4.3.2. Parabrahman’s Innermost Will

[Full title: 4.3. The In-contaminate Source of Knowledge (2): Parabrahman’s Innermost Will]

This is Parabrahman’s innermost will and resolution that the seekers may know his form. Hence, through His own will and power, He becomes conceivable.

Svāminārāyaṇa explains:

“Parabrahman -who transcends Akṣarabrahman, who is beyond mind and speech, and who is imperceptible -Himself, out of compassion, resolves, ‘May all the enlightened and unenlightened people on earth behold Me.’ Having resolved in this manner, Parabrahman -whose will always reigns -becomes perceivable to all people on earth out of compassion.” (Vacanāmṛta Gadhadā I/78, p.196)

Furthermore, the Svāminārāyaṇa Bhāṣya reveals this truth in the context of the Śruti^[1] that describes Parabrahman as inconceivable to all our māyic indriayas.

The Bhāṣyakāra asserts on the base of this Śruti that Parabrahman is beyond the reach of the eye (perception), of speech (verbal testimony), or of the mind (inference). Thus, Parabrahman is beyond the known and unknown. Yet, it is knowable in some way.

Here, Bhāṣyakāra argues admirably with the appropriate references of the scriptures:

“idamatrāvadheyam | na tatra cakṣurgacchati na vāg na mana ityadiko niṣedho na parabrahmaṇaḥ sarvathaiva tattadindriyajanyajñānā'gocaratvenātyantā'vācyatvameva brū te'pi ta kār tsyaina tajjñānā'gocaratvameva tasyā'pāratvād | anyathā tu 'ātmā vā're draṣṭavyaḥ śrotavyo mantavyo nididhyāsitavyaḥ' (bṛ. 4/ 5/ 6 (ityadyupadeśavaiyarthya, parabrahmavedanamārgāprāmāṇikatvaprasaṅgā''pattiśca |”^[2]

“One should be aware of this fact that here, this Śruti does not debar that Parabrahman is not knowable by any sense organs or means. However, the supreme reality is beyond the apprehension of māyic indriya, yet it is His will and wish that the inhabitants of the Mṛtyuloka (earth) may perceive him. Consequently, by the auspice of Parabrahman, only seekers become able to realize him. Otherwise, the Śrutis that endorse Parabrahman as a knowable entity will be objected.”

“sa eva sahajānandaḥ paramātmā svayameva saṅkalpya kṛpayā svabhaktamanorathasaṃpūraṇādiprayojanena svasvarūpasāmaśryyādyajahannevā'vatarati, tadā svayameva saṅkalpayati jñānino'jñāninaśca māṃ pratyakṣīkurvantviti tadā'gocaro'pi sa nayanagocaro bhavatyeva | evaṃ tasya naranāṭyasvīkāre'pi tatsvabhāvaguṇādīnāmapāratvādeva manuṣyarūpo'pyayaṃ paramātmā na sampū rṇa tayā jñātu ंśakya ityata ucyate na tatra cakṣurgacchatītyadi | vastutastu na hi cakṣurādinā ghaṭāditucchavastujātamapi sākalyena grahītuṃ śakyaṃ, kutaḥ punarakṣarādhipatiḥ | paramātmetyalaṃ vistareṇa |” (Kena-upaniṣad 1/3, p. 37)

“When Sahajānanda Parabrahman Himself incarnates on the earth to fulfill the wishes of his devotees out of grace, then He resolves that whether one with wisdom or without wisdom may perceive me. In this way, He, who is inconceivable, becomes conceivable to all. However, He assumes a human form and acts according to it so that He is not thoroughly known to all. This is the reason why the Śruti rejects the knowability of Parabrahman. In fact, we cannot perceive the jar and cloth, etc., thoroughly than how can see the Paramātman perfectly?”

In other words, He alone knows the meaning and import of the Śrutis, which He intends to convey in relation to His essential nature and His highest glory. Therefore, the only means left to our disposal is to go to Parabrahman to explain the true import of the Vedas, thereby the knowledge of Parabrahman, directly from Him. Thus, the prima facie requirement to know the Ultimate Reality (Parabrahman) is the vision, which Parabrahman Himself grants, out of His flooding grace. Parabrahman, out of grace and concern for the seekers of Truth, divinizes the sensory-motor apparatuses and the mind (antaḥkaraṇa) of the seekers, which enables them to have the vision of this Ultimate Reality... Parabrahman Himself) as revealed in the sacred scriptures. The conceptual understanding of this vision follows as a consequence of His own wish. There are others Śrutis where the Bhāṣyakāra defines the above-mentioned facts,^[3] which assert that Parabrahman is the actual means to realize the eternal ontological entities.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

na tatra cakṣurgacchati na vāg gacchati no manaḥ (ke. upa. 1/ 3)

[2]:

Kena-upaniṣad 1/3, p..37, also tathā ca yatte rūpaṃ kalyāṇatamaṃ tatte paśyāmi' ī. 16, -bṛ. 5/ 15/ 1, ‘tadvijijñāsasva' -tai. 3/ 1/ 1, 'ya etadevaṃ vidvān' -chā. 1/ 9/ 2, 'eṣa tu vā ativadati yaḥ satyenā'ti vadati | -chā. 7/ 16/ 1, ‘satataṃ kīrtayanto mām' -gī. 9/ 14, 'adhyātmayogādhigamena devaṃ matvā' -kaṭha. 2/ 12

[3]:

“pravilīyanti sākṣādbrahmasvarūpagurukṛpayā viluptā bhavantīti brahāvidyāvato ‘satyena labhyastapasā hyeṣa ātmā samyagjñānena' (mu. 3/ 1/ 5), 'na cakṣuṣā ityadāvuktāni gṛhyate nāpi vācā... jñānaprasādena viśuddhasattvastatastu taṃ paśyate '(mu. 3/ 1/ 8)