Meeting With Bhattacharya Vedantists

Those who are followers of the Sankara cult are generally known as Vedantists. This does not, however, mean that Vedanta is a monopoly study of the Sankara sampradaya. Vedanta is studied by all the bonafide sampradayas, but they have their own interpretations. But those in the Sankara sampradaya are generally known to be ignorant of the knowledge of the Vedantist Vaisnavas. For this reason the Bhaktivedanta title was first offered to the author by the Vaisnavas.

The Lord agreed to take lessons from Bhattacarya on the Vedanta, and they sat together in the temple of Lord Jagannatha. The Bhattacarya went on speaking continually for seven days, and the Lord heard him with all attention and did not interrupt. The Lord's silence raised some doubts in Bhattacarya's heart, and he asked the Lord how it was that He did not ask anything or comment on his explanations of Vedanta.

The Lord posed Himself before the Bhattacarya as a foolish student and pretended that He heard the Vedanta from him because the Bhattacarya felt that this was the duty of a sannyasi. But the Lord did not agree with his lectures. By this the Lord indicated that the so-called Vedantists amongst the Sankara sampradaya, or any other sampradaya, who do not follow the instructions of Srila Vyasadeva are mechanical students of the Vedanta.

They are not fully aware of that great knowledge. The explanation of the Vedanta-sutra is given by the author himself in the text of Srimad-Bhagavatam. One who has no knowledge of the Bhagavatam will hardly be able to know what the Vedanta says.

The Bhattacharaya, being a vastly learned man, could follow the Lord's sarcastic remarks on the popular Vedantist. He therefore asked Him why He did not ask about any point which He could not follow. The Bhattacharya could understand the purpose of His dead silence for the days He heard him. This shows clearly that the Lord had something else in mind; thus the Bhattacharya requested Him to disclose His mind.

Upon this, the Lord sopke as follows: "My dear sir, I can understand the meaning of the sutras like 'janmady asya yatah', 'sastra-yonitvat', and 'athato brahma-jijnasa' of the Vedanta-sutra, but when you explain them in your own way it becomes difficult for Me to follow them. The purpose of the sutras is already explained in them, but your explainations are covering them with something else. You do not purposely take the direct meaning of the sutras but indirectly give your own interpretations."

The Lord thus attacked all Vedantists who interpret the Vedanta-sutra fashionably, according to their limited power of thinking, to serve their own purpose. Such indirect interpretations of the authentic literatures like the Vedanta are hereby condemned by the Lord.

The Lord continued: "Srila Vyasadeva has summarized the direct meanings of the mantras in the Upanisads in the Vedanata-sutra. Unfortunately you do not take their direct meaning. Indirectly you interpret them in a different way."

"The authority of the Vedas is unchallengeable and stands woithout any question of doubt. And whatever is stated in the Vedas must be accepted completely, otherwise one challenges the authority of the Vedas."

"The conchshell and cowdung are bone and stool of two living beings. But because they have been recommended by the Vedas as pure, people accept them as such because of the authority of the Vedas."

The idea is that one cannot set his imperfect reason above the authority of the Vedas. The orders of the Vedas must be obeyed as they stand without any mundane reasoning. The so-called followers of the Vedic injunction make their own interpretations of the Vedic injunctions, and they establish different parties and sects of the Vedic religion. Lord Buddha directly denied the authority of the Vedas, and he established his own religion.

Only for this reason the Buddist religion was not accepted by the strict followers of the Vedas. But those who are so-called followers of the Vedas are more harmful than the Buddists. The Buddists have the courage to deny the Vedas directly, but the so-called followers of the Vedas have no courage to deny the Vedas, although indirectly they disobey all the injunctions of the Vedas. Lord Caitanya condemned this.

The example of the conchshell and that of the cowdung given by the Lord are very much appropriate in this connection. If one argues that since cowdung is pure, the stool of a learned brahmana is still more pure, his argument will not be accepted. Cowdung is accepted, and the stool of a highly posted brahmana is rejected. The Lord continued:

"The Vedic injunctions are self-authorized, and if some mundane creature adjusts the interpretations of the Vedas, he defies their authority. It is foolish to think of oneself as more intelligent that Srila Vyasadeva. He has already expressed himself in his sutras, and there is no need to help from personalities of lesser importance. His work, the Vedanta-sutra, is as dazzling as the midday sun, and when someone tries to give his own interpretations on the self-effulent sunlike Vedanta-sutra, he attempts to cover this sun with the cloud of his imagination."

"The purpose of the Vedas and Puranas are one and the same. They ascertain the Absolute Truth, which is greater than everything else. The Absolute Truth is ultimately realized as the Absolute Peronality of Godhead with absolute controlling power. As such, the Absolute Presonality of Godhead must be compleletely full of opulence, strength, fame, beauty, knowledge and renunciation. Yet the transcendental Personality of Godhead is astonishingly ascertained as impersonal."

"The impersonal description of the Absolute Truth in the Vedas is given to nullify the mundane conception of the Absolute whole. Personal features of the Lord are completely different from all kinds of mundane features. The living entities are all indiviual persons, and they are all parts and parcels of the supreme whole. If the parts and parcels are individual persons, the source of their emanation must not be impersonal. He is the Supreme Person amongst all the relative persons."

"The Vedas inform us that from Him[Brahman] everythin emanates, and on Him everything rests. And after annihilation, everything merges in Him only. Therefore, He is the ultimate dative,causative and accommodating cause of all causes. And all these causes cannot be attributed to an impersonal object."

"The Vedas inform us that He alone became many, and when He so desires He glances over material nature. Before He glanced over material nature there was no material cosmic creation. Therefore, His glance is not material. Material mind or senses were unborn when the Lord glanced over material nature. Thus evidence in the Vedas proves that beyond a doubt the Lord has transcendental eyes and a transcendental mind. They are not material. His impersonality therefore is a negation of His materiality, but not a denial of His transcendental personality."

"Brahman ultimately refers to the Personality of Godhead. Impersonal Brahman realization is just the negative conception of the mundane creations. Paramatma is the locatized aspect of Brahman within all kinds of material bodies. Ultimately the Supreme Brahman realization is the realization of the Personality of Godhead according to all evidence of the revealed scriptures. He is the ultimate source of Visnu tattvas."

"The Puranas are also supplementary to the Vedas. The Vedic mantras are too difficult for an ordinary man. Women, sudras and the so-called twice-born higher castes are unable to penetrate into the sense of the Vedas. And thus the Itihasa or the Mahabharata as well as the Puranas are made easy to explain the truths of the Vedas. In his prayers before the boy Sri Krsna Brahma said that there is no limit to the forture of the residents of Vrajabhumi headed by Sri Nanda Maharaja and Yasodamayi becuase the eternal Absolute Truth has become their intimate relative."

"The Vedic mantra maintains that the Absolute Truth has no legs and no hands and yet goes faster than all and accepts everything that is offered to Him in devotion. The latter statements definitely suggest the personal features of the Lord, although His hands and legs are distinguished from mundane hands and legs or other senses."

"Brahman is, therefore, never impersonal, but when such mantras are indirectly interpreted, it is wrongly thought that the Absolute Truth is impersonal. The Absolute Truth Personality of Godhead is full of all opulences, and therefore He has a transcendental form of full existence, knowledge and bliss. How then can one establish that the Absolute Truth is impersonal?"

"Brahman, being full of opulences, is understood to have manifold energies, and all these energies are classified under three headings under the authority of Visnu Purana (6.7.60), which says that the transcendental enrergies of Lord Visnu are primarily three. His spiritual energy, as well as the energy of the living entities, are classified as superior energy, whereas the material energy is an inferior one which is sprouted out of ignorance."

"The energy of the living entities is technically called ksetrajna energy. This ksetrajna-sakti, although equal in quality with the Lord, becomes overpowered by material miseries. In other words, the living entities are located in the marginal energy between the superior spiritual and inferior material energy, and in proportion to the living entity is situated in proportionately higher and lower levels of existence."