Scholars Deluded

In the Srimad Bhagbatam description of the Supreme Truth is given as follows:-

"Janmadyasya yato'nvayaditara. . ."
(Bhag. 1.1.1)

This realisation of the Supreme Truth was achieved by Shri Vyasdeva by the initiation of Shri Narada when Shri Vyasdeva was unable to achieve perfect satisfaction even after His compilation of many many scriptures like the Vedas, Puranas, Vedanta histories like the Mahabharata etc. When He was not so satisfied, Shri Narada, who was His spiritual master, advised Him to narrate the transcendental Absolute Personality of Godhead, His Name, Fame, Qualities, and Pastimes, which are identical with the Absolute Truth.

As such Shrila Vyasdeva then sat on His sanctified seat at Shamyapras near Vadrikashram on the Himalyas and saw in meditation by His spiritualised vision the Supreme Lord and His illusory energy called by the name of Maya who keeps all conditioned living beings captivated by her three qualities. By such transcendental realisation only Vyasdeva compiled 'Srimad Bhagbatam' and in the beginning of that transcendental narration, He offers His obeisances to the Supreme Truth Who is the Parama or the transcendence. The Supreme Lord is described as the Swarat or the complete in Himself. He is not like so many mundane lords who are all dependant on one another and are conditioned by the laws of Nature. He is realised by one who has achieved success in the Gayatri Mantra chanted by the intelligent class of men (the Brahmins). The word Dheemahi is particularly used here for this purpose.

The Supreme Truth is described here as sentient person. His cognition, emotions and volitions are pre-existent prior to the creation of cosmos because he initiated the primeval teacher 'Brahma' who was enlightened by Him only prior to the cosmic creation. The Supreme Lord's knowledge is therefore different from that of the mundane scholars and the technical name of this transcendental knowledge is called Sambid, energy described in the Vishnu Puranam. Sambid, Sandhini and Ahladini are three different manifestation of the internal potency which is described in the Bhagwat Geeta as Atma Maya or the internal potency. This Atma Maya is different from the Gunamoyee Maya or the external potency of three modes. Atma Maya is also called the Para Prakriti which is distinct from the Apara Prakriti or the inert matter.

In the Atma Maya which is distinct from the material Nature, there is no scope for illusion. In the material nature there is illusion like the mirage in the desert. There is the illusion of accepting a rope for the snake or water as the glass and vice versa. The creation of the Atma Maya is the Absolute world where nothing is different from nothing or everything is nondifferent from everything. In that region the rope and snake are the same thing and therefore there is no illusion at all.

The Absolute world is the source of the material world or the relative world and as such the relative world is a perverted reflection of the Absolute world. In the perverted reflection of the material world, everything is created, maintained and lastly destroyed in the long run but in the Absolute world nothing is created or destroyed but everything is unborn, beginningless and eternally existent. The Supreme Truth has therefore three different energies primarily namely (1) the internal potency, (2) marginal potency and (3) the external potency.

Where there is no illusion of the rope and the snake is the place of the internal potency. And where there is such illusion of that of the mirage of the desert is the creation of the external potency. And the living entities who are either controlled by the internal or the external potency of the Lord is called the marginal potency. All these potencies are different energies of the Supreme Lord as light and heat is to the fire. These potencies are therefore emanations from the Absolute Truth who is the person controller or master of all mystic powers displayed under different headings of energies. The Personality of Godhead is therefore called as Swarat and Parama or the self-sufficient Supreme. When the supreme personality therefore descends by His Atma Maya, He does not become as one of the so many conditioned persons, neither He is different from His Personal Form as it is in the case with the living entities. It is wrong therefore to compare the Personality of Godhead with ordinary living beings or artificially elevate a living being to the level of the Supreme Person. The Supreme Person's being non-affected by external potential different modes is described as follows:- (Bhag. 11.38).

Etad Ishanam Ishasyaprakritishthopi Tadguni
Na Yuyyate Sadatmasthair Yatha Buddhitadashrya.

Specially of the Personality of Godhead is that He is never under the condition of the material nature. And in the same way a living entity who is spiritually enlightened by the grace of the Lord is also never attracted by the modes of nature although such living being is within the jurisdiction of the material energy.

But it happens so that a neophyte spiritually inclined person is sometimes deluded by the external energy and considers the Personality of Godhead as one of the conditioned souls who are embodied by the conditions of the material nature.

One mendicant Shri Madan Mohan Brahmachary met Dr. S. Radhakrishnan the great Indian Philosopher and Vice President of India. He was very kind to make a presentation of his book 'The Bhagwat Gita' to the above Brahmachary. The Brahmachary read the above book but he was not satisfied by it because, although the book is very scholarly edited, there are so many incongruencies for lack of transcendental realisation which definitely proves the statement of Srimad Bhagbatam as even the gods are bewildered in the Supreme Person. Gods like Brahma, Shiva, Indra etc. are also deluded sometimes by the Supreme Illusory Potency.

The Brahmachary, however, who met Dr. Radhakrishnan was sorry to find out such delusion of a scholar like Dr. Radhakrishnan, especially when he read on page 254 of the book (the Bhagwat Gita of Dr. Radhakrishnan) a deluded explanation of the sloka No. 34 Ch. ix Bg.

The exact words mentioned therein are as follows:-

"It is not the personal Krishna to whom we have to give ourselves up utterly but the unborn, beginningless, eternal who speaks through (Krishna)." (To be continued)

[Scholars Deluded from BTG Magazine, originally printed Oct. 20th 1958 by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada founder Acarya for ISKCON]