BY: SUN STAFF
Jan 11, CANADA (SUN) —
Tattva Sandarbha
by Srila Jiva Goswami
SECTION FORTY-FIVE
Therefore the Supreme Lord, who instructs the jivas about their ultimate welfare; who destroys their sorrows; who represents the supreme nature of all jivas, as the sun is to it's rays; and who is endowed with all good qualities to their maximum, is the supreme repository of love. Thus the prayojana, or purpose, is also established.
Sri Jiva Toshani Commentary
The Vedas teach the message of religious principles (dharma); economic development (artha); regulated sense enjoyment (kama); and ultimately liberation from the cycle of birth and death (moksha). These are known as the four purusharthas, the four goals of human life. The various schools of Indian philosophy try, either by logic or by scriptural authority, or by both, to direct the jiva to attain liberation and thus put an end to his material miseries.
Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu's teachings go beyond liberation. When Sanatana Gosvami approached Sri Caitanya to enquire about spiritual life one of his questions was, "What is my duty after liberation?" This was groundbreaking. Normally no one sought to understand a fifth purushartha. Liberation which was considered the ultimate goal. But Lord Caitanya explained to Sanatana that prema, love of God, is the fifth and ultimate goal of life: pancamo purushartha prema pumartho mahan. He established this purushartha with reference the Vedas and in doing so He laid special emphasis on the "spotless Purana", Srimad Bhagavatam, as the ultimate scriptural authority. Along with prema, Sri Caitanya established Lord Krishna as the most perfect manifestation of God and therefore the most perfect object of loving devotional service.
Prior to Sri Caitanya the common understanding was that moksha is the ultimate goal of life and bhakti-yoga, which leads to prema, was considered a means to attain moksha. Only a few rare souls were able to penetrate beyond this and realize the true conclusion of the Vedic teachings. Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu, however, taught this to all His followers and ordered them to propagate it everywhere.
If a person makes prema his ultimate goal, then he does not detest the material world, it being the creation of his beloved Lord. Following the example of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, a devotee sees everything in relation to the Supreme Lord and uses everything in His devotional service. Owing to this right vision he automatically becomes endowed with all good qualities. Evils like lust, greed, envy, and so on depart from him. Since he treats every living being as part and parcel of the Lord, he becomes the well-wishing friend of everyone and does not think of harming or exploiting anyone even in his dreams.
Thus Lord Caitanya's teachings are most sublime, practical, and versatile. Although His teachings stress giving up this world and going to the spiritual world, they also improve the quality of life here. For these reasons, His teachings are fit to be studied and practiced by all peoples, regardless of caste, creed, or origin.
On the other hand, when the objective is liberation, the practitioner develops no loving relation with the Lord. Rather he uses the Lord to achieve his goal. It is not uncommon therefore, to find liberationists who worship the Deity forms of Radha-Krishna only to discard them at some later stage, when he believes he has advanced to the point of Brahman realization, and having achieved oneness, he no longer needs the Deity. Such an act is unthinkable to a devotee of the Lord, but to the Mayavadi the Supreme Lord is just a means to his ends and nothing more. Thus this philosophy is the ultimate form of selfishness. Being based on detachment and introversion, it cannot bring warmth and sympathy nor compassion and serenity into human society. Truly it is an impersonal way of life.
On the path of loving devotion, the devotee has no demands from his Lord, even up to liberation. His only desire is to please his worshipable Lord eternally. For achieving this he happily tolerates any amount of tribulations. This indeed is the prayojana established in Srimad Bhagavatam. Although in the previous section Srila Jiva Gosvami said that a jiva should worship the Lord to get free from the clutches of Maya, now he goes further. He rejects liberation as the prayojana and hints at a new paradigm--love of Godhead, prema-bhakti. His full discussion on prema-bhakti is given in Sri Priti Sandarbha.
In this section he gives four reasons why the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the most suitable object of love. First, the Lord is always thinking about every jiva's welfare, That's why He instructs them in various ways for their betterment. He comes Himself and gives instructions personally, as He did to Arjuna. As Veda Vyasa, He compiled the Vedic literature. He also sends His devotees to this material world as His good-will ambassadors to preach His message. Even from the material point of view, He takes care of all living beings by impartially supplying their essential needs such as air, water, light, and so on. He does this even for the atheists and agnostics.
Second, He takes away the miseries of the jiva by liberating him from Maya. For this, however, the jiva must surrender to Him:
"Abandon all varieties of religion and just surrender unto Me. I shall deliver you from all sinful reactions. Do not fear."
Third, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krishna is the ultimate svarupa, or nature, of all beings, just as the ultimate nature of the sun ray is the sun globe. The ray is always dependent on the sun and its glory is only in relation to the sun. So a jiva is ever dependent on the Personality of Godhead and becomes glorious only when related to the Lord through bhakti yoga. Even the material objects find peace only when they are united with their source. All the rivers naturally seek the ocean and become complacent when they reach their goal. Earthly objects, when separated from the earth, are attracted to return to the earth just as an apple thrown up into the air. Similarly, fire is attracted to the fiery sun. And thus it is also seen that human beings have a natural tendency to revere those whom they consider superior. The superior position is something all jivas would like to possess. But Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is the ultimate manifestation of this superior nature and so He is the ultimate person in whom jivas may repose their loving feelings.
Finally, the Supreme Lord, Sri Krishna, has all wonderful qualities in Himself to their fullest extent and they are matchless. Of all His manifestations, His original two handed form as a cowherd boy is the most beautiful. Thus Srila Rupa Gosvami writes (B.R.S. 1.2.59)[i]:
"Although in principle there is no difference between Lord Krishna and Lord Narayana, the husband of the Goddess of Fortune, yet from the view of mellows the nature and form of Sri Krishna is unparalleled, indeed that is the law of mellow."
Srila Vyasa saw this same Krishna in His trance, along with all His attributes and potencies. He saw that love of Krishna is the ultimate goal, krishne parampurushe bhaktih (S.B. 1.7.7). Thus it is concluded by logic and by scriptural analysis that Krishna is the supreme object of love. He is the prayojana, the goal.
Next, Srila Jiva Gosvami explains the importance of devotional service in practice.
[i] For more details refer to NECTAR OF DEVOTION by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
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