20220401 Refutation of Vivarta-vāda (The Theory of Illusion) Part 2

The following is a Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Book Compilation given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on April 1st, 2022 at New Pānihāṭi Dhama, Georgia, Atlanta, USA.

mūkaṁ karoti vācālaṁ paṅguṁ laṅghayate girim
yat-kṛpā tam ahaṁ vande śrī-guruṁ dīna-tāraṇam
paramānanda mādhavaṁ śrī caitanya iśvaram

hariḥ oṁ tat sat

So we are going to continue reading the Caitanya Book. Apparently the time in India is around 5 am. But here we can have the North America and South America at this time.

Caitanya Caritāmṛta, Ādi-līlā 7.125

(2) prākṛta cintāmaṇira dṛṣṭānta :—

tathāpi acintya-śaktye haya avikārī
prākṛta cintāmaṇi tāhe dṛṣṭānta ye dhari

Translation: Using the example of a touchstone, which by its energy turns iron to gold and yet remains the same, we can understand that although the Supreme Personality of Godhead transforms His innumerable energies, He remains unchanged.

Jayapatākā Swami: You see this is answering Śaṅkarācārya where he said that Kṛṣṇa is transformed. And Lord Caitanya is saying that Kṛṣṇa remains the same.

Caitanya Caritāmṛta, Ādi-līlā 7.126

nānā ratna-rāśi haya cintāmaṇi haite
tathāpiha maṇi rahe svarūpe avikṛte

Translation: “Although a touchstone produces many varieties of valuable jewels, it nevertheless remains the same. It does not change its original form.

Jayapatākā Swami: Of course, we don’t have experience of touch stones. But apparently, previously they were available. And the way a touch stone works, it transforms things, but it remains the same. So that example is used when Kṛṣṇa remains the same and His energies transform.

Caitanya Caritāmṛta, Ādi-līlā 7.127

(3) śakti-pariṇata haileo svayaṃ vikārarahita :—

prākṛta-vastute yadi acintya-śakti haya
īśvarera acintya-śakti,—ithe ki vismaya

Translation: “If there is such inconceivable potency in material objects, why should we not believe in the inconceivable potency of the Supreme Personality of Godhead?

Purport: The argument of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu described in this verse can be very easily understood even by a common man if he simply thinks of the activities of the sun, which has been giving off unlimited amounts of heat and light since time immemorial and yet has not even slightly decreased in power. Modern science believes that it is by sunshine that the entire cosmic manifestation is maintained, and actually one can see how the actions and reactions of sunshine maintain order throughout the universe. The growth of vegetables and even the rotation of the planets take place due to the heat and light of the sun. Sometimes, therefore, modern scientists consider the sun to be the original cause of creation, not knowing that the sun is only a medium, for it is also created by the supreme energy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Aside from the sun and the touchstone, there are many other material things that transform their energy in different ways and yet remain as they are. It is not necessary, therefore, for the original cause, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, to change due to the changes or transformations of His different energies.

The falsity of Śrīpāda Śaṅkarācārya’s explanation of vivarta-vāda and pariṇāma-vāda has been detected by the Vaiṣṇava ācāryas,especially Jīva Gosvāmī, whose opinion is that actually Śaṅkara did not understand the Vedānta-sūtra. In Śaṅkara’s explanation of one sūtra, ānanda-mayo ’bhyāsāt, he has interpreted the affix mayaṭ with such word jugglery that this very explanation proves that he had little knowledge of the Vedānta-sūtra but simply wanted to support his impersonalism through the aphorisms of the Vedānta philosophy. Actually, however, he failed to do so because he could not put forward strong arguments. In this connection, Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī cites the phrase brahma pucchaṁ pratiṣṭhā (Taittirīya Up. 2.5), which gives Vedic evidence that Brahman is the origin of everything. In explaining this verse, Śrīpāda Śaṅkarācārya interpreted various Sanskrit words in such a way that he implied, according to Jīva Gosvāmī, that Vyāsadeva had very little knowledge of higher logic. Such unscrupulous deviation from the real meaning of the Vedānta-sūtra has created a class of men who by word jugglery try to derive various indirect meanings from the Vedic literatures, especially the Bhagavad-gītā. One of them has even explained that the word kurukṣetra refers to the body. Such interpretations imply, however, that neither Lord Kṛṣṇa nor Vyāsadeva had a proper sense of word usage or etymological adjustment. They lead one to assume that since Lord Kṛṣṇa could not personally sense the meaning of what He was speaking and Vyāsadeva did not know the meaning of what he was writing, Lord Kṛṣṇa left His book to be explained later by the Māyāvādīs. Such interpretations merely prove, however, that their proponents have very little philosophical sense.

Instead of wasting one’s time falsely deriving such indirect meanings from the Vedānta-sūtra and other Vedic literatures, one should accept the words of these books as they are. In presenting Bhagavad-gītā As It Is, therefore, we have not changed the meaning of the original words. Similarly, if one studies the Vedānta-sūtra as it is, without whimsical and capricious adulteration, one can understand the Vedanta-sūtra very easily.

Śrīla Vyāsadeva therefore explains the Vedānta-sūtra, beginning from the first sūtra, janmādy asya yataḥ, in his Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (1.1.1):

janmādy asya yato ’nvayād itarataś cārtheṣv abhijñaḥ sva-rāṭ

“I meditate upon Him [Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa], the transcendent reality, who is the primeval cause of all causes, from whom all manifested universes arise, in whom they dwell, and by whom they are destroyed. I meditate upon that eternally effulgent Lord, who is directly and indirectly conscious of all manifestations and yet is fully independent.” The Supreme Personality of Godhead knows very well how to do everything perfectly. He is abhijña, always fully conscious. The Lord therefore says in the Bhagavad-gītā (7.26) that He knows everything, past, present and future, but that no one but a devotee knows Him as He is. Therefore, the Absolute Truth, the Personality of Godhead, is at least partially understood by devotees of the Lord, but the Māyāvādī philosophers, who unnecessarily speculate to understand the Absolute Truth, simply waste their time.

Jayapatākā Swami: So here we see why Śrīla Prabhupāda wrote Bhagavad-gītā As It Is, and he was presenting the Vedānta-śutra as it is. If we understand it is very easy, how the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is a natural explanation of the Vedānta-śutra. So Śaṅkarācārya, he used word jugglery in order to get his meanings but actually Bhagavad-gītā As It Is, Vedānta-śutra as it is are very clearly understood. But somehow Śaṅkārācarya, he criticized Vyāsadeva implying that didn’t understand. The Vedic literatures written by Vyāsadeva are perfect and the explanation of Vedic literatures by Vyāsadeva is perfect. So we should be very careful not to listen to the Māyāvādī interpretation. As they tend to twist things and rather than explaining the Personality of Godhead as a person, they try to make Him impersonal.

Thus ends the chapter entitled, Refutation of Vivarta-vāda (The Theory of Illusion) Part 2.

? Jayapataka Swami: You see Lord Caitanya was explaining these things to the Māyāvādī sannyāsīs and as a result the Māyāvādī sannyāsīs accepted the instructions of Lord Caitanya. and they became Vaisnavas. So in the same way, we have to be very expert to explain the Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam so that the Māyāvādīs, impersonalists can be convinced.