The creation of an illusory world
Māyāvādis argue that the material world is false. We, however, don't agree. The world is certainly illusory, but not false. How is this illusory world created, and what are its components?
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Chapter 1: The creation of an illusory world
Māyāvādis argue that the material world is false, the fruit of the influence of avidyā (or ignorance) over the Supreme Brahman. Due to the covering of avidyā, they say, the transcendental and undifferentiated Brahman thinks it has become many, and imagines the existence of a material world, where many jīvas are entrapped. According to them, the Supreme Brahman then assumes material bodies and acts under the material mode of goodness to play the role of Īśvara, in the different forms of Viṣṇu and different incarnations. According to their doctrine, all of this exists only under the realm of illusion and is proven to be false once one attains self-realization, just as one may see a rope on the road at night and experience fear thinking it is a snake.
Prabhupāda, however, explains that this is incorrect. There is nothing false in the creation of the Lord. Both the souls and the material energy are eternal potencies of the Lord. The material potency is organized in a certain way to create the temporary material manifestation, and the souls who so desire are given freedom to play with it, performing material actions and enjoying or suffering the results. The material world is thus temporary and illusory, but it is not false.
We, as souls, are also not the product of an illusioned Brahman that thinks it has become many, but eternal parts and parcels of the Lord, identical with Him in quality, but different in quantity, and eternally separated from Him – as explained in the acintya-bhedābheda-tattva philosophy of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. This understanding is the hallmark of Vaiṣnava philosophy, the basis for the conclusion that pure love of Godhead is the ultimate goal of life, and eternal life in the company of the Lord in the spiritual realm is our ultimate destination. This love of Godhead is the ultimate reality, contrasted with our illusory and temporary life in this material world.
The process of material creation is explained in different passages spread throughout the first three Cantos of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. It starts with the description of the Puruṣa avatāras in the First Canto, the incarnations of the Lord who create the material world:
“In the beginning of the material creation, that Absolute Personality of Godhead [Vāsudeva], in His transcendental position, created the energies of cause and effect by His own internal energy. After creating the material substance, the Lord [Vāsudeva] expands Himself and enters into it. And although He is within the material modes of nature and appears to be one of the created beings, He is always fully enlightened in His transcendental position.
The Lord, as Supersoul, pervades all things, just as fire permeates wood, and so He appears to be of many varieties, though He is the absolute one without a second. The Supersoul enters into the bodies of the created beings who are influenced by the modes of material nature and causes them to enjoy the effects of these modes by the subtle mind. Thus the Lord of the universes maintains all planets inhabited by demigods, men and lower animals. Assuming the roles of incarnations, He performs pastimes to reclaim those in the mode of pure goodness.” (SB 1.2.30-34)
After impregnating matter with the souls and the time energy, Lord Mahā-Viṣṇu emanates all the innumerable material universes from His breath and the pores of His body, and enters into each universe as Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu. At first, the universe is empty, without any place to rest, so He fills half of it with water. Lord Śeṣa then manifests Himself, acting as a bed, on which the Lord comfortably rests. Lord Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu then produces the universal lotus flower, from which Brahmā appears. Initially, Brahmā sees only darkness and does not know what to do, but after meditating on the Lord, he can see the subtle manifestation of the universe and gain the knowledge and potency to create the planets and living beings exactly as conceived by the Lord.
Simultaneously, the Lord expands Himself again as Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu (Paramātmā), who enters into the hearts of all and into everything, down to the individual atoms. There is no part of the universe where Paramātmā is not present; therefore, He knows everything. Lord Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu is also known as Lord Hari, and He is the source of all different incarnations that appear in this universe.
Sometimes we may think that there is a separate form of Paramātmā in each living being and every atom, but in reality, there is just one Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu who observes everything and is present everywhere. The same Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu lives on a small island in the ocean of milk. This is the form of Viṣṇu to whom the demigods pray when they are defeated by the demons, and in other situations of emergency, as described in different pastimes of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
The material energy, in turn, 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. From this spiritual potency, pradhāna, or the unmanifested material elements, is manifested. This pradhāna is just like a cloud floating above the spiritual waters of the causal ocean.
To create the material manifestation, the Lord, as Mahā-Viṣṇu, casts His glance in the direction of this cloud, and His glance carries all the souls, as well as the time energy. This sets that energy into motion, activating the three material modes (goodness, passion, and ignorance) and starting the process of creation.
Internal, external, and marginal: Understanding the potencies of the Lord
The Lord possesses unlimited potencies, but they are grouped into three: the internal potency (antarangā-śakti), which includes all the spiritual planets, pastimes, and paraphernalia, the external potency, or material nature (bahiranga-śakti), and the marginal potency (taṭasthā-śakti), which consists of the individual souls, who are free to take shelter in one or the other.
All the spiritual planets, as well as the Brahman effulgence (brahmajyoti) and so on, are part of the spiritual potency. Everything there is eternal, blissful, and full of knowledge. There is no creation, no destruction, and no ignorance there. All the individual souls are originally part of this internal potency, but we can come in contact with the external potency due to free will. Because of this possibility of choice, we are called the marginal potency, or taṭasthā-śakti.
The external potency, in turn, includes both matter and māyā, the illusory potency, which makes the souls identify with material bodies and take part in the material creation.
Māyā, or illusion, can cover the individual souls who choose to forget their eternal relationship with Kṛṣṇa, but the Lord is always transcendental to it, and māyā remains always under His complete control. Her function is to create an alternate, illusory world, where the forgotten jīvas can play. As long as we are under the influence of māyā, we are forced to remain in this material world, transmigrating from one body to another. “Forced” is actually not the best word to describe it; we stay voluntarily, bound by our desire to enjoy matter.
Beyond the coverings of the universe and the influence of māyā, there is the causal ocean (kāraṇodaka), the abode of Lord Mahā-Viṣṇu. The causal ocean is different from pradhāna, which is the source of the material elements. The waters of the causal ocean are fully spiritual and represent the border between the spiritual world and material creation. Lord Vāmanadeva created a crack in the coverings of the universe when He kicked it, allowing this spiritual water to enter the universe in the form of the river Ganges.
The causal ocean is sometimes compared to a cloud that “covers” part of the spiritual sky. In this analogy, the impersonal Brahmajyoti, the light that emanates from Kṛṣṇa’s body and all spiritual planets, is like sunshine, which engulfs the whole transcendental realm, and the causal ocean is like a rain cloud that covers a small part of it. Lord Mahā-Viṣṇu lies on this ocean (or cloud), absorbed in His yoga-nidrā, or mystic slumber. However, His “sleep” is not a state of unconsciousness like ours, but a mystic state where He associates with His internal potency. Therefore, even while “sleeping”, He casts His glance over the external potency and produces the whole material creation.
The causal ocean is also described as the Virajā River, giving the idea of a border between the spiritual and material realms. In the metaphor, one of the banks represents the spiritual world, and the other the material energy, the external potency of the Lord. Prabhupāda explains this analogy in the Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta:
“Virajā is a river that divides the material world from the spiritual world. On one side of the river Virajā is the effulgence of Brahmaloka and innumerable Vaikuṇṭha planets, and on the other side is this material world. It is to be understood that this side of the Virajā River is filled with material planets floating in the Causal Ocean. The name Virajā indicates a marginal position between the spiritual and material worlds, but the Virajā River is not under the control of the material energy. Consequently, it is devoid of the three guṇas.” (CC Madhya 15.172 purport)
The prefix “vi” means “vigata” (completely eradicated), and “rajas” means the influence of the material world. The causal ocean, or Virajā River, is thus free from the influence of the material modes. Many jīvas live there (just like in the impersonal Brahmajyoti), remaining completely free from material entanglement. However, because in this position they are not awakened to their eternal position of service, they eventually fall back to the material creation.
From our perspective, there are many planetary systems beyond our planet, including Bhuvarloka, Svargaloka, Maharloka, Janaloka, Tapoloka, and Brahmaloka, which are progressively larger and more distant. After all these different planetary systems, there are the seven coverings of the universe, each one ten times larger than the previous. Beyond the last covering is the causal ocean, which is inconceivably large. Beyond the causal ocean is the impersonal Brahmajyoti, and beyond it are the Vaikuṇṭha planets and still further, Goloka Vṛndāvana.
As explained in the Brahma-samhitā, the Lord does not come in direct contact with the illusory potency, which lies beyond the borders of the causal ocean. The work of creation is performed by the mere glance of Lord Mahā-Viṣṇu, who impregnates the material energy with the time-energy (kāla), Śambhu (Lord Sadāśiva), and the jīvas who desire to participate in the material creation.
This point is explained by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura in the Brahma-samhitā:
“The Lord of Gokula is the transcendental Supreme Godhead, the own Self of eternal ecstasies. He is the superior of all superiors and is busily engaged in the enjoyments of the transcendental realm and has no association with His mundane potency.
Kṛṣṇa never consorts with His illusory energy. Still, her connection is not entirely cut off from the Absolute Truth. When He intends to create the material world, the amorous pastime, in which He engages by consorting with His own spiritual [cit] potency Ramā by casting His glance at the deluding energy in the shape of sending His time energy, is an auxiliary activity.” (Brahma-samhitā 5.6-7)
There are many forms of Viṣṇu and many incarnations of God, but as declared in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, ete cāmśa-kalāḥ pumsaḥ kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam: “All of the above-mentioned incarnations are either plenary portions or portions of the plenary portions of the Lord, but Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa is the original Personality of Godhead”.
Kṛṣṇa is the Lord of Goloka Vṛndāvana, which exists at the very top of the spiritual world, beyond even the Vaikuṇṭha planets. He lives eternally in Gokula, enjoying His eternal pastimes with His eternal associates, without ever coming in contact with the material creation. Taking this into consideration, one could ask how the Lord can appear in this world to perform His pastimes, as well as Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu and Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu. This is explained in detail by Lord Kapila in the Third Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, and we will study this point in more detail later. The point for now is to understand that the Lord never comes in contact with the material energy. Different from us, He never assumes a material body and never comes in contact with the three material modes.
The role of Lord Sadāśiva
The glance of Lord Mahā-Viṣṇu is personified in the form of Lord Sadāśiva, who associates with the material nature and becomes the father of all living entities. Because of this association with the material energy, Lord Śiva is compared to yogurt, which is nothing but milk, but can’t be used in the place of milk. Lord Sadāśiva is originally Viṣṇu-tattva and has his eternal abode on the spiritual side, where he eternally glorifies the Lord. However, when he comes in contact with the material energy and expands himself into the numerous Śivas inside each material universe, part of his qualities are covered.
The relationship of Lord Śiva and the material energy is also described by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Thākura in his commentary on the Brahma-samhitā:
“In the transcendental atmosphere (para-vyoma), where spiritual majesty preponderates, there is present Śrī Nārāyaṇa who is not different from Kṛṣṇa. Mahā-Sankarṣaṇa, subjective plenary facsimile of the extended personality of Śrī Nārāyaṇa, is also the divine plenary portion of the propagatory embodiment of Śrī Kṛṣṇa. By the power of His spiritual energy a plenary subjective portion of Him, eternally reposing in the neutral stream of Virajā forming the boundary between the spiritual and mundane realms, casts His glance, at creation, unto the limited shadow potency. Māyā, who is located far away from Himself. Thereupon Śambhu, lord of pradhāna embodying the substantive principle of all material entities, who is the same as Rudra, the dim reflection of the Supreme Lord’s own divine glance, consummates his intercourse with māyā, the efficient mundane causal principle. But he can do nothing independently of the energy of Mahā-Viṣṇu representing the direct spiritual power of Kṛṣṇa. Therefore, the principle of mahat, or the perverted cognitive faculty is produced only when the subjective plenary portion of Kṛṣṇa, viz., the prime divine avatāra Mahā-Viṣṇu who is the subjective portion of Sankarṣaṇa, Himself the subjective portion of Kṛṣṇa, is propitious towards the active mutual endeavors of māyā, Śiva’s consort (śakti), and pradhāna or the principle of substantive mundane causality. Agreeably to the initiative of Mahā-Viṣṇu the consort of Śiva creates successively the mundane ego (ahankāra), the five mundane elements (bhūtas) viz., space etc., their attributes (tan-mātras) and the limited senses of the conditioned soul (jīva). The constituent particles, in the form of pencils of effulgence of Mahā-Viṣṇu, are manifest as the individual souls (jīvas).” (Brahma-samhitā 5.10 purport)
Lord Nārāyaṇa, who presides over the Vaikuṇṭha planets, is an expansion of Kṛṣṇa. He expands Himself into Mahā-Sankarṣaṇa, who, although also residing on the spiritual planets, has the function of linking the spiritual and material realms. Mahā-Sankarṣaṇa expands Himself into Mahā-Viṣṇu, who lies in the causal ocean and initiates the material creation by casting His glance in the direction of the material energy. From this glance, emerges Śambhu (Śiva), who appears as a dim reflection of the glance of the Lord and comes in contact with the material potency, becoming the Lord of the material creation. Śambhu is extremely powerful, but he remains eternally under the full control of the Lord. From this combination come the material elements, starting from ahankāra, the false ego, the first layer of bondage of the conditioned souls, followed by the five elements, starting with ether (space).
What is pradhāna?
Apart from māyā, the illusory energy, another feature of the external potency is pradhāna, the unmanifested, undifferentiated amalgamation of all material elements, which remains dissolved in perfect equilibrium. Pradhāna is the material energy in its dormant state, with no variety, no activity, and no manifestation of the three material modes. Pradhāna exists beyond the causal ocean, on the material side. Sometimes it is described as being like a cloud on top of the waters, but without touching them.
Lord Kapila describes it in SB 3.26.10: “The unmanifested eternal combination of the three modes is the cause of the manifest state and is called pradhāna. It is called prakṛti when in the manifested stage of existence.”
Prabhupāda gives more details in his purport:
“The Lord points out material nature in its subtle stage, which is called pradhāna, and He analyzes this pradhāna. The explanation of pradhāna and prakṛti is that pradhāna is the subtle, undifferentiated sum total of all material elements. Although they are undifferentiated, one can understand that the total material elements are contained therein. When the total material elements are manifested by the interaction of the three modes of material nature, the manifestation is called prakṛti. Impersonalists say that Brahman is without variegatedness and without differentiation. One may say that pradhāna is the Brahman stage, but actually the Brahman stage is not pradhāna. Pradhāna is distinct from Brahman because in Brahman there is no existence of the material modes of nature. One may argue that the mahat-tattva is also different from pradhāna because in the mahat-tattva there are manifestations. The actual explanation of pradhāna, however, is given here: when the cause and effect are not clearly manifested (avyakta), the reaction of the total elements does not take place, and that stage of material nature is called pradhāna.Pradhāna is not the time element because in the time element there are actions and reactions, creation and annihilation. Nor is it the jīva, or marginal potency of living entities, or designated, conditioned living entities, because the designations of the living entities are not eternal. One adjective used in this connection is nitya, which indicates eternality. Therefore the condition of material nature immediately preceding its manifestation is called pradhāna.”
This pradhāna is agitated by the glance of Lord Mahā-Viṣṇu, which activates it, leading to the manifestation of the three material modes. The contact with kāla (eternal time) leads to a series of permutations, resulting in the appearance of the material elements. These elements amalgamate with the seeds of the universes that emanate from the breath of Mahā-Viṣṇu, resulting in the many material universes in their inactive state.
This process is also described in the Brahma-samhitā:
“The prime divine avatāra lying in the spiritual Causal Ocean is such a great affair that in the pores of His divine form spring up myriads of seeds of the universes. Those series of universes are the perverted reflections of the infinite transcendental region. As long as they remain embedded in His divine form they embody the principle of spiritual reflection having the form of golden eggs. Nevertheless by the creative desire of Mahā-Viṣṇu the minute particles of the great elements, which are constituents of the mundane efficient and material causal principles, envelop them. When those golden sperms, coming out with the exhalation of Mahā-Viṣṇu, enter into the unlimited accommodating chamber of the limited potency (māyā) they become enlarged by the nonconglomerate great elements.” (Brahma-samhitā 5.13 purport)
The “prime divine avatāra” mentioned here by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura is Mahā-Viṣṇu, lying on the spiritual waters of the causal ocean. He produces the seeds of the material universes, as reflections of the spiritual creation, and these universes are enveloped by the material elements, staying under the influence of māyā, the illusory potency. Sometimes we think that Mahā-Viṣṇu creates the universes already as fully formed balls of matter, but this view is not entirely correct. The universes are originally subtle, as reflections of the spiritual creation. They are covered by matter later on, as they move in the direction of the external potency.
These innumerable universes float on top of the causal ocean, just like many balls or bubbles floating on water. Another analogy that is sometimes made is with a board of styrofoam floating on water, since styrofoam is also composed of many small bubbles.
Once pradhāna becomes active (starting with the manifestation of the three material modes), it is called mahat-tattva, or prakṛti. These three words thus describe the same material nature, but in different stages. The word prakṛti is also used as a generic term for the material energy, as a potency of the Lord.
Once creation happens, the cosmic manifestation remains active for 311.04 trillion years, the lifetime of Brahmā. When the creation is withdrawn, the souls merge back into the body of Mahā-Viṣṇu for a very long sleep during the inactive phase of the material manifestation, and the material energy returns to its original state as pradhāna. In this way, the material energy is never really transformed; it is just assembled into the material manifestation, and later returns to its original state, just like a bar of gold hammered into different objects and later melted back into the original form.
This is described in Prabhupāda’s purport to SB 1.10.21:
“There are two types of dissolution of the manifested cosmos. At the end of every 4,320,000,000 solar years, when Brahmā, the lord of one particular universe, goes to sleep, there is one annihilation. And at the end of Lord Brahmā’s life, which takes place at the end of Brahmā’s one hundred years of age, in our calculation at the end of 8,640,000,000 × 30 × 12 × 100 solar years, there is complete annihilation of the entire universe, and in both the periods both the material energy called the mahat-tattva and the marginal energy called jīva-tattva merge in the person of the Supreme Lord. The living beings remain asleep within the body of the Lord until there is another creation of the material world, and that is the way of the creation, maintenance and annihilation of the material manifestation.
The material creation is effected by the interaction of the three modes of material nature set in action by the Lord, and therefore it is said here that the Lord existed before the modes of material nature were set in motion. In the śruti-mantra it is said that only Viṣṇu, the Supreme Lord, existed before the creation, and there was no Brahmā, Śiva or other demigods. Viṣṇu means the Mahā-Viṣṇu, who is lying on the Causal Ocean. By His breathing only all the universes are generated in seeds and gradually develop into gigantic forms with innumerable planets within each and every universe. The seeds of universes develop into gigantic forms in the way seeds of a banyan tree develop into numberless banyan trees.”
The idea of the jīvas merging into the body of Mahā-Viṣṇu may sound strange at first, but it doesn’t mean they lose their identity. It’s just like a fish entering the ocean, or a bird entering a tree. It just describes proximity, and not loss of identity. Prabhupāda explains this point later in the same purport:
“The merging of the living beings into the body of Mahā-Viṣṇu takes place automatically at the end of Brahmā’s one hundred years. But that does not mean that the individual living being loses his identity. The identity is there, and as soon as there is another creation by the supreme will of the Lord, all the sleeping, inactive living beings are again let loose to begin their activities in the continuation of past different spheres of life. It is called suptotthita-nyāya, or awakening from sleep and again engaging in one’s respective continuous duty. When a man is asleep at night, he forgets himself, what he is, what his duty is and everything of his waking state. But as soon as he awakens from slumber, he remembers all that he has to do and thus engages himself again in his prescribed activities. The living beings also remain merged in the body of Mahā-Viṣṇu during the period of annihilation, but as soon as there is another creation they arise to take up their unfinished work. This is also confirmed in the Bhagavad-gītā (8.18-19).”
In this way, we can see that all the components of the material creation are different potencies of the Lord. Mahā-Viṣṇu is His expansion, who lies on the causal ocean, which is a feature of His spiritual potency. Both pradhāna and māyā are features of His external potency. The time-energy and the jīvas are also potencies of the Lord, just as Lord Sadāśiva. The material elements and the cosmic manifestation itself are nothing more than the same material energy previously present in the pradhāna after being agitated by the contact with these different potencies.
The material energy is also spiritual in nature, being one of the potencies of the Lord. However, the presence of māyā, the illusory potency, makes the jīvas see it as separate from the Lord, as an object of their enjoyment. This is what makes the cosmic creation appear material. The material creation is thus illusory, due to the presence of māyā, but it is not false. The Lord appears inside of it in many different incarnations, but He never comes in contact with the material energy and never falls under the control of māyā. Because He remains transcendental, He can give liberation to the jīvas who so desire.
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