2.6: Adṛśyādhikaraṇam - The unseen person

“The passage refers to the Supreme Lord, who is full of qualities, starting with being invisible, because the qualities mentioned are appropriate to Him. It does not refer to pradhāna or the jīva"

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

Topic 6: Adṛśyādhikaraṇam - The unseen person

The akṣara described in the Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad is the Supreme Lord

adṛśtvādi-guṇako dharmokteḥ, viśeṣeṇa bheda-vyapadeśāc ca netarau, rūpopanyāsāc ca, prakaraṇāc ca

“The passage refers to the Supreme Lord, who is full of qualities, starting with being invisible, because the qualities mentioned are appropriate to Him. It does not refer to pradhāna or the jīva, because the qualities attributed to akṣara can’t be attributed to the other two. The akṣara is not pradhāna or the jīva, also because of other passages, which specifically describe the form of the Lord, and because of the context.”

Sūtra 1.2.21 - The word akṣara refers to the Lord

adṛśtvādi-guṇako dharmokteḥ

adṛśyatv: being invisible; ādi: beginning with; guṇakaḥ: one who possesses qualities; dharma: scriptural injunction; ukteḥ: because of the statement.

The passage refers to the Supreme Lord, who is full of qualities, starting with being invisible, because the qualities mentioned are appropriate to Him.

Commentary: This passage refers to two passages of the Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad that describe akṣara (the infallible).

Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad 1.1.5-6:

tatrāparā ṛg vedo yajur vedaḥ
sāma-vedo ’tharva-vedaḥ, śikṣā kalpo vyākaraṇam
niruktam chando jyotiṣam iti
atha parā—yayā tad akṣaram adhigamyate
yat tad adreśyam agrāhyam agotram
avarṇam acakṣuḥ-śtrotram tad apāṇipādam
nityam vibhum sarva-gatam susūkṣmam
tad avyayam yad bhūta-yonim paripaśyanti dhīrāḥ

“The Ṛg Veda, Yajur Veda, Sāma Veda, and Atharva Veda, along with their corollaries, known as śikṣā, kalpa, vyākaraṇa, nirukta, chanda, and jyotiṣa, belong to the inferior system of material knowledge (aparā-vidyā). By parā-vidyā, one can understand the akṣara: Brahman, the Absolute Truth. The wise perceive that imperishable Supreme Brahman, who is invisible, ungraspable, without family or caste, without form, without eyes and ears, without hands and feet; who is eternal, all-pervading, extremely subtle, and unchanging, and who is the source of all beings.”

Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad 2.1.2:

divyo hy amūrtaḥ purusaḥ sabāhyābhyantaro hy ajaḥ
aprāṇo hy amanāḥ śubhro hy akṣarāt parataḥ paraḥ

“The Supreme Lord is transcendental, without a material form (amūrtaḥ). He is simultaneously inside and outside, permeating everything (bāhya-abhyantaraḥ). He is unborn (ajaḥ), without need for the vital airs or a material mind (aprāṇaḥ, amanāḥ). He is pure and spotless (śubhraḥ) and exists beyond the imperishable pradhāna (akṣarāt). He is the highest and transcends all.”

When we have the proper understanding of the terms and metaphors used in the verses, the meaning is clear. However, one studying the Sanskrit verses based on just the dictionary meaning of the words could easily become confused about the identity of the akṣara mentioned in the text.

Based on the dictionary meaning, the verses sound like:

“The lower knowledge (aparā) consists of the Ṛgveda, the Yajurveda, the Sāmaveda, the Atharvaveda, along with phonetics, ritual rules, grammar, etymology, prosody, and astrology, but the higher knowledge (parā) is that by which the imperishable (akṣara) is realized.

That which is invisible, intangible, without origin or classification, without form or color, without eyes or ears, without hands or feet; eternal, all-pervading, omnipresent, extremely subtle, and imperishable, that source of all beings is perceived by the wise.”

As you can see, when understood in this way, the verses don’t appear to directly describe a conscious being, and the presence of the word yoni (the source of everything) could lead one to conclude that akṣara is pradhāna, the source of material elements, and above that pradhāna the jīva, who is the puruṣa, the knower of the field of activities (the body).

To this, Vyāsadeva answers: adṛśtvādi-guṇako dharmokteḥ. The word akṣara refers to the Supreme Lord. Why? Dharmokteḥ: His qualities are described in the passage, starting with being invisible (adreśyam). Because He is described with qualities such as being the ultimate goal of all knowledge (atha parā—yayā tad akṣaram adhigamyate), akṣara must be the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

We don’t need to go very far to confirm this. Just three verses after the first passage, the Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad (1.1.9) mentions:

yaḥ sarva-jñaḥ sarva-vid yasya jñāna-mayam tapaḥ
tasmād etad brahma nāma rūpam annam ca jāyate

“From that Supreme Brahman, who is omniscient and who knows everything in all detail, from His creative potency, based on intelligence and knowledge, arose the mahat-tattva. From this external potency, also spiritual and non-different from the Supreme Brahman, this world of names and forms that is enjoyed by the illusioned souls is born.”

Verse 2.1.2 describes a host of transcendental qualities attributed to the akṣara: divya (transcendental), amūrta (non-material), aja (unborn), sabāhyābhyantaraḥ (within and without all), aprāṇa amanāḥ (independent of material prāṇa and mind), śubhra (pure), parataḥ paraḥ (beyond everything material). Those are qualities of an all-powerful, conscious Person, and not of a mass of unconscious matter or of the infinitesimal soul.

On top of that, the akṣara is described as the ultimate goal of transcendental knowledge by the words “atha parā—yayā tad akṣaram adhigamyate” at the end of verse 1.1.5. This passage becomes especially powerful when taken in context.

What is this context we are speaking about?

Verse 1.1.5 describes that the different books that compose the Vedas, including the Ṛg Veda, Yajur Veda, Sāma Veda, and Atharva Veda, along with their corollaries (auxiliary sciences such as phonetics, ritual rules, grammar, etymology, prosody, and astrology), describe topics connected with the material creation, and are thus part of the inferior system of material knowledge (aparā-vidyā). This idea of the Vedas speaking about knowledge that is “inferior” may sound strange at first, but Śrīla Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa also evokes this point in his commentary, confirming that the Vedas deal with both superior and inferior knowledge. Superior knowledge is composed of passages that describe the ultimate goal of life, bringing one to the spiritual platform, while inferior knowledge is knowledge about fruitive activities that bring only temporary material results.

This is also mentioned in the Bhagavad-gītā (2.45), where Kṛṣṇa encourages Arjuna to focus on the ultimate goal of the Vedas instead of being distracted by secondary principles, by declaring: “The Vedas deal mainly with the subject of the three modes of material nature. O Arjuna, become transcendental to these three modes. Be free from all dualities and from all anxieties for gain and safety, and be established in the self.”

In his purport to this verse, Śrīla Prabhupāda mentions that “All material activities involve actions and reactions in the three modes of material nature. They are meant for fruitive results, which cause bondage in the material world. The Vedas deal mostly with fruitive activities to gradually elevate the general public from the field of sense gratification to a position on the transcendental plane. Arjuna, as a student and friend of Lord Kṛṣṇa, is advised to raise himself to the transcendental position of Vedānta philosophy where, in the beginning, there is brahma-jijñāsā, or questions on the supreme transcendence.”

Descriptions connected with pradhāna and the material creation are also considered part of this inferior system of knowledge denounced on text 1.1.5. The very next verse, 1.1.6, however, presents a higher system of knowledge, parā-vidyā, or transcendental knowledge, by which one can understand the akṣara, the Absolute Truth, who is beyond the material manifestation and material qualities. He is described on 1.1.6 as being invisible, ungraspable, without family or caste, without form, without eyes and ears, without hands and feet, eternal, all-pervading, extremely subtle, unchanging, and the source of all beings.

Since text 1.1.6 already announced the transition to a higher truth, superior to anything material (including pradhāna) and transcendental to all material creations and qualities, it does not make any sense to presume that the passage would then start another explanation about the pradhāna, which was already previously rejected.

This becomes even clearer when we take into account the qualities described in verse 2.1.2: divya (divine), amūrta (non-material), aja (unborn), etc., which continue the description of the same akṣara.

Putting all these facts together, Śrī Baladeva concludes that akṣara in both passages of the Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Sūtra 21 has already drawn this conclusion, and now sūtra 22 will eliminate the rival candidates.

Sūtra 1.2.22 - It is not pradhāna or the jīva

viśeṣeṇa bheda-vyapadeśāc ca netarau

viśeṣaṇa: because of the description of the qualities; bheda-vyapadeśāt: from the scriptural reference indicating distinction; ca: and; na: not; itarau: the two others (pradhāna and the jīva).

It does not refer to pradhāna or the jīva, because the qualities attributed to akṣara can’t be attributed to the other two.

Commentary: Verse 2.1.2 of the Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad starts with the words “divyo hy amūrtaḥ puruṣaḥ” (The Supreme Lord is transcendental, without a material form), while Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad 1.1.9 mentions: yah sarvajnah sarvavid yasya (The Supreme Lord is omniscient and knows everything in all detail).

Because akṣara is described as a transcendental person, it’s clear that the passage does not apply to pradhāna, which is just a mass of the building blocks of the material elements. It also does not apply to the jīva because of qualities such as being all-knowing, which are absent in the individual soul.

As previously discussed, the Lord is at the same time all-pervasive and the possessor of a personal form. When the Lord is described as “formless”, this emphasizes the fact that He has no material form, and not that He literally has no form. This follows the same logic as the word “avyakta” used in many passages. Avyakta means “unmanifested”, meaning there is no material form, but it doesn’t imply that there is no spiritual form.

In CC Madhya 6.167, Śrīla Prabhupāda mentions that, “According to the Vedic instructions, the Supreme Personality of Godhead has His eternal, transcendental form, which is always blissful and full of knowledge. Impersonalists think that “material” refers to the forms within our experience and that “spiritual” refers to an absence of form. However, one should know that beyond this material nature is another nature, which is spiritual. Just as there are material forms in this material world, there are spiritual forms in the spiritual world. This is confirmed by all Vedic literature. The spiritual forms in the transcendental world have nothing to do with the negative conception of formlessness.”

Sūtra 1.2.23 - Other passages specifically describe the Lord

rūpopanyāsāc ca

rūpa: form; upanyāsāt: because of the mention or reference; ca: and, also.

The akṣara is not pradhāna or the jīva, also because of other passages, which specifically describe the form of the Lord.

Commentary: Many references in the Upaniṣads describe the Lord as possessing a form. This sūtra emphasizes that this is another important argument, since pradhāna by definition has no form. Although some verses appear to indicate the absence of a form (such as the Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad 1.1.5-6), other passages clearly indicate a form, and when all passages are taken as a whole, it becomes clear that the Lord, described as akṣara in the Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad, has a form that is not material.

In this context, Śrī Baladeva quotes another passage from later 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.”

There are five kinds of liberation: sāyujya, sālokya, sārūpya, sārṣṭi, and sāmīpya. On his purport to CC Madhya 6.266, Śrīla Prabhupāda explains: “Sālokya means that after material liberation one is promoted to the planet where the Supreme Personality of Godhead resides, sāmīpya means remaining an associate of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, sārūpya means attaining a four-handed form exactly like that of the Lord., sārṣṭi means attaining opulences like those of the Supreme Lord, and sāyujya means merging into the Brahman effulgence of the Lord. These are the five types of liberation.”

When the verse mentions “niranjanah paramam samyam upaiti”, the meaning is that the seer of the golden form of the Lord attains sārūpya, assuming a transcendental form exactly like that of the Lord.

Sūtra 1.2.24 - The context in the scriptures

prakaraṇāc ca

prakaraṇāt: from the context; ca: also.

And because of the context.

Commentary: This sūtra finalizes the topic, arguing that it’s clear from the context that the akṣara is the Supreme Lord and no one else. Only He possesses the qualities that are described in the verses. To close this topic, Śrī Baladeva quotes from the Viṣṇu Purāṇa (6.5.65-70), giving additional evidence:

dve vidye veditavye iti cātharvaṇī śrutiḥ
parayā tv akṣara-prāptiḥ ṛg-vedādi-mayī aparā

“The Atharvaṇic śruti (Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad) declares that two kinds of knowledge are to be known. Through the higher, parā-vidyā, one attains akṣara, the Imperishable, while the lower, aparā-vidyā, consists of the Ṛg Veda and the other Vedas.”

yat tad avyaktam ajaram acintyam ajam avyayam
anirdeśyam arūpam ca pānipādādy-asamyutam

“He is unmanifest, He never becomes old, He is inconceivable, unborn, imperishable, indescribable, and without a material form with hands and feet.”

vibhum sarva-gatam nityam bhūta-yonim akāraṇam
vyāpy-avyāpyam yataḥ sarvam tad vai paśyanti sūrayaḥ

“He is present everywhere, unchanging, the source of all beings and of everything that exists. He pervades everything, but remains unpervaded. He is known by the sages.”

tad brahma paramam dhāma tad dhyeyam mokṣa-kānkṣiṇām
śruti-vākyoditam sūkṣmam tad viṣṇoḥ paramam padam

“This Supreme Brahman is the Supreme Abode. He is to be meditated upon by all those who desire liberation. They attain the Supreme abode of Viṣnu, the most subtle, which is beyond sense perception and is proclaimed in the words of the Vedas.”

tad eva bhagavad-vācyam svarūpam paramātmanaḥ
vācako bhagavac-chabdas tasyādyasyākṣarātmanaḥ

“That Supreme Lord is indeed Paramātmā, the all-pervading Supreme Self. He is Bhagavān, the possessor of all transcendental opulences. This very word, ‘Bhagavān’, indicates that He is the primordial being, akṣara; the imperishable Supreme Self.”

evam nigaditārthasya sat-tattvam tasya tattvataḥ
jñāyate yena taj-jñānam param anyat trayīmayam

“This knowledge is the highest truth concerning the Supreme Lord. By this knowledge, one can realize the Absolute Truth. It is superior to everything else in the three Vedas.”

This passage leaves no doubt about the identity of akṣara as the Supreme Lord. Only due to ignorance one may try to define it as something else.

The passage from the Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad describing akṣara

Here is the full passage from the Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad:
śaunako ha vai mahāśālo ’ngirasam vidhivad upasannaḥ papraccha
kasmin nu bhagavo vijñāte sarvam idam vijñātam bhavatīti

“Śaunaka, the respected householder, approached Angirasa following proper etiquette and inquired: “Oh great sage who knows everything! Knowing what does all become known?” (Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad 1.1.3)

tasmai sa hovāca dve vidye veditavyo
iti ha sma yad brahma-vido vadanti—parā caivāparā ca

“Angirasa, the great teacher answered: There are two kinds of educational systems. One deals with transcendental knowledge (parā-vidyā) and the other with material knowledge (aparā-vidyā).” (Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad 1.1.4)

tatrāparā ṛg vedo yajur vedaḥ
sāma-vedo ’tharva-vedaḥ, śikṣā kalpo vyākaraṇam
niruktam chando jyotiṣam iti
atha parā—yayā tad akṣaram adhigamyate

“The Ṛg Veda, Yajur Veda, Sāma Veda, and Atharva Veda, along with their corollaries, known as śikṣā, kalpa, vyākaraṇa, nirukta, chanda, and jyotiṣa, belong to the inferior system of material knowledge (aparā-vidyā). By parā-vidyā, one can understand the akṣara: Brahman, the Absolute Truth.” (Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad 1.1.5)

yat tad adreśyam agrāhyam agotram
avarṇam acakṣuḥ-śtrotram tad apāṇipādam
nityam vibhum sarva-gatam susūkṣmam
tad avyayam yad bhūta-yonim paripaśyanti dhīrāḥ

“The wise perceive that imperishable Supreme Brahman, who is invisible, ungraspable, without family or caste, without form, without eyes and ears, without hands and feet; who is eternal, all-pervading, extremely subtle, and unchanging, and who is the source of all beings.” (Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad 1.1.6)

yathorṇanābhiḥ sṛjate gṛhṇate ca
yathā pṛthivyām oṣadhayaḥ sambhavanti
yathā sataḥ puruṣāt keśa-lomāni
tathā ’kṣarāt sambhavatīha viśvam

“Just as a spider produces a web from its body and then withdraws it, just as plants and herbs are produced from the earth, and just as hair grows on a living person, so does the universe emerge from the akṣara, the imperishable Brahman.” (Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad 1.1.7)

tapasā cīyate brahma tato ’nnam abhijāyate
annāt prāṇo manaḥ satyam lokāḥ karmasu cāmṛtam

“Brahman, desiring to create, manifested the material creation. First, pradhāna, the sum total of material energy was manifested, which is seen by the souls as an object of their enjoyment (anna). Agitated by the time energy of the Lord and inseminated with the innumerable souls, pradhāna produced the Hiranyagarbha, the golden egg which is the collective, cosmic entity holding Brahman’s power of creation. From this Hiranyagarbha, innumerable material universes were produced, and in each of them, the Lord manifested as the universal form, the subtle cosmic manifestation of the universe. From the Lord, Brahmā appeared, creating the planetary systems and the bodies of the different living beings. Inside this material manifestation, these living beings perform material actions and receive the results, but by the development of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, one can finally become free.” (Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad 1.1.8)

yaḥ sarva-jñaḥ sarva-vid yasya jñāna-mayam tapaḥ
tasmād etad brahma nāma rūpam annam ca jāyate

“From that Supreme Brahman, who is omniscient and who knows everything in all detail, from His creative potency, based on intelligence and knowledge, arose the mahat-tattva. From this external potency, also spiritual and non-different from the Supreme Brahman, this world of names and forms that is enjoyed by the illusioned souls is born.” (Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad 1.1.9)

tad etat satyam
yathā sudīptāt pāvakād visphulingāḥ, sahasraśaḥ prabhavante sarūpāḥ
tathākṣarād vividhāḥ saumya bhāvāḥ, prajāyante tatra caivāpiyanti

“Brahman is the Supreme Truth! Just as countless sparks emerge from a blazing fire, all similar in nature, so, O gentle one, from the imperishable Lord (akṣara), various beings come forth and eventually return.” (Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad 2.1.1)

divyo hy amūrtaḥ purusaḥ sabāhyābhyantaro hy ajaḥ
aprāṇo hy amanāḥ śubhro hy akṣarāt parataḥ paraḥ

“The Supreme, radiant Lord is without a material form (amūrtaḥ), he is simultaneously inside and outside, permeating everything (bāhya-abhyantaraḥ). He is unborn (ajaḥ), without need for the vital airs or a material mind (aprāṇaḥ, amanāḥ). He is pure and spotless (śubhraḥ) and exists beyond the imperishable pradhāna (akṣarāt). He is the highest and transcends all.” (Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad 2.1.2)

The Supreme Lord, who is described as akṣara in this passages, is then described in the remaining sections of the text as the creator of everything that exists, including material forms and senses, the supreme goal of the process of self-realization, as residing inside the cave of the heart together with the soul, and as the Supreme object of love, expressed through transcendental devotional service.

Exercise

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

Opponent: “The passages from the Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad you cite describe akṣara with qualities such as being invisible (adṛśyam), ungraspable (agrāhyam), without eyes or ears (acakṣuḥ-śrotram), without limbs (apāṇipādam), subtle (su-sūkṣmam), imperishable (avyayam), and the womb of beings (bhūta-yonim). Later, another passage describes a puruṣa as amūrtaḥ (formless), aprāṇaḥ (without prāṇa), amanāḥ (without mind), śubhraḥ (pure), and higher than the imperishable (akṣarāt parataḥ paraḥ).

On careful examination, these qualities point not to a personal Lord, but rather to the eternal pradhāna, and above this ever-changing pradhana is the puruṣa, or jiva, who is the knower of the field of activities.

Why are we so certain?

a) Terms like invisible, ungraspable, without eyes, without ears, without limbs, etc., exclude the possibility of a conscious agent with senses and activity. A Lord who sees, hears, acts, and guides cannot be defined in this way. On the other hand, these terms perfectly describe pradhāna, the insentient substratum, which has no senses or limbs.

b) The description of the akṣara being eternal, unchanging, subtle, and all-pervading directly points to pradhāna, which is eternal, imperishable, all-pervading in its subtle state, and the cause from which all manifest elements evolve.

c) In text 2.1.2, the Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad speaks of a puruṣa who is akṣarāt parataḥ paraḥ (higher than the imperishable). If akṣara were already the Supreme Lord, there could be nothing higher. Thus, the natural reading is:

akṣara = pradhāna (imperishable matter),
puruṣa = jīva (the conscious self, higher than matter).

If you take akṣara as the Supreme Personality, then you must explain why the text calls him amūrtaḥ (formless), apāṇipādam (without hands or feet), and amanāḥ (without mind). If these are taken literally, it negates your doctrine of a personal God with form and qualities, and if you argue that they are used metaphorically, you are arbitrarily discarding the plain meaning of the text.

Therefore, the only consistent reading is that the word akṣara in Muṇḍaka 1.1.5-6 and 2.1.2 refers to pradhāna, the imperishable material cause, and the word puruṣa in 2.1.2 refers to the jīva, the conscious self superior to matter.

To identify akṣara with Bhagavān on 1.1.5-6 is both forced and inconsistent with the language of the text, since on 2.1.2 the word akṣara is clearly used as meaning pradhāna.”

Description: This opponent is a student of the atheistic Sānkhya school. We will study this philosophy and learn to defeat it in detail on the 4th pāda. For now, our debate is centered on this specific passage.

Note that the opponent uses an incorrect interpretation of text 2.1.2 from the Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad to sustain his point that akṣarā means pradhāna and above that is the jīva. The verse says: divyo hy amūrtaḥ purusaḥ… akṣarāt parataḥ paraḥ (The Supreme Lord is transcendental, without a material form, He exists beyond the imperishable pradhāna—akṣarāt). The opponent correctly translates the word akṣarāt (which in this passage refers to pradhāna, which is defined as imperishable), but interprets the verse in a creative way, with the word puruṣa being attributed to the jīva. To refute this point, the correct meaning of the verse has to be established first. You can note that the verse describes a number of qualities that can’t be attributed to the soul.

The same words can be used in different meanings according to the context, sometimes even inside the same book. In Muṇḍaka 1.1.5, akṣara means the Supreme Lord, because the context of the verse defines akṣara as transcendental, a quality that can’t be attributed to pradhāna (which is clearly confirmed in text 1.1.9). On 2.1.2, however, akṣara means pradhāna, because in this particular verse, the Lord is already mentioned by the word purusaḥ, and the word akṣara is used in the ordinary sense, as something that is imperishable. The opponent may sound consistent by translating akṣara as pradhāna in both verses, but by doing so, he misses the point of the passage.

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