world is not Sat/eternal.
It can not be called as asat / non existent because we perceive it through our senses. Our world includes all the things and beings in our life. We interact with them.
We are getting pleasure and pain ( sukh and dukh) from the things and beings in our world. But you will notice that neither pleasure nor pain last longer. It has beginning and end. Remember all the happenings good or bad, the sukh and dukh in the world have been for temporary period of time.
This is the reason jagat is called as ‘Mithya’…neither sat/ eternal nor asat/ non existent….but exists for certain period of time.

There was a beautiful girl. She had a boyfriend. Both used to tell each other, ‘ I love you very much. I will love you forever “.

After few years; the boy left the girl and went in another city to settle. He completely ignored her.
The girl became very sad and depressed. She was remembering him again and again. She was repeatedly uttering only one sentence about him– ” His love for me was not true”. ( उसका प्रेम सच्चा नही; झूठा था।)
With due sympathy for her, We can correct her statement as – ‘His love was Mithya.’
He was loving her for certain period of time. Before he met her, there was not love….after he left her there remaind no love. So it’s not called Sat/ eternal but it was not asat/ untrue too because she has experienced and appreciated his love, may it be for certain period of time. So as it was for temporary period and ended, it is labelled as Mithya.

Thus understanding the fact that jagat is not false but  ‘mithya/ impermanent’ makes us wise enough to live in it with peace without too much expectations.

Understanding that Nothing will remain permanent,  neither the joys nor the sorrows…..neither the things and beings nor the status and position….our expectations will automatically reduce. The very thought that this Mithya/impermanent world cannot give us permanent happiness, will help us seek the source of Eternal Happiness…which is our ultimate goal of life.

Someone tells that he has got a permanent job in a renowned company.
At the  vyavaharic level it is true.
But in reality ,
The company is the part of the world/ Jagat which  itself is the temporary/mithya.
Neither job nor company is permanent in this Mithya jagat. Such understanding really makes us live in fun.

How many times we have enjoyed the doll wedding ceremony in our childhood and playing roles of our parents and teachers?
Haven’t we enjoyed it inspite of being aware of its mithyatva/ impermanency?
While living in that small world we used to smile,  cry, laugh taking every thing as a fun…we used to enjoy the mithyatva of that impermanent world…
Why can’t we as an adult enjoy the life as a fun?

I am ‘as an individual’ is Mithya. In my case;  from birth to death, ‘ varsha’ is just a temporary existent entity with a particular body mind intellect complex. Real I is never ending…it is just enlivening this temporary entity.

Once the wisdom comes, that ‘i’ as a particular jiva is Mithya and ‘I’ as the Brahman is Satyam, worries and anxieties regarding the body will automatically vanish.

Everything in this world; small /big, rich/ poor, sad/ happy, etc…all falls in the domain of Mithya.  The Satyam is the only Sat Chit Ananda Brahman.
You, me, my writing, my phone, my profession, my property,  my status everything is Mithya as it’s ever changing and will have end for sure. 

‘I am’ – is our True Identity.  It means ‘ I exist (alone/nondual Nitya Shuddha Buddha Mukta. )
The moment you connect any upadhi after ‘ I am…. ( for example; a doctor, rich, educated, etc), it gets tainted with mithyatva ( impermanence)

Realized masters live in the world accepting its mithyatva,  not giving it too much importance.  King janaka was ruling his kingdom accepting its mithyatva just as a play.

We spend  time in enjoying the picnic spot where we eat, dance, get afraid of.., love, care but leave the spot when time comes. We are aware and prepared for leaving the place. We can say that we are aware of the mithyatva of this picnic enjoyment.
If we extend this understanding to the broader view, we can enjoy our whole life in this world without complaints.

The movie is running. We are enjoying all the events ; sad or happy. We are aware of the fact that this movie is going to end after 3 hours. – That means we are aware of the mithyatva of the movie and still we are enjoying it.

Let the movie stop…..you will see no events…no happenings…no people…no things…….but the SCREEN.  This screen can be called Sat. Mithya movie was running on the satya screen….just like this Mithya world/ Jagat upon the Substratum….Brahman…Satyam.

Hari Om!