This work, while inspired by Baladeva Vidyabhūṣana’s Govinda-bhāṣya, is not a formal commentary on Vedānta. There are many works in that genre already extant, but in our experience they do little to help the readers address the real problems of life. After all, in today’s world very few people care about the esoteric interpretations of the Vedic Upaniṣads. Rather, this work is an attempt to apply the principles of Vedāntic thought to the universal questions of life, in the same way that Vedānta-sutra applies them to the recondite mysteries of the Upaniṣads.
The essence of Vedānta is not so much a particular philosophical or theological interpretation of some obscure ancient scriptures, but a fresh and living approach to solving the real problems of life for everyone’s practical benefit. We therefore abstract the principles of Vedāntic exegesis and apply them to subjects of paramount concern to everyone: the problems of suffering and death.
This introductory section addresses the questions posed in the Preface, and chalks out the broad lines of their answers. It introduces the reader to topics in ontology, cosmology and theology as contextual prerequisites to the arguments contained in the body of the text.
Is there a conclusion of knowledge, an ultimate Truth, a final Answer? The well-known Sanskrit term Vedānta, literally ‘the end of knowledge,’ strongly implies that there is. Our own nature also contains signs of the existence of such an Absolute Truth. All intelligent men constantly are driven by an inner urge for perfection, to surpass lesser species of truth and lower levels of realization in a quest for perfect knowledge.
Therefore the universal engagement and essential purpose of all people everywhere is to inquire into ultimate Truth. This inquiry may assume many forms and comprise many different subjects, but certainly the motivation behind this search for Truth is the desire for perfect knowledge. While the average man on the street may not be consciously aware that he is engaged in a search for perfect knowledge, certainly the original ideal and fundamental intent of philosophy, theology and science, and the civilizing force behind all human society, is nothing but this same inborn concept of attaining the ultimate Absolute Truth.
Even if we are unfamiliar with the Vedic tradition of Vedānta, we are certainly familiar enough with the idea and the ideal behind it, since the urge for perfect Truth is a human drive common to all of us. Thus the progressive search for ultimate knowledge has always been a major concern of mankind. This instinctive inquiry into the final conclusion of all knowledge is called dhārma, the esoteric meaning of which is ‘that essential quality which cannot be separated from the living being.’
The gnawing doubts of incomplete, imperfect knowledge have sparked so many breakthroughs in human knowledge and understanding that benefit us today. The noble ideal of the Absolute Truth, the Philosopher’s Stone or magic Touchstone of spiritual cognition that transforms our plodding mundane existence into a soaring flight of luminous ecstasy, has inspired so many great thinkers throughout history. Our purpose herein is to assist the reader in bringing this great quest, spanning many lives and all topics of knowledge, to its transcendent conclusion.
Why would we possess this appetite for final conclusive knowledge if there were no corresponding nourishment to assuage it? In nature, we observe that all created beings have their appropriate source of food. More specifically, each sense organ in every living body has a corresponding set of sense objects. For example, the nose has odors, the tongue has food and drink, the eyes have light, color and form, and so forth. There is no sense organ devoid of a corresponding object.
But the senses do not end with the gross body. We can view the more subtle functions of the human mind in the same way. Thus the natural objects of the mind are thoughts, memories and ideas, the object of the aesthetic sense is beauty, of reason is logic, and so forth.
In this way we can understand that the natural object of the sense of intelligence is truth. Our intelligence craves truth just as our other senses crave their specific forms of nourishment. And if any of our subtle senses are denied their natural food, we suffer from deprivation just as certainly as if we were denied food and drink. Similarly, if our intelligence is denied its ration of truth, we feel withdrawal symptoms of disappointment, anxiety and doubt.
Ordinary food is of lesser or greater quality, more or less tasty or nourishing, according to its ingredients and manner of preparation. Similarly, the subtle food of the mental senses also varies greatly in its quality and degree of nourishment. As our intelligence develops, it needs ever more sophisticated, pure and satisfying input, or we begin to experience an ennui akin to severe anomie.
Unless we are supplied regularly with intellectual nourishment that allows us continually to reach ever higher on the scale of understanding, we begin to question the very reason for our existence—a pitiable condition indeed. What person endowed with searching intelligence has not felt the pinch of this inner malaise, this longing in separation from the Truth? It is this same innate hunger that spurs the universal human search for ultimate understanding, and in our experience, the transcendental Absolute Truths of Vedānta philosophy provide the best and most satisfying nourishment for the mature intelligence.
As we grow in understanding and intelligence, we require a higher and higher quality of truth to feel intellectually satisfied. While the value of truth may be qualified in many different ways, the qualities of truth most important to intellectual satisfaction are generality and stability. While the ordinary man may be satisfied with temporary relative truth, an advanced intellect prefers truth that is independent, unchanging and of broad application.
It is easy to understand the taste for truth in terms of conditionality. Lower grades of truth are conditional; that is, they are relatively more dependent on restrictive conditions. They are also relative, or defined in comparison to another truth.
Higher grades of truth are less conditional, more independent of external conditions. The highest grade of truth, then, would be perfectly unconditional or absolute, and it follows that this grade of truth would provide the greatest degree of satisfaction to the intellect. Perhaps some simple examples will help to illustrate this concept.
“It is raining” is an example of a highly conditional truth; in some times, places or situations it is true; in others, false. In any event it is a relative truth: logically, raining is defined as compared to not raining; physically, it is defined by the phenomenon of water falling from the sky. And in practice we would expect to encounter many borderline questions to this statement: is heavy dew considered raining? What about sleet? This ambiguity, conditionality and dependence on external references make such a conditional statement the intellectual equivalent of junk food.
“Objects with mass tend to fall toward a mutual center of gravity” is an example of a less conditional grade of truth. The applicability of this truth is certainly very broad. In fact, insofar as our material experience and knowledge are concerned, it seems to be universally true. This statement may be untrue under very special conditions in this universe (such as on the subatomic or pan-galactic scale, at the center of a star or within the event horizon of a black hole), in other universes, or at remote times in the past or future of our present universe, but it is a much more stable, unconditional and therefore intellectually satisfying truth than the previous example.
“The Supreme Being is omnipresent” is an example of Absolute Truth. This statement or its equivalent in any language or form of representation is eternally true under any conditions, for any being in any universe or dimension. Although the two previous statements were examples of gradations of relative truths, this statement exemplifies the quality of Absolute Truth because its truthfulness and applicability are not subject to time, place, the identity of the speaker and hearer, or any other external conditions.
Unconditional, independent Absolute Truth offers the ultimate in intellectual satisfaction to the discriminating intellect. It is the most nourishing and fulfilling food for our subtle appetite. (On this same scale of nourishment, an untruth would be the equivalent of poison.) Absolute Truth also has many other interesting, unique attributes that we will present as we expand the topics of this discussion. We humbly request the reader to bear with us as we continue to introduce and develop the themes of this literary fugue.
Vedānta literally means ‘the end of knowledge.’ By Vedānta we may indicate the Vedic literature Vedānta-sutra, the final philosophical conclusion of the Vedic literature, any or all of the various interpretations of Vedānta-sutra by different schools, or the actual personal practice and realization of the end or perfection of knowledge. In this book we use all these meanings in different contexts, but the one we want to stress is the final one: the personal human experience of Absolute Truth. Nevertheless, it is important for the reader to have some acquaintance with the other, more commonly used definitions of Vedānta.
The Vedānta-sutra is a set of short, concise notes (sutras) on the ultimate meaning of the Vedas by the author of the Vedas, Śrīla Vyāsadeva. The Vedas are standard books of spiritual knowledge that come down to us from time immemorial by disciplic succession. Actually the Vedas are eternal, since they originate from the breathing of Viṣṇu before the creation of the material universes and the beginning of time.
The Vedic tradition consists of many works of deep spiritual import based on the authoritative Vedas. But the ultimate purpose and meaning of the Vedas are mysteries, open to interpretation. Unfortunately many unauthorized commentators have misused the Vedas to justify philosophies and practices opposed to their real purpose. Therefore Śrīla Vyāsadeva wrote Vedānta-sutra to reveal the actual reason he compiled the Vedas.
The Upaniṣads are a class of Vedic literature derived from the original Vedas. Upaniṣad means ‘inquiry,’ and each Upaniṣad is a set of questions and answers on a specific topic. For example, Śrī Īṣopaniṣad deals with our relationship to the source of everything, Kalisantāraṇa Upaniṣad discusses religious duties in the age of Kali (the present historical age), and so forth. The Upaniṣads are very important in the Vedic philosophical tradition, because they demonstrate the process of inquiry from the self-realized teacher.
Vedānta-sutra analyzes the specific statements of various Upaniṣads to show how they reveal Absolute Truth. Vedānta-sutra defeats certain common misconceptions about Absolute Truth: specifically, the fallacy that Absolute Truth can be insentient or impersonal. The conclusion that Absolute Truth is conscious and personal is supported in the original commentary on Vedānta-sutra by its author Śrīla Vyāsadeva: the Bhagavata Purāṇa or Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Nevertheless, some scholars and commentators insist on twisting Vedānta-sutra to support their impersonal conception. The impersonalist school is called the Māyāvādīs, and the personalist school is called the Vaiṣṇavas. We will treat this topic extensively in the body of the text.
Those whose knowledge is limited to relative truth may find it difficult to conceive of an end to knowledge. Yet all of us would welcome relief from the tiresome treadmill of filling our minds with facts, only to have them superseded by a new set of facts as human knowledge ‘evolves’ over time.
Intelligent people spend many years acquiring an education, only to have to constantly re-educate themselves in their chosen field or fall behind the pace of new discoveries and applications. The world map is a constantly changing mosaic of nationalities, alliances and national borders. The world history our grandparents learned is a far different body of knowledge than the history taught in today’s schools.
The same is true of all other relative subjects. This constant change is a corollary of relative knowledge. Relative truth is unstable; it is always subject to change and adjustment. The more relative the quality of a truth, the more limited and conditional its applicability, and the faster it becomes obsolete.
Yet our intelligence craves stability and universality. We value peace of mind. Therefore the greatest thinkers always dwell on eternal truths of cosmic significance. Consider the almost universal attraction of astronomy and music. Both fields are based on fundamental principles that change very slowly, if at all, over time. Theology and religious practice are also favorite pastimes of great minds, for they lead to ultimate considerations of the quality of Absolute Truth.
The real purpose of Vedānta is not mere relative intellectual or exegetical exercise, but to educate us in the qualities of Absolute Truth so we can recognize its fragrance and taste its flavor in all things. This practice is open to anyone, but it requires special philosophical understanding and expert practical training to reach success. By filling our intelligence with Absolute Truth derived from sensing the presence of the Absolute within the ordinary objects of our perception, we can experience deep satisfaction unobtainable in any other way.
This satisfaction may be intellectual at the outset, but it gradually spreads throughout our minds until it permeates our entire consciousness at every moment. In this advanced stage of practice there is a complete cessation of the material suffering, desire and regret concomitant with the relative state of consciousness, and a spontaneous arousal of detachment, transcendent knowledge and causeless bliss. This recondite spiritual pleasure is the transcendental equivalent of fine wine; it must be tasted to be fully appreciated.
This state of self-realization, self-manifest in the minds of those who know Absolute Truth, is a satisfaction so profound that one who experiences it ceases to desire anything else. Yet rather than dull one’s sense of enjoyment, paradoxically, the experience of Absolute Truth sharpens all the other senses and gives one causeless zest for living and a fearlessness that conquers all obstacles, even death.
This exalted state of consciousness is called mokṣa, or liberation. And it is attainable by anyone who learns the science of Absolute Truth and applies its principles in his life. This is the actual aim of Vedānta and the ultimate purpose of yoga and meditation.
The principles of Vedāntic thought, as Absolute Truth, are not limited to interpreting the Upaniṣads; they may be applied to any body of truth. The Vedānta-sutra applies these principles to the body of the Vedic literature, especially the Upaniṣads. The commentaries on Vedānta-sutra represent the application of the principles of Vedānta to the various philosophical and religious schools of thought of the commentators.
In this work we introduce the reader to the principles of Vedānta as an abstract, flexible mode of thinking that one can apply to the present contents of one’s mind and to the impressions of his current environment, leading to the continuous living experience of Vedānta as Absolute Truth. This experience is practical self-realization, characterized by the complete removal of ignorance, the conquest of all suffering and the attainment of unconditional consciousness and existence.
We have already demonstrated that there are different grades or qualities of truth, from conditional, relative truth up to Absolute Truth. We want to develop this understanding in the direction that Vedānta or Absolute Truth is not a particular set of words, a philosophy or doctrine, but a state of consciousness that produces a species of understanding possessing total unconditionality and independence, and that this state of consciousness also imparts other desirable benefits including eternal existence, complete knowledge and unconditional bliss.
Understanding is more than mere parroting of words or symbols; it is a dynamic, intelligent duplication of a truth. Once a truth has been understood, it may serve as raw material for further reasoning and the generation of other truths. In general, if both the understanding and reasoning are correct, the result will also be true. The experiential test of understanding Absolute Truth is that further truths generated from this understanding also have the quality of Absolute Truth. In this work, we open this experience to the reader by introducing the understandings and practices that create it.
And what is this experience? We can only give a hint at this stage of the discussion. Later after proper definition of terms and discussion of principles, we will present a more detailed description.
Students of meditation find that the mind possesses strikingly different qualities and functions in different states of consciousness. For example, as the mind is removed from external distractions in the pratyāhara stage and concentrated in the dhāraṇa stage of meditation, it acquires qualities, such as insight and luminosity, which it does not possess in the ordinary extroverted stage of sensory awareness.
Similarly, successful practitioners of Vedānta have observed that the mind displays different qualities and functions depending upon the quality of impressions it receives, especially the quality of truth perceived by the intellect. When the intellect is filled with Absolute Truth, it manifests unprecedented qualities and functions quite unobserved when it is filled with ordinary relative truth. It is this observation, rather than any doctrinaire consideration, that leads us to stress the value of Absolute Truth as a practice.
While these symptoms are discussed in the literature and commentaries on Vedānta, most scholars and other students of Vedānta misunderstand them because of a lack of background in the personal practice of Vedānta. Without the actual experience of the exalted states of consciousness attainable by these esoteric practices, it is impossible to properly understand the coded expressions of Absolute Truth contained in Vedānta-sutra in the sense of understanding as defined above.
Both academic and traditional commentators on Vedānta-sutra tend to focus on explicating the literal meaning of the rather terse and oblique aphorisms composing its text. It is uncommon to encounter works instructing the reader how to attain the inner experience of one who executes the aims and attains the purpose of Vedānta. Therefore, it is rare to find an actual practitioner of the principles of Vedānta.
One possible reason for this is that while the philosophy of Vedānta is discussed in the Upaniṣads and Vedāna-sutra, the practices of Vedānta are detailed in the sattvic Purāṇas and Tantras and their commentaries. The philosophy of Vedānta is certainly important, but it is the lifestyle of the dedicated practitioner that leads to the extraordinary results discussed herein.
Note: The Purāṇas and Tantras are divided into three according to their intended audience. The tamasic Purāṇas and Tantras are for people in the mode of ignorance, tamo-guna, and the rajasic are for those in the mode of passion, rajo-guna. Only the practices given in the Purāṇas and Tantras in the mode of goodness, sattva-guna, are compatible with the aims of Vedānta. The Bhagavata-purāṇa or Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and Bhakti-rasaṁṛta-sindhu are the most important of these Vedāntic literatures. For a detailed explanation of the gunas or modes of material nature and their symptoms please see Bhagavad-gita, Chapters 14-18.
The practice of Vedānta begins from understanding the philosophical principles of Vedānta-sutra. It grows from studying Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, the commentary on Vedānta-sutra by the original author, Śrīla Vyāsadeva. It matures through the practices of mantra, sattvic tantra and meditation on Absolute Truth under the personal direction of a self-realized teacher. And it reaches perfection in the student’s attainment of complete self-realization, or direct personal perception of Absolute Truth or Brahman.
The existence of the quality of Absolute Truth and the prospect of its realization imply that it is possible for a human being to know, or at least have access to, all that is knowable. We are conditioned by the idea that we can never reach the end of knowledge, but this idea comes from our experience with relative truth.
No matter how much relative truth we amass, we can never become satisfied, because relative truth can change at any moment. This leads to constant mental agitation as we are forced to examine the current state of our knowledge and absorb new information to update our system of thought. In relative terms, people who do not regularly update their thinking are considered backward and ignorant.
Absolute Truth is also an unlimited field of knowledge, but since it is universal and unchanging, there is never any need to exchange what we have already learned for new knowledge. Whatever impressions of Absolute Truth we absorb are unconditionally true for all eternity and for all beings, in any place, condition or situation.
Therefore once we have saturated our minds with Absolute Truth, our satiation is complete. We do not need to seek any additional knowledge, unless we either forget some of the Absolute Truth we have absorbed, or increase our appetite and capacity for Absolute Truth. Both of these are possible, since the human mind is both fallible and flexible. But even so, our necessity then comes from our own imperfection or change, and not that of the Absolute Truth we have absorbed. In either case our satisfaction remains complete as long as we stay connected with the source of Absolute Truth.
In our ordinary state of waking consciousness, we perceive our environment through the bodily senses. However, the image of the world provided by the physical senses is limited, imperfect and incomplete. Therefore we tend to ascribe qualities—such as permanency, independence, causality and completeness—to relative existence that it does not, in fact, possess. This is one kind of illusion, the illusion of misperception.
If we try to infer the nature of reality or extrapolate various theories of existence from our limited and imperfect sensory perceptions, we encounter another kind of illusion. All conceptions of reality based on illusory perceptions are necessarily illusory themselves. Therefore all so-called scientific conceptions of the universe are in error, because they are based on empirical investigation. The scientists themselves admit this, and are always busy refining their observations. Nevertheless they regularly encounter new phenomena their theories did not predict. This is the illusion of misunderstanding.
No sensory observation of the universe can be complete, and no theory of the universe can be perfect. Is it any wonder then, that when we try to reason using our imperfect, incomplete knowledge, our conclusions are also less than perfect? Logic always involves many a priori assumptions, both explicit and implicit. Since the number of factors influencing any process in the universe is literally infinite, no logical process can take all of them into account. Therefore our feeble attempts to deduce truths by logical reasoning always result in some mistake. This is the illusion of error.
Finally, although every experienced, thoughtful and sober man knows the above types of illusion to be a fact, people still try to represent themselves as infallible authorities and defend their observations, theories, reasoning and conclusions as if they were perfect. Amazingly enough, some other people believe them, accepting their assertions at face value. This is the illusion of the cheaters and the cheated.
All relative truth is more or less contaminated by the four types of illusion described above. Only Absolute Truth is free from all illusion, misunderstanding, errors and cheating. This is because the source of Absolute Truth is transcendental to this relative world.
The human being in the relative world is immersed in an ocean of illusion. However, there is one aspect of our existence that possesses absolute qualities: consciousness. Consciousness is causeless, although it is the cause of awareness, the mind, the life force, identity, personality, individuality, cognition, initiative, creativity, emotion, aesthetics and many other associated phenomena. It cannot be created or destroyed by any material conditions. It is completely subjective, having no direct objective or relative manifestation. Although the material scientists speculate that consciousness is caused by some combination of chemical elements or biological structures, since they have no way to measure the presence or quality of consciousness, by their own standards of empirical verification there can be no proof of this theory.
In relative states of consciousness, the consciousness identifies with the body, thinking that whatever happens to the body happens to the self. Self-realization occurs when consciousness becomes self-conscious, understanding its own true nature. The quality of consciousness is absolute; it is not an effect of any relative phenomenon. When we realize this, we are at the doorstep of Absolute Truth.
Absolute Truth is defined in Vedānta-sutra as the source of all emanations. Because of the illusory nature of the relative world and the senses, we cannot observe the source of the material universe. Therefore it appears absolute to our illusioned senses. However, this limitation does not apply to consciousness, because consciousness is absolute. When consciousness realizes its own source, full self-realization occurs and the illusory state of relative existence is fully revealed.
Our limited human consciousness is a direct emanation from Absolute Truth, which is infinite consciousness. Since we are conscious and consciousness, and consciousness is a phenomenon of the Absolute, all of our conceptions of identity in terms of relative existence are false. Our identification with the body, its qualities, attachments and extensions is illusory. Therefore, it is not that the body and the relative world are illusory, but our false conception of the body as the self, and the relative world as possessing absolute qualities, is the grand illusion under which we labor.
The fundamental principle of Vedāntic thought is to change our conception of ourselves and the world in which we live from illusion to reality. This conceptual change alone is sufficient to effect complete self-realization. The illusory material identity, or false ego, has to be removed to experience our real identity as living consciousness.
However, to struggle with the false ego is a mistake, because any effort to uproot the ego merely strengthens it. Actual self-realization occurs when we simply understand that the false ego is an illusion, like the water in the distance on a hot day in the desert. Actually the water is not there at all; it just seems to exist in relation to the body. We see the illusory mirage with our eyes, but our intelligence reminds us of the reality. So we don’t waste our time and energy running after illusory water that we can never reach.
Similarly, our material identity in the relative world is illusory; it never really existed. So there is no need to artificially struggle against false ego. False ego is automatically revealed to be an illusion when we use Vedāntic intelligence to understand our actual identity as consciousness in eternal relationship with Absolute Truth. In this consciousness, although we are still aware of the illusory relative existence, we clearly see its illusory status. So we don’t waste our time and energy running after the illusory pleasures of the relative world and becoming entangled in their reactions.
If we examine our troubles and analyze the cause of our suffering, we can understand that all lamentation, desire, difficulty and distress exist in relation to the material illusory identity. Once we cease to identify with the relative existence, we also let go of the suffering concomitant with an absolute entity (consciousness) trying to operate in a relative environment (the body and material world). In other words, as soon as we attain self-realization all our troubles are over, all our sufferings assuaged.
The experience of contact with the infinite Source of consciousness is unspeakably beautiful. All our ignorance is immediately destroyed. We become perfectly cognizant of the self-revelation of all-pervading Absolute Truth, the source of all energies and the reservoir of all qualities. We become ecstatically aware of our eternal existence in the absolute world, which is our real home, never again to fall into the illusion of relative existence. And we become devoted to the eternal adoration of that self-existent, independent Absolute Truth who emanates all other absolute and relative energies and existences. This is the real aim and purpose of Vedānta, the pinnacle of self-realization, the solution of all problems and the end of all knowledge.
When one’s intelligence reaches a ‘critical mass’ of Absolute Truth, he becomes capable of generating new truths that share the infallible, unconditional quality of Absolute Truth. At that point he becomes a source of Absolute Truth equal to the original, as one candle may light many others of equal brilliance. This is a very advanced stage of realization of Absolute Truth. Nevertheless, we have to understand it to explain the broad influence and extraordinary manifestations of the great beings who appear at various times and places to reveal and explain Absolute Truth to a hungry, suffering humanity.
From the first spark of inquiry into Absolute Truth to the perfection of its realization is a long and arduous path with many pitfalls and setbacks. Nevertheless, the aspiring student can easily traverse this path in a single lifetime if he applies himself diligently according to the instructions of Śrīla Vyāsadeva, the author of Vedānta-sutra and its natural commentary Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, and the contemporary representative of his disciplic lineage, the fully self-realized spiritual master.
Without the personal instruction of a self-realized soul who possesses a critical mass of Absolute Truth, advanced realization of Absolute Truth is impossible. We therefore dedicate this work to our personal spiritual master, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedānta Svāmī Prabhupāda, whose infallible blessings have enabled us to reveal the recondite truths of Vedānta with the confidence born of true insight. It is he only who opened the door to Absolute Truth to the misguided West, which was wallowing in the trough of relative material knowledge, impersonalism and voidism. Therefore in gratitude and bliss, I offer my humble obeisances unto him again and again.