The ānanda-maya: reaching ultimate bliss (Taittiriya Upaniṣad #7)
"He who knows the bliss of that Supreme Lord, the ananda-maya, whom the mind fails to find, fears nothing. Material thoughts don't affect him. He doesn't rejoice with the good or lament for the evil"
After describing the greatness of the Lord, the text proceeds to define ananda, spiritual bliss. This whole chapter urges us to seek this ananda, and this section tries to define it. As a point of reference, it starts by defining the extension of human bliss. In terms of material enjoyment, no one can be happier than a young, handsome man, who is strong, intelligent, well-versed in the scriptures, and has the wealth of the whole word. This is what materialistic persons aspire for. However, this level of happiness is quite insignificant compared with the spiritual bliss this chapter speaks about.
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Text 2.8.1
bhīṣā’smād vātaḥ pavate/ bhīṣodeti sūryaḥ
bhīṣā’smād agniś cendraś ca
mṛtyur dhāvati pañcama iti/ saiṣā ānandasya mīmāmsā bhavati
yuvā syāt sādhu yuvā’dhyāyakaḥ/ āśiṣṭho dṛḍhiṣṭho baliṣṭhaḥ
tasyeyam pṛthivī sarvā vittasya pūrṇā syāt/ sa eko mānuṣa ānandaḥ
From fear of Him, the wind blows. From fear of Him, the sun rises. From fear of Him, Agni, Indra and even Yamaraja perform their duties. Now, hear from me about the definition of ānanda, bliss. Take a noble young man, who is well versed in the Vedas, very intelligent, handsome, and strong. Let the world be full of wealth for him. That is the measure of human bliss.
Commentary: Srila Prabhupada mentions the first line of this verse (bhīṣā’smād vātaḥ pavate) in his purport to BG 9.6. This whole purport works as a commentary for the first part of this verse (From fear of Him, the wind blows. From fear of Him, the sun rises. From fear of Him, Agni, Indra and even Yamaraja perform their duties):
“For the ordinary person it is almost inconceivable how the huge material creation is resting in Him. But the Lord is giving an example which may help us to understand. Space is the biggest manifestation we can conceive. The cosmic manifestation rests in space. Space permits the movement of even the atoms and on up to the greatest planets, the sun and the moon. Although the sky (or wind or air) is great, still it is situated within space. Space is not beyond the sky.
Similarly, all the wonderful cosmic manifestations are existing by the supreme will of God, and all of them are subordinate to that supreme will. As we generally say, not a blade of grass moves without the will of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Thus everything is moving under His will: by His will everything is being created, everything is being maintained, and everything is being annihilated. Still He is aloof from everything, as space is always aloof from the activities of the atmosphere. In the Upaniṣads, it is stated, "It is out of the fear of the Supreme Lord that the wind is blowing." In the Garga Upaniṣad also it is stated, "By the supreme order, under the superintendence of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the moon, the sun and the great planets are moving." In the Brahma-samhitā this is also stated. There is also a description of the movement of the sun, and it is said that the sun is considered to be one of the eyes of the Supreme Lord and that it has immense potency to diffuse heat and light. Still it is moving in its prescribed orbit by the order and the supreme will of Govinda. So, from the Vedic literature we can find evidence that this material manifestation, which appears to us to be very wonderful and great, is under the complete control of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This will be further explained in the later verses of this chapter.”
After describing the greatness of the Lord, the verse proceeds to define ananda, spiritual bliss. This whole chapter urges us to seek this ananda, and this section tries to define it. As a point of reference, it starts by defining the extension of human bliss. In terms of material enjoyment, no one can be happier than a young, handsome man, who is strong, intelligent, well-versed in the scriptures, and has the wealth of the whole word. This is what materialistic persons aspire for. However, this level of happiness is quite insignificant compared with the spiritual bliss this chapter speaks about.
Text 2.8.2
te ye śatam mānuṣā ānandāḥ
sa eko manuṣya-gandharvāṇām ānandaḥ
śrotriyasya cākāma-hatasya
te ye śatam manuṣya-gandharvāṇām ānandāḥ
sa eko deva-gandharvāṇām ānandaḥ
śrotriyasya cākāma-hatasya
te ye śatam deva-gandharvāṇām ānandāḥ
sa ekaḥ pitṛṇām cira-loka-lokānām ānandaḥ
śrotriyasya cākāma-hatasya
te ye śatam pitṛṇām cira-loka-lokānām ānandāḥ
sa eka ājānajānām devānām ānandaḥ
śrotriyasya cākāma-hatasya
If we multiply this limit of human bliss a hundred times, it equals the bliss of a manuṣya-gandharva. If we multiply the bliss of a manuṣya-gandharva one hundred times, it equals the pleasure of a deva-gandharva, and if we multiply that one hundred times, it equals the bliss of the ancestors living in Pitṛloka. If we go further and multiply this standard of bliss of the Pitṛs one hundred times, we come to the standard of bliss of a lower demigod born in Swargaloka. Each one of these different standards of bliss is matched by a self-realized soul who has no material desires.
Commentary: In CC Antya 2.10, Prabhupada mentions:
"In the Siddhānta-śiromaṇi, chapter one (Golādhyāya), in the Bhuvana-kośa section, the nine khaṇḍas are mentioned as follows:
aindram kaśeru sakalam kila tāmraparṇam
anyad gabhastimad ataś ca kumārikākhyam
nāgam ca saumyam iha vāruṇam antya-khaṇḍam
gāndharva-samjñam iti bhārata-varṣa-madhye
"Within Bhārata-varṣa, there are nine khaṇḍas. They are known as (1) Aindra, (2) Kaśeru, (3) Tāmraparṇa, (4) Gabhastimat, (5) Kumārikā, (6) Nāga, (7) Saumya, (8) Vāruṇa and (9) Gāndharva."
It seems that by "manuṣya-gandharva" this verse refers to these earthly Gandharvas who live in Bhārata-varṣa. Although very elevated if compared to ordinary human beings, these earthly Gandharvas have a much lower standard of living than the deva-gandharvas living in Swargaloka.
The Puranas describe our universe as being composed of 14 planetary systems, one of them being Bhu-Mandala, of which our planet is part. Bhu-Mandala is described as being composed of different islands, or dwipas. The central one is Jambudwipa, of which Bharata-varsa is part.
Bharata-varsa is in turn comprised of the nine dwipas described here. Some interpret the word "dwipa" as being literally an island, part of a gigantic flat structure, but Prabhupada concludes that "dwipa" is just a metaphor for planets floating in the ocean of space. As he mentions on CC Madhya 20.218: "The planets are called dvīpas. Outer space is like an ocean of air. Just as there are islands in the watery ocean, these planets in the ocean of space are called dvīpas, or islands in outer space."
From this description, it appears that our planet is just one of these nine dwipas that comprise Bharata-varsa, and Bharata-varsa is in turn just one of the divisions of Jambudwipa, the central island of the planetary system of Bhu-Mandala.
Apart from Jambudwipa, there are six other great islands, called Plakṣadvīpa, Śālmalīdvīpa, Kuśadvīpa, Krauñcadvīpa, Śākadvīpa, and Puṣkaradvīpa. Each of these islands is divided into seven regions. In this way, the whole planetary system is formed by different planets spread around the cosmos. Souls who have the necessary qualifications are however capable of moving through these different planets and thus accessing the different parts of Jambudwipa and the other larger islands with ease, just like Pariksit Maharaja visited the different varsas of Jambudwipa and received tribute from the different kings there.
Most of the other varsas that compose Bhu-mandala are called earthly heavens because the inhabitants there have a much higher standard of living than we enjoy on our planet. It is described that they live for 10,000 years and enjoy a standard of living similar to the inhabitants of Treta-yuga. It is also described that when the inhabitants of the celestial planets fall from their positions, having exhausted their karma, they take birth in one of these varsas to enjoy their remaining piety before taking birth on Earth to generate a new set of karma.
Higher than Bhu-Mandala are the planetary systems of Bhuvarloka and Swargaloka, and still higher are Maharloka, Janaloka, Tapoloka, and Satyaloka.
Just like the relative standard of material happiness of the celestial Gandharvas is a hundred times superior to the earthly Gandarvas, inhabitants of Pitṛloka, enjoy a standard of living one hundred times better than them.
Pitṛloka is the court of Yamaraja, the planet of the ancestors. Although it is geographically situated at the bottom of the universe, it is a celestial planet, where the ancestors of pious families can live in great delight, remaining connected with their descendants. To be promoted to Pitrloka, one has to not only be pious but also produce pious descendants who will maintain the family traditions and offer oblations (pinda) to the ancestors every year.
The descendants can, in turn, later also join their ancestors in Pitrloka, and thus the family remains connected in the afterlife for as long as the next descendants remain faithful and continue to offer oblations to the ancestors every year, generation after generation. However, when the family tradition is broken, as it happens with most families in Kali-yuga, all the ancestors fall from Pitṛloka and receive their next bodies according to their karma. The family is thus permanently destroyed. Arjuna mentions this when he says that "An increase of unwanted population certainly causes hellish life both for the family and for those who destroy the family tradition. The ancestors of such corrupt families fall down because the performances for offering them food and water are entirely stopped." (BG 1.41)
Text 2.8.3
te ye śatam ājānajānām devānām ānandāḥ
sa ekaḥ karma-devānām devānām ānandaḥ
ye karmaṇā devānapiyanti/ śrotriyasya cākāma-hatasya
te ye śatam karma-devānām devānām ānandāḥ/ sa eko devānām ānandaḥ
śrotriyasya cākāma-hatasya
te ye śatam devānām ānandāḥ/ sa eka indrasyānandaḥ
śrotriyasya cākāma-hatasya
If we multiply the bliss of the lower demigods by one hundred, we reach the standard of bliss of the sacrificial demigods, and one hundred times that is the bliss of principal demigods. If we again multiply this one hundred times, we reach the standard of bliss of Indra. Each one of these different standards of bliss is matched by a self-realized soul who has no material desires.
Commentary: The karma-devās are persons who are elevated to the celestial planets by perfectly performing ritualistic activities from the karma-kanda section of the Vedas. Different from other demigods, who live for the whole duration of the reign of Manu (306.72 million years), the duration of life of these sacrificial devas is fixed according to the amount of their piety. As soon as their pious credits are exhausted, they fall from the celestial planets together with the rain and assume human bodies. From there, they may again perform fruitive activities for several lives until they can be again elevated to the celestial planets. These are the people Krsna refers to in verses 2.42 and 2.43 of the Bhagavad-Gita:
“Men of small knowledge are very much attached to the flowery words of the Vedas, which recommend various fruitive activities for elevation to heavenly planets, resultant good birth, power, and so forth. Being desirous of sense gratification and opulent life, they say that there is nothing more than this.”
Although they are followers of the Vedas, they are called men of small knowledge, because they don’t understand the real purpose of the Vedas, becoming instead attached to the ephemeral and temporary secondary results promised in the scriptures to attract ordinary people into the pious path. As a result, they get caught in a long cycle of going up and down from the celestial planets. When they finally become tired of it they generally desire impersonal liberation, and thus they are cheated life after life of their true position as eternal servants of the Lord. This is also mentioned in the Bhagavad-Gita 9.21 and 2.44:
“When they have thus enjoyed vast heavenly sense pleasure and the results of their pious activities are exhausted, they return to this mortal planet again. Thus those who seek sense enjoyment by adhering to the principles of the three Vedas achieve only repeated birth and death.”
“In the minds of those who are too attached to sense enjoyment and material opulence, and who are bewildered by such things, the resolute determination for devotional service to the Supreme Lord does not take place.”
After them we have the principal demigods, who preside over the different celestial planets, and finally Indra, who is the leader of all demigods. The verse emphasizes, however, that just like all the previous standards of pleasure mentioned before, all these progressively higher standards of happiness are matched by a self-realized soul, who is free from material desires. This is indicated by the line śrotriyasya cākāma-hatasya, which is repeated after each new standard of happiness is described.
The logic is similar to when we say that the wealth of a street sweeper is matched by the king, as well as the wealth of an ordinary soldier and a minister. Whatever a sweeper, a soldier, or a minister can pay, the king can also pay. It suggests that the king is more wealthy than all of them, but it doesn't directly reveal the extent of the wealth of the king.
Text 2.8.4
te ye śatamindrasyānandāḥ/ sa eko bṛhaspater ānandaḥ
śrotriyasya cākāma-hatasya
te ye śatam bṛhaspater ānandāḥ/ sa ekaḥ prajāpater ānandaḥ
śrotriyasya cākāma-hatasya
te ye śatam prajāpater ānandāḥ/ sa eko brahmaṇa ānandaḥ
śrotriyasya cākāma-hatasya
If we multiply the bliss of Indra a hundred times, we reach the standard of bliss of Bṛhaspati, and if we multiply his bliss by one hundred, it equals the bliss of Brahma. If we multiply it one hundred times, it becomes equal to the bliss of the Supreme Brahman. This same bliss is enjoyed by a liberated soul.
Commentary: Brihaspati is a great sage who is extremely advanced in knowledge and pious activities. Because of this, he receives the post of spiritual master of the demigods and enjoys a standard of happiness still higher than Indra. Brihaspati is however not a pure devotee and therefore his standard of happiness is superseded by others who are still higher.
The world prajāpati can be used in connection to the high demigods who increase the population of the universe (like Daksa), Lord Brahma, and also the Supreme Lord. In this verse, Lord Brahma is indicated.
Lord Brahma enjoys a standard of happiness still higher than Brihaspati, but even Brahma can't enjoy the same standard of happiness as the Supreme Brahman. A liberated soul thus enjoys a standard of happiness much higher than even Lord Brahma. The verse refers to the spiritual bliss of Brahman as being 100 times higher than the bliss of Lord Brahma but doesn't imply that it is "just" 100 times higher. The logic of the passage is that 100 times indicates a direction and not an exact number. The logic is similar to saying that "the sun, moving many yojanas per second, goes like an arrow." It gives the idea that the movement is fast, and not that the movement of the sun is not faster than a regular arrow.
In the Caitanya Caritāmṛta (Adi 7.97) it is mentioned: "Compared to the ocean of transcendental bliss that one tastes by chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra, the pleasure derived from impersonal Brahman realization [brahmānanda] is like the shallow water in a canal."
In the purport, Prabhupada quotes a verse from the Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu (1.1.38): "If brahmānanda, the transcendental bliss derived from understanding impersonal Brahman, were multiplied a million times, such a quantity of brahmānanda could not compare with even an atomic portion of the pleasure relished in pure devotional service."
Therefore, the standard of happiness in the ananda-maya platform is unlimited. Even the happiness of attaining the impersonal Brahman is unlimitedly greater than any form of happiness in this material world, and the happiness of attaining a personal relationship with the Lord in one of the spiritual planets is millions and billions of times higher than the happiness of attaining the Brahmajyoti.
In this way, finally, the extent of happiness of a pure devotee of the Lord is revealed. Nothing else can be compared to it.
Text 2.8.5
sa yaś cāyam puruṣe/ yaś cāsāv āditye/ sa ekaḥ
sa ya evam vit/ asmāl lokāt pretya
etam anna-mayam ātmānam upasankrāmati
etam prāṇamayam ātmānam upasankrāmati
etam manomayam ātmānam upasankrāmati
etam vijñāna-mayam ātmānam upasankrāmati
etam ānanda-mayam ātmānam upasankrāmati
tad apy eṣa śloko bhavati
He who knows this Brahman in man (as Paramātmā) and in the sun (as Surya-Narayana) and sees both as one, reaches this Supreme Brahman, the ananda-maya, who is also the foundation of the anna-maya, prāṇa-maya, mano-maya, and vijñāna-maya.
Commentary: Yogis find the Lord inside their hearts as Paramātmā, while Brahmanas meditate on the Lord in the form of the Sun while chanting the Gāyatrī mantra. Devotees worship the Lord in the form of the deity and so on, but there is no difference between all these forms. The Lord is one.
The ananda-maya is the origin and foundation of all the other Purusas, and therefore, when one attains the Lord in His personal form, there is nothing more to be attained. This is the ultimate perfection.
Text 2.9.1
yato vāco nivartante/ aprāpya manasā saha
ānandam brahmaṇo vidvān
na bibheti kutaścaneti
etam ha vāva na tapati
kim aham sādhu nākaravam/ kim aham pāpam akaravam iti
sa ya evam vidvān ete ātmānam spṛṇute
ubhe hy evaiṣa ete ātmānam spṛṇute/ ya evam veda
ityupaniṣat
He who knows the bliss of that Supreme Lord, the ananda-maya, whom the mind fails to find, fears nothing. Material thoughts don't affect him. He doesn't rejoice with the good or lament for the evil. He finds equanimity in both. He becomes free from both good and bad karma and attains the supreme destination. This is the secret teaching (ityupaniṣat).
Commentary: The Vedas describe many types of fruitive activities to increase one's piety, and many types of expiatory processes to counteract one's sinful reactions. The history of Ajamila, however, describes a process that can free us from both material piety and impiety, making us completely free from all types of karmic reactions and thus eligible for liberation. That's the process of devotional service, composed of hearing and chanting the holy names of the Lord, remembering his qualities and pastimes, and so on.
The process of devotional service is so perfect that it can immediately destroy both pious and impious reactions and in this way set us on the path of liberation from birth and death. Both good and bad karma are bad in a sense because both tie us to this world. Sinful reactions make us go to hell and take birth in the lower species, while reactions to pious work make us take birth as rich persons or even demigods to enjoy such results. However, as Krsna explains, we will find the same problems of birth, death, old age, and disease anywhere in this material world. Good karma is thus also bad because it forces us to remain in this material world. Krsna consciousness, on the other hand, simultaneously closes both accounts, destroying not just the results of past sins, but also the tendency to commit such activities in the first place.
After hearing the descriptions of the hellish planets at the end of the 5th canto of the Srimad Bhagavatam, Pariksit Maharaja became anxious to hear about a process that could save people from such torment. This knowledge is very confidential, therefore Sukadeva Goswami first tested him by recommending the process of expiation for sinful activities described in the Vedas. Pariksit however rejected this process considering it no better than the bath of an elephant, because it may destroy the results of one's sinful activities, but does not destroy the material desires that make one act in such ways in the first place. Pleased to see his disciple passing the test, Sukadeva Goswami explained the great secret by narrating the history of Ajamila.
As Prabhupada describes in his purport to SB 6.3.22:
"The Bhāgavatam further says, sa vai pumsām paro dharmo yato bhaktir adhokṣaje: the supreme religion is that which teaches its followers how to love the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is beyond the reach of experimental knowledge. Such a religious system begins with tan-nāma-grahaṇa, chanting of the holy name of the Lord (śravaṇam kīrtanam viṣṇoḥ smaraṇam pāda-sevanam). After chanting the holy name of the Lord and dancing in ecstasy, one gradually sees the form of the Lord, the pastimes of the Lord and the transcendental qualities of the Lord. This way one fully understands the situation of the Personality of Godhead. One can come to this understanding of the Lord, how He descends into the material world, how He takes His births and what activities He performs, but one can know this only by executing devotional service. As stated in Bhagavad-gītā, bhaktyā mām abhijānāti: simply by devotional service one can understand everything about the Supreme Lord. If one fortunately understands the Supreme Lord in this way, the result is tyaktvā deham punar janma naiti: after giving up his material body, he no longer has to take birth in this material world. Instead, he returns home, back to Godhead. That is the ultimate perfection."
Later, specifically speaking about the potency of the holy names, he reveals:
"This power of chanting the holy name was proved by the liberation of Ajāmila. When Ajāmila chanted the holy name of Nārāyaṇa, he did not precisely remember the Supreme Lord; instead, he remembered his own son. At the time of death, Ajāmila certainly was not very clean; indeed, he was famous as a great sinner. Furthermore, one’s physiological condition is completely disturbed at the time of death, and in such an awkward condition it would certainly have been very difficult for Ajāmila to have chanted clearly. Nevertheless, Ajāmila achieved liberation simply by chanting the holy name of the Lord. Therefore, what is to be said of those who are not sinful like Ajāmila? It is to be concluded that with a strong vow one should chant the holy name of the Lord — Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare — for thus one will certainly be delivered from the clutches of māyā by the grace of Kṛṣṇa.
The chanting of the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra is recommended even for persons who commit offenses, because if they continue chanting they will gradually chant offenselessly. By chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra without offenses, one increases his love for Kṛṣṇa. As stated by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, premā pumartho mahān: one’s main concern should be to increase one’s attachment to the Supreme Personality of Godhead and to increase one’s love for Him." (SB 6.3.24 purport)
And then concludes:
"As stated in Bhagavad-gītā (15.15), vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyaḥ: the real purpose of studying the Vedas is to approach the lotus feet of Lord Kṛṣṇa. Unfortunately, unintelligent people bewildered by the grandeur of Vedic yajñas want to see gorgeous sacrifices performed. They want Vedic mantras chanted and huge amounts of money spent for such ceremonies. Sometimes we have to observe the Vedic ritualistic ceremonies to please such unintelligent men. Recently, when we established a large Kṛṣṇa-Balarāma temple in Vṛndāvana, we were obliged to have Vedic ceremonies enacted by brāhmaṇas because the inhabitants of Vṛndāvana, especially the smārta-brāhmaṇas, would not accept Europeans and Americans as bona fide brāhmaṇas. Thus we had to engage brāhmaṇas to perform costly yajñas. In spite of these yajñas, the members of our Society performed saṅkīrtana loudly with mṛdaṅgas, and I considered the saṅkīrtana more important than the Vedic ritualistic ceremonies. Both the ceremonies and the saṅkīrtana were going on simultaneously. The ceremonies were meant for persons interested in Vedic rituals for elevation to heavenly planets (jaḍī-kṛta-matir madhu-puṣpitāyām), whereas the saṅkīrtana was meant for pure devotees interested in pleasing the Supreme Personality of Godhead. We would simply have performed saṅkīrtana, but then the inhabitants of Vṛndāvana would not have taken the installation ceremony seriously. As explained here, the Vedic performances are meant for those whose intelligence has been dulled by the flowery language of the Vedas, which describe fruitive activities intended to elevate one to the higher planets.
Especially in this Age of Kali, saṅkīrtana alone is sufficient. If the members of our temples in the different parts of the world simply continue saṅkīrtana before the Deity, especially before Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, they will remain perfect. There is no need of any other performances. Nevertheless, to keep oneself clean in habits and mind, Deity worship and other regulative principles are required. Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī says that although saṅkīrtana is sufficient for the perfection of life, the arcanā, or worship of the Deity in the temple, must continue in order that the devotees may stay clean and pure. Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura therefore recommended that one follow both processes simultaneously. We strictly follow his principle of performing Deity worship and saṅkīrtana along parallel lines. This we should continue." (SB 6.3.25 purport)
This is the secret.
Chapter Three: The Bhṛguvallī
Invocation
aum saha nāvavatu/ saha nau bhunaktu/ saha vīryam karavāvahai
tejasvi nāvadhītamastu mā vidviṣāvahai
aum śāntiḥ śāntiḥ śāntiḥ
May the mantra protect both of us. May we enjoy studying together. May we be able to study with vigor. May the knowledge we study bless us with understanding and realization, and may it not give rise to enmity due to misunderstanding. Peace, peace, peace.
Text 3.1.1
bhṛgur vai vāruṇiḥ/ varuṇam pitaram upasasāra/ adhīhi bhagavo brahmeti
tasmā etat provāca/ annam prāṇam cakṣuḥ śrotram mano vācamiti
tam hovāca
yato vā imāni bhūtāni jāyante/ yena jātāni jīvanti
yatprayantyabhisamviśanti tad vijijñāsasva/ tad brahmeti
sa tapo’tapyata/ sa tapas taptvā
Bhṛgu, the son of Varuṇa, approached his father and inquired: "O my Lord, my respected father, please teach me about Brahman." His father then spoke to him: "Food, prāṇa, seeing, hearing, the mind, and speech are Brahman. From Him, all beings arise. From Him, they all obtain sustenance, and unto Him, they at last return. This Brahman you should now seek." Bhṛgu then fixed himself in thought and practiced austerities, and, as a result, acquired spiritual realization.
Commentary: The third chapter of the Taittiriya Upanisad describes an ancient conversation between Varuna and his son, Bhṛgu, describing how he realized the anna-maya, prāṇa-maya, mano-maya, vijñāna-maya, and ananda-maya thanks to the instructions of his father. This chapter works thus as a supplement or purport for the explanation we studied in the second chapter.
Prabhupada comments on this verse in his purport to CC Madhya 6.144. The fact that Brahman creates everything, maintains everything, and destroys everything makes it clear that the Lord is a person.
“Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura states in his Amṛta-pravāha-bhāṣya that according to the injunction of the Upaniṣads ("the Supreme Absolute Truth is He from whom everything emanates"), it is understood that the whole cosmic manifestation emanated from Brahman, the Supreme Absolute Truth. The creation subsists by the energy of the Supreme Brahman and, after annihilation, merges into the Supreme Brahman. From this we can understand that the Absolute Truth can be categorized in three cases—ablative, instrumental and locative. According to these three cases, the Absolute Truth is positively personified. In this connection, Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī quotes the Aitareya Upaniṣad (1.1.1): ātmā vā idam eka evāgra āsīn nānyat kiñcana miṣat sa īkṣata lokān nu sṛjā iti. Similarly, in the Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad (4.9) it is stated:
chandāmsi yajñāḥ kratavo vratāni
bhūtam bhavyam yac ca vedā vadanti
yasmān māyī sṛjate viśvam etat
tasmimś cānyo māyayā sanniruddhaḥAnd in the Taittirīya Upaniṣad (3.1): yato vā imāni bhūtāni jāyante, yena jātāni jīvanti, yat prayanty abhisamviśanti, tad vijijñāsasva tad brahma. This was the answer given by father Varuṇa when questioned by his son Vāruṇi Bhṛgu about the Absolute Truth. In this mantra, the word yataḥ, the Absolute Truth from which the cosmic manifestation has emanated, is in the ablative case; that Brahman by which this universal creation is maintained is in the instrumental case (yena); and that Brahman into which the whole cosmic manifestation merges is in the locative case (yat or yasmin). It is stated in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (SB 1.5.20):
idam hi viśvam bhagavān ivetaro
yato jagat-sthāna-nirodha-sambhavāḥ"The entire universal creation is contained in the gigantic form of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Everything emanates from Him, everything rests in His energy, and after annihilation everything merges into His person." (CC Madhya 6.144)
The meaning of the current verse is connected with the second verse of the Vedanta Sutra, and also with Bhagavad-Gita 10.8 and Srimad Bhagavatam 1.1.1, emphasizing that the Lord is a person, and not a formless mass as believed by Mayavadis.
If I say that "Sergei created this car" this implies that Sergei is a person, since a rock or a lamp would not be capable of creating a car. I may not know who Sergei is, but just from the fact that he created a car, I can understand that he is a person.
Some disagree with this simple logic, arguing that Brahman created the cosmic manifestation by transforming Himself into the material creation, but all acaryas disagree with this. Janmādy asya yataḥ (BS 1.1.2) means that the Lord created the cosmic manifestation through His inconceivable potencies. Krsna says similarly in the Bhagavad-Gita (10.8) when He says aham sarvasya prabhavo mattaḥ sarvam pravartate, “I am the source of all spiritual and material worlds. Everything emanates from Me.”
Just like a painter paints a masterpiece, and not transforms himself into it, mattaḥ sarvam pravartate and janmādy asya yata indicate that Krsna creates the material universes through His different potencies, and not that Krsna transforms Himself into the material universes.
The idea that the material universes are a transformation of the Supreme Brahman appears due to ignorance, when one doesn’t accept that the Lord has inconceivable potencies. Sankaracarya didn’t accept the potencies of the Lord, but even he avoided claiming the Lord transforms himself into the material creation by crafting his theory of illusion.
These two opposite ideas are called vivarta-vāda and pariṇāma-vāda, and are explained by Prabhupada in his books, like on CC Adi 7.121 and 7.122, CC Madhya 6.144 and 6.172, Teachings of Lord Caitanya ch. 20 and 21, etc.
The general idea is that Vaishnavas accept that the energy of the Lord gives birth to the material manifestation without being transformed. This doctrine is called pariṇāma-vāda, or doctrine of by-products. To understand how it works, we can imagine a mass of Lego blocks that are used to make many toys. Children come to play with these toys, and when they are finished, the toys are disassembled and returned into blocks. The same blocks are later used to make other toys and so on. The blocks are thus permutated, or rearranged into different forms, but there is no transformation: the blocks remain the same.
Similarly, the material energy, the external potency of the Lord, is permutated or rearranged into the material universes during the process of creation, disassembled back into its original constituents in the process of dissolution, and again permutated in the next cycle of creation. The energy is thus never transformed but just assembled into different forms and later again disassembled.
This understanding allows us to reconcile the idea that the material universes come from the energy of the Lord with the idea that the energy doesn't change.
Sankaracarya used a logical trick in his commentary on the Vedanta sutras, equating the pariṇāma-vāda with the doctrine of change, arguing that the idea that the material world is created from the energy of the Lord implies that the energy is transformed into something else. In this way, he was able to present his vivarta-vāda, or doctrine of illusory transformation of state.
In the vivarta-vāda of Sankaracarya, the existence of the material world is explained in a very simple way: There is no material world. Everything is simply an illusion. According to him, just like we may mistake a piece of rope on the road for a snake, we think this material world is real, although, in fact, it doesn't even exist. He says that when we are free from this illusion, or Maya, we see ourselves again as the eternal Brahman.
In reality, the vivarta-vāda of Sankaracarya is a less developed, and much weaker theory, but he was able to defend it using world jugglery.
Back to the pariṇāma-vāda, how does the permutation of the energy of the Lord give birth to the cosmic manifestation? The material creation starts with Lord Mahā-Viṣṇu, who lies down on the causal ocean and creates all the innumerable material universes. Due to the influence of material time (Kala), everything in the material world is created and destroyed, including the universe itself. Because of the influence of time, everything here is temporary, and the material universes go through cycles of creation and destruction. When the universes are destroyed, all the souls merge back into the body of Lord Mahā-Viṣṇu and remain dormant until the next material manifestation.
The manifestation of the material universes lasts for 311.04 trillion years. That's the lifespan of Lord Brahma calculated according to our time. This equals one breath of Mahā-Viṣṇu. When He exhales, all universes come out and everything becomes active, and when He inhales, all the universes are destroyed and everything merges back into His body. This lasts for the same period as the material creation, also 311.04 trillion years. During this time all the souls stay dormant inside the body of Mahā-Viṣṇu. After this period He again exhales and all the universes become active again. The souls have thus another opportunity to perform material activities, satisfy their material desires, perform devotional service, and eventually go back to Godhead. This is a process explained in detail in the Srimad Bhagavatam, as well as in other Puranas.
According to Vyasadeva, the material world is not false, but it is illusory. This means that the way we see it is different from what it is in reality. This illusion is called Maya. We think we will live forever, but in reality, we all die, we think we are these bodies, that we belong to a certain family or country, although in reality, we are not, and so on. On the other hand, the material energy is originally one of the spiritual potencies of Lord Mahā-Viṣṇu, His external potency. This external potency is like a shadow, which stays behind the Lord. Because material energy is one of the potencies of the Lord, it can't be false.
Text 3.2.1
annam brahmeti vyajānāt/ annād dhy eva khalv imāni bhūtāni jāyante
annena jātāni jīvanti/ annam prayanty abhisamviśantīti
tad vijñāya/ punar eva varuṇam pitaram upasasāra
adhīhi bhagavo brahmeti/ tam hovāca
tapasā brahma vijijñāsasva/ tapo brahmeti
sa tapo’tapyata/ sa tapastaptvā
As a result of his austerities, he realized food was Brahman. All beings arise from food, by food they are maintained, and at the end, they become food for others. After realizing this, Bhṛgu again inquired from his father: "O my Lord, please teach me further about Brahman." Varuna answered: "Search for Brahman in austerity. This austerity is Brahman." Bhṛgu again practiced austerities and further increased his spiritual realization.
Commentary: When it is said that "all beings arise from food", the verse refers to their bodies, since the soul has no beginning. Srila Prabhupada explains that when different passages describe Krsna creating the souls, they just explain the relationship, making clear that Krsna is the Supreme Lord. There is no such historical event when the jivas came into existence.
This is also made clear by Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura in his jaiva dharma (15th chapter):
"Vrajanatha: You said earlier that the cit world is eternal, and so are the jivas. If this is true, how can an eternal entity possibly be created, manifested, or produced? If it is created at some point in time, it must have been non-existent before that, so how can we accept that it is eternal?
Babaji: The time and space that you experience in this material world are completely different from time and space in the spiritual world. Material time is divided into three aspects: past, present, and future. However, in the spiritual world, there is only one undivided, eternally present time. Every event of the spiritual world is eternally present.
Whatever we say or describe in the material world is under the jurisdiction of material time and space, so when we say "The jivas were created", "The spiritual world was manifested", or "There is no influence of maya in creating the form of the jivas", material time is bound to influence our language and our statements. This is inevitable in our conditioned state, so we cannot remove the influence of material time from our descriptions of the atomic jiva and spiritual objects. The conception of past, present, and future always enters them in some way or another. Still, those who can discriminate properly can understand the application of the eternal present when they comprehend the purport of the descriptions of the spiritual world."