The Govinda-bhāṣya of Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa: Preface
The Vedanta-sutra transmits the ultimate conclusions of the Vedas, written to allow one to understand the absolute truth through logic and argument. It is very important in understanding the sastras.
« Vedānta-sūtra: The Govinda-bhāṣya of Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa
Preface
The Brahma-sutra, or Vedanta-sutra, is a short treatise written by Srila Vyāsadeva to transmit the ultimate conclusions of the Vedas. As Srila Prabhupada explains, "The Vedanta-sutra, which consists of aphorisms revealing the method of understanding Vedic knowledge, is the concise form of all Vedic knowledge." It's often called Brahma-sutras, or Vedanta-sutras, in this case referring to it as a collection of sutras.
The 560 aphorisms of the Vedanta-sutra are often taken as an incredibly complicated work because Śaṅkarācārya wrote an extremely complex commentary to hide their real meaning. To bring the followers of Buddha back into accepting the Vedas, he developed a philosophy that is similar to Buddhism, but based on the Vedas. To fit this philosophy into the aphorisms of the Vedanta-sutra, he wrote a commentary that is both indirect and contradictory.
However, Srila Prabhupada calls our attention to the direct interpretation of the verses of the Vedanta-sutra, which was used by Sri Caitanya Mahāprabhu to enlighten stalwart Māyāvādis such as Prakāśānanda Sarasvatī and Sarvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya and bring them to the proper understanding of the sastras. Srila Prabhupada describes these discussions in his commentary on the Caitanya Caritāmṛta, as well as The Teachings of Lord Caitanya.
It happens that this direct interpretation of the sutras is not only much easier to understand, but it is something that brings joy to the heart, by describing the personal nature of the Supreme and our eternal relationship with Him. It's like the sun uncovered by clouds. Srila Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa explains this direct interpretation of the Vedanta-sutra in his Govinda Bhāṣya, and it is quite an invaluable tool when explaining Krsna Consciousness since many who are resistant to direct statements from the Bhagavad-Gita and Srimad Bhagavatam can become easily attracted by the beautiful logic of the Vedanta-sutra.
Interestingly enough, the great majority of the topics discussed in the Vedanta-sutra are extensively covered in the works of Srila Prabhupada. An attentive reader of all his purports will be challenged to find more than a few philosophical conclusions in the Govinda Bhāṣya that he will not already be familiar with. There are many new details for sure, but the main philosophical conclusions are well discussed in Prabhupada's books. However, studying the sutras offers an opportunity to better understand the philosophical discussions that led to these conclusions, which is valuable to deepen our understanding and better value Prabhupada's contribution. This study also gives us a better understanding of the logic underlying these different conclusions, which is invaluable when trying to explain Krsna consciousness to others. Solid knowledge of the Vedanta-sutra can thus be an important step in being able to explain Krsna Consciousness logically, instead of just dogmatically.
The Vedanta-sutra 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.
How can we be sure that the direct explanation of Sri Caitanya Mahāprabhu is the correct one, and not the indirect explanation of Śaṅkarācārya? The point is that Srila Vyāsadeva himself wrote an explanation of the Vedanta-sutra in the form of the Srimad Bhagavatam. Followers of Śaṅkarācārya often don't accept the Srimad Bhagavatam because it doesn't agree with their philosophy, but when we accept the Srimad Bhagavatam as Vyāsadeva's explanation of the Vedanta-sutra, all the meaning becomes clear. It's thus not a wonder that Srila Prabhupada spent so much energy in his commentary on the Srimad Bhagavatam since it is the conclusion of all Vaishnava philosophy.
It appears that Srila Prabhupada also intended to write a commentary on the Vedanta-sutra called "Bhaktivedanta Bhāṣya" based on the commentary of Srila Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa. The evidence is a short introduction he wrote in the early days of our movement, after publishing the Bhagavad-Gita as it is and the Teachings of Lord Caitanya. This introduction was used by Kusakratha Prabhu as an introduction for his translation of the Govinda Bhāṣya.
In this introduction, Srila Prabhupada wrote:
“The necessity of presenting the Bhaktivedanta-Bhāṣya commentary on Vedanta-sutra should also be explained herein. My spiritual master, Om Visnupada Paramhamsa Sri Srimad Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami Maharaja, ordered me to present the Gaudiya Vaiṣnava philosophy in English as far as possible, and in this attempt for the English-knowing persons, since 1965 I have been in the western countries with my three books of the First Canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam. Then I presented my commentary on the Srimad-Bhagavad-Gita known as The Bhagavad-Gita As It Is, and similarly, I have presented The Teachings of Lord Caitanya. Also, as requested by many of my Western disciples, especially my worthy disciples Sriman Hansadutta Das Adhikari and Janardana Das Adhikari, who are in charge of the Montreal Center, I am trying to present an English commentary on the Vedanta-sutra as follows.
At the present moment all over the world, there are major portions of godless persons. Generally, people are very attached to the void philosophy presented by Lord Buddha or the impersonal philosophy presented by Sankaracarya. In other words, to be more plain and simple, people are becoming very atheistic.
To say that there is no God, as the atheists declare, is rather bold and simple, but to say that there is a supreme cause that is void, or there is God but He has no form, is more dangerous than the simple declaration that there is no God.
Our society, known as the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, has now started the movement for Krsna Consciousness, and it is very gratifying that the younger generation of the western part of the world, in America, Canada, and Europe, are taking interest in this great movement. We already have branches in almost every important city in the United States and Canada, and we have started centers also in London and Hamburg. We hope that our Krsna Consciousness movement will gradually increase, as predicted by Lord Caitanya, who said that His missionary activities, the same as the Krsna Consciousness movement, will be preached all over the world, in every village in every country. Taking into consideration the present activities of this movement, it is hoped that the prediction of Lord Caitanya will soon be fulfilled and the people of the world will be very happy, having Krsna Consciousness.”
He then proceeds to explain the importance of the Vedanta-sutra in the light of other Vaishnava books:
“Vedanta means the last word in the matter of pursuing knowledge. Everyone is pursuing some sort of knowledge. There are universities, institutions, and many educational establishments pursuing knowledge, but Vedanta means the last word in the pursuit of knowledge. This last word in the pursuit of knowledge is explained in the Bhagavad-gita by Lord Krsna. The purpose of Vedic knowledge is to understand Krsna. The exact words in the 15th Chapter of the Bhagavad-gita are sarvasya cāham hṛdi sanniviṣṭaḥ. “the Lord is situated in everyone’s heart. He gives intelligence and delusion. He is the original source of knowledge. He is the goal of knowledge. He is the compiler of Vedanta-sutra, and He knows what is Vedanta.”
These words are a very significant explanation of Vedanta-sutra by Krsna himself. In another place also He has referred to the Vedanta-sutra by saying, “By the course of Brahma-sutra one can actually understand what is the philosophy of Bhagavad-gita.” Bhagavad-gita and Vedanta-sutra are very intimately interrelated. To understand Vedanta-sutra rightly is to understand Bhagavad-gita rightly. The word sutra means “summarized code”. In the Skanda and Vayu Purana the word sutra is explained as “when a thesis is presented in few words, but with great volumes of meaning and, when understood, is very beautiful.”
Unfortunately, Srila Prabhupada never went ahead with this work. Soon he started working on the Krsna book, the many volumes of the Srimad Bhagavatam, and later the Caitanya Caritāmṛta. In the middle of this flow of publications, the commentary on the Vedanta-sutra seems to have fallen into the background and never concluded.
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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