Bhaskara

In Indian philosophy, an eighth-century proponent of the Bhedabhada
(“identity-in-difference”) school. The
Bhedabhada position identified three
levels of being: the Ultimate Reality
known as Brahman, the “witness”
consciousness (sakshin) in the
human being, and the world. They
paradoxically asserted that these three
levels were identical, yet different.
Thus the world is identical to Brahman
but subject to change and decay,
unlike Brahman. In the same way,
while each human soul is identical
to Brahman, it is also subject to
bondage and reincarnation (samsara),
unlike Brahman. The bondage of the
soul was caused by the primal
ignorance known as avidya, but
it could be erased by a combination
of action and awareness (jnanakarmasamucchaya). The basic philosophical problem for the Bhedabhada
school was that because they believed
that Brahman was actually transformed into the world and the Self
(parinamavada), it followed that
Brahman was subject to bondage and
ignorance. This idea was difficult to
defend, since the transcendence of
Brahman was well established by
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Bhaskara
sacred texts such as the Upanishads,
and this problem may account for the
school’s relatively short life.