naiva vācā na manasā prāptuṁ śakyo na cakṣuṣā |
astīti bruvato’nyatra kathaṁ tad-upalabhyate ||
(Kaṭha Upaniṣad: 2.3.12)
“He [i.e., the Supreme Puruṣa] is attainable neither by speech, nor by the mind, nor by the eye. How can he be realized other than by one who says, ‘He is’ [i.e., who first of all has śraddhā in his existence]?”
ye’bhyarthitām api ca no nṛ-gatiṁ prapannā
jñānaṁ ca tattva-viṣayaṁ saha-dharma yatra |
nārādhanaṁ bhagavato vitaranty amuṣya
sammohitā vitatayā bata māyayā te ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 3.15.24; cited in Bhakti Sandarbha: 108)
[Brahmā to Maitreya:] “Bata! (Alas!) Even those who have attained a human state [i.e., life] wherein jñāna (awareness) relating to Tattva along with dharma are present, which is sought by us [i.e., by Brahmā and the other devas], but do not offer worship to Bhagavān [i.e., he who is source of all dharma and all jñāna] are thoroughly bewildered by his all-pervading māyā.”
satye pratiṣṭhitaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ satyam atra pratiṣṭhitam |
satyāt satyaṁ ca govindas tasmāt satyo hi nāmataḥ ||
(Mahābhārata: 5.70.12; cited in Bhagavat Sandarbha: 58; Kṛṣṇa Sandarbha: 82)
“Kṛṣṇa is fixed in truth, and truth is fixed in him. Govinda is the truth beyond truth [alt., beyond Satyaloka], and thus by name he is [known as] Satya (Truth).”
idaṁ bhagavatā pūrvaṁ brahmaṇe nābhi-paṅkaje |
sthitāya bhava-bhītāya kāruṇyāt samprakāśitam ||
ādi-madhyāvasāneṣu vairāgyākhyāna-saṁyutam |
hari-līlā-kathā-vrātāmṛtānandita-sat-suram ||
sarva-vedānta-sāraṁ yad brahmātmaikatva-lakṣaṇam |
vastv advitīyaṁ tan-niṣṭhaṁ kaivalyaika-prayojanam ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 12.13.10–12)
“At the beginning, middle, and end replete with narrations productive of non-attachment (vairāgya); filled with the amṛta of discussion of Hari’s līlā by which the sādhu suras [i.e., Hari’s bhaktas, or, the self-satisfied (ātmārāmas)] become blissful; focused on that non-dual Reality (advitīya Vastu) which is the essence of the entire Vedānta [i.e., of the Upaniṣads] and has the characteristic of oneness of [i.e., the characteristic of non-excessive non-difference between] the ātmā with Brahman; and possessed of the singular aim of kaivalya [i.e., purity, meaning, pure bhakti, Bhagavat-prema, or, direct perception of Supreme Entity]—this [i.e., Śrīmad Bhāgavatam] was previously manifested in full [i.e., taught] out of compassion by Bhagavān [i.e., Śrī Kṛṣṇa] to Brahmā, who was situated on the navel-lotus [of Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu] and frightened of material existence.”
yo vā etad akṣaraṁ gārgy aviditvāsmāl lokāt praiti sa kṛpaṇaḥ |
(Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad: 3.8.10; cited in Bhakti Sandarbha: 62)
“[Yājñavalkya:] O Gārgī, one who departs this world without knowing the Absolute is indeed wretched [alt., pitiable, lowly].”
vaṁśī-vibhūṣita-karān nava-nīradābhāt
pītāmbarād aruṇa-bimba-phalādharauṣṭhāt |
pūrṇendu-sundara-mukhād aravinda-netrāt
kṛṣṇāt paraṁ kim api tattvam ahaṁ na jāne ||
(Gītā-gūḍhārtha-dīpikā on Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā: 15.20; cited in the Sārārtha-varṣiṇī-ṭīkā on Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā: 15.18)
“His hands adorned with the flute,
His luster like that of a fresh cloud,
His garments bright yellow,
His lower lip red like a bimba fruit,
His face beautiful like the full moon,
His eyes like lotuses,
I know of no entity of any kind higher than Kṛṣṇa.”
yasya brahmeti saṁjñāṁ kvacid api nigame yāti cin-mātra-sattāpy
aṁśo yasyāṁśakaiḥ svair vibhavati vaśayann eva māyāṁ pumāṁś ca |
ekaṁ yasyaiva rūpaṁ vilasati parama-vyomni nārāyaṇākhyaṁ
sa śrī-kṛṣṇo vidhattāṁ svayam iha bhagavān prema tat-pāda-bhājām ||
(Tattva Sandarbha: 8)
“He whose existence purely as consciousness is called Brahman in parts of the Vedas, whose expansion the Puruṣa [i.e., Mahāviṣṇu] controls māyā [i.e., the material energy] and manifests as his own sub-expansions, and whose particular form known as Nārāyaṇa enjoys in Paravyoma [lit., ‘the higher sky,’ i.e., the spiritual world]—may [he,] Śrī Kṛṣṇa, Svayaṁ Bhagavān, bestow prema upon the servants of his feet here [i.e., in this world].”
īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ |
anādir ādir govindaḥ sarva-kāraṇa-kāraṇam ||
(Brahma-saṁhitā: 5.1)
“The Controller, the Supreme Being, Kṛṣṇa, is the embodiment of eternal being, consciousness, and bliss, the origin without origin, Govinda, and the cause of all causes.”
yatra nānyat paśyati, nānyac chṛṇoti, nānyad vijānāti, sa bhūmā | atha yatrānyat paśyati, anyac chṛṇoti, anyad vijānāti, tad alpam| yo vai bhūmā tad amṛtam| atha yad alpaṁ tan martyam | sa bhagavaḥ kasmin pratiṣṭhita iti, sve mahimni, yadi vā, na mahimnīti ||
(Chāndogya Upaniṣad: 7.24.1)
[Sanat Kumāra:] “That wherein one sees nothing else, hears nothing else, and knows [i.e., finds] nothing else is the infinite, whereas that wherein one sees something else, hears something else, and knows something else is the finite. That which is infinite is immortal, whereas that which is finite is mortal.”
[Nārada:] “O venerable one, in what is the infinite situated?”
[Sanat Kumāra:] “In its own greatness, and yet not in [its own] greatness [since it depends on nothing apart from itself].”
jīvākhya-samaṣṭi-śakti-viśiṣṭasya parama-tattvasya khalv aṁśa eko jīvaḥ | sa ca tejo-maṇḍalasya bahiścara-raśmi-paramāṇur iva parama-cid-eka-rasasya tasya bahiścara-cit-paramāṇuḥ | tatra tasya vyāpakatvāt tad-ekadeśatvam eva jīve syāt | nirākāratayā tad-ekadeśatvaṁ na viruddham | tathāpi bahiścaratvaṁ tad-āśrayitvāt | taj-jñānābhāvāt chāyayā raśmivat māyayābhibhāvyatvāc ca bahiścaratvaṁ vyapadiśyate | raśmi-sthānīyatvaṁ ca tad-vyatirekād vyatirekitayā yas tad-āśrayi-bhāvaḥ | yā ca pūrva-yuktyā bahiścaratve’py eka-vastutva-śrutis tad-ādibhir gamyate | raśmi-sthānīyatvaṁ ca tad-vyatirekād vyatirekitayā yas tad-āśrayi-bhāvaḥ | yā ca pūrva-yuktyā bahiścaratve’py eka-vastutva-śrutis tad-ādibhir gamyate | śaktitvaṁ ca tad-rūpatayaiva tadīya-līlopakaraṇatvāt | aṇutvaṁ ca śabdāt hari-candana-binduvat tasya prabhāva-lakṣaṇa-guṇenaiva sarva-deha-vyāpteḥ | sarvaṁ caitat paramasyācintya-śaktimayatvād aviruddham iti pūrvaṁ dṛḍhīkṛtam asti, ‘śrutes tu śabda-mūlatvāt’ iti nyāyena, ‘eka-deśa-sthitasyāgner’ ity ādinā ca |
(Prīti Sandarbha: 5)
“A single jīva is just a part (aṁśa) of the Supreme Entity (Parama-tattva), who is possessed of the collective potency (samaṣṭi-śakti) known as jīva [viz., the jīva-śakti, i.e., each jīva is one of innumerable other jīvas, all of whom are constituted of the Supreme Entity’s potency that collectively constitutes all these jīvas and is known as the ‘jīva-śakti’]. That [i.e., one jīva], furthermore, like an outdwelling, minute particle in a ray of the sun, is an outdwelling minute particle of consciousness (cit) of that [i.e., of the Supreme Entity] who is constituted of one substance, [viz.,] supreme consciousness (cit). In this regard, because of its [i.e., the Supreme Entity’s] being all-pervading, only a localization (ekadeśatva) of it can exist in a jīva [i.e., because the Supreme Entity is all-pervading and an all-pervading entity cannot be contained in full within a minute entity, the Supreme Entity in its entirety cannot exist in a jīva, and thus only a localization of it does]. [Moreover,] Because of [its, i.e., the Supreme Entity’s] being formless, its localization is not contradictory [i.e., a localized manifestation of the Supreme Entity existing within each minute jīva is not contrary to the Supreme Entity’s characteristic of being all-pervasive because the Supreme Entity exists all-pervasively without form, that is, without any gross or otherwise delimited form]. Even so [i.e., even though the Supreme Entity pervades the jīva], the outdwellingness [of the jīva to the Supreme Entity, i.e., the jīva’s existing outside the the Supreme Entity’s own primary existence, that is, the Supreme Entity’s own unique, intrinsic constitution] exists because of [the jīva’s] being dependent on it [i.e., on the Supreme Entity]. The outdwellingness [of the jīva in relation to the Supreme Entity] is also designated because of the [jīva’s] absence of awareness of it [i.e., the Supreme Entity], and because of [the jīva’s] being subject to being overpowered by māyā like a ray [is subject to being overpowered] by shadow [i.e., as a ray of the sun can be overpowered by shadow but the sun itself cannot be, so the jīva can be overpowered by māyā but the Supreme Entity cannot be even though the jīva is a part (aṁśa) of the Supreme Entity just as a minute particle in a ray of the sun is a part of the sun].
“The [jīva’s] comparability to a ray, furthermore, is [the jīva’s] being a dependent on it [i.e., on the Supreme Entity] because of [the jīva’s] being an apparent non-existent (vyatirekī) as a result of it’s [i.e., the Supreme Entity’s] apparent non-existence (vyatireka) [i.e., just as rays of the sun disappear when the sun sets but don’t cease to exist, so the jīvas become apparently non-existent when the Supreme Entity becomes apparently non-existent during the cyclic period of universal dissolution; both the jīvas and the Supreme Entity then remain existent until they become apparently existent again during the next cycle of universal emanation]. And although there is outdwellingness [of the jīva] according to the prior [i.e., aforesaid] reasoning, the Śruti [i.e., declaration in the śāstra] of one existentness (eka-vastutva) [i.e., of there being really only one existent, viz., the Supreme Entity, upon whom everything that is manifest is dependent for its existence] is understood through that and others [i.e., through that statement in the Śruti-śāstra and statements in other śāstras, e.g., Śrīmad Bhāgavatam].
“[The jīva’s] Being a potency (śakti) [of the Supreme Entity] is [understood] because of [the jīva’s] being an instrument for its [i.e., the Supreme Entity’s] līlā by virtue of [the jīva’s] being of that nature [i.e., by virtue of the jīva’s being outdwelling to the Supreme Entity while also being ontologically one with it as a dependent part of it]. [The jīva’s] Minuteness [i.e., infinitesimality], further, is [understood] because of śabda [i.e., by means of statements heard in śāstra] on account of its pervasion of the entire body [that it is enveloped in] solely by means of its quality of influence just like a drop of yellow sandal [i.e., just as a drop of yellow sandalwood paste applied to the forehead can create a feeling of coolness throughout the entire body solely by means of its quality of being cooling and without actually being present throughout the entire body, so the jīva, which is infinitesimal in measure and not actually present throughout the entire body, can pervade the entire body by means of its quality of being able to influence the entire body]. All of this, furthermore, is not contradictory because of the Supreme’s being constituted of inconceivable potency (acintya-śakti). Such was affirmed previously [e.g., in KS 106] by the principle [stated in VS 2.1.27], ‘It is because of Śruti [i.e., because of the statements in the śāstra, that Brahman is understood to not be subject to modification or limitation] on account of śabda’s [i.e., śabda-pramāṇa’s] being the source [of valid knowledge of Brahman],’ and by [the statement in VP 1.22.56], ‘As the light of a fire situated in one place is pervasive [of the area around it], so the potency (śakti) of the Supreme Brahman is this entire universe [i.e., so the śakti of Parabrahman is manifest all-pervasively in the form of this material universe].’”
