CC daily 118 – M 6.170 – Parinama vada explains the nature of reality, whereas vivarta vada runs into stone-walls

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Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is continuing his analysis of the import of the Vedanta Sutra and after strongly reproaching those who relegate the transcendental form of the Lord to a mere convenient fiction, to a mere tool for meditation, there onwards, now Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is going to further analyze the import of the Vedas and he says Parinamvada. Parinamvada is the school of transformation. Parinamvada is often contrasted with Vivartavada.

Vivartavada is the doctrine of reflection or distortion. So what do this transformation or distortion refer to? They refer to the relationship between the supreme reality Brahman and us, not just us, even the world. So there are basically three tattvas, Jagdish, Jiva and Jagat.

And the relationship between Jagdish and Brahman on one side and Jagdish, Jiva and Jagat on the other, that relationship is the matter of discussion now. According to the impersonalists, there is just a temporary manifestation and of course Jiva and Jagat, they are all illusions. So some of the Mayavadis consider Jagat is Brahman touched by Tamas, Jiva is Jagat touched by Rajas and Jagdish is Brahman.

Jagat is Brahman touched by Tamas, Jiva is Brahman touched by Rajas and Jagdish is Brahman touched by Sattva. And this way they say that all this is just appearance, just an illusion. Vivarta means a distortion which has no actual existence.

It's simply an illusion. So Vivartavada is the doctrine of the impersonalists. Now we may wonder what is Mayavada, Advaitavada, Vivartavada.

What are these vadas actually? Are all of them related? Yes, they are related. Vivartavada is the underlying idea that the world is a distortion and how it's a distortion, there may be different specific doctrines that refer to that. So Advaitavada is like the meta category.

Within that, Vivartavada is like the defining doctrine that is used to propagate Advaitavada. And the most prominent, the most widespread expression of Advaitavada is Mayavada. So Mayavada is like a subcategory within Advaitavada.

But because it is such a prominent category, often it is equated with Mayavada. And Vivartavada is generally considered to be the doctrine of the impersonalists, non-dualists. So now both of them, the Advaitavadis and the non-Advaitavadis, the Vaishnavas, they are all trying to explain how the Brahman which is pure, which is transcendental, which is free from all contamination, which is eternal.

How that Brahman, how from that Brahman has come this world, which is filled with misery. How from that Brahman has come the Jeeva, who is so limited, who is so fallible, who is so prone to being conditioned. So how from perfection, imperfection has come.

That is the question which various Vedantic philosophers, whether they come to Advaitic or Advaitic conclusions, they are all trying to deal with it. They are grappling with this question. And one way to preserve the purity and the perfection of Brahman is to say that everything else is simply an illusion.

And that is the idea of the Dvartavadis. Now the problem with this is, as we have discussed repeatedly, where does the illusion come from? And if something connected with Brahman can undergo illusion, then is that Brahman greater than illusion? That is the fundamental question that comes up. So rather than coming up with such questionable and dubious ideas that everything except Brahman is an illusion, Parinamvada proposes a more inclusive doctrine that everything is Brahman ultimately.

So Brahman itself has a mutable and immutable aspect. So Brahman at its core is immutable. But Brahman also has energies which are mutable, changeable.

And one of the energies is matter, which is definitely changeable. It's constantly changeable. In fact, Krishna says in the 8th chapter of the Bhagavad Gita that defining characteristic of the material manifestation is change, sharam, transformation.

Now deterioration specifically, everything that exists gets deteriorated. Of course, new things come into creation, they also get deteriorated and destroyed. The change defines the material manifestation.

And depending on whichever mode is influential, that change can be in Sattvic, Rajasic or Tamasic. And the Jiva is explained in Parinamvada to be irreducible and infinitesimal particle of consciousness. So that means the Jiva is eternally apart.

Because of being conditioned by the mind and the senses, the Jiva suffers. Prakriti sthani karshati. Karshati means to suffer, to be tormented by the demands of the mind and senses and to get exhausted in struggling to satisfy those demands.

So the evil that we see in this world is not something which is some illusion that has popped up and has absolutely no connection with Brahman. Rather, it is the evil that we see in the world is ultimately meant for, is ultimately due to transformation of the energies of Brahman only. So Sarvam Kalmamidam doesn't mean that only that which is pure and spiritual is real and everything else is illusion.

Rather, that Brahman is that Brahman in the purest manifestation as the Brahmajyoti, as Paramatma, as Bhagwan, that is definitely eternal. But Brahman also has manifestations in the energies as the Jiva and the Jagat, as the Purusha and Prakriti. And this manifestation has the characteristic of changeability and that change can sometimes go in the negative directions and that's how the soul can become bound in material existence and then the soul finds oneself afflicted by the miseries of samsara.

But the pristine purity of Brahman is always preserved and the more the soul becomes aware of its own Brahman nature, Aham Brahmasmi, and further of the pure transcendental nature of Bhagwan, who is the supreme manifestation of Brahman and devotes himself to Brahman, then the soul also retains its purity, soul becomes aware of its spiritual consciousness and thus becomes liberated from material existence. And in this way, Parinamvada doesn't run into the stone wall of the question of how everything is Brahman, then how can illusion come in? No, the illusory energy is also energy of Brahman and energy that gets eluded, that gets deluded is also an energy of Brahman. And by taking shelter of the supreme manifestation of Brahman, the Jiva can come out of the maya shakti and attain the chit shakti, meriva and gain awareness of its chit nature.

Thank you.