The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (61 page)

(Skt., ‘unseen’). Unseen force; in Indian philosophy related to and sometimes synonymous with
karma
. It designates an imperceptible constraint on any given event, accounting for such forces as gravity and magnetic attraction as well as the unseen causes of one's present life-situation, i.e. actions performed in previous lives.

 
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Adultery
.

The way in which religions have played so vital a role in the protection of what would now be recognized as gene-replication and the nurture of children has contributed to a strong condemnation of adultery in all religions—though what counts as adultery is diversely defined: thus, according to Jewish law, sexual relationship between a married man and an unmarried woman, although sinful, is not considered adulterous; In Islam (see
ZIN
’), there is no distinction between men and women (Qur’
n 24. 3), but there has been considerable dispute about the permissibility of extra-marital sex between Muslim men and their unmarried slave women. At issue in the religious evaluation of marriage and adultery has been the stability of families within the continuing structure of society (hence the importance of known parentage and descent), along with the predictability and reliability of humans in relations of commitment to each other.

 
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(Skt., ‘not-dual’). The state in which there is only, without differentiation, whatever there is, in which all appearances of distinction (e.g. between subject and object, perceiver and perceived) are known to be a consequence and product of inadequate understanding, or ignorance (
avidy
,
adhy
sa
). This state can only be ascribed to God or to
Brahman
as Absolute. This perception of non-duality underlies
Advaita Ved
nta
.

 
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Advaita Ved
nta
.

One of the three major philosophical/theological systems in Hindu
Ved
nta
, whose leading protagonist was
a
kara
.
Brahman
is the Absolute and underlying ground of all appearance: for those with (trained) eyes to see, Brahman can be perceived as the real and the unchanging lying within or behind the manifold appearances which the senses encounter. There cannot, therefore, be any truth in the human propensity to differentiate objects, or parts of objects, as though they have the reality of their superficial appearance. There is only Brahman, which is necessarily undifferentiated. It follows that there cannot even be a difference, or duality, between the human subject, or self, and Brahman, for Brahman must be that very self (since Brahman is the reality underlying all appearance). The goal of human life and wisdom must, therefore, be the realization that the self (
tman
)
is
Brahman—hence the famous formula (
mah
v
kya
),
tat tvam asi
, thou art that. See also
AJ
TIV
DA
;
R
HAR
A
.