Understanding the Absolute Truth

The Vedas speak about a transcendental being that is always real and supreme. That's what the Upaniṣads describe as Brahman, the absolute truth, transcendental relative truths of this material world.

« The Song of God: An in-depth study of the Bhagavad-gītā (Volume 1)

Ordinarily, the truth means the opposite of a lie. However, the truth in the world we live in is merely relative. I may say that I'm the father of a certain child, but for how long will I be his father? The statement may sound true now, but it was not true in the past, and it will not be true in the future after I take a new birth. It is thus just a relative truth.

The Vedas however speak about a transcendental being that is always real and supreme. That's what the Upaniṣads describe as Brahman, the absolute truth. Different from the relative truths of this material world, which are true only for a limited period, the Supreme Brahman is always true and our relationship with Him is also true and eternal.

This absolute truth includes everything that exists. Even the relative truths of this world ultimately are part of this absolute truth. The Upaniṣads describe this absolute truth as composed of five aspects:

1. Īśvara (God)

Īśvara means God in His personal aspect, as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The Vedanta sutras, which are short texts with the conclusions of the Vedas, declare: "janmādy asya yataḥ", from Him, everything emanates. The fact God creates everything implies He has spiritual potencies, and that He controls these potencies. It also implies intelligence and desire, since without these two, nothing can be created. The fact that God is the controller of multiple spiritual potencies and creates using them out of His own desire, makes clear He is a person and not some impersonal light as many believe. The energy may be impersonal, but behind the energy, a person is creating through it. One who sees a hammer striking a chisel may think the hammer is creating a sculpture by itself, but someone with knowledge will immediately understand that behind the hammer there is a sculptor.

2. Jīva (the souls)

The second aspect of the absolute truth is us, the individual souls who try to exploit the resources of this material world. In the classic Indian systems of philosophy, two ideas are prominent: monism and dualism. Monists believe we are all one, while dualists believe we are essentially different and separated from God. Caitanya Mahāprabhu, however, explained the deeper truth in His acintya-bhedābheda-tattva philosophy: we are one with God in the sense of being part of His energy, but at the same time, we are eternally separated individuals. I may share the same characteristics with my father and have originated from him, but this doesn't mean we are one. Similarly, although we are one with Krsna in the sense of being spiritual, eternal, blissful, etc. we are separated individuals. This separation opens the possibility for the existence of transcendental relationships, which are the basis for the eternal bliss of the spiritual realm.

3. Prakrti (the material nature)

The third aspect of the absolute truth is the material nature, the external potency of the Lord, which is the basis for the existence of the material universes. The Vedas explain that vast as it may be, our universe is just one of many. According to the Vedas, there are millions of other universes that are just like atoms in a larger structure. We can't even imagine how big this totality of the material creation may be.

Being one of the spiritual potencies of the Lord, the material nature is eternal (as an energy) but the material universes created from it are temporary. Just like a mass of Lego blocks can be used to create a number of toys, which can be later disassembled back into the original blocks, the material energy is periodically assembled into the numerous material universes and later returned to its original form. The energy is thus eternal, but it is the basis for the creation of a temporary manifestation.

4. Kāla (time)

The temporality of the material universes and everything we see around us is due to another energy of Krsna called Kāla, or the time energy. Due to the influence of time, everything in the material creation has a beginning and an end, just like the universes themselves. Due to its influence, we live in an unnatural situation where we are forced to move from one temporary situation to another. When we come to the end of a chapter in our existence, we call it death, and when a new chapter starts, we call it birth. As transcendental and eternal beings, we aspire for a permanent existence, but we can't find it in this material world. We can achieve it only when we reconnect with our original spiritual nature.

5. Karma (activity)

As long as we are in this material world, we execute activities, karma. We often understand karma as the reactions to activities we executed in the past, like when we say, "That's my karma", but in the language of the Bhagavad-gītā, karma relates to both the activity itself and the results. All material activities result in reactions, good or bad, and these reactions continue our existence in this material world, creating the conditions for our future births.

Karma, however, is not eternal. The Bhagavad-gītā teaches us how we can spiritualize our activities, transforming karma into akarma. Just as karma keeps us bound to this temporary world through its results, akarma frees us from the reactions of past activities.

The difference between karma and akarma is a complex subject in the Gītā. Krsna himself mentions that kim karma kim akarmeti, kavayo ’py atra mohitāḥ. Even the intelligent are bewildered in determining what karma is and what akarma is. However, by carefully studying the verses of the Bhagavad-gītā we can understand this transcendental secret and in this way find our way out of this temporary world.

These five points and the interactions between them are crucial for understanding the contents of the Bhagavad-gītā. However, understanding them fully is not so easy, because these five points compose everything that exists, the Absolute Truth, and thus they branch out into unlimited subjects.

« The Song of God: An in-depth study of the Bhagavad-gītā (Volume 1)