Volume Four
Pada 3
Introduction by Çréla Baladeva
Vidyäbhüñaëa
na vinä sädhanair devo
jïäna-vairägya-bhaktibhiù
dadäti sva-padaà çrémän
atas täni
budhaù çrayet
The glorious Supreme
Personality of Godhead does not give
residence in His abode to they who do not follow the path of
devotion, knowledge, and renunciation. Therefore the wise should
take shelter of that path.
In the previous two
chapters was explained the truth that
the entire Vedänta philosophy describes the Supreme
Personality of Godhead, who is the only creator of the material
world, completely faultless, a jewel mine of transcendental
virtues, eternal, full of knowledge and bliss, the supreme
person, and meditated on by they who seek liberation. In those
chapters all opposing views were refuted, and the real nature of
the Supreme was described.
In this third chapter will
be
described the spiritual practices that should be followed in
order to attain the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The most
important of these are thirst to attain the Supreme Lord and a
disinterest in what has no relation to the Lord. That is
explained in the first two padas.
In the first pada, in
order to
show that one should renounce the world, the various defects of
material existence are explained. In this connection the
description of the soul's travels from one kind of material body
to another kind of material body are quoted from the
Païcägni-
vidyä chapter of the Chändogya Upaniñad. In the
second pada, in
order to show that one should love the Supreme Lord, the Lord's
many glories and virtues will be described. In the Païcägni-
vidyä portion of the Chändogya Upaniñad (Adhyäya
5, khaëòas
3-10) are described the individual souls departure for another
world and return to this world.
Saàçaya
(doubt): When the individual soul goes to the next
world does he take his subtle body with him or not?
Pürvapakña
(the opponent speaks): The soul does not take the
subtle body with him.
Siddhänta (conclusion):
In the following words the author
of the sütras gives His conclusion.
Sütra 1
tad-antara-pratipattau raàhati sampariñvaktaù
praçna-
nirüpaëäbhyäm
tat - of that; antara - of
another; pratipattau - in the
attainment; raàhati - goes; sampariñvaktaù -
embraced;
praçna - from the questions; nirüpaëäbhyäm
- and answers.
In going to another it is
embraced. This is so from the
questions and answers.
Purport by Çréla Baladeva
Vidyäbhüñaëa
Here the word
"tad" means "the body". That
meaning is taken from the word "mürti" in sütra
2.4.20.
When it leaves one gross material body and enters another, the
soul takes the subtle body with it. How is that known? It is
known from the questions beginning in Chändogya Upaniñad
5.3.3
and answers beginning in 5.4.1. Here is the gist of that passage.
A king named
Pravähaëa, who was the ruler of Païcäla-deça,
asked five questions of a brähmaëa bow named
Çvetaketu who had
come to his court. These questions concerned: 1. the destination
of they who perform pious deeds, 2. the way these persons return
to the earth, 3. they who do not attain that world, 4. how the
path to the devas and the path to the pitäs are different paths,
and 5. the question expressed in these words (Chändogya
Upaniñad
5.3.3):
vettha yathä païcamyäà ähutäv
äpaù puruña-vacaso bhavanti
"Do you know why the
fifth libation is called
puruña?
Unhappy because he did not
know the answer to these
questions, the boy approached his father, Gautama Muni, and
expressed his sorrow. The father also did not know the answers
and, wishing to learn them, approached Pravähaëa.
Pravähaëa
wished to give wealth to his guest, but Gautama begged from him
the alms of the answers to the five questions.
Answering the last
question first, Pravähaëa described
(Chändogya Upaniñad (5.4.1) the five fires: 1. heaven, 2.
rain,
3. earth, 4. man, and 5. woman. Then he described the five
libations for these fires: 1. çräddha, 2.soma, 3. rain, 4.
food, and 5. seed. The priests offering all these libations are
the devas. The homa (yajïa) here is the devas' throwing
of the spirit soul, which is enveloped in its subtle body, up to
the celestial worlds (dyuloka) so it may enjoy celestial
pleasures.
The devas here are the
senses of the soul who has passed
through death. These devas offer çräddha in the fire of
the
celestial world. That çräddha becomes a celestial body
named
somaräja, a body suitable for enjoying celestial pleasures.
When the time of enjoyment
is over the devas offer a yajïa
where this body is placed in the fire of parjanya and transformed
into rain. The devas then offer a yajïa where that rain is
placed in the fire of earth and transformed into grains. The
devas then offer a yajïa where those grains are placed in the
fire of a man's food and transformed into semen. The devas then
offer a yajïa where that semen is placed in the fire of a
woman's womb and transformed into an unborn child. In that way
the question was answered with the words (Chändogya
Upaniñad
5.9.1):
iti tu païcamyäm ähutäv äpaù
puruña-vacaso bhavanti.
"Thus the fifth
libation is called puruña."
In this sequence it is
seen that in the fifth libation semen
is offered in the fire of a woman's womb and the result is a
material body, which is thus called puruña. That is the
meaning.
In this description it is thus seen that, accompanied by the
subtle material body, the soul leaves one gross material body,
goes to the celestial world, falls from there, and, still
accompanied by the same subtle material body, again enters a
woman's womb.
Here someone may object:
Is it not so that the word
äpaù" (water) is used here with the word
"puruña".
How, then, can it be that the soul is accompanied by all the
elements of the subtle material body.
In the following words the
author of the sütras answers this
objection.
Sütra 2
try-ätmakatvät tu bhüyastvät
tri-ätmakatvät -
because of being threefold; tu - but;
bhüyastvät - because of being prominent.
But because of being
threefold and because of being prominent.
Purport by Çréla Baladeva
Vidyäbhüñaëa
The word "tu"
(but) is used here to dispel doubt.
The other elements go because the water here is threefold, a
compound of three elements. Because the semen, which is the seed
of the material body, is primarily water, therefore it is porper
to call it water. In the Småti-çästra it is said:
täpäpanodo bhüyastvam ambhaso våttayas tv
imäù
"Because it has the
power to remove heat, water is
said to predominate."
In this way the water is
prominent.
Sütra 3
präëa-gateç ca
präëa - of the
pranas; gateù - of the departure; ca - and.
Also because of the
präëas' departure.
Purport by Çréla Baladeva
Vidyäbhüñaëa
When the soul enters
another material body the präëas also
come. This is described in Båhad-äraëyaka
Upaniñad (4.4.2):
tam utkrämantaà präëo 'nütkrämati
präëam anütkrämantaà sarve
präëä anütkrämanti.
"When the soul
departs, the principal präëa follows.
When the principal präëa departs, the other präëas
follow."
The präëas
cannot exist without taking shelter of a
maintainer. They take shelter of the elements of the subtle
material body. Therefore it must be accepted that the subtle
material body accompanies the soul. That is the meaning.
Sütra 4
agny-ädi-gati-çruter iti cen na bhäktatvät
agni - fire; ädi -
beginning; gati - going; çruteù - fromthe
Çruti-çästra; iti - thus; cet - if; na -
not;bhäktatvät - because oif
being a metaphor.
If it is said that the
Çruti-çästras describe the departure
of fire and other elements, then I reply: It is not so, because
it is a metaphor only.
Purport by Çréla Baladeva
Vidyäbhüñaëa
Here someone may object:
Is it not so that in the Båhad-
äraëyaka Upaniñad it is said:
yasyäsya puruñasya måtasyägnià väg
apy eti
vätaà präëaç cakñur
ädityaà manaç candraà diçaù
çrotraà påthivéà
çaréram äkäçam ätmauñadhér
lomäni vanaspatéë keçä apsu
lohitaà ca retaç ca
nidhéyate.
"When a person dies
his speaking power enters the
fire, his breath enters the wind, his eyes enter the sun, his
mind enters the moon, his ears enter the directions, his body
enters the earth, his soul enters the ether, the hairs of his
body enter the plants and herbs, the hairs of his head enter the
trees, and his blood and semen enter the waters."
Therefore the speech and
other faculties enter the fire and
other objects. They cannot possible accompany the departing soul.
That is the verdict of the Çruti-çästra.
If this is said, then I
reply: No. It is not so. Why not?
The sütra explains: "bhäktatvät" (because it
is a
metaphor only). It is not directly seen that "the hairs
of the body enter the plants and herbs, and the hairs of the head
enter the trees," as this passage declares. Therefore this
passage's description of the entrance into fire and other
elements is a metaphor only. Because all these are placed
together in a single passage it is not possible to say one part
is metaphor and another part is not metaphor. It is not seen
that the bodily hairs jump from the body and enter the plants and
herbs. Therefore at the time of death the voice and other
faculties temporarily cease being useful to the soul, but they do
not leave. They accompany the soul. That is the conclusion of the
Çruti-çästra.
Sütra 5
prathame 'çravaëäd iti cen na tä eva hy
upapatteù
prathame - in the first;
açravaëät - because of not being
described in the Çruti-çästra; iti - thus; cet -
if;na - not; täù - they;
eva - indeed; hy - indeed; upapatteù - because of being
appropriate.
If it is said that in the
beginning there is no description,
then I reply. It is indeed that, because that is appropriate.
Purport by Çréla Baladeva
Vidyäbhüñaëa
Here someone may object:
If the five libations were all
water, then it would be possible to say that in the fifth
libation the soul departs accompanied by water. However, this is
not so. It is not said that in the first libation water is
offered into fire. There it is said that
"çraddhä" is
offered. It says:
tasminn agnau deväù çraddhäà juhvati
"The devas offer a
yajïa, placing çraddhä in
the fire."
The word
"çraddhä" refers to a particular state of
mind. It never means "water". The word "soma" and
other words may be interpreted to mean "water", but is it
not possible to interpret the word "çraddhä" to
mean
water". Therefore the departing soul is not accompanied by
water.
If this is said, then I
reply: No. It is not so. The
çraddhä offered into fire in the beginning here is indeed
water. Why is that? The sutra explains: "upapatteù"
(because it is appropriate). It is appropriate in the context of
this question and answer. The question here is: "Do you
know why the water in the fifth libation is called
puruña?" From
this is is seen that all the offerings into the fire here are
water. Then, in the beginning of the reply it is said:
Çraddhä is offered into the fire". If the word
çraddhä" here does not mean "water", then
the answer does not properly reply to the question. That is the
meaning. Water is offered in these five libations. Because water
is clearly offered in the last four, it is appropriate that it
also be offered in the first. It is seen that the offerings of
soma, rain, and the others, are clearly all caused by
çraddhä.
Because the cause must be like the effect, therefore, the
offering of çraddhä must also be water. Therefore the
word
çraddhä" here means "water". The
Çruti-çästra
(Taittiréya-saàhitä 1.6.8.1) explains:
çraddhä vä äpaù
"The word
çraddhä means water."
Therefore the word
"çraddhä" here does not refer to
a condition of the mind. The meaning of a condition of the mind
is not appropriate in this context of offering yajïas. In
this way it is shown that the departing soul is certainly
accompanied by water.
Here someone may object:
In this part of the Çruti-çästra it
said that the water departs, but it is not said that the soul
departs. The soul is not mentioned in this passage.
To remove this doubt the
author of the sütras gives the
following reply.
Sütra 6
açrutatväd iti cen na
iñöädi-käriëäà pratéteù
açrutatvät -
because of not being described in the Çruti-
çästra; iti - thus; cet - if; na - not;
iñöädikäriëäm - by they who
perfom pious deeds; pratéteù - because of the
understanding.
If it is said that this is
not proved in the Çruti-
çästra, then I reply: No, because this is understood to be
about
they who perform pious deeds.
Purport by Çréla Baladeva
Vidyäbhüñaëa
The word
"açrutatva" here means "unproved".
The passage in the Chändogya Upaniñad describes the travel
to the
moon of they who perform pious deeds. The passage states
(Chändogya Upaniñad 5.10.3-4):
atha ya ime gräme iñöäpürte dattam ity
upäsate te dhümam
abhisamviçanti. . . äkäçäc candramasam
eña somo räjä.
"They who perform
pious deeds in their village enter
the smoke, . . . and then they go from the sky to the moon
planet, where the become the king of soma."
In this way they who
perform pious deeds go to the moon and
become known as Somaräja (the king of soma).
About the fire and
Devaloka it is said (Chändogya Upaniñad
5.4.2):
deväù çraddhäà juhvati.
tasyäù ähuteù somo räjä
sambhavati.