Section
6
Vadanti verse reconsidered.
Hereafter fresh explanations of the vadanti verse (S.B.1.2.111), the original verse under discussion will be presented up to the third Sandarbha.
According to the specific qualities of the practitioner the Absolute Truth is revealed in a specific way. To enumerate this principle, Lord Brahmä describes the characteristics of a person qualified to realize Brahman in his prayers to the Lord (S.B.10.14.6):
"O unlimited Lord ! the glory of Your Brahman feature which is beyond material modes can be realized by those whose hearts are pure. This realization manifests by itself in the heart free from any modifications caused by sense objects. There is no other way to realize it except the consciousness of oneness.
Lord Brahmä said: Although I said that Your features of Brahman and Bhagavän are difficult to understand still (tathäpi), O Supreme Person, who is unlimited in nature and qualities, Your glorious aspect in which Your natural qualities are not manifest called Brahman, owing to its supreme nature (mahattvam) and greatness (båhattvam) can be understood by pure hearted people. The Vedas state, "Why is that called Brahman? Because He is ever expanding and makes others great". This glory of Yours can be understood only by those whose hearts are purified (amala-antar-ätmabhih). This means that they are able to understand Your glory when it manifests in their consciousness. It has the power to manifest to them. What is the instrument for such an understanding? In answer he says--by self experience; by the realization of the self in its pure state (svanubhavät).
An objection may be raised that experience is a mental state (våtti), which is merely a modification in the gross and subtle body, how then can a material mind have unchangeable (nirvikära) consciousness (tvam-padärtha) as its object of perfection? The answer it is said avikriyät--with the mind that is free from all modifications (våttis).
Another objection is raised: An experience which is in the form of the subject is always related to a subject, but the pure consciousness is not subjected to any one's experience being situated within and beyond the senses. The word arüpataù nullifies this objection. Rüpa means the subject of the mind's experience, and thus arüpataù means when the mind is free from all modifications, or våttis, caused by all experiences. The sense is that when the mind is free from the subtle and gross bodies, pure consciousness manifests itself.
Lord raises the question: Even if one realizes the subtle individual consciousness how can My Brahman form which is complete undivided consciousness become manifest to him?
Brahmä replies by the phrase ananya-bodhya-ätmatayä. The realization occurs by the experience of identity between the individual consciousness and Brahman based on their common conscious nature. Although after realizing that the soul is pure consciousness, one has no ability to experience oneness with Brahman by one's own effort, One can, however, attain Brahman realization by the potency of the Lord, if he has previously worshiped Him by sädhaëä-bhakti, which is the shelter of all perfections with the aim of Brahman realization. This is the sense. Thus after the verse under discussion (vadanti tat tattva vidas) Süta Gosvämé said (1.2.12):
That Absolute Truth called Brahman, Paramätmä and Bhagavän is realized within the heart by the seriously inquisitive student or sage who is equipped with knowledge and who has become detached by rendering devotional service and hearing the Vedänta-çruti.
That the Lord's mercy is instrumental in achieving Brahman realization is also stated by Lord Matsya to King Satyavrata (8.24.38):
You will be thoroughly advised and favored by Me, and because of your inquires, everything about My glories, which are known as Param Brahmä, will be manifest within your heart. Thus you will know everything about Me.
COMMENTARY
In the second Text Çréla Jéva Gosvämé said that if Brahman and Bhagavän are described then Paramätmä will automatically be explained. After explaining the three different manifestations of the Absolute Truth in the previous Texts, now he gives the qualification and process for Brahman realization. For this he cites a verse from Brahmä's prayers to Lord Kåñëa.
In this verse (10.14.6) mahimä (lit. greatness) means Brahman, which also means the great båàhati iti Brahman. Because Brahman is the all-pervading feature of the Lord, it is very difficult for the limited fractional soul to know the Brahman feature of the Supreme Lord. Indeed it is impossible unless one takes shelter of devotional service, bhakti-yoga.
The verse begins with tathäpi (lit. although), which implies that although it is difficult to know the Lord and his Brahman feature it is possible for those who first purify their heart. This was stated by Brahmä previously (10.14.2) neçe mahi tvavasitum manasäntareëa säkñättavaiva kimutätma-sukhänubhuteù A heart overpowered by the modes of passion and ignorance does not have the ability to perceive the self because of being in a state of agitation. The mode of ignorance causes laya, drowsiness, lack of enthusiasm, delusion; and the mode of passion causes vikñepa, disturbance due to material attachment, anger, greed, and so on.
There are many processes for purifying the heart but devotional service is the most potent and quick. The real impurity of the heart is being unfavorable to the Personality of Godhead. God is supplying all the necessities of life without asking and if a jéva will not acknowledge this he must be selfish, ungrateful and dishonest. Therefore unless one surrenders to the Supreme Lord it is not possible to purify the heart completely and realize either of His three aspects. Lord Kåñëa confirms in His teachings to Uddhava (S.B. 11.22.34):
"The speculative argument of philosophers--'This world is real,' 'No, it is not real'- is based upon incomplete knowledge of the Supreme soul and is simply aimed at understanding material dualities. Although such argument is useless, persons who have turned their attention away from Me, their own true Self, are unable to give it up."
One of the revolutionary ideas that Çréla Jéva Gosvämé makes us aware of is that Brahman realization is impossible without the mercy of the Lord, which comes only by rendering devotional service. In other words Brahman realization is impossible without engaging in bhakti-yoga. Thus even the Mäyävädi followers of Ñaìkaräcärya must take to devotional service to attain perfection in their path. Otherwise they only attain misery, in the form of repeated birth and death.
In fact Brahman, as defined by the Advaitavädé impersonalists is not the same Brahman as explained by Çréla Jéva Goswämé, which is the same as that described by Çréla Vyäsadeva in his trance and which is the very Brahman explained in the Vedänta Sütras and Upaniñadas. The impersonalists speculate and manufacture their own idea of Brahman. Hence in the Tenth Canto of the Bhägavatam the demigods, headed by Lord Brahmä, rightly decry such monists. (S.B. 10.2.32)
O lotus-eyed Lord, although nondevotees who accept severe austerities and penances to achieve the highest position may think themselves liberated, their intelligence is impure. They fall down from their position of imagined superiority because they have no regard for Your lotus feet.
In the Third Canto of the Çrémad Bhägavatam Lord Kapiladeva, while explaining the process of añöäìga-yoga, which culminates in Brahman realization, states that the yogé meditates on the form of Lord and on the strength of devotion he is able to realize Brahman (S.B. 3.28.34,35):
By practicing meditation the yogé gradually develops love for lord Hari. His heart melts due to love and the hairs on his body stand erect due to excessive joy. He is constantly bathed in the stream of tears caused by eagerness.
At this stage the yogé draws back his mind, which he used to attract the Lord just as a hook is used to catch fish, from the object of meditation.
Just as when the oil and wick are finished the flame of the lamp is extinguished, similarly the mind becoming free from any support, object of meditation, and attachment becomes situated in Brahman. In this state the jéva becomes free from the flow of the modes in the form of the body; there are no divisions of meditator and object of meditation. He sees only one Brahman pervading everything, without any deviation.
Here Kapiladeva explains that the yogé begins meditating on the beautiful form of the Lord with a purpose to realize Brahman. 'When He actually realizes the form of the Lord, he makes the mind void of this form also. The outcome is Brahman realization and this is due to the mercy of the Lord. Therefore Çréla Jéva Gosvämé said çré bhagavataù prabhävädeva tadapi tatrodayate, "only by the influence of the Lord, Brahman becomes manifest.
In the first of these two verses the word pratilabdhäbhävaù signifies that the meditator's attainment of bhäva is unfavorable (pratiküla) because he has a personal motive. Such a yogé is actually very inferior. Çréla Viçvanätha Cakravarti Öhäkura comments on this verse that such a yogé has a very crooked heart. He is like a fisher man who goes fishing in the Ganges and clips in its water only as long as he catches fish. His meditation is really on the fish, not on the sanctified waters of the Ganges. Although incidentally he bathes in the Ganges everyday he remain hard-hearted, dry and crooked like the hook, which looks appealing to the fish due to the bait on but it is actually hard, bent, devoid of any juice in it and it pierces the alive fish. Therefore melting of the heart of the yogé is not permanent like melting butter but a little softening like softening of iron piece due to contact with heat. For this reason Çrédhara Swämé, commenting on the phrase projjhita-kaitava (Bhag. 1.1.2) says that the prefix pra implies that even the desire for liberation is cheating. The heart of such a yogé is not completely pure. A pure-hearted person never abandons the lotus feet of Lord Kåñëa under any circumstances, including any preference for His brahman feature. Dhautätmä puruñaù kåñëa-päda-mülaà na muïcati (S.B. 2.8.6):
According to Çréla Rüpa Gosvämé the symptoms manifest in a yogé as described in 3.28.34 are not the real symptoms of rati but ratyäbhäsa (B.R.S. 1.3.41)
If the symptoms of rati, such as softness of the heart, are seen in the people who have desire other than loving service, such as liberation, then these symptoms do not indicate the real rati (only a semblance or shadow).
If their devotion was real the Lord would never desert their hearts. He does so because He is only attracted by the pure devotional service mood of His devotee. Indeed He is conquered by such pure devotion. The process of Yoga, Säìkhya and so on are not powerful enough to captivate the Lord. He revealed this to Uddhava (S.B.11.14.20):
"My dear Uddhava, the unalloyed devotional service rendered to Me by My devotees brings Me under their control. I cannot be thus controlled by those engaged in mystic yoga, Säìkhya philosophy, pious work, Vedic study, austerity or renunciation."
Brahmä says that first the Yogi realizes the pure self, svanubhavät, and then he gets the realization of the Brahman.
O my Lord, persons who smell the aroma of Your lotus feet, carried by the air of Vedic sound through the holes of the ears, accept Your devotional service. For them You are never separated from the lotus of their hearts.
An objection was raised about Brahman realization. When we have an experience of any object through our senses there is a change in our våtti, our mental state, caused by the process of perception. But knowledge of the pure soul as well as Brahman cannot arise from våtti because våtti being material undergoes changes. Brahman and the pure soul are free from transformation and so is their knowledge, so that knowledge could not possibly arise from the transformable våttis.
In reply Lord Brahmä says avikriyät which means that knowledge of the pure self arises when the mind is free from all våttis or when it is in the state of trance. As described by Lord Kapila, the yogi first fixes his mind on the form of the Lord and finally he makes his mind free from all thoughts.
To this a further objection was raised. An experience is always related to an object, viñaya, but the pure self, being by nature unmanifest, is not an object of experience. As Kåñëa states in the Bhagavad-gétä (2.25):
It is said that the soul is invisible, inconceivable and immutable. Knowing this, you should not grieve for the body.
In this verse avyakta means it is impalpable by the senses. This is because the soul is within and subtle. The senses can experience only those objects that are gross and external.
To this Lord Brahmä says arüpataù. The meaning is that when the mind is free from the våttis generated by attachment to objects related to the subtle and gross bodies then the self becomes manifest. To perceive a material object we need a suitable sense, mind in its normal state, and a favorable condition. For example, to see the table we need normal eyes an undisturbed mind, and light. If the eye is defective or there is darkness then we can not see the table. But in case of self luminous objects we only need suitable senses and the mind devoid of any disturbance caused by lower modes. For example to see a bulb we do not need light as was needed to see the table. Similarly to realize the soul no external light or condition is needed to illuminate it, nor is any external sense needed. It automatically becomes manifest in the pure mind. This is also accepted by the impersonalists as is stated by Vidyäraëya Svämé in his païcadasé (7.93)
"To see a clay pot kept in the darkness the eye as well as a lamp is necessary but to see a lamp only the eye is needed."
Of course according to Çréla Jéva Gosvämé this manifestation of the self is by the mercy of the Lord, and not by itself. Lord Kåñëa confirms this in the Bhagavad-Gétä (14.26)
No one transcend the modes of material nature without performing devotional service. The impersonalists, however, propose that by culture of knowledge one can get rid of ignorance and then by the dint of knowledge which comes from mode of goodness, one will attain Brahman realization. But knowledge is also part of material knowledge, in the mode of goodness. It is only knowledge related to the Supreme Lord which is transcendental and that knowledge will certainly liberate a person. Knowledge of oneness with Brahman can only liberate to the mode of goodness. Whenever it is stated that knowledge liberates, it is to be understood as the knowledge related to the Personality of Godhead. Lord Kåñëa instructed this directly to Uddhava (S.B. 11.11.20):
"My dear Uddhava, an intelligent person should never take to literatures that do not contain descriptions of My activities, which purify the whole universe. Indeed, I create, maintain and annihilate the entire material manifestation. Among all My pastime incarnations, the most beloved are Kåñëa and Balaräma. Any so-called knowledge that does not recognize these activities of Mine is simply barren and is not acceptable to those who are actually intelligent."
And later on he directly said (11.25.24) manmiñöhaà nirguëam småtam--knowledge related to Me is free from material modes. Still another objection is raised. The pure soul is atomic in size and conscious in nature. Even when one realizes the soul how can the Brahman become manifest to him? In answer Lord Brahmä says ananyabodhyätmatayä-by the meditation of oneness. After he realizes the atomic self he meditates on this as non-different from the indivisible all pervading Brahman. In his practice stage he has performed bhakti keeping this oneness as goal. By the power of bhakti he is given the realization that he is one with Brahman. And this is termed as Brahman realization. He cannot get this realization without the influence of bhakti.
It should be noted here that the living entity does not become Brahman, nor he becomes merged in Brahman by loosing his identity, just as a drop does not become a ocean or loose its identity when dropped into ocean. Even before realizing Brahman he existed in Brahman, but did not think himself as Brahman. Because the practitioner was very adamant to have this realization and he even performed devotional service to this end. Lord feels obliged to fulfil his desire, although He does not consider this as His real blessing. This is available even to His enemies, as is stated in the Brahmäëòa Puräëa (cited in B.R.S. 1.2.280)
"Beyond the mode of ignorance or mäyä lies the planet called siddhaloka. The sages who have attained the bliss of Brahman realization and the demons killed by Lord Kåñëa reside in it."
Because Brahman is all pervading feature of the Lord, the only way one can realize It is by feeling one with It. If one thinks oneself as different from Brahman he can not have full realization of Brahman because that goes against the very concept of Brahman. Therefore devotees never hanker after Brahman realization rather they abhor it because of their attachment to devotional service.
But this experience of oneness with Brahman is not within the individual capacity of the practitioner. It occurs by the strength of the devotional service which he performed during the practice stage. In his support Çréla Jéva Gosvämé cites two verses (1.2.12 and 8.24.38). The verse 1.2.12 is preceded by the famous vadanti verse which describes the three aspects of the Absolute. Therefore the word ätmänaà in verse 1.2.12 can mean all three-Brahman, Paramätmä and Bhagavän, depending upon the qualification of the muni who may be a jïané, yogé or bhakta. All three types of transcendentalists realize their goal by bhakti and by hearing from authoritative source- bhaktyä çruta-gåhétayä. While commenting on this verse Swämépäda writes tacca tattvam saparikarayä bhaktyaiva präpyate--that three facet Absolute Reality is obtained only through bhakti along with its associates such as jïäna and vairägya.
The second cited verse is spoken by Lord Matsyadeva to king Satyavrata. The import of this verse is two fold -Brahman is realized by the mercy of the Lord, a devotee automatically has Brahman realization without undergoing the culture of Brahmä-jïäna. Just as a person who goes to the third floor has to pass through the lower floors but there is a slight difference between the Brahman realization of a devotee and that of a jïäné or yogé. The realization of a devotee is momentary because he has no interest in it and even when he realizes Brahman he does not dissolve his ego completely like a jïäné or yogé but maintains the ego of servitorship and he knows that Brahman is not different from Bhagavän.
In the next anuccheda Çréla Jéva Gosvämé gives further description of Brahman realization.