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Indian Philosophy v2.c26.s29: XXXVIII Īśvara and Jīva

Indian Philosophy v2.c26.s29

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XXXVIII Īśvara and Jīva

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If Īśvara is Brahman, if the jīva is also metaphysically one with Brahman, and if the two are subject to limitations, the difference between God and the individual seems to be minimised. Śaṃkara holds that, while Īśvara is omniscient, all-powerful and all-pervading, the jīva is ignorant, small and weak. "The Lord endowed with superior limiting adjuncts (niratiśayopādhi)⁴ rules the souls with inferior limiting adjuncts (nihīnopādhi).¹ Īśvara is ever free from avidyā.² The limitations of Īśvara do not affect his knowledge. Īśvara’s māyā is subject to him, and so there is no concealment of his nature. It does not hide his qualities, even as glass which covers objects without concealing their properties. The māyā which is the limitation of Īśvara is made up of śuddhatattva, and does not produce avidyā or antaḥkaraṇa. It is subject to his control, and helps him in his task of creation and destruction. This māyā, or the force of self-expression, in Īśvara, resulting in the multiplicity of the world, deludes the individual soul into the false belief of the independence of the world and the souls in it. Avidyā is the result of māyā. The pure consciousness of Brahman, when associated with māyā in this sense, is called Īśvara, and when with avidyā, jīva. Since Īśvara has no selfish desires or interests in creating the world, he is called akartṛ or non-doer, while the jīva is kartṛ or doer. Īśvara is the worshipped, who distributes rewards according to karma, and he knows his oneness with Brahman, and so enjoys bliss for all time in his own mind. The jīva is the worshipper, who is ignorant of his divine origin, and is therefore subject to saṁsāra. In religion we have the relation of master and servant (svāmibhṛtyayoḥ).³ Elsewhere the finite selves are said to be parts (aṁśa) of Īśvara, even as sparks are of fire.⁴

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⁴ S.B., ii. 3. 45.

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¹ S.B., ii. 3. 43.

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² Nityanivṛttāvidyatvāt (S.B., iii. 2. 9).

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³ Ibid.

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⁴ S.B., iii. 3. 43.

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In later Advaita, different suggestions are put forward regarding the relation of Īśvara and jīva, which may be briefly noticed here. Prakaṭārthavivaraṇa says: “The reflection of Intelligence in māyā, which has no beginning, which is indescribable, which is the source of the inorganic world and which is connected with intelligence only, is Īśvara: the reflection in numerous small portions of that māyā which is possessed of the two powers of enveloping and projecting and known as avidyā is jīva.”⁵ According to this author, māyā and avidyā refer to the whole and the parts. Māyā is the adjunct of Īśvara and avidyā of jīva. The same view is adopted by Saṁkṣepaśārīraka, though the distinction of whole and parts is here said to be one of avidyā and antaḥkaraṇa, where avidyā is the cause and antaḥkaraṇa the effect.⁶ Since this author supports the reflection theory, he does not approve of the division of whole and parts. Pañcadaśī adopts a distinction which is akin to it. The primitive non-intelligent principle of mūlaprakṛti, consisting of three guṇas, has two forms. That portion of it where sattva is not subordinate to rajas and tamas, but dominates the latter, is called māyā, and is the adjunct of Īśvara; that in which sattva is subordinate to the other two qualities is avidyā, which is the adjunct of jīva. The difference between māyā and avidyā is here not simply quantitative but qualitative. It comes out also in another passage of Pañcadaśī, where prakṛti, with its power of projection in prominence, is called māyā; the same, with the power of concealment dominating, is avidyā.¹ In Pañcadaśī,² Vidyāraṇya distinguishes ākāśa (1) limited by a jar (ghaṭākāśa); (2) that which is reflected together with clouds, storms, etc., in the water contained in the jar, or ākāśa, belonging to the water of the jar (jalākāśa); (3) the unlimited ākāśa (mahākāśa); and (4) that which is reflected in particles of water which resemble spray, which are inferrible as existing in the clouds of the sky, from the subsequent rain (meghākāśa). Even so there are four kinds of intelligence: (1) kūṭastha, or the unchanging intelligence limited by gross and subtle bodies; (2) the intelligence reflected in the manas, falsely superimposed on the unchanging intelligence (the jīva); (3) the unlimited intelligence; and (4) the intelligence reflected in the subtle impressions of mind³ of all creatures which exist in the cloudlike māyā hanging in Brahman (Īśvara). From this account, it follows that while jīva is the intelligence reflected in manas, Īśvara is the intelligence reflected in māyā tinged with the subtle impressions of all creatures. The author of Pañcapādikāvivaraṇa regards the jīva as a reflection of Īśvara.⁴ Sometimes jīva is said to be Īśvara under the influence of māyā.

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⁵ Anādir anirvācyā, bhūtaprakṛtiś cinmātrasambandhinī māyā; tasyāṁ citpratibimba īśvaraḥ. Tasyā eva paricchinnānantapradeśeṣv āvaraṇavikṣepaśaktimatsavidyābhidhāneṣu citpratibimbo jīva iti (Siddhāntaleśa, i).

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⁶ Avidyāyāṁ cit pratibimba īśvaraḥ; antaḥkaraṇe citpratibimbojīvaḥ.

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¹ These views are adopted by Tattvaviveka also.

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² vi.

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³ Dhīvāsanā.

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⁴ These take their stand on the Antaryami Brāhmaṇa of the Bṛh. Up., vi. 7, and such passages of the B.G. as "Īśvaras sarvabhūtānāṃ hṛddeśe 'rjuna tiṣṭhati."

Cites (3)