Bhedabhada (“difference-in-identity”).
Bhartrprapancha and Bhaskara were two of the most well-known members of this philosophical school.
The Bhedabhada viewpoint recognized three layers of being: Brahman, the Ultimate Reality, and Sakshin, the human being's "witness" awareness.
- The school said that these three levels are both similar and dissimilar.
- As a result, the universe is similar to Brahman yet, unlike Brahman, is susceptible to change and destruction.
- Similarly, although each human soul is equal to Brahman, unlike Brahman, it is subject to bondage and rebirth (samsara).
The primordial ignorance known as avidya created the soul's bonding, but it may be broken via a mix of action and knowledge (jnanakarmasamucchaya).
- Because they thought that Brahman was really changed into the universe and the Self (parinamavada), Bhartrprapancha and his followers had a fundamental philosophical problem: Brahman was susceptible to bondage and ignorance.
- As a result, if avidya must be destroyed in order to achieve freedom, a portion of Brahman must also be destroyed.
- The transcendence of Brahman was firmly established by holy writings such as the Upanishads, making these views difficult to defend, and this issue may explain for the school's brief existence.
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