Preface

The Bhāgavata Purāṇa is entirely unique in the philosophical domain in that it propounds “integral nonduality,” or what in certain respects could even be referred to as “post-nondualism.” Integral nonduality implies a transcendentally qualified nondual Existent (aprākṛta-viśiṣṭa-advitīya-vastu) that is both consciousness and conscious (caitanya-svarūpa), that is of the nature of being, consciousness, and bliss (sat-cit-ānanda), and that integrates within Itself the potencies (śaktis) that are intrinsic to Its own essential being. Integral nonduality is thus rooted in the recognition of the transrational simultaneous distinction and nondistinction (acintya-bheda-abheda) that exists between potency (śakti) and potent source (śaktimān).

“Post-nondualism,” in the sense intended, would refer to a view of Ultimate Reality (tattva) in which nondual consciousness (advaya-jñāna) is itself only the ground of the tattva’s own self-disclosure. Whereas nondualism in general holds that this self-disclosure must of necessity be devoid of all qualification (nirviśeṣa), post-nondualism posits a view of the nondual Absolute that transcends the mere negation of all material qualification (prākṛta-viśeṣa)—the negation of material form, knowledge, will, and action. The disclosure of the nondual tattva as devoid of all qualification, a state of being which is merely the tattva’s outermost countenance, conceals Its own intrinsic nondual interiority. Post-nondualism would imply an approach to the Absolute that accommodates the disclosure of this mysterious interiority, as non-dual consciousness reveals the transcendental qualification (aprākṛta-viśeṣa) that lies behind the screen of Its own unqualified nondual being (nirviśeṣa-advitīyatva).

By insisting a priori that nondual Reality be absolutely devoid of qualification, the seer or practitioner becomes predisposed to perceive and realize It correspondingly, either as consciousness alone (jñāna-mātrā), as in Radical Vedānta, or as emptiness (śūnyatā), as in Mahāyāna Buddhism. The denial of all material qualification (prākṛta-viśeṣa), however, is insufficient grounds for the denial of transcendental qualification (aprākṛta-viśeṣa), which is categorically distinct from the former. From its very opening verse, the Bhāgavata Purāṇa makes it known that the Ultimate Reality (satyaṁ param) that it propounds is self-disclosed through meditational absorption (dhīmahi) as intrinsically endowed with Its own nondual interiority, revealing what lies behind the veil of unqualified nondual being.

If Ultimate Reality were devoid of all qualification in the absolute sense (ātyantika-nirviśeṣa)—which would necessitate Its being devoid of all potency (śakti)—It could never be the source of the evolution, sustenance, and dissolution of the cosmos, as clearly advocated in the opening verse of Śrīmad Bhāgavata and the second sūtra of Brahma-sūtra. Moreover, if pursued to its limit, the logical implication of this theory would mean that there could never be a cosmos at all or living beings to inhabit it. Being radically unqualified, the Absolute would have neither the will nor the potency to create and no materials with which to do so, since all of these come under the heading of the Absolute’s qualification (viśeṣa), which is denied as having any ontological reality.

Consequently, the Reality to be investigated and realized in and through the study of the Bhāgavata is one that is intrinsically self-endowed with the varieties of potencies and qualities mentioned succinctly in the opening verse, such as omniscience, omnipotence, and absolute or independent existence. This complete Reality is then specified in the second verse as the one and only ontologically real existent (vāstavaṁ vastu). Thus, everything that exists, be it conscious or inert, is understood as but a manifestation of the Absolute’s diverse potencies, one with and yet distinct from It. That this Reality is transcendentally qualified further implies that in Its own constitutional essence (svarūpa), It is not only of the nature of being (sat) and consciousness (cit), but also of the nature of supreme bliss (ānanda). As such, It is the direct embodiment of aesthetic relish (rasa), meaning that It is both the relisher of rasa and that which enables the experience of rasa in others.

For this reason, in the third verse, Vyāsa invites the connoisseurs of rasa to drink the ambrosial nectar of Śrīmad Bhāgavata continuously up to the point of liberation and beyond. This implies that transcendental affect (bhāva), or divine love (prema), includes and transcends both unalloyed being (sat) and nondual consciousness itself (cit). To simply exist, or even to be consciousness alone (jñāna-mātra), devoid of all feeling tone and of the variety of experiential possibilities implicit within the complete Absolute’s own essential nature, is to limit the range of the perfected state to a cognitive structure—an infinite yet circumscribed band out of the entire spectrum of nondual being. With this understanding, divine love is reassessed not as a lower order transpersonal development rooted in the duality of lover and beloved, but as the highest completion of the nondual state, one that transcends the limits imposed by a radically unqualified Absolute.

Thus in the opening three verses of Śrīmad Bhāgavata, we are briefly acquainted with the nature of the nondual Absolute to be investigated, the means of Its realization (through meditational or devotional absorption, dhīmahi), and the end state to be attained (rasa or prema). These three foundational topics, referred to respectively as sambandha, abhidheya, and prayojana, are elaborated throughout the text. From the very outset, the reader is thus invited to set aside all preconceived and limiting ideas about the Absolute and to allow for Its own disclosure through the self-revealing nature of the śabda (or logos, in the sense of “that which is directly disclosed in the course of being spoken of, heard, and reflected upon”).

Then in the second chapter, the Bhāgavata makes evident in one of the defining verses of the entire text (SB 1.2.11) that the Reality (tattva) it propounds is nondual consciousness (advaya-jñāna) and that this is the common experience of all those who have directly intuited this Reality (tattva-vit). This is to say once again that nondual consciousness is both the ground of Its own disclosure and the lowest common denominator of the liberated state of existence in all its possible varieties.

That this one nondual consciousness is differently disclosed is made evident in the second half of the verse, which states that the same tattva is realized by some as unqualified nondual being (Brahman), by others as the Supreme Immanence (Paramātmā), and by still others as the transcendent and complete Absolute endowed with limitless potencies in Its own essential nature (Bhagavān).

If understood in its broadest or universal application, this verse validates all of the various self-disclosures of the tattva that are propounded in the world’s authentic wisdom traditions while still accounting for their differences. One and the same nondual Absolute is self-disclosed to different seers in accordance with the core disposition of their surrender. Moreover, any one valid self-disclosure can neither limit the scope of the Absolute nor deny validity to Its other authentic disclosures. On this basis, the immediate apperception of the tattva, either as radically unqualified (nirviśeṣa) or as essentially empty (śūnya), in no way negates Its being transcendentally qualified (aprākṛta-viśeṣa) or essentially full (pūrṇa). Rather, such immediate apperceptions of the tattva serve only to confirm Its self-revealing nature and the fact that It discloses Itself utterly impartially, in the manner anticipated and sought by the seeker or the path. In this respect, the tattva is sometimes compared to a wish-fulfilling tree (kalpa-taru) or to a transcendental thought-gem (cintāmaṇi). This also indirectly suggests the inextricable relation that exists between the theoretical knowledge of the Absolute propounded in any given tradition, the practices recommended to realize the Absolute thus defined, and the liberated end state propounded by the path. Once again, this is a reference to the three topics of sambandha, abhidheya, and prayojana.

These three topics, as understood in the Bhāgavata tradition, are made explicit in Chapter Seven in the samādhi of Vyāsa, which encapsulates the essence of the Bhāgavata as a whole. Since Vyāsa is the first seer and the revealer of the Bhāgavata, the Reality (tattva) that was disclosed to him in samādhi forms the core revelation of the text. In the state of transcognitive awareness, Vyāsa saw the complete Absolute (puruṣaṁ pūrṇam) as self-endowed with Its different categories of potency (śakti), the living beings (jīvas) as bound by the deluding potency (māyā), the means of their deliverance through nondual devotion (ananya-bhakti), and divine love (prema) as the end state to be attained.

Thus, Vyāsa’s samādhi holds the key to understanding the Bhāgavata’s essential import. Moreover, Vyāsa’s own example illustrates that the Reality to be investigated through the text is meant to be directly realized in the state of transcendental awareness made possible by the Absolute’s own self-revealing potency of unalloyed devotion. This is to say that the samādhi vision enabled by Śrīmad Bhāgavata must be brought forth into life. This, in essence, is what the introspective readers are entreated to experience for themselves through the study and assimilation of Śrīmad Bhāgavata.

Navadvipa Dasa