20220427 Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is the Commentary of Brahma-sūtra

The following is a Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Book Compilation given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on April 27th, 2022 in Śrī Dhāma Māyāpur, India.

mūkaṁ karoti vācālaṁ paṅguṁ laṅghayate girim
yat-kṛpā tam ahaṁ vande śrī-guruṁ dīna-tāraṇam
paramānandaṁ mādhavaṁ śrī caitanya iśvaram
Hariḥ oṁ tat sat!

Hare Kṛṣṇa! Dear Devotees! Today we will continue with the compilation of Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Book. Today's chapter is entitled as:

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is the Commentary of Brahma-sūtra

Under the section: How All the Residents of Vārāṇasī Became Vaiṣṇavas

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 25.87

sakalera tathāya upaveśana o prakāśānandera prabhu-mukhe śaṅkarer māyāvāda-samālocanā o brahmā-sūtrera yathārtha tātpaya-śrevaṇecchā :—

eta bali’ prabhure lañā tathāya vaśilā
prabhure prakāśānanda puchite lāgila

Translation: After saying this, Prakāśānanda Sarasvatī sat down with Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and began to question the Lord as follows.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, His Holiness Prakāśānanda Sarasvatī, he is sitting down and questioning Lord Caitanya, bringing up different topics.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 25.88

māyāvāde karilā yata doṣera ākhyāna
sabe ei jāni’ ācāryera kalpita vyākhyāna

Translation: Prakāśānanda Sarasvatī said, “We can understand the faults You have pointed out in the Māyāvāda philosophy. All the explanations given by Śaṅkarācārya are imaginary.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, His Holiness Prakāśānanda Sarasvatī has understood that the commentary made by Śaṅkarācārya were not direct rather imaginary.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 25.89

sūtrera karilā tumi mukhyārtha-vivaraṇa
tāhā śuni’ sabāra haila camatkāra mana

Translation: “My dear Lord, whatever direct meaning You have given when explaining the Brahma-sūtra is certainly very wonderful to all of us.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, Lord Caitanya He gave direct meanings to all the verses and Śaṅkarācārya has avoided the direct meanings.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 25.90

tumi ta’ īśvara, tomāra āche sarva-śakti
saṅkṣepa-rūpe kaha tumi śunite haya mati

Translation: “You are the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and therefore You have inconceivable energies. I wish to hear from You briefly about the Brahma-sūtra.”

Purport: Prakāśānanda Sarasvatī said that he had already understood Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s explanation of the direct import of the Brahma-sūtra. Nonetheless, he was requesting the Lord to now briefly give the purport of the Brahma-sūtra, the Vedānta-sūtra.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, Lord Caitanya could explain the Brahma-sūtra with direct meanings so the Māyāvādī sannyāsī want to hear more about the Lord’s direct explanations.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 25.91

śrautapanthī prabhura dainyakrame āpanāke śiṣyarūpī dīna jīvābhimāne vyāsa-guru-pūjā :—

prabhu kahe, — “āmi ‘jīva’, ati tuccha-jñāna!
vyāsa-sūtrera gambhīra artha, vyāsa — bhagavān

Translation: Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu replied, “I am an ordinary living being, and therefore My knowledge is very insignificant. However, the meaning of the Brahma-sūtra is very grave because its author, Vyāsadeva, is the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself.

Purport: An ordinary living being cannot actually understand the meaning of the Vedānta-sūtra. One can understand the meaning if he hears it from the authority, Vyāsadeva himself. For this purpose, Vyāsadeva gave a commentary on the Brahma-sūtra in the form of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. He had been instructed to do this by his spiritual master, Nārada. Of course, Śaṅkarācārya distorted the meaning of the Brahma-sūtra because he had a motive to serve. He wanted to establish Vedic knowledge in place of the atheistic knowledge spread by Lord Buddha. All these necessities are there according to time and circumstances. Neither Lord Buddha nor Śaṅkarācārya is to be blamed. The time required such an explanation for the understanding of various types of atheists. The conclusion is that one cannot understand the meaning of the Vedānta-sūtra without going through Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and rendering devotional service. Caitanya Mahāprabhu therefore further explains the matter in the following verses.

Jayapatākā Swami: Since Śaṅkarācārya was giving His own interpretation to the Vedānta-sutra so Lord Caitanya presented Himself very humbly. He said that since Vyāsadevā was the Supreme Personality of Godhead He should accept his direct expositions, nothing can be greater than that. The explanations of the Vedic scriptures by Vyāsadevā is greater than any people can do.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 25.92

jīvahitārtha vyāsadeva svayaṁ sūtrakāra haiyāo bhāṣyakāra, tāhātei yathārtha tātparya-bodha-saukarya :—

tāṅra sūtrera artha kona jīva nāhi jāne
ataeva āpane sūtrārtha kariyāche vyākhyāne

Translation: “The purport of the Vedānta-sūtra is very difficult for an ordinary person to understand, but Vyāsadeva, out of his causeless mercy, has personally explained the meaning.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 25.93

yei sūtra-kartā, se yadi karaye vyākhyāna
tabe sūtrera mūla artha lokera haya jñāna

Translation: “If the Vedānta-sūtra is explained by Vyāsadeva himself, who has written it, it’s original meaning can be understood by the people in general.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, we see how Vyāsadevā, after writing the Vedānta-sūtra, he wrote the Śrīmad-bhāgavatam which is the natural explanation on the Vedānta-sūtra, so people should read Śrīmad-bhāgavatam, especially those translated by AC Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 25.94

veda-vṛkṣera vīja—praṇava, mātā (aṅkura)—gāyatrī, phala—catuḥślokī bhāgavata :—

praṇavera yei artha, gāyatrīte sei haya
sei artha catuḥ-ślokīte vivariyā kaya

Translation: “The meaning of the sound vibration oṁkāra is present in the Gāyatrī mantra. The same is elaborately explained in the four ślokas of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam known as the catuḥ-ślokī.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 25.95

brahmā-sampradāye āmnāya-pāramparye bhāgavata kīrtana varṇana :— brahmāre īśvara catuḥ-ślokī ye kahilā

brahmā nārade sei upadeśa kailā

Translation: “Whatever was spoken by the Supreme Personality of Godhead to Lord Brahmā in those four verses of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam was also explained to Nārada by Lord Brahmā.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, Lord Caitanya is explaining how catuḥ-ślokī of Śrīmad-bhāgavatam reveals all the secrets.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 25.96

nārada sei artha vyāsere kahilā
śuni’ veda-vyāsa mane vicāra karilā

Translation: “Whatever Lord Brahmā told Nārada Muni was again explained by Nārada Muni to Vyāsadeva. Vyāsadeva later considered these instructions in his mind.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, this is how the paramparā system works, Lord brahmā taught Nārada and Nārada in turn taught Vedavyāsa and Vedvyāsa wrote down these instructions in Śrīmad-bhāgavatam.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 25.97

brahmā-sūtrera bhāṣyasvarūpa catuḥ-ślokī-vistāra vā bhāgavata racanā-saṅkalpa :—

“ei artha — āmāra sūtrera vyākhyānurūpa
‘bhāgavata’ kariba sūtrera bhāṣya-svarūpa”

Translation: “Śrīla Vyāsadeva considered that whatever he had received from Nārada Muni as an explanation of oṁkāra he would elaborately explain in his book Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam as a commentary on the Brahma-sūtra.

Purport: The sound vibration oṁkāra is the root of Vedic knowledge. Oṁkāra is known as the mahā-vākya, or supreme sound. Whatever meaning is in the supreme sound oṁkāra is further understood in the Gāyatrī mantra. Again, this same meaning is explained in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam in the four ślokas known as the catuḥ-ślokī, which begin with the words ahaṁ evāsam evāgre. The Lord says, “Only I existed before the creation.” From this statement, four ślokas have been composed, and these are known as the catuḥ-ślokī. In this way the Supreme Personality of Godhead informed Lord Brahmā about the purport of the catuḥ-ślokī. Again, Lord Brahmā explained this to Nārada Muni, and Nārada Muni explained it to Śrīla Vyāsadeva. This is the paramparā system, the disciplic succession. The import of Vedic knowledge, the original word praṇava, has been explained in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. The conclusion is that the Brahma-sūtra is explained in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, His Holiness Prakāśānanda Sarasvatī wanted to hear the more details about Brahma-sūtra from Lord Caitanya. Lord Caitanya revealed that he studied the oṁkāra Gāyatrī or the catuḥ-ślokī of Śrīmad-bhāgavatam He could understand all the essence that he was searching.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 25.98

veda o upaniṣatsamūhera sāra-samuddhāra :—

cāri-veda-upaniṣade yata kichu haya
tāra artha lañā vyāsa karilā sañcaya

Translation: “Vyāsadeva collected whatever Vedic conclusions were in the four Vedas and 108 Upaniṣads and placed them in the aphorisms of the Vedānta-sūtra.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, the essence of the Vedas are explained here are put in the Vedānta-sūtra, that explanations is given in Śrīmad-bhāgavatam.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 25.99

sūtrera ākarasvarūpa śruti-mantra-samūhai bhāgavate ślokākāre nibaddha :—

yei sūtre yei ṛk — viṣaya-vacana
bhāgavate sei ṛk śloke nibandhana

Translation: “In the Vedānta-sūtra, the purport of all Vedic knowledge is explained, and in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam the same purport has been explained in eighteen thousand verses.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, here Lord Caitanya is explaining to His Holiness Prakāśānanda Sarasvatī the glories of the Śrīmad-bhāgavatam.

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 25.100

ekai upaniṣanmantrārtha bhāgavata-śloke vyakta :—

ataeva brahmā-sūtrera bhāṣya — śrī-bhāgavata
bhāgavata-śloka, upaniṣat kahe ‘eka’ mata

Translation: “Therefore it is to be concluded that the Brahma-sūtra is explained vividly in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Also, what is explained in the verses of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam has the same purport as what is explained in the Upaniṣads.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, Lord Caitanya has presnted that Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is the essence of all the Vedas, because Brahma-sūtra is the condensed form of the Vedas and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is vivid explanation of the Brahma-sūtra.

Thus ends the chapter entitled, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is the Commentary of Brahma-sūtra

Under the section: How All the Residents of Vārāṇasī Became Vaiṣṇavas