Sri Vedanta-sutra, Part 58
BY: SUN STAFF
Mar 11, 2021 — CANADA (SUN) — Sri Vedanta-sutra - Volume Four, by Srila Baladeva Vidyabhushana, Translated by Sriman Kusakratha dasa.
Adhikarana 6
The Descending Soul Does Not Take Birth Among the Plants
Introduction by Srila Baladeva Vidyabhushana
Vishaya (statement): The passage after entering rain is described in the following statement of Sruti-sastra:
ta iha vrihi-yava aushadhi-vanaspatayas tila-masha jayante
"The descending souls then take birth as rice, barley, plants, trees, sesame, and beans."
Samsaya (doubt): Do the souls literally take birth as rice or these other species, or is this description metaphorical?
Purvapaksha (the opponent speaks): The text says "jayante" (they take birth). This is should be taken literally.
Siddhanta: In the following words the author of the sutras gives His conclusion.
Sutra 25
anyadhishthite purvavad abhilapat
In what is occupied by another because of a statement like the previous.
Purport by Srila Baladeva Vidyabhushana
Because the bodies of the plants and other beings are already inhabited by other spirit souls, the description here is metaphorical. The descending souls are not born in those species to experience their karma. Why not? The sutra explains: "purvavad abhilapat" (because of a statement like the previous). As it was previously said that the descending soul does not become ether, or the other things in its descent, but merely comes into contact with them, so the fallen soul merely comes into contact with the rice and other species. That is the meaning. As when it enters the ether the descending soul is not yet experiencing the specific results of various pious and impious deeds, so when it falls down in the rain the soul is also not yet experiencing the results of specific deeds. This the scriptures say. In Chandogya Upanishad (5.10.7) it is said: "They who act piously attain an auspicious birth. They who do not act piously attain a birth that is not auspicious." Therefore the description here that the descending souls take birth in this way is metaphorical. It is not literal.
Sutra 26
asuddham iti cen na sabdat
If it is said to be impure, then I reply: No, for that is the statement of the Sruti-sastra.
Purport by Srila Baladeva Vidyabhushana
Here someone may object: It is not at all logical to say that the scriptures' statement that the descending soul, accompanied by the remnant of his karma, takes birth in the body of a rice plant or similar species, is only a metaphor, and the soul does not really take birth in those species for the soul has no remaining karma to push it into that birth. The so-called pious deeds performed to attain residence in Svargaloka are actually impure. This is because the Agnisomiya-yajna and other yajnas like them involve violence to animals. The scriptures give the following prohibition:
ma himsyat sarva-bhutani
"Never commit violence to anyone."*
Therefore, by performing these yajnas there is a pious portion, which sends the performer to Svargaloka, and also an impious portion, which forces him to take birth as a rice plant or similar species. In the Manu-samhita (12.9) it is said:
sarira-jair karma-doshair
yati sthavaratam narah
"A person who sins with his body becomes an unmoving plant."
Therefore the statement that the descending soul takes birth as a rice plant or similar being should be taken literally.
If this is said, then the sutra replies: "na" (No. It is not so). Why not? The sutra explains: "sabdat" (Because that is the statement of the Sruti-sastra). The Vedas order:
agnisomiyam pasum alabheta
"One should sacrifice an animal in an agnisomiya-yajna."
Because piety and impiety is known only from the Vedas' statements, the Vedas' order to commit violence must be understood to be actually kind and pious. Therefore the orders of the Vedas are never impure. The prohibitions: "Never commit violence to anyone" and "Violence is a sin" are the general rules decreed by the Vedas, and the statement: "One should sacrifice an animal in an agnisomiya-yajna" is an exception to that general rule. A general rule and a specific exception to that rule need not contradict each other. There is scope for each. For these reasons, therefore, the scriptures' description that the fallen soul takes birth as a rice plant or similar being is metaphorical and not literal.
What follows in this sequence is described in the next sutra.
Sutra 27
retah-sig-yogo 'tha
Then there is contact with the male that sprinkles the semen.
Purport by Srila Baladeva Vidyabhushana
After entering the rice-plant or other plant, the fallen soul, accompanied by the remainder of his karma, enters the semen of a male. In the Chandogya Upanishad (5.10.6) it is said:
yo yo 'nnam atti yo retah sincati tad bhuya eva bhavati
"A male eats that grain and then sprinkles semen. From that semen the fallen soul takes birth. He becomes just like his father."
The statement that the soul becomes just like the father should not be taken literally, for one thing cannot have exactly the same form as another. In truth, if the offspring were completely identical with the father, and there were no difference at all between them, then the soul would not actually attain a new material body. Therefore this statement should be taken metaphorically. As the soul merely comes into contact with the rice plant or other vegetation, so the soul comes into contact with the father. The soul does not become identical with the father in all respects.
Sutra 28
yoneh sariram
The body comes from the womb.
Purport by Srila Baladeva Vidyabhushana
The word "yoneh" here is in the ablative case. The soul departs from its father's body and enters its mother's womb. In this way, so it may experience the fruits of its karma, the soul attains a new material body. In the Chandogya Upanishad (5.10.7) it is said:
tad ya iha ramaniya-caranah
"They who perform pious deeds attain an auspicious birth. They who sin attain an inauspicious birth."
In this way the soul's entrance into the series of things beginning with ether and the series of things beginning with a rice-plant or other vegetation is described. The conclusion is that a person who is actually intelligent will renounce this material world, a world filled with sorrows, and place all his thoughts on Lord Hari, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is filled with transcendental bliss.
Pada 2
Introduction by Srila Baladeva Vidyabhushana
vittir viraktis ca kritanjalih puro
yasyah parananda-tanor vitishthate
siddhis ca seva-samayam pratikshate
bhaktih paresasya punatu sa jagat
May devotion to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, devotion that is filled with transcendental bliss, devotion before whom knowledge and renunciation stand, their hands folded with respect, devotion that mystic power yearns to serve, purify the entire world.
Devotional service, by performing which one falls in love with the Supreme Personality of Godhead and attains His association, will be described in this pada. In order to strengthen the soul's love and devotion for the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the Lord's glorious creation of dreams and other states of being, the Lord's identity with His many incarnations, His appearance as the all-pervading Supersoul, His non-identity with His worshipers, who are still one with Him in quality, His being attained only by devotional service, His appearance in both spiritual and material worlds, His transcendental blissfulness, His coming before His devotees according to the devotees' love for Him, His supremacy over all, His supreme generosity, and a great host of the Lord's other virtues and glories will also be described here. When a person desires to love, the beloved's glories must be understood. Otherwise there can be no love.
In the beginning of this pada will be described the Lord's creation of the dreaming state. The idea that someone other than the Supreme Lord had created the dreaming state contradicts the scriptures' statement that the Lord is the creator of everything. If the Lord [ ] "sky in the heart" here is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. In this way the Sruti-sastra explains that dreamless sleep is manifested when the soul enters the nadis, the membrane surrounding the heart, and the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
Samsaya (doubt): Does the soul enter any one of these three places, or does the soul enter all of them?
Purvapaksha (the opponent speaks): The soul may enter any one of these places. This is so because these three places are equally able to be the place where the soul sleeps. The Nyaya-sastra explains:
tulyarthas tu vikalperan
"A list of things equally suitable for a certain activity indicates the option of choosing from them."
Siddhanta (conclusion): In the following words the author of the sutras gives His conclusion.
Sutra 7
tad-abhavo nadishu tac chruter atmani ca
Its absence occurs in the nadis and the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This is so because of the Sruti-sastra.
Purport by Srila Baladeva Vidyabhushana
The word "ca" (and) here hints the inclusion of the membrane surrounding the heart. The word "tad-abhava" (its absence) means "the absence of wakefulness and dream". Thus it means "the state of dreamless sleep". Dreamless sleep occurs in the nadis, the membrane surrounding the heart, and the Supreme Personality of Godhead collectively. Why is that? The sutra explains: "tac chruteh" (This is so because of the Sruti-sastra). Thus the Sruti-sastra declares that they are all, taken collectively, the place of dreamless sleep. The idea that there is an option here, and that to perform the activity of deep sleep the soul chooses one of these places, is an idea that contradicts the statements of Sruti-sastra. In the scriptures' description of dreamless sleep, it is seen that the nadis and pranas are described together. In the Kausitaki Upanishad (4.19) it is said:
tasu tada bhavati. yada suptah svapnam na kancana pasyaty athasmin prana evaikadha bhavati.
"Then the soul enters the nadis. When sleeping, the soul does not see any dream. Then the soul become one with the pranas."
The explanation that the soul has an option of one of these three places does not apply here, for if that option were to apply, then these three places would have to be equally suitable for the action of dreamless sleep, but the truth is they are not. What occurs is the soul passes through the door of the nadis, enters the palace of the membrane surrounding the heart, and sleeps on the bed of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. In this way all three places are involved in the activity of dreamless sleep, but the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the actual place where dreamless sleep occurs. The word "puritat" here means "the membrane surrounding the lotus of the heart".
Sutra 8
atah prabodho 'smat
Therefore the waking state is from Him.
Purport by Srila Baladeva Vidyabhushana
Because the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the actual place where dreamless sleep occurs, and the nadis and other things mentioned here are merely doors through which the soul passes in order to rest on the Supreme Personality of Godhead, therefore the waking soul rises from the bed of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. In the Chandogya Upanishad it is said:
satas cagatya na viduh sata agacchamahe
"We had departed from the Supreme Personality of Godhead, although we could not understand that we had departed from the Supreme Personality of Godhead."
In this way the idea that sometimes the soul sleeps in the nadis, sometimes in the membrane surrounding the heart, and sometimes in the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is disproved. It is not like that. Therefore the soul sleeps on the bed of the Supreme Personality of Godhead
