Five Contradictory Sets To Help Explain Vedanta

By krishnasmercy on October 25, 2023 • ( 0 )

“Therefore get up and prepare to fight. After conquering your enemies you will enjoy a flourishing kingdom. They are already put to death by My arrangement, and you, O Savyasachin, can be but an instrument in the fight.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 11.33)

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तस्मात् त्वम् उत्तिष्ठ यशो लभस्व
जित्वा शत्रून् भुङ्क्ष्व राज्यं समृद्धम्
मयैवैते निहताः पूर्वम् एव
निमित्त-मात्रं भव सव्य-साचिन्

tasmāt tvam uttiṣṭha yaśo labhasva
jitvā śatrūn bhuṅkṣva rājyaṁ samṛddham
mayaivaite nihatāḥ pūrvam eva
nimitta-mātraṁ bhava savya-sācin

1. Both high and low

“You mean to tell me that person is both high and low? How does that even make sense? The positions are relative to one another. The clouds are high in the sky. The trees are low to the ground. The two can never be at the same position. If they were, then the two descriptions would lose their meaning. Do you understand what I am saying?”

2. Both ahead and behind

“You mean to tell me that person is both ahead and behind? Which one is it? Are they in front of the others in the race or are they trailing? What is their position relative to the others? Okay, someone might be ahead of the field but behind the pace to break the world record. That would make sense, but I don’t think that is what you are saying.”

3. Both above and underneath

“You mean to tell me the remote control is both above the sofa and underneath it? What does that mean? I am trying to find it. I need to watch something important on the television. These newer models lack any physical buttons aside from controlling the power. Blessed is the never-ending cycle of progress, or so it seems.”

4. Both fast and slow

“You mean to tell me that I was driving both fast and slow? How is that possible? Does that mean I was travelling at an acceptable speed? Fast equates to rapid. Slow means not fast enough. Do you get what I am saying?”

5. Both advaita and dvaita

“You mean to tell me that the conclusion of Vedanta philosophy involves both duality and non-duality? How does that make sense? We can either be one with the Absolute Truth or separate from it. Separation indicates lack of oneness. Oneness indicates lack of separation. Just which is it? Why are you confusing people?”

…

The simultaneous nature of the two truths explains why the philosophy presented by Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is known as achintya-bhedabheda-tattva. This is the truth of simultaneous division and lack of division. Because the contradicting positions are impossible to understand as an accompanying set, the truth is achintya, or inconceivable.

At the same time, there are ways to get an idea. There are mechanisms common to the living experience that exhibit this simultaneous oneness and difference, to an extent. Let’s suppose that our primary mode of transportation is an automobile. We recently purchased a new model. It is parked in the driveway, as we speak.

If we visit the home of a friend, they may notice the new car. They might greet us with, “Nice wheels.” It is an expression referring to the vehicle. Indeed, there might be four nice wheels that sit at the bottom of the mode of transportation. The wheels have to move in order for the car to travel. They are an integral aspect to the sum total.

At the same time, the wheels have a separate existence. They maintain a separate identity. When together with the functioning car, they are part of a greater whole. When someone refers to the car, implied in the reference is the presence of the wheels, the tires, the doors, the headlights, the steering wheel, the seats, the trunk, the engine, the infotainment system, and so forth.

In this way, there is both advaita and dvaita. The individual parts are not so valuable on their own. The car will not lose its identity should one of the headlights stop working. The collective is still there, and the individual parts make up the collective.

Simultaneous oneness and difference is one way to understand the spiritual energy, except for one key distinction. The sum total is only one representation. If all of the individual parts should separate, the higher energy does not lose anything. That force is known as Achyuta; it never falls down. Achyuta means that the Absolute Truth is infallible.

Bhagavad-gita explains advaita and dvaita through both explanation and a real-life interaction. There is the duality in the two participants, Arjuna and Krishna. One side is in doubt and the other side can remove doubts. One person is the disciple and the other the guru. One side seeking knowledge and the other providing it.

The conclusion to the conversation sees the two sides merging together. Arjuna and Krishna working as a single unit, situated on the chariot, proceeding forward in the defense of dharma. There is never any real separation; merely the thought of it. The living being thinks they are alone, that they have no support in this world, that there is no afterlife, that there is no higher purpose to an existence.

महात्मानस् तु मां पार्थ
दैवीं प्रकृतिम् आश्रिताः
भजन्त्य् अनन्य-मनसो
ज्ञात्वा भूतादिम् अव्ययम्

mahātmānas tu māṁ pārtha
daivīṁ prakṛtim āśritāḥ
bhajanty ananya-manaso
jñātvā bhūtādim avyayam

“O son of Pritha, those who are not deluded, the great souls, are under the protection of the divine nature. They are fully engaged in devotional service because they know Me as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, original and inexhaustible.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 9.13)

Just as Arjuna had Krishna nearby, so every living being is in close proximity to transcendence. They only concoct the concept of bheda, or division. When they return to the proper consciousness, when they cut through the illusion, they act as but an instrument of the Divine will. They are under His protection, maintaining individuality, but aligned with a greater force.