It is common to read or hear that we should love ourselves. Self-love is sometimes propagated as the means to happiness. Śrī Jīva Gosvāmī, however, says that even realization of our inner self will not give complete fulfillment. I produce the relevant part from the first anuccheda of Prīti Sandarbha along with my commentary.
1.3 Knowledge of Tattva Produces Self-Knowledge and Ultimate Freedom From All Suffering
अथ जीवश्च तदीयोऽपि तज्ज्ञानसंसर्गाभावयुक्तत्वेन तन्मायापराभूतः सन्नात्मस्वरूपज्ञानलोपान् मायाकल्पितोपाध्यावेशाच्चानादिसंसारदुःखेन सम्बध्यत इति परमात्मसन्दर्भादावेव निरूपितमस्ति। तत इदं लभ्यते—परमतत्त्वसाक्षात्कारलक्षणं तज्ज्ञानमेव परमानन्दप्राप्तिः। सैव परमपुरुषार्थ इति।
An individual living being, although belonging to the Supreme, being endowed with beginningless ignorance about It and being overpowered by Its māyā, becomes united with beginningless material misery because of the loss of knowledge of his svarūpa and because of absorption into the upādhis created by māyā. This was detailed in the Paramātma and Bhakti Sandarbhas. From this the following is understood: Only knowledge in the form of intuitive experience of the Supreme Reality is equivalent to the attainment of the supreme bliss. This indeed is the supreme goal to be attained.
स्वात्मज्ञानप्रवृत्तिर्दुःखात्यन्तनिवृत्तिश्च निदाने तदज्ञाने गते सति स्वत एव सम्पद्यते। पूर्वस्याः परमतत्त्वस्वप्रकाशताभिव्यक्तिलक्षणमात्रात्मकत्वात्,उत्तरस्याश्च ध्वंसाभावरूपत्वादनश्वरत्वम्।
When the root cause [of suffering], namely ignorance about the Supreme Reality, is removed, then the appearance of self-knowledge and the ultimate removal of misery take place automatically. The former is imperishable because it is nothing other than a symptom of the Supreme Reality’s self-luminosity becoming manifest, whereas the latter [i.e., the ultimate dissolution of misery] is imperishable because misery is then relegated to the state of post-nonexistence (dhvaṁsa-abhāva) [meaning the permanent absence (abhāva) of misery after its destruction (dhvaṁsa)].
उक्तं च पूर्वस्याः परमपुरुषार्थत्वं (भा. १.२.९) “धर्मस्य ह्यपवर्गस्य” इत्यादिना, (भा. १.२.१२)
तच्छ्रद्दधाना मुनयो ज्ञानवैराग्ययुक्तया।
पश्यन्त्यात्मनि चात्मानं भक्त्या श्रुतगृहीतया ॥ इत्यन्तेन।
The following verses support the first as the supreme goal:
One should not think that wealth is the purpose of virtuous action (dharma), which is actually meant to bring about freedom from material existence (āpavargyasya), nor that the reward of wealth, which is meant to be used for virtuous acts, lies only in the enjoyment of desires. The fulfillment of desire is not intended merely for sensual gratification, but rather should extend no further than the sustenance of life. And the point of remaining alive is to enquire into Reality, and not for anything else attainable through the performance of pious deeds. (1.2.9-10)
Those who have realized Absolute Reality, which is nondual consciousness (advaya-jñāna), refer to It as Brahman, Paramātmā or Bhagavān. (1.2.11)
Those who have directly realized the Absolute Reality declare that alone to be the Absolute Reality which is nondual consciousness. That Reality is denoted as Brahman, as Paramātmā, and as Bhagavān.
The sages endowed with faith in that [Absolute] see their own self in the Self through devotion accompanied by knowledge and renunciation, acquired through the sense of hearing. (1.2.12)
स्वतः सर्वदुःखनिवृत्तिश्च तत्रैवोक्ता (भा. १.२.२१) —”भिद्यते हृदयग्रन्थिः” इत्यादिना।
And the automatic removal of all miseries is also described in the same very chapter by the verse:
Only after seeing the Supreme Being (īśvara) within one’s self is the knot in the heart cut asunder, all doubts dispelled, and the reaction to all karma destroyed. (SB 1.2.21)
श्रीविष्णुपुराणे च (वि.पु. ६.५.५९)—
निरस्तातिशयाह्लादसुखभावैकलक्षणा।
भेषजं भगवत्प्राप्तिरेकान्तात्यन्तिकी मता ॥ इति।
In the Viṣṇu Purāṇa also:
The attainment of Bhagavān is of the nature of supreme bliss which defies all material happiness. It is without any break and unending. It is the medicine [for material bondage]. (VP 6.5.59)
श्रुतौ च (तै.उ. २.९.१) —”आनन्दं ब्रह्मणो विद्वान् न बिभेति कुतश्चन” इति।
And in the [Taittirīya] Śruti also it is said: “One who knows the bliss of Brahman does not fear anything.” (TU 2.9.1)
Commentary
An objection can be raised to the proposal that one needs to attain the Absolute in love in order to attain bliss and be free of misery. Because the jīva is an intrinsic part of the Absolute (tadīya), which is fundamentally of the nature of bliss, it naturally follows that some portion of the bliss of the Absolute must also be inherent within the jīva, since the part is endowed with the nature of the whole. Therefore, what need is there to find the Absolute or Its love? Love is already inside the jīva, but at present it is covered by māyā. This appears to be confirmed by Śrī Kṛṣṇa Himself who says, “The jñāna of the jīvas is covered by ajñāna and thus they are bewildered. If this covering is removed, then jñāna will shine like the sun.” (Gītā 5.15-16)
In response to this line of argument, it is asserted that a part does not necessarily share all the qualities of the whole. Human hair and nails are parts belonging to the whole that is the individual, but they do not possess consciousness. You can trim them without feeling any pain. Furthermore, the principle that a part possesses the qualities of the whole applies only when the qualities of the whole are homogeneously distributed, as in the ocean. This principle, however, is inapplicable in the case of composite objects like a house — doors have different qualities from the bricks. Different parts of the house have different qualities, but the house possesses all the qualities of its parts and something more in addition. One can live in the house, but not in a door or a brick. Even in the case of the ocean, in which there is a uniform distribution of qualities, a drop does not contain all of the ocean’s qualities. One can swim, surf, and dive in the ocean, but not in a drop.
Furthermore, the jīva is only an atomic part of the taṭasthā śakti and does not have the qualities of the bahiraṅgā and antaraṅgā śaktis. Neither the guṇas of prakṛti nor prīti are present in a jīva because these belong to the bahiraṇgā and antaraṅgā śaktis respectively. Because jīva is atomic in size, the happiness in its own svarūpa is also infinitesimal. Moreover, this happiness is not of the same nature as derived from the knowledge of the Absolute who is unlimited. On top of that a jīva is in ignorance or covered by ajñāna.
Śrī Jīva writes that the jīva’s ignorance (ajñāna) is a type of absence that has no beginning (saṁsargābhāva). Although purely spiritual by nature, it is neither aware of itself nor of the Supreme Reality. Rather a jīva identifies with the acquired mind-body complex. The jīva’s ignorance of its true identity has no beginning and is thus not caused by any action of its own, nor of the Tattva, nor of anyone else.
Such a conditioning by ignorance seems illogical, viz., how can a conscious being not know its true identity? However, it is possible by the influence of māyā as was discussed in Paramātma Sandarbha (48-55). By the inconceivable power of Bhagavān, māyā can cover the intermediary potency, despite being inferior to it. This is stated by Maitreya Muni while instructing Vidura:
Such is Bhagavān’s extrinsic potency [māyā], which contradicts all logic, for [due to its influence] the living entity, who [by nature] is the ruler and liberated, experiences impoverishment and bondage. (SB 3.7.9)
This beginningless ignorance is sometimes described as the jīva’s knowledge being covered by ignorance, as in Gītā 5.15 (ajñanenāvṛtam jñānam tena muhyaṇti jantavaḥ) or as its bewilderment by māyā as in Vyāsadeva’s vision described in the beginning of the Bhāgavatam,
yayā sammohito jīva ātmānaṁ tri-guṇātmakam
paro’pi manute’narthaṁ tat-kṛtaṁ cābhipadyate
Bewildered by this extrinsic potency, the individual self, although transcendental to the three guṇas of material nature, thinks of itself as consisting of them and thus undergoes the misery resulting from this identification. (SB 1.7.5).
Usually, we think of a covering as something existential. Śrī Jīva Gosvāmī, however, explains that the beginningless covering of the jīva is not a positive substance but a type of absence, called saṁsarga-abhāva. According to the Nyāya school of philosophy, absence (abhāva) is of two types, namely samsarga-abhāva and anyo’nya-abhāva. The first of these has three further divisions called prāg-abhāva (pre-absence), pradhvaṁsa-abhāva (post-absence) and atyanta-abhāva (permanent absence). The word saṁsarga-abhāva in this anuccheda refers to the prāg-abhāva or pre-absence, i.e., an absence that comes to an end.
Pre-absence” (prāg-abhāva) is the non-existence of an object, quality, or action before it comes into being. It has no beginning but comes to an end as soon as the object, quality or action is produced or manifests. In the case of the conditioned or bound jīva, the prior absence being spoken of is that of awareness of the Absolute Reality, which includes awareness of the jīva’s own true identity. Thus the meaning is that a bound or conditioned jīva is ignorant of the Absolute Reality as well as itself and this ignorance has no beginning.
In this state of ignorance, the jīva considers itself to be the mind-body complex, which is an external covering and a product of the three guṇas of māyā. While ignorant about the Absolute Reality (taj-jñāna-saṁsarga-abhāva-maya), and also ignorant of its own true nature (ātma–svarūpa–jñāna–lopāt), a jīva identifies with and becomes absorbed in the mind and physical body, which are products of māyā (māyā-kalpita-upādhi-āveśāt). Ignorance thus has two parts to it. The first is the negative part, the beginningless absence of knowledge about Bhagavān and the self. The second is the outcome of the first and takes the form of wrong knowledge about oneself. This is sometimes termed avidyā (Yoga Sūtra 2.3) or ajñāna (Gītā 5.15). Thus such a jīva, under the influence of māyā, is devoid of devotion to Bhagavān, the Absolute Reality personified. This is stated as the cause of its being influenced or covered by māyā.
Māyā has three guṇas, namely sattva or luminosity, rajas, the kinetic potency, and tamas or inertia. Under the influence of these three guṇas, people have different belief systems. This is described in the beginning of the 17th chapter of Bhagavad Gītā. A person under their influence remains turned away (parāṅmukha) from the Absolute and suffers the outcome of his or her karma. Although ignorance, i.e., the jīva’s covering by māyā, bondage, and material suffering, are all beginningless and do not have a cause-and-effect relation in the normal sense, they are depicted in that way for our understanding. The implication behind calling it a covering is that bondage is not intrinsic to the jīva and can thus be dispelled (SB 11.11.1). When a jīva takes to devotion by the causeless grace of a devotee, its beginningless ignorance (saṁsargābhāva) comes to an end. This results in knowledge about the Absolute and its own self (svātma-jñāna-pravṛttiḥ), as well as the cessation of all suffering. This simultaneously results in the attainment of bliss (SB 11.2.42, 43). This attainment of bliss in the form of devotion or love is the supreme aim of life (parama–puruṣārtha).
Śrī Jīva Gosvāmī says that both the attainment of knowledge as well as the cessation of misery are unending. The reason for the former is that it is a manifestation of the intrinsic potency of Bhagavān. This potency can never be subdued by avidyā, ajñāna or māyā, thus it will never come to an end. This was described in Bhagavat Sandarbha (21-23). The cessation of misery is also unending because it comes in the form of “post-absence” or pradhvaṁsa-abhāva. Just as pre-absence is beginningless but has an end, in the same way post-absence has a beginning but no end. For example, before a clay pot has been made it has prior non-existence or pre-absence (prāg-abhāva). This pre-absence has no beginning but comes to an end as soon as the pot is produced. If the pot is now demolished, it has “post-absence” or non-existence after destruction (pradhvaṁsa-abhāva). This post-absence has a beginning but will never come to an end since the exact same pot can never again come into being. Similarly when misery is destroyed by knowledge of the Absolute, there arises an absence of misery, which will never reappear.
Next Śrī Jīva Gosvāmī cites Śuta Gosvāmī’s statements to show how direct experience of the Tattva is the supreme goal of life and how it automatically brings an end to all misery. The verse from Viṣṇu Purāṇa (6.5.59), spoken by sage Parāśara to Maitreya, confirms that conclusion. The mantra from Taittirīya Upaniṣad (2.9.1) says that once one knows the bliss of Brahman there is no more fear. Fear is caused by the identification with the mind-body complex that results from ignorance of the Absolute, as said by sage Kavi:
A living being who is set apart from Bhagavān becomes absorbed in separativeness (dvitīya). As a consequence, he is overpowered by fear, his conception of being is reversed, and he becomes forgetful of his constitutional position. All this takes place by Bhagavān’s extrinsic potency. Therefore, one who is actually wise worships Him by the process of unalloyed devotion, considering his spiritual teacher as an embodiment of the Divine and as his very self. (SB 11.2.37)
Knowledge of Brahman thus uproots the root cause of fear.
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