20220331 Refutation of Vivarta-vāda (The Theory of Illusion)

The following is a Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Book Compilation given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on March 31st, 2022 at New Paṇihāti Dhāma in Atlanta, USA.

Refutation of Vivarta-vāda (The Theory of Illusion)

Caitanya-Caritāmṛta, Ādi-līlā 7. 121

‘śakti-pariṇāma-vāda’i brahma-sūtre svīkṛta :—

vyāsera sūtrete kahe ‘pariṇāma’-vāda 
‘vyāsa bhrānta’—bali’ tāra uṭhāila vivāda

Translation: “In his Vedānta-sūtra Śrīla Vyāsadeva has described that everything is but a transformation of the energy of the Lord. Śaṅkarācārya, however, has misled the world by commenting that Vyāsadeva was mistaken. Thus he has raised great opposition to theism throughout the entire world.

Purport: Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura explains, “In the Vedanta-sūtra of Śrīla Vyāsadeva it is definitely stated that all cosmic manifestations result from transformations of various energies of the Lord. Śaṅkarācārya, however, not accepting the energy of the Lord, thinks that it is the Lord who is transformed. He has taken many clear statements from the Vedic literature and twisted them to try to prove that if the Lord, or the Absolute Truth, were transformed, His oneness would be disturbed. Thus he has accused Śrīla Vyāsadeva of being mistaken. In developing his philosophy of monism, therefore, he has established vivarta-vāda, or the Māyāvāda theory of illusion.”

In the Brahma-sūtra, Second chapter, the first aphorism is as follows: tad-ananyatvam ārambhaṇa-śabdādibhyaḥ. Commenting on this sūtra in his Śārīraka-bhāṣya, Śaṅkarācārya has introduced the statement vācārambhaṇaṁ vikāro nāmadheyam from the Chāndogya Upaniṣad (6.1.4) to try to prove that acceptance of the transformation of the energy of the Supreme Lord is faulty. He has tried to defy this transformation of energy in a misguided way, which will be explained later. Since his conception of God is impersonal, he does not believe that the entire cosmic manifestation is a transformation of the energies of the Lord, for as soon as one accepts the various energies of the Absolute Truth, one must immediately accept the Absolute Truth to be personal, not impersonal. A person can create many things by the transformation of his energy. For example, a businessman transforms his energy by establishing many big factories or business organizations, yet he remains a person although his energy has been transformed into these many factories or business concerns. The Māyāvādī philosophers do not understand this simple fact. Their tiny brains and poor fund of knowledge cannot afford them sufficient enlightenment to realize that when a man’s energy is transformed, the man himself is not transformed but remains the same person.

Not believing in the fact that the energy of the Absolute Truth is transformed, Śaṅkarācārya has propounded his theory of illusion. This theory states that although the Absolute Truth is never transformed, we think that it is transformed, which is an illusion. Śaṅkarācārya does not believe in the transformation of the energy of the Absolute Truth, for he claims that everything is one and that the living entity is therefore also one with the Supreme. This is the Māyāvāda theory.

Śrīla Vyāsadeva has explained that the Absolute Truth is a person who has different potencies. Merely by His desire that there be creation and by His glance (sa aikṣata), He created this material world (sa asṛjata). After creation, He remains the same person: He is not transformed into everything. One should accept that the Lord has inconceivable energies and that it is by His order and will that varieties of manifestations have come into existence. In the Vedic literature it is said, sa-tattvato ’nyathā-buddhir vikāra ity udāhṛtaḥ. This mantra indicates that from one fact another fact is generated. For example, a father is one fact, and a son generated from the father is a second fact. Thus both of them are truths, although one is generated from the other. This generation of a second, independent truth from a first truth is called vikāra, or transformation resulting in a by-product. The Supreme Brahman is the Absolute Truth, and the energies that have emanated from Him and are existing separately, such as the living entities and the cosmic manifestation, are also truths. This is an example of transformation, which is called vikāra or pariṇāma. To give another example of vikāra, milk is a truth, but the same milk may be transformed into yogurt. Thus yogurt is a transformation of milk, although the ingredients of yogurt and milk are the same.

In the Chāndogya Upaniṣad there is the following mantra: aitad-ātmyam idaṁ sarvam. This mantra indicates without a doubt that the entire world is Brahman. The Absolute Truth has inconceivable energies, as confirmed in the Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad (parāsya śaktir vividhaiva śrūyate), and the entire cosmic manifestation is evidence of these different energies of the Supreme Lord. The Supreme Lord is a fact, and therefore whatever is created by the Supreme Lord is also factual. Everything is true and complete (pūrṇam), but the original pūrṇam, the complete Absolute Truth, always remains the same. Pūrṇāt pūrṇam udacyate pūrṇasya pūrṇam ādāya. The Absolute Truth is so perfect that although innumerable energies emanate from Him and manifest creations which appear to be different from Him, He nevertheless maintains His personality. He never deteriorates under any circumstances.

It is to be concluded that the entire cosmic manifestation is a transformation of the energy of the Supreme Lord, not of the Supreme Lord or Absolute Truth Himself, who always remains the same. The material world and the living entities are transformations of the energy of the Lord, the Absolute Truth or Brahman, who is the original source. In other words, the Absolute Truth, Brahman, is the original ingredient, and the other manifestations are transformations of this ingredient. This is also confirmed in the Taittirīya Upaniṣad (3.1): yato vā imāni bhūtāni jāyante. “This entire cosmic manifestation is made possible by the Absolute Truth, the Supreme Personality of Godhead.” In this verse it is indicated that Brahman, the Absolute Truth, is the original cause and that the living entities (jīvas) and the cosmic manifestation are effects of this cause. The cause being a fact, the effects are also factual. They are not illusion. Śaṅkarācārya has inconsistently tried to prove that it is an illusion to accept the material world and the jīvas as by-products of the Supreme Lord because (in his conception) the existence of the material world and the jīvas is different and separate from that of the Absolute Truth. With this jugglery of understanding, Māyāvādī philosophers have propagated the slogan brahma satyaṁ jagan mithyā, which declares that the Absolute Truth is fact but the cosmic manifestation and the living entities are simply illusions, or that all of them are in fact the Absolute Truth and that the material world and living entities do not separately exist.

It is therefore to be concluded that Śaṅkarācārya, in order to present the Supreme Lord, the living entities and the material nature as indivisible and ignorant, tries to cover the glories of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He maintains that the material cosmic manifestation is mithyā, or false, but this is a great blunder. If the Supreme Personality of Godhead is a fact, how can His creation be false? Even in ordinary dealings, one cannot think the material cosmic manifestation to be false. Therefore Vaiṣṇava philosophers say that the cosmic creation is not false but temporary. It is separated from the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but since it is wonderfully created by the energy of the Lord, to say that it is false is blasphemous.

Nondevotees factually appreciate the wonderful creation of material nature, but they cannot appreciate the intelligence and energy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is behind this material creation. Śrīpāda Rāmānujācārya, however, refers to a sūtra from the Aitareya Upaniṣad (1.1.1), ātmā vā idam agra āsīt, which points out that the supreme ātmā, the Absolute Truth, existed before the creation. One may argue, “If the Supreme Personality of Godhead is completely spiritual, how is it possible for Him to be the origin of creation and have within Himself both material and spiritual energies?”

To answer this challenge, Śrīpāda Rāmānujācārya quotes a mantra from the Taittirīya Upaniṣad (3.1) that states:

yato vā imāni bhūtāni jāyante 
yena jātāni jīvanti/ yat prayanty abhisaṁviśanti

This mantra confirms that the entire cosmic manifestation emanates from the Absolute Truth, rests upon the Absolute Truth and after annihilation again reenters the body of the Absolute Truth, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The living entity is originally spiritual, and when he enters the spiritual world or the body of the Supreme Lord, he still retains his identity as an individual soul. In this connection Śrīpāda Rāmānujācārya gives the example that when a green bird enters a green tree it does not become one with the tree: it retains its identity as a bird, although it appears to merge with the greenness of the tree. To give another example, an animal that enters a forest keeps its individuality, although apparently the beast merges with the forest. Similarly, in material existence, both the material energy and the living entities of the marginal potency maintain their individuality. Thus although the energies of the Supreme Personality of Godhead interact within the cosmic manifestation, each keeps its separate individual existence. Merging with the material or spiritual energies, therefore, does not involve loss of individuality. According to Śrī Rāmānujapāda’s theory of Viśiṣṭādvaita, although all the energies of the Lord are one, each keeps its individuality (vaiśiṣṭya).

Śrīpāda Śaṅkarācārya has tried to mislead the readers of the Vedānta-sūtra by misinterpreting the words ānanda-mayo ’bhyāsāt, and he has even tried to find fault with Vyāsadeva. All the aphorisms of the Vedānta-sūtra need not be examined here, however, since we intend to present the Vedānta-sūtra in a separate volume.

Jayapatākā Swami: So Lord Viṣṇu requested Lord Śiva to present Māyāvāda to bring back the Buddhists to the Vedas. For that Śaṅkarācārya is not at fault, he is just carrying out his service to Lord Viṣṇu and he did that very expertly and so many people are bewildered, and they think that the Absolute Truth has changed. Actually, the Absolute Truth always remains the same. It is just that he has unlimited energies, and the energies are transformed. Vyāsadeva is an avatāra of Viṣṇu or Kṛṣṇa and it is offensive to say he made a mistake. So Śaṅkarācārya he said that Vyāsadeva made a mistake and gave his reasons why. So he was saying that jagat is mithyā. Material world is false. We are saying, the Vaiṣṇavas, the ācāryas say that the material world is temporary but it is not false. And in the Brahma-saṁhitā, Brahmā said īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ - He is the cause of all causes. But He doesn’t change, He transforms His energies, and they change. So He has material energy, He has spiritual energy and He has the taṭasthā-śakti, the jīva-tattva. So Śaṅkarācārya, he is trying to present that we are all Absolute Truth. And this is very offensive. Kṛṣṇa is the cause of causes but He is not transformed as Śaṅkarācārya said.

Caitanya-Caritāmṛta, Ādi-līlā 7.122

guruke bhrāntajñāne māyāvādīra ’vivarttavāda’ :—

pariṇāma-vāde īśvara hayena vikārī 
eta kahi’ ’vivarta’-vāda sthāpanā ye kari

Translation: “According to Śaṅkarācārya, by accepting the theory of the transformation of the energy of the Lord, one creates an illusion by indirectly accepting that the Absolute Truth is transformed.

Purport: Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura comments that if one does not clearly understand the meaning of pariṇāma-vāda, or transformation of energy, one is sure to misunderstand the truth regarding this material cosmic manifestation and the living entities. In the Chāndogya Upaniṣad (6.8.4) it is said, san-mūlāḥ saumyemāḥ prajāḥ sad-āyatanāḥ sat-pratiṣṭhāḥ. The material world and the living entities are separate beings, and they are eternally true, not false. Śaṅkarācārya, however, unnecessarily fearing that by pariṇāma-vāda (transformation of energy) Brahman would be transformed (vikārī), has imagined both the material world and the living entities to be false and to have no individuality. By word jugglery he has tried to prove that the individual identities of the living entities and the material world are illusory, and he has cited the examples of mistaking a rope for a snake or an oyster shell for gold. Thus he has most abominably cheated people in general.

The example of misunderstanding a rope to be a snake is mentioned in the Māṇḍūkya Upaniṣad, but it is meant to explain the error of identifying the body with the soul. Since the soul is actually a spiritual particle, as confirmed in the Bhagavad-gītā (mamaivāṁśo jīva-loke), it is due to illusion (vivarta-vāda) that a human being, like an animal, identifies the body with the self. This is a proper example of vivarta, or illusion. The verse atattvato ’nyathā-buddhir vivarta ity udāhṛtaḥ describes such an illusion. To not know actual facts and thus to mistake one thing for another (as, for example, to accept the body as oneself) is called vivarta-vāda. Every conditioned living entity who considers the body to be the soul is deluded by this vivarta-vāda. One can be attacked by this vivarta-vāda philosophy when he forgets the inconceivable power of the omnipotent Personality of Godhead.

How the Supreme Personality of Godhead remains as He is, never changing, is explained in the Īśopaniṣad: pūrṇasya pūrṇam ādāya pūrṇam evāvaśiṣyate. God is complete. Even if a complete manifestation is taken away from Him, He continues to be complete. The material creation is manifested by the energy of the Lord, but He is still the same person. His form, entourage, qualities and so on never deteriorate. Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī, in his Paramātma-sandarbha, comments regarding the vivarta-vāda as follows: “Under the spell of vivarta-vāda one imagines the separate entities, namely the cosmic manifestation and the living entities, to be one with Brahman. This is due to complete ignorance regarding the actual fact. The Absolute Truth, or Parabrahman, is always one and always the same. He is completely free from all other conceptions of existence. He is completely free from false ego, for He is the full spiritual identity. It is absolutely impossible for Him to be subjected to ignorance and fall under the spell of a misconception (vivarta-vāda). The Absolute Truth is beyond our conception. One must admit that He has unblemished qualities that He does not share with every living entity. He is never tainted in the slightest degree by the flaws of ordinary living beings. Everyone must therefore understand the Absolute Truth to possess inconceivable potencies.”

Jayapatākā Swami: Śrīla Prabhupāda asked us to learn the Īśopaniṣad. Īśopaniṣad is also published by the BBT. So Kṛṣṇa always remains the same. Even though His energies transform. But that is the meaning of the Absolute Truth. He never changes. The Māyāvādīs, they think that everything is impersonal. So then they think that the Absolute Truth transforms. And they themselves as God. And they have this misunderstanding. And Lord Caitanya He is speaking to all the Māyāvādī sannyāsīs. He is explaining the vivarta-vāda. He is explaining the mistake of Śaṅkarācārya. And they think that Lord Caitanya is a sentimentalist but actually He is presenting very heavy complex philosophy which is defeating the Śaṅkarācārya concepts. This is something very wonderful. This is put in the Ādi-līlā because he, Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja wanted that this impersonal philosophy should be defeated from the very beginning of the Caitanya-caritāmṛta. So we are having the Absolute Truth Kṛṣṇa being explained very clearly and that this material world is not false, it is temporary.

Caitanya-Caritāmṛta, Ādi-līlā 7. 123

vivarttera āśraya :—

vastutaḥ pariṇāma-vāda—sei se pramāṇa 
dehe ātma-buddhi—ei vivartera sthāna

Translation: “Transformation of energy is a proven fact. It is the false bodily conception of the self that is an illusion.

Purport: The jīva, or living entity, is a spiritual spark who is part of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Unfortunately, he thinks the body to be the self, and that misunderstanding is called vivarta, or acceptance of untruth to be truth. The body is not the self, but animals and foolish people think that it is. Vivarta (illusion) does not, however, denote a change in the identity of the spirit soul; it is the misconception that the body is the self that is an illusion. Similarly, the Supreme Personality of Godhead does not change when His external energy, consisting of the eight gross and subtle material elements listed in the Bhagavad-gītā (bhūmir āpo ’nalo vāyuḥ, (Bg 7.4) etc.), acts and reacts in different phases.

Jayapatākā Swami: So we hear many times that we are not the body. We are actually the spirit soul in the body. And Sanātana Gosvāmī he said, people call me as a paṇḍita but I say I am a fool because I don’t know who I am! So please tell me who I am. Then Lord Caitanya said jīvera-svarūpa haya nitya kṛṣṇera dāsa. (Cc Madhya 20.108) That our nature is to be an eternal servitor of Lord Kṛṣṇa. So people think that they are the body, the body is made of transformation of material energy. I said, Śrīla Prabhupāda was explaining how life comes from life. And that we came from Kṛṣṇa and similarly we manifest the body but we are not actually the body. So the Māyāvādīs, they have this misconception that we are impersonal. And Lord Caitanya He is presenting that we are actually a person. When He met the Turks and spoke on the Quran, you see many followers of Islam, think that Allah is impersonal, but actually there is only one verse that says that Allah is impersonal, but all the other verses say that Allah is kind, merciful, you don’t think the light as merciful! All these qualities, Lord Caitanya, ..He is explaining the Absolute Truth as a person.

Caitanya-Caritāmṛta, Ādi-līlā 7. 124

vivart-tavāda-khaṇḍana—(1) acintya-śaktimān bhagavān :—

avicintya-śakti-yukta śrī-bhagavān 
icchāya jagad-rūpe pāya pariṇāma

Translation: “The Supreme Personality of Godhead is opulent in all respects. Therefore by His inconceivable energies He has transformed the material cosmic manifestation.

Jayapatākā Swami: Kṛṣṇa has this unlimited potency. That simply by His desire, His energies can create anything. And He doesn’t change when His energies change. So this is the wonderful nature of Kṛṣṇa that He can create anything by transforming His energies. And He always remains the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Haribol!

When Lord Caitanya went to South India, He manifested some pastimes that He did not even do in Navadvīpa. You see in Navadvīpa He respected the smārta-brāhmaṇas. When He went to South India, He would see people on the street and embrace them. So even if they were smārta-brāhmaṇas He would transform them into lovers of Kṛṣṇa. So this is something that He did not do in Navadvīpa. You see Lord Caitanya, He is Kṛṣṇa Himself, but He manifested this extreme mercy. Rādhārāṇī played the flute beautifully, and Kṛṣṇa said, who is playing that flute so nicely? He went there and He saw Rādhārāṇī was playing the flute. And Rādhārāṇī had made the Navadvīpa-dhāma, nine islands, Simantadvīpa, Koladvīpa, Madhyadvīpa, etc. And so Lord Kṛṣṇa He said that You have made this beautiful dhāma for Me, this place will be non-different from Vṛndāvana. And Kṛṣṇa and Rādhā combined and Kṛṣṇa took the heart and color of Rādhārāṇī. So He became Gaurāṅga! And so Lord Caitanya had all the mercy of Rādhārāṇī. So we are in New Pānihāṭi dhāma is also a part of Gaura-maṇḍala Bhūmi. Haribol! Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura, he sang, gaura-maṇḍala-bhūmi, yeba jane cintāmaṇi, tāra haye vraja-bhūmi-vāsa - that whoever understands that this is cintāmaṇi-dhāma he will be living in Vṛndāvana. Technically he said that Gaura-maṇḍala Bhūmi was a little bit bigger than Māyāpur. The Śrī Kṣetra goes up to Remuṇā. And Māyāpur Gaura-maṇḍala Bhūmi goes down to Remuṇā. And it goes up beyond Kānāi-Naṭaśālā, a little beyond. And then in the east it goes to the birthplace of Advaita Gosāñi North east. South east to the appearance place of Puṇḍarīka Vidyānidhi. So there are many holy places in Bangladesh, many holy places in West Bengal. So the Pānihāṭi dhāma is a part of the Gaura-maṇḍala Bhūmi and Lord Nityānanda He would have His cīḍa-dahi festival there.