upapadyate cābhyupalabhyate ca
upapadyate cābhyupalabhyate ca |
(Vedānta-sūtra: 2.1.36)
“That [i.e., partiality on the part of Brahman in the form of favoring bhaktas] is also established, and is also observable.”
Upaniṣads
na karmāvibhāgād iti cen nānāditvāt
na karmāvibhāgād iti cen nānāditvāt |
(Vedānta-sūtra: 2.1.35)
“‘No, [Brahman cannot be said to be free from partiality or cruelty just by making reference to karma] because of the non-distinction of karma [from Brahman prior to the emanation of the universe].’ If this [objection is raised], [then to that it is said] no, [karma is not simply undivided prior to the emanation of the universe] because of [karma’s] being beginningless [i.e., because of karma’s becoming recurrently distinguished from Brahman in each successive emanation of the universe in accord with its state at the end of each previous emanation of the universe in a perpetual cycle without beginning].”
so’yam upadeśo buddhy-arthaḥ
so’yam upadeśo buddhy-arthaḥ | sarvatra tadīyatva-jñānārthaḥ pādavat | pādo’sya viśvā bhūtāni ity atra yathā viśvasya bhagavat-pādatvopadeśas tadvat | evaṁ hi dveṣa-nihīnaṁ manas tat-pravaṇaṁ bhavati | na caivaṁ rāga-prāptir nihīnatva-buddher bādhakatvāt |
(Govinda-bhāṣya on Vedānta-sūtra: 3.2.34)
“This teaching [i.e., the teaching Chāndogya Upaniṣad 3.14.1, ‘All of this is verily Brahman’ (sarvaṁ khalv idaṁ Brahma)] is for the sake of understanding, that is, for the sake of awareness of belongingness to him (tadīyatva) in everything, like [his] foot, that is, as there is a teaching of the universe’s being the foot of Bhagavān here [in Ṛg-veda 10.90.3], ‘The existent universes are his foot.’ In this way completely free from enmity, the mind becomes intent upon him [i.e., on Bhagavān]. Also in this way [i.e., also by means of the aforementioned teaching that everything belongs to him] an occurrence of attachment (rāga) [to the universe in which one is situated, or anything within it] does not occur because of the annulling of that by understanding of the utter inferiority [of sāṁsārika existence and everything within it in comparison to Śrī Bhagavān himself].”
yadā paśyaḥ paśyate rukma-varṇaṁ
yadā paśyaḥ paśyate rukma-varṇaṁ
kartāram īśaṁ puruṣaṁ brahma-yonim |
tadā vidvān puṇya-pāpe vidhūya
nirañjanaḥ paramaṁ sāmyam upaiti ||
(Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad: 3.1.3; cited in Paramātma Sandarbha: 37; Laghu Vaiṣṇava-toṣaṇī-ṭīkā on Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.87.17; Govinda-bhāṣya on VS: 1.2.23, 1.3.2; Sāraṅga-raṅgadā-ṭīkā on Laghu Bhāgavatāmṛta: 1.1.2)
“When a seer sees the golden-complexioned Maker, Īśa, the Puruṣa, the Source of Brahman, then that wise one casts away virtue and sin, and attains taintless, supreme likeness (sāmya) [to the Puruṣa].”
anena jīvenātmanā’ iti tadīyoktāv idantā-nirdeśena tato
‘anena jīvenātmanā’ iti tadīyoktāv idantā-nirdeśena tato bhinnatve’py ātmatā-nirdeśena tad-ātmāṁśa-viśeṣatvena labdhasya bādarāyaṇa-samādhi-dṛṣṭa-yukter atyabhinnatā-rahitasya jīvātmano yad ekatvaṁ ‘tat tvam asi’ ity ādau jñātā, tad-aṁśa-bhūta-cid-rūpatvena samānākāratā | … yathā janma-prabhṛti kaścid gṛha-guhāvaruddhaḥ sūryaṁ vividiṣuḥ kathañcid gavākṣa-patitaṁ sūryāṁśu-kaṇaṁ darśayitvā kenacid upadiśyate ‘eṣa saḥ’ iti | etat tad-aṁśa-jyotiḥ-samānākāratayā tan-mahā-jyotir-maṇḍalam anusandhīyatām ity arthaḥ, tadvaj jīvasya tathā tad-aṁśatvaṁ ca tac-chakti-viśeṣa-siddhatvenaiva paramātma-sandarbhe sthāpayiṣyāmaḥ |
(Tattva Sandarbha: 52)
“The oneness (ekatva) [with the Para-tattva] which is known [from the statement in Chāndogya Upaniṣad 6.8.7], ‘You are that’ (tat tvam asi) of the jīvātma, who is not possessed of extreme non-distinctness (atyabhinnatā) [from the Para-tattva] as per the reason seen in the samādhi of Bādarāyaṇa [i.e., Śrī Vyāsadeva in SB 1.7.5] and [who] is apprehended as being a particular part (aṁśa) of his [i.e., the Para-tattva’s] self (ātmā) as per the designation of selfness (ātmatā) [in regard to the jīvātmā on the part of the Para-tattva] even while being distinct from him [i.e., from the Para-tattva] as per the designation of ‘this-ness’ (idantā) [in regard to the jīvātmā] in the statement [in Chāndogya Upaniṣad 6.3.2] of his [i.e., of the Para-tattva], ‘Entering [the realm of prakṛti] with this jīva-self (ātmā) [i.e., with this distinct entity known as the jīva who is a part of my self], I shall manifest names and forms,’ is being of the same constitution [lit., ‘form’] (samānākāratā) on account of [the jīvātmā’s] being an entity the form of which is consciousness that is an existent part (aṁśa) of him [i.e., of the Para-tattva; meaning, the oneness of the jīva with the Para-tattva is on account of the jīva being a part (aṁśa) of the Para-tattva that is conscious in constitution just as the Para-tattva is]. … As someone confined, beginning from birth, within a cavern in a house who wishes to know the sun, after having been shown a particle-ray of the sun that has somehow fallen through an air hole [into the cavern], is instructed by someone, ‘This is that [i.e., ‘This light you see here is the sun’], meaning, ‘Because of this [i.e., this sun-ray that you have seen] having the same constitution of light [as the sun] on account of [its] being a part (aṁśa) of that [i.e., of the sun], a vast orb of that light is to be conceived [i.e., you can acquire an understanding of what the sun is by imagining a vast orb made up of a huge number of the rays of light you see here], so [i.e., in a manner akin to the aforementioned method of instruction] we shall establish in Paramātma Sandarbha (18–46) the jīva’s similarly being a part (aṁśa) of him [i.e., of the Para-tattva] on account of [the jīva’s] being existent (siddha) as a particular śakti of his.”
śrutau ca jīvo nāmāto’nyaḥ svayaṁ siddho nāsti
śrutau ca jīvo nāmāto’nyaḥ svayaṁ siddho nāsti, parantu tad-ātmaka evety arthaḥ |
(Bhagavat Sandarbha: 19)
“In the Śruti also [i.e., in the statement in Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad: 3.7.23, ‘There is no seer other than him [i.e., than the Para-tattva]’ (nānyo’to’sti draṣṭā), it is shown that], the jīva definitively is not another [entity] self-existent (svayaṁ siddha) apart from him, and rather, is verily constituted of him. This is the meaning.”
nṛṣu tava māyayā bhramam amīṣv avagatya bhṛśaṁ
nṛṣu tava māyayā bhramam amīṣv avagatya bhṛśaṁ
tvayi sudhiyo’bhave dadhati bhāvam anuprabhavam |
katham anuvartatāṁ bhava-bhayaṁ tava yad bhrū-kuṭiḥ
sṛjati muhus trinemir abhavac-charaṇeṣu bhayam ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 10.87.32)
[Translated according to Śrī Śrīdhara Svāmīpāda’s commentary:] “Understanding the ignorance as a consequence of your māyā among these human beings wherefrom repeated birth ensues, the wise foster bhāva [i.e., render service] profusely for you, Non-existence [i.e., you who are the cause of liberation from material existence]. How could your followers have any distress on account of [material] existence, since the furrowing of your brows—time (trinemi)—creates distress perpetually for those who are not in your shelter?”
nikhila-śruti-mauli-ratna-mālā
nikhila-śruti-mauli-ratna-mālā-
dyuti-nīrājita-pāda-paṅkajānta |
api mukta-kulair upāsyamānaṁ
paritas tvāṁ hari-nāma saṁśrayāmi ||
(Stava-mālā: Nāmāṣṭaka, 1)
“O you the tips of whose lotus feet are worshiped by the radiances of the jewel-necklaces of the foremost of the Śrutis! O name of Hari! In all respects, I take shelter fully in you, who are worshiped even by the liberated.”
kartā śāstrārthavattvāt
kartā śāstrārthavattvāt |
(Vedānta-sūtra: 2.3.31)
“[The jīva is] A doer because of śāstra being possessed of meaning.”
tathāpi saṅgaḥ parivarjanīyo
tathāpi saṅgaḥ parivarjanīyo
guṇeṣu māyā-raciteṣu tāvat |
mad-bhakti-yogena dṛḍhena yāvad
rajo nirasyeta manaḥ-kaṣāyaḥ ||
yathāmayo’sādhu cikitsito nṛṇāṁ
punaḥ punaḥ santudati prarohan |
evaṁ mano’pakva-kaṣāya-karma
kuyoginaṁ vidhyati sarva-saṅgam ||
kuyogino ye vihitāntarāyair
manuṣya-bhūtais tridaśopasṛṣṭaiḥ |
te prāktanābhyāsa-balena bhūyo
yuñjanti yogaṁ na tu karma-tantram ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 11.28.27–28)
“[Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa:] Nevertheless [i.e., even though brahman is not influenced by the guṇas or the ahaṅkāra], association with the guṇas [i.e., objects of the senses] fabricated by māyā is to be avoided so long as the impurity in the mind—passion (rajas)—is not removed by means of steadfast bhakti-yoga to me. As an improperly treated disease of people again and again crops up and causes trouble, so a mind with unburnt [i.e., undestroyed] impurities and actions that retains attachment to everything thwarts an immature yogī. One who remains an immature yogī [thwarted] because of ordained obstacles existent in the form of human beings sent by the devas, again [i.e., in another birth] by the strength of previous practice engages in yoga, and not rather, in a multitude of karma.”