Śrīmad Bhāgavata 1.2.11

Synonyms

[The following verse is spoken in anticipation of the question, “And what is that Absolute Reality that is to be inquired into?” (kiṁ tat-tattvaṁ yaj-jijñāsitavyam ity apekṣāyām āha).³⁸]; tattva-vidaḥ — those who have directly realized the Absolute Reality; vadanti — declare; tat [eva³⁹] — that [alone]; yat — which [is]; advayam — nondual; jñānam — consciousness [being of the form of consciousness alone (cid-eka-rūpam)⁴⁰]; tattvam — [to be] the Absolute Reality; [here by the word “nondual,” the theory that consciousness is but momentary is being denied (advayam iti kṣaṇika-jñāna-pakṣaṁ vyāvarttayati);⁴¹ moreover, the tattva’s nonduality (advayatvam) implies that It is self-existent (svayaṁ siddhaḥ), being utterly bereft of any other similar or dissimilar reality (tādṛśātādṛśa-tattvāntarābhāvāt);⁴² here implying that the tattva is devoid of the three types of duality (bheda-rahitam) — namely, sajātīya, vijātīya, and svagata⁴³]; śabdyate — [that Reality (tattva)] is denoted; brahma iti — as Brahman [when realized as consciousness alone devoid of Its inherent characteristics in the form of Its diverse potencies (śakti-varga-lakṣaṇa-tad-dharmātiriktaṁ kevalaṁ jñānam)]; paramātmā iti — as Paramātmā [when realized as the Immanent Self endowed with a profusion of the extrinsic potency and with Its conscious integrated portions in the form of the jīvas (antaryāmitvamaya-māyā-śakti-pracura cic-chakty-aṁśa-viśiṣṭam)]; bhagavān iti — [and] as Bhagavān [when realized as the Complete Absolute, intrin-
sically self-endowed with all potencies to the fullest degree of completion (paripūrṇa-sarva-śakti-viśiṣṭam)].

Those who have directly realized the Absolute Reality declare that alone which is nondual consciousness to be the Absolute Reality (tattva). That Reality is denoted as Brahman, as Paramātmā, and as Bhagavān.

Notes

38Giridhara.↩

39Śrīdhara Svāmī.↩

40Unless otherwise indicated, this and the remaining bracketed insert in verse 11 are Jīva Gosvāmī’s comments.↩

41Śrīdhara Svāmī.↩

42Jīva Gosvāmī.↩

43Giridhara. The meaning of his comment is as follows. In Vedānta philosophy, the nondual Reality (advaya-tattva) is defined as that which is devoid of three categories of bheda, or duality. If two existents (vastus) are each self-existent (svayam-siddha) and independent of each other (anya-nirapekṣa), then a distinction (bheda) is said to be upheld between them. Thus a multiplicity of existents implies duality, which can be of three categories: sajātīya, involving a plurality of existents belonging to the same category of being, here meaning the jīvas, who are conscious like Bhagavān; vijātīya, involving a plurality of existents belonging to a different category of being, here meaning māyā and its evolutes, which are unconscious; and svagata, involving a plurality of existents that stem from or belong to the tattva’s own essential constitution, or svarūpa, here meaning the expansions of Bhagavān, His direct associates, and the spiritual domain. Since, however, none of these categories of being exist independent of the tattva self-disclosed as Svayaṁ Bhagavān, and since they are all dependent on each other in some capacity, absolute distinction between them (ātyantika-bheda) is denied. Moreover, because all these existents are nothing but manifestations of the various potencies of one and the same nondual Reality, the tattva is devoid of duality, being that alone which exists in, as, and along with Its various potencies. This is integral nonduality, or the transrational accommodation of distinction within the nondual whole (acintya-bhedābheda).↩

SB 1.2.11

Synonyms

Translation

Raise a Query

No questions yet