The conclusions of the Upaniṣads
Srila Baladeva Vidyabhusana explains that the Vedanta-sutra offers the conclusions of the Upaniṣads. Armed with these conclusions we can understand the texts in the proper perspective.
The conclusions of the Upaniṣads
Srila Baladeva Vidyabhusana explains that the Vedanta-sutra offers the conclusions of the Upaniṣads. Armed with these conclusions we can understand the texts in the proper perspective.
The Upaniṣads describe Lord Vishnu as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, being:
a) Supremely independent.
b) The original creator.
c) The cause of all causes.
d) Omniscient.
e) The ultimate goal of life for all living entities.
f) The Supreme religious principle.
g) The supreme goal of all transcendental knowledge.
To establish the proper understanding of the scriptures, the Vedanta Sutra describes five tattvas, or truths:
1. Isvara (The Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is the Supreme Controller).
2. Jiva (the individual souls, who are controlled by Him).
3. Prakrti (the material nature).
4. Kala (time, which governs the duration of the existence of the whole material manifestation).
5. Karma (material activity).
These five truths and the interactions between them are very important, because when they are not properly understood, all kinds of philosophical misconceptions may appear.
Srila Prabhupada explains these five tattvas in his introduction to the Bhagavad-gita As It Is, but we may often not go deep enough to grasp the true depth of this presentation. Here are some of the main points he makes:
a) The Supreme Controller.
The Lord is the controller, and the jīvas are controlled by Him. If a living entity says that he is not controlled but completely free, he is insane.
b) Simultaneously equal and different.
The living beings are like the supreme Lord in quality, but they are much less powerful, just like a particle of gold compared with a gold mine, or a drop of water compared with the whole ocean.
c) Subordinate controller.
Due to this simultaneous oneness and difference, the soul has the qualities of the Supreme Lord in minute quantity, being a minute īśvara, subordinate to the Lord. One may control a small family, trying to be supreme in his small apartment, but the Lord controls the whole cosmic manifestation. Our tendency to control exists because it is originally present in Krsna, but we must accept we are subordinate to Him.
d) Dependent material nature.
Material nature is not independent. She acts under the direction of the Supreme Lord.
e) Inferior and superior energies.
Both the material nature and the living entities are described as Prakṛti, the energy of the Lord. The material nature is the inferior prakṛti, the external energy of the Lord, while the jivas are part of the superior prakṛti or spiritual energy. However, both are under the control of the Lord.
f) The three modes, time, and activities.
Material nature has three qualities: the modes of goodness, passion, and ignorance. Above these three modes, there is eternal time, and under this combination of the three modes acting under the control of time, there are activities (karma).
g) Who is eternal?
The Lord, the living entities, material nature, and material time are eternal. Both material nature and time are manifestations of eternal potencies of the Lord.
h) What is temporary?
Different from the other four items, karma is not eternal. It has been going on for such a long time that it's not possible to trace its beginning. However, it can be changed when one comes in contact with the mode of goodness, and it ends when the soul is freed from all material contamination.
i) The cosmic manifestation is not false.
Both the material nature and time are described as eternal, being energies of the Lord. However, the cosmic manifestation created from the molding of the material energy is temporary, with the material universes being repeatedly created and destroyed, in an unlimited sequence of universal cycles. We can say that the energy is eternal, but the cosmic manifestation is temporary, passing through cycles of creation and destruction. However, although the cosmic manifestation is temporary, it is not false, as propagated by the Mayavadis. It exists and we are here.
j) How can it be real if it is temporary?
The reality and temporariness of the cosmic manifestation are compared to a cloud moving in the sky. It appears, stays for some time, and then disappears. Later, another cloud comes, and so on. These cycles go on eternally. The cloud is thus not false, it exists, but it exists for just a short period, while the sky is permanent. In the same way, the material energy (being one of the potencies of the Lord) is eternal, but the cosmic manifestation is temporary, going eternally through cycles of creation and destruction.
k) Who is conscious?
Both the Lord and the jivas are conscious. The Lord is supremely conscious, and the jivas, being parts and parcels of the Supreme Lord, are also conscious.
l) Spirit and matter.
Both the living entity and material nature are explained as prakṛti, the energy of the Supreme Lord. However, the material nature is not conscious. Amongst the two, only the jīva is conscious.
m) Superior nature
Because the jiva is conscious, the jīva-prakṛti (the energy of the Lord which includes all the souls) is called superior compared to material nature. The jiva is similar to the Lord, although minute.
n) Eternally different
The living being can't be supremely conscious like the Lord at any stage of perfection. There is always an intrinsic difference between the two at every stage. The Lord and the jivas are eternally different individuals. The jiva is conscious of his own body, while the Lord, being present everywhere, is conscious of all bodies.
o) Eternally conscious
The theory that consciousness develops under certain circumstances of material combination is not accepted. Both the Lord and the jiva are eternally conscious.
p) Perverted by material association
Although the consciousness of the jiva is originally transcendental, it becomes perverted when reflected in matter, just as light reflected through colored glass may appear to assume a certain color. The consciousness of the Lord, however, is never materially affected. That's why He is qualified to speak the Bhagavad-gita and other transcendental texts.
q) Ultimate happiness
At the present moment, our consciousness is materially contaminated and the goal is to purify it. When our consciousness is finally purified, our activities can be dovetailed, or connected, with the will of the Lord. This will bring us ultimate happiness. Purified consciousness means acting in accordance with the instructions of the Lord. The Supreme Lord is the enjoyer and the creator, and we, as subordinate living beings, are meant to cooperate to satisfy Him.
r) The cooperator
The living entity is neither the creator nor the enjoyer, but a cooperator. We don't have to cease all activities. Rather, our activities are to be purified, and purified activities are called bhakti. Activities in bhakti appear to be like ordinary activities, but they are not contaminated.
s) The eternal sky and the eternal occupation
Everything material has a beginning; it passes through transformations and eventually comes to an end. Outside of this temporary world, however, there is an eternal, or sanātana world that is ever-existent. This world is composed of the eternal Lord, the eternal spiritual planets, and the eternal souls. All three of them share this same eternal nature.
Just as there is an eternal world, beyond all material and temporary occupations there is an eternal occupation, called sanātana-dharma, or eternal occupation. The purpose of the spiritual knowledge of the Bhagavad-gita is to revive this eternal occupation, bringing us, eternal souls, back to our original, pure existence in association with the eternal Lord in the eternal spiritual world. This is done by transferring our attention and affection from material objects to the name, form, qualities, pastimes, etc. of Krsna.
t) The inverted reflection
In the Bhagavad-gita, the material world is compared to an inverted reflection of the spiritual world. Everything that exists is an inverted reflection of something that exists in the spiritual world, but here everything is perverted. Love becomes lust, eternal becomes temporary, etc. Inside this reflection, we become attached to many different material designations that are connected with the material body. Spiritual realization means detaching ourselves from these temporary designations and reconnecting ourselves with our true nature of service to Krsna.
u) Supreme Absolute Truth
The complete whole consists of the Lord (the supreme controller), the jivas, or souls, the cosmic manifestation, eternal time, and karma (or activities). All of these taken together form the complete whole, or everything that exists. This complete whole is also called the Supreme Absolute Truth.
After considering all these conclusions given by Srila Prabhupada in his introduction to the Bhagavad-gita, one could point out the apparent contradiction of considering the Lord as both the knower and the object of knowledge. Impersonalists see Brahman as an unconscious being that is the object of knowledge, and this is easy to understand since this is similar to the relationship we have with different unconscious material objects. We are conscious and we study things, while material objects are studied by us. Similarly, impersonalists see Brahman as the object of knowledge, but not as the knower, since Brahman is impersonal. When we understand that the Lord is a person, however, this apparent contradiction appears. How can the Lord be simultaneously the knower and the object of knowledge?
Srila Baladeva Vidyabhusana explains this point in his Govinda Bhasya by giving the example of a lamp. The lamp is not different from the light it emanates. At the same time, we can see the lamp inside of a dark room only because of the light emanated by the lamp itself. Without this light, we would not be able to see the lamp, or anything else. Without the lamp, we can't see anything.
Therefore, the lamp is simultaneously the object of knowledge (the object being studied), and the method for attaining such knowledge, thanks to the light it emanates. Similarly, the Lord is both the object of knowledge (the Supreme Person we wish to understand) and the process of attaining such knowledge, thanks to the Vedas and other forms of understanding that emanate from Him.
Srila Baladeva Vidyabhusana then gives another description of the qualities of the Lord, Isvara, and adds a few more points to the description of the five truths:
a) Isvara, the Lord, is supremely independent.
b) He is the master of all potencies (including the internal potency, the external potency, and the marginal potency, the jivas).
c) He enters the universe and controls it.
d) He awards both material enjoyment and ultimate liberation to the individual spirit souls (jivas) residing in material bodies.
e) Although He is one, He manifests in many forms. Those who understand the transcendental science maintain that He is not different from His transcendental form and qualities.
f) Although He can't be perceived by the material senses, He can be perceived by bhakti (devotional service).
g) He is changeless. Although unlimited manifestations come from Him, He remains as He is.
h) He reveals His own spiritual, blissful form to His devotees.
i) Some jivas become averse to the Lord and are thus bound by material illusion. Other jivas remain friendly to the Lord, and thus free from the material illusion, which hides the Lord's form and qualities.
j) Prakrti (material nature) is known by many names, such as Tamah and Maya. When the Lord glances at Prakrti, she is put into motion, generating all the different material manifestations.
k) Kala (time) is divided into many different units, going from the extremely brief ksana (a fraction of a second) to the extremely long parardha (155.52 trillion years). Turning like a wheel, time is the cause of repeated creation and annihilation of the universes. Time is unconscious. It is not a person.