BY: SUN STAFF
Jan 28, CANADA (SUN) —
Tattva Sandarbha
by Srila Jiva Goswami
SECTION SIXTY-TWO
Suta Gosvami gives the characteristics of the ten items beginning with Sarga (SB. 12.7.11):
When there is disturbance in the modes of the Prakriti, the mahat appears from which originate the three types of ego. Then from ego arises the subtle elements, senses, and the gross sense objects (gross elements).
This is called sarga. The mahat-tattva originates when the pradhana (original, dormant material nature) is disturbed and from that comes the false ego composed of the three modes. From this threefold ahankara comes the subtle material elements, senses, and the gross material elements. This is also indicative of the appearance of their presiding deities. This is called the causal creation, or sarga.
Sukadeva Gosvami continued (SB. 12.7.12):
With the blessing of the Supersoul these elements are combined (by Lord Brahma) according to the previous karma of the jiva. That is called visarga, or secondary creation. It includes all moving and non-moving beings and continues like a seed giving rise to another seed.
Here the word purusha, or person, refers to Paramatma or Supersoul. Etesham, 'of these,' means the elements beginning from the mahat onwards. The elements are mainly combined according to the accumulated karma from the past lives of the jiva. The result of this combination is the birth of both movable and immovable living entities. The flow of this cycle, like a seed giving rise to another seed, is called visarga. The meaning is that visarga is the creation of individuals and the subject uti, or material desires, is also indicated by it.
(SB. 12.7.13):
The movable living entities thrive on the immovable living beings. The human beings select their means of survival either according to their nature, based on material desires, or according to scriptural injunction.
Generally, the movable living beings thrive on the immovable living beings, but the word ca (and) in this verse implies that by their nature or desire movable beings also subsist on other movable living beings. The means of livelihood for humans, based on their nature, either out of desire or according to scriptural injunction is called vritti.
(SB. 12.7.14):
The pastimes of the various incarnations of the Lord, who appears in every millennium among animals, human beings, sages, or demigods, and who kills the enemies of the Vedas, is called raksha, or protection of the Universe.
Here the term yaih (by them) refers to the incarnations. The items isakatha, sthanam, and poshana are also included in this definition of raksha.
(SB. 12.7.15):
Manvantara implies the duration of the reign of one Manu. It includes the activities of the corresponding Manu, the demigods, the sons of Manu, Lord Indra, the seven sages, and the partial incarnations of Lord Hari.
By the activities of Manu and the other five mentioned here the shad-dharma is indicated. Therefore the enumeration of these ten characteristics is identical with the previous ones. (in SB. 2.4.10):
(12.7.16):
The races of Kings in the past, present, and future, originating from Lord Brahma, are called vamsha. And the description of the activities of these kings along with their descendents is called vamshanucaritam.
Here the descendents are the progeny of these kings and their activities are called vamshayanucaritam.
Sri Jiva Toshani Commentary
As was done by Sukadeva in the Second Canto, Suta Gosvami also gives the definition of the ten characteristics of the Srimad Bhagavatam after listing them. During total dissolution everything in this material universe becomes unmanifest. This unmanifest state of the material energy is called prakriti or pradhana. Here the three modes remain in a state of equilibrium. The creation cannot begin unless the modes become agitated or imbalanced. If a person is satisfied and peaceful he will not initiate a new activity. Some agitation or stimulation must take place in order to motivate action. The act of procreation, for example, is performed when the mind and body are agitated by desire to procreate or by lust.
The original disturbance in the pradhana is caused by the glance of the Lord. His glance is likened to impregnation of the Prakriti, who is compared to a woman. This is implied by Lord Sri Krishna in the Bhagavad-gita: mama yonirmahadbrahma tasmingarbham dadamy aham (B.g. 14.3). "The great material substance, called Brahman, is the source of birth, and it is that Brahman that I impregnate." Here the word Brahman means prakriti and not the impersonal feature of the Lord.
The impregnated or disturbed state of the prakriti is called the mahat-tattva. This mahat-tattva when further influenced by kala, the time potency of the Lord, gives rise to the three kinds of ahankara. The three classes of ahankara are the vaikarika, false ego in the mode of goodness; taijasa, false ego in the mode of passion; and tamasa, false ego in the mode of ignorance.
The vaikarika ahankara gives rise to the mana, or mind element, and the presiding deities. The taijasa ahankara gives rise to the buddhi, or the intelligence, and the senses, which are of two types, knowledge acquiring senses and working senses. When the kala potency acts on the tamasa ahankara it gives rise to sound, the sky, and the ears. In this way the other subtle and gross sense objects and the seats of the sense organs come into existence one by one. This primary phase of creation is performed by the Lord Himself and is called sarga. The word artha in this verse (SB. 12.7.11) is indicative of the presiding deities of these elements.
These are the stages of the material creation in the primary phase (sarga):
PRAKRITI OR PRADHANA
(Balanced state of Nature)
Glance of the Lord (Kala)
MAHAT-TATTVA (Citta)
(Pradhana becomes disturbed)
AHANKARA (False Ego)
VAIKARIKA
(In Goodness)
TAIJASA
(In Passion)
TAMASA
(In Ignorance)
MIND AND PRESIDING DEITIES
INTELLIGENCE AND SENSES
FIVE TAN MATRAS
(Sound, Touch, Form, Taste, Smell, and five material elements
It should be noted that in the Bhagavata philosophy a distinction is made between the senses and the physical sense organs, or the seats of the senses. The above chart shows that false ego in the mode of passion gives rise to intelligence and to the senses. This does not refer to the sense organs. These are the subtle forms of the senses, which go along with the jiva from body to body, whereas the physical sense organs suffer the same fate as the gross body.
Each of the five tan matras, which are the subtle manifestations of the material elements, when mixed with the time energy of the Lord, gives rise progressively to its corresponding gross elements and the corresponding seats of sense organs:
TAN MATRA
MATERIAL ELEMENTS
SEATS OF SENSES
SOUND
SKY
EARS
TOUCH
AIR
SKIN
FORM
FIRE
EYE
TASTE
WATER
TONGUE
SMELL
EARTH
NOSE
The mahat-tattva, ahankara, mind, and intelligence are considered the internal senses. These four, plus the five working senses (legs, hands, anus, tongue, and genitals), plus the five knowledge acquiring senses (ears, eyes, nose, skin, and tongue), plus the five material objects (sky, air, fire, water, and earth), plus the five subtle elements or sense objects (sound, touch, form, taste, and smell) add up to 24 elements, with the jiva and Paramatma as the twenty-fifth and twenty-sixth. Time (kala), being an energy of Paramatma, is not counted seperately.
These elements are further combined by the process called pancikaranam, because pure elements are unfit for the creation. Then Lord Brahma uses these mixed elements to further the creation in the secondary phase, called visarga. He creates the bodies of various living beings according to their stored-up impressions from their previous lives. This includes the creation of his sons born of his mind, such as Atri, Vasishtha, Daksha, Manu, and others. Some of these sons are Prajapatis, or progenitors, whose offspring populate the universe. The phases of creation continues in cycles, one act giving rise to another, like one seed giving rise to another seed. The fruitive activities of the living entities are the seeds.
By nature the tiger is a carnivorous animal and the cow is a vegetarian. In either case, one living entity thrives on another, as is said in the Srimad Bhagavatam (1.13.47):
"Those who are devoid of hands are prey for those who have hands; those devoid of legs are prey for the four-legged. The weak are the subsistence of the strong, and the general rule holds that one living being is food for another."
The various forms of sustenance is called vritti. Generally immovable beings are the food for the movable beings, but some movable beings, such as the tiger, prey on other movable beings. Human beings are special because of their ability to be either vegetarian or carnivorous. Their livelihood in this regard is decided by their desire or by scriptural injunction. By following their own desires they glide down to hellish species and by following scripture they progress towards liberation.
Since it is Lord Vishnu's responsibility to maintain law and order He incarnates in every millenium to give protection to His devotees and uproot the demoniac. This is called raksha or protection. The Lord's appearance is not restricted to any one species. This is confirmed in the prayers of Prahlada Maharaja in the Seventh Canto of Srimad Bhagavatam (7.9.38): ittham nri-tiryag-rishi-deva jhashavatarair lokan vibhavayasi hamsi jagat pratipan, "My Lord, You appear in various incarnations as a human being, an animal, a great saint, a demigod, a fish, or a tortoise, thus maintaining the entire creation in different planetary systems and annihiliate the miscreants."
The material creation is manifest for the duration of Lord Brahma's life span, who lives one hundred years according to his time scale. By human calculation his one day equals one thousand cycles of the four yugas, Satya, Treta, Dvapara, and Kali. A grand total of four billion, three hundred and twenty million human years. For managerial purposes, a day of Lord Brahma is divided into fourteen divisons. Each of these divisions is called a Manvantara. The person in charge of this division is called Manu, and along with him are the demigods, such as Candra and Varuna, Manu's sons, Lord Indra, the seven great sages called the Saptarishis, and a partial incarnation of the Supreme Lord. They are all appointed for one
Manvantara period. The exploits of these great personalities are called shad-dharma.
At present we are in the seventh Manu (28th yuga cycle 5,092 year of Kali-yuga in Sveta-Varah Kalpa), called Vaivasvata Manu, which corresponds to the middle of Brahma's day, who is in his 51st. year. The Srimad Bhagavatam names the fourteen Manus, the corresponding incarnations, and the name of Indra in that period:
MANU
FATHER
CORRESPONDING AVATAR
NAME OF INDRA
1. Svayambhuva
Brahma
Yajna
Yajna
2. Svarocisha
Agni
Vibhu
Rocana
3. Uttama
Priyavrata
Satyasena
Satyajit
4. Tamasa
Priyavrata
Hari
Trisikha
5. Raivata
Priyavrata
Vaikunth
Vibhu
6. Cakshusha
Cakshu
Ajita
Mantradruma
7.Vaivasvata (Sraddhadeva)
Vivasvan
Vamana
Purandara
8. Savarni
Vivasvan
Sarvabhauma
Bali
9. Daksha Savarni
Varuna
Rishabha
Adbhuta
10. Brahma Savarni
Upasloka
Vishvaksena
Sambhu
11. Dharma Savarni
Upasloka
Dharmasetu
Vaidhrita
12. Rudra Savarni
Upasloka
Svadhama
Ritadhama
13. Deva Savarni
Upasloka
Yogesvara
Divaspati
14. Indra Savarni
Upasloka
Brihadbha
Suci
Two prominent dynasties of kings come from Lord Brahma--the Sun Dynasty and the Moon Dynasty. The descriptions of the activities of the kings appearing in these dynasties are called the vamsyanucaritam.
In the next section, Srila Jiva Gosvami defines the remainder of the ten items and concludes Sri Tattva Sandarbha by explaining their purpose.
Go to Section Sixty-three
Return to Section Sixty-one
