The Simultaneous Inherency and Bestowal of Bhakti—Part 9: Unmanifest Qualities of the Soul

By Vrindaranya Dasi

A Comparison of the Materially Conditioned Jīva Versus the Liberated Soul

In this article, I will discuss the point that many of the jīva’s qualities are not fully manifest when the jīva is conditioned by material nature and that the qualities become fully manifest only when the soul is situated as a servant of God.1 To understand how it is that some qualities of the soul are unmanifest in the first place, let us consider the predicament of the jīva. We will recall that “the jīva’s intrinsic nature is to have the conception of being a servant of Kṛṣṇa. That knowledge is covered by the misconception of the body being the self.”2 Therefore, the jīva is in a situation that defies logic—although he is conscious and liberated, and thus superior to matter, he becomes bound and miserable.3 In this way, “that entity which is intermediately situated, conscious by nature, whose self-awareness has been lost, and who is tainted by attachment to the material guṇas, is called the jīva (Nārada Pañcarātra).”4

Although the ātmā’s self-awareness has been lost, two of the defining characteristics of the soul are that he is “not just knowledge alone (jñāna-mātrātmako na ca)” and “made of knowledge and bliss (cid-ānandātmakas tathā).”5 Contrast these characteristics with the pitiable state of the jīva described in the Bhagavat Sandarbha: “The jīva, the very form of suffering, is surrounded by his own ignorance.”6 As we can see from the stark difference between these two descriptions, some of the qualities of the jīva are unmanifest when he is identified with the material body and its material śaktis.

Śrīdhara Svāmī’s commentary to Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 10.87.38, quoted in Prīti Sandarbha 23 informs us, “Because the jīva embraces ignorance caused by māyā, he serves the body and senses or identifies with them as his self. After that, with its qualities such as bliss (ānanda) hidden (apeta-bhāgaḥ), he adopts similar qualities and attains saṁsāra.”7 When Śrīdhara Svāmī says that the jīva adopts similar qualities, he means that the jīva identifies with the material body and its śaktis, such as material jñāna-śakti. As the jīva is turned away from God, the jīva’s inherent spiritual jñāna-śakti remains unmanifest.8 Paramātma Sandarbha 24 also describes how certain qualities of the jīva are unmanifest: “By association with māyā, represented by a woman, the jīva loses all his powers, his capacity for inherent knowledge etc. and follows her.”9

Many of the Soul’s Qualities Require Śakti to Manifest

Throughout the Paramātma Sandarbha, Jīva Gosvāmī specifies various spiritual śaktis that enable the liberated jīva to be a knower, doer, and enjoyer. For example, he says, “Though it [the ātmā] is knowledge itself, it also possesses the power of knowing (jñāna-śakti), just as light possesses the power of illumination”10 and “In commenting on Brahma-sūtra 3.2.5, Śaṅkara says that ātmā possesses śakti. Later it will be explained that the jīva has qualities similar to the Lord.”11 As Prīti Sandarbha affirms, “By a relationship with the svarūpa-śakti, māyā disappears and the jīva’s saṁsāra is destroyed.”12 What is the relationship of the jīva with the svarūpa-śakti? As I will establish in part 15 of this series, this relationship is tādātmya (identity/oneness).

The Soul’s Qualities/Śakti Manifests in Liberation

Jīva Gosvāmī’s commentary on Paramātma Sandarbha 33 clarifies what is meant by the qualities being “hidden”: “These qualities manifest in the jīva in liberation, just as qualities of males and females manifest in a person as they mature.”13 When Jīva Gosvāmī says that the qualities manifest in liberation, he means that spiritual śaktis manifest. This point is clear from the comment that follows: “The jīva’s qualities which are similar to the Lord’s are hidden. From meditation on the Supreme Lord, a śakti which defies darkness appears by the mercy of the Lord, like the power of a medicine.”14 This comment very clearly shows simultaneous inherence and bestowal because it says that the jīva’s hidden qualities (śakti) manifest by the mercy of the Lord. Jīva Gosvāmī is not referring to impersonal liberation because at that time all śakti is unmanifest. In his commentary to Paramātma Sandarbha 35, he also points out that one would always be able to perceive the qualities of the soul if it were not for the fact that they can manifest or not manifest. Since the qualities of the soul are eternal, they still exist even when they are unmanifest. Consequently, if qualities appear, it means that the qualities must be inherent in the svarūpa of the jīva. Otherwise, the jīva would have no tendency to manifest them.15

The Soul’s Qualities Are Only Fully Manifest in One of the Five Rasas with Bhagavān

To summarize, the qualities manifest in liberation; therefore, they are not material. Furthermore, the qualities do not refer to impersonal liberation because there is no śakti manifest in impersonal liberation—there is no knowing, doing, and feeling when the ātmā identifies with Brahman. Thus, when Jīva Gosvāmī says that the jīvas’ qualities manifest in liberation, he is not referring to the jīva in the material world (since eternal, spiritual qualities cannot be material) or the soul merged in Brahman (since śakti is not manifest in Brahman), but rather the soul who is situated in one of the five relationships with Bhagavān in the spiritual world.

Does the Soul Possess No Knowledge of the Lord?

In Bhakti Sandarbha 1, Jīva Gosvāmī says, “The jīva’s essential knowledge is covered by māyā, by the misfortune of being opposed to the Lord, which means that the jīva has, without beginning, possessed no knowledge (jñāna-saṁsarga-abhāva) of the beginningless supreme entity. The jīva consequently believes he is made of dull matter composed of sattva, rajas, and tamas.”16 Although jñāna often refers to knowledge of Brahman, in this context—knowledge about Bhagavān—it is actually referring to an aspect of the sambandha-jñāna of bhakti. As Kṛṣṇa says in the Bhagavad-gītā (18.55), bhaktyā mām abhijānāti, “I can only be known by bhakti.” Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī says, “The essence of the saṁvit potency is knowledge that the Supreme Personality of Godhead is Lord Kṛṣṇa. All other kinds of knowledge, such as the knowledge of Brahman, are its components.”17 Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura writes, “Just as the word sattva indicates vidyā, so knowledge arising from bhakti is often called bhakti. Sometimes it is called bhakti and other times it is called jñāna.18

A superficial reading of Bhakti Sandarbha 1—the very first anuccheda of the book that is specifically speaking about bhakti—seems to be saying that bhakti does not exist in the jīva. So should we hang up our hats and call it a day, the answer to the question of whether bhakti can be both inherent and bestowed conclusively established? Let us slow down and consider the matter more deeply. If the answer were this obvious, the issue would hardly be a controversy. Is this verse really saying that knowledge of God (bhakti) is not inherent in the soul?

On closer inspection, we notice that anuccheda 1 says that the jīva’s essential knowledge (svarūpa-jñāna) is covered by māyā (māyayāvṛta) due to being opposed to the Lord (tad-vaimukhya). Here essential knowledge cannot be referring to mere consciousness, because the jīva doesn’t ever lose this quality. Furthermore, the anuccheda uses the term jñāna-saṁsarga-abhāva. Saṁsarga-abhāva is a term from Vaiśeṣika that refers to a type of nonexistence: the previous non-existence of an effect. A common example given is a pot that comes from a lump of clay: before the clay is made into a pot, the pot does not exist.

Thus, jñāna-saṁsarga-abhāva in this context refers to something that will come into existence in the future. In Vaiśeṣika philosophy, it refers to material effects: things that come into existence as a result of transformation. Since knowledge of Bhagavān—unlike a material lump of clay—is not an effect, but rather awakens in the purified heart,19 we can understand that Jīva Gosvāmī is using the term in a special sense. Because the jñāna is eternal, he doesn’t mean that it will come into existence. After all, he already said that the jñāna is covered, and how can you cover something that doesn’t exist? Rather, the non-existence of knowledge of God means that it is unmanifest. As Satyanarayana Dasa Babaji puts it, “The covering of consciousness means that the awareness (jñāna) of the jīva, though eternal (nitya), becomes unmanifest (anādi-tad-vaimūkhyena ajñānena jīvānāṁ nityam api jñānam āvṛtaṁ tirohitam). In other words, in the conditioned state, the jīva lacks inherent awareness of its own svarūpa, of Bhagavān, and of their relation.”20 Without the covering of māyā, the jñāna would manifest: “In the absense of māyā you realize prema.”21

One might ask, “How can the jñāna be absent in the soul when it has just been said that jīva’s jñāna is eternal? The answer is the inscrutable power of śakti. Śrī Jīva Gosvāmī clarifies in his commentary to anuccheda 33 that if śakti didn’t cause spiritual qualities to be either manifest or unmanifest, they would either always be manifest or always be unmanifest [because the jīva’s spiritual qualities are eternal]. Some devotees claim that the soul’s knowledge is unmanifest not in the soul’s svarūpa, but rather in the Lord. However, Jīva Gosvāmī does not support this interpretation. Rather, he says, “If the jīva did not have these qualities inherent in his svarūpa, there would be no tendency to manifest them.”22 Although the ultimate source of everything is obviously the Lord, Jīva Gosvāmī clearly establishes that the qualities are inherent in the jīva’s svarūpa. In conclusion, although there is apparently an absence of jñāna, it is actually eternally with the soul and only unmanifest—and thus apparently absent—when the soul is covered by māyā.

Having discussed how various characteristics of the jīva are unmanifest before liberation, let us look at one characteristic in particular: cid-ānandātmaka. Does it mean intrinsically of the nature of knowledge and bliss or merely conscious and free from material suffering? We will turn to this question in the next article of this series.

Additional articles in this series: Part 1: The History of a Debate, Part 2: A Road Map, Part 3: The Swan, Part 4: Vaiṣṇava Vedānta, Part 5: The Twenty-One Intrinsic Characteristics of the Jīva, Part 6: The Search for Bliss, Part 7: The Soul is a Servant of Bhagavān Hari, Part 8: A Servant of God (Śeṣatva), Part 9: Unmanifest Qualities of the Soul, Part 10: Intrinsically of the Nature of Knowledge and Bliss, Part 11: Jīva Gosvāmī on Taṭasthā-Śakti, Part 12: Understanding Śakti, Part 13: The Bliss of the Jīva, Part 14: The Soul Is Not Subject to Transformation, Part 15: Identity/Oneness (Tādātmya), Part 16: The Manifestation of Śakti, Part 17: Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa’s Govinda-Bhāṣya, Part 18: Concluding Words.

Some devotees argue that if svarūpa-śakti were unmanifest in the soul, then its manifestation would create vikārā (modification) in the soul, thereby making it like matter. I will address this objection in the next article. [↩]
Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta 2.24.201 [↩]
“The extrinsic potency of Bhagavān acts contrary to logic [i.e., her behavior cannot be understood simply through logic]; otherwise, how is it possible that the living entity, who is the ruler of [i.e., superior to] prakṛti, being conscious and liberated, becomes bound and miserable? (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 3.7.9)” Dasa, Satyanarayana. Śrī Tattva Sandarbha: Vaiṣṇava Epistemology and Ontology (Ṣaṭ Sandarbha Book 1) (p. 285). Jiva Institute of Vaishnava Studies. Kindle Edition. [↩]
Dasa, Satyanarayana. Śrī Paramātma Sandarbha: The Living Being, Its Bondage, and the Immanent Absolute (p. 319). Jiva Institute of Vaishnava Studies. Kindle Edition. [↩]
Translation by Swami, HH Bhanu; Gosvāmī, Jīva. Paramātma Sandarbha. [↩]
Swami, HH Bhanu; Gosvāmī, Jīva. Bhagavat Sandarbha: With commentary of Jīva Gosvāmī (Ṣaṭ-sandarbha Book 2) (p. 242). Tattva Cintāmaṇi Publishing. Kindle Edition. [↩]
Swami, HH Bhanu; Gosvāmī, Jīva. Prīti Sandarbha. [↩]
This point will be established with scriptural references in part 12 of this series. [↩]
Translation by Swami, HH Bhanu; Gosvāmī, Jīva. Paramātma Sandarbha. [↩]
Paramātmā Sandarbha 45. Swami, HH Bhanu; Gosvāmī, Jīva. Paramātmā Sandarbha. [↩]
Paramātmā Sandarbha 19, commentary. Swami, HH Bhanu; Gosvāmī, Jīva. Paramātmā Sandarbha. [↩]
Prīti Sandarbha 5. Swami, HH Bhanu, Prīti Sandarbha. [↩]
Paramātmā Sandarbha 33, commentary. Swami, HH Bhanu; Gosvāmī, Jīva. Paramātmā Sandarbha. [↩]
Paramātmā Sandarbha 33, commentary. Swami, HH Bhanu; Gosvāmī, Jīva. Paramātmā Sandarbha. [↩]
Paramātmā Sandarbha 35, commentary of Jīva Gosvāmī. Swami, HH Bhanu; Gosvāmī, Jīva. Paramātmā Sandarbha. [↩]
Swami, HH Bhanu; Gosvāmī, Jīva. Bhakti Sandarbha: With commentary of Jīva Gosvāmī (Ṣaṭ-sandarbha Book 5). Tattva Cintāmaṇi Publishing. Kindle Edition. [↩]
Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta 1.4.67 [↩]
“Just as the word sattva indicates vidyā, so knowledge arising from bhakti is often called bhakti. Sometimes it is called bhakti and other times it is called jñāna.” Cakravarti, Srila Visvanath. Sārārtha-Varṣiṇī-Ṭīkā: Commentary on Srimad Bhagavad Gita. Kindle Edition. [↩]
Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta 2.22.107 [↩]
Paramātma Sandarbha 22, commentary. Dasa, Satyanarayana. Śrī Paramātma Sandarbha: The Living Being, Its Bondage, and the Immanent Absolute (p. 239). Jiva Institute of Vaishnava Studies. Kindle Edition. [↩]
Bhagavat Sandarbha 105. Swami, HH Bhanu; Gosvāmī, Jīva. Bhagavat Sandarbha: With commentary of Jīva Gosvāmī (Ṣaṭ-sandarbha Book 2) (p. 212). Tattva Cintāmaṇi Publishing. Kindle Edition. [↩]
Paramātmā Sandarbha 33, commentary. Swami, HH Bhanu; Gosvāmī, Jīva. Paramātmā Sandarbha: With commentary of Jīva Gosvāmī (Ṣaṭ-sandarbha Book 3). Tattva Cintāmaṇi Publishing. Kindle Edition. [↩]