Inquiries Into the Absolute: Digest 153, Srimad Bhagavatam is

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Digest 153, January 27th, 2006. Answers by His Holiness Romapada Swami Maharaja

**You are welcome to send in your questions to HH Romapada Swami at

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Q: In Srimad Bhagavatam 1st canto 5th chapter, Srila Prabhupada says that

Vedanta-sutra is the complete deliberation on the impersonal Brahman and yet he

also says that Srimad Bhagavatam, which is purely Personal is the natural

commentary. How to reconcile this two apparently contradicting statements?

 

Ans: Jiva Goswami teaches in Bhagavat-Sandarbha that the term Brahman, whenever

found in the Vedas (including in Vedanta Sutra) refers to Bhagavan, just as

whenever we speak of sunshine we should know that the sun is ultimately what is

being indicated by the presence of sunshine.

 

Vedanta-sutra is appreciated primarily by impersonalists, which is the message

of the Canto 1, Chapter 5 reference sited. However, both SB and Govinda-bhasya

(Baladev's Gaudiya-vaisnava commentary on Vedanta-sutra) are purely personal

commentary on Vedanta-sutra. This means that both SB and Govinda-bhasya point

us to the "sun" rather than the sunshine, or to the personal feature of the

Absolute Truth as opposed to the impersonal feature.

 

You might find the following verse and purport to be very illuminating as well.

It is one of Dhruva Maharaja's prayers to Lord Visnu, who is standing before

Dhruva. See SB 4.9.16. Be sure to examine carefully the purport.

 

"My dear Lord, in Your impersonal manifestation of Brahman there are always two

opposing elements—knowledge and ignorance. Your multienergies are continually

manifest, but the impersonal Brahman, which is undivided, original, changeless,

unlimited and blissful, is the cause of the material manifestation. Because You

are the same impersonal Brahman, I offer my respectful obeisances unto You."

 

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conjugal pastimes, spiritual master, spirit soul/jiva/living entity):

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