A History of Indian Philosophy v4.c38.s2.54

Language: English

v4.c38.s2.54.1

The third chapter of the second book begins with a topic introducing a discussion of the possibility of the production of *ākāśa*, since two opposite sets of Upaniṣad texts are available on the subject. Madhva's followers distinguish two kinds of *ākāśa*, *ākāśa* as pure vacuity and *ākāśa* as element; according to them it is only the latter that is referred to in the Upaniṣad texts as being produced, while the former is described as eternal. The second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth topics relate to the production of air, the being (*sat*) or Brahman, fire and earth, and it is held that Brahman alone is originless and that everything else has come out of Him. These topics are almost the same in Śaṅkara and Madhva. The seventh topic maintains according to Madhva that Viṣṇu is not only the creator, but also the destroyer of the world. According to Śaṅkara, however, this topic asserts that the successive production of the elements from one another is due not to their own productive power, but to the productive power of God Himself. The eighth topic holds that the destruction of elements takes place in an order inverse to that in which they were produced. Madhva accepts the same meaning of the topic. The ninth topic, according to Madhva, discusses whether it is true that all cases of destruction must be in inverse order to their production, and it is decided in the affirmative;

v4.c38.s2.54.2

the objection that, since *vijñāna* is produced from *manas* and yet the latter is destroyed first, these two must be considered as exceptions, is not correct, since in reality *vijñāna* is not produced out of *manas*. *Manas* has two senses, as "category" and as "inner organ" (*antaḥkaraṇa*), and the word *vijñāna* also means "category" and "understanding" (*avabodha*). Where *vijñāna* is said to rise from *manas*, it is used only in a general way, in the sense of understanding as arising from grasping (*ālocana*); Śaṅkara, however, interprets this topic as consisting only of the 16th *sūtra* (while Madhva takes the 15th and 16th *sūtras* from this topic), asserting that the production of the sense faculties does not disturb the order of the production of the elements. The tenth topic of Madhva, the 17th *sūtra*, is supposed to hold that there cannot be any destruction of Viṣṇu. With Śaṅkara this topic, the 16th *sūtra*, is said to hold that birth and death can be spoken of only with regard to body and not with regard to the soul. The eleventh topic (the 17th *sūtra* with Śaṅkara) means that the birth of *jīva* is true only in a special sense, since in reality *jīva* has neither birth nor death. The eleventh topic, consisting of the 18th and 19th *sūtras*, gives according to Madhva the view that the individual souls have all been produced from God. According to Madhva the twelfth topic (*sūtras* 20–27) deals with the measure of *jīvas*.

v4.c38.s2.54.3

The topic gives, according to him, the view that the *jīva* is atomic in size and not all-pervading. Being in one place, it can vitalize the whole body, just as a lamp can illuminate a room by its light, which is a quality of the lamp; for a substance may be pervading by virtue of its quality¹. The thirteenth topic (27th *sūtra*), according to Madhva, is supposed to affirm the plurality of souls. The fourteenth topic (*sūtras* 28, 29) demonstrates that Brahman and *jīva* are different. The fifteenth topic of Madhva shows that, though the souls are produced from God, yet they are not destructible. The souls are like reflections from the Brahman, and they therefore must persist as long as the Brahman remains and must therefore be eternal. The conditions (*upādhi*) through which these reflections are possible are twofold, external (*bāhya*) and essential (*svarūpa*). The external condition is destroyed, but not the essential one¹. The souls are thus at once one with the Brahman and different; they depend on God for their existence and are similar to Him in nature. The sixteenth topic seeks to establish the nature of souls as consciousness and pure bliss, which are however revealed in their fullness only in the state of emancipation by the grace of God, while in our ordinary states these are veiled, as it were by ignorance (*avidyā*)². The seventeenth topic seeks to reconcile the freedom of action of the *jīva* with the ultimate agency of God.

v4.c38.s2.54.4

It is God who makes the *jīvas* work in accordance with their past *karmas*, which are beginningless (*anādi*). Thus, though God makes all *jīvas* perform all their works, He is guided in His directorship by their previous *karmas*. The eighteenth topic seeks to establish that, though the *jīvas* are parts of God, they are not parts in the same sense as the part-incarnations, the fish-incarnation, etc., are; for the latter are parts of essential nature (*svarūpāṁśa*), whereas the former are not parts of an essential nature (*jīvānām asvarūpāṁśatvam*); for, though parts, they are different from God. The nineteenth topic asserts that the *jīvas* are but reflections of God.