414 Sri Caitanya-caritamrta

of Godhead is identical with Him. Since the Absolute Truth, the Personality of
Godhead, is the reservoir of all pleasure, all the transcendental qualities that expand
from Him are also reservoirs of pleasure. This is confirmed in the scripture known
as Brahma-tarka, which states that the Supreme Lord Hari is qualified by Himself,
and therefore Visnu and His pure devotees and their transcendental qualities cannot
be different from their persons. In the Vispu Purdna Lord Visnu is worshiped in
the following words: ‘Let the Supreme Personality of Godhead be merciful toward
us. His existence is never infected by material qualities.’ In the same Visnu Puraga
it is also said that all the qualities attributed to the Supreme Lord, such as knowledge,
opulence, beauty, strength and influence, are known to be nondifferent from Him.
This is also confirmed in the Padma Purdna, which explains that whenever the
Supreme Lord is described as having no qualities, this should be understood to indi-
cate that He is devoid of material qualities. In the First Chapter of the same Padma
Purdna it is said: ‘O Dharma, protector of religious principles, all noble and sublime
qualities are eternally manifested in the person of Krsna, and devotees and transcen-
dentalists who aspire to become faithful also desire to possess such transcendental
qualities.’”” It is to be understood that Lord Sri Krsna, the transcendental form of
absolute bliss, is the fountainhead of all pleasurable transcendental qualities and
inconceivable potencies. In this connection we may recommend references to
Srimad-Bhagavatam, Third Canto, Chapter Twenty-Six, verses 21, 25, 27 and 28.

Sripad Ramanujacarya has also refuted the arguments of Sankara in his own
commentary on the Vedgnta-satra, which is known as the Sri-bhdsya: ‘“‘Sripad
Sankaracarya has tried to equate the Patcardtras with the philosophy of the
atheist Kapila, and thus he has tried to prove that the Paficardtras contradict the
Vedic injunctions. The Paficardtras state that the personality of jiva called Sankarsana
has emerged from Vasudeva, the supreme cause of all causes, that Pradyumna, the
mind, has come from Sankarsana, and that Aniruddha, the ego, has come from
Pradyumna. But one cannot say that the living entity (/iva) takes birth or is created,
for such a statement is against the injunction of the Vedas. As stated in the Katha
Upanisad (2.18), living entities, as individual spiritual souls, can have neither birth
nor death. All Vedic literature declares that the living entities are eternal. Therefore
when it is said that Sankarsana is jfva, this indicates that He is the predominating
Deity of the living entities. Similarly, Pradyumna is the predominating Deity of the
mind, and Aniruddha is the predominating Deity of the ego.

“It has been said that Pradyumna, the mind, was produced from Safhkarsana. But
if Safkarsana were a living entity, this could not be accepted, because a living
entity cannot be the cause of the mind. The Vedic injunctions state that everything
—including life, mind and the senses—comes from the Supreme Personality of
Godhead. It is impossible for the mind to be produced by a living entity, for the
Vedas state that everything comes from the Absolute Truth, the Supreme Lord.

“Safikarsana, Pradyumna and Aniruddha have all the potent features of the
absolute Personality of Godhead, according to the revealed scriptures, which con-
tain undeniable facts that no one can refute. Therefore these quadruple forms are
never to be considered ordinary living beings. Each of Them is a plenary expansion
