The Meaning of Anadi Part One
We have seen that none of our predecessor acaryas accept fall down from kåñëa-lélä as the explanation for the origin of the conditioned soul. Their opinion is that the jévas in this world came from Lord Mahä-Viñëu. Prior to conditioned existence they were in a place described as the taöastha region. Wherever this region is, it is defnitely not in the nitya-lila in the spiritual sky.
Further, their conclusion as to why some jévas originate from Mahä-Viñëu and become engaged in the material energy is that the Lord has various energies and as the Supreme Controller He engages the energies for His lélä. Otherwise there is no meaning to His being omnipotent and the Supreme Lord. This is His very nature, svabhava, and He cannot be blamed for engaging His energies according to His own nature. It is also His lélä that He arranges for those jévas entangled in His illusory energy and suffering the threefold miseries to become liberated souls in His eternal abode.
We have shown that the spiritual world, being the infallible abode of the Lord, by its very nature cannot be a place of fall down for any resident. We also gave references from Çruti, Småti and Ägama that the conditioning of jéva in the material world is anädi. This is supported by great äcärays like Çréla Jéva Gosvämé, Çréla Viçvanätha Cakravarté Öhäkura and Çréla Baladeva Vidyäbhüñaëa. In this and the next two chapters we discuss the word anädi.
Readers should be warned that anadi is not an easy concept to grasp. We have tried to explain it as lucidly as we can, but it is a fact that without knowledge of nyäya and Sanskåt grammar it is difficult to grasp. We have seen that even people who know Sanskåt have difficulty grasping the full import of the word anädi, because we are now in conditioned existence.
Thus besides logic and grammar, we need purity of the heart most of all. Without that anadi is still difficult to understand. We believe that the difficulty in conveying the meaning of anädi is one of the reasons Çréla Prabhupäda simplified his preaching to us about the origin of conditioned life. Our belief is supported by the example of Çréla Bhaktisiddhänta Sarasvaté, because in (Shri Caitanya's Teachings) he also gave a different explanation of the jéva's conditioning when speaking with Westerners.
Nevertheless, despite the difficulty, a proper grasp of the meaning of anadi is essential to this discussion. That will greatly aid our understanding, for it is the most frequently used word in the çästras and by the äcäryas in describing the conditioned experience of the jéva.
When a person begins his journey on the path of transcendence he quite commonly hears that he is not the material body but a spirit soul--eternal, conscious, and blissful by nature--more brilliant than ten thousand suns. Naturally the question arises, how does such a living entity become bound and when? This question is raised directly at least twice in the Çrémad Bhägavatam. We will first give the answer from Çrémad Bhägavatam, the supreme pramäëa and then the explanation of Çréla Jéva Gosvämé. In the next chapter we give the verdict of other Gauòéya Vaiñëava äcäryas.
In the Third Canto Vidura posed the following question to Maitreya Muni (Bhäg.3.7.5):
deçataù kälato yo 'säv avasthätaù svato 'nyataù
aviluptävabodhätmä sa yujyetäjayä katham
The pure soul is pure consicousness and is never out of consciousness, either due to circumstances, time, situations, dreams or other causes. How then does he become engaged in nescience?
The essence of the question is that the jéva is a conscious being, so how does he forget this? Çréla Prabhupäda, commenting upon this verse writes, "How then can the living entity become forgetful of his real identity as pure spirit soul and identify with matter unless influenced by something beyond Himself? The conclusion is that the living entity is influenced by the avidyä potency, as confirmed in both the Viñëu Puräëa and the beginning of Çrémad Bhägavatam."
In answering Vidura's question Maitreya spoke six verses beginning with 3.7.9. The essence of his answer is that the living entity is influenced by the inconceivable material energy of the Lord. Çréla Viçvanätha Cakravarté Öhäkura writes in his commentary on 3.7.9, anädy avidyä-saìgavaçät jivena sva jïänänandaà vismåtya dehäbhimäna präptam dehadharmaà durbhagatvädikaïca präpya yadi kliçyate tarhi kasmai doño deya iti, "Because of association with avidyä, which has no beginning, the jéva has forgotten his blissful and conscious nature and has developed a false ego in the material body. He suffers because of acquiring the bodily characteristics and misfortune, therefore no one is to be blamed."
He says that the reason for the material conditioning of the jéva is its association with avidyä and the association of jéva with avidyä has no beginning. That means it is causeless. This, in short, is the explanation of the jéva's bondage. It may be explained in various ways but this is the essence. This ignorance of one's conscious nature is sometimes called by different names: forgetfulness of Kåñëa, being attracted to mäyä, leaving the Lord's association and so on.
The second instance is in the Eleventh Canto, where Uddhava asked Kåñëa, the topmost authority, about the bondage of the jéva (Bhäg.11.10.35):
guëeñu vartamäno 'pi deha-jeñv anapävåtaù
guëair na badhyate dehé badhyate vä katham vibho
O my Lord, a living entity situated within the material body is surrounded by the modes of nature and the happiness and distress that are born of activities caused by these modes. How is it possible that he is not bound by this material encirclement? It may also be said that the living entity is ultimately transcendental and has nothing to do with the material world. Then how is he ever bound by material nature?
Lord Kåñëa answers in the next chapter. He says that bondage and liberation is caused by Mäyä, which has no beginning (Bhäg.11.11.3):
vidyävidye mama tanü viddhy uddhava çarériëäm
mokña-bandha-karé ädye mäyayä me vinirmite
O Uddhava, both knowledge and ignorance, being products of mäyä, are expansions of My potency. Both knowledge and ignorance are beginningless and perpetually award liberation and bondage to embodied living beings.
Here the phrase "perpetually awards liberation and bondage" means that jéva is in bondage which is perpetual. This implies that it has no beginning but has an end, because bondage comes to an end at the time of liberation. When one attains liberation, that is also perpetual. What is ultimately implied here is that bondage has no beginning, but has an end; and liberation has a beginning, but has no end. However, this description applies only to baddha-jivas. Since Mäyä has no influence over the nitya-muktas because she does not exist in Vaikuëöha, the nitya-mukta jivas, are liberated without beginning and without end. The phrase mäyayä me vinirmite, "manufactured by My maya" applies only in the material world. Lord Kåñëa further said (11.11.4):
ekasyaiva mamäàçasya jévasyaiva mahä-mate
bandho 'syävidyayänädir vidyayä ca tathetaraù
O most intelligent Uddhava, the living entity, called jéva, is part and parcel of Me, but due to ignorance he has been suffering in material bondage since time immemorial.[1] By knowledge, however, he can be liberated.
Çréla Viçvanätha Cakravarté Öhäkura, commenting this verse writes, asya avidyayä bandhaù sa ca karmaëo'näditväd anädiù mokña-sambhavät säntaù itaro mokñaù janyatvät sädiranaçvaratvänniranto jïeyaù, "The living entity is bound by avidyä. This bondage has no beginning, anädi, because karma is anädi; but it is possible to achieve liberation from bondage, therefore bondage has an end. On the other hand, mokña is generated, therefore it has a beginning--but it has no end because it cannot be destroyed."
From this it is clear that the word anädi is used for a condition that has no beginning but can have an end. This is how the word has been used by Vedic scholars. Anädi is the negation of the word ädi or beginning.
Confusion about the precise meaning of anädi has arisen in ISKCON, because Çréla Prabhupäda sometimes used it to mean beginningless and sometimes he said "since time immemorial". This translation of anädi, if taken literally, puts a different slant on the meaning of the word, because "since time immemorial" implies something not literally beginningless, something not existing from eternity, but from a time beyond the pale of memory. The question arises, "Did Çréla Prabhupäda literally mean "since time immemorial" when he used those words?
In answer to this the fall-vadis say, "Prabhupada used it consistently when referring to the jiva and he used beginningless consistently when referring to the Lord. So he clearly had two distinct ideas in his mind with regard to anadi."
But as will be shown in this and the next chapter such a meaning of anädi is a radical departure from the meaning of the word as used by our predecessor äcäryas. As translators/commentators we have a responsibility to present Çréla Prabhupäda's teachings in line with our predecessor äcäryas. Çréla Prabhupäda did not present himself to us standing alone. He presented himself as coming in the line of disciplic succession and so it is important to understand him in that context. All he taught us is supposed to be knowledge received in paramparä. He said numerous times that his only credit is that he did not "manufacture anything." Indeed he professed disdain for any such behavior and he tried to ingrain that in us as well. He gave us the system of guru, çästra, and sädhu as the failsafe system of checks and balances. When there is doubt or confusion on any philosophical matter it is surely important for us to attempt to reconcile it with the teachings of our previous äcäryas, especially the Six Gosvämés whom Lord Caitanya made responsible for laying out the tenets of our paramparä siddhänta. As Çréla Prabhupada himself has explained:
If one is seriously interested in Kåñëa conscious activities, he must be ready to follow the rules and regulations laid down by the äcäryas, and he must understand their conclusions. The sastra says: dharmasya tattvam nihitam guhayam mahajano yena gatah sa panthah (Mahäbhärata, Vana Parva 313.1 1 7). It is very difficult to understand the secret of Kåñëa consciousness, but one who advances by the instruction of the previous äcäryas and follows in the footsteps of his predecessors in the line of disciplic succession will have success. Others will not. Çréla Narottama dasa Thakura says in this connection, chadiya vaisnava-seva nistara payeche keba: "Unless one serves the spiritual master and äcäryas, one cannot be liberated." Elsewhere he says:
ei chäya gosäïi yäïra—mui taïra däsa
täï-sabara pada-reëu mora païca-gräsa
"I simply accept a person who follows in the footsteps of the six Gosvämés, and the dust of such a person's lotus feet is my foodstuff." (Cc. Ädi 8.6, purport)
Considering this, therefore, if something appears to be out of sync with the paramparä version it is our duty to understand it in the proper light and uphold the integrity of Çréla Prabhupäda by reconciling it with our predecessor äcäryas. If we cannot, it is our duty to accept it as our paucity of realization on that point or after careful deliberation conclude that Prabhupäda preached to us that way according to how he viewed time, place, circumstance, and audience. The alternative, that on fine points of the paramparä siddhänta he had a different view than that of our predecessors is simply unacceptable.
Therefore, in response to the question whether Prabhupada literally meant since time immemorial when he used the phrase, we say no, because that would put him at odds with the previous acaryas. We find that they only used anadi in the strict sense of beginningless or causeless. They never use it to mean a time too remote to recall. We therefore propose that by "since time immemorial" Srila Prabhupada meant, not a time beyond our recall--because it was so long ago--but that it is immemorial--because it does not exists at all. This is line with the previous acaryas and therefore acceptable to us.
Some devotees response to this has been to suggest that Çréla Prabhupäda's usage in the literal sense of time immemorial with regard to the jéva is the way anädi should be understood. They say this meaning should be applied going back up the chain of succession. While this suggestion is itself debatable, because Prabhupäda did not always use anädi to mean since time immemorial, the fact remains that in the Sandarbhas themselves Çréla Jéva Gosvämé has made it clear how anädi is to be understood in this context. His usage is so precise and clear that it makes these devotees suggestion altogether unfeasible, for to take their suggestion will put us at odds with Srila Jiva Gosvami. Moreover there is at least one instance which proves that Çréla Prabhupäda considered "since time immemorial" the same as without beginning (Cc. Madhya 20.118):
One who is not materially infected and who does not forget Kåñëa as his master is called nitya-mukta. In other words, one who is eternally liberated from material contamination is called nitya-mukta. From time immemorial the nitya-mukta living entity has always been a devotee of Kåñëa, and his only attempt has been to serve Kåñëa. Thus he never forgets his eternal servitorship to Kåñëa.
Those who criticize us for saying that anädi means beginningless or causeless and that Srila Prabhupäda intended precisely that meaning when he said "since time immemorial" should note that in the above passage he is using "time immemorial" to refer to the nitya-mukta residents of the spiritual world, "From time immemorial the nitya-mukta living entity has always been a devotee of Kåñëa." This means Prabhupada did not have in mind some remote time in a past beyond recall, but a nonexistent time and therefore a nonexistent memory, because the literal meaning of "time immemorial" cannot apply to the eternal associates of the Lord in the spiritual world.
Prabhupada says in the same passage, "always been a devotee" and "he never forgets his eternal servitorship to Krsna." This means that he equated "time immemorial" with anadi in the same literal sense that Srila Jiva Gosvami used it, as explained in the next chapter. That is to say, for Srila Prabhupada, "time immemorial" meant nonexistent. Otherwise the above paragraph will be contradictory with phrases such as "eternally liberated", "always been a devotee" and "he never forgets" used to refer to the very same entities he describes as having been a "nitya-mukta devotee "from time immemorial."
It is unimaginable to us that Srila Prabhupada has a conclusion that differs from Srila Jiva Gosvami. Indeed everyone on all sides of the jiva issue agrees that Çréla Prabhupäda could not have had a different meaning of anädi in mind than that of Çréla Jéva Gosvämé. The fact that Jéva Gosvämé has his precise meaning of the word in the Sandarbhas will surely help us to resolve our dilemma and maintain consistency between us, Çréla Prabhupäda, and our predecessor äcäryas.
Interestingly, in the purport to Ädi-lélä 2.117 in the Caitanya-caritamrta, which is the verse by Kaviräja Gosvämé stating that "a sincere student should not neglect such controversy" because such things strengthen the mind, Çréla Prabhupäda specifically mentions the Sandarbhas, indicating them as the very place to resolve controversies:
Similarly, other false devotees think that studying books of the previous äcäryas is unadvisable, like studying dry empiric philosophies. But Çréla Jéva Gosvämé, following the previous äcäryas, has inculcated the conclusions of the scriptures in the six theses called the Ñaö-sandarbhas. False devotees who have very little knowledge of such conclusions fail to achieve pure devotion for want of zeal in accepting the favorable directions for devotional service given by self-realized devotees.Let us turn then accept the favorable directions for devotional service by turning to the Sandarbhas and analyse Çréla Jéva Gosvämé's explanation of the meaning of anadi and the origin of the conditioned soul.
[1]Footnote (11.11.4) Here in the verse the word anädé means beginningless and has been translated as such in the word for word in the BBT edition. In the translation, however, it says "bondage since time immemorial.", although it should read "bondage which is beginningless." In the purport we find, "Çréla Bhaktivinoda Öhäkura has written that the living entity has been executing fruitive activities since time immemorial. Thus his conditioned life may be called beginningless." No reference is given by the commentators. Actually I never found that Srila Bhaktivinoda used the words "time immemorial." in his writings. Rather he says that because the jéva is bound before he enters the material world, his bondage is called anädé or beginningless, jaòajagate äsiväre pürvai täïhäder bandhana haujäya täïhädera bandhanake anädé bale (Çré Caitanya çikñämåta prathama våñti caturtha-dhärä).