Śrī Caitanya Śikṣāmṛta - First Chapter Fifth Shower
Fifth Shower
15.01.2012
Acintya-bhedābheda-tattva
The philosophy of inconceivable oneness and difference between Bhagavān
and His potencies
In the previous sections, there was a deliberation on the six types of
Prameyas (provable subjects or that which is established by the system of bona
fide Pramāṇa), namely Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa-rasa, the svarūpa of the jīva, the
conditioned soul and the liberated soul. In this section, we are briefly
discussing the philosophy of Acintya-bhedābheda-tattva (the philosophy of
inconceivable oneness and difference between Bhagavān and His potencies).
First, we will present the teachings on the subject, given by Śrī Caitanya
Mahāprabhu, as described in Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta. At the time of instructing
Prakāśānanda Sarasvatī, the most prominent impersonal (Māyāvādī) Sannyāsī of
Vārāṇasī, Śrīman Mahāprabhu said:
śakti-pariṇāma-vāda—
vyāsera sūtrete kahe 'pariṇāma'-vāda
'vyāsa bhrānta'—bali' tāra uṭhāila vivāda
pariṇāma-vāde īśvara hayena vikārī
eta kahi' 'vivarta'-vāda sthāpanā ye kari
vastutaḥ pariṇāma-vāda—sei
se pramāṇa
dehe ātma-buddhi—ei
vivartera sthāna
avicintya-śakti-yukta
śrī-bhagavān
icchāya jagad-rūpe pāya pariṇāma
tathāpi acintya-śaktye haya
avikārī
prākṛta cintāmaṇi tāhe dṛṣṭānta
ye dhari
nānā ratna-rāśi haya cintāmaṇi
haite
tathāpiha maṇi rahe svarūpe
avikṛte
(Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta
Ādi-līlā 7.121-126)
“Śrīla Vyāsadeva has
described in his Vedānta-sūtras that everything is a transformation of the
energy of the Lord. Śrī Śaṅkarācārya [knowing this theory to be opposed to his
own imaginary Māyāvāda theory] commented that Vyāsadeva was mistaken in his
presentation of the Vedānta-sūtra. According to Śrī Śaṅkarācārya, by accepting
the theory of the transformation of the energy of the Lord, one accepts that
the Absolute Truth, Īśvara, is transformed, thus he established the theory of
Vivarta-vāda [the illusion such as in experiencing a rope to be a snake, or
mother of pearl to be silver]. However, none of the scriptures has supported,
or even mentioned this theory of Vivarta-vāda. The scriptures have said that it
is the false bodily conception of the self that is an illusion or Vivarta-vāda.
Bhagavān possesses inconceivable energy. By His desire, His Māyā-śakti
(material energy has transformed into the vast material creation and His
Jīva-śakti, a tiny fraction of the spiritual potency (Aṇu-cit-śakti), has
transformed into unlimited tiny conscious entities known as the jīvas. Despite
this, Bhagavān remains completely without any transformation at all, as only
His energies are transformed. A mundane example of this is a Cintāmaṇi, a
stone, which, by its potency creates many, many jewels, yet remains unchanged.
In the same manner we understand that the energy of Bhagavān creates unlimited
worlds and the jīvas within them, yet He remains unchanged Himself.”
svarūpa-aiśvarye tāṅra nāhi māyā-gandha
sakala vedera haya bhagavān se 'sambandha'
tāṅre 'nirviśeṣa' kahi, cic-chakti nā māni
ardha-svarūpa nā mānile pūrṇatā haya hāni
(Śrī Caitanya Caritāmṛta Ādi-līlā 7.139-140)
“There is no taint of Māyā existing within Bhagavān’s unlimited
opulences. The Vedas have established that Brahma is possessed of unlimited
potencies, varieties and qualities. By not accepting His potencies, such as His
Cit-śakti and only considering Him to be devoid of transcendental varieties or
Nirviśeṣa, a conclusion is established which is opposed to all siddhānta. In
doing so you are not accepting the Truth in its entirety, rather by rejecting
His potency and varieties, you are accepting only half of the Truth.”
What follows is an explanation of Pariṇāma-vāda:
yatholmukād visphuliṅgād
dhūmād vāpi sva-sambhavāt
apy ātmatvenābhimatād
yathāgniḥ pṛthag ulmukāt
(Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 3.28.40)
“The original fire, its
flame, its sparks and smoke are all one, for fire is still fire, yet different
from the flame. In this example the fire represents Bhagavān, the flame is the
Paramātmā, the sparks which emanate from the fire are the individual jīvas and
the smoke represents the illusionary potency named Māyā. The Vedas directly
state that the jīvas are to be seen as emanations from Śrī Kṛṣṇa, who is
possessed of all knowledge, being Cit-svarūpa. Thus Śrī Kṛṣṇa is the spiritual,
all conscious sun and the jīvas are like the rays emanating from Him. Thus
there is an eternal difference between the individual jīvas and Śrī Kṛṣṇa. However regarding the subject matter of
their spiritual nature, the jīvas are also to be considered non-different from
Him. The jīva is a special potency of the Lord. The potency can never be
different from the potent. Thus it is proved that there is an inconceivable and
simultaneous oneness and difference between the Lord and the jīva souls.”
kālād guṇa-vyatikaraḥ pariṇāmaḥ
svabhāvataḥ
karmaṇo janma mahataḥ puruṣādhiṣṭhitād
abhūt
mahatas tu vikurvāṇād rajaḥ-sattvopabṛṁhitāt
tamaḥ-pradhānas tv abhavad
dravya-jñāna-kriyātmakaḥ
(Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
2.5.22-23)
“After the incarnation of
the first Puruṣa {Kāraṇārṇavaśāyī Viṣṇu}, the Mahat-tattva, or the principles
of material creation, takes place and then time is manifested and in the course
of time the three qualities appear. Nature means the three qualitative
appearances. They transform into activities.”
”Material activities are
caused by the Mahat-tattva being agitated. At first there is transformation of
the modes of goodness and passion, later, due to the mode of ignorance, matter,
its knowledge and different activities of material knowledge come into play”
Similarly, in Śrīman
Mahāprabhu’s teachings to Śrī Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya it is stated:
upaniṣad-śabde yei mukhya
artha haya
sei artha
mukhya,—vyāsa-sūtre saba kaya
mukhyārtha chāḍiyā kara gauṇārtha
kalpanā
'abhidhā'-vṛtti chāḍi' kara
śabdera lakṣaṇā
(Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta
Madhya-līlā 6.133-134)
Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu
said:
“The direct import of the
mantras of the Upaniṣads has been given by Śrī Vyāsadeva in the Vedānta-sūtra.
Śrī Śaṅkarācārya has abandoned the direct import and has, by indirect meanings
(Lakṣaṇā-vṛtti), established an imaginary interpretation of the scriptures. He
has neglected the direct meaning (Abhidhā-vṛtti).”
At the time of instructing
the Sannyāsīs of Vārāṇasī, Śrīman Mahāprabhu also stated:
'praṇava' se
mahāvākya—vedera nidāna
īśvara-svarūpa praṇava
sarva-viśva-dhāma
sarvāśraya īśvarera praṇava
uddeśa
'tat tvam asi'—vākya haya
vedera ekadeśa
‘praṇava’, mahā-vākya—tāhā
kari' ācchādana
mahāvākye kari 'tat tvam
asi'ra sthāpana
(Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta
Ādi-līlā 7.128-130)
“The Vedic sound vibration oṁkāra
is the principal statement and basis of the Vedas. Thus Oṁkāra is the Supreme
Lord Himself and the shelter of the cosmic manifestation. The Supreme Person
has presented praṇava (Oṁkāra) as the reservoir of all Vedic knowledge. The
statements of the Vedas such as “tat tvam asi” (“you are that”) are only a
partial explanation of the Vedic knowledge. Praṇava (Oṁkāra) is the principle
statement or Mahā-vākya in the Vedas, but Śrī Śaṅkarācārya have tried to cover
this to stress the mantra “tat tvam asi.”
In the Śrī Bhagavad-gītā
(17.23), it is stated:
oṁ tat sad iti nirdeśo
brahmaṇas tri-vidhaḥ smṛtaḥ
“It is said that Oṁ, Tat and
Sat are the three words used to indicate Brahma, the Supreme Absolute Reality.”
prabhu kahe, vedānta-sūtra
īśvara-vacana
vyāsa-rūpe kaila yāhā
śrī-nārāyaṇa
bhrama, pramāda, vipralipsā,
karaṇāpāṭava
īśvarera vākye nāhi doṣa ei
saba
upaniṣat-sahita sūtra kahe
yei tattva
mukhya-vṛttye sei artha
parama mahattva
gauṇa-vṛttye yebā bhāṣya
karila ācārya
tāhāra śravaṇe nāśa haya
sarva kārya
tāṅhāra nāhika doṣa,
īśvara-ājñā pāñā
gauṇārtha karila mukhya
artha ācchādiyā
'brahma'-śabde mukhya arthe
kahe—'bhagavān'
cid-aiśvarya-paripūrṇa,
anūrdhva-samāna
tāṅhāra vibhūti, deha,—saba
cid-ākāra
cid-vibhūti ācchādi' tāṅre
kahe 'nirākāra'
cid-ānanda—teṅho, tāṅra
sthāna, parivāra
tāṅre kahe—prākṛta-sattvera
vikāra
tāṅra doṣa nāhi, teṅho
ājñā-kārī dāsa
āra yei śune tāra haya sarva-nāśa
(Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta Ādi-līlā 7.103-114)
Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu said:
“The Vedānta philosophy consists of words spoken by Bhagavān Śrī Nārāyaṇa
in the form of Vyāsadeva. The four material defects of mistakes, illusions,
cheating and sensory inefficiency do not exist in the words of the Supreme
Person. The Absolute Truth is described in the Upaniṣads and Brahma-sūtra, but
one must understand the verses as they are, by taking the direct meaning.
Śrīpāda Śaṅkarācārya has described all the Vedic literatures in terms of
indirect meanings. One who hears such explanations is ruined. Śrī Śaṅkarācārya
is not to be blamed, for the Supreme Lord ordered him to present the secondary
explanations, not the direct meanings. According to direct understanding,
Brahma indicates the Supreme Person, who has all spiritual opulences and no one
can be equal to or greater than Him. Everything about the Supreme Lord is
spiritual, including His body, opulence and paraphernalia. However, by covering
His spiritual opulence, You are advocating the theory of impersonalism. The
Supreme Person is full of spiritual potencies and His body, name, fame and
associates are all spiritual, yet the Māyāvādī philosopher, due to ignorance,
says that these are all merely transformations of the material mode of
goodness. Śrī Śaṅkarācārya, who is an incarnation of Lord Śiva, is faultless
because he is a servant carrying out the orders of the Lord. But those who
follow his Māyāvādī philosophy will be completely destroyed.”
svāgamaiḥ kalpitais tvaṁ ca
janān mad-vimukhān kuru
māṁ ca gopaya yena syāt
sṛṣṭir eṣottarottarā
(Padma Purāṇa, Uttara-khaṇḍa 62.31)
Addressing Lord Śiva, Śrī Kṛṣṇa said:
“Please make the general
populace averse to Me by presenting your own imaginative interpretation of the
Vedas. Cover Me in such a way that people will take more interest in the
advancement of materialistic civilisation.”
māyāvādam asac-chāstraṁ
pracchannaṁ bauddham ucyate
mayaiva vihitaṁ devi
kalau brāhmaṇa-mūrtinā
(Padma Purāṇa, Uttara-khaṇḍa
25.7)
Lord Śiva informed Goddess
Durgā:
“In the Age of Kali, I will
take the form of a Brāhmaṇa and present Buddhism in a covered manner by giving
an imaginary explanation of the Vedic scriptures.”
Praṇava (Oṁkāra) is the
Mahā-vākya, the principal mantra, of the Vedic scriptures
The fully ripened meaning of
this Mahā-vākya (principal Vedic mantra), as given by Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa
Caitanyadeva, is that Praṇava or Oṁkāra is a confidential name for Kṛṣṇa. It
is the primordial seed of the Vedas and the spiritual sound that pervades the
Vedas. The syllables pra + nu (to praise) + an = Praṇava. The sound incarnation
of Para-Brahma, who is worthy of praise, is Oṁkāra. All of the Vedic scriptures emanate from the seed,
Oṁkāra. It is the Mahā-vākya and all other statements in the Vedas are
subsidiary. The preacher of the Māyāvāda philosophy, Śrī Śaṅkarācārya, covering
the real Mahā-vākya of the Vedas, established these four subsidiary or
incidental statements as Mahā-vākyas:
1. ahaṁ brahmāsmi (I
am that same Brahma)
2. prajñānaṁ brahma
(pure knowledge is Brahma)
3. tattvamasi (You are
also that Brahma)
4. ekamevādvitīyam
(apart from the one, there is none other)
Śrī Śaṅkarācārya’s reason
for saying this was to cover pure devotion (Śuddhā-bhakti) so he could preach
absolute monism in the form of Māyāvāda philosophy. Because the Praṇava is full
of devotion, by accepting it as a Mahā-vākya, it would have been an obstacle to
fulfilling his desired intention. It is for this reason that he abandoned the
real Mahā-vākya and said that these four subsidiary statements of the Vedas
(which were favourable to his conception) are the Mahā-vākyas. With
these he manufactured a fitting commentary for preaching his desired conception
of Kevala-advaita-vāda or absolute monism. According to the conception of
Kevala-advaita-vāda, the existence of the jīva and the position of the Supreme
Controller, Brahma, are both due to Māyā. He says the jīva receives liberation
(Mukti) only by Brahma-nirvāṇa (merging one’s existence in Brahma), or by
becoming free from the grip of Māyā. Yet in this conception, the pure
relationship between Para-Brahma and the jīva is concealed because the Vedas
have not been considered in their entirety. Therefore, it is for this very
reason that Śrī Madhvācārya has established, based on the complete statements
of the Vedas, the conception of Dvaita-vāda, or the theory of dualism. However,
because even in this theory there has not been a complete deliberation on the
Vedas in their entirety, the topic of Sambandha-tattva is not fully blossomed.
Śrī Rāmānujācārya has also not fully presented the idea of Sambandha in
his theory of Vaśiṣṭādvaita-vāda (qualified monism). There is also some
incompleteness preached by Śrī Nimbāditya in his theory of Dvaitādvaita-vāda
(naturally occurring difference and non-difference). Again there is some
obscurity in the theory of Śuddhādvaita (pure monism) that Śrī Viṣṇu Svāmī
preached. Finally, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, in order to establish the
eternality of the pure religion of Prema, has by the theory of Acintya-bhedābheda-tattva
(simultaneous and inconceivable oneness and difference between the jīvas and
Bhagavān) and by teaching fully the pure relationship (Sambandha-jñāna) between
the jīvas, the material energy and Bhagavān, has removed darkness in the form
of false arguments from the world.
The theories of Acintya-bhedābheda-tattva (simultaneous and
inconceivable oneness and difference between the jīvas and Bhagavān) and
Śakti-pariṇāma-vāda (the transformation of the energies of Bhagavān) are the
real conclusions of the Vedānta or Brahma-sūtra
Śrīman Mahāprabhu says that only Praṇava is the Mahā-vākya. The meaning
of which is effulgently presented in the Upaniṣads. Śrīla Vyāsadeva condensed
the instructions of the Upaniṣads and placed them in the Vedānta-sūtras. The
commentary of the Vedānta-sūtra, as presented by Śrī Vyāsadeva, is the Śrīmad
Bhāgavatam. In the first aphorism or sutra of the Vedānta, “janmādyasya yataḥ”
(or Brahman is He from whom everything emanates), transformation of Śakti or
Pariṇāma-vāda is established. In exactly the same way, the teachings of Pariṇāma-vāda
have been given in the mantra from the Upaniṣads, “yato vā imāni bhūtāni
jāyante” (Taittirīya Upaniṣad 2.1.1), which means, “All of these creatures were
born from the Supreme.” Established
in the first verse of the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam (1.1.1) is the same meaning. Śrī Śaṅkarācārya
made the point that by accepting the theory of Pariṇāma-vāda (transformation of
Brahma) one accepts that Brahma is transformed, thus he established his theory
of Vivarta-vāda. Actually, it is this theory of Brahma-vivarta-vāda (the theory
of the transformation of Brahma) that is completely untrue.
The theory of Śakti-pariṇāma-vāda
is the pure truth established in all the scriptures. By not accepting the
eternal Śakti of the Supreme, Pariṇāma-vāda would be fallacious and the fault
established would be that of the illusionary transformation of Parameśvara.
However, upon accepting the eternal and naturally occurring Para-śakti of
Param-Īśvara, then there is no possibility of this fault occurring. The
veritable truth is that this world manifests from these astonishing
transformations of Śakti. There is never a transformation of Brahma. The result
of the transformations of the Śakti of Brahma is the material world and the
existence of the jīvas.
With regard to this topic,
Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu has given the example of the Cintāmaṇi jewel. Even
though so much gold emanates from the Cintāmaṇi, it always remains unchanged –
that is, by this there is no enlargement or diminution in the Cintāmaṇi itself.
This analogy clearly shows that the entire creation has come from the energy or
Śakti of Śrī Kṛṣṇa and by this Kṛṣṇa has not become transformed at all. By the
complete pariṇāma or transformation of the Cit-śakti (spiritual potency), the
Dhāmas (transcendental abodes) such as Vaikuṇṭha and Vṛndāvana, as well as the
names, forms, qualities and pastimes of the Lord have manifest. Also, by a tiny
transformation of the Cit-śakti, the innumerable minute conscious jīvas have
come. By the transformation of Māyā-śakti, the material universes and the gross
and subtle bodies of the living entities have manifest. We should
understand the terms, material worlds or universes, to refer to the fourteen
planetary systems.
This theory of Pariṇāma-vāda or transformation of the energies of
Bhagavān, has been mentioned everywhere throughout the Vedanta-sūtra and the
Upaniṣads. The manifestation of transformations of Pariṇāma-vāda, known as the
Mahat-tattva, is comprised of earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind,
intelligence and the false ego. In the final attainment for one practicing
Kevalādvaita-vāda (exclusive monism), it can be seen that they are left with
nothing. The proposal is that both the jīva and this world are an imaginary
product of ignorance. However, such a position is without foundation and is
only a troublesome invention.
śreyaḥ-sṛtiṁ bhaktim udasya te vibho
kliśyanti ye kevala-bodha-labdhaye
teṣām asau kleśala eva śiṣyate
nānyad yathā sthūla-tuṣāvaghātinām
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 10.14.4)
“Oh all-pervading Lord! The only way to attain factual auspiciousness
is to perform Bhakti unto You. Those who abandon Your devotional service and
endeavour to attain knowledge, which is devoid of relation to You, can never
possibly attain any real auspiciousness. As a person who beats empty
husks of wheat cannot get grain; rather, he only attains difficulty, nothing
else.”
Following the conception of pure Pariṇāma-vāda, by the desire of Kṛṣṇa
the jīvas and the world have both come about and both are true. The creation is
neither false nor imaginary. Yet even though it is true, still, by the desire
of Kṛṣṇa, the material world is subject to dissolution and it is for this
reason that it has been called temporary. Even though the Supreme Controller,
who is possessed of an all-spiritual Svarūpa, enters within every atom of the
creation, still, served by His own independent complete potency, He eternally
remains present in His own independent and separate form as Śrī Kṛṣṇa.
yathā mahānti bhūtāni
bhūteṣūccāvaceṣv anu
praviṣṭāny apraviṣṭāni
tathā teṣu na teṣv aham
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 2.9.35)
“O Brahmā, please hear this confidential truth, this material world is
not false; it is a transformation of My potency. I reside within it in My eternal form therefore
this world is also true. Even though it is true, this world is
destructible, as it comes again and again. Just as the five material elements
enter into all the material bodies, such as those of demigods and animals, yet
at the same time they also remain outside of them. In the same way, even though in a minute form I
enter within the material world, which is a transformation of My potency, I
also do not enter it. I stay in My abodes of Goloka Vṛndāvana and Vaikuṇṭha in
My Svarūpa. By constitution, the jīva, who is a transformation of My
Jīva-śakti, is My surrendered servant. Even though I enter inside of them in
the form of the Paramātmā, still I also perform eternal pastimes with those
jīvas who have attained Prema, in My eternal spiritual abode.”
Only those persons who know this unprecedented truth are able to taste
the unlimited sweetness and opulence of Śrī Kṛṣṇa. The jīva has a factual
relationship with Kṛṣṇa and also a temporary relationship with this
destructible material world, in the same manner that a traveller has a
temporary relationship with the hotel in which he stays, or the people that he
meets there. It is proper for the jīvas who are desirous of their own good
fortune to practice Yukta-vairāgya (appropriate renunciation) towards the material
goods of this world, utilising them in a proper manner by seeing them as
ingredients to be engaged in the service of Bhagavān. As long as such
intelligence regarding relationships with what is eternal and what is temporary
has not awakened, then the conditioned soul cannot properly discriminate.
This philosophy of inconceivable simultaneous oneness and difference
between Bhagavān and His various potencies (Acintya-bhedābheda-tattva) is
beyond mundane logic and argument
According to this siddhānta, it is true that Kṛṣṇa is both different
and non-different from the jīva and this material world. Because human
intelligence is limited, this philosophy is beyond their understanding; it is
for this very reason that this simultaneous difference and non-difference has
been called acintya or inconceivable. Even though it is inconceivable, there is
no reason for logic or reasonable arguments to be dissatisfied with this
conception. The Śakti (energy) of Bhagavān is inconceivable, this is a
reasonable argument, and whatever His Śakti establishes, it is possible to
grasp by His grace.
yāvān ahaṁ yathā-bhāvo
yad-rūpa-guṇa-karmakaḥ
tathaiva tattva-vijñānam
astu te mad-anugrahāt
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 2.9.32)
“By My mercy understand that My Svarūpa, My Bhāva, My Tattva-jñāna and
My Qualities and activities which are different from matter.”
Our predecessor spiritual masters have taught that one should not raise
mundane arguments against a subject that is inconceivable, for such arguments
cannot be established as factual proof with regard to materially inconceivable
subject matters. To people who cannot accept this truth, there is no end to
their misfortune.
acintyāḥ khalu ye bhāva
na tāṁs tarkeṇa yojayet
prakṛtibhyaḥ paraṁ yac ca
tad acintyasya lakṣaṇam
(Śrī Mahābhārata - Udyoga-parva)
“That which is beyond material nature and outside the parameter of
sense perception is inconceivable. It cannot be understood through logic or
empirical arguments”
“naiṣā tarkeṇa matir apaneyā proktāny eva jṇānāya preṣṭha iti”
(Śrī Kaṭha Upaniṣad 1.2.9)
“My dear Naciketā, simply by logic one will never be able to understand
the Supreme Person, but one may understand by hearing descriptions of Him from
a realised spiritual master.”
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