Indian Philosophy v2.c27.s6.2

v2.c27.s6.2

There are three entities existing from all eternity to all eternity, fundamentally different from one another, which are God, soul and the world. Though these are all real and eternal, the latter two are subordinate to God and dependent on him. Independent (svatantra) reality is Brahman, the absolute creator of the universe. We can know his nature through a study of the Vedas,¹ and so his nature is not indefinable. When the Supreme is said to be indefinable, all that is meant is that a complete knowledge of him is difficult to acquire.² The Supreme transcends all perception.³ The form seen during meditation by imagination is not Brahman. Madhva has no sympathy with the view that the different parts of the scripture relate to different kinds of Brahman. Though the supreme being and his qualities are identical, they can be spoken of in different terms.⁴ The famous passage that Brahman is one only without a second (ekam evādvitīyam brahma) means that Brahman is unsurpassed in excellence and without an equal, since it penetrates everywhere. The attributes of God are absolute in their character and so do not limit him. Brahman possesses every kind of perfection. He is identified with Viṣṇu and is said to direct by his will the world and all that is in it as an absolute ruler. He creates and destroys the world again and again. He is endowed with a supernatural body and is regarded as transcendent to the world as well as immanent, since he is the inner ruler (antaryāmin) of all souls.⁵ He manifests himself in various forms (vyūhas), appears periodically in incarnations (avatāras), and is said to be mystically present in the sacred images. He creates, maintains and destroys the universe, imparts knowledge, manifests himself in several ways, condemns some and redeems others. By his side is Lakṣmī, capable of assuming various forms, but without a material body, coeternal with him and all-pervading. She witnesses the glory of God through eternity. Unlike the gods and goddesses who acquire release after many existences, Lakṣmī is eternally redeemed (nityamuktā). Lakṣmī is the personification of God's creative energy. She is intelligent prakṛti, though God is greater than she in point of subtlety and the extent of qualities.⁶ God rules the souls and matter, though he does not create them from nothing or reduce them to nothing. He is the efficient but not the material cause of the universe. An unintelligent world cannot be produced by a supreme intelligence. God's activity is the result of his overflowing perfection. Simply because God takes into account the karma of the individuals, it cannot be said that the Lord is dependent on karma, for, as Madhva says, " the very existence of karma and other things depends on the Lord." ¹