Vedānta-sūtra: Understanding the Govinda-bhāṣya of Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa

An extensive, but easy-to-understand explanation of the Govinda Bhāṣya of Srila Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa, the Vaiṣnava commentary on the Venta-sutra, based on the teachings of Srila Prabhupada.

The Brahma-sūtra, or Vedānta-sūtra, is a short treatise written by Srila Vyāsadeva to transmit the ultimate conclusions of the Vedas. As Srila Prabhupada explains, "The Vedānta-sūtra, which consists of aphorisms revealing the method of understanding Vedic knowledge, is the concise form of all Vedic knowledge."

It is called nyāya-prasthāna because it was written to allow one to understand the absolute truth through logic and argument, and this infallible logic becomes even more apparent in the commentary of Srila Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa. Nowadays, more than ever, we often base our convictions on emotion rather than logic, and this can lead to many misconceptions that are very difficult to extirpate. The profound and delicate arguments presented in the Govinda Bhāṣya can help us rewire our brains in this direction, which can be invaluable in all spheres of life.

This book is an attempt to provide an extensive, but at the same time easy-to-understand explanation of the Govinda Bhāṣya commentary of Srila Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa, based on the explanations of Srila Prabhupada, as a humble offering to the devotees who are interested in studying this important masterpiece under the light of Srila Prabhupada's teachings.

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This is the first book in a series of four volumes covering the 16 padas (chapters) of the Govinda-bhāṣya of Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa.

Here are the parts of the book that have already been published. You will be seeing new updates as I work on it. Feel free to follow along. ⤵️

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!

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💬 Table of Contents

+ Preface

+ Srila Prabhupada explains the Vedānta-sūtra

+ Introduction: The evolution of spiritual understanding

• Lord Buddha - Śūnyavāda (nihilism)

• Śaṅkarācārya - Advaita-Vedanta (non-dualism)

• The Vaishnava schools

• Rāmānujācārya - Viśiṣṭādvaita-vāda
  (specific monism, non-dualism with distinctions, or purified monism)

• Madhvācārya - Śuddha-dvaita (purified dualism)

• Sri Caitanya Mahāprabhu: Acintya-bhedābheda-tattva (inconceivable oneness and difference)

• Acintya-bhedābheda-tattva and the Govinda-Bhāṣya

+ The flow of arguments

+ The conclusions of the Vedanta-sutra

+ The First Pada

+ Topic 1: Brahma-jijñāsādhikaraṇam - Inquiry into Brahman

• Sutra 1.1.1 - athāto brahma-jijñāsā: It's time to enquire about the Absolute Truth

• Light in the darkness from the scriptures

• Fruitive activity is not the goal of the scriptures

• Positive factors in understanding the Vedas

• Limited and temporary results

• Further arguments

• Brahman means the soul?

• How does the original text of Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa look?

• Brahma-jijñāsādhikaraṇam: Exercise

+ Topic 2: Janmādyādhikaranam - Definition of Brahman

• Sutra 1.1.2 - janmādy asya yataḥ: Brahman is He from whom everything emanates

• Counterarguments: Is Brahman the jīva?

• Rules for interpreting passages of the scriptures

• The doctrine of by-products

• The theory of illusion of Śaṅkarācārya

• The originality of the scriptures

• Janmādyādhikaranam: Exercise

+ Topic 3: Śāstra-yonitvādhikaraṇam - The scriptures are the source of knowledge

• Sutra 1.1.3 - śāstra-yonitvāt: The Lord is known through the sastras

• The process for understanding the Absolute Truth

• The limitations of material logic

• Further arguments

• Exercise

+ Topic 4: Samanvyādhikaraṇam - Harmonizing the conclusions of the Vedas

• Sutra 1.1.4 - tat tu samanvayāt: Lord Viṣṇu is the sole topic discussed in the Vedas

• Śāstra-yonitvādhikaraṇam: Exercise

+ Topic 5: Īkṣater-adhikaranām - Brahman is knowable

• Sutra 1.1.5 - īkṣater nāśabdam: The Lord is not indescribable

• Srila Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa counters Śaṅkarācārya

• Sutra 1.1.6 - gauṇaś cen nātma-śabdāt: The Supreme Self

• Sutra 1.1.7 - tan-niṣṭhasya mokṣopadeśāt: Descriptions of the transcendental Lord

• Sutra 1.1.8 - (na) heyatva-vacanāc ca: There is nothing higher

• Sutra 1.1.9 - (na) svāpyayāt: The source of all incarnations

• Sutra 1.1.10 - (na) gati-sāmānyāt: The One and transcendental Brahman

• Sutra 1.1.11 - śrutatvāc ca: Material qualities can’t touch the Lord

• Īkṣater-adhikaranām: Exercise

+ Topic 6: Ānandamayādhikaraṇam - The Lord is full of bliss

• Sutra 1.1.12 - ānanda-mayo’bhyāsāt: The Lord is full of bliss

• A central passage from the Taittirīya Upaniṣad

• The anna-maya, prāṇa-maya, mano-maya, and vijñāna-maya

• The ānanda-maya

• Questions are raised

• Sutra 1.1.13 - vikāra-śabdān neti cen na prācuryāt

• Sutra 1.1.14 - tad-hetu-vyapadeśāc ca

• Sutra 1.1.15 - māntra-varṇikam eva ca gīyate

• Sutra 1.1.16 - netaro ’nupapatteḥ

• Sutra 1.1.17 - bheda-vyapadeśāt

• Sutra 1.1.18 - kāmāc ca nānumānāpekṣā

• Sutra 1.1.19 - asminn asya ca tad-yogaṁ ca śāsti

• Ānandamayādhikaraṇam Exercise

+ Topic 7: Antar-adhikaraṇam - The person within the Sun

• Sutra 1.1.20 - antas tad-dharmopadeśāt: The person within the Sun

• Sutra 1.1.21 - bheda-vyapadeśāc cānyaḥ

• Antar-adhikaraṇam: Exercise

+ Topic 8: Ākāsādhikaraṇam - The section discussing the ether

• Sutra 1.1.22 - Why the word ākāśa denotes the Lord

• Ākāsādhikaraṇam: Exercise

+ Topic 9: Prāṇādhikaraṇam - The section concerning Prāṇa

• Sutra 1.1.23 - The meaning of the word prāṇa

• Prāṇādhikaraṇam: Exercise

+ Topic 10: Jyotiścaraṇādhikaraṇam - The light that has feet

• Sūtra 1.1.24 - Jyotiś refers to the Supreme Brahman

• Sūtra 1.1.25 - The meaning of the gāyatrī mantra

• The passage about Gāyatrī and the five doors to heaven from the Chāndogya Upaniṣad

• Sūtra 1.1.26 - The key for understanding the passage

• Sūtra 1.1.27 - There is no contradiction

• Jyotiścaraṇādhikaraṇam: Exercise

+ Topic 11: Pādānta-prāṇādhikaraṇam - A final discussion on prāna

• Sutra 1.1.28 - prāṇas tathānugamāt

• Sutra 1.1.29 - na vaktur ātmopadeśād iti ced adhyātma-sambandha-bhūmā hy asmin

• Sutra 1.1.30 - śāstra-dṛṣṭyā tūpadeśo vāma-devavat

• Sutra 1.1.31 - jīva-mukhya-prāṇa-liṅgān neti cen na upāsā-traividhyād āśritatvād iha tad-yogāt

• Pādānta-prāṇādhikaraṇam: Exercise

… more to come

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