Rules for interpreting passages of the scriptures
We can't just interpret verses of the scriptures according to our whims. There are rules given in the scriptures themselves for the interpretation of obscure passages. What are them?
« Vedānta-sūtra: The Govinda-bhāṣya of Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa
« Sutra 1.1.2 - janmādy asya yataḥ
Rules for interpreting passages of the scriptures
We can't just interpret verses of the scriptures according to our whims. There are rules given in the scriptures themselves for the interpretation of obscure passages. Only when these rules are appropriately applied can we hope to find the correct meaning:
upakrama-upasaṁhārau abhyāsaḥ apūrvatā phalaṁ
arthavādaḥ upapattiḥ ca liṅgaṁ tattparya-nirṇaye
"The upakrama (beginning), upasamhara (ending), abhyāsa (what is repeated again and again), apūrvatā (what is unique in the text), phala (the general purpose of the book), artha-vada (the author's statement of purpose), and upapatti (consistency) are the factors to consider in the interpretation of obscure passages."
When we apply these criteria to different passages from the Upaniṣads, we find that they consistently describe the Supreme Lord and the individual souls as two different entities. Any attempt to artificially equate the two is thus not at all supported by the scriptures.
As an example, Srila Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa offers a passage from the Śvetāśvatara Upanisad (4.6-7):
dvā suparṇā sayujā sakhāyā, samānaṁ vṛkṣaṁ pariṣasvajāte
tayor anyaḥ pippalaṁ svādv atty, anaśnann anyo 'bhicākaśīti
"The individual soul and the Supersoul are like two friendly birds sitting on the same tree. One of the birds (the individual atomic soul) is eating the fruits of the tree, and the other bird is simply watching His friend."
samāne vṛkṣe puruṣo nimagno, 'niśayā śocati muhyamānaḥ
juṣṭaṁ yadā paśyaty anyam īśam, asya mahimānam iti vīta-śokaḥ
"Although the two birds are on the same tree, the eating bird is fully engrossed with anxiety and moroseness as the enjoyer of the fruits of the tree. But if in some way or other, he turns his face to his friend, the Supreme Lord, and comes to know His glories, at he once becomes free from all anxieties."
When we apply these criteria to this passage, we find the following:
1- Upakrama (what is the beginning?): The two birds sitting in the tree, the individual soul and the Supersoul, are like two friendly birds sitting on the same tree.
2- Upasamhara (what is the conclusion?): The second bird, who is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, can liberate the first from all anxieties, if somehow or other the suffering bird turns his face to Him and knows His glories.
3- Abhyāsa (what are the ideas repeated in the text?): The word "anya" (the other person) is repeated several times in this passage, as in the phrases tayor anyo'snan (the other person does not eat) and anyam isam (he sees the other person, who is the Supreme Lord).
4- Apūrvatā (what is unique in the passage?): The difference between the Supreme Lord and the individual soul, who are described as two separate birds, performing different activities and having different powers. Everyone knows that birds sit on trees and eat fruits, and it is also not uncommon to compare the soul and the Lord to two birds, since they are similar in many aspects. However, the fact that they are different, although similar, and what this difference is, is not usually known amongst regular people and even great philosophers, and this is a point not understandable without the revelation of the sastras.
5- Phalam (what is the general purpose, or result offered in the passage?): To describe how the individual spirit soul becomes free from suffering by approaching the Lord.
6- Artha-vada (what is the author's statement of purpose?): The statement is "mahimanam eti" (found at the end of the passage): One who understands the Supreme Lord becomes glorious. The purpose of the passage is thus to elevate our understanding and bring us closer to spiritual perfection.
7- Upapatti (where is the doctrinal consistency?): This is found in the passage "anyo'nasan" (the other person, the Supreme Lord, does not eat the fruits of material happiness and distress). This is consistent with the passage that defines Brahman as a witness and many other passages. The Lord resides in the tree, but He is not involved with the activities of the first bird, maintaining His transcendental position.
When we take everything together, the purpose of the verse becomes very clear. The soul and the Lord are intrinsically different. The soul is engaged in material activities, attached to the fruits of action, and desperately trying to enjoy this material world, while the Lord is transcendental and never becomes involved in material activities (His activities are purely transcendental). By inquiring about the Supreme Lord from self-realized souls and obtaining information about His names, forms, and pastimes, one can become situated in the transcendental platform, just like the Lord, becoming glorious and free from all suffering and anxieties.
We often tend to read verses and then interpret them based on whatever impression comes to our minds, which leads to all kinds of misunderstandings. However, when we study the verses carefully following this logical process, the true meaning becomes clear.
The doctrine of by-products
The fact that the Supreme Brahman is accepted in this sutra as the creator, maintainer, and destroyer of all universes raises another controversy, which is the discussion about whether Brahman is transformed or not in this process. 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 material.
Srila Prabhupada gives a long and detailed commentary on this point, connected with the sutra janmādy asya yataḥ in Teachings of Lord Caitanya, chapters 20 and 21, where he raises the discussion about the doctrine of by-products, pariṇāma-vāda, and the doctrine of illusory transformation of state, vivarta-vāda, propounded by Śaṅkarācārya.
Vaiṣnavas 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 permuted, 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 permuted, or rearranged, into the material universes during the process of creation, and then disassembled back into its constituents in the process of dissolution, and again permuted 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.
Śaṅkarācārya used a logical trick in his commentary, 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 doesn't even exist. When we become free from this illusion, or Maya, 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 word jugglery.
As Prabhupada argues:
"It is only by misunderstanding the inconceivable energies of the Supreme that one may conclude that the Supreme Absolute Truth is impersonal. Such a deluded conclusion is experienced by a living being when he is in an acute stage of disease. In Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (3.33.3) there is a clear statement that the supreme ātmā, the Lord, has inconceivable and innumerable potencies. It is also stated in Brahma-saṁhitā (5.5) that the Supreme Spirit has many variegated and inconceivable energies. Nor should one think that there is any possibility of ignorance existing in the Absolute Truth. Ignorance and knowledge are conceptions in this world of duality, but in the Absolute there cannot be any ignorance. It is simply foolishness to consider that the Absolute is covered by ignorance. If the Absolute Truth could be covered by ignorance, how could it be said to be Absolute?"
"Thus this cosmic manifestation is not false, as Śaṅkarācārya maintains. Actually, there is nothing false here. It is because of ignorance that the Māyāvādīs say this world is false. The conclusion of the Vaiṣṇava philosophy is that this cosmic manifestation is a by-product of the inconceivable energies of the Supreme Lord." (ToLC ch.20)
Vyāsadeva himself refutes the vivarta-vāda when he says "janmādy asya yataḥ". Everything emanates from the Lord means everything comes from His energy. Since the Lord is described as eternal, it means that His energy is also eternal. Since it 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 Vyāsadeva explains the same point I tried to explain in the last several paragraphs in just four words. Śaṅkarācārya, however, indirectly argued that Vyāsadeva made a mistake, and in this way pushed his theory of illusion, which is directly contradicted by the current sutra, "janmādy asya yataḥ". When this point is well understood, one can call the bluff, so to speak.
Prabhupada also makes this point in the Teachings of Lord Caitanya:
“The doctrine of by-products, pariṇāma-vāda, is asserted from the very beginning of the Vedānta-sūtra, but Śaṅkarācārya 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)
Back to the pariṇāma-vāda, how does the permutation of the energy of the Lord give birth to the cosmic manifestation?
The material creation starts with Lord Mahā-Viṣṇu, who lies down on the causal ocean and creates all the innumerable material universes. The causal ocean, or kāraṇa ocean, is also known as pradhāna or mahat-tattva. When the energy is inactive, it is called pradhāna, which is just like a cloud that covers a small part of the spiritual sky, and when it becomes active after being inseminated by the Lord with the time energy and the souls, it is called mahat-tattva. The two terms thus speak about two stages of the same thing.
Due to the influence of material time (kāla), 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 Mahā-Viṣṇu and remain dormant until the next material manifestation.
The manifestation of the material universes lasts for 311.04 trillion years. That's the lifespan of Lord Brahma calculated according to our time. This equals one breath of Mahā-Viṣṇu. When He exhales, all universes come out and everything becomes active, and when He inhales, all the universes are destroyed and everything merges back into His body. This lasts for the same period as the material creation, also 311,04 trillion years. During this time, all the souls stay dormant inside the body of Mahā-Viṣṇu. After this period, He again exhales, and all the universes become active again. The souls have thus another opportunity to perform material activities, satisfying their material desires, performing devotional service, and eventually going back to Godhead, back to the spiritual world. This is a process explained in detail in the Srimad Bhagavatam, as well as other Puranas.
According to Vyāsadeva, 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 Mahā-Viṣṇu, 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). As mentioned, this pradhāna 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 (kāla). This puts this energy into movement, activating the three material modes (goodness, passion, and ignorance), putting the universes in motion, 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).
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