Shastra Quiz 39

In His teachings to Uddhava, Śrī Kṛṣṇa declares that for the well-being of humanity, He has propounded three types of yoga,namely, karma, jñāna, and bhakti. He also adds that apart from these three, there are no other means of attaining freedom from material bondage (SB 11.20.6).

Sāṅkhya and aṣṭāṅga-yoga are not mentioned by Kṛṣṇa in the list of yogas. They are understood to be subsumed under the category of jñāna, because the basic qualification for all three, i.e., jñāna, sāṅkhya, and aṣṭāṅga-yoga, is non-attachment to conditional action.

Learn more : Different Types of Yoga

Some philosophers consider the material world to be illusory, having no factual existence, and they compare it to a dream. They say that a dream has no factual existence, since no one experiences it while awake; similarly, this material world is false, mithyā, since it is no longer experienced upon the awakening to realization.

Śrī Brahmā does not accept this view. He does not consider the material world to be imaginary, the mere product of one’s ignorance. The reasoning is that since the material world exists as a potency of the Lord, who exists eternally, it too has existence.

According to Śrīla Vyāsadeva, the Supreme Lord actually generates the objects of the dream state. They are real, but differ, in that the Lord creates them for a temporary purpose, for a particular self. The external world is created for all jīvas, for a sustained period. Vyāsa states this in the following sūtra, “The dream state is also a creation of the Lord, because scripture declares it as such” (sandhye sṛṣṭir āha hi, VS 3.2.1).

Here sandhyā (junction) means “dreams,” as indicated in Bṛhad-āraṇyaka Upaniṣad — sandhyaṁ tṛtīyaṁ svapnasthānam (BAU 4.3.9).

Another reason dreams are considered real is that they sometimes indicate pending events in reference to the waking state. Śrīmad Bhāgavatam describes that when Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma arrived in Mathurā, Kaṁsa detected bad omens while awake and in his dreams as well. These were indicative of his imminent death:

"He dreamt that he was being embraced by ghosts, riding a donkey and drinking poison, and also that a naked man smeared with oil was passing by, wearing a garland of nalada flowers. (SB 10.42.30)"

If dreams were unreal, they could not indicate a real incident. In the waking state, a person enjoys or suffers the results of his past karma; similarly, his dreams bring him suffering or enjoyment. Positive dreams are the result of good karma, and disturbing dreams, the result of bad karma. The Lord allocates the result of karma during our waking state. He does the same in our dream state.

The Advaitavāda philosophers hold that there is only one reality — the formless, attributeless, indivisible, non-variegated, impersonal Brahman — and they have various theories for explaining the apparent separate existence of the jīva and Īśvara.

The following two theories are most prevalent, and both have been expressed in several modified forms.

• pariccheda-vāda (the delimitation of Brahman)
• pratibimba-vāda (the reflection of Brahman)

- Tattva Sandarbha (Anuccheda 36)

The basic principle of the Bhāgavata Purāṇa as well as the Upaniṣads is that there is only one Absolute Reality. The world has appeared from that one Reality. So, in accordance with this Upaniṣadic view, there are two theories as to how the world is rooted in the Absolute. The vivarta-vāda theory holds that if the Absolute, called Brahman, were considered to be the constituent cause (upādāna-kāraṇa) that undergoes modification to give rise to the world, then Brahman Itself would be subject to modification, which is not acceptable to any school. So, the only alternative they could conceive of is vivarta-vāda, which in their view signifies that Brahman is qualityless and the world is unreal, a mere appearance in Brahman.

Śrī Jīva does not consent to this view. He reasons that the world is not unreal (mithyā), because it is non-distinct from its real source, Paramātmā. So, it is real but dissoluble, like a clay pot. It is, nevertheless, ever existent in the sense that it merely undergoes cycles of manifestation and non-manifestation in the form of creation and dissolution. Even during the state of dissolution, it exists still in unmanifest form, enfolded within Paramātmā. The cosmos is thus a modification (pariṇāma) of just one of the potencies of Paramātmā, called bahiraṅgā. He Himself remains unchanged by the modification of His energy. Śrī Jīva offers the traditional example of a philosopher’s stone (cintāmaṇi) that is supposed to transform iron into gold by its mere contact while at the same time remaining unmodified. Similarly, by His inscrutable power, Paramātmā remains immutable while impelling His māyā-śakti to manifest the cosmos. Being a potency of Paramātmā, the cosmos is nondifferent from Him, by the principle that potency is non distinct from its potent source.

Learn more: Beginningless Avidya—Coupled with Vidya

Ignorance has two functional capacities. The first operates in a negative or concealing capacity as the beginningless absence of awareness of Bhagavān and the self. The second, which is an out-come of the first, operates positively by projecting an erroneous self-concept.

The second is sometimes termed as avidyā (Yoga-sūtra2.3) or ajñāna (Gītā 5.15). As a consequence of these two functions of ignorance, the jīva, under the influence of māyā, finds its intentful regard directed away from Bhagavān, the Nondual Personal Absolute.

There are three states of buddhi, known as wakefulness, dreaming, and deep sleep. He who experiences these three states and presides over them is the individual self (SB 7.7.25).

These three states of buddhi are three upādhis of the pure self, according to which the self is assigned three designations, namely, viśva, taijasa, and prājña, respectively (Māṇḍūkya Upanisad3–5).

In the waking state, the jīva is aware of the gross body, and it quits one gross body to enter another without giving up the subtle body. Therefore, the jīva in waking state consciousness is called viśva (from √viś praveśane, “to enter”). Alternatively, it is called viśva because it is a witness to the viśva, or the external world.

When the jīva identifies with the subtle body, it is called taijasa, either because the subtle body is made up of the taijasa (fire) element, or because it is a witness to dreams, which are also said to be a product of tejas (taijasa-padārtha).

When the jīva identifies with avidyā, it is called prājña (pra-ajña) because in this state it perceives nothing and remains as pure consciousness.

Here it should be noted that although the states of viśva, taijasa, and prājña refer to the conditioning of the jīva in wakefulness, dreaming, and deep sleep, they ultimately indicate the Supreme Person.

While instructing Yudhiṣṭhira, Śrī Nārada describes the path called deva-yāna, adopted by those who have attained to the state of tranquility ,having abandoned all material identification. In this verse, he indicates that after dissolving the upādhis of viśva, taijasa, and prājña, one attains the fourth state (turīya), or in other words, the pure self (SB 7.15.54).

Learn more : The Nature of Absolute Nondual Reality

According to Advaitavāda, the one Brahman, cit, or caitanya, manifests in four ways by the influence of different upādhis.

These are called

1. pramātṛ-caitanya : the knower, or subject- consciousness;
2. pramāṇa-caitanya : the means of valid knowing, or cognitive-consciousness;
3. viṣaya-caitanya : the object of knowledge, or object-consciousness; and
4. phala-caitanya : the resultant valid knowledge of the object, or veridical percept consciousness

tathā hi ekam eva caitanyam upādhi-bhedāt catur-vidham — pramātṛ-caitanyaṁpramāṇa-caitanyaṁ viṣaya-caitanyaṁ phala-caitanyaṁ ceti. Tattvānusandhāna 2.30

In His teachings to Uddhava, Śrī Kṛṣṇa declares that for the well-being of humanity, He has propounded three types of yoga,namely, karma, jñāna, and bhakti. He also adds that apart from these three, there are no other means of attaining freedom from material bondage (SB 11.20.6).

Sāṅkhya and aṣṭāṅga-yoga are not mentioned by Kṛṣṇa in the list of yogas. They are understood to be subsumed under the category of jñāna, because the basic qualification for all three, i.e., jñāna, sāṅkhya, and aṣṭāṅga-yoga, is non-attachment to conditional action.

Learn more : Different Types of Yoga

Some philosophers consider the material world to be illusory, having no factual existence, and they compare it to a dream. They say that a dream has no factual existence, since no one experiences it while awake; similarly, this material world is false, mithyā, since it is no longer experienced upon the awakening to realization.

Śrī Brahmā does not accept this view. He does not consider the material world to be imaginary, the mere product of one’s ignorance. The reasoning is that since the material world exists as a potency of the Lord, who exists eternally, it too has existence.

According to Śrīla Vyāsadeva, the Supreme Lord actually generates the objects of the dream state. They are real, but differ, in that the Lord creates them for a temporary purpose, for a particular self. The external world is created for all jīvas, for a sustained period. Vyāsa states this in the following sūtra, “The dream state is also a creation of the Lord, because scripture declares it as such” (sandhye sṛṣṭir āha hi, VS 3.2.1).

Here sandhyā (junction) means “dreams,” as indicated in Bṛhad-āraṇyaka Upaniṣad — sandhyaṁ tṛtīyaṁ svapnasthānam (BAU 4.3.9).

Another reason dreams are considered real is that they sometimes indicate pending events in reference to the waking state. Śrīmad Bhāgavatam describes that when Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma arrived in Mathurā, Kaṁsa detected bad omens while awake and in his dreams as well. These were indicative of his imminent death:

"He dreamt that he was being embraced by ghosts, riding a donkey and drinking poison, and also that a naked man smeared with oil was passing by, wearing a garland of nalada flowers. (SB 10.42.30)"

If dreams were unreal, they could not indicate a real incident. In the waking state, a person enjoys or suffers the results of his past karma; similarly, his dreams bring him suffering or enjoyment. Positive dreams are the result of good karma, and disturbing dreams, the result of bad karma. The Lord allocates the result of karma during our waking state. He does the same in our dream state.

The Advaitavāda philosophers hold that there is only one reality — the formless, attributeless, indivisible, non-variegated, impersonal Brahman — and they have various theories for explaining the apparent separate existence of the jīva and Īśvara.

The following two theories are most prevalent, and both have been expressed in several modified forms.

• pariccheda-vāda (the delimitation of Brahman)
• pratibimba-vāda (the reflection of Brahman)

- Tattva Sandarbha (Anuccheda 36)

The basic principle of the Bhāgavata Purāṇa as well as the Upaniṣads is that there is only one Absolute Reality. The world has appeared from that one Reality. So, in accordance with this Upaniṣadic view, there are two theories as to how the world is rooted in the Absolute. The vivarta-vāda theory holds that if the Absolute, called Brahman, were considered to be the constituent cause (upādāna-kāraṇa) that undergoes modification to give rise to the world, then Brahman Itself would be subject to modification, which is not acceptable to any school. So, the only alternative they could conceive of is vivarta-vāda, which in their view signifies that Brahman is qualityless and the world is unreal, a mere appearance in Brahman.

Śrī Jīva does not consent to this view. He reasons that the world is not unreal (mithyā), because it is non-distinct from its real source, Paramātmā. So, it is real but dissoluble, like a clay pot. It is, nevertheless, ever existent in the sense that it merely undergoes cycles of manifestation and non-manifestation in the form of creation and dissolution. Even during the state of dissolution, it exists still in unmanifest form, enfolded within Paramātmā. The cosmos is thus a modification (pariṇāma) of just one of the potencies of Paramātmā, called bahiraṅgā. He Himself remains unchanged by the modification of His energy. Śrī Jīva offers the traditional example of a philosopher’s stone (cintāmaṇi) that is supposed to transform iron into gold by its mere contact while at the same time remaining unmodified. Similarly, by His inscrutable power, Paramātmā remains immutable while impelling His māyā-śakti to manifest the cosmos. Being a potency of Paramātmā, the cosmos is nondifferent from Him, by the principle that potency is non distinct from its potent source.

Learn more: Beginningless Avidya—Coupled with Vidya

Ignorance has two functional capacities. The first operates in a negative or concealing capacity as the beginningless absence of awareness of Bhagavān and the self. The second, which is an out-come of the first, operates positively by projecting an erroneous self-concept.

The second is sometimes termed as avidyā (Yoga-sūtra2.3) or ajñāna (Gītā 5.15). As a consequence of these two functions of ignorance, the jīva, under the influence of māyā, finds its intentful regard directed away from Bhagavān, the Nondual Personal Absolute.

There are three states of buddhi, known as wakefulness, dreaming, and deep sleep. He who experiences these three states and presides over them is the individual self (SB 7.7.25).

These three states of buddhi are three upādhis of the pure self, according to which the self is assigned three designations, namely, viśva, taijasa, and prājña, respectively (Māṇḍūkya Upanisad3–5).

In the waking state, the jīva is aware of the gross body, and it quits one gross body to enter another without giving up the subtle body. Therefore, the jīva in waking state consciousness is called viśva (from √viś praveśane, “to enter”). Alternatively, it is called viśva because it is a witness to the viśva, or the external world.

When the jīva identifies with the subtle body, it is called taijasa, either because the subtle body is made up of the taijasa (fire) element, or because it is a witness to dreams, which are also said to be a product of tejas (taijasa-padārtha).

When the jīva identifies with avidyā, it is called prājña (pra-ajña) because in this state it perceives nothing and remains as pure consciousness.

Here it should be noted that although the states of viśva, taijasa, and prājña refer to the conditioning of the jīva in wakefulness, dreaming, and deep sleep, they ultimately indicate the Supreme Person.

While instructing Yudhiṣṭhira, Śrī Nārada describes the path called deva-yāna, adopted by those who have attained to the state of tranquility ,having abandoned all material identification. In this verse, he indicates that after dissolving the upādhis of viśva, taijasa, and prājña, one attains the fourth state (turīya), or in other words, the pure self (SB 7.15.54).

Learn more : The Nature of Absolute Nondual Reality

According to Advaitavāda, the one Brahman, cit, or caitanya, manifests in four ways by the influence of different upādhis.

These are called

1. pramātṛ-caitanya : the knower, or subject- consciousness;
2. pramāṇa-caitanya : the means of valid knowing, or cognitive-consciousness;
3. viṣaya-caitanya : the object of knowledge, or object-consciousness; and
4. phala-caitanya : the resultant valid knowledge of the object, or veridical percept consciousness

tathā hi ekam eva caitanyam upādhi-bhedāt catur-vidham — pramātṛ-caitanyaṁpramāṇa-caitanyaṁ viṣaya-caitanyaṁ phala-caitanyaṁ ceti. Tattvānusandhāna 2.30