Bhakti Sandarbha 185-186 : Beginning the classification of sadhus
This section starts the discussion of the various categories of transcendentalists, i.e., in accordance with the degree, etc., to which someone turns towards the Absolute Truth. This is a deliberate inclusive term that accommodates both personalists and impersonalists. Sri Jiva started using it in the very first anuccheda of BhaktiS, and some discussion of that first anuccheda can be found here.
This is the first division of "sadhu" or "mahanta," but in the subsequent anucchedas we will be going into various kinds of classifications of the sadhu.
This is the first division of "sadhu" or "mahanta," but in the subsequent anucchedas we will be going into various kinds of classifications of the sadhu.
Anuccheda 186 : Two Types of Sadhus
तदेवं सत्सङ्गमात्रस्य तत्साम्मुख्यमात्रे निदानत्वमुक्तम्। एतदेव व्यतिरेकेणाह (भा. ५.१२.११-१२)—
It has thus been established in every instance that sat-saṅga is the sole cause of a living being’s becoming favorable to Bhagavān. The same conclusion is drawn by negative concomitance (vyatireka), as in the brāhmaṇa Jaḍa Bharata’s statement to King Rahūgana:
ज्ञानं विशुद्धं परमार्थमेकमनन्तरं त्वबहिर्ब्रह्म सत्यम्।
प्रत्यक् प्रशान्तं भगवच्छब्दसंज्ञं यद्वासुदेवं कवयो वदन्ति॥
रहूगणैतत् तपसा न याति न चेज्यया निर्वपणाद्गृहाद्वा।
न च्छन्दसा नैव जलाग्निसूर्यैर्विना महत्पादरजोऽभिषेकम्॥
Consciousness is the only Truth, Brahman. It is devoid of the contamination of material qualities; it is of the nature of supreme transcendence; it is one; it is free from internal and external divisions; it is the complete whole; it is internal; and it is peaceful. This consciousness is known as Bhagavān, the Supreme Person, and the mystics refer to it as Vāsudeva.
O Rahūgana, without bathing in the dust from the feet of great realized persons, one cannot attain that Ultimate Truth merely by penance, by Vedic sacrifices, distributing food in charity, following the duties of a householder, study of the Vedas, or by worship of the predominating deities of water, fire or sun. (SB 5.12.11-12)
टीका च—तर्हि किं सत्यम्? तत्राह—ज्ञानं सत्यम्। व्यावहारिकसत्यत्वं व्यावर्तयति—परमार्थम्।
Śrīdhara Svāmī comments: To the question, "What is Truth?" the answer is, "Consciousness is the ultimate Truth." In order to preclude reference to empirical truth, this consciousness (jñānam) is qualified as being "of the nature of supreme transcendence" (paramartham).
वृत्तिज्ञानव्यवच्छेदार्थानि षड्विशेषणानि—विशुद्धं, तत्तु आविद्यकम्। एकं, तत् तु नानारूपम्। अनन्तरं त्वबहिर्बाह्याभ्यन्तरशून्यं, तत् तु विपरीतम्। ब्रह्म परिपूर्णं, तत् तु परिच्छिन्नम्। प्रत्यक्, तत् तु विषयाकारम्। प्रशान्तं निर्विकारं, तत् तु सविकारम्। तदेवंस्वरूपं ज्ञानं सत्यमित्युक्तम्।
The verse gives six further adjectives to distinguish this paramartha-jñāna from vṛtti-jñāna, or knowledge generated by sensory perception. This consciousness is pure (viśuddham), whereas empirical knowledge is of the nature of ignorance; it is uniform (ekam), while empirical knowledge is of various types; it is free from internal and external divisions (anantaraṁ abahir), while the other is compartmentalized; it is Brahman, the complete whole, while the other is fragmented; it is internal (pratyak), whereas the other assumes the form of external sense objects; it is peaceful (praśāntaṁ) meaning it is free from transformation, while the other is subject to mutation. In this way, consciousness, which has these characteristics, is the ultimate Truth.
कीदृशं तत् ? ऐश्वर्यादिषड्गुणत्वेन भगवच्छब्दः संज्ञा यस्य। यच्च ज्ञानं वासुदेवं वदन्ति।
What is the nature of this consciousness? It is known by the name Bhagavān because it is endowed with the six qualities such as opulence and beauty; and the learned also refer to this consciousness as Vāsudeva.
तत्प्राप्तिश्च महत्सेवां विना न भवतीत्याह—हे रहूगण ! एतज्ज्ञानं तपसा पुरुषो न याति, इज्यया वैदिककर्मणा, निर्वपणादन्नादिसंविभागेन, गृहाद्वा तन्निमित्तपरोपकारेण, छन्दसा वेदाभ्यासेन, जलाग्न्यादिभिरुपासितैः॥ इत्येषा।
This consciousness cannot be attained without serving a great devotee. To illustrate this Jaḍa Bharata [speaks the second of the two verses]: "O Rahūgana, a person cannot attain this consciousness through penance, by sacrifices or Vedic rituals, by giving food in charity, by observing the duties of a householder, by performing welfare activities, by the practice of reciting the Vedas, or by worship of the predominating deities of water, fire and sun.’” Here ends Śrīdhara Svāmī's commentary.
अत्र ब्रह्मत्वादिना जीवस्वरूपं सूक्ष्मत्वादिधर्मकं ज्ञानमपि निरस्तं वेदितव्यम्॥
The word Brahman, “the complete whole,” and other modifiers of consciousness used in the verse indicate that the Ultimate Truth being described cannot refer to the individual living being, though that too is consciousness with characteristics like subtlety and so on.
॥ ५.१२॥ श्रीब्राह्मणो रहूगणम्॥१८५॥
Commentary by Satyanarayana Dasa Babaji
After giving positive statements (anvaya) about sādhu-saṅga being the cause of bhakti Śrī Jīva gives a negative statement (vyatireka) that says that without sādhu-saṅga bhakti is not possible. Any cause must satisfy the relation of anvaya and vyatireka: "When a cause is there, the effect is there; when there is no cause there is no effect" (tat-sattve tat-sattvam, tad-abhāve tad-abhāvaḥ).
In the first of the two verses the three aspects of reality, namely Brahman, Paramātmā and Bhagavān are mentioned. Brahman and Bhagavān are mentioned directly and the words pratyak and praśāntam refer to Paramātmā. All these three are called Vāsudeva, Kṛṣṇa. That Bhagavān is the most complete manifestation of Reality and that this Bhagavān is none other than Vāsudeva has been discussed in Bhagavat Sandarbha. Śrī Jīva mentions that in this verse the jīva is not included as part of knowledge of Reality.
The implied meaning is that even the followers of jñāna-mārga who aim at Brahman and the yogīs who meditate on Paramātmā need to take the grace of a sādhu to realize their respective goals. The meaning of taking bath in the dust from the feet of a great sādhu is to execute service to him or her. But mere association is also service.
Anuccheda 186 : Two Types of Sadhu
तदेवं सत्सङ्ग एव तत्साम्मुख्ये द्वारमित्युक्तम्। ते च सन्तस्तत्सम्मुखा एवात्र गृह्यन्ते, न तु वैदिकाचारमात्रपराः, अनुपयोगित्वात्। तत्र यादृशः सत्सङ्गस्तादृशमेव साम्मुख्यं भवतीति वक्तुं तेषु सत्सु ये महान्तस्तेषां द्वैविध्यमाह सार्धेन (भा. ५.५.२३)—
It has thus been discussed that sat-saṅga, saintly association, is the only gateway through which one’s consciousness can be turned towards the Absolute. Saints here refer to those whose own consciousness is centered in the Absolute, and not to those who are merely adherents of Vedic principles, since the latter cannot help one to make this shift in consciousness. The type of sat-saṅga one gets determines the specific nature of consciousness one will develop in relation to the Absolute. Bhagavān Rṣabha expresses this in one and a half verses cited below, pointing out that great personalities among saints are of two types:
महान्तस्ते समचित्ताः प्रशान्ता विमन्यवः सुहृदः साधवो ये।
ये वा मयीशे कृतसौहृदार्था जनेषु देहम्भरवार्तिकेषु॥
गृहेषु जायात्मजरातिमत्सु न प्रीतियुक्ता यावदर्थाश्च लोके॥
Those whose minds are situated in non-dual consciousness, who are fully at peace, devoid of anger, affectionately disposed towards all living beings, and whose conduct is ideal are known as mahāntas, or great personalities.
Alternatively, mahāntas may be those who consider love for Me, Bhagavān, as their supreme goal. Such great personalities have no attachment for anyone engrossed in sense pleasure, nor for house, wife, children, and wealth. They do not endeavor for more than what is necessary to maintain the body. (SB 5.5.2-3)
ये समचित्ता निर्विशेषब्रह्मनिष्ठाः, ते महान्तः। तेषां शीलमाह—प्रशान्ता इत्यादि। महद्विशेषमाह—ये वा इति। वाशब्दः पक्षान्तरे। उत्तरपक्षत्वादस्यैव श्रैष्ठ्यम्।
Those whose minds are situated in non-dual consciousness (sama-citta), i.e., who are established in the consciousness of undifferentiated Brahman, are great saints (mahānta). Their character is described by four adjectives, beginning with peaceful. Distinguished from these is a special type of saint described in the next line of the verse. The conjunction "or" (vā) denotes an alternative case. The fact that this special type of saint is mentioned as the later alternative, implies its superiority to the first type.
मयि कृतं सिद्धं यत् सौहृदं प्रेम, तदेव अर्थः परमपुरुषार्थो येषां तथाभूता ये, ते महान्त इति पूर्वेणान्वयः।
Those who have attained perfection in their friendship, i.e., love, for Bhagavān and for whom such love represents the supreme goal of life are known as mahāntas. The relative pronoun in the second verse is related to its antecedent mahānta in the first verse.
यतो मयि सौहृदार्थास्तत एव देहम्भरवार्त्तिकेषु विषयवार्तानिष्ठेषु जनेषु तथा गेहेषु जायात्मजबन्धुवर्गयुक्तेषु न प्रीतियुक्ताः, किन्तु यावदर्थः यावान् अर्थः श्रीभगवद्भजनानुरूपं प्रयोजनं तावान् एवार्थो धनं येषां, तथाभूता इत्यर्थः।
Since such saints have loving friendship for Bhagavān as their supreme goal, they have no attachment for those engaged in sensuous and worldly activities, nor for household life involving wife, children, relatives and friends. They are satisfied with wealth only in proportion to their actual requirements for the service of Bhagavān.
उभयोर्महत्त्वं च महाज्ञानित्वान् महाभागवतत्वाच्च, न तु द्वयोः साम्याभिप्रायेण, "मुक्तानामपि सिद्धानां नारायणपरायणः" (भा. ६.१४.५) इत्याद्युक्तेः। अत्र ज्ञानमार्गे ब्रह्मानुभविनो महान्तो भक्तिमार्गे लब्धभगवत्प्रेमाणो महान्त इति लक्षणसामान्यमिति ज्ञेयम्॥
Of these two types of mahāntas, one is considered great because of supreme non-dual awareness and the other because of supreme devotion to the personal feature of Bhagavān. But the quality of their greatness is not the same, as is said:
O great sage, among millions of liberated and perfected beings, one devotee of Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa who is fully peaceful is exceedingly rare. (SB 6.14.5)
On the path of jñāna, a person who has realized Brahman is a great soul, and on the path of bhakti one who has attained love for Bhagavān is a great soul. This is because they have common characteristics.
॥ ५.५॥ श्रीऋषभः स्वपुत्रान्॥१८६॥
Early it was said that sāmmukhya [turning towards the Absolute] is of two types, in relation to Brahman and to Bhagavān. A conditioned person’s sāmmukhya depends upon the type of association he or she gets. A common living being has vaimukhya and gets sāmmukhya through sādhu-saṅga, so it naturally comes that the type of sāmmukhya one gets will depend upon the type of perfection the sādhu he associates with has. A sādhu can only bless a conditioned being with what they have themself. Sometimes it is wrongly believed that a sādhu can give any type of bhāva or sāmmukhya to the person they bless, but this is not so. No sādhu can give what he or she does not possess.
The one and half verse cited here were spoken by Rṣabhadeva to His sons. He says that there two types of sādhus, namely jñānīs and bhaktas. Of the two, the second type is superior because they are mentioned later in the verse. This follows the rule that the latter injunction supersedes the former, pūrva-parayoḥ para-vidhir balavān. It is also logical because Bhagavān is the complete manifestation of Reality and Brahman is Its incomplete manifestation. Brahman is included in Bhagavān as stated by Kṛṣṇa (Gītā 14.27).
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