2. Īśvara (Introduction)

The Bhāṣyakāra states:

aiśvaryādīśvaraḥ prokto jīvādbhinnaḥ svarūpataḥ |
jñānaṃ jñātā ca nityaśca māyābaddhostyanāditaḥ || Svāminārāyaṇa Siddhāntasudhā Kārikā 347 ||

“The īśvarātman is different from the jīvātmān. It is known as īśvara due to its significant powers. It embodies wisdom and is the knower. It is eternal and has always been bound by māyā.”

The word ‘īśvara’ as such signifies a separate ontological principle, a class of beings higher than jīvas, but unquestionably subservient to Akṣarabrahman and Parabrahman.^[1] One basic fact of Svāminārāyaṇa School is that we should keep it our mind that by the term ‘īśvara’ one should not be misguided with Parabrahman or Paramātman. It is a distinct eternal entity. The īśvara has the characteristics that match with the jīva, yet it possesses more power and valor than the jīva. Therefore whatever has been written about the jīva, to some extent it also stands for īśvara.

Īśvara is a distinct reality. It refers to the whole class of cosmic selves who are engaged in the evolution and care (administration) of the universes. Īśvaras are a separate class of reality, which stands higher than jīvas (individual selves), but is subservient to māyā, Aksarabrahman, and Parabrahman. Īśvaras too are absolutely dependent on Parabrahman. They too are ruled, controlled, and supported by Parabrahman. Thus īśvaras are the gods of lower-order headed by the Supreme Godhead Parabrahma-Purușottama.

The need to postulate a distinct category of īśvara in Svāminārāyaṇa Vedanta is well-explicated. Īśvara as each world’s creator, sustainer, and destroyer. They are too beginningless-eternal. Īśvaras (cosmic selves) have their atomic size as well, though of course they are endowed with aiśvarya (power-opulence) as a property-specific to them. In addition, their jnāna-śakti is much expanded to cover the knowledge of the whole world to which they are attached.

The īśvara has the quality of sat, cid, ānanda (existence-consciousness-bliss) manifest in a much higher degree (quantum) than the jīvas. The power, strength, capacity, life-span, and knowledge of īśvara are comparatively far more wide and excellent than the jīvas. (avidyā-karma) that limit and bind the jīvas. They are bound (conditioned) by the adjuncts of māyā. The Inner Self and the Witness in all īśvaras is Parabrahman as the Antaryami Ātman. He is their supporter, controller, and the source of power and strength in them.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Svāminārāyaṇa Siddhāntasudhā Kārikā 348