Vaishnavism, Shaivism and Minor Religious Systems v2.c13.43

v2.c13.43

§ 68. Some of the doctrines attributed to Caitanya are as follows. Kṛṣṇa is the highest god and is so beautiful that he excites love for himself even in the heart of the God of love, and is enamoured of himself. His Parabrahmaśakti (power) pervades the universe and assumes a corporeal form by his wonder-creating power (Māyāśakti), though he is the soul of all. He possesses a self-multiplying power (Vilāsaśakti) which is of two kinds. By one of these, in sporting with the cowherdesses, he became as many Kṛṣṇas as were sufficient to give one to every two of them (Prābhavavilāsa). By the other self-multiplying power (Vaibhavavilāsa) he assumes the forms of the four Vyūhas, or forms of Vāsudeva, Saṃkarṣaṇa, etc., Vāsudeva representing intelligence, Saṃkarṣaṇa, consciousness, Pradyumna, the love, and Aniruddha, sportiveness. Here, it will be seen, the functions of the four Vyūhas are changed, and the principle of love is attributed to Pradyumna, instead of that of the mind as in the older system, and that of sportiveness, instead of self-consciousness which is transferred to Saṃkarṣaṇa, is attributed to Aniruddha. This change is in consonance with a system of which love and sport form the distinguishing characteristics. All the usual incarnations spring from one or other of the Vyūhas. According as the quality of Sattva, Rajas, or Tamas predominates, Kṛṣṇa becomes Viṣṇu, Brahmadeva, or Śiva, respectively. The sports of Kṛṣṇa go on always, as the rising and setting of the sun. His eternal sports are carried on in the Goloka. Kṛṣṇa has three powers: the internal which is intelligence, the external which generates appearances, and the differentiated which forms the Jīva, or individual soul. His chief power is that which creates dilatation of the heart, or joy. This appears to be the power of love. When this love becomes settled in the heart of the devotee, it constitutes Mahābhāva, or the best feeling. When love attains to the highest pitch, it constitutes itself into Rādhā, who is the most lovable of all and full of all qualities. She was the object of the highest love of Kṛṣṇa and being idealised as love, some of the agreeable feelings of the heart are considered her ornaments. The sports of the cowherdesses were due to simple love (Preman), and this it was that Uddhava and other devotees sought to attain. The Supreme Soul (Paramātman) is boundless and is full intelligence itself. The individual soul is an atom having intelligence. They are necessarily connected together and this connection can never be destroyed. Kṛṣṇa is the support (Āśraya) and Jīva rests on him (Āśrita). The relation between the two is identity as well as difference. Thus the Vedāntic theory of Caitanya's system is the same as that of Nimbārka. As the bee is distinct from the honey and hovers about it and, when it drinks it, is full of it, i. e. is one with it, so the individual soul is at first distinct from the Supreme Soul, seeks the Supreme Soul consistently and continuously and, when through love he is full of the Supreme Soul, he becomes unconscious of his individual existence and becomes, as it were, absorbed in him. Herein is described the ecstatic condition in which the individual soul becomes one with God, though they are really distinct. Kṛṣṇa is the lord of the power of delusion, or ignorance (Māyā), and Jīva is the slave of it. When the latter cuts off its shackles, he distinctly sees his own nature and his true relation to God. Kṛṣṇa is to be approached and attained by Bhakti alone ¹).