4.2. The Nature of Brahman

1. The Creator, Sustainer, and Destroyer of the Universe

As we discussed that Akṣarabrahman is the cause of the world, he is not only a material cause but also an efficient cause like Parabrahman.

Such all power of Akṣarabrahman is due to the will of Parabrahman.

“Akṣarabrahman is the cause and support of all, including Prakṛti-Puruṣa, etc. and pervades everything by its antaryāmīn powers... Parabrahman Puruṣottama Nārāyaṇa is distinct from that of Brahman and also the cause, support, and inspirer of Brahman.” (Vacanāmṛta Gadhadā II/3, p.391)

Svāminārāyaṇa school of Vedanta interprets the first aphorism of the Brahmasūtras, where ‘Brahman’ in ‘athātobrahmajijñāsā’ (Brahmasūtras 1/1/1)

“akṣarabrahmaparabrahmetidivyobhayatattvayorjijñāsyamānatvena vivakṣitatvāt” (Brahmasūtra 1/1/1, p.4)

“Brahmajijñāsā’ notes both Parabrahman and Akṣarabrahman as the subject of knowing.”

The second aphorism of the Brahmasūtras, ‘janmādyasya yataḥ’ “Janmādyasya yataḥ” (Brahmasūtras 1/1/2),

“akṣarapuruṣottamābhyāmasya prapañcasyotpattisthitipralayāḥ prabhavanti” (Brahmasūtra 1/1/2, p.13)

“The entire universe is created, sustained, and destroyed by Akṣara and Purushottam.”

The origination, sustenance, and dissolution of this universe are due to ‘Brahman’. Here the term ‘Brahman’ denotes both Brahman and Parabrahman. Akṣarabrahman thus creates, sustains, and destroys the world immutably, blamelessly, and effortlessly. Therefore, it is known as the cause in the Upaniṣads.

Moreover, in some cases, Bhadreśadāsa explains,

“All this (the visible world) is verily Brahman, from which it comes forth, in which it is dissolved, and by which it lives (taj-jalān). This is how, tranquil, one should offer upāsanā to it.” (Chāndogya-upaniṣad XII 3/14/1)

“In the beginning, there was only this Brahman... From that, all that was created.” (Brhadāraṇyaka-upaniṣad 1/4/10)

“O dear (Śvetaketu), all these beings have ‘Sat’ as their source, ‘Sat’ as their support, and ‘Sat’ as their resting place.” (Chāndogya-upaniṣad XII 6/8/4)

In the Brhadāraṇyaka-upaniṣad, Gārgī first asks permission from the scholars and Yājñavalkya in the assembly and put the serious questions:

“O Yājñavalkya, what is that which is on top of the sky and beneath the earth, and between both the sky and earth and that which is called the past, present and the future? Upon what is all this woven back and forth?” (Brhadāraṇyaka-upaniṣad 3/8/3)

In answer to her question, Yājñavalkya firstly replies that it is ‘ākāśa’. Again further, Gārgī asks:

“Upon what is ‘ākāśa’ woven back and forth? (Brhadāraṇyaka-upaniṣad 3/8/7).

It is then that Yājñavalkya affirms:

“That, O Gārgī, is in fact what the knowers of Brahman proclaim as Akṣara.” (Brhadāraṇyaka-upaniṣad 3/8/8)

Brahman or Akṣara is thus the substratum upon which all of remains stable.

Thus, Akṣarabrahman is described as the most powerful administrator after Parabrahman in the Upaniṣads. The verse reads:

“Within the governance of this Akṣarabrahman, O Gārgī, do the upheld sun and moon verily stand. Within the governance of this Akṣara, O Gārgī, do the upheld ether and earth verily stand. Within the governance of this Akṣara, O Gārgī, do the upheld moments, hours, days and nights, half-months, months, seasons, and years verily stand. Within the governance of this Akṣara, O Gārgī, do the rivers flow -some to the east from the white (snowy) mountains, others to the west in their own directions. Within the governance of this Akṣara, O Gārgī, do recipient men praise donors, deities (praise) the patron, and forefathers (praise) the ancestral offering.” (Brhadāraṇyaka-upaniṣad 3/8/9)

Bhadreśadāsa illuminates that these are just a few symbolic features of the entire universe; it should thereby be understood that Akṣarabrahman supports and governs all beings and things of the universe. It should be emphasized again that here and wherever else the governance and causality of Akṣarabrahman are mentioned, Bhadreśadāsa strongly writes that Akṣarabrahman’s such power is due to the ‘eternal wish of Parabrahman’.

2. Satya, Jñāna, Ananta

The Taittirīya Upaniṣad’s Anandavallī describes the characteristics of Akṣarabrahman. It reads:

“satyaṃ jñānamanantaṃ brahma” (Taittiriya-upaniṣad 2/1/1)

“Reality, knowledge, and infinitives are the basic form and qualities of Brahman.”

These are the three important definers of Brahman as Bhadreśadāsa explains:^[1]

When we analyze this phenomenon, the outcoming of this examination explicitly suggests the nature of Brahman and its distinction from Parabrahman. Here we will mull over the salient features of Brahman as understood within the Svāminārāyaṇa School of Vedanta. Akṣarabrahman is the second-highest entity that pervades all except Parabrahman, transcendent to jīva, īśvaras, and māyā.^[2] Like Parabrahman Akṣarabrahman is also immutable and beyond māyā.^[3] Akṣarabrahman is a mediator to connect jīvas and īśvaras to Parabrahman and is capable of granting liberation to them.^[4]

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Taittiriya-upaniṣad 2/1/1, p.362

[2]:

Mundaka-upaniṣad 2/1/2, Katha-upaniṣad 3/11

[3]:

Bhagavad-Gītā 15/16

[4]:

Katha-upaniṣad 3/2