(na) svāpyayāt - The Supreme Lord is not a manifestation of the material modes
Each material element is created from another and similarly merges into another at the time of annihilation. The Lord, however, doesn't merge into anything else; He merges into Himself.
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Sutra 1.1.9 - (na) svāpyayāt
(na) svāpyayāt
sva: into Himself; apyayat: because He merges.
The Supreme Lord is not a manifestation of the material modes, also because He merges into Himself and not into something else.
Commentary: Each material element is created from another and similarly merges into another at the time of annihilation. Earth merges into water, water into fire, fire into air, air into ether, ether into the mahat-tattva, mahat-tattva into pradhāna, and pradhāna into the body of Mahā-Viṣnu. In fact, even the soul merges into Mahā-Viṣṇu at the time of dissolution. The Lord, however, doesn't merge into anything else; He merges into Himself, which proves He is the Supreme and not a product of material nature.
Srila Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa quotes from the Bṛhad-āraṇyaka Upanisad (5.1.1). This same verse is also found in the Īśopaniṣad and in the Vājasaneyi recession of the Yajur Veda:
om purnam adah purnam idam, purnat purnam udacyate
purnasya purnam adaya, purnam evavasisyate
In this verse, the word "purnam" means "complete". The Lord is complete, and from Him, many other complete units emerge. However, even after expanding in so many complete units, the Lord remains complete.
One meaning of this verse, which is explored by Srila Prabhupada in his commentary on the Sri Īśopaniṣad, is that the Lord is the origin of many material universes, which are complete in themselves (having everything necessary for existence) for the facility of the living entities to understand the Complete Whole. Being part of the Complete, the living entities are also complete, but this completeness can be realized only when they are related to the Complete Whole; otherwise, many forms of incompleteness sprout from one's incomplete knowledge of the Complete Whole.
In this sense, the verse is translated by Srila Prabhupada as: "The Personality of Godhead is perfect and complete, and because He is completely perfect, all emanations from Him, such as this phenomenal world, are perfectly equipped as complete wholes. Whatever is produced of the Complete Whole is also complete in itself. Because He is the Complete Whole, even though so many complete units emanate from Him, He remains the complete balance."
Another meaning, explored by Sri Baladeva in his commentary, is that the Lord is the source of many incarnations. Just like the Lord is complete, purnam, all these incarnations are also complete and unlimited, and the performers of numerous pastimes. As Varāha, He lifted the Earth from the depths of the causal ocean, as Nṛsiṁhadeva, he fought with the powerful demon Hiraṇyakaśipu, who was terrorizing the Universe, and so on. One could argue that since Brahman assumes different forms and performs different activities, such forms must be material, but this verse indicates that this is not the case.
The word "adah" in the verse refers to the aprakata (unmanifested) form of the Lord. "Unmanifested" simply means it is not visible in the material world. In His aprakata form, the Lord performs unlimited pastimes with His intimate associates in the spiritual world. From this aprakata form, many prakata (manifested) forms appear, which become visible in this material world. This includes both the many avatāras and the Lord Himself when He appears in His original form to perform His confidential pastimes in Vṛndāvana. When these pastimes are concluded, these prakata forms merge back into the aprakata form. In other words, the Lord merges into Himself.
Following this meaning, the verse om purnam adah purnam idam, purnat purnam udacyate purnasya purnam adaya, purnam evavasisyate can be translated as:
"Both the aprakata Brahman and the prakata Brahman are equally perfect. From the aprakata Brahman appears many prakata forms, as various avatāras, who are as complete as the Complete Whole. Even after producing so many completes, the complete Brahman remains complete."
In this way, the Lord remains eternal, unchanged, perfect, and complete. However, this can't be said of that which is not perfect and complete, like the material elements, and different material objects. All material creations merge into something else, all the way back to pradhāna, the undifferentiated mass of material energy, which in turn merges into the Lord, being nothing more than one of His potencies. If the Supreme Lord mentioned in the scriptures were a product of the material modes, then He would merge into the real Supreme, and not into Himself. The fact that the Lord merges into Himself proves that He is indeed the Supreme.
Not only is the Lord not a product of the material modes, but He is untouched by them, although He is the origin of everything. This is confirmed in the Padma Purana:
sa devo bahudhā bhūtvā, nirguṇaḥ puruṣottamaḥ
ekībhūya punaḥ śete, nirdoṣo harir ādikṛt
"The Supreme Personality of Godhead is faultless. Even though He is the original creator of everything, He remains always untouched by the material modes. He expands in innumerable incarnations, and when later these incarnations enter Him, He again becomes one."
This verse is spoken in the context of Lord Mahā-Viṣnu and the process of material creation. As Mahā-Viṣnu, the Lord appears inside the material universes in many forms. Just as the sun can enter a dark room through a small hole in the wall and be reflected on a jug of water, without ever directly entering the room, Mahā-Viṣnu manifests inside of each universe as Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣnu without ever getting in contact with matter. Then, just as the reflection of the sun on the water is powerful enough to be again reflected on the walls, illuminating the whole place, Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣnu expands Himself into Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣnu (Paramātmā) and enters into everything, including the hearts of all living entities and even the atoms. Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣnu then expands Himself into many incarnations that appear inside the universe. As mentioned in the Srimad Bhagavatam, with the exception of Krsna and Balarāma, all incarnations manifest through Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣnu.
The Lord is thus so powerful that He can become present simultaneously in unlimited universes as unlimited incarnations, which are all complete and all-powerful, completely free from the influence of the material modes, unbound by karma or any material contact, and free from material qualities, even though engaged in many pastimes. After finishing His pastimes as each of these incarnations, the Lord merges into Himself. Krsna also appears in the material universes to play His pastimes, but as Vyasadeva Himself declares: ete cāṁśa-kalāḥ puṁsaḥ, kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam, "All of the above-mentioned incarnations are either plenary portions or portions of the plenary portions of the Lord, but Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa is the original Personality of Godhead."
Since even the incarnations who appear from Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣnu are fully transcendental, to argue that Krsna, the original Personality of Godhead and source of all incarnations, has a material form and acts under the influence of the material modes is nonsensical. Krsna states this directly in the Bhagavad-Gītā when He mentions: ahaṁ sarvasya prabhavo, mattaḥ sarvaṁ pravartate, iti matvā bhajante māṁ, budhā bhāva-samanvitāḥ, "I am the source of all spiritual and material worlds. Everything emanates from Me. The wise who perfectly know this engage in My devotional service and worship Me with all their hearts."
In his purport to CC Ādi-lila 7.114, Prabhupada gives a long list of other quotes proving this fact:
"In the Bṛhad-āraṇyaka Upaniṣad (5.1.1) it is said, pūrṇam adaḥ pūrṇam idaṁ pūrṇāt pūrṇam udacyate. This indicates that the body of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is spiritual, for even though He expands in many ways, He remains the same. In the Bhagavad-gītā (10.8) the Lord says, ahaṁ sarvasya prabhavo mattaḥ sarvaṁ pravartate: “I am the origin of all. Everything emanates from Me.” Māyāvādī philosophers materialistically think that if the Supreme Truth expands Himself in everything, He must lose His original form. Thus they think that there cannot be any form other than the expansive gigantic body of the Lord. But the Bṛhad-āraṇyaka Upaniṣad confirms, pūrṇam idaṁ pūrṇāt pūrṇam udacyate: “Although He expands in many ways, He keeps His original personality. His original spiritual body remains as it is.” Similarly, elsewhere it is stated, vicitra-śaktiḥ puruṣaḥ purāṇaḥ: “The Supreme Personality of Godhead, the original person [puruṣa], has multifarious energies.” And the Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad declares, sa vṛkṣa-kālākṛtibhiḥ paro ’nyo yasmāt prapañcaḥ parivartate ’yaṁ dharmāvahaṁ pāpanudaṁ bhageśam: “He is the origin of material creation, and it is due to Him only that everything changes. He is the protector of religion and annihilator of all sinful activities. He is the master of all opulences.” (Śvet. Up. 6.6) Vedāham etaṁ puruṣaṁ mahāntam āditya-varṇaṁ tamasaḥ parastāt: “Now I understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead to be the greatest of the great. He is effulgent like the sun and is beyond this material world.” (Śvet. Up. 3.8) Patiṁ patīnāṁ paramaṁ parastāt: “He is the master of all masters, the superior of all superiors.” (Śvet. Up. 6.7) Mahān prabhur vai puruṣaḥ: “He is the supreme master and supreme person.” (Śvet. Up. 3.12) Parāsya śaktir vividhaiva śrūyate: “We can understand His opulences in different ways.” (Śvet. Up. 6.8) Similarly, in the Ṛg Veda it is stated, tad viṣṇoḥ paramaṁ padaṁ sadā paśyanti sūrayaḥ: “Viṣṇu is the Supreme, and those who are actually learned think only of His lotus feet.” In the Praśna Upaniṣad (6.3) it is said, sa īkṣāṁ cakre: “He glanced over the material creation.” In the Aitareya Upaniṣad (1.1.1-2) it is said, sa aikṣata — “He glanced over the material creation” — and sa imāḻ lokān asṛjata — “He created this entire material world.”
Some philosophers try to point out pradhāna (the unmanifested sum-total of material energy from where all the material universes appear) as the ultimate source, but this idea is also contradicted here (as well as in the previous sutras). Pradhāna is not the source of the Supreme Brahman, rather, Brahman is the source of pradhāna as well as of everything that exists, as indicated in the second sutra, janmādy asya yataḥ.
We can see that, in this way, the Brahma sutras, supported by the weight of the whole Vedic literature, deconstruct different mistaken ideas that one may have about transcendence. One who is obstinate may still misunderstand, but when we accept the direct and logical flow of ideas in the sutras, the meaning is clear.
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