Sri Priti-Sandarbha
BY: SUN STAFF
Srila Jiva Goswami
Jun 05, CANADA (SUN) —
Sri Priti-sandarbha
Volume One
by Srila Jiva Goswami
Anuccheda 5 (Part One)
In the previous sandarbhas, the Tattva, Bhagavat, and Paramatma sandarbhas, many passages from the Sruti-sastra and other scriptures were quoted to prove that the individual spirit souls are all parts and parcels of the Supreme Truth.
As particles of sunlight emanate from the sun planet, the individual spirit souls are particles of spirit emanating from the Supreme Spirit. Because He is all-pervading, the Supreme Spirit is also present within each individual spirit soul. That the Supreme has not material form does not refute that the idea that the Supreme is also localized, staying in only one place. Because the individual souls have emanated form Him, the Supreme is their shelter. When this knowledge of the Supreme is absent, the particles of light that are the individual spirit soul are covered by the dark shadow of material illusion (maya). When they try to understand the Supreme and take shelter of Him, the individual souls are situated in the light. This has been explained in the previous sandarbhas. Because they are manifest from the Supreme Lord Himself and because they are meant to help the Lord in His pastimes, the individual souls are the Lord's potency. The individual spirit souls are atomic in size, for that is the scriptures' description of them. Like spots of sandalwood anointing the Lord's body, the individual souls are manifested from the Lord's potencies. Because the Lord's potencies are inconceivable, there is no contradiction in any of this. This is also confirmed by these words of Vedanta-sutra (2.1.27):
shrutes tu shabda-mulatvat
"There is contradiction, for that is the explanation of the scriptures."
It is also confirmed by these words of Vishnu Purana (1.22.53):
eka-desha-sthitasyagner
jyotsna vitarini yatha
parasya brahmanah shaktis
tathedam akhilam jagat
"Just as the illumination of fire, which is situated in one place, is spread all over, the energies of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Parabrahman, are spread all over this universe."*
In this way it is seen that the individual souls and the Supreme Lord are simultaneously one and different. In Chandogya Upanisads (6.8.7) statement "tat tvam asi" (You are that) it is seen that because they are His parts and parcels, the individual spirit souls are not different from the Supreme Lord. In the Shruti-shastra it is said that the Supreme is not divided into parts. This statement may be interpreted in two ways. The primary interpretation is that the Supreme is liberated and full of bliss. The secondary interpretation is that the Supreme is blissful and has spiritual potencies, and when He manifests parts and parcels, His parts and parcels are never material in nature. In Bhagavad-gita it is said that the Supreme has all potencies and everything that exists is part and parcel of Him. The individual spirit souls are His parts and parcels eternally, eternally like rays of light emanating from the sun that is the Supreme Lord. In this way it is proved that the Supreme Lord is always the supreme controller, the supreme enjoyer, and supreme in all other ways. The Supreme Lord's potency has the power to do anything. Manifesting His maya potency, the Lord creates the various transformations of the material nature. By the touch of the maya potency the world of birth and death is manifest. With the help of the Lord's internal potency the soul is able to see himself, the impersonal Brahman, and the Supreme Personality of Godhead (bhagavan). That one needs the help of the Lord's internal potency to see the Lord is hinted by this rhetorical question spoken in Brihad-aranyaka Upanishad (2.4.14):
yatra tasya sarvam atmaivabhut. . . tat kena kam pashyet
"If everything is the Supreme, then how will one be able to see Him? Whom will one see?"
Without the help of the Lord's internal potency no one has the power to see the Supreme. That one's needs the Lord's help in order to see Him is also confirmed by these words of Katha Upanishad (1.2.23):
yam evaisha vrinute tena labhyah
"The Lord is obtained only by one whom He Himself chooses. To such a person He manifests His own form."**
In this way, by the touch of the Supreme Lord's internal potency, the illusory potency (maya) disappears, and the cycle of birth and death is stopped. Persons who do not think liberation is a situated of happiness do not attain the true goal of life. In the absence of liberation all that they have is worthless. No one desires, "I will become happiness itself". Rather, everyone desires, "I will experience happiness." Therefore for a person who does not try to become happy by attaining liberation, the meaning of the scriptures is lost. A person who does not feel unhappy to be deprived of the bliss of liberation is not able to attain the true goal of life. Narada Muni explained this goal of life to King Pracinabarhi in these words of Srimad-Bhagavatam (4.25.4):
duhkha-hanih sukhavaptih
shreyas tan neha ceshyate
"The chief aim of life is to get rid of all miseries and enjoy happiness, but these tow things cannot be realized by fruitive activity."*
This is also seen in the following words of Taittiriya Upanishad (2.7.1):
rasam hy evayam labdhvanandi bhavati.
"When one understands the Personality of God, the reservoir of pleasure, Krishna, he actually becomes transcendentally blissful."*
It is also seen in these words of Chandogya Upanishad (7.25.2):
atma-ratih atma-kridah
"The liberated souls enjoy the Supreme Lord's company. They enjoy pastimes with the Lord."
It is also seen in these words of Vishnu-dharma Purana:
bhinne dritau yatha vayur
naivanyah saha vayuna
kshina-punyagha-bandhas tu
tathatma brahmana saha
"As the air within a blacksmith's bellows is not different from the air outside, so a soul whose bonds of piety and sin are cut is not different from the Supreme.
tatah samasta-kalyana-
samasta-sukha-sampadam
ahladam anyam akalankam
apnoti shashvatam
"Such a soul attains pure eternal bliss, bliss far beyond all the happiness and prosperity of the material world.
brahma-svarupasya tatha
hy atmano nityadaiva sah
vyutthana-kale rajendra
aste hi atirohitah
"O king of kings, when he attains liberation the soul attains eternal spiritual bliss.
adarshasya malabhavad
vaimalyam kashate yatha
jnanagni-dagdha-heyasya
sa hlado hy atmanas tatha
"He becomes pure, like the perfect reflection in a perfectly clean mirror. His sins burned away by the fire of spiritual knowledge, he attains spiritual bliss.
tatha heya-guna-dhvamsad
avabodhadayo gunah
prakashante na janyante
nitya evatmano hi te
"His sins destroyed, his spiritual virtues, beginning with spiritual knowledge, are manifest. Those spiritual qualities were not born at that moment. They had always existed within him.
jnanam vairagyam aishvaryam
dharmash ca manujeshvara
atmano brahma-bhutasya
nityam eva catushtayam
"O great king, knowledge, renunciation, opulence, and piety, these four glories always reside in a liberated soul.
etad advaitam akhyatam
esha eva tavoditah
ayam vishnur idam brahma
tathaitat satyam uttamam
"It is said he is not different from the Lord. He is Vishnu. He is the impersonal Brahman. That is the truth."
In this passage the example of the air within and without the bellows is given to show how the individual spirit soul is the part and the Supreme Lord is the whole. Although he is by nature the Supreme Lord's part and parcel, the individual soul can still turn his face away from the Lord. When he turns his face away from the Lord, the individual soul, now in the grip of the Lord's illusory potency, maya, no longer understands his true, his original nature. However, when he turns his face again towards the Lord, by the Lord's mercy the soul attains liberation. This is described in these words of Taittiriya Upanishad (2.4.1):
anandam brahmano vidvan
"One who knows the bliss of the Supreme eventually attains liberation."
This is also described in these words of Brihad-aranyaka Upanishad (2.4.1):
na tasmat prana utkramanti. atraiva samavaliyante. brahmaiva san brahmapyeti.
"He does not truly die. He goes to the spiritual world. He attains a spiritual form and then he meets the Supreme."
Here it is clearly said that one attains a spiritual nature and then one meets the Supreme. In this passage the first use of the word "brahma" refers to the soul's nature, which is like that of the Supreme. The second use of the word “brahma" refers to the Supreme Himself. In this way the phrase "brahmaiava sann" means "attaining a spiritual nature like that of the Supreme". This is so because the soul's nature is spiritual, like that of the Supreme. The soul and the Supreme do not have different natures, one spiritual and the other something else. This is also described in these words of Mundaka Upanishad (3.2.9):
brahma veda brahmaiva bhavati
"One who knows the Supreme attains a spiritual nature like that of the Supreme."
In some places in the scriptures it is said that the individual soul's spiritual nature like that of the Supreme. For example, in the Mundaka Upanishad (3.1.3) it is said:
niranjanah paramam samyama upaiti
"A soul untouched by matter becomes like the Supreme."
In Bhagavad-gita (14.2) the Supreme Lord declares:
idam jnanam samashritya
mama sadharmyam agatah
"By becoming fixed in this knowledge one can attain to the transcendental nature, which is like My own nature."*
The individual soul and the Supreme are both clearly described in these words of Katha Upanishad (2.1.15):
yathodakam shuddhe shuddham
asiktam tadrig eva bhavati
evam muner vijanata
atma bhavati gautama
"As clear water poured into clear water becomes like the water into which it is poured, so the individual soul who attains liberation becomes like the Supreme."
In this example the soul does not become identical with the Supreme. Also, the soul's nature is not different from the Supreme's nature. In the Skanda Purana it is said:
udakam tudakam siktam
mishram eva yatha bhavet
tad vai tad eva bhavati
yato buddhih pravartate
"When water is poured into water, the two waters become mixed together.
evam evam hi jivo 'pi
tad-atmyam paramatmana
prapto 'pi nasau bhavati
svatantryadi-visheshanat
"However, the individual soul never becomes mixed together with the Supreme in that way, for the Supreme always remains a distinct person with distinct qualities, like His supreme independence."
In some places it is said that the individual spirit soul is like a reflection of the Supreme. In Vedanta-sutra (3.2.19-20) it is said:
ambuvad agrahanat tu na tathatvam
"The individual soul is not like a reflection of the Supreme, like the sun reflected in the water."
vriddhi-hrasa-bhaktvam antar-bhavad ubhaya-samanjasyad evam darshanac ca
"Even though He stays in the conditioned soul's heart, the Supreme does not find His fortunes rise and fall with the rise and fall of the conditioned soul. This is so because both examples show it and because it is seen to be so."
That the individual spirit soul is different from the Supreme is also confirmed by these words of Chandogya Upanishad (8.12.2):
evam esha samprasado 'smac charirat samutthaya param jyoti-rupam sampadya svena rupenabhinishpadyate
"Attaining liberation, the soul leaves the material body. Then the soul attains its own effulgent spiritual form. Manifesting that form, the soul meets the Supreme Person."
Return to Anuccheda 4
