Quote of the day by Adi Shankaracharya: "Brahman alone is the ultimate reality; the world is an illusion"

“Brahma satya, jagan mithya.” - this famous quote is from Advaita Vedanta philosophy of Adi Shankaracharya. The core meaning of this quote is that the world is full of illusion and this is not the reality and Brahma is the reality.

Let's understand why Adi Shankaracharya ji, who was one of the most famous spiritual Guru's said that and what he wanted to explain through this statement.

“Brahma satya, jagan mithya.”

Brahma (Brahman), which is an absolute and eternal reality. Satya means the ultimate truth that never changes.Jagan means Jagat, the world.Mithya means false, something which is not permanent. According to Adi Shankaracharya, Brahma is the eternal truth that exists and the world in which we all are living is full of illusions (maya) and temporary.

Here, in this world nothing is permanent and everything is temporary. For example; if you are living a life full of luxury then you never know when you become a poor and you have to live a basic life because neither happiness is permanent nor sorrow.

What is Maya (Illusion)

Maya is known as illusion which means something which is not real. The birth, death, success, failure, the name you have, the body you get, the role you are playing in your life, relationships that you make here in this world, everything, which is related to this world is just Maya or illusion. You are living in an illusionary world which is not permanent because it keeps on changing time to time and according to the karma you do in your life.