The conclusions of the Vedanta-sutra
Just like we can't enter a house without keys, we can't enter into the mysteries of the Vedas without the proper philosophical conclusions. Sri Baladeva starts his work with the keys of the text.
« Vedānta-sūtra: The Govinda-bhāṣya of Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa
The conclusions of the Vedanta-sutra
In his introduction, Srila Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa mentions that during the past Dvāpara-yuga, the Vedas were destroyed. At the time, many foolish philosophers propounded different incorrect interpretations of the Vedas, and the real spirit of the scriptures was almost lost. Some were teaching that the ultimate goal of life is to act piously and enjoy the results of good karma. Some sustained that the fruits of good karma, such as elevation to the high planets are eternal, with some having the audacity of saying that Lord Viṣṇu Himself is bound by the laws of karma.
Others were saying that there is no God, and the jīvas (the individual souls) and prakṛti (the material energy) act independently, without any superior control. Some were propounding that in reality, all souls are God, and we become free from the cycle of birth and death when we understand our real identity as part of the Supreme Brahman. Others were saying that the souls are a reflection of God or separated fragments of God, and so on.
Answering the prayers of Lord Brahma and other demigods to come as an incarnation and dispel all these speculations, restoring the actual meaning of the Vedas, the Lord appeared as Krsna Dvaipāyana Vyāsa. He divided the Vedas and wrote the Vedanta-sutra, explaining the real meaning of the scriptures.
The Vedanta-sutra refutes all these different misconceptions and establishes Lord Viṣṇu 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. Īśvara (The Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is the Supreme Controller).
2. Jīva (the individual souls, who are controlled by Him).
3. Prakrit (the material nature, which is one of the energies of the Lord and remains under His full control).
4. Kāla (time, which governs the duration of the existence of the whole material manifestation).
5. Karma (material activity).
These five points and the interactions between them are very important topics, because when they are not properly understood, all kinds of philosophical misconceptions may appear.
Srila Prabhupada explains these five truths in his introduction to the Bhagavad-gītā as It Is, but many of us may 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 Supreme 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 controller 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 that 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 jīvas 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 can be explained by the example of 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 jīvas are conscious. The Lord is supremely conscious, and the jīvas, 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 jīva is conscious, the jīva-prakṛti (the energy of the Lord, which includes all the souls) is called superior compared to material nature. The jīva 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 jīvas are eternally different individuals. The jīva 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 jīva are eternally conscious.
p) Perverted by material association
Although the consciousness of the jīva is originally transcendental, it becomes perverted when reflected in matter, just as light passing through colored glass may appear to acquire a certain color. The consciousness of the Lord, however, is never materially affected. That's why He is qualified to speak the Bhagavad-gītā 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, passes through transformations eventually comes to an end. Outside of this temporary world, however, there is an eternal, or sanātana world that is ever-existent. Both the Lord and the jīvas 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-gītā 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 Bhagavad-gītā, 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 is comprised of the Lord (the supreme controller), the jīvas, 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.
The qualities of the Lord and additional arguments
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 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 for them, 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 Vidyābhūṣaṇa explains this point by giving the example of a lamp. The lamp is not different from the light it emits. At the same time, we can see the lamp inside a dark room only because of the light emitted by the lamp itself. Without this light, we would not the 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 emits. 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 Vidyābhūṣaṇa gives them another description of the qualities of the Lord, Īśvara, and adds a few more points to the description of the five truths:
a) Īśvara, 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 jīvas).
c) He enters the universe and controls it.
d) He awards both material enjoyment and ultimate liberation to the individual spirit souls (jīvas) 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 jīvas are averse to the Lord and are thus bound by material illusion. Other jīvas are friendly to the Lord, and thus free from the material illusion, which hides the Lord's form and qualities.
j) Prakṛti (material nature) is known by many names, such as Tamaḥ and Maya. When the Lord glances at Prakṛti, she is put into motion, generating all the different material manifestations.
k) Kāla (time) is divided into many different units from the extremely brief kṣaṇa (a fraction of a second) to the extremely long parārdha (155.520 trillion years). Turning like a wheel, time is the cause of the repeated creation and annihilation of the universes. As an energy, time is unconscious. It is not a person (although it has a predominant deity).
He sustains these points by quoting a number of passages from the Upaniṣads and Purāṇas:
nityo nityānām, cetanaś cetanānām
"Of all the eternals, one [the Supreme Personality of Godhead] is the supreme eternal. Of all conscious entities, one [the Supreme Personality of Godhead] is the supreme conscious entity." (Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 6.13)
gaur anādy anantavatī
"Prakṛti is brilliant and infinite. She is eternal, without beginning or end." (Cūlikā Upaniṣad 5)
sad eva saumya idam agra āsīt
"O gentle one, please understand that the Supreme Personality of Godhead is eternal. He existed before the manifestation of this universe." (Chāndogya Upanisad 6.2.1)
sa viśva-kṛt viśva-vid ātma-yonir, jñaḥ kāla-karo guṇī sarva-vid yaḥ
pradhāna-kṣetrajña-patir guṇeśaḥ, saṁsāra-mokṣa-sthiti-bandha-hetuḥ
"The Supreme Personality of Godhead is the creator of the Universe and the knower of the Universe. He is the cause of all causes, but He himself has no cause. Being omniscient, he knows everything and is the knower of all. He is the controller of material time, which is just one of His energies. He is the master of pradhāna, the unmanifested material nature. He is the master of the three material modes and is always transcendental to them. He is the master and maintainer of all conditioned souls. Although He has no material desires, He places them in contact with matter, maintains them, controls their transmigration from one body to another, and liberates them, all according to their desire." (Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad Upanisad 6.16)
bhakti-yogena manasi, samyak praṇihite ’male
apaśyat puruṣaṁ pūrṇaṁ, māyāṁ ca tad-apāśrayām
"Thus he fixed his mind, perfectly engaging it by linking it in devotional service [bhakti-yoga] without any tinge of materialism, and thus he saw the Absolute Personality of Godhead along with His external energy, which was under full control." (SB 1.7.4)
yayā sammohito jīva, ātmānaṁ tri-guṇātmakam
paro ’pi manute ’narthaṁ, tat-kṛtaṁ cābhipadyate
"Due to this external energy, the living entity, although transcendental to the three modes of material nature, thinks of himself as a material product and thus undergoes the reactions of material miseries." (SB 1.7.5)
anarthopaśamaṁ sākṣād, bhakti-yogam adhokṣaje
lokasyājānato vidvāṁś, cakre sātvata-saṁhitām
"The material miseries of the living entity, which are superfluous to him, can be directly mitigated by the linking process of devotional service. But the mass of people do not know this, and therefore the learned Vyāsadeva compiled this Vedic literature, which is in relation to the Supreme Truth." (SB 1.7.6)
dravyaṁ karma ca kālaś ca, svabhāvo jīva eva ca
yad-anugrahataḥ santi, na santi yad-upekṣayā
"One should definitely know that all material ingredients, activities, time and modes, and the living entities who are meant to enjoy them all, exist by His mercy only, and as soon as He does not care for them, everything becomes nonexistent." (SB 2.10.12)
Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavas accept the Srimad-Bhagavatam as the authorized commentary of the Vedanta Sutras composed by Srila Vyāsadeva, the author Himself. That's why, until Srila Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa, there was no specific Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava commentary on the Vedanta-sutra. Because the Bhagavatam is the authoritative commentary, Baladeva's commentary is based on its conclusions. To prove that the Srimad-Bhagavatam is the authorized commentary on the Vedanta-sutra, he quotes the Garuḍa Purana:
artho 'yam brahma-sutranam
"Srimad-Bhagavatam is the commentary on Vedanta-sutra."
The complete verse and translation is given by Srila Prabhupada on CC Madhya lila 25.143-144:
artho ’yaṁ brahma-sūtrāṇāṁ, bhāratārtha-vinirṇayaḥ
gāyatrī-bhāṣya-rūpo ’sau, vedārtha-paribṛṁhitaḥ
purāṇānāṁ sāma-rūpaḥ, sākṣād-bhagavatoditaḥ
dvādaśa-skandha-yukto ’yaṁ, śata-viccheda-saṁyutaḥ
grantho ’ṣṭādaśa-sāhasraḥ, śrīmad-bhāgavatābhidhaḥ
"‘The meaning of the Vedānta-sūtra is present in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. The full purport of the Mahābhārata is also there. The commentary of the Brahma-gāyatrī is also there and fully expanded with all Vedic knowledge. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is the supreme Purāṇa, and it was compiled by the Supreme Personality of Godhead in His incarnation as Vyāsadeva. There are twelve cantos, 335 chapters and eighteen thousand verses.’"
These verses were quoted by Sri Caitanya Mahāprabhu Himself in his discussions with the Mayavadis led by Prakāśānanda Sarasvatī in Benares, where He explained the Vedanta sutras according to the original meaning and established the Srimad Bhagavatam as the natural commentary. As He personally mentions:
"In the Vedānta-sūtra, the purport of all Vedic knowledge is explained, and in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam the same purport has been explained in eighteen thousand verses. Therefore it is to be concluded that the Brahma-sūtra is explained vividly in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Also, what is explained in the verses of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam has the same purport as what is explained in the Upaniṣads." (CC Madhya 25.99-100)
You can study the whole discussion on the Caitanya Caritāmṛta (Madhya lila, chapter 25). "Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu advised Prakāśānanda Sarasvatī, “Study Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam very scrutinizingly. Then you will understand the actual meaning of the Brahma-sūtra.”
The process for understanding the Upaniṣads
The Upaniṣads are considered the cream of the Vedas, presenting passages that explain the most important philosophical truths of the scriptures. One of the distinctive characteristics of the Upaniṣads, however, is that the texts are often quite vague and metaphorical, making it extremely difficult for the casual student to capture the correct meaning of the verses. The reason for that is that the Upaniṣads were not written to be studied casually, like regular books, but learned inside the system of paramparā, from a spiritual master who would ensure that the disciple understands the correct meanings. The very word "Upanisad" comes from the combination of the words "upa" (come close) and "anīśa" (sit down). In other words, these are texts written to be carefully studied under the guidance of a self-realized soul.
We can see this clearly in the case of the Bhagavad-gītā, for example. There are thousands of commentaries on the Bhagavad-gītā available in various languages, which offer the most diverse interpretations of the text, but fail to bring the reader to the true conclusion. That was one of the reasons for Srila Prabhupada to write his own commentary on the Bhagavad-gītā, transmitting the correct conclusions he received from his own spiritual master through the process of paramparā.
In his introduction to the Bhagavad-gītā as it is, he wrote: "The spirit of Bhagavad-gītā is mentioned in Bhagavad-gītā itself. It is just like this: If we want to take a particular medicine, then we have to follow the directions written on the label. We cannot take the medicine according to our own whim or the direction of a friend. It must be taken according to the directions on the label or the directions given by a physician. Similarly, Bhagavad-gītā should be taken or accepted as it is directed by the speaker Himself."
To study the scriptures from the wrong source, or with the wrong mentality, is often worse than not studying at all because once one receives the wrong conclusions, it can be hard to later return to the proper path. Therefore, the Upanishads encourage us to get knowledge from a bona fide source.
This same spirit is found in the Vedanta-sutra, which offers philosophical conclusions for the Upaniṣads in a very concise way. To be able to understand these conclusions, we need to study the book under the right conclusions, which work like keys that allow us to enter into the intricacies of the text. Fortunately for us, these keys were given to us in the Govinda Bhāṣya of Srila Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa, who masterfully explained the meaning of the verses by using logic and scriptural evidence. His explanations are, in turn, further explained in the purports of Srila Prabhupada. In this way, these two powerful ācāryas work together to enlighten us in the correct meanings of the sutras.
The Vedanta-sutra is composed of sixteen pādas or sections, grouped into four chapters. The first chapter (pādas 1 to 4) explains how Brahman, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is the real topic of discussion in all Vedic literature. The second chapter (pādas 5 to 8) solves apparent contradictions, explaining how different books in the Vedic literature present the same conclusion. These two chapters describe sambandha. The third chapter (pādas 9 to 12) describes how to attain the Supreme Lord (abhidheya). Finally, the fourth chapter (pādas 13 to 16) explains the result of attaining the Lord (prayojana).
This first pāda begins by encouraging us into this natural process of inquiring about the absolute truth and continues in explaining the right process for understanding the verses of the Upaniṣads. In the process, it debunks many false ideas and philosophies that misinterpret the scriptures.
« Vedānta-sūtra: The Govinda-bhāṣya of Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa