Preface - Understanding the Govinda-bhāṣya of Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa
This book is an attempt to provide an extensive, but at the same time easy-to-understand explanation of the Govinda-bhāṣya of Śrīla Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa, based on the explanations of Śrīla Prabhupada
« Vedānta-sūtra: The Govinda-bhāṣya of Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa
Preface
The Brahma-sūtra, or Vedānta-sūtra, is a short treatise written by Śrīla Vyāsadeva to transmit the ultimate conclusions of the Vedas. As Śrīla Prabhupāda explains:
“The Vedānta-sūtra, which consists of aphorisms revealing the method of understanding Vedic knowledge, is the concise form of all Vedic knowledge.” It’s often called Brahma-sūtras, or Vedānta-sūtras, in this case referring to it as a collection of sūtras.”
The 560 aphorisms of the Vedānta-sūtra are often taken as an incredibly complicated work because Śankarācārya 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 Vedānta-sūtra, he wrote a commentary that is both indirect and contradictory.
However, Śrīla Prabhupāda calls our attention to the direct interpretation of the verses of the Vedānta-sūtra, 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. Śrīla Prabhupāda describes these discussions in his commentary on the Caitanya Caritāmṛta, as well as in The Teachings of Lord Caitanya.
It happens that this direct interpretation of the sūtras 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 Personality of Godhead and our eternal relationship with Him. It’s like the Sun uncovered by clouds. Śrīla Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa explains this direct interpretation of the Vedānta-sūtra in his Govinda-bhāṣya, and it is quite an invaluable tool when explaining Kṛṣṇa Consciousness since many who are resistant to direct statements from the Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam can become easily attracted by the beautiful logic of the Vedānta-sūtra.
Interestingly enough, the majority of the topics discussed in the Vedānta-sūtra are extensively covered in the works of Śrīla Prabhupāda. An attentive reader of all his purports will notice that most of the concepts and conclusions discussed in the sūtras will appear familiar. There will be many new details for sure, but the main philosophical conclusions are well discussed in Prabhupāda’s books. However, studying the sūtras offers an opportunity to better understand the philosophical discussions that led to these conclusions, which is valuable to deepen our understanding and better value Prabhupāda’s contribution. This study also gives us a better understanding of the logic underlying these different conclusions, which is invaluable when trying to explain Kṛṣṇa consciousness to others. Solid knowledge of the Vedānta-sūtra can thus be an important step in being able to explain Kṛṣṇa Consciousness logically, instead of just dogmatically.
The Vedānta-sūtra 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 Śrīla 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 Śankarācārya? The point is that Śrīla Vyāsadeva himself wrote an explanation of the Vedānta-sūtra in the form of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Followers of Śankarācārya often don’t accept the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam because it doesn’t agree with their philosophy, but when we accept the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam as Vyāsadeva’s explanation of the Vedānta-sūtra, all the meaning becomes clear. It’s thus not a wonder that Śrīla Prabhupāda spent so much energy in his commentary on the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam since it is the conclusion of all Vaiṣnava philosophy.
It appears that Śrīla Prabhupāda also intended to write a commentary on the Vedānta-sūtra called The Bhaktivedānta-bhāṣya based on the commentary of Śrīla Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa. The evidence is a short introduction he wrote in the early days of our movement, after publishing the Bhagavad-gītā 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, Śrīla Prabhupāda wrote:
“The necessity of presenting the Bhaktivedānta-bhāṣya commentary on Vedānta-sūtra 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 Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Then I presented my commentary on the Srimad-Bhagavad-gītā known as The Bhagavad-gītā 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 Vedānta-sūtra 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 Kṛṣṇa 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 Kṛṣṇa Consciousness movement will gradually increase, as predicted by Lord Caitanya, who said that His missionary activities, the same as the Kṛṣṇa 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 Kṛṣṇa Consciousness.”
He then proceeds to explain the importance of the Vedānta-sūtra in the light of other Vaiṣnava books:
“Vedānta 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 Vedānta means the last word in the pursuit of knowledge. This last word in the pursuit of knowledge is explained in the Bhagavad-gītā by Lord Kṛṣṇa. The purpose of Vedic knowledge is to understand Kṛṣṇa. The exact words in the 15th Chapter of the Bhagavad-gītā 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 Vedānta-sūtra, and He knows what is Vedānta.”
These words are a very significant explanation of Vedānta-sūtra by Kṛṣṇa himself. In another place also He has referred to the Vedānta-sūtra by saying, “By the course of Brahma-sūtra one can actually understand what is the philosophy of Bhagavad-gītā.” Bhagavad-gītā and Vedānta-sūtra are very intimately interrelated. To understand Vedānta-sūtra rightly is to understand Bhagavad-gītā rightly. The word sūtra means “summarized code”. In the Skanda and Vayu Purana the word sūtra is explained as “when a thesis is presented in few words, but with great volumes of meaning and, when understood, is very beautiful.”
Unfortunately, Śrīla Prabhupāda never went ahead with this work. Soon he started working on the Kṛṣṇa book, the many volumes of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, and later the Caitanya Caritāmṛta. In the middle of this flow of publications, the commentary on the Vedānta-sūtra 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 Śrīla Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa, based on the explanations of Śrīla Prabhupāda, as a humble offering to the readers interested in studying this important masterpiece in the light of Śrīla Prabhupāda’s teachings.
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