The intriguing nature of the Supreme Brahman (Mundaka Upaniṣad #03)
If Brahman is spiritual and eternal, how can He be the cause of the temporary material world? If Brahman is unchangeable, how can He create the material manifestation out of Himself?
In this material world, we can observe that a creator is always different from the elements used in his creation. An artist may use paint to create artwork, a builder may use bricks to build a house, and so on. The builder (the efficient cause) is different from the bricks (the material cause) and when the bricks are transformed into the house, they cease having a separate existence, becoming something else. In the end, the three things are different from each other. This idea is very familiar to us because the same logic applies to all kinds of material creations.
However, when we study the nature of the Supreme Brahman and the creation of the material universes, we come to an apparent contradiction. The Supreme Brahman is described in the Upanisads, and the Vedas in general, as both the efficient cause (nimitta) and the material cause (upādāna). In other words, Brahman is both the creator of the material manifestation and the substance from which the material universes are made. At the same time, Brahman is also described as unchangeable and unmaterial.
These ideas may seem quite dificult to reconcile. If Brahman is spiritual and eternal, how can He be the cause of the temporary material world? If Brahman is unchangeable, how can He create the material manifestation out of Himself?
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Text 1.1.6
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.
Commentary: Many verses of the Upanisads appear to describe the absolute truth as impersonal, by stating that He doesn't perform activities, has no hands or legs, no qualities, and so on. This illustrates the importance of studying and understanding the texts under the proper conclusions. These conclusions are like the keys to understanding the text. Without these keys, received from the disciplic succession, one can study the verses for thousands of years and will just again and again arrive at incorrect conclusions.
The Vedanta-sutra, 1.1.2, for example, states: janmādy asya yataḥ, "From Him, the Absolute Truth, everything emanates."
If the Absolute Truth or Supreme Brahman is the source of everything, including all material universes, it means he has potencies, or energies, that are used to perform the creation. For example, if I say "Jagadish built a house for his family", this implies he has access to bricks, cement, workers, and other assets that he used to build a house. If Jagadish were a pauper, without access to such facilities, it would not be possible for him to build anything. Mayavadis argue against this conclusion by stating that the material creation does not exist, being the fruit of the supreme Brahman falling into illusion and thus imagining itself as many, inside a false word and performing false, illusory activities. We can see how their resistance to the direct conclusion brings them to a long stretch of imagination.
The fact that the Supreme Brahman has potencies, implies in turn that He is conscious and the fact He creates implies He has desires and intelligence, since without these two no creation can be performed. This is confirmed in the Chandogya Upanisad (6.2) which mentions that at the beginning of creation, the Supreme Brahman in his form as Maha-Vishnu, tough to himself: tad aikṣata, bahu syām prajāyeyeti "Let me become many. Let me propagate myself."
This passage is significant for two reasons: it indicates thoughts and it indicates desires. Just as we have thoughts, the Supreme Brahman also has thoughts, and just as we have desires, He also has desires. Just as we speak, He also speaks. The difference is that right now we do all these things under the restrictions of physical laws, while the Lord performs these activities on an absolute platform. The fact that the Lord performs activities, implies that He has a form, but that form is different in nature from the material forms we have in this world. His form is transcendental.
Therefore, when the Mundaka Upanisad describes the Supreme Brahman as invisible (adreśyam), ungraspable (agrāhyam), without family or caste (agotram), without form (avarṇam), without eyes and ears (acakṣuḥ-śrotram), without hands and feet (apāṇipādam), etc. one, armed with the conclusion that the Supreme Brahman has a form, perform activities, has thoughts and desires, etc. will understand it as meaning that the Lord has no material form, possessing instead a transcendental form that is beyond the inebrieties and limitations of a physical body.
This conclusion is confirmed in the verse itself, which describes the Supreme Brahman as being eternal (nityam), all-pervading (vibhum), extremely subtle (susūkṣmam), unchanging (avyayam), and the source of all beings (bhūta-yonim).
We can see that when all passages are taken togueter and in context, the correct conclusion becomes self-evident. However, without proper guidance, the tendency is that one will fail to grasp the correct conclusions of the text and come to a mistaken conclusion. This incorrect conclusion will in turn make him misinterpret other verses, bringing him progressively further from the truth.
In this way, we can see that the study of the scriptures without proper guidance is not just ineffective, but damaging. A simple person who has no prior knowledge has less difficulty in accepting proper guidance and obtaining the proper understanding of the scriptures than a scholar who is already misguided by many years of mistaken conclusions. The culmination of this process of misguided study is the Mayavadi, who becomes practically incorrigible.
Observing this, we can understand why Srila Prabhupada put so much emphasis on the distribution of his books, seeing this as a way to put the general people in contact with genuine knowledge, so they could start the process of ādau śraddhā tataḥ sādhu-sango ’tha bhajana-kriyā, etc., acquiring some faith, then coming in contact with devotees, finding a spiritual master and executing the regulative principles under his guidance, and so on.
Text 1.1.7
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.
Commentary: In this material world, we can observe that a creator is always different from the elements used in his creation. An artist may use paint to create artwork, a builder may use bricks to build a house, and so on. The builder (the efficient cause) is different from the bricks (the material cause) and when the bricks are transformed into the house, they cease having a separate existence, becoming something else. In the end, the three things are different from each other. This idea is very familiar to us because the same logic applies to all kinds of material creations.
However, when we study the nature of the Supreme Brahman and the creation of the material universes, we come to an apparent contradiction. The Supreme Brahman is described in the Upanisads, and the Vedas in general, as both the efficient cause (nimitta) and the material cause (upādāna). In other words, Brahman is both the creator of the material manifestation and the substance from which the material universes are made. At the same time, Brahman is also described as unchangeable and unmaterial.
These ideas may seem quite dificult to reconcile. If Brahman is spiritual and eternal, how can He be the cause of the temporary material world? If Brahman is unchangeable, how can He create the material manifestation out of Himself?
This verse uses three analogies to clarify Brahman’s role in creation:
a) The spider producing its web: A spider produces its web without help, from its own body, and later ingests it back, withdrawing it. The process of creating the web and later withdrawing it doesn't make the spider change its form. Similarly, Brahman is the independent creator who creates and withdraws the universe from His energy without changing in the process.
b) The earth producing plants and herbs: A plot of land may produce many plants without being changed in the process. Although many plants are produced, the land doesn't become part of the ocean or something else. Similarly, Brahman can give rise to many different forms without undergoing change or depleting Himself in the process.
c) A conscious person producing unconscious hair: Just as a human, a conscious being, produces unconscious elements such as hair and nails, the Supreme Brahman produces unconscious material elements which are aggregated in the form of the material universes.
In this way, the verse solves this apparent contradiction by explaining how Brahman creates the material universes without undergoing change or exhausting His potency, remaining completely transcendental and unchanging. The material manifestation comes from Brahman, but it does not alter or limit Brahman in any way. Brahman creates the universe, but at the same time remains as it is.
This simple explanation may satisfy most readers, but Prabhupada goes deeper in his purport to CC Madhya 6.172, explaining the theory of pariṇāma-vāda, which explains in detail how Brahman creates the material world from His energy without undergoing transformation, contrasting it to the theory of illusion (vivarta-vāda) of Śankarācārya:
"The first verse of the Brahma-sūtra is athāto brahma-jijñāsā: “We must now inquire into the Absolute Truth.” The second verse immediately answers, janmādy asya yataḥ: “The Absolute Truth is the original source of everything.” Janmādy asya yataḥ does not suggest that the original person has been transformed. Rather, it clearly indicates that He produces this cosmic manifestation through His inconceivable energy. This is also clearly explained in the Bhagavad-gītā (10.8), where Kṛṣṇa says, mattaḥ sarvam pravartate: “From Me, everything emanates.” This is also confirmed in the Taittirīya Upaniṣad (3.1.1): yato vā imāni bhūtāni jāyante. “The Supreme Absolute Truth is that from which everything is born.” Similarly, in the Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad (1.1.7) it is stated, yathorṇa-nābhiḥ sṛjate gṛhṇate ca: “[The Lord creates and destroys the cosmic manifestation] as a spider creates a web and draws it back within itself.” All of these śāstric statements indicate the transformation of the Lord’s energy, not of the Lord Himself. Tranformation of the Lord’s energy is called pariṇāma-vāda. However, being very anxious to protect Śrīla Vyāsadeva from criticism, Śankarācārya became a pseudo gentleman and put forward his theory of illusion (vivarta-vāda). Śankarācārya concocted this meaning of pariṇāma-vāda, and by word jugglery he endeavored very hard to establish pariṇāma-vāda as vivarta-vāda."
There are a lot of deep concepts packed into this purport. Let's try to understand it.
a) The doctrine of by-products: If everything comes from Brahman and there is nothing apart from Brahman, how can we explain that something is created from Him, without having to accept that Brahman is transformed in the process? Since Brahman is described as eternal and immutable, there can't be any transformation, since transformation would lead to an eventual end, just like we can observe in everything that is material.
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, and then dissembled back into its 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.
The material universes are thus real, and not false, and the material energy is eternal. The manifestation of the material universes, as well as of different material objects is thus real, but temporary. None of the toys built using the blocks is false, they exist, but their existence is not eternal. 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.
b) Theory of illusion: Sankaracarya used a logical trick in his commentary of the Vedanta-sutra, equating the pariṇāma-vāda with the doctrine of change, arguing that accepting that Brahman creates the material world from His energy 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, the existence of the material world is explained in a very simple way: There is no material world. Everything is simply an illusion. Just like we may mistake a piece of rope on the road for a snake, we think this material world is real, although it in fact doesn't even exist. When we are free from this illusion, or Maya, he says, we see ourselves again as fragments of the eternal Brahman. This is a less developed, and much weaker theory, but Sakaracarya was able to defend it using world jugglery.
Vyasadeva himself refutes the vivarta-vāda when he says "janmādy asya yataḥ" (Vs 1.1.2). Everything emanates from the Lord means everything comes from His energy. Since the Lord is described as eternal, means that His energy is also eternal. Since the energy is described as eternal, it means there is no change or transformation, and since there is no transformation, the creation of the material universe must happen by permutation, or rearrangement of the energy, and not transformation. In this way, we can see how Vyasadeva explains this delicate point in just four words. Sankaracarya however, indirectly argued that Vyasadeva made a mistake, and in this way pushed his theory of illusion, which is directly contradicted by Vyasadeva's sutra. When this point is well understood, one can call the bluff, so to say.
Prabhupada also makes this point in his book Teachings of Lord Caitanya: “The doctrine of by-products, pariṇāma-vāda, is asserted from the very beginning of the Vedānta-sūtra, but Śankarācārya has superficially tried to hide it and establish the doctrine of illusory transformation of state, vivarta-vāda. He also has the audacity to say that Vyāsa is mistaken. All Vedic literatures, including the Purāṇas, confirm that the Supreme Lord is the center of all spiritual energy and variegatedness." (ToLC ch.21)
c) Permutation of energy giving birth to the cosmic manifestation: The material creation starts with Lord Maha-Vishu, 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 Maha-Vishnu and remain dormant until the next material manifestation.
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 Maha-Vishnu, His external potency. This external potency is like a shadow, which stays behind the Lord. Because the material energy is one of the potencies of the Lord, it can't be false.
The Lord uses this spiritual potency to create the unmanifested mass of material elements (pradhāna). This pradhana is just like a cloud that covers a small part of the spiritual sky. The Lord then looks in the direction of this cloud, and His look carries all the souls, as well as the time energy (kala). This puts this energy into movement, activating the three material modes (goodness, passion, and ignorance), putting the universes in movement, and starting the process of creation. Time is eternal as an energy, but its effect upon material energy has a beginning, the start of creation. In this way, time is eternal (as a cause), but at the same time, it has a beginning (as an effect).
d) Permutation of energy: Using the arguments of Sankaracarya, one could argue that this idea that the external energy of the Lord passes through so many transformations, resulting in the creation of the material world, violates the principle that Brahman is unchangeable, just like when we transform a tree into a table, the original ingredient is transformed into something else, and can't be recovered.
However, that's not the case. A lump of clay may be shaped into different forms and transformed into different types of pots and later brought back to its original form when the pots are broken and mixed with water. The resulting clay can again be molded into different pots, and so on, in an unlimited cycle. In this case, the shape changes, but the structure of the ingredient doesn't, since it can be brought back to its original form at any moment. Another example is a spider that creates a web and later eats it.
Certain types of transformation don't violate the principle of unchangeability. When this principle is understood, the idea of Brahman being unchangeable but at the same time transforming His own energy into this material world becomes clear. The material creation exists eternally as energy, but it is sometimes manifested and sometimes unmanifested. The energy thus never changes, but it can be shaped in different ways due to the influence of the three material modes, time, and the work performed by the conditioned souls.