From the book Jīva-tattva by Śrī Babaji-
“The word “ānanda” can generally indicate any one of the following four different types of happiness:
- Martyānanda is material happiness. This, like material pain, does not contact the ātmā. Both are external conditions.
- Jīvānanda or ātmānanda is the happiness the ātmā experiences by being by itself without any contact with anything material. This is of two further subtypes:
- Experience of the self in a state of dreamless sleep in the conditioned state, and
- Experience of the self in the liberated state.
- Brahmānanda is the happiness of experiencing identity with Brahman.
- Bhaktyānanda is happiness derived from loving service to Bhagavān and His devotees.
These four types of ānanda are all completely distinct in quality and in quantity.
Material happiness is simply relief from suffering; it is not really a positive feeling. If you carry a heavy weight on your shoulders, you get a sense of happiness when you can put it down. The happiness of deep sleep is similar: It is not a positive feeling but a sense of relief from all the disturbances caused by the body and mind. It is this second type of ānanda listed above, the feeling of relief from any material disturbance, that Jāmātṛ Muni refers to when he states that the jīva is of the nature of ānanda. In other words, the ānanda inherent in the jīva’s nature is jīvānanda, and not any other form of ānanda.
Śrī Jīva Gosvāmī writes in Paramātma Sandarbha (Anuccheda 28) that the meaning of the word “ānanda” in the context of jīvānanda refers to absence of suffering, duḥkha-pratiyogitva. Similarly, in his Digdarśini ṭīkā on Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta, Śrī Sanātana Gosvāmī writes that the ānanda of the jīva is insignificant. Thus we should be careful not to think that the ātmā in its intrinsic nature contains brahmānanda or bhaktyānanda.”
From the book Jīva-tattva by Śrī Babaji-
“The word “ānanda” can generally indicate any one of the following four different types of happiness:
- Martyānanda is material happiness. This, like material pain, does not contact the ātmā. Both are external conditions.
- Jīvānanda or ātmānanda is the happiness the ātmā experiences by being by itself without any contact with anything material. This is of two further subtypes:
- Experience of the self in a state of dreamless sleep in the conditioned state, and
- Experience of the self in the liberated state.
- Brahmānanda is the happiness of experiencing identity with Brahman.
- Bhaktyānanda is happiness derived from loving service to Bhagavān and His devotees.
These four types of ānanda are all completely distinct in quality and in quantity.
Material happiness is simply relief from suffering; it is not really a positive feeling. If you carry a heavy weight on your shoulders, you get a sense of happiness when you can put it down. The happiness of deep sleep is similar: It is not a positive feeling but a sense of relief from all the disturbances caused by the body and mind. It is this second type of ānanda listed above, the feeling of relief from any material disturbance, that Jāmātṛ Muni refers to when he states that the jīva is of the nature of ānanda. In other words, the ānanda inherent in the jīva’s nature is jīvānanda, and not any other form of ānanda.
Śrī Jīva Gosvāmī writes in Paramātma Sandarbha (Anuccheda 28) that the meaning of the word “ānanda” in the context of jīvānanda refers to absence of suffering, duḥkha-pratiyogitva. Similarly, in his Digdarśini ṭīkā on Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta, Śrī Sanātana Gosvāmī writes that the ānanda of the jīva is insignificant. Thus we should be careful not to think that the ātmā in its intrinsic nature contains brahmānanda or bhaktyānanda.”
