Nabanita Deb Ghosh
Research scholar, Department of Philosophy, Jadavpur University
Designation, Faculty in Department of Philosophy at Gokhale Memorial Girls’ College, Kolkata
E-mail: nabanitadebghosh@gmail.com
Issue: Volume 2 No. 1 (March 2026) Anubodhan
Received: 23 March 2026 / Accepted: 27 March 2026 / Published: 31 March 2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.65885/anubodhan.v2n1.2026.025
Abstract
In this paper I want to focus on Adi Shankaracharya’s interpretation of a crucial section in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad (2.4.5), this dissertation provides a thorough analytical analysis of the metaphysical explanation of love in Advaita Vedanta. Rather than being a psychological observation, the Upanishadic claim that objects are loved for the sake of the Self (Ātman) rather than for their own sake is interpreted as a philosophical argument concerning the foundation of value, subjectivity, and relationality. The article argues that Shankaracharya’s view encompasses a kind of value-monism in which the Self alone is intrinsically worthy of love, while all other objects are loved derivatively due to their relationship to the Self. By distinguishing the transcendental Self from the empirical ego (ahaṅkāra), this position avoids the charge of reductive egoism. The research also situates this explanation within the framework of Advaita’s non-dual ontology, in which the identity of Ātman and Brahman undermines the metaphysical possibility of real subject-object relations.
The main focus of the paper is on Maya’s role in creating the impression of plurality, which in turn structures common types of love as possessive, deliberate, and discriminating. It is believed that these patterns are both phenomenologically authentic and ontologically contingent. Through a detailed examination of the epistemic transformation brought about by Knowledge (jnāna), the research demonstrates how love transforms from a bond between individuals into an ontological revelation of non-duality.
The research concludes that love in Advaita Vedanta is not something that can be reduced to emotional states or exhausted by ethical categories, but rather an expression of the Self’s self-revelation. This reinterpretation not only eliminates the boundary between lover and beloved, but it also reframes love as being comparable to the basic structure of reality—pure, undivided consciousness.
Key words: self- knowledge, love, non-duality, reality, ignorance
How to cite: Ghosh, N. D. (2026). Non-Dual Reality: A Metaphysical Analytic Study in Advaita Vedanta. Anubodhan, 2(1), 261–269. https://doi.org/10.65885/anubodhan.v2n1.2026.025