20220330 The Māyāvāda Philosophy Considers the Lord to be Transformations of the Material Mode of Goodness and Equates the Jīva-tattva With the Supreme Brahman [Part 3]

mūkaṁ karoti vācālaṁ paṅguṁ laṅghayate girim
yat-kṛpā tam ahaṁ vande śrī-guruṁ dīna-tāraṇam
hariḥ oṁ tat sat

Today’s chapter is entitled: The Māyāvāda Philosophy Considers The Lord to be Transformations of the Material Mode of Goodness and Equates the Jīva-tattva With the Supreme Brahman, part five.

Caitanya Caritāmṛta, Ādi-līlā 7.120

īśvarake jīvera nyāya ajñānamaya bodhao māyāvāda :—

hena jīva-tattva lañā likhi’ para-tattva
ācchanna karila śreṣṭha īśvara-mahattva

Translation: “The Māyāvāda philosophy is so degraded that it has taken the insignificant living entities to be the Lord, the Supreme Truth, thus covering the glory and supremacy of the Absolute Truth with monism.

Purport: Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura comments in this connection that in all Vedic scriptures the jīva-tattva, the truth of the living entities, is mentioned to be one of the energies of the Lord. If one does not accept the living entity to be a minute, infinitesimal spark of the Supreme but equates the jīva-tattva with the Supreme Brahman or Supreme Personality of Godhead, it must be understood that his entire philosophy is based on a misunderstanding. Unfortunately, Śrīpāda Śaṅkarācārya purposely claimed the jīva-tattva, or living entities, to be equal to the Supreme God. Therefore his entire philosophy is based on a misunderstanding, and it misguides people to become atheists, whose mission in life is unfulfilled. The mission of human life, as described in the Bhagavad-gītā, is to surrender unto the Supreme Lord and become His devotee, but the Māyāvāda philosophy misleads one to defy the existence of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and pose oneself as the Supreme Lord. Thus it has misguided hundreds of thousands of innocent men.

In the Vedānta-sūtra, Vyāsadeva has described that the Supreme Personality of Godhead is potent and that everything, material or spiritual, is but an emanation of His energy. The Lord, the Supreme Brahman, is the origin or source of everything (janmādy asya yataḥ), and all other manifestations are emanations of different energies of the Lord.

This is also confirmed in the Viṣṇu Purāṇa:

eka-deśa-sthitasyāgner
jyotsnā vistāriṇī yathā
parasya brahmaṇaḥ śaktis
tathedam akhilaṁ jagat

“Whatever we see in this world is simply an expansion of different energies of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is exactly like a fire that spreads illumination for a long distance although it is situated in one place.”

This is a very vivid example. Similarly, it is stated that just as everything in the material world exists in the sunshine, which is the energy of the sun, so everything exists on the basis of the spiritual and material energies of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Thus although Kṛṣṇa is situated in His own abode (goloka eva nivasaty akhilātma-bhūtaḥ), where He enjoys His transcendental pastimes with the cowherd boys and gopīs, He is nevertheless present everywhere, even within the atoms of this universe (aṇḍāntara-stha-paramāṇu-cayāntara-stham). This is the verdict of the Vedic literature.

Unfortunately, the Māyāvāda philosophy, misguiding people by claiming the living entity to be the Lord, has created havoc throughout the entire world and led almost everyone to godlessness. By thus covering the glories of the Supreme Lord, the Māyāvādī philosophers have done the greatest disservice to human society. It is to counteract these most abominable activities of the Māyāvādī philosophers that Lord Caitanya has introduced the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra.

harer nāma harer nāma
harer nāmaiva kevalam
kalau nāsty eva nāsty eva
nāsty eva gatir anyathā

“In this age of quarrel and hypocrisy, the only means of deliverance is chanting the holy name of the Lord. There is no other way. There is no other way. There is no other way.”

People should simply engage in the chanting of the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra, for thus they will gradually come to understand that they are not the Supreme Personality of Godhead, as they have been taught by the Māyāvādī philosophers, but are eternal servants of the Lord. As soon as one engages himself in the transcendental service of the Lord, he becomes free.

māṁ ca yo ’vyabhicāreṇa
bhakti-yogena sevate
sa guṇān samatītyaitān
brahma-bhūyāya kalpate

“One who engages in full devotional service, unfailing in all circumstances, at once transcends the modes of material nature and thus comes to the level of Brahman.” (Bg. 14.26)

Therefore the Hare Kṛṣṇa movement, or Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, is the only light for the foolish living entities who think either that there is no God or that if God exists He is formless and they themselves are also God. These misconceptions are very dangerous, and the only way to counteract them is to spread the Hare Kṛṣṇa movement.

Jayapatākā Swami: The Māyāvādī sannyāsīs address each other as Nārāyaṇa. They misunderstand that they are God. So, they are committing a great offence. And Lord Caitanya He came to teach everyone to chant Hare Krsna. We understand that they are the energy of the Lord. That by nature they are the part and parcel of Krsna. So the great scientists are thinking that the material world is the cause of life and thus they have also misunderstood. Śrīla Prabhupāda had explained that life comes from life. One should understand that matter cannot produce life. And of course, this is the predominant philosophy. People think that matter has produced consciousness. But there is no such evidence. No one has ever been able to produce life from matter. So, this misconception is very dangerous and Lord Caitanya taught the Māyāvādī sannyāsīs in Banaras the real philosophy of life. So, many people have this misconception that the Lord is impersonal. But Lord Caitanya taught that Lord Kṛṣṇa is a person. And He had previously been in Vṛndāvana and there He was ecstatic remembering how Kṛṣṇa was performing different pastimes. So He talked to the Māyāvādī sannyāsīs and He is convincing them about the actual position of Kṛṣṇa. This part of the Caitanya-caritāmṛta, it is put ahead because Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja thought it was very important. And although this pastime occurs at the end of the Madhya-līlā, the philosophy to defeat the Māyāvādī idea is in the Ādi-līla. When Śrīla Prabhupāda came to India, he had this chapter printed in huge quantity, because he wanted everyone to understand that Kṛṣṇa is the Personality of Godhead.

Are there any questions?

Thus ends the chapter entitled, The Māyāvāda Philosophy Considers the Lord to be Transformations of the Material Mode of Goodness and Equates the Jīva-tattva With the Supreme Brahman.