Brahma Samhita 5.40

[Natalí Stibb]

Dharmarefers to that which is contained or subsumed in another, while dharmī refers to that which contains or subsumes the other. In the case of water in a glass, the glass is the dharmī and the water is the dharma. Śrī Jīva establishes that the relation between Brahman and Bhagavān is of dharma-dharmī in a series of Anucchedas culminating in Anuchheda 93 of the Bhagavat Sandarbha. The dharma-dharmī relation can be in any of the following senses, which Śrī Jīva demonstrates in his analysis.

Here, Bhagavān refers to Brahman as His glory, which suggests that Brahman is a quality of Bhagavān. This is similar to how sweetness is a quality of sugar. A quality does not further possess qualities; only objects (vastu) have qualities. This is why Brahman does not have qualities, as it is a quality of Bhagavān!

I worship Govinda, the Original Person, whose effulgence is the nondifferentiated, unlimited, all-pervading Brahman, distinct from the infinity of glories of the mundane universe, containing planets such as the Earth. (Brahma-saṁhitā 5.40)

O Lord, the universal egg, everything inside it, its ten coverings, the three guṇas, the unmanifest primordial nature (pradhāna), the conscious beings (puruṣa), the supreme destination (paraṁ padam) and Parabrahman, which lies behind the beyond, are all Your opulences.

Śrī Jīva cites several such verses in Anuchheda 92 and the following Anuchhedas. His analysis is very exhaustive and is difficult to refute. The scriptures, particularly the Bhāgavatam, underscore the point that Bhagavān is beyond Brahman. Thus the thesis of the advaitavādis mentioned at the beginning of this article can be safely dismissed.

The constitution of Brahman is immortality, imperishability, eternity, and happiness. Brahman is the beginning of transcendental realization. Paramatma, the Supersoul, is the middle, the second stage in transcendental realization, and the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the ultimate realization of the Absolute Truth. Therefore, both Paramatma and the impersonal Brahman are within the Supreme Person. It is explained in the Seventh Chapter that material nature is the manifestation of the inferior energy of the Supreme Lord.

The Lord impregnates the inferior, material nature with fragments of the superior nature, and that is the spiritual touch in the material nature. When a living entity conditioned by this material nature begins the cultivation of spiritual knowledge, he elevates himself from the position of material existence and gradually rises up to the Brahman conception of the Supreme. This attainment of the Brahman conception of life is the first stage in self-realization. At this stage the Brahman-realized person is transcendental to the material position, but he is not actually perfect in Brahman realization. If he wants, he can continue to stay in the Brahman position and then gradually rise up to Paramatma realization and then to the realization of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. There are many examples of this in Vedic literature. The four Kumaras were situated first in the impersonal Brahman conception of truth, but then they gradually rose to the platform of devotional service. One who cannot elevate himself beyond the impersonal conception of Brahman runs the risk of falling down. In Srimad-Bhagavatam it is stated that although a person may rise to the stage of impersonal Brahman, without going further, with no information of the Supreme Person, his intelligence is not perfectly clear.

Devotional service to the Lord is very simple: one should always engage in the service of the Lord, should eat the remnants of foodstuffs offered to the Deity, smell the flowers offered to the lotus feet of the Lord, see the places where the Lord had His transcendental pastimes, read of the different activities of the Lord, His reciprocation of love with His devotees, chant always the transcendental vibration Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare, and observe the fasting days commemorating the appearances and disappearances of the Lord and His devotees. By following such a process one becomes completely detached from all material activities. One who can thus situate himself in the brahmajyoti or the different varieties of the Brahman conception is equal to the Supreme Personality of Godhead in quality.

I serve the Supreme Personality of Godhead Govinda, the primeval Lord, whose transcendental bodily effulgence, known as the brahmajyoti, which is unlimited, unfathomed and all-pervasive, is the cause of the creation of unlimited numbers of planets, etc., with varieties of climates and specific conditions of life. Brahma Samhita 5.40

You will be thoroughly advised and favored by Me, and because of your inquiries, everything about My glories, which are known as param brahma, will be manifest within your heart. Thus you will know everything about Me. SB 8.24.38

Here the reason is revealed by Lord Krishna for what He proclaimed in the previous verse. That He, Himself is the pratistha or source of the brahman in concentrated form. In the same way the sun is concentrated light. Likewise He is imperishable, immortal and eternal. He is dharma or the eternal religious principles which are the means to moksa or liberation from material existence and freedom from samsara the perpetual cycle of birth and death. The Supreme Lord Krishna is the ultimate embodiment of pure, absolute, transcendental ananda or bliss. As His devotees only desire association with Him, they inevitably attain His nature and association with Him.

So in conclusion the Supreme Lord Krishna has declared that the ocean of samsara results from the three gunas or modes of material nature which are all subservient to Him. The ocean referred to is in the form of the 43,200,000 or 43 million and 200 thousand lifetimes in one day of Brahma that all all jivas or embodied beings who have not achieved moksa are subjected to before partial dissolution of creation dissolves them back into pradhana or the cosmic absolute. In this chapter the Supreme Lord Himself has confirmed that His devotees easily cross over this ocean due to their excluisve devotion unto Him.

In this verse the brahman or spiritual substrtatum pervading all existence refers to Sri Laxsmi, the goddess of fortune. This is what is being clarified by the words brahmano hi. As one attains Sri Laxsmi one attains the Supreme Lord as she is never separated from Him. So by her grace one attains the immortal, eternal, imperishable state of the Lord Krishna. The word aikantikanye means the ultimate and denotes the happiness one experiences in communion with the Supreme Lord. Thus the manner of attaining Him has been explained.

Lord Krishna now gives the evidence why bhakti yoga or exclusive loving devotion to Him is the panacea for transcending the three gunas or modes of material nature and qualify to become elligible for the state of the brahman or spiritual substratum pervading all existence and attain Him. It is because He is the abode of the brahman which is the effulgence of His inconceivable spiritual form and which is a manifestation of His attributes such as being eternal, imperishable, immortal with attributes characterised by moksa or liberation, ananda or never ending bliss and omniscience. Because the Supreme Lord possesses all these, His devotees who worship Him attaining Him easily transcend the three gunas.

In conclusion the jiva or embodied being by attraction of the senses to the gunas becomes emershed and entrapped in samsara the perpetual cycle of birth and death. By engaging in bhakti yoga one is released from samsara and awarded moksa or freedom from material existence. In this chapter Lord Krishna the bestower of benevolence onto His devotees, out of compassion instructed the science of transcending the three modes of material nature.

[Srila Narayana Maharaja was in Houston for a few days, from May 11 to May 17, 2006. On Sunday May 14, he spoke on a very popular radio station there. His talk was given in Hindi, and upon his request the Hindi transcription will appear in the magazine called Gaudiya Patrika. His Hindi talk was translated into English by Sripad Visnudasa Adhikari, and the English transcription is as follows:]

Today, I am telling something about advaitavada and mayavada. In the modern day, some people think that the real meaning of the Vedanta-sutra is the advaitavada or mayavada* [see endnote 1], as preached by Sripad Sankaracarya. Sankaracarya's commentary is called Sariraka-bhasya* [See endnote 2], and many people think that the philosophy expounded by him is the real meaning of the Vedanta-sutra (or Brahma-sutra)* [See endnote 3]. They think that his commentary is the authentic commentary of Vedanta-sutra, and that the other commentaries are not authoritative at all. However, this is a misconception.

Srila Vyasadeva, the compiler of the original Veda, divided the Vedas into four parts according to their subject matter.* [See endnote 4]. Then, to reconcile the apparent differences between the mantras of the different Vedas and to show that there is no conflict between them, he composed the Brahma-sutra (or Vedanta-sutra). Then, since the Brahma-sutra was difficult to understand for the ordinary people, he composed the Puranas. He composed the Puranas and the Mahabharata, the 5th Veda, for the women and the less intelligent people, to make them easily understand the difficult message of the Vedanta-sutra.

Still, Srila Vyasadeva's mind was very disturbed; he was not happy. At that time, Sri Narada Rsi came to his asrama and said, "You have described dharma (religion), artha (economic development), kama (sense gratification) and moksa (liberation), but you have not described the sweet pastimes of the Supreme Lord. It is for this reason that your mind is disturbed and you are not happy. By samadhi-yoga* [see endnote 5] you should meditate on the pastimes of the Lord, and then you should describe them."

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