Acintya-bhedābheda-tattva and the Govinda-Bhāṣya
Determined to write a commentary to face the challenge, Sri Baladeva prayed to the deity of Sri Govinda to be empowered to write it. That night, the Lord appeared to him in a dream.
« Vedānta-sūtra: The Govinda-bhāṣya of Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa
Acintya-bhedābheda-tattva and the Govinda-Bhāṣya
Sri Caitanya Mahāprabhu perfectly adjusted the Viśiṣṭādvaita-vāda, Śuddha-dvaitavāda, Śuddhādvaita-vāda, and Dvaitādvaita-vāda in His Acintya-bhedābheda-tattva philosophy, stating that the soul is inconceivably simultaneously one with and different from Kṛṣṇa. The soul is one in terms of quality, being made of the same spiritual substance, but is different in the sense of quantity and also in the sense of being eternally a separate individual.
The word “acintya” (inconceivable) has a very deep meaning, stating that a conditioned soul can’t ascertain the nature of the absolute truth by just mental speculation and philosophical debate. To attain the truth, one has to go through the authority of Vedic knowledge, transmitted by pure devotees. One has thus to understand the truth not by his own capacity but by receiving it from transcendental sources.
Sri Caitanya Mahāprabhu also emphasized the importance of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, establishing it as the natural commentary on the Vedānta-sūtra. The Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, in turn, explains that all religious principles and the cultivation of knowledge culminate in the understanding of love of Godhead, which is extensively described in the same Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
Even Śrīla Vyāsadeva himself was dissatisfied after compiling all the Vedic knowledge. Seeing him in this situation, his spiritual master, Nārada Muni, ordered him to write a new treatise, exclusively describing the glories of devotional service and the pastimes of the Supreme Lord. Only by fulfilling this order through his work on the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam did Vyāsadeva attain satisfaction. This proves that only by practicing devotional service without motives and without being hampered by material conditions can one find true satisfaction. This is the highest principle of spiritual understanding.
Although Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, when young, was fond of philosophical debate and was recognized as a great Panditā, He changed after being initiated in the chanting of the Mahā-Mantra by Īśvara Purī. Instead of working to establish a sampradāya by writing His commentary on the Vedānta-sūtra and challenging representatives of other schools, He concentrated on delivering this pure love of Godhead to people and teaching them the ultimate purpose of the Vedas: the process of devotional service, by His personal example.
The task of writing books describing the Gauḍīya Vaiṣnava philosophy in detail was given to the Six Gosvāmīs of Vṛndāvana, who produced a great quantity of literature, culminating with the Ṣaṭ-sandarbhas, the six theses of Śrīla jīva Gosvāmī. In these six theses, the Gauḍīya Vaiṣnava philosophy is very well explained according to the authority of the Vedas. Prabhupāda gives a summary of the six theses in his purport to CC Madhya 1.43.
However, there was no specific Gauḍīya Vaiṣnava commentary of the Vedānta-sūtra until about three centuries ago, when an incident with followers of the Rāmānuja sampradāya showed its need.
The Rāmānandīs filed a complaint to the king of Jaipur, arguing that since Gauḍīya Vaiṣnavas didn’t have a commentary on the Vedānta-sūtra, our sampradāya was not bona fide and thus didn’t have the right to worship the deity of Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Govinda Deva. They argued thus that the worship of the deity should be given instead to representatives of the Śrī Sampradāya.
Being himself a Gauḍīya Vaiṣnava, the king sent a messenger to Vṛndāvana informing the devotees of the challenge. At the time, Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Thākura was too aged to travel, and apart from that, he had made a vow not to leave the Rādhā-kuṇḍa. Thus, he sent his disciple, Sri Baladeva, to debate with them.
He met with the Rāmānandīs and presented very powerful arguments, establishing the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam as the natural commentary of the Vedānta-sūtra, composed by Śrīla Vyāsadeva Himself. The Rāmānandīs were silenced by his argumentation, but they still refused to accept anything other than a direct commentary on the Vedānta-sūtra.
Determined to write a commentary to face the challenge, Sri Baladeva prayed to the deity of Sri Govinda to be empowered to write it. That night, the Lord appeared to him in a dream and told him he would personally dictate to Him a commentary that no one would be able to refute.
Sri Baladeva began to write and completed the Sri Govinda-Bhāṣya in just seven days. The Rāmānandīs were so impressed with his presentation that they presented him with the title Vidyābhūṣaṇa (the ornament of knowledge). They also asked to be accepted as his disciples, but Śrīla Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa politely refused, arguing that the Sri Sampradāya is one of the oldest sampradāyas and is highly respected, and it would therefore be an offense on his part to do so.
Just like Śrīla Prabhupāda had the idea of writing the Bhagavad-gītā As It Is when he noticed that although there were thousands of commentaries of the Bhagavad-gītā available in English, none of these commentaries had properly transmitted the correct meaning of the Bhagavad-gītā, Śrīla Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa received the mission of writing the Śrī Govinda-Bhāṣya to reveal the full meaning of the Vedānta-sūtra, according to the Acintya-bhedābheda-tattva philosophy of Sri Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Śrīla Vyāsadeva wrote the Brahma-sūtras as a conclusion of the whole Vedic literature, and thus, by properly understanding the commentary of Śrīla Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa, we can properly understand the Vedas, learning in the process how to defeat all kinds of philosophies that try to cover the meaning of the scriptures with imaginary interpretations.
Studying the Govinda-bhāṣya is important for all followers of Mahāprabhu, since it teaches the logical process by which the correct meaning of the scriptures can be understood. It is not just a book that contains blocks of information that one should memorize, but a book based on a flow of arguments and counterarguments on different passages of the scriptures that gradually explain the proper process of understanding the real meaning of the Vedas.
Nowadays, we frequently get involved in battles of quotes, with followers dividing into groups and using different sets of quotes from Śrīla Prabhupāda or from different scriptures to sustain their points of view. This process is not new. For thousands of years, philosophers in India had been arguing based on the scriptures, sustaining their thesis with different passages from the Vedas. However, just as today, this process proved inconclusive. Different philosophic schools appeared, centered around diverse interpretations of the scriptures, and the same verses from the Upaniṣads could be used to sustain that Good is impersonal, that God is subservient to Karma, that there is no God, and so on. Even before the start of Kali-yuga, six different schools based on the Vedas already existed, and Vyāsadeva had to refute them in the process of compiling the Vedas.
One can’t understand the correct meaning of the Vedas without following the proper process. This process, explained by Śrīla Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa, is also the key to properly understanding the teachings of Śrīla Prabhupāda.
Next: The flow of arguments »
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« Vedānta-sūtra: The Govinda-bhāṣya of Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa
By what criteria can we say what is the correct meaning of the Upanisads and Vedanta Sutra? In other words, what makes correct meaning a correct meaning? Just the alignment with Bhagavatam?