Adhikarana 1: The Word "Manomaya" Refers to Brahman

Adhyāya 1: The subject matter of all Vedic literatures is Brahman;
Pāda 2: Certain other words, though less clearly related to Brahman, also describe Him.;

Viṣaya [thesis or statement]: In the chapter of Chāndogya Upaniṣad describing Śāṇḍilya-vidyā [3.14.1-4] we read:

“This Brahman is indeed all-pervading. Let one meditate with devotion on Him as the Mover on the Water. Such meditation leads to faith. Because a man is a creature of faith, as his faith is in this life, so will be his condition after death. So let him generate full faith in the Lord.

“The Lord is omnipotent, known by those whose minds are pure [manomaya], glorious, resolute, all-wise, the doer, the ordainer, the heart’s desire, the most sweet-scented, the support of the creation, and the silent impartial witness in everyone’s heart.

“This Self within my heart is smaller than a grain of rice, smaller than a grain of barley, smaller than a mustard seed or the kernel of a mustard seed. This Self within my heart is also greater than the earth, greater than the sky, greater than heaven, greater than the entire universe.

“He is the enjoyer of all activities, all desires, all sweet fragrances, and all tastes. He embraces the entire creation, and is the silent impartial witness. This Self within my heart is that Brahman. Let one meditate on Him with this idea: When departing from this body I shall reach Him. He who has this faith certainly obtains Him. Thus said Śāṇḍilya, thus said Śāṇḍilya.”

In conditioned material consciousness, the soul is under the illusory impression that he can become the lord of the universe, and this misconception is dragged to the ultimate point of ludicrousness when he imagines himself to be the Supreme. The Māyāvādī theory is that the spiritual form of the Lord is a product of illusion, and Brahman is actually formless. Somehow or other (they are vague on this point) the Supreme becomes fragmented into many and becomes covered by illusion. They assert that when one gets free from illusion and attains self-realization, one will realize that he is actually God, and that self-realization means losing one’s individual identity and merging into the existence of the Supreme.

The foolish conditioned soul overwhelmed by ignorance does not consider that by definition, the Supreme cannot be fragmented nor covered by illusion. If the Supreme can become conditioned by illusion, where is His supremacy? In that case māyā, or illusion, would be supreme. So the impersonalist speculators actually worship illusion as the supreme.

But it is a matter of everyday experience that illusion is always subordinate to reality. For example, the shadow of a pot exists because of the existence of the pot, a solid object. Words and other symbols exist because of the existence of the real objects they represent. Similarly, the temporary material world full of individual living entities exists because of the existence of the eternal spiritual world and the independent, all-powerful Supreme Personality of Godhead. The Supreme is eternally Supreme; if the living entities were actually supreme, then they would be supreme already, and no process of self-realization would be necessary. Therefore the living entities can never become supreme because they are constitutionally subordinate, conditioned and dependent.

The Vedic scriptures explain this truth on every page. Nevertheless, because of their desires for sense gratification, the conditioned living entities try to explain the scriptures in a way that justifies the misconception that they are the owners, controllers and enjoyers of the cosmic manifestation. Since the direct meaning of the scriptures flatly contradicts that theory, they must resort to imaginative speculation and false logic. The Māyāvādīs may try to masquerade their deliberate obfuscation and misinterpretation of the scriptures as a noble search for truth, but the actual scientific understanding is that the intelligence of the conditioned souls is impure and covered by illusion due to contact with the material energy of the three modes of nature.

Therefore if they are to be rescued from illusion, it is necessary that they purify themselves under the guidance of a bona fide spiritual master, who not only is a brāhmaṇa or knower of Brahman by qualification, but must also be a Vaiṣṇava or knower of the Supreme Personality of Godhead by perfect self-realization. The only purifying process recognized in the Vedas is to worship the Supreme Lord under the guidance of a bona fide spiritual master in disciplic succession from Him.

That is the actual Vedic spiritual path; the imaginary sādhana of the impersonalists is not found in the Vedas. Bhagavad-gītā [7.19] confirms this truth as follows:

बहूनां जन्मनाम् अन्ते
ज्ञानवान् मां प्रपद्यते
वासुदेवः सर्वम् इति
स महात्मा सुदुर्लभः

bahūnāṃ janmanām ante
jñānavān māṃ prapadyate
vāsudevaḥ sarvam iti
sa mahātmā sudurlabhaḥ

“After many births and deaths, he who is actually in knowledge surrenders unto Me, knowing Me to be the cause of all causes and all that is. Such a great soul is very rare.”

Saṃśaya [arisal of doubt]: In the Chāndogya Upaniṣad, Śāṇḍilya-vidyā [3.14.1] the following explanation is given:

सर्वं खल्व् इदं ब्रह्म तज् जलान् इति शान्त उपासीत. अथ खलु क्रतुमयः पुरुषः. यथा क्रतुर् अस्मिन् लोके पुरुषो भवति तथेतः प्रेत्य भवति. स क्रतुं कुर्वीत. मनोमयः प्राण-शरीरो भा-रूपः सत्य-सङ्कल्प आकाशात्मा सर्व-कर्मा सर्व-कामाः सर्व-गन्धः सर्व-रसः सर्वम् इदं अभ्यातो अवाक्यान् आदरः.

sarvaṃ khalv idaṃ brahma taj jalān iti śānta upāsīta. atha khalu kratumayaḥ puruṣaḥ. yathā kratur asmin loke puruṣo bhavati tathetaḥ pretya bhavati. sa kratuṃ kurvīta. manomayaḥ prāṇa-śarīro bhā-rūpaḥ satya-saṅkalpa ākāśātmā sarva-karmā sarva-kāmāḥ sarva-gandhaḥ sarva-rasaḥ sarvam idaṃ abhyāto avākyān ādaraḥ.

“Everything is Brahman. From Him everything has come. The peaceful sage should worship Brahman with this idea. The Supreme Personality of Godhead is the activities of devotional service. Whenever devotional service is performed in this world, the Supreme Personality of Godhead is present. According to [the degree of] one’s performance of devotional service in this life, he will attain an appropriate body after death. The Supreme Personality of Godhead is known by those whose minds are pure [manomaya]. He is the controller of all life. He is effulgent and glorious. His every desire is automatically fulfilled. He is all-pervading. He is the original creator of everything. He fulfills all desires. He possesses all pleasant fragrances. He is all sweetness. He is present everywhere. He cannot be described in words. He cannot be known.”

Here the word manomaya appears in a different context than in the First Pāda, Adhikaraṇa 6. Whereas there it indicates the mental platform, a developmental stage of consciousness prior to full self-realization, here it means the state of pure mind or perfect spiritual consciousness. The overall significance is that to attain self-realization or direct consciousness of the Personality of Brahman, one must have a perfectly pure mind. The passage goes on to describe some of the wonderful qualities of Brahman, such as His being the controller, His effulgence, glory, all-pervasive presence and so on.

Saṃśaya [doubt]: Do the adjectives in this passage, beginning with manomaya, describe the jīva or the Paramātmā?

Pūrvapakṣa [the opponent speaks]: “The words manaḥ [mind] and prāṇa [life-breath] here appropriately describe the jīva. The Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad [2.1.2] explains, aprāṇo hy amanāḥ śubhraḥ: ‘The splendid Supreme Person has neither breath nor mind.’ Because this passage from the Chāndogya Upaniṣad contradicts this description of the Supreme Lord, it should be understood to refer to the jīva. The opening words sarvaṃ khalv idaṃ brahma, ‘Everything is Brahman,’ do not necessarily mean that the entire passage following them is about Brahman, but are merely spoken so that the worshiper may become peaceful. The teaching there is that because Brahman is everything, one should become peaceful, as this is a prerequisite for meditation. The rest of the passage should then be understood to refer to the jīva, and the word brahma at the end of the passage should also be understood to refer to the jīva.”

Siddhānta [Vedic conclusion]: This passage from Chāndogya Upaniṣad is a perfect example of how the impersonalists take Vedic statements indicating the Supreme Brahman out of context and try to apply them to the individual jīva. This passage mentions kratu [sacrifice in devotional service], but it is not logical or even possible that the jīva can offer sacrifice to himself. Yet the impersonalist tries to twist the meaning of the scripture to match his own preconceptions. The proper conclusion is: