Why Do We Call The World Unreal?

We are looking at the 27th sarga of the Vairagya Prakarana of Yoga Vasishta.
Why do we call the world unreal?
Because the world is subject to individual perception.
To understand this, let us look at the time units of humans, Pitrus, and Devas.
One month of humans is a single day for the Pitrus.
15 days of Shukla paksha of a lunar month is their daytime, and 15 days of Krishna Paksha is their nighttime.
One human year is a single day for Devas.
6 months of Uttarayana is their daytime and 6 months of Dakshinayana is their nighttime.
Can you sleep for 15 days or 6 months at a stretch?
It is too long for us.
For them, it is regular.
4.32 billion years is just half a day for the occupants of Brahma Loka.
Even concepts like long, short, fast, and slow are subject to individual perception.
Studying for 3 or 4 hrs at a stretch may be normal for someone.
But sitting for half an hour may be a big deal for someone else.
This is why it is said that the world is unreal.
Had it been real, it would have been the same for everyone.
One hour would have felt the same way for every individual, Pitrus, Devas, and even the occupants of Brahma Loka.
That is not the case.
All these concepts: big and small, long and short, tall and dwarf, dark and bright, good and bad, expensive and cheap, wise and dumb, strong and weak, rich and poor, tasty and not tasty, harmful and harmless, friend and enemy - they are all perceptions.
But this is what the world is all about.
When you compare the two long and short, there is no fixed benchmark.
Length of a pencil you can take 6 inches as a benchmark and say that a ten-inch long pencil is long and a two-inch long pencil is short.
But using the same you can not say that a ten-inch long bus is long and a two-inch long bus is short.
For someone earning 6,000 rupees a month, spending 200 rupees on a single meal is costly but for a multi-billionaire, even 20,000 for a meal is nothing.
There is no benchmark or a gold standard for anything in this world.
And one major thing we keep ourselves occupied with is comparing.
This is good - that is bad, this is expensive - that is cheap, this is beautiful - that is ugly, this is great - that is mean.
We spend most of our time doing this comparison.
This is one of the reasons it is said that the world is not real.
It is a perception.
When my world is different from your world, then how can you call it real?
Lord Rama is asking in the Vairagya Prakarana of Yoga Vasishta.

• The world appears real only because we rely on our limited individual perceptions. But these perceptions vary wildly across beings, so the reality we see isn't a fixed truth.

• Time itself isn't absolute — what is one month for humans is just a single day for ancestors (Pitrus), and one year for us is only a day for celestial beings (Devas).

• For Brahma Loka dwellers, 4.32 billion human years make up just half a day — showing how even massive scales of time are relative.

• What feels ‘long’ or ‘short’, ‘fast’ or ‘slow’ depends entirely on who's experiencing it — there's no universal standard.

• This lack of fixed measurement extends to everything — strength, wealth, beauty, pain — all are judged relatively, never absolutely.

• We constantly compare things — rich vs poor, big vs small, tasty vs bland — without realizing it's just our biased perception, not an objective truth.

• There's no universal benchmark for anything — not money, time, size, or value — everything is seen through personal filters.

• Because each person's version of the world is different, it can't be called ultimately real — it's a projection, not a fixed structure.

• Our obsession with comparisons locks us deeper into illusion, making us chase and judge shadows.

• What makes the world unreal?
  The world is unreal because its nature changes based on who’s experiencing it. There's no single version of time, value, or form that holds true for all beings.

• Why can't we treat everyone's experiences as equally real?
  Because a 15-day night for Pitrus or a 6-month night for Devas would be impossible for us to grasp or live through. Their world and ours are fundamentally different.

• If so many people agree on basic things, doesn't that prove reality?
  Consensus doesn't make something ultimately real. Even dreams follow consistent rules while you're in them, but they're still illusions once you're awake.

• Why is time called a perception, not a fixed reality?
  Because time moves differently for different beings. One year for us is a day for Devas, proving that time is felt, not measured universally.

• How can that help us understand deeper truths?
  When you realize time is relative, you stop clinging to deadlines, age, or achievements — it loosens the grip of fear and urgency.

• But time still affects all of us physically, right?
  Yes, but the experience of time is mental. The same hour drags in boredom and flies in joy — proving it's subjective, not solid.

• What does it mean when we say big and small are not real?
  It means there's no standard scale for anything. A ten-inch pencil may be long, but a ten-inch bus is tiny — it's all context-based.

• Does that mean we can't call anything big or small?
  You can, but only relatively. Just know it's a comparison, not a fact — and comparisons vary from person to person.

• Isn't this just overthinking basic measurements?
  Not at all. It's about showing that our judgments are built on shifting ground. What you call small today may be big tomorrow in another context.

• Why do we say value is subjective?
  Because spending 200 rupees for a meal may feel lavish to one person and trivial to another. The object is the same, but the judgment changes.

• How does this relate to spiritual understanding?
  It helps us drop ego-based labels. Once you see value as a mental tag, you stop chasing or despising things blindly.

• But aren't there some universal standards of value?
  No standard holds across all situations or people. A diamond has no value to a starving man. Utility, not cost, defines worth in each case.

• What’s wrong with comparing everything all the time?
  Comparison keeps you trapped in restlessness. You're always judging — better, worse, more, less — which prevents peace of mind.

• Isn't comparison necessary for improvement?
  Healthy growth is fine, but constant judgment of people, possessions, and situations creates discontent and delusion.

• But if we don’t compare, how do we navigate life?
  Use discernment, not judgment. Discernment sees what is useful; judgment adds labels like good or bad, which are rooted in ego.

• Why is personal perception not enough to define reality?
  Because everyone’s perception creates a different world. If reality were fixed, all beings would agree on how it looks and feels.

• Does this mean there’s no truth at all?
  Relative truths exist — your hunger, pain, joy are real to you. But ultimate truth lies beyond these shifting perceptions.

• How can we trust anything then?
  Don’t trust appearances blindly. Seek the unchanging — that which remains when perception, thought, and comparison fall silent.

Ramaswamy Sastry and Vighnesh Ghanapaathi