Section 7

          Lord Brahmä gives a similar explanation of Brahman realization to Närada in one and half verses (2.7.47,48):

          That which is eternal, devoid of any disturbance and fear, pure consciousness, free from the material modes, equipoised, beyond cause and effect is called ätma-tattva or Absolute Reality. It cannot be attained by the chanting of the Vedic mantras in the performance of sacrifices. Even Mäyä flees away from It out of shyness. This footstep of the Supreme Personality of Godhead which is unlimited bliss and devoid of any  grief is called Brahman.

 

          The meaning is this: That which is called Brahman, owing to being the greatest, is the footstep of the Supreme person, Bhagavän. Because being indeterminate in nature, It is the first step in God-realization. The meaning is this: Brahman is nothing but Bhagavän without any manifest qualities. Brahman is qualified with various adjectives such as wonderful form, and is thus realized after Brahman. Thus Brahman, which is inherent in the essential nature of the Lord, is the platform for His realization.

          Brahmä explains the essential characteristics of the indeterminate Brahman with words such as pratibodhamatram pure consciousness and ajasrasukham uninterrupted pleasure. This means that the object which is inertness and distress are conspicuous in their absence and which undergoes no change is Brahman. Since Brahman is the source of all atmas, It is called "Ätma-tattvam". This means that only the ätma appears as self-luminous and is the object of the variety of unrestrained Supreme love.

          The cause behind Its pleasurable nature uninterrupted  is explained by the words çäçvat praçäntam--eternally free from all disturbances and similarly it is (abhayam) and devoid of lamentation (viçokam). Piety is not the cause of Its blissful nature. This is implied by the phrase çabdo na yatra. The sound vibration used in the performance of sacrifices which generates piety is ineffective in realizing it. Only the Upaniñads are capable of effectively describing It; as is said: "I inquire about that person who is known from the Upanisads." [Brhad.A-3.9.26.]

          The bliss of Brahman does not originate from the senses. This is understood by the word çuddham, which means free from defects. Samam means devoid of any increments or decrements, and sadasataù param means situated beyond any divisions off cause and effect.

          What more to say, even Mäyä, as if out of shyness, runs away from those who are favorably disposed towards it, the liberated souls. This means she goes away from them.

 "When the essence of Bhagavän is clarified, Brahman is automatically explained." Therefore the Brahma Sandarbha is contained within the Bhagavata Sandarbha.

 

 PURPORT

          By quoting Lord Brahmä's statement, Çréla Jéva Gosvämé further confirms that the Brahman realization is but the first step in Bhagavän realization and he clearly defines the characteristics of this Brahman.

          Brahman is the unmanifested state of Bhagavän, in whom all qualities (viçesas) completely and perfectly exist.  Before one realizes the complete and perfect viçesas in Bhagavän, however, he experiences their incomplete or unmanifest stage called Brahman.  As explained in Text No. three, determinate knowledge, (savikalpaka jïäna) is preceded by indeterminate knowledge (nirvikalpaka jïäna).  For instance when we look at a boy we perceive three things: a)  his "boyhood," which is a quality or adjective for the object perceived;  b) the boy--or the possessor of boyhood;  and c) the relation between the boy (the object) and boyhood (the quality).  Hence the statement, "This is a boy," has three elements not just one.

          To get knowledge of an object one must first know its quality.  Upon analysis we find that in the statement, "This is a boy" the inference is that the perception of a boy is preceded by perception of both "boy" and "boyhood" without any knowledge of their relation.  This perception of an object and its quality without their relation is called indeterminate knowledge.  It precedes every determinate perception for a scant moment and it is considered beyond the senses. In Nyäya Siddhänta Muktävali (58), the logician Viçvanätha Thakur Païcänana has explained, jïänaà yan nirvikalpäkhyaà tadaténdri yamiñyate, "Indeterminate knowledge is beyond the senses. 

          Except for knowledge of class or category and knowledge of an inexplicable quality (akhaëòopädhi), knowledge of every object must have some adjective.  In other words any perceivable object must have some quality. If an object has no quality it cannot be perceived because our senses perceive one of the five qualities. Secondly, there is no possibility of an object without quality.  Hence, all indeterminate knowledge is beyond sense perception.

          With this understanding Çréla Jéva Gosvämé says that Brahman, which has no manifest qualities, is the first step in Bhagavän realization--nirvikalpatayä säkñätkåteù präthamikatvät.

          When we look at an electric bulb, we first see light, then the shape of the bulb, and upon closer examination, the filament within.  The object, bulb, is one but the stages of perception varies.  In the case of ordinary objects our perception naturally proceeds from indeterminate to determinate, however, in the case of the Absolute Reality, we need not proceed from stage to stage. If we desire and are qualified, our perception can remain fixed in the indeterminate state, which is called Brahman realization.  But it is the perception of the same object which others may view along with its qualities. Thus Çréla Jéva Gosvämé emphatically says that Brahman-jïäna is same as--bhagavän jïäna brahmaëasca bhagavata Eva. But it is not a clear understanding because of lack of qualified experience--nirvikalpa-sattva-rüpatvät.

          Çréla Viçvanätha Cakravarti Öhäkura quotes a verse from Mägha-kävya to elucidate this point:

"This verse gives a description of Närada Muni arriving into the Sudharmä assembly of the Yadavas in Dvärkä. He was coming through sky as he was the mystic power to fly. The Yädavas first saw him as a big mass of effulgence. When he came closer they could understand that it was some being having a body. When he came further closes they saw a human form. Finally when he came further closer they saw a human form. Finally when he landed in front of them they recognized him as Çré Närada."

          This verse explains how the experience of the Yädavas changes from "a mass of effulgence" to "Närada Muni". When they saw him as mass of effulgence he was still Närada Muni. The object of perception remained one but perception changed according to the visibility which improved inversely to their distance. The first experience is like the Brahman Realization and the last experience is like Bhagavän realization Based on their first experience, the Yädavas could only say that there is something and it is effulgent. They could not say anything specific about Närada. But when they recognized him as Närada, the knew him as son of Brahmä, devotee of Lord Kåñëa, who carries a viëä, guru of Dhruva and Prahläda, friend of Tumburu and so on. The first experience is the basis of the last experience and it is included in the last experience. It is the indeterminate realization of Närada, the final experience being the determinate experience of the same person.

          Next he explains the characteristics of this nirvikalpaka Brahman.  It is pure consciousness and nothing else. There is no distinction between the perceiver, what is perceived, and act of perception, and no mixture of the material modes.  As there is no material misery uninterrupted bliss and eternal peace prevail.  Agitation is caused by the modes of passion and ignorance, but Brahman is pure transcendence--çuddham.  It is unchanging, beyond cause and effect.  It is the source of all living beings.  Fear is caused by duality, but both of these are absent in Brahman.  Also, Brahman cannot be attained by performing pious deeds like sacrifices as words cannot approach It.  With this intent the çruti states "yato väco nivartante apräpya manasä saha" - From Brahman speech returns along with mind being unable to ascertain it.

          Çabda, or sound, is the quality of the sky and because Brahman is beyond the sky, sound cannot approach It.  Even Mäyä cannot come near to Brahman what to speak of sound.  The sound of the Upaniñads, however, is transcendental, being self-manifest, and does not depend on the material sky.  Thus it is possible to approach Brahman through the Vedas, but not though material sound.

          Bhagavän is pure, beyond Mäyä, just like Brahman. He is the Supreme controller, there is no fear or distress in Him .  These qualities are perceived in Bhagavän but not in Brahman, because there is no relation between the object, Brahman, and its qualities.  Thus Brahman realization is incomplete and because of this lack of relation cannot be clearly explained, being in the category of indeterminate knowledge.

          Çréla Jéva Gosvämé concludes by saying that if Bhagavän is properly understood, one will know Brahman in Its proper perspective.  In fact one cannot have a thorough understanding of Brahman without understanding Bhagavän in as much as one cannot understand sunlight without the Sun.  Therefore Jéva Gosvämé did not compile a separate treatise on Brahman.  Although Brahman is the subject of hundreds of books by misguided monists and other scholars in Vedanta, actually It requires no independent analysis.  Hence the Brahma Sandarbha, is but a small portion of the Bhagavat Sandarbha.  From this point Çréla Jéva Gosvämé analyses the Bhagavat-tattva.

          In the next two Anuccheda's he gives the qualification for realizing Bhagavän.