There is a great gap between the qualities of the jīva and the Lord

The jīva rises above the gross material body and attains the effulgent spiritual sky. There, one manifests his original form and meets the Lord, who is immortal and without fear.

« Vedānta-sūtra: The Govinda-bhāṣya of Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa

Sūtra 1.3.18 - There is a great gap between the qualities of the jīva and the Lord

itara-parāmarśāt sa iti cen nāsambhavāt

itara: the other (the jīva); parāmarṣāt: because of reference; saḥ: he (is the dahara); iti: thus; cet: if (it’s said); na: not; asambhavāt: because of impossibility.

If one argues that the dahara is the jīva, because the jīva is mentioned in the text, I say no. It’s impossible for the jīva to have the qualities mentioned.

Commentary: After dismissing the argument that the dahara inside the heart is the ordinary element ether, Vyāsadeva dismisses the idea that it may be the jīva by the word “asambhavāt”, arguing that it is simply impossible.

This is an answer to a possible argument that could be made based on the Chāndogya Upaniṣad 8.3.4, which mentions the jīva. In the correct interpretation of the verse, it is mentioned that the jīva attains perfection through the mercy of the Lord (samprasādo), but an opponent could interpret this verse in a slightly different way, giving the idea that the jīva can attain perfection by itself, and from there argue that this perfect jīva is the small sky described in verses 8.1.1 to 8.1.7.

As we studied, Chāndogya Upaniṣad 8.3.4 is:

atha ya eṣa samprasādo ’smāc charīrāt samutthāya param jyotir upasampadya svena rūpeṇābhiniṣpadyate, eṣa ātmeti hovacaitad amṛtam abhayam etad brahmeti, tasya ha vā etasya brahmaṇo nāma satyam iti

Our interpretation of the words is:

“This jīva, who has attained the mercy of the Lord, rises above the gross material body and attains the effulgent spiritual sky. There, one manifests his original form and meets the Lord, who is immortal and without fear. This is Brahman, who is called Satya, the Absolute Truth.”

In other words, by practicing sādhana, the jīva is promoted to the spiritual world, where one receives a spiritual form, similar to the Lord’s own form. However, these words could be interpreted by the opponent as:

“When the liberated jīva rises from the material body, he attains the spiritual effulgence and manifests his original form. This is the self. He is immortal, he is fearless, he is Brahman.”

However, even if we accept this interpretation of the verse, the argument would be invalid, because it is impossible for the jīva to display all the qualities attributed to the small sky in the previous passage, such as containing both heaven and earth, maintaining everything, and so on. In this way, it’s simply impossible to sustain that the small sky is the jīva from any point of view, as argued by Vyāsadeva himself. Any interpretation in this direction is purely speculative and doesn’t find support in the scriptures.

When the jīva comes in contact with material existence, his original qualities are covered. As confirmed by the correct interpretation of Chāndogya Upaniṣad 8.3.4, these original spiritual qualities (including immortality) become manifested again only when the jīva attains perfection through the practice of devotional service. The qualities attributed to the Lord on 8.1.1-6, however, are intrinsic. Different from the individual soul, the Lord never falls into illusion.

One could then suggest that ultimately the jīva and the Lord are one, and thus ultimately the passage refers to the jīva anyway, in the sense that the jīva must find his inner self inside the heart, realizing that we are one with Brahman. However, this idea was already dismissed in the previous sūtras. When the Upaniṣad mentions “etad brahmeti“ (he is Brahman), it just means the soul attains spiritual perfection, not that one becomes one with the Lord.

Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu explained the difference between the jīva and the Lord in his Acintya-bhedābheda-tattva philosophy. The individual soul is part of the Lord’s energy, and is thus equal to the Lord in quality (both are spiritual), but there is a vast difference in terms of quantity. Just like a drop of ocean water has the same chemical composition as the ocean as a whole, but is infinitely smaller in terms of quantity, the soul is identical to the Lord in terms of spiritual quality, but is different in terms of quantity. Because the soul is so small, it can’t display all the characteristics of the Lord (even in the liberated stage), just as many characteristics of the ocean (such as covering 71% of the surface of the planet and being the abode of all marine life) can’t be exhibited by a drop.

The Lord is infinite, and the soul is infinitesimal. Therefore, when certain passages of the Vedas emphasize the oneness of all beings with God, these passages must be considered in the context of other passages that say that the Lord is different from all beings. As discussed previously, we can’t take one passage from the scriptures and disregard the others; the meaning of all passages must be taken as a whole if we want to reach the correct conclusions of the text. Only when we understand how the soul can be simultaneously one with and different from the Lord can we properly understand the relationship between the two.

Another example that can be given is that the sun is the source of heat and light for our whole solar system (and in fact for the whole universe, according to Vedic cosmology). The sun is inseparable from its rays, just as God is inseparable from His energies. In this sense, the sun and its rays are one, just like the Lord and His energies are one. However, at the same time, the sun’s rays are different from the sun. If the sun were to enter our room, we would be immediately vaporized, but when the light of the sun enters, we feel just a little warmth. Similarly, God and His energies are distinct. Each soul is an individual, eternally distinct from the Lord. Although the son comes from the father, it’s impossible for him to merge back into the father. God is thus simultaneously different (bheda) and nondifferent (abheda) from everything. This truth (tattva) is inconceivable (acintya) to the materialist. Everything that exists is God’s energy, and thus inconceivably simultaneously one and different from Him.

Sūtra 1.3.19 - We can develop spiritual qualities only through sādhana

uttarāc ced āvirbhāva-svarūpas tu

uttarāt: because of a later passage; cet: if; āvirbhāva: becomes manifest; svarūpas: one’s real nature; tu: indeed.

If one insists that the dahara is the jīva, based on a later passage, the answer is again no. These qualities are manifested in the jīva through sādhana.

Commentary: This is an answer to a possible argument that could be made based on the Chāndogya Upaniṣad 8.7.1, the verse that concludes the whole passage about finding the Lord inside the small sky, which starts with text 8.1.1.

The verse is:

uya ātmā ’pahatapāpmā vijaro vimṛtyuviśoko vijighatso ’pipāsaḥ satya-kāmaḥ satya-sankalpaḥ, so ’nveṣṭavyaḥ sa vijijñāsitavyaḥ, sa sarvāmś ca lokān āpnoti sarvamś ca kāmān yas tam ātmānam anuvidya vijānātīti ha prajāpatir uvāca

Depending on how this verse is interpreted, it may appear to suggest that the jīva attains transcendental qualities by himself, which a creative opponent can use to argue that the whole passage speaks about the jīva, concluding thus that the dahara inside the heart is the jīva, and thus is the jīva that should be sought after and realized. With this, one can completely distort the meaning of the passage and come to an atheistic conclusion.

Interpreting in this way, the opponent could quote the following incorrect interpretation:

“That jīva (ātmā) whose sins are destroyed, is ageless, deathless, sorrowless, beyond hunger and thirst, and his every desire becomes true. He (that jīva) is the one who should be sought out and realized. Anyone who, having pursued and fully known that very self, comes to know him, attains all worlds and all objects of desire. So spoke Prajāpati.”

The key here is the interpretation of the word “ātmā”. If ātma is interpreted as the jīva, then all the other words of the text, starting with “apahata-pāp-mā” (free from sin), followed by all the sequence of adjectives (ageless, deathless), appear to describe the jīva. In this case, the crucial passage, “so ’nveṣṭavyaḥ sa vijijñāsitavyaḥ“ (he should be sought out and realized), also appears to describe the jīva. We then end up with the incorrect translation we just saw.

This is the reason it is impossible to argue on scriptures based on just random translations, since Sanskrit words can be interpreted in incorrect ways, giving birth to the most creative interpretations. When studying, one has to limit oneself to trusted authors who follow the conclusions of self-realized ācāryas, and when debating, one has to always check the translation of the verses, never accepting a translation for an unknown verse from a not fully reliable source at face value.

Now that we know how the verse should not be interpreted, what, then, is the correct interpretation?

In the previous sūtra, Vyāsadeva argued that the qualities described in the verse can’t be applied to the jīva. The verse mentions eight attributes: apahata-pāpmā, vijaraḥ, vimṛtyuḥ, viśokaḥ, vijighatsaḥ, apipāsaḥ, satya-kāmaḥ, satya-sankalpaḥ. All of these are intrinsic qualities, and not qualities one can acquire at a certain point.

When these attributes are accepted as intrinsic, we see that they can be applied only to the Lord. The jīva acquires piety or sin according to one’s material activities, but the Lord is never touched by sin. The jīva faces old age and death because one accepts a body, but the Lord never accepts a material body, and therefore never becomes old.

Apart from that, there is the whole logical sequence of the passage. By the time we arrive at text 8.7.1, it is already known that the whole passage describes the Supreme Lord, as the Lord inside the heart. Therefore, it is clear that “ātma” in verse 8.1.1 means the Supreme Lord, and all the other words should be applied to Him. When we do that, the true meaning of the verse is revealed:

“That Supreme Self, who is sinless, ageless, deathless, free from sorrow, hunger, and thirst, whose all desires and intentions are automatically satisfied. That Supreme Lord should be sought out and realized. Anyone who, having pursued and come to fully know that Supreme Person, attains any desired destination and every desirable object. Thus spoke Prajāpati.” (Chāndogya Upaniṣad 8.7.1)

In this way, when the last verse is correctly interpreted, we can see that the whole passage consistently describes the Supreme Lord as the small sky inside the heart.

The current sūtra offers yet another argument: When the jīva becomes perfect, by the mercy of the Lord, and his svarūpa, or one’s real, eternal nature is revealed, the jīva in fact develops the qualities described in the verse, but only in minute quantity. Even then, however, these qualities are present only in the liberated stage, and not in the current conditioned stage.

The Lord, on the other hand, has all qualities in full, and these qualities are eternally manifested. There was never a time when the Lord was in illusion. Even when He comes to this world to display His pastimes, He preserves His transcendental position. The Lord never accepts a material body or falls into illusion. The soul, however, due to its marginal nature, can temporarily forget its transcendental nature and fall into illusion, associating with the material modes, becoming contaminated by sins, and so on.

Sūtra 1.3.20 - Attaining spiritual perfection

anyārthaś ca parāmarśaḥ

anya: another; arthaś: purpose, meaning; ca: and; parāmarṣaḥ: reference.

The reference to the jīva has a different purpose.

Commentary: After being confronted with the previous argument, the opponent could argue that if the jīva is not the small space in the heart, then why is the jīva mentioned at all in the passage?

To that, Vyāsadeva answers: anyārthaś ca parāmarśaḥ. The description of the soul in Chāndogya Upaniṣad 8.7.1 has a different purpose. It is not a description of the dahara, but rather a description of how the jīva, after becoming tired of the process of material enjoyment, can reconnect with his original spiritual nature and attain spiritual perfection.

In other words, the jīva is described in this passage to teach about the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The qualities mentioned in the verse (being free from sin, old age, death, suffering, hunger, and thirst, desiring only the good and immediately attaining whatever one desires) are qualities exhibited by the Supreme Lord, but they can also be attained by the soul – in minute quantity – when achieving perfection. The Lord has, however, other qualities that are not attainable by the individual soul at any stage.

This point is explained by Śrīla Prabhupāda in his purport to SB 1.3.28 as well as other passages:

“Learned scholars in transcendental subjects have carefully analyzed the summum bonum Kṛṣṇa to have sixty-four principal attributes. All the expansions or categories of the Lord possess only some percentages of these attributes. But Śrī Kṛṣṇa is the possessor of the attributes cent percent. And His personal expansions such as svayam-prakāśa, tad-ekātmā up to the categories of the avatāras who are all viṣṇu-tattva, possess up to ninety-three percent of these transcendental attributes. Lord Śiva, who is neither avatāra nor āveśa nor in between them, possesses almost eighty-four percent of the attributes. But the jīvas, or the individual living beings in different statuses of life, possess up to the limit of seventy-eight percent of the attributes. In the conditioned state of material existence, the living being possesses these attributes in very minute quantity, varying in terms of the pious life of the living being. The most perfect of living beings is Brahmā, the supreme administrator of one universe. He possesses seventy-eight percent of the attributes in full. All other demigods have the same attributes in less quantity, whereas human beings possess the attributes in very minute quantity. The standard of perfection for a human being is to develop the attributes up to seventy-eight percent in full. The living being can never possess attributes like Śiva, Viṣṇu or Lord Kṛṣṇa. A living being can become godly by developing the seventy-eight-percent transcendental attributes in fullness, but he can never become a God like Śiva, Viṣṇu or Kṛṣṇa. He can become a Brahmā in due course. The godly living beings who are all residents of the planets in the spiritual sky are eternal associates of God in different spiritual planets called Hari-dhāma and Maheśa-dhāma. The abode of Lord Kṛṣṇa above all spiritual planets is called Kṛṣṇaloka or Goloka Vṛndāvana, and the perfected living being, by developing seventy-eight percent of the above attributes in fullness, can enter the planet of Kṛṣṇaloka after leaving the present material body.”

Sūtra 1.3.21 - The Lord can be unlimitedly big, or inconceivably small

alpa-śruter iti cet tad uktam

alpa: small; śruteḥ: being mentioned in the passage of the Upaniṣad; iti: thus; cet: if; tat: that; uktam: said.

If it is argued that because the passage describes the space in the heart as small, it must be the jīva, I say it is not so. This argument has already been refuted.

Commentary: Another possible argument that could be posed is that the word “small” (dahara) used in verse (8.1.1) must refer to the jīva since the jīva is small and the Lord is inconceivably big. This point has already been discussed in sūtra 1.2.7. The Lord has inconceivable potencies and can become very big or very small according to His desire, or according to the pastimes He wants to perform. As Mahā-Viṣnu, He becomes so big that universes can pass through the pores of His body, and as Paramātmā, He becomes so small that He can enter inside the atoms. The Lord appears inside the heart in a form the size of the distance between the thumb and the forefinger to facilitate the process of meditation on Him.

Sūtra 1.3.22 - The jīva is never as great as the Lord, even in the liberated stage

anukṛtes tasya ca

anukṛteḥ: on account of resemblance; tasya: of Him; ca: also.

The jīva merely resembles the Lord in some aspects.

Commentary: When the soul comes in contact with the material energy, one’s original spiritual qualities become covered. Through the practice of spiritual sādhana, we can gradually become purified and recover our original, eternal spiritual nature, shining with qualities similar to those of the Lord. However, even in the liberated stage, we don’t manifest all the qualities of the Lord.

A drop of water from the ocean will exhibit some of the qualities of the whole ocean, such as being salty, but it will not exhibit others, such as simultaneously touching the seven continents. In the same way, the soul purified by the practice of spiritual sādhana gradually recovers his original spiritual nature, and thus manifests many of the qualities of Kṛṣṇa, such as being free from sin, old age, death, suffering, hunger, and thirst, desiring only the good and immediately attaining anything one desires, but will never exhibit qualities such as generating uncountable universes from his body, being the original source of all incarnations, giving liberation to the enemies he kills, and so on.

In this way, being one in quality but different in quantity, the soul exhibits spiritual qualities similar to the Lord, but in very minute quantity. The qualities of the liberated soul thus merely resemble the qualities of the Lord, as indicated in the sūtra by the word anukṛteḥ. This is confirmed in the Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad (3.1.3):

yadā paśyaḥ paśyate rukma-varṇam
kartāram īśam puruṣam brahma-yonim
tadā vidvān puṇya-pāpe vidhūya
nirañjanaḥ paramam sāmyam upaiti

“When the enlightened soul finally sees the golden-hued Lord, the creator, the Supreme Person, who is the source of the impersonal Brahman, he finally becomes free from material duality and attains the Supreme destination, becoming pure like the Lord.”

In this way, in its liberated stage the soul resembles the Lord in some aspects, but never becomes one with Him, or identical to him, just like the sentence pavanam anuharate hanuman (Hanuman is like the wind) merely indicates common characteristics, such as moving at great speed.

The fact that even in the liberated state the jīva attains only part of the qualities of the Lord is one more proof that the jīva is different from the Lord. Although they share the same spiritual nature, they are different individuals.

Sūtra 1.3.23 - Evidence from the Bhagavad-gītā

api smaryate

api: and; smaryate: described in the smṛti-śāstra.

This is also described in the smṛti-śāstra.

Commentary: By smṛti-śāstra, Śrīla Vyāsadeva is referring to the Bhagavad-gītā. The specific verse mentioned here is Bg. 14.2:

idam jñānam upāśritya, mama sādharmyam āgatāḥ

sarge ’pi nopajāyante, pralaye na vyathanti ca

“By becoming fixed in this knowledge, one can attain to the transcendental nature, which is like My own nature. Thus established, one is not born at the time of creation nor disturbed at the time of dissolution.”

Here, Kṛṣṇa explains that the liberated soul attains a transcendental nature similar to His own, which means that the soul doesn’t merge into Him, but just assumes qualities that resemble His, confirming what is mentioned in the previous sūtra.

By all these arguments, Vyāsadeva makes it clear that the dahara, or the small sky inside the heart, is the Supreme Lord, and not the jīva.

Exercise

Now it’s your turn. Can you answer the following arguments using the ideas from this section?

Opponent: “The passage from the Chāndogya Upaniṣad mentions: daharo ’sminn antarākāśaḥ (within the city of the body there is a small ākāśa). The most common and primary sense of the word ākāśa in Vedic usage is the element ether. To interpret ākāśa as Viṣnu is a forced and secondary meaning. As soon as we start interpreting the words in all kinds of speculative ways, the meaning of the scriptures is lost. The Vedas must be interpreted as they are. Unless there is a compelling reason, we must accept the primary meaning of the word: therefore, dahara-ākāśa here means only elemental ether, perceived within the heart.

It could also be argued that it denotes the jīva. The text says: tad anveṣṭavyam tad vāva vijijñāsitavyam (that should be sought, that should be inquired into). Indeed, everyone should enquire about the soul, since this knowledge leads to liberation. Apart from that, the jīva is subtle and minute, fitting the description of being “small” (dahara). Since the body is called “the city of Brahman” (brahma-pura), the metaphor makes best sense if the lord of the city is the jīva residing in the heart, just as a king dwells in his capital. This is supported by the passage: eṣa setur vidharaṇa eṣām lokānām (Bṛhad-āraṇyaka 4.4.22), where the ātma is described as the boundary and the support. Therefore, the dahara is the ruling jīva, not Viṣṇu.

As an additional argument, we can say that the passage from the Upaniṣad stresses the minuteness of what is described: “small lotus”, “small sky”. The Supreme Brahman, who is infinite and all-pervading, cannot be literally called small. But the jīva is indeed minute (aṇu). Therefore, the description matches the jīva but not the Supreme Brahman.”

Description: This is another pūrvapakṣa from the viewpoint of a Mīmāṃsaka with a leaning towards Nyāya, who insists on maintaining a literal reading of the terms used in the passage to avoid a theistic reading. It can be defeated with the arguments we studied in this section.

You can also donate using Buy Me a Coffee, PayPal, Wise, Revolut, or bank transfers. There is a separate page with all the links. This helps me enormously to have time to write instead of doing other things to make a living. Thanks!

« Vedānta-sūtra: The Govinda-bhāṣya of Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa