AVIRBHAVA – TIROBHAVA

Shri Vallabhacharya says that in Upanishad Brahma has been narrated as having 3 attributes viz. Sat, Chit and Anand i.e. Existence, Consciousness and Bliss.

We have seen that Brahma possesses endless divine powers. Amongst that there are 2 main powers i.e.

1) Avirbhava: The power of Manifestation.
2) Tirobhava: The power of Concealment.

Brahma creates the universe by using these powers. In other words, when Brahma is manifested with only ‘Sat’ attributes hiding the attributes of ‘Chit’ and ‘Anand’, that manifestation of Brahma is called Inanimate (Insentient). Earth, Water, Air, Space and Light are insentient. The whole universe is made up of these 5 elements known as Panchmahabhuta.

As it is Brahma that has become the universe, the universe is considered as real n not illusory. But as the Chit and Anand attribute of Brahma are not manifested in the universe and as human intellect is covered by ignorance, ordinary human being can’t see the universe as Brahma.

E.g. we all know very well that every man has in him the emotions like anger, fear, pleasure etc in more or less degree. But whatever emotion man shows at a particular time, only that can be experienced. All emotions though present in him remains concealed and therefore cannot be experienced by others. Similarly though the universe is Brahma, it manifest only Sat attribute and keep other attributes hidden and so the universe seen as insentient.

However, it is not that the universe appears insentient to all. For instance a child who wears green colored glasses sees everything green and ignorant he is, he believes that everything is green. But a grown up man can understand very well that though all things are seen green, all are not actually green. They appear green because of the green spectacles. As against these 2 cases, a man who hasn’t put on spectacles of any colors, sees things in their original colors.

In the same way;

1) Souls whose ignorance is all removed by god sees the universe as Brahma without any kind of elusion.

2) Souls whose ignorance is not completely removed by god do not see the universe with Brahma.

The universe appears to them as perishable and insentient. However, by study of scriptures they understand that the universe is Brahma and the attributes like Origin, destruction, insentient etc are experienced because of their ignorance. Just as a grown up man with green spectacles sees everything green but understands that all is indeed not at all green. Whereas,

3) The people whose ignorance has not at all been removed by god are not able to see even the much distinction. So they like a child with green goggles, who takes all the things to be green – understands that the universe which is virtually Brahma is insentient and subject to birth and death.

In fact, there is nothing in the universe that is subject to birth and death. Just as when water is boiled it vaporizes and when cooled it again becomes water. Similarly everything is subject to transformation in to manifestation and concealment in accordance with the wish of God. Nothing can be produced out of vacuum and nothing can be destroyed to finish. What is possible is to manifest the thing that is unmanifest or to change the manifest into unmanifested.

The God is pervading all over the universe so one should never despise it. As willed by God, Bliss is not manifested in it. They remain detached to the world and attach themselves to God.