BY: SUN STAFF
Feb 22, CANADA (SUN) —
Bhagavat Sandarbha
by Srila Jiva Goswami
SECTION TWENTY
The Jiva is Dependent on the Lord for his Power of Cognition.
Moreover, Daksha in his prayers to the Lord (S.B.6.4.25) states:
Because the body, life-airs, external and internal senses, five gross elements, and the subtle elements (form, taste, smell, sound, and touch) are material, they cannot know their own nature, the nature of other senses, nor the nature of their controllers, but the living being, due to his spiritual nature, can know his body, life-airs, senses, the gross elements, the subtle elements, and he can know the three qualities that form their roots.
Nevertheless, although the living being is completely aware of these, he is unable to know the Supreme Being, who is omniscient and unlimited. I therefore offer my respectful obeisances unto Him.
Deha means body; asavah means life-airs; akshani means senses; manavah means the internal senses; bhutani means the material elements; matra means tanmatras, or the subtle elements; atmanam means their own nature; and anyam means the respective group of these elements. Param means the group of demigods who are beyond these last two. The body, life air and senses do not know all this. The living entity, however, knows the all, which means his own nature, the other knower and besides this he knows the group of objects such as body, life air and also their presiding deities. He also knows the modes of nature, beginning with sattva, which constitute the basis for body and the rest. While aware of all this, he does not know the omniscient Personality of Godhead, who is the knower of everything beginning from the body up to the jiva. I (Daksha) worship Him, who has unfathomable energy in His essential nature. As is stated in the first canto of the Srimad Bhagavatam (1.18.19): "He is called ananta, unlimited, because He possesses unlimited qualities."
A similar explanation is in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad beginning with 2.4.4. "When the jiva conceives of himself as different from the Lord he then sees things other than the Lord." After stating the jiva to be the seer of other objects, it is denied that he can see the Lord (2.4.14):
"When everything is considered one's self, then who can be the seer and what will be the seen.? After this it is stated that Supersoul is the knower of everything, including Himself (2.4.14) then Maitreya through what can the knower be known?
The meaning is that the Supersoul, whose seat is the jiva, manifests the body, senses and so on in His own svarupa, with His own potency--not that He enters into something else.
The sense is this: There is apparent duality in the realm of Maya. The jiva emanates from the Supreme, and so non-different from Him; by the inconceivable potency called Maya, he appears inert, impure, perishable, and distinct from the Supreme. Therefore he considers himself as if independent, and takes birth repeatedly. In this state the living entity sees objects other than the Lord, because his senses and sense objects have the mutual qualification to be the perceiver and the perceived. When the jiva is under the influence of the Lord's internal potency, like a ray of the sun, then the sun orb like Lord exists as everything by His internal potency. He exists in this way without a beginning and not due to entering into the jiva. In this state by what sense would the jiva see and what would he see? He cannot perceive anything because he does not have proper senses. The sun's rays cannot illuminate the effulgence inside the sun orb, nor can a flame burn its source fire. Since the Lord's unlimited opulence is such, then by which sense can that all-cognizant knower, the Lord be known? Not by any. In this way, the cognitive potency is established in Him. This is also indicative of His capacity to work and His volition.
COMMENTARY
In this Text Srila Jiva Gosvami explains that the Lord's internal energy is the fountainhead of all cognition. He gives evidence from the Hamsaguhya prayers of Daksha Maharaja. The verse explains that the working and cognitive senses can neither know themselves nor the living entity, because by constitution they are inert instruments for the living entity. The spoon transports food from the plate to the lip, but does not taste. It only acts as an instrument. Similarly, the senses are instruments that help the jiva in the work of perception, but themselves have no knowing power. The jiva is conscious by nature and superior to the inert senses and body. Being energized by the jiva the senses function, but they cannot sense themselves or the jiva.
The same analogy is further extended to the jiva and the Lord. With proper deliberation and discrimination the jiva can understand the senses, body, mind, and the modes of nature. This also he cannot get complete knowledge. He can also understand that he is different from them and conscious by nature, yet he cannot understand the Lord. The great living entities like Brahma have knowledge even about the material modes yet their intelligence fails to understand the Lord. Just as the senses, body, and mind function, being inspired by the soul, the soul functions because it is energized by the Lord. Just as the senses, body, and mind cannot know the soul, the soul cannot know the Lord. A living entity can understand that he is not the creator of the universe and objects within it. By seeing the harmony in nature, one can guess about a supreme being. But there is nothing more can he know about it.
While commenting on the verse Srila Visvanatha Cakravartipada writes, sarvatra cetano'pi paramesvare tvacetana eva, "although the conscious jiva perceives the material objects, he is unconscious in perceiving the Lord". The meaning is that the jiva is unable to perceive the Lord by his cognitive power. Although consciousness is the basic requirement for cognition, it is not sufficient. The Lord's grace is necessary. No one can know the Lord without His mercy. The jiva is covered by the veil of maya. In the Bhagavad-gita Krsna explains that although He knows the past, present, and future, no one knows Him (B.g. 7.26). He can be known only by pure devotion, bhaktyahamekya grahyah (S.B. 11.14.21).
Further, the consciousness of the living entity is not always in its normal state. It can be covered by jivamaya, as was explained in Text Eighteen, ajnanenavritam jnanam tena muhyanti jantavah (B.g. 5.15). When the consciousness of the living entity is covered, he is bewildered and cannot even understand the material nature properly.
Even a living entity is blessed by the Lord he cannot understand Him completely. Daksha Maharaja reasons that this is because He is unlimited, infinite, ananta. There is no end to His attributes. The jiva is finite. The finite can never completely know the infinite. This is confirmed in the Sruti (Narayana Tapani Purva Upanishad 4.4) vishnornu kam viryani pravocam yah parthivani vimame rajamsi, "Even a person who can count all the dust particles in the universe cannot assimilate the glories of Lord Vishnu"
For this reason the Lord is called Ananta. It is not that only ordinary jivas cannot understand the Lord, but even highly elevated persons like Brahma and Siva cannot fathom the glories of the Lord. Therefore the Srutis personified prayed (S.B. 10.87.41):
"Because You are unlimited, neither the lords of heaven nor even You Yourself can ever reach the end of Your glories. The countless universes, each enveloped in its shell, are compelled by the wheel of time to wander within You, like particles of dust blowing about in the sky. The srutis, following their method of eliminating everything separated from the Supreme, become successful by revealing You as their final conclusion." Actually even the infinite Lord cannot know Himself fully, otherwise He will defy the very definition of infinite.
To further explain Daksa's verse, Srila Jiva Gosvami quotes parts of mantra 2.4.14 of the Brahadaranyaka Upanishad, which Yajnavalkya spoke this to his wife, Maitreyi. The complete mantra is: When the soul is bound in the material world there arises the notion of duality. Then the jiva sees something, smells something, hears something, speaks something, thinks something, and knows something. When He is situated in the self and everything is a manifestation of the Lord, then what should he smell and with what? What should he see and with what? What should he hear and with what? What should he think and with what? And what should he know and with what? With what can one know Him, because of whom all this is known? O Maitreyi with what should one know the Knower?
The impersonalists interpret this mantra differently. They say that the first part of the mantra explains the conditioned state where there seems to be duality, but in reality there is only one Brahman. In this state a conditioned soul uses his material senses and mind to perceive material objects, but when he is freed from illusion and is reinstated as Brahman, there is no distinction between the perceiver, what is perceived, and the act of perceiving.
Srila Jiva Gosvami gives a different understanding of this mantra. In the conditioned state the jiva is forgetful of Krishna and thinks of himself as an independent enjoyer and thus falls into duality. The word itara (lit. the other) is used both for the conditioned jiva as well as material objects. In reality there is no duality because he is not independent of Krishna and His energies, but under illusion he considers himself an enjoyer and sees the material things as objects for his sense gratification. But when he takes to devotional service, and frees himself of this illusion, he gives up the duality and recognizes Krishna as the supreme controller and enjoyer. At that time he does not perceive the material world as itara because he has elevated his consciousness; He sees everywhere the spiritual energy. He does not have material senses anymore. He understands that all activities occur by the potency of the Lord and that he is not independent to acquire knowledge. He knows he is minute and just as a spark cannot illuminate its source, he understands that he is incapable of knowing the Lord. He understands himself as part of Lord's energy like a ray of Sun. The word anaditah or without a beginning is important. Lord exists in his svarupa sakti and there is no beginning to this. Therefore abhuta although in past tense means present, bhavan aste - Lord always exists like a sun. In relation to the Lord he is an instrument in the hands of the Lord and just as the senses cannot know the soul, the soul cannot know the Lord by his own power. The dissimilarity in this example, however, is that a fully surrendered soul is able to know the Lord--by the Lord's mercy. Krishna says, dadami buddhi yogam tam yena mam upayanti te, "I give them the intelligence by which they can know me".
This analysis proves that the Lord has cognitive potency which flows from Him to the living entities. Because the Lord has this potency, He must also have working potency and will power. These three potencies are always together svabhaviki jnana bala kriya ca (Sveta 6.8). Knowledge leads to willing, and then to action. We cannot desire something unless we have knowledge of it. When we have knowledge about something then a desire may manifest, we deliberate on it then decide whether to act on it or not. So activity is always preceded by will and knowledge. Hence these three always accompany each other. They are natural characteristics of a conscious being.
In this text Srila Jiva Gosvami showed that His internal potency is source of jiva's cognitive power. In the next text he further substantiates by explaining that total material energy Maya is under His control.
Go to Section Twenty-one
Return to Section Ninteen
