Madhya-lila, Chapter 25
TEXT 49
yei grantha-karta cahe sva-mata sthapite
sastrera sahaja artha nahe tanha haite
TRANSLATION
"Anyone who wants to establish his own opinion or philosophy
certainly cannot explain any scripture according to the principle of
direct interpretation.
TEXT 50
mimamsaka kahe -- isvara haya karmera anga
sankhya kahe -- jagatera prakrti karana-prasanga
TRANSLATION
"The Mimamsaka philosophers conclude that if there is a God, He is
subjected to our fruitive activities. Similarly, the Sankhya philosophers
who analyze the cosmic manifestation say that the cause of the cosmos is
material nature.
TEXT 51
nyaya kahe -- paramanu haite visva haya
mayavadi nirvisesa-brahme hetu kaya
TRANSLATION
"The followers of nyaya, the philosophy of logic, maintain that the
atom is the cause of the cosmic manifestation, and the Mayavadi
philosophers maintain that the impersonal Brahman effulgence is the cause
of the cosmic manifestation.
TEXT 52
patanjala kahe -- isvara haya svarupa-jnana
veda-mate kahe tanre svayam-bhagavan
TRANSLATION
"The Patanjala philosophers say that when one is self-realized, he
understands the Lord. Similarly, according to the Vedas and Vedic
principles, the original cause is the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
TEXT 53
chayera chaya mata vyasa kaila avartana
sei saba sutra lana vedanta-varnana
TRANSLATION
"After studying the six philosophical theses, Vyasadeva completely
summarized them all in the codes of Vedanta philosophy.
TEXT 54
vedanta-mate -- brahma sakara nirupana
nirguna vyatireke tinho haya ta saguna
TRANSLATION
"According to Vedanta philosophy, the Absolute Truth is a person.
When the word nirguna [without qualities] is used, it is to be understood
that the Lord has attributes that are totally spiritual.
TEXT 55
parama karana isvara keha nahi mane
sva-sva-mata sthape para-matera khandane
TRANSLATION
"Of the philosophers mentioned, none really cares for the Supreme
Personality of Godhead, the cause of all causes. They are always busy
refuting the philosophical theories of others and establishing their own.
TEXT 56
tate chaya darsana haite tattva nahi jani
mahajana yei kahe sei satya mani
TRANSLATION
"By studying the six philosophical theories, one cannot reach the
Absolute Truth. It is therefore our duty to follow the path of the
mahajanas, the authorities. Whatever they say should be accepted as the
supreme truth.
PURPORT
In his Amrta-pravaha-bhasya, Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura gives the
following summary of the six philosophical porcesses. Prakasananda
admitted that Sripada Sankaracarya, being very eager to establish his
philosophy of monism, took shelter of the Vedanta philosophy and tried to
explain it in his own way. The fact is, however, that if one accepts the
existence of God, he certainly cannot establish the theory of monism. For
this reason Sankaracarya refuted all kinds of Vedic literature that
establishes the supremacy of the Personality of Godhead. In various ways,
Sankaracarya has tried to refute Vedic literature. Throughout the world,
ninety-nine percent of the philosophers following in the footsteps of
Sankaracarya refuse to accept the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Instead
they try to establish their own opinions. It is typical of mundane
philosophers to want to establish their own opinions and refute those of
others. Therefore: (1) The Mimamsaka philosophers, following the
principles of Jaimini, stres s fruitive activity and say that if there is
a God, He must be under the laws of fruitive activity. In other words, if
one performs his duties very nicely in the material world, God is obliged
to give one the desired result. According to these philosoph ers, there is
no need to become a devotee of God. If one strictly follows moral
principles, one will be recognized by the Lord, who will give the desired
reward. Such philosophers do not accept the Vedic principle of
bhakti-yoga. Instead, they give stre ss to following one s prescribed
duty. (2) Atheistic Sankhya philosophers like Kapila analyze the material
elements very scrutinizingly and thereby come to the conclusion that
material nature is the cause of everything. They do not accept the
Supreme Pe rsonality of Godhead as the cause of all causes. (3) Nyaya
philosophers like Gautama and Kanada have accepted a combination of atoms
as the original cause of the creation. (4) Mayavadi philosophers say that
everything is an illusion. Headed by philosoph ers like Astavakra, they
stress the impersonal Brahman effulgence as the cause of everything. (5)
Philosophers following the precepts of Patanjali practice raja-yoga. They
imagine a form of the Absolute Truth within many forms. That is their
process of self-realization.
All five of these philosophies completely reject the predominance
of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and stive to establish their own
philosophical theories. However, Srila Vyasadeva wrote the Vedanta-sutra
and, taking the essence of all Vedic liter ature, established the
supremacy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. All five of the
philosophers mentioned above understand that impersonal Brahman is without
material qualities, and they believe that when the Personality of Godhead
appears, He is con taminated and covered by the material qualities. The
technical term used is saguna. They say, "saguna Brahman" and "nirguna
Brahman". Nirguna Brahman means impersonal, and saguna Brahman means
"accepting material contamination." More or less, this kind of
philosophical speculation is called Mayavada philosophy. The fact is,
however, that the Absolute Truth has nothing to do with material qualities
because He is transcendental. He is always complete with full spiritual
qualities. The five philosopher s mentioned above do not accept Lord
Visnu as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but they are very busy
refuting the philosophy of other schools. There are six kinds of
philosophical processes in India. Vecause Vyasadeva is the Vedic
authority, he is kn own as Vedavyasa. His philosophical explanation of
the Vedanta-sutra is accepted by the devotees. As Krsna confirms in
Bhagavad-gita (15.15):
sarvasya caham hrdi sannivisto
mattah smrtir jnanam apohanam ca
vadais ca sarvair aham eva vedyo
vedanta-krd veda-vid eva caham
"I am seated in everyone s heart, and from Me come remembrance,
knowledge and forgetfulness. By all the Vedas, I am to be known; indeed,
I am the compiler of Vedanta, and I am the knower of the Vedas."
The ultimate goal of studying all Vedic literature is the
acceptance of Krsna as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This Krsna
consciousness movement is propagating the philosophical conclusion of
Srila Vyasadeva and following other great acaryas like Ramanujacarya,
Madhvacarya, Visnusvami, Nimbarka and Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu Himself.
TEXT 57
tarko pratisthah srutayo vibhinna
nasav rsir yasya matam na bhinnam
dharmasya tattvam nihitam guhayam
mahajano yena gatah sa panthah
TRANSLATION
"Dry arguments are inconclusive. A great personality whose opinion
does not differ from others is not considered a great sage. Simply by
studying the Vedas, which are variegated, one cannot come to the right
path by which religious principles are under stood. The solid truth of
religious principles is hidden in the heart of an unadulterated
self-realized person. Consequently, as the sastras confirm, one should
accept whatever progressive path the mahajanas advocate.
PURPORT
This is a verse spoken by Yudhisthira Maharaja in the Mahabharata,
Vana-parva (313.117).
TEXT 58
sri-krsna-caitanya-vani -- amrtera dhara
tinho ye kahaye vastu sei tattva -- sara
TRANSLATION
"The words of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu are a shower of nectar.
Whatever He concludes to be the ultimate truth is indeed the summum bonum
of all spiritual knowledge."
TEXT 92
tanra sutrera artha kona jiva nahi jane
ataeva apane sutrartha kariyache vyakhyane
TRANSLATION
"The purpose of the Vedanta-sutra is very difficult for an ordinary
person to understand, but Vyasadeva, out of his causeless mercy, has
personally explained the meaning.
TEXT 93
yei sutra-karta, se yadi karaye vyakhyana
tabe sutrera mula artha lokera haya jnana
TRANSLATION
"If the Vedanta-sutra is explained by Vyasadeva himself, who has
written it, its original meaning can be understood by the people in
general.
TEXT 94
pranavera yei artha, gayatrite se haya
sei artha catuh-slokite vivariya kaya
TRANSLATION
"The meaning of the sound vibration omkara is present in the
Gayatri mantra. The same is elaborately explained in the four slokas of
Srimad-Bhagavatam known as catuh-sloki.
TEXT 95
brahmare isvara catuh-sloki ye kahila
brahma narade sei upadesa kaila
TRANSLATION
"Whatever was spoken by the Supreme Personality of Godhead to Lord
Brahma in the four verses of Srimad-Bhagavatam, was also explained to
Narada by Lord Brahma.
TEXT 96
narada sei artha vyasere kahila
suni veda-vyasa mane vicara karila
TRANSLATION
"Whatever Lord Brahma told Narada Muni was again explained by
Narada Muni to Vyasadeva. Vyasadeva later considered these instructions
in his mind.
TEXT 97
ei artha -- amara sutrera vyakhyanurupa
bhagavata klariba sutrera bhasya-svarupa
TRANSLATION
"Srila Vyasadeva considered that whatever he had received from
Narada Muni as an explanation of omkara he would elaborately explain in
his book Srimad-Bhagavatam as a commentary on Brahma-sutra.
TEXT 98
cari-veda-upanisade yata kichu haya
tara artha lana vyas karila sancaya
TRANSLATION
"Vyasadeva collected whatever Vedic conclusions were in the four
Vedas and 108 Upanisads and placed them in the codes of the
Vedanta-sutra.
TEXT 99
yei sutre yei rk -- visay-vacana
bhagavate sei rk sloke nibandhana
TRANSLATION
"In Vedanta-sutra, the purpose of all Vedic knowledge is explained,
and in Srimad-Bhagavatam the same purpose has been explained in eighteen
thousand verses.
TEXT 100
ataeva brahma-sutrera bhasya -- sr-bhagavata
bhagavata-sloka upanisat kahe eka mata
TRANSLATION
"That which is explained in the verses of Srimad-Bhagavatam and in
the Upanisads serves the same purpose.
TEXT 34
sruti-purana kahe -- krsnera cic-chakti-vilasa
taha nahi mani pandita kare upahasa
TRANSLATION
"Vedic literatures, the Upanisads, the Brahma-sutra and the Puranas
all describe the activities of the spiritual potency of the Lord. If one
cannot accept the personal activities of the Lord, he jokes foolishly and
gives an impersonal description.
TEXT 35
cid-ananda krsna-vigraha mayika kari mani
ei bada papa -- satya caitanyera vani
TRANSLATION
"The Mayavadis do not recognize the personal form of the Lord as
spiritual and full of bliss. This is a great sin. Sri Caitanya
Mahaprabhu s statements are actually factual.
PURPORT
Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu s movement especially aims at defeating
the Mayavada conclusion about the Absolute Truth. Since the memebers of
the Mayavada school cannot understand the spiritual form of the Lord, they
incorrectly think the Lord s form is also made of material energy. They
think that He is covered by a material body just like other living beings.
Due to this offensive understanding, they cannot recognize that Sri
Krsna s personal form is transcendental, not material. Their conclusion
is a g reat offense at the lotus feet of the Lord. As explained by Sri
Caitanya Mahaprabhu, Sri Krsna has His eternal, blissful form that is full
of knowledge, and all Vaisnava acaryas accept this. That is the proper
understanding of the Absolute Truth.
TEXT 41
sutrera parinama-vada taha na maniya
vivarta-vada sthape vyasa bhranta baliya
TRANSLATION
"Not accepting the transformation of energy, Sripada Sankaracarya
has tried to establish the theory of illusion under the plea that
Vyasadeva has made a mistake."
Adi-lila, Chapter 7
TEXT 106
prabhu kahe, vedanta-sutra isvara-vacana
vyasa-rupe kaila yaha sri-narayana
PURPORT
Srila Vyasadeva, the powerful incarnation of Narayana, compiled
Vedanta-sutra, and in order to protect it from unauthorized commentaries,
he personally composed Srimad-Bhagavatam on the instruction of his
spiritual master, Narada Muni, as athe original c ommentary on
Vedanta-sutra. Besides Srimad-Bhagavatam, there are commentaries on the
Vedanta-sutra composed by all the major Vaisnava acaryas, and in each of
them devotional service to the Lord is described very explicitly. Only
those who follow Sankara s commentary have described Vedanta-sutra in an
impersonal way, without reference to Visnu-bhakti, or devotional service
to the Lord, Visnu. Generally people very much appreciate this
Sariraka-bhasya or impersonal description of the Vedanta-sutra, but a ll
commentaries which are devoid of devotional service to Lord Visnu must be
considered to differ in purpose from the original Vedanta-sutra. In other
words, Lord Caitanya definitely confirmed that the commentaries or bhasyas
written by the Vaisnava acar yas on the basis of devotional service to
Lord Visnu, and not the Sariraka-bhasya of Sankaracarya, give the actual
explanation of Vedanta-sutra.
TEXT 110
tanhara nahika dosa isvara-ajna pana
gaunartha karila mukhya artha acchadiya
TRANSLATION
"Sankaracarya is not at fault, for he has thus covered the real
purpose of the Vedas under the order of the Supreme Personality of
Godhead.
PURPORT
The purpose of the discussion in the Upanisads and Vedanta-sutra
is to philosopically establish the personal feature of the Aboslute Truth.
The impersonalists, however, in order to establish their philosophy,
accept these discussions in terms of laksana -vrtti, or indirect meanings.
Thus instead of being tattva-vada, or in search of the Absolute Truth,
they become Mayavada, or illusioned by the material energy. When Sri
Visnusvami, one of the four acaryas of the Vaisnava cult, presented his
thesis on the subject matter of suddhadvaita-vada, immediately the
Mayavadis took advantage of this philosophy and tried to establish their
advaita-vada or kevaladvaita-vada. To defeat this kevaladvaita-vada Sri
Ramanujacarya presented his philosophy as visistadva ita-vada, and Sri
Madhvacarya presented his philosophy of tattva-vada, both of which are
stumbling blocks to the Mayavadis because they defeat their philosophy in
scrupulous detail. Students of Vedic philosophy know very well how
strongly Sri Ramanujacary a s visistadvaita-vada and Sri Madhvacarya s
tattva-vada contest the impersonal Mayavada philosophy. Sri Caitanya
Mahaprabhu, however, accepted the direct meaning of the Vedanta philosophy
and thus defeated the Mayavada philosophy immediately. He opined i n this
connection that anyone who follows the principles of the Sariraka-bhasya
is doomed.
https://vaniquotes.org/wiki/Category:Sri_Caitanya-caritamrta,_Madhya-lila_Chapter_25_-_How_All_the_Residents_of_Varanasi_Became_Vaisnavas
https://vanisource.org/wiki/Category:Sri_Caitanya-caritamrta_-_Madhya-lila_Chapter_25
