tan-niṣṭhasya mokṣopadeśāt: The Brahman described in the scriptures is the Lord, not a manifestation of the modes
Vyāsadeva gives an additional argument: tan-niṣṭhasya mokṣopadeśāt. The Lord is transcendental because it is described that His devotees attain liberation.
« Vedānta-sūtra: The Govinda-bhāṣya of Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa
Sutra 1.1.7 - tan-niṣṭhasya mokṣopadeśāt
(na) tan-niṣṭhasya mokṣopadeśāt
tat: that; nisthasya: of the devoted; moksa: of liberation; upadesat: because of the instructions.
[The Brahman described in the scriptures is the transcendental Supreme Lord, and not a temporary manifestation of the material modes] because the scriptures teach that His devotees attain liberation.
Commentary: The first four sutras describe four different topics and are thus considered separate sections, or adhyāyas. Sutras five to eleven, on the other hand, describe the same topic, the discussion about Brahman being described in the scriptures, which is an essential topic, because it questions the relevance of the scriptures in describing the form, qualities, and pastimes of the Lord. If we accept the idea that the Brahman described in the scriptures is a material representation and not the original, transcendental Brahman, it becomes difficult to refuse the Māyavadi idea that God becomes covered by Maya when He comes as an incarnation.
As additional proof that the Supreme Lord described in the scriptures is indeed the Supreme Brahman and not just a manifestation of the mode of goodness, Vyāsadeva gives an additional argument: tan-niṣṭhasya mokṣopadeśāt. The Lord is transcendental because it is described that His devotees attain liberation.
It's well understood that those who are devoted to the manifestations of the modes of nature do not attain liberation by that material devotion. Worshipers of demigods, for example, can at best hope to take their next birth in their respective planets in Svargaloka. Krsna makes it clear in the Gītā (9.25):
yānti deva-vratā devān, pitṝn yānti pitṛ-vratāḥ
bhūtāni yānti bhūtejyā, yānti mad-yājino ’pi mām
"Those who worship the demigods will take birth among the demigods; those who worship the ancestors go to the ancestors; those who worship ghosts and spirits will take birth among such beings; and those who worship Me will live with Me."
Therefore, since devotees attain liberation, their object of worship, the different incarnations of the Lord must be the transcendental Supreme Person, who is beyond the material modes, and completely non-material in nature. If the Brahman described in the scriptures was a product of the material modes, He would not be able to give liberation from the modes to His devotees.
As an additional proof, Srila Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa quotes the Taittirīya Upaniṣad (2.7.1), which describes the liberation of one devoted to the supreme Brahman:
asad vā idam agra āsīt, tato vai sad ajāyata
tad ātmānam svayam akuruta, tasmāt tat-sukṛtam ucyata iti
yad vai tat sukṛtam raso vai saḥ
rasam hy evāyam labdhvā ’nandī bhavati
ko hy evānyāt kaḥ prāṇyāt, yad eṣa ākāśa ānando na syāt
eṣa hy evānandayāti
yadā hy evaiṣa etasminn adṛśye’nātmye’nirukte’nilayane’bhayam pratiṣṭhām vindate, atha so’bhayam gato bhavati
yadā hyevaiṣa etasminn udaram antaram kurute
atha tasya bhayam bhavati, tat tv eva bhayam viduṣo’manvānasya
tad apy eṣa śloko bhavati
"In the beginning, the creation was non-existent. It was not yet defined by forms and names. From this unmanifest was born whatever exists. The Lord created it, therefore, He is called ātmā. When one understands the Personality of Godhead, the reservoir of pleasure, Kṛṣṇa, he truly becomes transcendentally blissful. A living entity becomes established in spiritual, blissful life when he fully understands that his happiness depends on spiritual self-realization, which is the basic principle of ānanda (bliss), and when he is eternally situated in the service of the Lord, who has no other lord above Him. By understanding the Personality of Godhead, the reservoir of pleasure, Kṛṣṇa, one becomes truly transcendentally blissful. For one who deviates from it, however, taking shelter in the false ego, there is great fear. This fear exists only for the one who thinks himself wise, and not for the true sage."
This verse describes the process of primary and secondary creation, which are explained in more detail in the 2nd and 3rd cantos of Srimad Bhagavatam. The creation of the universe starts with the primary creation, in which the Lord creates all the forms and potencies that constitute the universe in a subtle form, the subtle manifestation of the Virāṭ-rūpa, or subtle universal form. Later, when Brahma is born out of the lotus flower, he performs the secondary creation, giving material forms to everything that was previously created by the Lord and manifesting the Viśva-rūpa, the gross manifestation of the universe that covers the subtle form. In the Māṇḍūkya Upaniṣad, the subtle manifestation is called Taijasa, predominated by Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣnu, and the gross manifestation is called Viśva, and predominated by Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣnu.
The creation lasts for 100 years of Brahma, or 311.04 trillion years in Bhu-Mandala, a time that equals just one breath for Lord Mahā-Viṣṇu. At the end of this period, all the material universes are completely destroyed, the material elements merge back into the Pradhāna, and the souls sleep in the body of Mahā-Viṣṇu until the next creation. Although each cycle of material creation lasts for a finite amount of time, material time is considered eternal because one cycle of creation succeeds another.
Most of the souls are busy trying to simply satisfy their material desires in the 8,400,000 different species of life, going up and down in the cycle of saṁsāra, sometimes as human beings, sometimes as lower animals, and sometimes as demigods. However, when a pious soul desires to instead serve the Lord and revive his forgotten relationship with Him, the Lord gives him all protection and brings him back to Godhead at the end. Devotional service of the Lord is the eternal nature of the soul, and the only process that can fully satisfy the soul, connecting us to the platform of full spiritual bliss we hanker for.
The transcendental nature of the Lord, beyond the material modes, is also clearly defined in SB 10.88.5:
harir hi nirguṇaḥ sākṣāt, puruṣaḥ prakṛteḥ paraḥ
sa sarva-dṛg upadraṣṭā, taṁ bhajan nirguṇo bhavet
"Lord Hari, however, has no connection with the material modes. He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the all-seeing eternal witness, who is transcendental to material nature. One who worships Him becomes similarly free from the material modes."
Srila Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa explains that the word "not" should be added to the beginning of sutras seven, eight, nine, and ten, because they all contain negative statements, just like sutras five (īkṣater nāśabdam) and six (gauṇaś cen nātma-śabdāt). They should thus be read as "na tan-niṣṭhasya mokṣopadeśāt", "na heyatva-vacanāc ca", "na svāpyayāt", and "na gati-sāmānyāt".
These four sutras give arguments against the idea that the Brahman described in the scriptures is a manifestation of the three modes. Because of this "not" in the beginning, the verses read that The Brahman mentioned in the scriptures is not a manifestation of the modes because His devotees attain liberation, He is not a manifestation of the modes because there is nothing higher, because it merges into Himself and not in anything else and because the Vedas describe only one Brahman and not many.
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