BY: SUN STAFF
Jan 22, CANADA (SUN) —
Tattva Sandarbha
by Srila Jiva Goswami
SECTION FIFTY-SIX
The nature of the jiva as a conscious entity is one with the Absolute reality, Brahman, and simultaneously it is a fraction of Brahman. This has just been described from the individual's point of view. The Absolute Reality, Brahman, is the subject of the Srimad Bhagavatam. The same non-dual Reality, Brahman, is now being described from the aggregate point of view by means of the ten topics that form the characteristics of a Maha Purana, such as Sarga and Visarga. Here Brahman is called the Asraya, the Fountainhead of all existence.
The ten topics are given in the following two verses (SB. 2.10.1,2):
Here in Srimad Bhagavatam ten subjects are described: 1. Sarga (Primary creation). 2. Visarga (Secondary creation). 3. Sthana (Maintenance). 4. Poshana (Mercy). 5. Uti (Desires). 6. Manvantara (the period of a Manu). 7. Isanukatha (Pastimes of the Lord and His devotees). 8. Nirodha (annihilation). 9. Mukti (Liberation). 10. Asraya (Substratum or shelter). The great souls describe the characteristics of the first nine by prayers, and by indirect and direct statements to clarify the meaning of the tenth.
The phrase manvantaresanukatha is a compound word, from manvantaras and Isanukatha. The Srimad Bhagavatam describes these ten subjects beginning with Sarga. The real purpose of describing the characteristics of the first nine items is to give a lucid understanding of the tenth. If countered that the description of the nine items do not seem to explain the tenth, then it is replied that this is done by srutena, by the direct statements uttered in the prayers; anjasa, by giving direct descriptions; and arthena, by the import of various historical descriptions.
Sri Jiva Toshani Commentary
In previous sections, Srila Jiva Gosvami investigated the faith and spiritual experience of Suta Gosvami, Sukadeva Gosvami, and Srila Vyasadeva to determine the central subject of the Srimad Bhagavatam. During this analysis Jiva Gosvami explained the nature of the jiva. Then he further examines the matter, based on the second verse of the Srimad Bhagavatam, which declares that the Absolute Reality is the subject matter. To further define that Reality he refers to the "vadanti tat tattva vidas" verse (1.2.11), which names the three aspects of the one non-dual consciousness. To explain this non-dual consciousness (advya jnana) Jiva Gosvami shows that first an understanding of the individual jiva is compulsory. To do this he quotes two verses spoken by Pippalayana.
The conclusion is that this knowledge of the jiva forms the basis for understanding Brahman, or the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The common elements established thus far are that the jiva is conscious, having the ability to know itself and other objects, and distinct from the material energy, thus devoid of the six types of bodily transformations. Up to now the analysis is vyasti-nirddesa, or from the individual's point of view.
Now Srila Jiva Gosvami begins explaining Brahman from the aggregate, or samashti point of view, in terms of the ten topics treated in the twelve cantos of the Bhagavatam. For this he quotes two verses by Sukadeva Gosvami (2.10.1,2). The second verse states that the purpose of descriptions about creation, maintenance, annihilation, liberation, and so forth is to understand the Lord, because all these features are indicative of the Lord's multifarious potencies. The Lord is the fountainhead of all these phenomena and they are explained in the Srimad Bhagavatam to illustrate the characteristics of the Lord. In some places, while describing the other nine items, there are prayers to the Lord. In these prayers the Lord is the object of description. In some sections, there are direct descriptions of the Lord, as in the dialogue between Vidura and Maitreya, or between Kapila and Devahuti. In other places, the glories of the Lord are indirectly described through historical episodes, such as the protection of Parikshita Maharaja from Asvatthama's atomic weapon, or the captivation of Sukadeva Gosvami's heart by hearing about the attributes of Lord Krishna.
In this way it is shown that the purpose of the nine subjects described in the Bhagavatam is to explain the tenth, advaya jnana, called Asraya, the fountainhead of everything.
In his analysis Srila Jiva Gosvami first uses the individual's internal experience (vyashti) as the basis for understanding Brahman. Then he uses the indidivual's experience of the external world (samashti) to establish the same thing. The individual and the material world are the Lord's marginal and external potencies respectively. The Lord is energetic and He is understood by understanding His energies. A person has two types of characteristics, tatastha (marginal) and svarupa (personal). The Supreme Personality of Godhead also has these characteristics. In the present conditioned state we have no experience of His personal features, His form, color, size, and so on. If we hear descriptions of these most likely we will misconstrue them owing to our strong material conditioning, but the Lord's marginal characteristics that are manifest within the material nature can be understood, either from the aggregate or the individual point of view, because it is within our experience.
The same approach is used in Vedanta Sutra. Srila Vyasadeva, after naming Brahman as the subject in the first sutra, athato brahma jijnasa, begins discussing the marginal characteristics of the Lord in the next sutra, janmadyasya yatah, "From Him comes the creation, maintenance, and destruction of the universe."
Similarly the Srimad Bhagavatam has ten items and the first nine are explained so we can understand the tenth, the asraya. This asraya will be identified as Lord Sri Krishna later on. The first nine items deal with the various potencies of the Lord, such as His creative potency, sarga sakti. This helps us to develop a concept of the Lord, the possessor of these potencies. Then His personal features and pastimes are explained in the Tenth Canto. Superficially His form and pastimes seem ordinary; He appears like an ordinary human being endowed with some extraordinary powers. But this is far from the truth. Lord Krishna therefore says in the Bhagavad-gita (9.11):
"Fools deride Me when I descend in the human form. They do not know My transcendental nature as the Supreme Lord of all that be." And in contrast to this, in Chapter Four He says:
"One who knows the transcendental nature of My appearance and activities does not, upon leaving the body, take his birth again in this material world, but attains My eternal abode, O Arjuna."
For these reasons, Sukadeva explains the first nine items to lead us to the proper understanding of the tenth. The Srimad Bhagavatam, therefore, should be studied in the order presented, from the first verse onwards. Unfortunately, despite the systematic order of the Bhagavatam for elevating the reader to the highest plane of transcendental vision, unscrupulous persons do not go verse by verse, Canto by Canto. They rather jump to the Tenth Canto without understanding the preliminary nine Cantos. Yet they pose themselves as learned scholars of the Bhagavatam.
Another failing is that they neglect the mandatory requirement that one must hear the Bhagavatam at the feet of a bonafide guru coming in disciplic succession. Subsequently they again miss the chance to relish properly the ripened fruit of the Vedic tree of knowledge. For all such persons, Lord Krishna declares in the Bhagavad-gita (7.25):
"I am never manifest to the foolish and unintelligent. For them I am covered by My internal potency, and therefore they do not know that I am unborn and infallible."
The most basic requirement in all the Vedic scriptures is that one must approach a bonafide spiritual master and by humble service and submissive inquiry have all the secrets of the Vedic teachings revealed to him. This applies to any sincere student, even if not a great intellectual. The Svetasvatara Upanisad (6.28) states therefore:
"Only unto those great souls who have implicit faith in and devotion to both the Lord and the spiritual master are all the imports of Vedic knowledge automatically revealed." Nothing is reavealed without the grace of the spiritual master. Hence to disregard the principle of approaching the spiritual master to understand the Absolute Truth is disregard of the Vedic teachings from the onset and thus one defeats himself from the beginning. Lord Krishna confirms this too in Bhagavad-gita (16.23):
"He who discards scriptural injunctions and acts according to his own whims attains neither perfection, nor happiness, nor the supreme destination."
In the next section, Srila Jiva Gosvami begins explaining each of the ten categories by quoting their definition from the Srimad Bhagavatam.
Go to Section Fifty-seven
Return to Section Fifty-five
