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| The Incompleteness of TM |
The Philosophical Roots of TM
Transcendental Meditation is rooted in the Adi Shankaracarya tradition. Sometimes Shankara's advaita-vedanta
commentary is presented in books about Hinduism as if it were the original and only vedanta philosophy. But in
fact Shankara's philosophy is more akin to Buddhism than vedanta. Buddhism is a nastika, or non-Vedic, religion.
Before 600 AD, the time of Shankara's appearance, most Vedantist scholars did not endorse a doctrine of
impersonalism. Evidence gathered from the writings of pre-Shankara Buddhist scholars shows that their
Vedantist contemporaries were Purusa-vadins (purusa = "person", vadin = "philosopher"). Purusavadins taught
that the goal of Vedanta philosophy is the Mahapurusa (Greatest Person). Bhavya, an Indian Buddhist author
who lived centuries before Shankara, wrote in the Madhyamika-hrdaya-karika that the Vedantists of his time
were adherents of the doctrine of bhedabheda (difference and nondifference). That Shankara borrowed
Buddhistic ideas was noted by the Buddhists themselves. A Buddhist writer named Bhartrhari, a contemporary of
Shankara, expressed some surprise that although Shankara was a brahmana scholar of the Vedas, his
impersonal teachings resembled Buddhism. This is admitted by the followers of Shankara themselves. Pandit Dr.
Rajmani Tigunait of the Himalayan Institute of Yoga is a present-day exponent of advaita-vedanta; in his book,
Seven Systems of Indian Philosophy, he writes that the ideas of the Buddhist Sunyavada (voidist) philosophers
are very close to Shankara's. Shankara inserted into Vedantic discourse the Buddhistic idea of ultimate
emptiness, substituting the Upanisadic word brahman ("the Absolute") for sunya ("the void"). Because Shankara
argued that all names, forms, qualities, activities and relationships are creations of maya (illusion), even divine
names and forms, his philosophy is called mayavada (the doctrine of illusion).
However, to compare Brahman with the void is philosophically untenable. The Vedanta-sutra defines Brahman,
not Maya, as the cause of everything (janmadyasya-yatah, Vedanta-sutra 1.1.2). How can that which lacks
name, form, quality, and activity be the cause of that which possesses these features? Nil posse creari de nilo:
"Nothing can be created out of nothing." Mayavadi vedanta (impersonalism) avoids the issue of causation by
arguing that the world, though empirically real, is ultimately a dream.
Personalism and Impersonalism
Impersonalists think the highest conception of God is an all-pervading impersonal spirit and that our spiritual
perfection is to merge into this one spirit. They compare this to drops of water merging into the ocean. They
think that if God had a form, it would limit Him, as our bodies limit us.
Personalists say that the highest conception of God is a Supreme Person, with an eternal spiritual body and with
whom we can have loving exchanges in our eternal spiritual body in the spiritual world.
Both claim their view is supported by scriptural evidence, but in India’s most famous scripture, Bhagavad-gita,
Krishna says that the impersonal manifestation of God is subordinate to His personal form (Bg. 14.27). Krishna
also says that He Himself is “the source of all spiritual and material worlds,” and “everything emanates from Me”
(Bg. 10.8), not the impersonal spirit. He also declares, “There is no truth superior to Me.” (Bg. 7.7) As you know
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi has his own commentary on the first six chapters of the Bhagavat Gita and not the entire
Bhagavat Gita.
In Chapter 12, Arjuna asks which is best, worship of the Supreme Lord or worship of the impersonal, unmanifest
form of the Supreme. Krishna replies that worship of His personal form is best. Worship of the unmanifest is
fruitful only after much difficulty, He says, and in the end it brings one to worship the Supreme Person. In
addition Krishna says that He considers less intelligent those who think He was unmanifest before and assumed
the personality of Krishna (Bg. 7.24).
So even though both impersonal and personal aspects of God exist and are transcendental to this material
world, Krishna, the authority, recommends worship of His personal form, the source of the all-pervading,
impersonal spirit, which is merely the effulgence of His body.
Transcendental Meditation is rooted in the Adi Shankaracarya tradition. Sometimes Shankara's advaita-vedanta
commentary is presented in books about Hinduism as if it were the original and only vedanta philosophy. But in
fact Shankara's philosophy is more akin to Buddhism than vedanta. Buddhism is a nastika, or non-Vedic, religion.
Before 600 AD, the time of Shankara's appearance, most Vedantist scholars did not endorse a doctrine of
impersonalism. Evidence gathered from the writings of pre-Shankara Buddhist scholars shows that their
Vedantist contemporaries were Purusa-vadins (purusa = "person", vadin = "philosopher"). Purusavadins taught
that the goal of Vedanta philosophy is the Mahapurusa (Greatest Person). Bhavya, an Indian Buddhist author
who lived centuries before Shankara, wrote in the Madhyamika-hrdaya-karika that the Vedantists of his time
were adherents of the doctrine of bhedabheda (difference and nondifference). That Shankara borrowed
Buddhistic ideas was noted by the Buddhists themselves. A Buddhist writer named Bhartrhari, a contemporary of
Shankara, expressed some surprise that although Shankara was a brahmana scholar of the Vedas, his
impersonal teachings resembled Buddhism. This is admitted by the followers of Shankara themselves. Pandit Dr.
Rajmani Tigunait of the Himalayan Institute of Yoga is a present-day exponent of advaita-vedanta; in his book,
Seven Systems of Indian Philosophy, he writes that the ideas of the Buddhist Sunyavada (voidist) philosophers
are very close to Shankara's. Shankara inserted into Vedantic discourse the Buddhistic idea of ultimate
emptiness, substituting the Upanisadic word brahman ("the Absolute") for sunya ("the void"). Because Shankara
argued that all names, forms, qualities, activities and relationships are creations of maya (illusion), even divine
names and forms, his philosophy is called mayavada (the doctrine of illusion).
However, to compare Brahman with the void is philosophically untenable. The Vedanta-sutra defines Brahman,
not Maya, as the cause of everything (janmadyasya-yatah, Vedanta-sutra 1.1.2). How can that which lacks
name, form, quality, and activity be the cause of that which possesses these features? Nil posse creari de nilo:
"Nothing can be created out of nothing." Mayavadi vedanta (impersonalism) avoids the issue of causation by
arguing that the world, though empirically real, is ultimately a dream.
Personalism and Impersonalism
Impersonalists think the highest conception of God is an all-pervading impersonal spirit and that our spiritual
perfection is to merge into this one spirit. They compare this to drops of water merging into the ocean. They
think that if God had a form, it would limit Him, as our bodies limit us.
Personalists say that the highest conception of God is a Supreme Person, with an eternal spiritual body and with
whom we can have loving exchanges in our eternal spiritual body in the spiritual world.
Both claim their view is supported by scriptural evidence, but in India’s most famous scripture, Bhagavad-gita,
Krishna says that the impersonal manifestation of God is subordinate to His personal form (Bg. 14.27). Krishna
also says that He Himself is “the source of all spiritual and material worlds,” and “everything emanates from Me”
(Bg. 10.8), not the impersonal spirit. He also declares, “There is no truth superior to Me.” (Bg. 7.7) As you know
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi has his own commentary on the first six chapters of the Bhagavat Gita and not the entire
Bhagavat Gita.
In Chapter 12, Arjuna asks which is best, worship of the Supreme Lord or worship of the impersonal, unmanifest
form of the Supreme. Krishna replies that worship of His personal form is best. Worship of the unmanifest is
fruitful only after much difficulty, He says, and in the end it brings one to worship the Supreme Person. In
addition Krishna says that He considers less intelligent those who think He was unmanifest before and assumed
the personality of Krishna (Bg. 7.24).
So even though both impersonal and personal aspects of God exist and are transcendental to this material
world, Krishna, the authority, recommends worship of His personal form, the source of the all-pervading,
impersonal spirit, which is merely the effulgence of His body.
| To compare Brahman with the void is philosophically untenable |
The Guru of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi: Guru Dev
In 1941 Shankaracharya Swami Brahmananda Saraswati (Guru Dev) became the Shankaracarya of Jyotirmath
after the matha was extinct for about 165 years. Guru Dev instructed according to the 'Smarta' teachings of Adi
Shankara which inform that the divine is both manifest and unmanifest, and that both the form and the formless
can be accessed by the aspirant. From this viewpoint all manifestations of the divine are treated with equal
respect and devotion, each as part of the whole divine entity. Guru Dev would ascertain the aspect of the divine
uppermost in the mind/heart of the initiate and then explain how to worship that aspect. Part of this worship
involves focusing the mind on the image of that 'god', and in preparation for this contemplation the mantra
associated with that god is evoked and repeated. The teaching is that the mantra is not just the sound
associated with the deity, it is actually also the form of the deity. And the reason that all the deities are part of the
same entity is because they are composed of the same formless unmanifest Being. If the aspirant is suitable,
then the technique is given for directly attaining the unmanifest divinity - nirakar - without form.
In the line of the above teachings of his guru, Maharishi originally started initiating in the same manner. Like his
guru he asked people what their ishtadevata was (god of preference) and instructed them to repeat the mantra
of that deva silently for themselves to turn the mind inwards. In course of time the young brahmachari Mahesh
made a name for himself as Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, publicly extolling the benefits of mantra meditation and
establishing a worldwide organization to promote his own views. TM as it is presented nowadays is quite different
from the original teachings of Guru Dev.
The Difference
Based on Shankaracharya’s impersonal philosophy Guru Dev established that the ultimate reality is the formless,
unmanifest Being. Maharishi teaches the same and in his vision the gods are the personifications of the laws of
nature and subordinate to the formless underlying reality. Although Maharishi originally initiated people with the
mantra of their ishtadevata later he introduced the (secret) meaningless mantra meditation which is now widely
known as Transcendental Meditation. It makes sense to use a meaningless mantra since the aim is to attain the
all-pervading impersonal spirit which is devoid of a name. However how secret and how meaningless are the
mantras used in TM? The mantras used in TM are now widely known and can be found all over the internet and
are no secret anymore. Moreover the mantras used in TM are the bija-mantra’s or seed-mantra’s of demigods
like the goddess Saraswati. Although this fact is widely known still the teachers of TM carry on that the mantra’s
are meaningless. In the Bhagavat Gita (Chapter 9 verse 25) the Supreme Lord Krishna says: yanti deva-vrata
devan pitrn yanti pitr-vratah bhutani yanti bhutejya yanti mad-yajino 'pi mam “Those who worship the demigods
will take birth among the demigods; those who worship ghosts and spirits will take birth among such beings; those
who worship ancestors go to the ancestors; and those who worship Me will live with Me”. In this context Shrila
Prabhupada explains that if one buys a flight ticket to Moscow, one doesn’t reach New York, similarly the Name
one chants and the Worship one does determines one's destination. The destinations of different mantras are
not the same. This is true even in the absolute consideration because even the different Names of God lead to
different destinations. The average TM practitioner does not know that they are using a mantra of a demigod
during meditation what to speak of their destination.
Also contrary to his Guru Dev who never accepted a penny for initiation, Maharishi highly commercialized the
process of initiation. Nowadays people pay $2.500 for initiation in TM. When you want to learn the advanced
techniques and the siddhi-program you better look for an extra job because you end up paying tens of
thousands of dollars.
The Challenge
We encourage TM practitioners not to stop meditating but to use as mantras the most merciful Names of the
Supreme Lord. The Supreme Lord is Absolute and so is His Name. By just repeating His Name you are relating to
the Absolute level. When you try it you will experience a tremendous happiness that overwrites all the happiness
you experienced before during meditation. The mantras we recommend are called the Mantrarajas or the king of
all mantras. We recommend to use se during your morning meditation the Mantraraja ‘Nityananda’ and during the
evening the Mantraraja ‘Gauranga’. On this website you can read more about these wonderful merciful Names of
the Lord. There is also a subtle difference in how to think the Mantrarajas during meditation. For more detailed
information and a complete instruction please visit the Authentic Silent Meditation section of this website.
In a Nutshell
The real challenge for TM practitioners is to study the Vedas from their original perspective ‘as it is’ as Srila
Prabhupada would say. The problem with the Shankaracarya philosophy is that it is devoid of the beautiful
mellows of divine love. Maharishi states in his ‘science of creative intelligence’ that the state of transcendental
consciousness is a state wherein subject and object are identical and the difference between the two seizes to
exist. This is where the drop merges into the ocean and the drop becomes the ocean. However anybody who
uses a little common sense can understand that love cannot exist without the object of love. We see this all
around us in nature. Every living entity directs is propensity of love to the object of love. And the ultimate Object
of love is the source of all beings: the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The Vedas are totally pervaded with
bhakti (love) for the Supreme Being and a sincere spiritual seeker will be able to recognize this essence.
In 1941 Shankaracharya Swami Brahmananda Saraswati (Guru Dev) became the Shankaracarya of Jyotirmath
after the matha was extinct for about 165 years. Guru Dev instructed according to the 'Smarta' teachings of Adi
Shankara which inform that the divine is both manifest and unmanifest, and that both the form and the formless
can be accessed by the aspirant. From this viewpoint all manifestations of the divine are treated with equal
respect and devotion, each as part of the whole divine entity. Guru Dev would ascertain the aspect of the divine
uppermost in the mind/heart of the initiate and then explain how to worship that aspect. Part of this worship
involves focusing the mind on the image of that 'god', and in preparation for this contemplation the mantra
associated with that god is evoked and repeated. The teaching is that the mantra is not just the sound
associated with the deity, it is actually also the form of the deity. And the reason that all the deities are part of the
same entity is because they are composed of the same formless unmanifest Being. If the aspirant is suitable,
then the technique is given for directly attaining the unmanifest divinity - nirakar - without form.
In the line of the above teachings of his guru, Maharishi originally started initiating in the same manner. Like his
guru he asked people what their ishtadevata was (god of preference) and instructed them to repeat the mantra
of that deva silently for themselves to turn the mind inwards. In course of time the young brahmachari Mahesh
made a name for himself as Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, publicly extolling the benefits of mantra meditation and
establishing a worldwide organization to promote his own views. TM as it is presented nowadays is quite different
from the original teachings of Guru Dev.
The Difference
Based on Shankaracharya’s impersonal philosophy Guru Dev established that the ultimate reality is the formless,
unmanifest Being. Maharishi teaches the same and in his vision the gods are the personifications of the laws of
nature and subordinate to the formless underlying reality. Although Maharishi originally initiated people with the
mantra of their ishtadevata later he introduced the (secret) meaningless mantra meditation which is now widely
known as Transcendental Meditation. It makes sense to use a meaningless mantra since the aim is to attain the
all-pervading impersonal spirit which is devoid of a name. However how secret and how meaningless are the
mantras used in TM? The mantras used in TM are now widely known and can be found all over the internet and
are no secret anymore. Moreover the mantras used in TM are the bija-mantra’s or seed-mantra’s of demigods
like the goddess Saraswati. Although this fact is widely known still the teachers of TM carry on that the mantra’s
are meaningless. In the Bhagavat Gita (Chapter 9 verse 25) the Supreme Lord Krishna says: yanti deva-vrata
devan pitrn yanti pitr-vratah bhutani yanti bhutejya yanti mad-yajino 'pi mam “Those who worship the demigods
will take birth among the demigods; those who worship ghosts and spirits will take birth among such beings; those
who worship ancestors go to the ancestors; and those who worship Me will live with Me”. In this context Shrila
Prabhupada explains that if one buys a flight ticket to Moscow, one doesn’t reach New York, similarly the Name
one chants and the Worship one does determines one's destination. The destinations of different mantras are
not the same. This is true even in the absolute consideration because even the different Names of God lead to
different destinations. The average TM practitioner does not know that they are using a mantra of a demigod
during meditation what to speak of their destination.
Also contrary to his Guru Dev who never accepted a penny for initiation, Maharishi highly commercialized the
process of initiation. Nowadays people pay $2.500 for initiation in TM. When you want to learn the advanced
techniques and the siddhi-program you better look for an extra job because you end up paying tens of
thousands of dollars.
The Challenge
We encourage TM practitioners not to stop meditating but to use as mantras the most merciful Names of the
Supreme Lord. The Supreme Lord is Absolute and so is His Name. By just repeating His Name you are relating to
the Absolute level. When you try it you will experience a tremendous happiness that overwrites all the happiness
you experienced before during meditation. The mantras we recommend are called the Mantrarajas or the king of
all mantras. We recommend to use se during your morning meditation the Mantraraja ‘Nityananda’ and during the
evening the Mantraraja ‘Gauranga’. On this website you can read more about these wonderful merciful Names of
the Lord. There is also a subtle difference in how to think the Mantrarajas during meditation. For more detailed
information and a complete instruction please visit the Authentic Silent Meditation section of this website.
In a Nutshell
The real challenge for TM practitioners is to study the Vedas from their original perspective ‘as it is’ as Srila
Prabhupada would say. The problem with the Shankaracarya philosophy is that it is devoid of the beautiful
mellows of divine love. Maharishi states in his ‘science of creative intelligence’ that the state of transcendental
consciousness is a state wherein subject and object are identical and the difference between the two seizes to
exist. This is where the drop merges into the ocean and the drop becomes the ocean. However anybody who
uses a little common sense can understand that love cannot exist without the object of love. We see this all
around us in nature. Every living entity directs is propensity of love to the object of love. And the ultimate Object
of love is the source of all beings: the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The Vedas are totally pervaded with
bhakti (love) for the Supreme Being and a sincere spiritual seeker will be able to recognize this essence.
| Guru Dev never accepted a penny for initiation |
Shankaracarya’s Ultimate Meditation
Coming back to the philosophical roots of TM; Shankaracarya preached impersonalism to the general masses
but his meditations on the Bhagavad-Gita were personalistic. For insiders this is not a surprise because
Shankaracarya is an incarnation of Lord Shiva who himself is a great devotee of the Supreme Lord. Following
are Shankaracarya’s meditations on the Bhagavad-Gita with a commentary of Srila Prabhupada:
Purport
Sripada Sankaracarya was an impersonalist from the materialistic point of view. But he never denied the spiritual
form known as sac-cid-ananda-vigraha, or the eternal, all-blissful form of knowledge that existed before the
material creation. When he spoke of Supreme Brahman as impersonal, he meant that the Lord's sac-cid-ananda
form was not to be confused with a material conception of personality. In the very beginning of his commentary
on the Gita, he maintains that Narayana, the Supreme Lord, is transcendental to the material creation. The Lord
existed before the creation as the transcendental personality, and He has nothing to do with material personality.
Lord Krsna is the same Supreme Personality, and He has no connection with a material body. He descends in His
spiritual, eternal form, but foolish people mistake His body to be like ours. Sankara's preaching of impersonalism
is especially meant for teaching foolish persons who consider Krsna to be an ordinary man composed of matter.
No one would care to read the Gita if it had been spoken by a material man, and certainly Vyasadeva would not
have bothered to incorporate it into the history of the Mahabharata. According to the above verses, Mahabharata
is the history of the ancient world, and Vyasadeva is the writer of this great epic. The Bhagavad-gita is identical
with Krsna; and because Krsna is the Absolute Supreme Personality of Godhead, there is no difference between
Krsna and His words. Therefore the Bhagavad-gita is as worshipable as Lord Krsna Himself, both being absolute.
One who hears the Bhagavad-gita "as is" actually hears the words directly from the lotus lips of the Lord. But
unfortunate persons say that the Gita is too antiquated for the modern man, who wants to find out God by
speculation or meditation.
Purport
Sripada Sankaracarya explicitly says, "You fools, just worship Govinda and that Bhagavad-gita spoken by
Narayana Himself," yet foolish people still conduct their research work to find out Narayana; consequently they
are wretched, and they waste their time for nothing. Narayana is never wretched nor daridra; rather, He is
worshiped by the goddess of fortune, Laksmi, as well as by all living entities. Sankara declared himself to be
"Brahman," but he admits Narayana, or Krsna, to be the Supreme Personality who is beyond the material
creation. He offers his respects to Krsna as the Supreme Brahman, or Parabrahman, because He (Krsna) is
worshipable by everyone. Only the fools and enemies of Krsna, who cannot understand what the Bhagavad-gita
is (though they make commentaries on it), say, "It is not the personal Krsna to whom we have to surrender
ourselves utterly, but the unborn, beginningless Eternal who speaks through Krsna." Fools rush in where angels
fear to tread. Whereas Sankara, the greatest of the impersonalists, offers his due respects to Krsna and His
book the Bhagavad-gita, the foolish say that "we need not surrender to the personal Krsna." Such unenlightened
people do not know that Krsna is absolute and that there is no difference between His inside and outside. The
difference of inside and outside is experienced in the dual, material world. In the absolute world there is no such
difference, because in the absolute everything is spiritual (sac-cid-ananda), and Narayana, or Krsna, belongs to
the absolute world. In the absolute world there is only the factual personality, and there is no distinction between
body and soul.
Purport
Unless one understands spiritual variegatedness, one cannot understand the transcendental pastimes of the
Lord. In the Brahma-samhita it is said that Krsna's name, form, quality, pastimes, entourage, and paraphernalia
are all ananda-cinmaya-rasa--in short, everything of His transcendental association is of the same composition of
spiritual bliss, knowledge, and eternity. There is no end to His name, form, etc., unlike in the material world,
where all things have their end. As stated in the Bhagavad-gita, only fools deride Him; whereas it is Sankara, the
greatest impersonalist, who worships Him, His cows, and His pastimes as the son of Vasudeva and pleasure of
Devaki.
Purport
Sankara describes Him as the son of Vasudeva and Devaki. Does he mean thereby that he is worshiping an
ordinary, material man? He worships Krsna because he knows that Krsna's birth and activities are all
supernatural. As stated in the Bhagavad-gita (4.9), Krsna's birth and activities are mysterious and
transcendental, and therefore only the devotees of Krsna can know them perfectly. Sankara was not such a fool
that he would accept Krsna as an ordinary man and at the same time offer Him all devotional obeisances,
knowing Him as the son of Devaki and Vasudeva. According to the Bhagavad-gita, only by knowing the
transcendental birth and activities of Krsna can one attain liberation by acquiring a spiritual form like Krsna's.
There are five different kinds of liberation. One who merges into the spiritual auras of Krsna, known as the
impersonal Brahman effulgence, does not fully develop his spiritual body. But one who fully develops his spiritual
existence becomes an associate of Narayana or Krsna in different spiritual abodes. One who enters into the
abode of Narayana develops a spiritual form exactly like Narayana's (four-handed), and one who enters into the
highest spiritual abode of Krsna, known as Goloka Vrndavana, develops a spiritual form of two hands like
Krsna's. Sankara, as an incarnation of Lord Siva, knows all these spiritual existences, but he did not disclose
them to his then Buddhist followers because it was impossible for them to know about the spiritual world. Lord
Buddha preached that void is the ultimate goal, so how could his followers understand spiritual variegatedness?
Therefore Sankara said, brahma satyam jagan mithya, or, material variegatedness is false but spiritual
variegatedness is fact. In the Padma Purana Lord Siva has admitted that he had to preach the philosophy of
maya, or illusion, in the Kali-yuga as another edition of the "void" philosophy of Buddha. He had to do this by the
order of the Lord for specific reasons. He disclosed his real mind, however, by recommending that people
worship Krsna, for no one can be saved simply by mental speculations composed of word jugglery and
grammatical maneuvers. Sankara further instructs:
bhaja govindam bhaja govindam
bhaja govindam mudha-mate
samprapte sannihite kale
na hi na hi raksati dukrn-karane
"You intellectual fools, just worship Govinda, just worship Govinda, just worship Govinda. Your grammatical
knowledge and word jugglery will not save you at the time of death."
-
Purport
Foolish followers of foolish speculators cannot understand the meaning of offering salutations to Lord Krsna, the
embodiment of bliss. Sankara himself offered his salutations to Lord Krsna so that some of his intelligent
followers might understand the real fact by the example set by their great master, Sankara, the incarnation of
Lord Siva. But there are many obstinate followers of Sankara who refuse to offer their salutations to Lord Krsna
and instead mislead innocent persons by injecting materialism into the Bhagavad-gita and confusing innocent
readers by their commentaries, and consequently the readers never have the opportunity to become blessed by
offering salutations to Lord Krsna, the cause of all causes. The greatest disservice to humanity is to keep
mankind in darkness about the science of Krsna, or Krsna consciousness, by distorting the sense of the Gita.
Purport
By recitation of the ninth verse of his meditation, quoted from the Srimad-Bhagavatam, Sankara has indicated
that Lord Krsna is worshipable by one and all, including himself. He gives hints to materialists, impersonalists,
mental speculators, "void" philosophers, and all other candidates subjected to the punishment of material
miseries--just offer salutations to Lord Krsna, who is worshiped by Brahma, Siva, Varuna, Indra, and all other
demigods. He has not mentioned, however, the name of Visnu, because Visnu is identical with Krsna. The Vedas
and the Upanisads are meant for understanding the process by which one can surrender unto Krsna. The yogis
try to see Him (Krsna) within themselves by meditation. In other words, it is for all the demigods and demons who
do not know where the ultimate end is that Sankara teaches, and he especially instructs the demons and the
fools to offer salutations to Krsna and His words, the Bhagavad-gita, by following in his footsteps. Only by such
acts will the demons be benefited, not by misleading their innocent followers by so-called mental speculations or
show-bottle meditations. Sankara directly offers salutations to Krsna, as if to show the fools, who are searching
after light, that here ls light like the sun. But the fallen demons are like owls that will not open their eyes on
account of their fear of the sunlight itself. These owls will never open their eyes to see the sublime light of Krsna
and His words the Bhagavad-gita. They will, however, comment on the Gita with their closed owl-eyes to mislead
their unfortunate readers and followers. Sankara, however, discloses the light to his less intelligent followers and
shows that the Bhagavad-gita and Krsna are the only source of light. This is all to teach the sincere seekers of
truth to offer salutation to Lord Krsna and thus surrender unto Him without misgivings. That is the highest
perfection of life, and that is the highest teaching of Sankara, the great learned scholar whose teachings drove
the voidist philosophy of Buddha out of India, the land of knowledge. Om tat sat.
TOP
Coming back to the philosophical roots of TM; Shankaracarya preached impersonalism to the general masses
but his meditations on the Bhagavad-Gita were personalistic. For insiders this is not a surprise because
Shankaracarya is an incarnation of Lord Shiva who himself is a great devotee of the Supreme Lord. Following
are Shankaracarya’s meditations on the Bhagavad-Gita with a commentary of Srila Prabhupada:
Purport
Sripada Sankaracarya was an impersonalist from the materialistic point of view. But he never denied the spiritual
form known as sac-cid-ananda-vigraha, or the eternal, all-blissful form of knowledge that existed before the
material creation. When he spoke of Supreme Brahman as impersonal, he meant that the Lord's sac-cid-ananda
form was not to be confused with a material conception of personality. In the very beginning of his commentary
on the Gita, he maintains that Narayana, the Supreme Lord, is transcendental to the material creation. The Lord
existed before the creation as the transcendental personality, and He has nothing to do with material personality.
Lord Krsna is the same Supreme Personality, and He has no connection with a material body. He descends in His
spiritual, eternal form, but foolish people mistake His body to be like ours. Sankara's preaching of impersonalism
is especially meant for teaching foolish persons who consider Krsna to be an ordinary man composed of matter.
No one would care to read the Gita if it had been spoken by a material man, and certainly Vyasadeva would not
have bothered to incorporate it into the history of the Mahabharata. According to the above verses, Mahabharata
is the history of the ancient world, and Vyasadeva is the writer of this great epic. The Bhagavad-gita is identical
with Krsna; and because Krsna is the Absolute Supreme Personality of Godhead, there is no difference between
Krsna and His words. Therefore the Bhagavad-gita is as worshipable as Lord Krsna Himself, both being absolute.
One who hears the Bhagavad-gita "as is" actually hears the words directly from the lotus lips of the Lord. But
unfortunate persons say that the Gita is too antiquated for the modern man, who wants to find out God by
speculation or meditation.
Purport
Sripada Sankaracarya explicitly says, "You fools, just worship Govinda and that Bhagavad-gita spoken by
Narayana Himself," yet foolish people still conduct their research work to find out Narayana; consequently they
are wretched, and they waste their time for nothing. Narayana is never wretched nor daridra; rather, He is
worshiped by the goddess of fortune, Laksmi, as well as by all living entities. Sankara declared himself to be
"Brahman," but he admits Narayana, or Krsna, to be the Supreme Personality who is beyond the material
creation. He offers his respects to Krsna as the Supreme Brahman, or Parabrahman, because He (Krsna) is
worshipable by everyone. Only the fools and enemies of Krsna, who cannot understand what the Bhagavad-gita
is (though they make commentaries on it), say, "It is not the personal Krsna to whom we have to surrender
ourselves utterly, but the unborn, beginningless Eternal who speaks through Krsna." Fools rush in where angels
fear to tread. Whereas Sankara, the greatest of the impersonalists, offers his due respects to Krsna and His
book the Bhagavad-gita, the foolish say that "we need not surrender to the personal Krsna." Such unenlightened
people do not know that Krsna is absolute and that there is no difference between His inside and outside. The
difference of inside and outside is experienced in the dual, material world. In the absolute world there is no such
difference, because in the absolute everything is spiritual (sac-cid-ananda), and Narayana, or Krsna, belongs to
the absolute world. In the absolute world there is only the factual personality, and there is no distinction between
body and soul.
Purport
Unless one understands spiritual variegatedness, one cannot understand the transcendental pastimes of the
Lord. In the Brahma-samhita it is said that Krsna's name, form, quality, pastimes, entourage, and paraphernalia
are all ananda-cinmaya-rasa--in short, everything of His transcendental association is of the same composition of
spiritual bliss, knowledge, and eternity. There is no end to His name, form, etc., unlike in the material world,
where all things have their end. As stated in the Bhagavad-gita, only fools deride Him; whereas it is Sankara, the
greatest impersonalist, who worships Him, His cows, and His pastimes as the son of Vasudeva and pleasure of
Devaki.
Purport
Sankara describes Him as the son of Vasudeva and Devaki. Does he mean thereby that he is worshiping an
ordinary, material man? He worships Krsna because he knows that Krsna's birth and activities are all
supernatural. As stated in the Bhagavad-gita (4.9), Krsna's birth and activities are mysterious and
transcendental, and therefore only the devotees of Krsna can know them perfectly. Sankara was not such a fool
that he would accept Krsna as an ordinary man and at the same time offer Him all devotional obeisances,
knowing Him as the son of Devaki and Vasudeva. According to the Bhagavad-gita, only by knowing the
transcendental birth and activities of Krsna can one attain liberation by acquiring a spiritual form like Krsna's.
There are five different kinds of liberation. One who merges into the spiritual auras of Krsna, known as the
impersonal Brahman effulgence, does not fully develop his spiritual body. But one who fully develops his spiritual
existence becomes an associate of Narayana or Krsna in different spiritual abodes. One who enters into the
abode of Narayana develops a spiritual form exactly like Narayana's (four-handed), and one who enters into the
highest spiritual abode of Krsna, known as Goloka Vrndavana, develops a spiritual form of two hands like
Krsna's. Sankara, as an incarnation of Lord Siva, knows all these spiritual existences, but he did not disclose
them to his then Buddhist followers because it was impossible for them to know about the spiritual world. Lord
Buddha preached that void is the ultimate goal, so how could his followers understand spiritual variegatedness?
Therefore Sankara said, brahma satyam jagan mithya, or, material variegatedness is false but spiritual
variegatedness is fact. In the Padma Purana Lord Siva has admitted that he had to preach the philosophy of
maya, or illusion, in the Kali-yuga as another edition of the "void" philosophy of Buddha. He had to do this by the
order of the Lord for specific reasons. He disclosed his real mind, however, by recommending that people
worship Krsna, for no one can be saved simply by mental speculations composed of word jugglery and
grammatical maneuvers. Sankara further instructs:
bhaja govindam bhaja govindam
bhaja govindam mudha-mate
samprapte sannihite kale
na hi na hi raksati dukrn-karane
"You intellectual fools, just worship Govinda, just worship Govinda, just worship Govinda. Your grammatical
knowledge and word jugglery will not save you at the time of death."
-
Purport
Foolish followers of foolish speculators cannot understand the meaning of offering salutations to Lord Krsna, the
embodiment of bliss. Sankara himself offered his salutations to Lord Krsna so that some of his intelligent
followers might understand the real fact by the example set by their great master, Sankara, the incarnation of
Lord Siva. But there are many obstinate followers of Sankara who refuse to offer their salutations to Lord Krsna
and instead mislead innocent persons by injecting materialism into the Bhagavad-gita and confusing innocent
readers by their commentaries, and consequently the readers never have the opportunity to become blessed by
offering salutations to Lord Krsna, the cause of all causes. The greatest disservice to humanity is to keep
mankind in darkness about the science of Krsna, or Krsna consciousness, by distorting the sense of the Gita.
Purport
By recitation of the ninth verse of his meditation, quoted from the Srimad-Bhagavatam, Sankara has indicated
that Lord Krsna is worshipable by one and all, including himself. He gives hints to materialists, impersonalists,
mental speculators, "void" philosophers, and all other candidates subjected to the punishment of material
miseries--just offer salutations to Lord Krsna, who is worshiped by Brahma, Siva, Varuna, Indra, and all other
demigods. He has not mentioned, however, the name of Visnu, because Visnu is identical with Krsna. The Vedas
and the Upanisads are meant for understanding the process by which one can surrender unto Krsna. The yogis
try to see Him (Krsna) within themselves by meditation. In other words, it is for all the demigods and demons who
do not know where the ultimate end is that Sankara teaches, and he especially instructs the demons and the
fools to offer salutations to Krsna and His words, the Bhagavad-gita, by following in his footsteps. Only by such
acts will the demons be benefited, not by misleading their innocent followers by so-called mental speculations or
show-bottle meditations. Sankara directly offers salutations to Krsna, as if to show the fools, who are searching
after light, that here ls light like the sun. But the fallen demons are like owls that will not open their eyes on
account of their fear of the sunlight itself. These owls will never open their eyes to see the sublime light of Krsna
and His words the Bhagavad-gita. They will, however, comment on the Gita with their closed owl-eyes to mislead
their unfortunate readers and followers. Sankara, however, discloses the light to his less intelligent followers and
shows that the Bhagavad-gita and Krsna are the only source of light. This is all to teach the sincere seekers of
truth to offer salutation to Lord Krsna and thus surrender unto Him without misgivings. That is the highest
perfection of life, and that is the highest teaching of Sankara, the great learned scholar whose teachings drove
the voidist philosophy of Buddha out of India, the land of knowledge. Om tat sat.
TOP
| Shankaracarya is an incarnation of Lord Shiva who himself is a great devotee of the Supreme Lord |
| --1-- O Bhagavad-gita, Through Thy eighteen chapters Thou showerest upon man The immortal nectar Of the wisdom of the Absolute. O blessed Gita, By Thee, Lord Krsna Himself Enlightened Arjuna. Afterward, the ancient sage Vyasa Included Thee in the Mahabharata. O loving mother, Destroyer of man's rebirth Into the darkness of this mortal world, Upon Thee I meditate. --2-- Salutations to thee, O Vyasa. Thou art of mighty intellect, And thine eyes Are large as the petals Of the full-blown lotus. It was thou Who brightened this lamp of wisdom, Filling it with the oil Of the Mahabharata. |
| --3-- I salute Thee, O Krsna, O Thou who art the refuge Of ocean-born Laksmi And all who take refuge At Thy lotus feet. Thou art indeed The wish-fulfilling tree For Thy devotee. Thy one hand holds a staff For driving cows, And Thy other hand is raised-- The thumb touching the tip Of Thy forefinger, Indicating divine knowledge. Salutations to Thee, O Supreme Lord, For Thou art the milker Of the ambrosia of the Gita. |
| --4-- The Upanisads Are as a herd of cows, Lord Krsna, son of a cowherd, Is their milker, Arjuna is the calf, The supreme nectar of the Gita Is the milk, And the wise man Of purified intellect Is the drinker. |
| --5-- Thou son of Vasudeva, Destroyer of the demons Kamsa and Canura, Thou supreme bliss of Mother Devaki, O Thou, guru of the universe, Teacher of the worlds, Thee, O Krsna, I salute. |
| --6-- Of that terrifying river Of the battlefield of Kuruksetra Over which the Pandavas victoriously crossed, Bhisma and Drona were as the high banks, Jayadratha as the river's water, The King of Gandhara the blue water-lily, Salya the shark, Krpa the current, Karna the mighty waves, Asvatthama and Vikarna the dread alligators, And Duryodhana the very whirlpool-- But Thou, O Krsna, wast the ferryman! --7-- May the spotless lotus of the Mahabharata That grows on the waters Of the words of Vyasa And of which the Bhagavad-gita Is the irresistibly sweet fragrance And its tales of heroes The full-blown petals Fully opened by the talk of Lord Hari, Who destroys the sins Of Kali-yuga, And on which daily light The nectar-seeking souls, As so many bees Swarming joyously-- May this lotus of the Mahabharata Bestow on us the highest good. --8-- Salutations to Lord Krsna The embodiment of supreme bliss, By whose grace and compassion The dumb become eloquent And the lame scale mountains-- Him I salute! |
| --9-- Salutations to that supreme shining one Whom the creator Brahma, Varuna, Indra, Rudra, Marut, and all divine beings Praise with hymns, Whose glories are sung By the verses of the Vedas, Of whom the singers of Sama sing And of whose glories the Upanisads Proclaim in full choir, Whom the yogis see With their minds absorbed In perfect meditation, And of whom all the hosts Of gods and demons Know not the limitations. To Him, the Supreme God, Krsna, be all salutations-- Him we salute! Him we salute! Him we salute! |
