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Does Advaita philosophy have an answer for that?
- Thread starter themo
- Start date
Why should the free, perfect, and pure being be thus under the thraldom of matter, is the next question. How can the perfect soul be deluded into the belief that it is imperfect? We have been told that the Hindus shirk the question and say that no such question can be there. Some thinkers want to answer it by positing one or more quasi-perfect beings, and use big scientific names to fill up the gap. But naming is not explaining. The question remains the same. How can the perfect become the quasi-perfect; how can the pure, the absolute, change even a microscopic particle of its nature? But the Hindu is sincere. He does not want to take shelter under sophistry. He is brave enough to face the question in a manly fashion; and his answer is: “I do not know. I do not know how the perfect being, the soul, came to think of itself as imperfect, as joined to and conditioned by matter." But the fact is a fact for all that. It is a fact in everybody's consciousness that one thinks of oneself as the body. The Hindu does not attempt to explain why one thinks one is the body. The answer that it is the will of God is no explanation. This is nothing more than what the Hindu says, "I do not know."
-Swami Vivekananda
Does that answer your question?
-Swami Vivekananda
Does that answer your question?
nameless
The Creator
he illusioned himself using his own power, he just wished for illusion and creation happened.
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According to Achintya BhedAbheda, many sastras make difference between jivatma and Paramatma. (They say Recognizing this difference is the crux of theistic Vedanta schools. They claim, monistic Vedanta has a problem to explain how can atma ever become illusioned by Maya when it's superior to Maya.)
Both are constitutionally complete but jivatma tends to become illusioned by Maya this is the beginning of jivatma's reincarnation - enjoyment of matter and gradual rediscovery of one's original position in relationship with Paramatma/Bhagavan, they say.
But as far as I can see, Advaitin answer is simply "I don`t know"
Advaita and Achintya BhedAbheda are not the same. Neither are they diametrically opposed as Advaita and Dvaita are. Achintya BhedAbheda is a compromise between the opposing schools of Advaita and Dvaita. My point was that there are things that are inconceivable to the human mind.
One possible explanation, according to Adi Shankaracharya for this merry-go-round of life, death, rebirth is that creation and experience is the play and recreation of God. It is God's nature to create, and to experience the material world He creates. This is pretty much strictly an Advaitin view, but if we are inconceivably one with and different from God, we are the part of God that is experiencing.
Advaita Vedanta - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
One possible explanation, according to Adi Shankaracharya for this merry-go-round of life, death, rebirth is that creation and experience is the play and recreation of God. It is God's nature to create, and to experience the material world He creates. This is pretty much strictly an Advaitin view, but if we are inconceivably one with and different from God, we are the part of God that is experiencing.
Advaita Vedanta - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
DreadFish
Cosmic Vagabond
And seeing as Shankara was the one who founded the philosophical school of Advaita Vedanta, then I would say that's the answer to the question.
Likewise, that is the view of the monistic schools of Shaivism.
It really does make sense to me. I'm somewhere between Advaita and VishishtAdvaita, but I lean towards VishishtAdvaita.
Oh yes? Did not know.
Hello themo,
Avidyaa consists of erroneous cognitions in the mind (ie superimpostion\conflation of subject and object) and is cancelled out by vritti-jnana (discriminatory knowledge revealed by vedanta), also in the mind. The substratum of knowledge (Atman/Brahman) which reveals both is not opposed to either, and nor is it affected by either.
The Atman is not deluded by Maya, it is the jiva, being a mixture of Atman and wrong knowledge, that appears to be deluded, in bondage, and needing moksha. Remember that Advaita employs various levels of teaching from relative\empirical standpoint and absolute standpoint. The jiva is in bondage at the empirical standpoint, not the absolute; moksha itself is not true absolutely, and neither is avidyaa- the Atman is ever free, never deluded, pure knowledge, and Brahman. The knowledge realized through vedanta (I am Brahman) cancels out the tripartite distinction of knower, means of knowledge, and the known; along with the notion of being an individual (jiva) deluded by Maya, caught in bondage and in need of freedom. What remains is the svarupa-jnana, the absolute standpoint only- there is only Brahman of the nature of existence-knowledge-bliss.
Understand that your question is simply not relevant to the Advaita view. The jiva is in bondage to Maya, and neither have independent existence of Brahman, which alone is absolutely real. Your question only applies to the empirical perspective of avidyaa! When avidyaa is cancelled through right knowledge, then there is no scope for such a question to arise, for there is nothing apart from the Atman by which it could become deluded or be superior to. Again, the Atman is not deluded by ignorance, for it is the revealer of ignorance; it is the revealer of both valid and erroneous cognitions, just as the Sun, though covered over by thick dark clouds, is the revealer of those very clouds!
Understand, also, that in Advaita creation itself is only spoken of from the empirical standpoint of ignorance; all concepts such as samsara, moksha, jivas, and sadhana are given by vedanta for the ignorant only, as aids to teach the real nature of the Self and the unity of Brahman- they are not meant to be taken in an absolutely real sense, and nor is there any scope for discussion of them after right knowledge has dawned. As Gaudapada has said, in summarising the whole teaching of Advaita;
You simply cannot ask such questions as 'how can perfect Atman be subject to illusions of Maya' of Advaitins, because Advaita does not state such a thing; Advaita does not admit a plurality of things such as an Atman, jivas, and Maya in any real (absolute) sense, because only Brahman is truly real, and it is one without a second. Furthermore, all such questions have validity only within the realm of duality and ignorance, and Advaita seeks to expound the knowledge of the non-dual only. These questions of your cannot be aimed at Advaita, because they do not apply from a non-dual standpoint, so they do not arise if Advaita is correctly understood. One should understand that Advaita is concerned only with what is absolutely real viz. Brahman; all other talk such as Maya, samsara and moksha are devices used to help remove erroneous knowledge which obstructs the view of the unity of the Self and Brahman. One cannot raise a valid objection against Advaita based upon misunderstanding or misrepresenting the Advaita view, whether consciously or unconsciously.
Hello DreadFish,
FYI, Shankara was not the founder of Advaita. His guru's guru, Gaudapada, is the first known historical proponent of Advaita, but both teachers make reference to a line of teachers of the 'true tradition' into the distant past- and the Upanishads themselves are the real foundation of the teaching, so it is safe to assume that Advaita was being taught long before Shankara.
Avidyaa consists of erroneous cognitions in the mind (ie superimpostion\conflation of subject and object) and is cancelled out by vritti-jnana (discriminatory knowledge revealed by vedanta), also in the mind. The substratum of knowledge (Atman/Brahman) which reveals both is not opposed to either, and nor is it affected by either.
The Atman is not deluded by Maya, it is the jiva, being a mixture of Atman and wrong knowledge, that appears to be deluded, in bondage, and needing moksha. Remember that Advaita employs various levels of teaching from relative\empirical standpoint and absolute standpoint. The jiva is in bondage at the empirical standpoint, not the absolute; moksha itself is not true absolutely, and neither is avidyaa- the Atman is ever free, never deluded, pure knowledge, and Brahman. The knowledge realized through vedanta (I am Brahman) cancels out the tripartite distinction of knower, means of knowledge, and the known; along with the notion of being an individual (jiva) deluded by Maya, caught in bondage and in need of freedom. What remains is the svarupa-jnana, the absolute standpoint only- there is only Brahman of the nature of existence-knowledge-bliss.
Understand that your question is simply not relevant to the Advaita view. The jiva is in bondage to Maya, and neither have independent existence of Brahman, which alone is absolutely real. Your question only applies to the empirical perspective of avidyaa! When avidyaa is cancelled through right knowledge, then there is no scope for such a question to arise, for there is nothing apart from the Atman by which it could become deluded or be superior to. Again, the Atman is not deluded by ignorance, for it is the revealer of ignorance; it is the revealer of both valid and erroneous cognitions, just as the Sun, though covered over by thick dark clouds, is the revealer of those very clouds!
Understand, also, that in Advaita creation itself is only spoken of from the empirical standpoint of ignorance; all concepts such as samsara, moksha, jivas, and sadhana are given by vedanta for the ignorant only, as aids to teach the real nature of the Self and the unity of Brahman- they are not meant to be taken in an absolutely real sense, and nor is there any scope for discussion of them after right knowledge has dawned. As Gaudapada has said, in summarising the whole teaching of Advaita;
GK(II.32)
You simply cannot ask such questions as 'how can perfect Atman be subject to illusions of Maya' of Advaitins, because Advaita does not state such a thing; Advaita does not admit a plurality of things such as an Atman, jivas, and Maya in any real (absolute) sense, because only Brahman is truly real, and it is one without a second. Furthermore, all such questions have validity only within the realm of duality and ignorance, and Advaita seeks to expound the knowledge of the non-dual only. These questions of your cannot be aimed at Advaita, because they do not apply from a non-dual standpoint, so they do not arise if Advaita is correctly understood. One should understand that Advaita is concerned only with what is absolutely real viz. Brahman; all other talk such as Maya, samsara and moksha are devices used to help remove erroneous knowledge which obstructs the view of the unity of the Self and Brahman. One cannot raise a valid objection against Advaita based upon misunderstanding or misrepresenting the Advaita view, whether consciously or unconsciously.
Hello DreadFish,
FYI, Shankara was not the founder of Advaita. His guru's guru, Gaudapada, is the first known historical proponent of Advaita, but both teachers make reference to a line of teachers of the 'true tradition' into the distant past- and the Upanishads themselves are the real foundation of the teaching, so it is safe to assume that Advaita was being taught long before Shankara.
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jg22, thanks for the answer. I really appreciated and that was the real answer to my question.
And that`s not about the thread and I know it`s possibly the hardest question to answer but why do we experience this relative world or if everything was perfect/Only Brahman in the beginning, how Avidyaa thus Jivas, reincarnations, the manifested universe...etc started? Is there any answer (even if it`s philosophical, theoretical or indirectly)?
Thanks.
And that`s not about the thread and I know it`s possibly the hardest question to answer but why do we experience this relative world or if everything was perfect/Only Brahman in the beginning, how Avidyaa thus Jivas, reincarnations, the manifested universe...etc started? Is there any answer (even if it`s philosophical, theoretical or indirectly)?
Thanks.
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dyanaprajna2011
Dharmapala
Hello themo,
Avidyaa consists of erroneous cognitions in the mind (ie superimpostion\conflation of subject and object) and is cancelled out by vritti-jnana (discriminatory knowledge revealed by vedanta), also in the mind. The substratum of knowledge (Atman/Brahman) which reveals both is not opposed to either, and nor is it affected by either.
The Atman is not deluded by Maya, it is the jiva, being a mixture of Atman and wrong knowledge, that appears to be deluded, in bondage, and needing moksha. Remember that Advaita employs various levels of teaching from relative\empirical standpoint and absolute standpoint. The jiva is in bondage at the empirical standpoint, not the absolute; moksha itself is not true absolutely, and neither is avidyaa- the Atman is ever free, never deluded, pure knowledge, and Brahman. The knowledge realized through vedanta (I am Brahman) cancels out the tripartite distinction of knower, means of knowledge, and the known; along with the notion of being an individual (jiva) deluded by Maya, caught in bondage and in need of freedom. What remains is the svarupa-jnana, the absolute standpoint only- there is only Brahman of the nature of existence-knowledge-bliss.
Understand that your question is simply not relevant to the Advaita view. The jiva is in bondage to Maya, and neither have independent existence of Brahman, which alone is absolutely real. Your question only applies to the empirical perspective of avidyaa! When avidyaa is cancelled through right knowledge, then there is no scope for such a question to arise, for there is nothing apart from the Atman by which it could become deluded or be superior to. Again, the Atman is not deluded by ignorance, for it is the revealer of ignorance; it is the revealer of both valid and erroneous cognitions, just as the Sun, though covered over by thick dark clouds, is the revealer of those very clouds!
Understand, also, that in Advaita creation itself is only spoken of from the empirical standpoint of ignorance; all concepts such as samsara, moksha, jivas, and sadhana are given by vedanta for the ignorant only, as aids to teach the real nature of the Self and the unity of Brahman- they are not meant to be taken in an absolutely real sense, and nor is there any scope for discussion of them after right knowledge has dawned. As Gaudapada has said, in summarising the whole teaching of Advaita;
GK(II.32)
Hello DreadFish,
FYI, Shankara was not the founder of Advaita. His guru's guru, Gaudapada, is the first known historical proponent of Advaita, but both teachers make reference to a line of teachers of the 'true tradition' into the distant past- and the Upanishads themselves are the real foundation of the teaching, so it is safe to assume that Advaita was being taught long before Shankara.
It amazes me that, the more I see of Advaita, the more I see it in kinship with Zen.
Hello themo,
Glad I can be of help! I added a little bit to the end of my last post just to clarify why questions pertaining to duality can't be aimed (exclusively) at Advaita.
From the Advaita view, notions such as creation/dissolution, transmigration and jivas are taught purely as instruction, and not because such things really happened/exist. Gaudapada was very staunchly against the notion of creation; there was no 'beginning' point at which the universe became manifest from Brahman- he explains that when the Upanishads speak of a beginning, they do so figuratively to teach that creation is dependent upon and non-different from Brahman (and therefore, only Brahman is real), and not that creation itself actually took place.
In Advaita, everything is always only Brahman. There is no point in linear time in which creation arose and then split itself off from Brahman; even now there is only Brahman in this very moment- the perfection is always as it is.
Shankara explains in the Brahma Sutra Bhasya that we experience the relative world because we are ignorant of the fact that the world is really nothing but Brahman only. The ignorance takes the form of adhyaasa- superimposition of the subject or seer (drk) with the object or seen (drishya). When the seer and the seen are conflated, then the Self appears to be identical to the body, or the mind, or some other form of limitation, and so the notion of being an individual knowing subject (jiva) arises, and therefore so too does relative experience. When, through discriminative enquiry, the superimposition is cancelled out through knowledge of the real nature of the jiva (ie the Atman), then all distinctions pertaining to relative experience that comprises the world (knower, means of knowledge, known) cease, and everything merges, through that knowledge, into the svarupa; Brahman, the one existence, without a second.
There are any number of answers and speculations that can be given for the creation of the universe etc; we could go with the scientific theories, the views of the dualists, or the no-creation view put forth by Gaudapada, but really none of the views are ultimately relevant to Advaita, since the intention is only to teach the unity and sole existence of Brahman/Atman; all else pertains to the relative empirical standpoint and is not the concern of Advaita.
Glad I can be of help! I added a little bit to the end of my last post just to clarify why questions pertaining to duality can't be aimed (exclusively) at Advaita.
From the Advaita view, notions such as creation/dissolution, transmigration and jivas are taught purely as instruction, and not because such things really happened/exist. Gaudapada was very staunchly against the notion of creation; there was no 'beginning' point at which the universe became manifest from Brahman- he explains that when the Upanishads speak of a beginning, they do so figuratively to teach that creation is dependent upon and non-different from Brahman (and therefore, only Brahman is real), and not that creation itself actually took place.
In Advaita, everything is always only Brahman. There is no point in linear time in which creation arose and then split itself off from Brahman; even now there is only Brahman in this very moment- the perfection is always as it is.
Shankara explains in the Brahma Sutra Bhasya that we experience the relative world because we are ignorant of the fact that the world is really nothing but Brahman only. The ignorance takes the form of adhyaasa- superimposition of the subject or seer (drk) with the object or seen (drishya). When the seer and the seen are conflated, then the Self appears to be identical to the body, or the mind, or some other form of limitation, and so the notion of being an individual knowing subject (jiva) arises, and therefore so too does relative experience. When, through discriminative enquiry, the superimposition is cancelled out through knowledge of the real nature of the jiva (ie the Atman), then all distinctions pertaining to relative experience that comprises the world (knower, means of knowledge, known) cease, and everything merges, through that knowledge, into the svarupa; Brahman, the one existence, without a second.
There are any number of answers and speculations that can be given for the creation of the universe etc; we could go with the scientific theories, the views of the dualists, or the no-creation view put forth by Gaudapada, but really none of the views are ultimately relevant to Advaita, since the intention is only to teach the unity and sole existence of Brahman/Atman; all else pertains to the relative empirical standpoint and is not the concern of Advaita.
DreadFish
Cosmic Vagabond
Hello DreadFish,
FYI, Shankara was not the founder of Advaita. His guru's guru, Gaudapada, is the first known historical proponent of Advaita, but both teachers make reference to a line of teachers of the 'true tradition' into the distant past- and the Upanishads themselves are the real foundation of the teaching, so it is safe to assume that Advaita was being taught long before Shankara.
Ah ok. Where does Shankara come in?
hello DreadFish,
Shankara is the most celebrated teacher in Advaita. His written works in the form of commentaries on the Upanishads, the Gita, the Brahma Sutras and many independent works leave a valuable, consistent and complete record of the Advaita teaching and methodology that hasn't been matched before or since. In his short life he travelled all over India propagating Advaita, challenging opponents, setting up monasteries, and generally revitalizing the deep streams of thought within the dharma. His impact is such that Advaita is still very popular today, and the monasteries he set up still thrive with an unbroken lineage right back to his own disciples. Perhaps with the exception of the Buddha, there is no name better known in Indian philosophy than Shankara.
Shankara is the most celebrated teacher in Advaita. His written works in the form of commentaries on the Upanishads, the Gita, the Brahma Sutras and many independent works leave a valuable, consistent and complete record of the Advaita teaching and methodology that hasn't been matched before or since. In his short life he travelled all over India propagating Advaita, challenging opponents, setting up monasteries, and generally revitalizing the deep streams of thought within the dharma. His impact is such that Advaita is still very popular today, and the monasteries he set up still thrive with an unbroken lineage right back to his own disciples. Perhaps with the exception of the Buddha, there is no name better known in Indian philosophy than Shankara.
DreadFish
Cosmic Vagabond
hello DreadFish,
Shankara is the most celebrated teacher in Advaita. His written works in the form of commentaries on the Upanishads, the Gita, the Brahma Sutras and many independent works leave a valuable, consistent and complete record of the Advaita teaching and methodology that hasn't been matched before or since. In his short life he travelled all over India propagating Advaita, challenging opponents, setting up monasteries, and generally revitalizing the deep streams of thought within the dharma. His impact is such that Advaita is still very popular today, and the monasteries he set up still thrive with an unbroken lineage right back to his own disciples. Perhaps with the exception of the Buddha, there is no name better known in Indian philosophy than Shankara.
Ah ok. Sorry it took me so long to respond, I didnt subscribe to the thread and forgot I posted
Glad to have you here, your posts are educated and respectful. I hope you stick around
sadhak
Member
Since i am illusioned by Maya i am unable to figure it out.
ratikala
Istha gosthi
dear prabhu,s
although I am not directly answering the advaita side of the question
to fully answer the atma question I can only suggest reading the Brahma Samhita ch5 ....hope it is of interest .....
BS 5.1: Krishna who is known as Govinda is the Supreme Godhead. He has an eternal blissful spiritual body. He is the origin of all. He has no other origin and He is the prime cause of all causes.
BS 5.2: [The spiritual place of transcendental pastimes of Krishna is portrayed in the second verse.] The superexcellent station of Krishna, which is known as Gokula, has thousands of petals and a corolla like that of a lotus sprouted from a part of His infinitary aspect, the whorl of the leaves being the actual abode of Krishna.
BS 5.3: The whorl of that transcendental lotus is the realm wherein dwells Krishna. It is a hexagonal figure, the abode of the indwelling predominated and predominating aspect of the Absolute. Like a diamond the central supporting figure of self-luminous Krishna stands as the transcendental source of all potencies. The holy name consisting of eighteen transcendental letters is manifested in a hexagonal figure with sixfold divisions.
BS 5.4: The whorl of that eternal realm Gokula is the hexagonal abode of Krishna. Its petals are the abodes of gopis who are part and parcel of Krishna to whom they are most lovingly devoted and are similar in essence. The petals shine beautifully like so many walls. The extended leaves of that lotus are the gardenlike dhama, i.e. spiritual abode of Sri Radhika, the most beloved of Krishna.
BS 5.5: [The surrounding external plane of Gokula is described in this verse.] There is a mysterious quadrangular place named Svetadvipa surrounding the outskirts of Gokula. Svetadvipa is divided into four parts on all sides. The abode of Vasudeva, Sankarshana, Pradyumna and Aniruddha are separately located in each of these four parts. These four divided abodes are enveloped by the fourfold human requirements such as piety, wealth, passion and liberation, as also by the four Vedas, viz., Rig, Sama, Yajur and Atharva, which deal with the mantra and which are the bases of achievements of the fourfold mundane requirements. Ten tridents are fixed in the ten directions, including the zenith and nadir. The eight directions are decorated with the eight jewels of Mahapadma, Padma, Sankha, Makara, Kacchapa, Mukunda, Kunda, and Nila. There are ten protectors [dik-palas] of the ten directions in the form of mantra. The associates of the hues of blue, yellow, red and white and the extraordinary potencies bearing the names of Vimala, etc., shine on all sides.
BS 5.6: The Lord of Gokula is the transcendental Supreme Godhead, the own Self of eternal ecstasies. He is the superior of all superiors and is busily engaged in the enjoyments of the transcendental realm and has no association with His mundane potency.
BS 5.7: Krishna never consorts with His illusory energy. Still her connection is not entirely cut off from the Absolute Truth. When He intends to create the material world the amorous pastime, in which He engages by consorting with His own spiritual [cit] potency Rama by casting His glance at the deluding energy in the shape of sending His time energy, is an auxiliary activity.
BS 5.8: [The secondary process of association with Maya is described.] Ramadevi, the spiritual [cit] potency, beloved consort of the Supreme Lord, is the regulatrix of all entities. The divine plenary portion of Krishna creates the mundane world. At creation there appears a divine halo of the nature of His own subjective portion [svamsa]. This halo is divine Sambhu, the masculine symbol or manifested emblem of the Supreme Lord. This halo is the dim twilight reflection of the supreme eternal effulgence. This masculine symbol is the subjective portion of divinity who functions as progenitor of the mundane world, subject to the supreme regulatrix [niyati]. The conceiving potency in regard to mundane creation makes her appearance out of the supreme regulatrix. She is Maya, the limited, nonabsolute [apara] potency, the symbol of mundane feminine productivity. The intercourse of these two brings forth the faculty of perverted cognition, the reflection of the seed of the procreative desire of the Supreme Lord.
BS 5.9: All offspring of the consort of the great lord [Mahesvara] of this mundane world are of the nature of the embodiment of the mundane masculine and feminine generative organs.
BS 5.10: The person embodying the material causal principle, viz., the great lord of this mundane world [Mahesvara] Samhhu, in the form of the male generating organ, is joined to his female consort the limited energy [Maya] as the efficient causal principle. The Lord of the world Maha-Vishnu is manifest in him by His subjective portion in the form of His glance.
BS 5.11: The Lord of the mundane world, Maha-Vishnu, possesses thousands of thousands of heads, eyes, hands. He is the source of thousands of thousands of avataras in His thousands of thousands of subjective portions. He is the creator of thousands of thousands of individual souls.
BS 5.12: The same Maha-Vishnu is spoken of by the name of "Narayana" in this mundane world. From that eternal person has sprung the vast expanse of water of the spiritual Causal Ocean. The subjective portion of Sankarshana who abides in paravyoma, the above supreme purusha with thousands of subjective portions, reposes in the state of divine sleep [yoga-nidra] in the waters of the spiritual Causal Ocean.
BS 5.13: The spiritual seeds of Sankarshana existing in the pores of skin of Maha-Vishnu, are born as so many golden sperms. These sperms are covered with five great elements.
although I am not directly answering the advaita side of the question
to fully answer the atma question I can only suggest reading the Brahma Samhita ch5 ....hope it is of interest .....
BS 5.1: Krishna who is known as Govinda is the Supreme Godhead. He has an eternal blissful spiritual body. He is the origin of all. He has no other origin and He is the prime cause of all causes.
BS 5.2: [The spiritual place of transcendental pastimes of Krishna is portrayed in the second verse.] The superexcellent station of Krishna, which is known as Gokula, has thousands of petals and a corolla like that of a lotus sprouted from a part of His infinitary aspect, the whorl of the leaves being the actual abode of Krishna.
BS 5.3: The whorl of that transcendental lotus is the realm wherein dwells Krishna. It is a hexagonal figure, the abode of the indwelling predominated and predominating aspect of the Absolute. Like a diamond the central supporting figure of self-luminous Krishna stands as the transcendental source of all potencies. The holy name consisting of eighteen transcendental letters is manifested in a hexagonal figure with sixfold divisions.
BS 5.4: The whorl of that eternal realm Gokula is the hexagonal abode of Krishna. Its petals are the abodes of gopis who are part and parcel of Krishna to whom they are most lovingly devoted and are similar in essence. The petals shine beautifully like so many walls. The extended leaves of that lotus are the gardenlike dhama, i.e. spiritual abode of Sri Radhika, the most beloved of Krishna.
BS 5.5: [The surrounding external plane of Gokula is described in this verse.] There is a mysterious quadrangular place named Svetadvipa surrounding the outskirts of Gokula. Svetadvipa is divided into four parts on all sides. The abode of Vasudeva, Sankarshana, Pradyumna and Aniruddha are separately located in each of these four parts. These four divided abodes are enveloped by the fourfold human requirements such as piety, wealth, passion and liberation, as also by the four Vedas, viz., Rig, Sama, Yajur and Atharva, which deal with the mantra and which are the bases of achievements of the fourfold mundane requirements. Ten tridents are fixed in the ten directions, including the zenith and nadir. The eight directions are decorated with the eight jewels of Mahapadma, Padma, Sankha, Makara, Kacchapa, Mukunda, Kunda, and Nila. There are ten protectors [dik-palas] of the ten directions in the form of mantra. The associates of the hues of blue, yellow, red and white and the extraordinary potencies bearing the names of Vimala, etc., shine on all sides.
BS 5.6: The Lord of Gokula is the transcendental Supreme Godhead, the own Self of eternal ecstasies. He is the superior of all superiors and is busily engaged in the enjoyments of the transcendental realm and has no association with His mundane potency.
BS 5.7: Krishna never consorts with His illusory energy. Still her connection is not entirely cut off from the Absolute Truth. When He intends to create the material world the amorous pastime, in which He engages by consorting with His own spiritual [cit] potency Rama by casting His glance at the deluding energy in the shape of sending His time energy, is an auxiliary activity.
BS 5.8: [The secondary process of association with Maya is described.] Ramadevi, the spiritual [cit] potency, beloved consort of the Supreme Lord, is the regulatrix of all entities. The divine plenary portion of Krishna creates the mundane world. At creation there appears a divine halo of the nature of His own subjective portion [svamsa]. This halo is divine Sambhu, the masculine symbol or manifested emblem of the Supreme Lord. This halo is the dim twilight reflection of the supreme eternal effulgence. This masculine symbol is the subjective portion of divinity who functions as progenitor of the mundane world, subject to the supreme regulatrix [niyati]. The conceiving potency in regard to mundane creation makes her appearance out of the supreme regulatrix. She is Maya, the limited, nonabsolute [apara] potency, the symbol of mundane feminine productivity. The intercourse of these two brings forth the faculty of perverted cognition, the reflection of the seed of the procreative desire of the Supreme Lord.
BS 5.9: All offspring of the consort of the great lord [Mahesvara] of this mundane world are of the nature of the embodiment of the mundane masculine and feminine generative organs.
BS 5.10: The person embodying the material causal principle, viz., the great lord of this mundane world [Mahesvara] Samhhu, in the form of the male generating organ, is joined to his female consort the limited energy [Maya] as the efficient causal principle. The Lord of the world Maha-Vishnu is manifest in him by His subjective portion in the form of His glance.
BS 5.11: The Lord of the mundane world, Maha-Vishnu, possesses thousands of thousands of heads, eyes, hands. He is the source of thousands of thousands of avataras in His thousands of thousands of subjective portions. He is the creator of thousands of thousands of individual souls.
BS 5.12: The same Maha-Vishnu is spoken of by the name of "Narayana" in this mundane world. From that eternal person has sprung the vast expanse of water of the spiritual Causal Ocean. The subjective portion of Sankarshana who abides in paravyoma, the above supreme purusha with thousands of subjective portions, reposes in the state of divine sleep [yoga-nidra] in the waters of the spiritual Causal Ocean.
BS 5.13: The spiritual seeds of Sankarshana existing in the pores of skin of Maha-Vishnu, are born as so many golden sperms. These sperms are covered with five great elements.
ratikala
Istha gosthi
BS 5.14: The same Maha-Vishnu entered into each universe as His own separate subjective portions. The divine portions, that entered into each universe are possessed of His majestic extension, i.e., they are the eternal universal soul Maha-Vishnu, possessing thousands of thousands of heads.
BS 5.15: The same Maha-Vishnu created Vishnu from His left limb, Brahma, the first progenitor of beings, from His right limb and, from the space between His two eyebrows, Sambhu, the divine masculine manifested halo.
BS 5.16: The function of Sambhu in relation to jivas is that this universe enshrining the mundane egotistic principle has originated from Sambhu.
BS 5.17: Thereupon the same great personal Godhead, assuming the threefold forms of Vishnu, Prajapati and Sambhu, entering into the mundane universe, plays the pastimes of preservation, creation and destruction of this world. This pastime is contained in the mundane world. Hence, it being perverted, the Supreme Lord, identical with Maha-Vishnu, prefers to consort with the goddess Yoganidra, the constituent of His own spiritual [cit] potency full of the ecstatic trance of eternal bliss appertaining to His own divine personality.
BS 5.18: When Vishnu lying in the ocean of milk wills to create this universe, a golden lotus springs from His navel-pit. The golden lotus with its stem is the abode of Brahma representing Brahmaloka or Satyaloka.
BS 5.19: Before their conglomeration the primary elements in their nascent state remained originally separate entities. Nonapplication of the conglomerating process is the cause of their separate existence. Divine Maha-Vishnu, primal Godhead, through association with His own spiritual [cit] potency, moved Maya and by the application of the conglomerating principle created those different entities in their state of cooperation. And alter that He Himself consorted with Yoganidra by way of His eternal dalliance with His spiritual [cit] potency.
BS 5.20: By conglomerating all those separate entities He manifested the innumerable mundane universes and Himself entered into the inmost recess of every extended conglomerate [virad-vigraha]. At that time those jivas who had lain dormant during the cataclysm were awakened.
BS 5.21: The same jiva is eternal and is for eternity and without a beginning joined to the Supreme Lord by the tie of an eternal kinship. He is transcendental spiritual potency.
BS 5.22: The divine lotus which springs from the navel-pit of Vishnu is in every way related by the spiritual tie with all souls and is the origin of four-faced Brahma versed in the four Vedas.
BS 5.23: On coming out of the lotus, Brahma, being guided by the divine potency tuned his mind to the act of creation under the impulse of previous impressions. But he could see nothing but darkness in every direction.
BS 5.24: Then the goddess of learning Sarasvati, the divine consort of the Supreme Lord, said thus to Brahma who saw nothing but gloom in all directions, "O Brahma, this mantra, viz., klim krishnaya govindaya gopi-jana-vallabhaya svaha, will assuredly fulfill your heart's desire."
BS 5.25: "O Brahma, do thou practice spiritual association by means of this mantra; then all your desires will be fulfilled."
BS 5.26: Brahma, being desirous of satisfying Govinda, practiced the cultural acts for Krishna in Goloka, Lord of Svetadvipa, for a long time. His meditation ran thus, "There exists a divine lotus of a thousand petals, augmented by millions of filaments, in the transcendental land of Goloka. On its whorl, there exists a great divine throne on which is seated Sri Krishna, the form of eternal effulgence of transcendental bliss, playing on His divine flute resonant with the divine sound, with His lotus mouth. He is worshiped by His amorous milkmaids with their respective subjective portions and extensions and also by His external energy [who stays outside] embodying all mundane qualities."
BS 5.27: Then Gayatri, mother of the Vedas, being made manifest, i.e. imparted, by the divine sound of the flute of Sri Krishna, entered into the lotus mouth of Brahma, born from himself, through his eight ear-holes. The lotus-born Brahma having received the Gayatri, sprung from the flute-song of Sri Krishna, attained the status of the twice-born, having been initiated by the supreme primal preceptor, Godhead Himself.
BS 5.28: Enlightened by the recollection of that Gayatri, embodying the three Vedas, Brahma became acquainted with the expanse of the ocean of truth. Then he worshiped Sri Krishna, the essence of all Vedas, with this hymn.
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BS 5.51: The three worlds are composed of the nine elements, viz., fire, earth, ether, water, air, direction, time, soul and mind. I adore the primeval Lord Govinda from whom they originate, in whom they exist and into whom they enter at the time of the universal cataclysm.
allthough excuse me this is slightly of the advaita question it gives a pre advaitin perspective .
BS 5.15: The same Maha-Vishnu created Vishnu from His left limb, Brahma, the first progenitor of beings, from His right limb and, from the space between His two eyebrows, Sambhu, the divine masculine manifested halo.
BS 5.16: The function of Sambhu in relation to jivas is that this universe enshrining the mundane egotistic principle has originated from Sambhu.
BS 5.17: Thereupon the same great personal Godhead, assuming the threefold forms of Vishnu, Prajapati and Sambhu, entering into the mundane universe, plays the pastimes of preservation, creation and destruction of this world. This pastime is contained in the mundane world. Hence, it being perverted, the Supreme Lord, identical with Maha-Vishnu, prefers to consort with the goddess Yoganidra, the constituent of His own spiritual [cit] potency full of the ecstatic trance of eternal bliss appertaining to His own divine personality.
BS 5.18: When Vishnu lying in the ocean of milk wills to create this universe, a golden lotus springs from His navel-pit. The golden lotus with its stem is the abode of Brahma representing Brahmaloka or Satyaloka.
BS 5.19: Before their conglomeration the primary elements in their nascent state remained originally separate entities. Nonapplication of the conglomerating process is the cause of their separate existence. Divine Maha-Vishnu, primal Godhead, through association with His own spiritual [cit] potency, moved Maya and by the application of the conglomerating principle created those different entities in their state of cooperation. And alter that He Himself consorted with Yoganidra by way of His eternal dalliance with His spiritual [cit] potency.
BS 5.20: By conglomerating all those separate entities He manifested the innumerable mundane universes and Himself entered into the inmost recess of every extended conglomerate [virad-vigraha]. At that time those jivas who had lain dormant during the cataclysm were awakened.
BS 5.21: The same jiva is eternal and is for eternity and without a beginning joined to the Supreme Lord by the tie of an eternal kinship. He is transcendental spiritual potency.
BS 5.22: The divine lotus which springs from the navel-pit of Vishnu is in every way related by the spiritual tie with all souls and is the origin of four-faced Brahma versed in the four Vedas.
BS 5.23: On coming out of the lotus, Brahma, being guided by the divine potency tuned his mind to the act of creation under the impulse of previous impressions. But he could see nothing but darkness in every direction.
BS 5.24: Then the goddess of learning Sarasvati, the divine consort of the Supreme Lord, said thus to Brahma who saw nothing but gloom in all directions, "O Brahma, this mantra, viz., klim krishnaya govindaya gopi-jana-vallabhaya svaha, will assuredly fulfill your heart's desire."
BS 5.25: "O Brahma, do thou practice spiritual association by means of this mantra; then all your desires will be fulfilled."
BS 5.26: Brahma, being desirous of satisfying Govinda, practiced the cultural acts for Krishna in Goloka, Lord of Svetadvipa, for a long time. His meditation ran thus, "There exists a divine lotus of a thousand petals, augmented by millions of filaments, in the transcendental land of Goloka. On its whorl, there exists a great divine throne on which is seated Sri Krishna, the form of eternal effulgence of transcendental bliss, playing on His divine flute resonant with the divine sound, with His lotus mouth. He is worshiped by His amorous milkmaids with their respective subjective portions and extensions and also by His external energy [who stays outside] embodying all mundane qualities."
BS 5.27: Then Gayatri, mother of the Vedas, being made manifest, i.e. imparted, by the divine sound of the flute of Sri Krishna, entered into the lotus mouth of Brahma, born from himself, through his eight ear-holes. The lotus-born Brahma having received the Gayatri, sprung from the flute-song of Sri Krishna, attained the status of the twice-born, having been initiated by the supreme primal preceptor, Godhead Himself.
BS 5.28: Enlightened by the recollection of that Gayatri, embodying the three Vedas, Brahma became acquainted with the expanse of the ocean of truth. Then he worshiped Sri Krishna, the essence of all Vedas, with this hymn.
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BS 5.51: The three worlds are composed of the nine elements, viz., fire, earth, ether, water, air, direction, time, soul and mind. I adore the primeval Lord Govinda from whom they originate, in whom they exist and into whom they enter at the time of the universal cataclysm.
allthough excuse me this is slightly of the advaita question it gives a pre advaitin perspective .