Philosophy

Introduction

parākṛtanamadbandhaṃ paraṃbrahma narākṛti |
saundaryasārasarvasvaṃ vande nandātmajaṃ mahaḥ ||

I bow to that Supreme Brahma in human form that dispels the bondage of those who bow to it, to the essence of all beauty, to that effulgence that is the joy of Nanda.

- Śrī Madhusūdana Sarasvatī

A relevant matter here needs discussion. Bhagavān says that the three guṇas have to be transcended or sublimated. Good. But even to transcend those guṇas, a guṇa or means is needed. Is that way a guṇa? What guṇa is that?

What is a guṇa? A certain innate characteristic or natural power of a thing that causes affinity or otherwise with another thing is its guṇa. Thus the guṇa is an intrinsic power of a thing that attracts or repels another.

Introduction

vaṃśī-vibhūṣita-karān-navanīradābhāt
pītāmbarādaruṇa-bimba-phalādharoṣṭhāt |
mugdhendu-sundara-mukhādaravinda-netrāt
kṛṣṇāt-paraṃ kim-api tattvam-ahaṃ na jāne ॥ (śrī madhusūdana-sarasvatī)

He whose hand is adorned by the flute, with the hue of a new dark cloud,
He who’s dressed in a yellow garment, with ruddy lips resembling the bimba fruit,
With an innocent moon-like handsome face, the lotus-eyed,

The object that is water, is H₂O for a chemist, and ambrosia for a thirsty man. The satiating and refreshing potential imperceptible in hydrogen and oxygen was perceived by the mind of a thirsty man when they together touched his tongue.

Thus, the Parabrahma is conducting the activities of the universe in three forms — prakṛti, jīva and Īśvara.

yāvatsaṃjāyate kiñcit sattvaṃ sthāvarajaṅgamam ॥
kṣetra-kṣetrajña-saṃyogāt (tad-viddhi bharatarṣabha) ॥

BG 13.27

How is Brahma?

sarvataḥ pāṇipādaṃ tat sarvatokṣi-śiro-mukham ।
sarvataḥ śrutimalloke sarvam āvṛtya tiṣṭhati ॥

BG 13.14

“Its limbs are everywhere, as are its eyes and heads. It ’sarvam āvṛtya tiṣṭhati’ — pervades everything”. Here, we are reminded of the line “sahasraśīrṣā puruṣaḥ” from the Puruṣasūkta and the eleventh chapter of the Gītā.

अवस्थात्रयम्

Introduction

ekam-evādvayam-arūpaṃ brahmam-avyayam-akriyaṃ
svīkarisi nijabhogakèṃdu śarīra-vividha-sahasramaṃ ।
prākṛtāsvādyagaḻa madhuviṃ tannane tāṃ maretavol
lokajīvana-sīṃdhu-vīciyoḻ ātmadī ḍolotsavaṃ ॥

Brahma is the One, without a second, formless, changeless and without action
Takes, a myriad varied forms, for its own pleasure
Seems as if it is lost in worldly pleasantness
This is the surf-fest of the ātma in the waves of the ocean of worldly life.

Śrī Kanakadāsa, the great mystic, said this -

Ṣaḍurasadannakè nalidāḍuva jihvè । kaḍurucigoṃbuva ruciguṇa ninadayya ॥
(Yours is the tongue that enjoys food with six rasas;
yours is the nature that deeply relishes all tastes)

The beauty, the very essence of the things that are present in the universe, the senses that experience them, and their capability to discern and enjoy belong to Bhagavān.