SECTION THIRTY-FOUR 

            Although the jéva, like the Lord, is by nature purely conscious, he is distinct from the Lord. This is indicated by the phrases "Mäyä is outside Him, yet supported by Him." (SB. 1.7.4) and "deluded by Mäyä" (SB. 1.7.5) 

ÇRÉ JÉVA TOÑAËÉ COMMENTARY

             In His trance, Çréla Vyäsadeva saw that although the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the support for Mäyä, she has no influence over Him. This is the significance of the word apa-äçryam. The prefix apa means "away" and "inferior". She is away from the Lord, because she is not one of His internal energies. She is inferior to Him, being unable to influence Him. Yet she is not independent of Him, therefore she has been compared to a maidservant. Her being ashamed to appear in front of the Lord indicates that she is inferior to Him and His internal potencies.

            Nevertheless, as the word "yayä-sammohita" indicates, Mäyä exercises her influence over the jéva. Being part and parcel of God the jéva is conscious by nature, yet he is not powerful like God. The Supreme Personality of Godhead is unlimitedly powerful, but the jéva is limited in energy. The Lord is the controller of Mäyä, but she controlls the limited jéva when he is not united with the Personality of Godhead in bhakti-yoga. Just as a drop of water apart from the ocean is absorbed into the earth and loses its identity (but not its existence), so the living being when seperated from the Lord becomes forgetful of its nature and is absorbed in illusion. The Supreme Lord, however, is never affected by illusion. Thus jévas are distinct from the Lord although qualitatively the same in some respects.

            Çréla Baladeva Vidyäbhüñaëa comments that besides seeing the Personality of Godhead, Mäyä, and the jéva, Çréla Vyäsa also saw the time energy, as indicated by the verb "apaçyat", or saw. How? Because karma means action and verbs like apaçyat (saw), sammohita (bewildered) and mänute (consider) all indicate action, which in turn indicates the presence of time. As stated in the Bhällaveya çruti, athä ha väva nityäni puruñaù prakåtirätmä kaläù "Indeed the Lord, material nature, the living entity, and time are all eternal." The eternality of time is also mentioned in the Viñëu Puräëa (1.2.26):

Paräçara Muni said: "O twice born (Maitreya), supremely powerful time has no beginning nor end and therefore the cycle of creation, maintenance, and annihilation continues forever." And in Bhagavad-gétä (13.20) Lord Kåñëa says :

"Material nature and the living entities should be understood to be beginningless. Their transformations and the modes of matter are products of material nature." Since material nature, the jéva, and time are eternal, and the cycle of creation and annihilation is going on since time immemorial, it follows that karma is also beginningless.

            In commenting on this Bhagavad-gétä verse in Särärtha-varñini, Çréla Viçvanätha Cakravarti Öhäkur, says, mäyä-jévayorapi macchaktittvena anäditvät tayoù saàçleço'pyänädir iti bhävaù, "Lord Kåñëa says that since Mäyä and the jéva both are His energies, both exist since time immemorial. This also  indicates  that the jéva's bondage to Mäyä is also beginningless." Bondage to Mäyä means karma is involved for the entire duration and so karma too is understood to be beginningless.

            Çréla Vyäsadeva accepts the beginninglessness of karma in sütra 2.1.35 of Vedänta: na karma-avibhägät-iti cet na anäditvät, "If one objects that the law of karma cannot explain the inequality in the universe, because to begin with everyone must be equal, the objection is not valid because creation has no beginning. Since creation has no beginning karma also has no beginning".

            Except for karma, the other four items Çréla Vyäsa saw, namely the Personality of Godhead, the jéva, Mäyä, and time are eternal. Out of these four, the Lord and the jéva are conscious by nature; but the Lord is infinite and the jéva is atomic. Time is not conscious, though free from the material modes. It is the cause of the threefold divisions, past, present, and future. Mäyä is inert and composed of the three modes of nature, thus it undergoes the transformations that are perceived in time, and is the basis for the perception of the three divisions of time. Karma, although beginningless can be brought to a close by performing devotional service to Lord Kåñëa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This was also seen by Çréla Vyäsadeva and therefore to instruct the bound jévas he compiled the Sätvata Saàhitä, Çrémad Bhägavatam.

            In the next eight sections, Çréla Jéva Gosvämé shows that Çré Vyäsa's experience was contrary to the popular monistic philosophy of Çré Çaìkaräcärya.