Section
17
Lord
Has Conscious And Inert Potencies.
In this way united with all energies the Lord possesses both conscious (cit) and unconscious (acit) energies. Even Hiranyakasipu, eulogizing Brahmä to be the Supreme controller, spoke in this way (S.B.7.3.34):
"I offer my obeisances to the Lord who has conscious and inert potencies."
The conscious Lord is the shelter of the other conscious entities just as the effulgent sun orb is the fountainhead of the light in the sun rays and its reflections. Out of this the marginal energy called jéva will be described in an opportune place in Parämätmä Sandarbha. Now, to explain the internal potency, the external potency is introduced. The internal (parä) and external (aparä) energies are stated in the Viñëu Puräëa (1.19.76, 77), "O Supersoul, controller of demigods! I bow down to Your eternal inert nature, the support of the three modes, that exists in all beings. I further worship the transcendental potency, the controlling deity, which is beyond the reach of speech, mind and sense objects, devoid of any qualities; it illuminates the intelligence of all.
This transcendental potency manifests in multifarious forms as confirmed in the Çvetaçvatara Upaniñad 6.8.), "The transcendental energy has multi-manifestations."
PURPORT
By establishing that the Lord has natural intrinsic potencies that manifest in three ways, Çréla Jéva Gosvämé has laid the groundwork for giving a detailed description of the internal potency, svarüpa çakti. First he explains that the Lord's three energies fall into two categories--cit (conscious) and acit (inert). The internal energy and the marginal energy fall in the first group and the external energy in the second. The Lord owns both the conscious and inert energies, otherwise He could not be the Supreme controller and enjoyer. Because energy cannot be separated from the energetic source, the ultimate reality is a non-dual conscious entity, who is the subject matter of the Çrémad Bhägavatam. This was established in Tattva Sandarbha.
This clearly negates the theory that the ultimate reality is the formless, impotent, quality-less, all-pervading Brahmän. Rather, Brahmän is the particular realization of Bhagavän in which one does not distinctly perceive His energies, like seeing the sunlight without seeing source clearly, the Sun itself. Such a level of God-realization is certainly possible because energy is no different from the energetic source. When a practitioner is unwilling to see the energies distinct from the Lord, then he gets only one half of the realization of acintyabhedäbheda. Rather he is barely touching the shore of the ocean of God realization. That's why Çréla Jéva Gosvämé said that Brahmän realization is an incomplete realization of God, who is the Absolute Truth. Oneness between the energy and the energetic source is inconceivable, acintya. Beyond saying that Brahmän is without any manifest qualities there is nothing left to be said. The Mäyävädis can only describe Brahmän in negative terms. They say, neti neti (Not this, not this), but what it is they cannot say. Therefore the Taittréya Upaniñad states (2.4.1) yato väco nivartante apräpya manasä saha . "Speech along with the mind returns from it (Brahmän) not having grasped it." Of course the Vaiñëava rendering of this mantra is that the mind and speech of a devotee are unable to capture and describe the personality of the Lord in total.
It is interesting that Jéva Gosvämé quotes the chief of the demons, Hiranyakañipu, as evidence that the Lord has both conscious and inert energies. It shows that in bygone days even demons did not consider the Absolute to be void, impersonal, or as nature, matter, mass or gases. They had the logical sense to conclude that the cause of the universe cannot be insentient. This is in stark contrast with the contemporary atheists who uphold many foolish speculative theories in their attempt to establish inert matter or void as the cause of all causes. Hiranyakañipu spoke this to glorify Lord Brahmä, because he considered Brahmä the ultimate creator and master of the universe. He is a demon because he does not consider Lord Viñëu as Supreme although he does not deny his existence. The advaita vädas have a similar concept.
Another significant point Çréla Jéva Gosvämé makes is that a conscious entity only emanates from and is supported by another conscious entity. Consciousness does not spring from matter, hence all the conscious living beings must come from a conscious source, the Personality of Godhead. This is certainly not to the liking of Cärväka Muni or his modern counterparts, the evolutionists. Long ago Cärväka, the most famous gross materialist in India history, proposed that there is no soul and no God in control of existence. The goal of life is to eat good food and enjoy the senses as much as possible. He said that consciousness comes into existence in the body at the time of birth and it is finished at death, hence there is no rebirth. Since this is the only life we live, we must enjoy it to the maximum. Çré Çaìkaräcärya summarized their view in the following verse (Sarva-siddhänta-saìgraha 1.9) :
"The heavenly enjoyment means eating delicious food, keeping company of young damsels, using fine clothes, perfumes, garlands and sandalwood paste." There is no such thing as sin or piety that can give rise to good or bad effects. He said that there is no specific intoxicating quality in the earth, but when a plant of catcchu or dhatura grows from earth, its fruit causes intoxication. The intoxicating quality comes into existence due to a special combination of chemical elements in the fruit. Similarly consciousness manifests in the body due to a special combination of material elements. This philosophy is akin to the modern day evolutionists who have developed elaborate theories on the evolution of consciousness from the inert matter of the body. Yet they are unable to produce even a mosquito. These theories are very fascinating to those who are attached to enjoying the senses. That's why the India's philosopher was called cärväka, literally "beautiful speech", or one who has a fascinating philosophy.
But it is highly illogical that consciousness could arise from a combination of matter. That would be like saying that light comes from an arrangement of darkness or knowledge arises from a particular blend of ignorance. An effect is always dependent upon its causes. This is called satkäryäväda by Çré Éçvara Kåñëa in his Sänkhya-kärikä (9) :
"The effect is present in the cause because: 1.) That which is non-existent cannot produce anything. 2.) A product is always dependent on its material cause. 3.) Any cause cannot give any effect. Rather, a particular cause gives rise only to a particular effect) 4.) Only a capable cause produces the effect. 5.) Cause manifests into effect". If a particular attribute does not exist in the cause it cannot appear in the effect. Oil can be squeezed from peanuts but not from stone. Energy can neither be created nor destroyed only transformed from one state to another. One can transform heat energy into light, but both are material energies. It is not possible to transform material energy into consciousness. Çréla Jéva Gosvämé will throw more light on Satkäryaväda in Parmätmä Sandarbha in many Texts such as 60.
In the previous section, Çréla Jéva Gosvämé said that the each of the Lord's three energies function in their respective realms. They do not merge or encroach upon each other. This also lends support to the theory of Satkäryaväda. Tattva Sandarbha, Text 59-60, discussed in detail that the physical body and senses cannot be the support for the soul, rather the Supersoul is the shelter of all. A conscious being can be the shelter for matter because of his superior nature. In fact matter is used in the service of a conscious being. It has no purpose independently.
To study the internal potency, which is unfamiliar to us, Çréla Jéva Gosvämé first gives a description of the external energy, which is familiar to us. The external energy is dependent on the internal energy. If we first comprehend the nature of the material energy, it will be easier to study His internal potency. In Tattva Sandarbha also it was explained that the topics of creation, dissolution are described in the Çrémad Bhägavatam to understand the Transcendental Lord. The devotees study to universe to appreciate the energies of the Lord and the atheists study to deny His existence unsuccessfully.
Jéva Gosvämé cites two verses that name the two energies. In the Vedic philosophical system the general principle is to first name the object, uddeça, give a definition, lakñaëa, and then , parikñä, examine the definition for any defects. Trividhä cäsy çäçtrasy apravåttiruddeço lakñaëaà parékñä ca (Nyäya-vätsyäyana-bhäñya 1.1.3) In the next text he says the internal energy as parä (superior), the external as aparä (inferior). Then he defines the external energy and follows with a detailed analysis of the definition.
Interestingly, Prahläda Mahäräja is the speaker of the two verses from the Viñëu Puräëa. Demoniac Hiranyakasipu was so enraged by his son's devotion to Lord Kåñëa, he tried to kill Prahläda in various ways. Once he fastened boulders to Prahläda's body and threw him into the ocean. At that time Prahläda recited these two verses as part of a prayer to Lord Kåñëa.
The material energy is also eternal, çäsvatä. As the Lord is eternal so are His energies. The internal energy is called Içvaré, or goddess, which means that she is like a queen who remains in the private chambers of the King. The external energy is like a maidservant, who serves outside. Mäyä cannot directly associate with the Lord, who is like a King. This implies that she cannot control the Lord. Similarly, she cannot control His internal energy, which is like the queen.
The parä energy is beyond mind, speech, and sense perception (atitagocarä). It is transcendental yet it can be understood by the pure living beings (jïäni-jïäna-parichedyä). The word jïäni in this compound means devotees and not the impersonalist jïänis, who limit themselves to the impersonal feature of the Lord. According to Swämépäda, the word jïäni means the living entity and jïäna means the objects of senses. Paricchedyä means that all these sense perceptions are like the streams of water which are flowing out of the big lake which signifies the internal energy. Just as the streams indicate the lake, these sense perceptions indicate a supreme source. In text 19 it will be shown that internal potency is the fountainhead of all activities in the material world. In the next Text Çréla Jéva Gosvämé gives a detailed exposition of external energy.