Volume Five
Adhikaraëa 7
The Supreme Lord Is Full of Bliss
Introduction by Çréla Baladeva
Vidyäbhüñaëa
Viñaya (the subject
to be discussed): In the Çruti-çästra
it is said that the blissful Supreme Personality of Godhead has a
head and other limbs that are composed of transcendental
pleasure. In the Taittiréya Upaniñad (2.5.1) it is said:
tasya priyam eva çiraù
"The Supreme
Personality of Godhead is like a bird
whose head is composed of transcendental pleasure."
Saàçaya
(doubt): Are the qualities of the Supreme Lord to
be remembered in every meditation, or are they not to be
remembered in every meditation?
Pürvapakña
(the opponent speaks): It has already been
explained that the Lord's bliss and other qualities should be
brought together when there is meditation on the Lord. Because
the Lord's pleasure, as described here in the Taittiréya
Upaniñad,
is not really different from the Lord's bliss mentioned before,
therefore it should be included in all meditations on the Lord.
Siddhänta
(conclusion): In the following words the author
of the sütras gives His conclusion.
Sütra 13
priya-çirastvädy-apräptir upacayäpacayau hi
bhede
priya - pleasure;
çiraù - the head; tva - the state of being;
ädi - beginning with; apräptiù -
non-attainment;upacaya - increase;
apacayau - and decrease; hi - indeed; bhede - in the difference.
There is not attainment of
the qualities that begin with
His head consisting of pleasure. In the difference there is
increase and decrease.
Purport by Çréla Baladeva
Vidyäbhüñaëa
The truth that the Lord's
head is composed of pleasure, as well
as other qualities of the Lord, are not to be employed in every
meditation without exception. Lord Viñëu, who is full of
transcendental bliss, has the shape of a human being, not the
shape of a bird (as described in this passage of Taittiréya
Upaniñad).
Furthermore, the bird
described in this passage of
Taittiréya Upaniñad is composed of happiness and joy
that
increase and decrease. Thus there is a difference. The Lord is
not like that. His happiness never increase or decreases. Thus
the qualities described in this passage of Taittiréya
Upaniñad
should not be included in every meditation on the Lord.
Sütra 14
itare tv artha-sämänyät
itare - others; tu - but;
artha - of result;sämänyät - because of
equality.
But others because of the
sameness of the result.
Purport by Çréla Baladeva
Vidyäbhüñaëa
However other passages of
Taittiréya Upaniñad, such as 2.5.1
(tasmäd vä etasmät. . . The Supersoul is full of bliss.
From
Him this world has come.), 2.6.2
(so 'kämayata. . . The
Supreme Personality of Godhead desired: I shall become many. I
shall father many children.), and 2.8.1
(bhéñäsmät. . . Out
of fear of the Supreme Lord the wind blows and the sun rises.),
which appear both before and after Taittiréya Upaniñad
2.5.1, and
which describe the Supreme Personality of Godhead's all-
pervasiveness, spiritual bliss, creation of the material
universes, supreme power and opulence, and many other of the
blissful Supreme Lord's transcendental qualities, may be included
in the devotees' meditations. Why is that? The sütra explains:
"artha-sämänyät" (because of the sameness of
the
result).
Meditation on the Lord's
qualities, such as His supreme
power, His opulences, His friendliness to all, His being the
shelter of all, and His granting liberation, qualities
described in the Vedänta scriptures, brings liberation as its
result. Therefore one should meditate on these qualities of the
Lord.
Here someone may ask: Why
is the Supreme Personality of
Godhead described as a bird in Taittiréya Upaniñad
2.5.1? In the
Kaöha Upaniñad it is said:
ätmänaà rathinam viddhi
"Know that the soul
is the chariot driver."
In this way the soul is
described as the chariot driver and
the material body is described as the chariot. The purpose of
this little parable in the Kaöha Upaniñad is to teach that
the
devotees should diligently control their senses. However, in this
parable of the bird in Taittiréya Upaniñad 2.5.1 no
purpose is
anywhere to be seen. What is the purpose then? The Vedas do not
speak parables without a purpose behind them.
Fearing that someone may
speak these words, the author of
the sütras next proceeds to explain the meaning of this parable
of the bird.
Sütra 15
ädhyänäya prayojanäbhävät
ädhyänäya -
for meditation; prayojana - other purpose;
abhävät - because of the absence.
Because of the absence of
another purpose, it is for
meditation.
Purport by Çréla Baladeva
Vidyäbhüñaëa
This sütra means,
"This parable is meant for
meditation. This is so because of the absence of another
purpose." The word "ädhyäna" here means
meditation". This is the meaning. In Taittiréya
Upaniñad
(2.1.2) it is said:
brahma-vid äpnoti param
"One who knows the
Supreme attains the Supreme."
The Supreme is manifested
in two ways: 1. in His original
form, and 2. in the forms of His pastime incarnations. In His
original form the Lord has the names Näräyaëa,
Väsudeva,
Saìkarñaëa, Pradyumna, and Aniruddha.
They whose intelligence is
firmly anchored in the world of
matter find it very difficult to meditate on the Lord, who is
spiritual, blissful, and all-pervading. Therefore, in order that
the conditioned souls may more easily understand the Lord, the
Taittiréya Upaniñad describes the blissful Lord in this
parable
of "a bird whose head is pleasure". In this way the
conditioned souls attain elevated spiritual intelligence and are
able to meditate on the Supreme directly.
Meditation on the
annamaya-puruña feature of the Lord is
given in Taittiréya Upaniñad 2.1.2. Meditations on the
präëamaya, manomaya, and
vijïänamaya-puruñas are given in
Taittiréya Upaniñad 2.2.1, and meditation on the
Ananadamaya-
puruña feature of the Lord is given in Taittiréya
Upaniñad
2.5.1. These five aspects of the Supreme need not always been
included in every meditation on the Supreme.
Here someone may object:
The Supreme is one. There is no
basis for your statement that the Supreme is five.
To this objection the
answer is given: In the Gopäla-
täpané Upaniñad it is said:
eko 'pi san bahudhä vibhäti
"Although He is one,
the Supreme Lord appears in
many forms."
In the
Çruti-çästra it is said:
ekaà santaà bahudhä dåçyamänam
"Although He is one,
the Supreme Personality of
Godhead is seen to be many."
In the
Catur-veda-çikhä it is said:
sa çiraù sa dakñiëaù
pakñaù sa uttara-pakñaù sa
ätmä sa pucchaù
"He is the head. He
is the right wing. He is the
left wing. He is the Self. He is the tail."
In the
Båhat-saàhitä it is said:
çiro näräyaëaù pakño
dakñiëaù savya eva ca
pradyumnaç cäniruddhaç ca
san deho
väsudevakaù
näräyaëo 'tha san deho
väsudevaù
çiro 'pi vä
pucchaà saìkarñaëaù prokta
eka eva ca
païcadhä
aìgäìgitvena bhagavän
kréòate
puruñottamaù
aiçvaryän na virodhaç ca
cintyas tasmin
janärdane
atarkye hi kutas tarkas
tv apramaye kutaù
pramä
"Näräyaëa is the head. Pradyumna and Aniruddha are
the right and left wings. Väsudeva is the torso. Or,
Näräyaëa is
the torso, and Väsudeva is the head.
Saìkarñaëa is the tail. In this
way the one Supreme Personality of Godhead is manifested in five
ways. In this way the Supreme Personality of Godhead enjoys
pastimes as both the limbs and the possessor of the limbs. The
Lord's power and opulence have no limit. He is inconceivable. How
can mere logic grasp Him? He is immeasurable. How can He be
measured?"
Sütra 16
ätma-çabdäc ca
ätma -
ätmä; çabdät - from the Çruti-çästra;
ca - also.
Also because the
Çruti-çästra employs the word
ätmä".
Purport by Çréla Baladeva
Vidyäbhüñaëa
In Taittiréya
Upaniñad 2.5.1 the bird is described as
ätmä" (the Supreme). For this reason the bird here
cannot be an
ordinary bird with wings, a tail, and other like features. The
bird here is a parable.
Sütra 17
ätma-gåhétir itara-vad uttarät
ätma - ätma;
gåhétiù - understanding; itara - others;
vat - like; uttarät - from the following.
"Atmä" here
means "consciousness". Because
of the following it is like the others.
Purport by Çréla Baladeva
Vidyäbhüñaëa
Here someone may object:
In the Taittiréya Upaniñad
(2.2.3) it is said:
anyo 'ntara ätmä vä präëamayaù
"The ätmä
within is the präëamaya."
The word
"ätmä" is used to mean dull matter and it
is also used to mean the individual spirit souls. In Taittiréya
Upaniñad (2.5.1) it is said:
anyo 'ntara ätmänandamayaù
"The ätmä
within is the Anandamaya."
Since the word
"ätmä" is thus used for these
different puruñas, how can it be said that the word
ätmä" means the all-pervading, all-knowing Supreme
Personality of Godhead?
To this I reply: The word
"ätmä" here means
the all-pervading, all-knowing Supreme Personality of
Godhead." This is so because this word is used in that way in
many
other passages of scripture. For example, in the
Çruti-çästra it
is said:
ätmä vä idam eka evägra äsét
"In the beginning
only the Supreme Personality of
Godhead (ätmä) existed."
Why does the word
"ätmä' here refer to the Supreme
Personality of Godhead? The sütra explains:
"uttarät"
(because of the following). This description of the bird is
followed by these words (Taittiréya Upaniñad 2.6.2):
so 'kämayata bahu syäm
"The Supreme
Personality of Godhead desired: I shall
become many."
Thus this passage, which
follows the parable of the bird,
proves that änandamaya bird in that passage is certainly the
Supreme Personality of Godhead. In this way it cannot be that the
bird in that parable is not the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
Therefore the purpose of that parable is to assist the meditation
on the Supreme Lord. This must be so, for that is the appropriate
explanation.
Sütra 18
anvayäd iti cet syäd avadhäraëät
anvayät - because of
the connotation; iti - thus; cet - if;
syät - may be; avadhäraëät - because of the
understanding.
If it is said, "This
inference cannot be made," then
I reply, "It is right, for that is the understanding
here".
Purport by Çréla Baladeva
Vidyäbhüñaëa
Here someone may object:
It is not possible to conclude,
merely on the strength of the following passages, that the word
"ätma" here refers to the Supreme Personality of
Godhead. After all, in the previous passages the word
ätmä" referred to inanimate matter as well as the
individual spirit souls.
If this is said, then the
sütra replies: "syät"
(It is right.) This means: It is right that the word
ätmä" here refers to the all-pervading, all-knowing
Supreme
Personality of Godhead. Why is that? The sütra explains:
avadhäranät" (for that is the understanding here). In
the
previous passages the word "ätmä" clearly referred
to
the Supreme Personality of Godhead. There it was said
(Taittiréya
Upaniñad 2.5.1):
tasmäd vä etasmäd ätmanaù
"The Supersoul is
full of bliss. From Him this world
has come."
To interpret the word
"ätmä" in any other way
would do violence to the meditation described in this passage
about the Anandamaya-puruña. In this passage, passing over the
präëamaya-puruña and the other puruñas, one
comes to rest
at the description of the Anandamaya-puruña, who is certainly
the Supreme Personality of Godhead. As one may point to the star
Arundhaté by first pointing to other stars as reference points,
so the description of these other ätmäs is meant to lead the
reader to the Anandamaya-puruña, who is the Supreme. Thus the
passages that precede and follow the parable of the bird clearly
show that the ätmä here is the Supreme Personality of
Godhead.
Thus it is proved without doubt.