Adhikarana 1
Inquiry Into Brahman
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The first Adhikarana of the Vedanta-sutra discusses brahma-jijnasa (inquiry into Brahman). The
Adhikarana may be shown in its five parts in the following way:
1. Visaya (statement): One should inquire about Brahman. This statement is confirmed by the following
statements of Vedic scripture:
yo vai bhuma tat sukham nanyat sukham asti bhumaiva sukham bhumatveva vijijnasitavyah
"The Supreme Personality of Godhead (bhuma) is the source of genuine happiness. Nothing else can
bring one actual happiness. Only the Supreme Personality of Godhead can bring one happiness. For this
reason one should inquire about the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
- Chandogya Upanisad 7.25.1
atma va are drastavyah srotavyo mantavyo nididhyasitavyo maitreyi
"O Maitreyi, one should see, hear, remember, and inquire about the Supreme Personality of Godhead."
- Brhad-aranyaka Upanisad 2.4.5
2. Samsaya (doubt): If one has studied the Vedas and dharma-sastras, need he inquire about
Brahman or not? The following statements of Vedic scriptures nourish this doubt:
apama somam amrta abhuma
"We have attained immortality by drinking the soma-juice."
- Rg Veda 8.18.3
aksayyam ha vai caturmasyajinah sukrtam bhavati
"They who follow the vow of caturmasya attain an eternal reward."
3. Purvapaksa (presentation of the opposing view): There is no need to inquire about Brahman.
Simply by discharging ordinary pious duties described in the dharma-sastras one can attain immortality
and an eternal reward.
4. Siddhanta (the conclusive truth): In the first sutra Bhagavan Vyasadeva replies to his philosophical
opponent.
Sutra 1
athato brahma-jijnasa
atha - now; atah - therefore; brahma - about Brahman; jijnasa - there should be inquiry.
Now, therefore, one should inquire about Brahman.*
Purport by Srila Baladeva Vidyabhusana
In this sutra the word atha means "now", and the word atah means "therefore". The sutra means "Now
one should inquire about Brahman."
Atha (now): When a person has properly studied the Vedic literature, understood its meaning, adhered
to the principles of varnasrama-dharma, observed the vow of truthfulness, purified his mind and heart,
and attained the association of a self-realized soul, he is qualified to inquire about Brahman.
Atah (therefore): Because material piety brings results of material sense-happiness, which is inevitably
limited and temporary, and because the transcendental form of the Supreme Personality of Godhead,
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which is realized by the proper attainment of real transcendental knowledge, and which is full of
imperishable, limitless bliss, eternity, transcendental knowldege, and all transcendental attributes,
brings eternal bliss to the devotee-beholder, therefore one should renounce all material pious duties for
attaining material sense-gratification, and inquire about Brahman by studying the four chapters of
Vedanta-sutra.
At the point someone may object: Is it not true that simply by studying the Vedas one attains knowledge
of Brahman, and as result of this knowledge one abandons the path of material piety and fruitive work
and instead takes to the worship of the Supreme Personality of Godhead? If this result is obtained
simply by studying the Vedas,, what need is there to study the four chapters of Vedanta-sutra?
To this objection I reply: Even if one carefully studies the Vedas, misunderstanding and doubt may
destroy his intelligence and lead him away from the real meaning of the Vedas. For this reason it is
necessary to study the Vedanta-sutra, to stregnthen the students's understanding.
Performing the duties of asrama-dharma are also helpful in purifying the heart and understanding the
transcendental reality. How the asrama duties of the brahmana help in this regard is described in the
following statement of Brhad-aranyaka Upanisad (4.4.22):
tam etam vedanuvacanena brahmana vividisanti yajnena danena tapasanasanena
"By Vedic study, sacrifice, charity, austerity, and fasting, the brahmanas strive to understand the
Supreme Personality of Godhead."
The usefulness of the brahminical duties such as truthfulness, austerity, and mantra chanting is
described in the following scriptural statements:
satyena labhayas tapasa hy esa atma samyak jnanena brahmacaryena nityam
"By constant truthfulness, austerity, transcendental knowledge, and austerity, one becomes eligible to
associate with the Supreme Personality of Godhead."
- Mundaka Upanisad 3.1.5
japyenaiva ca samsiddhyad
brahmana natra samsayah kuryad anyan na va kuryan
maitro brahmana ucyate
"Whether he performs other rituals and duties or not, one who perfectly chants mantras glorifying the
Supreme Personality of Godhead should be considered a perfect brahmana, eligible to understand the
Supreme Lord."
- Manu-samhita 2.87
Association with those who understand the truth also brings one transcendental knowledge. By
this association Narada and many other spiritual aspirants attained interest to ask about spiritual life and
were finally eligible to see the Supreme Personality of Godhead face-to-face. Sanat-kumara and many
other great sages have also helped many devotees by giving their association in this way. The great
value of contact with a self-realized soul is described in the following statement of Bhagavad-gita
(4.34):
tad viddhi pranipatena
pariprasnena sevaya upadeksyanti te jnanam
jn ninas tattva-darsinah
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"Just try to learn the truth by approaching a spiritual master. Inquire from him submissively and render
service unto him. The self-realized soul can impart knowledge unto you because he has seen the
truth."*
The material benefits obtained by following the pious rituals of the karma-kanda section of the
Vedas are all temporary in nature. This fact is confirmed by the following statement of Chandogya
Upanisad (8.1.3):
tad yatheha karma-cito lokah ksiyante evam evamutra punya-cito lokah ksiyate
"By performing good works (karma) one is elevated to the celestial material world after death. One is
not able to stay there forever, however, but one must lose that position after some time and accept
another, less favorable residence. In the same way, by amassing pious credits (punya) one may reside in
the upper planets. Still, he cannot stay there, but must eventually relinquish his comfortable position
there, and accept a less favorable residence somewhere else."
The following statement of Mundaka Upanisad (1.2.12) affirms that only transcendental
knowledge will help one approach the Supreme Brahman:
pariksya lokan karma-citan brahmano
nirvedam ayan nasty akrtah krtena tad-vijnanartham sa gurum evabhigacchet
samit-panih srotriyam brahma-nistham
"Seeing that the celestial material planets, which one may obtain by pious work, provide only
temporary benefits, a brahmana, in order to understand the truth the of the Supreme Personality of
Godhead, should humbly approach a bona-fide spiritual master learned in the scriptures and full of faith
in the Supreme Lord."
In contrast to the temporary material benefits obtained in the celestial material planets, the Supreme
Brahman is the reservoir of eternal, limitless bliss. This is confirmed by the following statments of
Taittiriya Upanisad (2.1.1):
satyam jnanam anantam brahma
"The Supreme Personality of Godhead is limitless, eternal, and full of knowledge."
anando brahmeti vyajanat
"He then understood that the Supreme Personality of Godhead is full of transcendental bliss."
The Supreme Brahman is eternal, full of knowledge and endowed with all transcendental
qualities. This is confirmed by the following statements of Svetasvatara Upanisad:
na tasya karyam karanam ca vidyate
na tat-samas cabhyadhikas ca drsyate parasya saktir vividhaiva sruyate
sva-bhaviki jnana-bala-kriya ca
"He does not possess bodily form like that of an ordinary living entity. There is no difference between
His body and His soul. He is absolute. All his senses are transcendental. Any one of His senses can
perform the action of any other sense. Therefore, no one is greater than Him or equal to Him. His
potencies are multifarious, and thus His deeds are automatically performed as a natural sequence."*
- 6.8
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sarvendriya-gunabhasam
sarvendriya-vivarjitam asaktam sarva-bhrc caiva
nirgunam guna-bhoktr ca
"The Supersoul is the original source of all senses, yet He is without senses. He is unattached, although
He is the maintainer of all living beings. He transcends the modes of nature, and at the same time He is
the master of all modes of material nature."*
- 3.17
bhava-grahyam anidakhyam
bhavabhava-karam sivam kala-sarga-karam devam
ye vidus te jahus tanum
"The Supreme Personality of Godhead is the creator and destroyer of the entire material cosmic
manifestation. He is supremely auspicious, and He does not posesses a material body, for His body is
spiritual in all respects. He may be reached and understood only by loving devotional service. Those
who thus serve Him and understand Him may become free from having to repeatedly accept various
material bodies for continued residence in the material world. They become liberated from this world,
and obtain eternal spiritual bodies with which to serve Him."
- 5.14
That the Supreme Personality of Godhead grants eternal transcendental bliss to His devotees is
confirmed by the following statement of Gopala-tapani Upanisad (1.5):
tam pitha-stham ye tu yajanti dhiras
tesam sukham sasvatam netaresam
"The saintly devotees who worship the Supreme Personality of Godhead in the spiritual world
attain eternal transcendental bliss. Except for them no others can attain this eternal bliss."
This uselessness of the temporary benefits obtained by following the material piety of the
karma-kanda section of the Vedas will be described in the third chapter of this Vedanta-sutra.
This may be summed up by saying: One who has studied the Vedas, Upavedas, and Upanisads,
understood them, associated with a self-realized soul, and in this way understood the difference
between the temporary and the eternal, who has lost all attraction for the temporary and chosen the
eternal, becomes a student of the four chapters of Vedanta-sutra.
It cannot be said that simply by completely studying and understanding the karma-kanda section of the
Vedas one will naturally take up the study of Vedanta-sutra. They who have studied karma-kanda but
not associated with saintly devotees do not become eager to understand Brahman. On the other hand,
they who have not studied karma-kanda, but who have become purified by association with saintly
devotees, naturally become attracted to understand Brahman.
Neither can it be said that simply by understanding the difference between the temporary and the
eternal, and simply by attaining the four qualities of saintly persons, one will become attracted to
understand Brahman. These things are not enough. However, if one attains the association of a self-
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realized soul and follows his instructions, then these ordinarily difficult-to-attain qualifications are
automatically attained at once.
Three kinds of persons inquire into the nature of Brahman: 1. Sa-nistha (they who faithfully perform
their duties); 2. Parinistha (they who act philantropically for the benefit of all living entities); and 3.
Nirapeksa (they who are rapt in meditation and aloof from the activities of this world). According to
their own respective abilities all these persons understand the nature of Brahman. They become more
and more purified, and they eventually attain the association of Brahman.
At this point someone may raise the following objection: Is it not so that the words om and atha are
auspicious sounds that sprang from Lord Brahma's throat in ancient times? Is it not also so that these
words are traditionally used at the beginning of books to invoke auspiciousness and drive away all
obstacles? For this reason I think the word atha in this sutra does not mean "now". It is simply a word
to invoke auspiciousness, and has no other meaning.
To this objection I reply: This is not true. Srila Vyasadeva, the author of Vedanta-sutra, is the
incarnation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself, and therefore He has no particular need to
invoke auspiciousness or drive away obstacles and dangers. That Vyasadeva is the Supreme Personality
of Godhead is confirmed by the following statement of the smrti-sastra:
krsna-dvaipayana-vyasam
viddhi narayanam prabhum
"Please understand that Krsna Dvaipayana Vyasa is actually the Supreme Personality of Godhead,
Narayana."
Still, ordinary people may take it that Lord Vyasadeva has spoken the word atha at the beginning of
Vedanta-sutra just to invoke auspiciousness, just as one may sound a conch-shell to invoke
auspiciousness. In conclusion, we have described here how at a certain point in time, after certain
understandings (atha), a person may become eager to inquire about the nature of Brahman.
At this point someone may raise the following objection:Is it not so that the word bhuma or brahma
may also refer to the individual spirit soul and not only to the Supreme Personality of Godhead? This
fact is explained in Chandogya Upanisad. Even the dictionary explains: "The word brahma means that
which is big, the brahmana caste, the individual spirit soul, and the demigod Brahma who sits on a
great lotus flower."
To clear away the misunderstanding of this objector, the following scriptural passages may be quoted:
bhrgur vai varunir varunam pitaram upasasara adhihi bho bhagavo brahma. . . yato va imani bhutani
jayante yena jatani jivanti yat prayanty abhisamvisanti tad brahma tad vijijnasasva
"Bhrgu asked his father Varuna: `My lord, please instruct me about the nature of Brahman.' Varuna
replied: `All living entities have taken their birth because of Brahman. They remain alive because they
are maintained by Brahman, and at the time of death they again enter into Brahman. Please try to
understand the nature of Brahman.'"
At this point someone may doubt: "In this Vedanta-sutra does the word `Brahman' refer to the
individual spirit soul or the Supreme Personality of Godhead?"
Someone may indeed claim that the word "Brahman" here refers to the individual spirit soul, and to
support his view he may quote the following statement of Taittiriya Upanisad (2.5):
vijnanam brahma ced veda
tasmac cen na pramadyati sarire papmano hitva
sarvan kaman samasnute
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"If one understands the true nature of the Brahman who lives in the body and uses the senses of the
body to perceive the material world, then such a knower of Brahman will never become bewildered by
illusion. Such a knower of the Brahman in the body refrains from performing sinful actions, and at the
time of leaving the body at death, he attains an exalted destination where all his desires become at once
fulfilled."
Our philosophical opponent may claim in this way that the word "Brahman" should be
interpreted to mean the individual spirit soul. In order to refute this false idea, Srila Vyasadeva
describes the true nature of Brahman in the next sutra.