Shrishti-Drishti-Vada - The “Creation-First” Teaching Model

Vedanta uses different vādas (doctrines or explanatory models) to guide the seeker. Śṛṣṭi-Drṣṭi-Vāda literally means “creation-first, perception-after.” It is the common-sense view that the world is created first and then experienced by the individual. This is the standpoint adopted in most of the Upanishads and in the early stages of teaching, because it aligns with our ordinary perception: first there is a universe, then we are born into it to experience pleasure and pain.

According to this model, Īśvara (God) creates the jagat (world) as an orderly manifestation of māyā, and individual jīvas enter this creation to work out their karmas. This framework preserves the transactional world (vyāvahārika-sattā) and explains dharma, karma, rebirth, and the role of the Veda. It also affirms Īśvara as the intelligent and material cause of the cosmos.

However, Advaita Vedanta eventually shifts beyond this standpoint. At a more advanced level, Drṣṭi-Śṛṣṭi-Vāda (“perception-first, creation-after”) is introduced, pointing out that the world we know is inseparable from perception. Ultimately, both models are provisional; the final vision is Ajāti-Vāda (Gaudapāda’s teaching), that in truth no creation ever took place — only Brahman is.

Thus, Śṛṣṭi-Drṣṭi-Vāda is a skillful teaching device. It begins where the student stands, affirming the reality of the world and its order. From there, inquiry gradually refines the vision until even the idea of creation is resolved into non-dual awareness.

---

Root & Meaning

• Śṛṣṭi = creation

• Drṣṭi = perception, seeing

• Vāda = doctrine, explanatory model

• Śṛṣṭi-Drṣṭi-Vāda = “creation-first, perception-after” — the view that the world is created independently and then perceived.

Scriptural References

• Chāndogya Upaniṣad (6.2.3): “From that Being, existence, this entire world arose.”

• Taittirīya Upaniṣad (3.1): cosmological description of creation from Brahman.

• Bhagavad Gītā (9.10): “Under Me, as the supervisor, prakṛti produces all moving and unmoving beings.”

Traditional View

• Used as the initial teaching in Advaita Vedanta.

• Explains karma, rebirth, dharma, and Īśvara’s role as creator.

• Holds transactional validity (vyāvahārika-sattā), not ultimate reality.

Vedantic Analysis

• Provisional prakriyā for beginners, not the final standpoint.

• Leads to subtler doctrines (Drṣṭi-Śṛṣṭi-Vāda, Ajāti-Vāda).

• Its role is pedagogical: affirm order first, then refine vision until creation itself is seen as mithyā.

Common Misunderstandings

• That Śṛṣṭi-Drṣṭi-Vāda is the final teaching: Advaita accepts it only provisionally.

• That it implies dualistic creation separate from Brahman: Creation is māyā’s manifestation, non-separate from Brahman.

• That creation is “real” in the absolute sense: Vedanta clarifies it is mithyā — dependent reality.

Vedantic Resolution

Śṛṣṭi-Drṣṭi-Vāda is an introductory model. It preserves the reality of world and dharma at the transactional level, while paving the way to subtler insights that culminate in non-dual vision: there was never any creation apart from Brahman.