BY: SUN STAFF
Dec 31, CANADA (SUN) —
Tattva Sandarbha
by Srila Jiva Goswami
SECTION THIRTY-FOUR
Although the jiva, like the Lord, is by nature purely conscious, he is distinct from the Lord. This is indicated by the phrases "Maya is outside Him, yet supported by Him." (SB. 1.7.4) and "deluded by Maya" (SB. 1.7.5)
Sri Jiva Toshani Commentary
In His trance, Srila Vyasadeva saw that although the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the support for Maya, she has no influence over Him. This is the significance of the word apa-asryam. The prefix apa means "away" and "inferior". She is away from the Lord, because she is not one of His internal energies. She is inferior to Him, being unable to influence Him. Yet she is not independent of Him, therefore she has been compared to a maidservant. Her being ashamed to appear in front of the Lord indicates that she is inferior to Him and His internal potencies.
Nevertheless, as the word "yaya-sammohita" indicates, Maya exercises her influence over the jiva. Being part and parcel of God the jiva is conscious by nature, yet he is not powerful like God. The Supreme Personality of Godhead is unlimitedly powerful, but the jiva is limited in energy. The Lord is the controller of Maya, but she controls the limited jiva when he is not united with the Personality of Godhead in bhakti-yoga. Just as a drop of water apart from the ocean is absorbed into the earth and loses its identity (but not its existence), so the living being when separated from the Lord becomes forgetful of its nature and is absorbed in illusion. The Supreme Lord, however, is never affected by illusion. Thus jivas are distinct from the Lord although qualitatively the same in some respects.
Srila Baladeva Vidyabhushana comments that besides seeing the Personality of Godhead, Maya, and the jiva, Srila Vyasa also saw the time energy, as indicated by the verb "apasyat", or saw. How? Because karma means action and verbs like apasyat (saw), sammohita (bewildered) and manute (consider) all indicate action, which in turn indicates the presence of time. As stated in the Bhallaveya sruti, atha ha vava nityani purushah prakritiratma kalah "Indeed the Lord, material nature, the living entity, and time are all eternal." The eternality of time is also mentioned in the Vishnu Purana (1.2.26):
Parasara Muni said: "O twice born (Maitreya), supremely powerful time has no beginning nor end and therefore the cycle of creation, maintenance, and annihilation continues forever." And in Bhagavad-gita (13.20) Lord Krishna says:
"Material nature and the living entities should be understood to be beginningless. Their transformations and the modes of matter are products of material nature." Since material nature, the jiva, and time are eternal, and the cycle of creation and annihilation is going on since time immemorial, it follows that karma is also beginningless.
In commenting on this Bhagavad-gita verse in Sarartha-varshini, Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakur, says, maya-jivayorapi macchaktittvena anaditvat tayoh samsleso'pyanadir iti bhavah, "Lord Krishna says that since Maya and the jiva both are His energies, both exist since time immemorial. This also indicates that the jiva's bondage to Maya is also beginningless." Bondage to Maya means karma is involved for the entire duration and so karma too is understood to be beginningless.
Srila Vyasadeva accepts the beginninglessness of karma in sutra 2.1.35 of Vedanta: na karma-avibhagat-iti cet na anaditvat, "If one objects that the law of karma cannot explain the inequality in the universe, because to begin with everyone must be equal, the objection is not valid because creation has no beginning. Since creation has no beginning karma also has no beginning".
Except for karma, the other four items Srila Vyasa saw, namely the Personality of Godhead, the jiva, Maya, and time are eternal. Out of these four, the Lord and the jiva are conscious by nature; but the Lord is infinite and the jiva is atomic. Time is not conscious, though free from the material modes. It is the cause of the threefold divisions, past, present, and future. Maya is inert and composed of the three modes of nature, thus it undergoes the transformations that are perceived in time, and is the basis for the perception of the three divisions of time. Karma, although beginningless can be brought to a close by performing devotional service to Lord Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This was also seen by Srila Vyasadeva and therefore to instruct the bound jivas he compiled the Satvata Samhita, Srimad Bhagavatam.
In the next eight sections, Srila Jiva Gosvami shows that Sri Vyasa's experience was contrary to the popular monistic philosophy of Sri Sankaracarya.
Go to Section Thirty-five
Return to Section Thirty-three
