Adi-Iila, Chapter 7 101

PURPORT

Mayavadi philosophers are very proud of exhibiting their Vedanta knowledge
through grammatical jugglery, but Lord Sri Krsna in Bhagavad-gita certifies that
they are mayayapahrta-jnanah, bereft of real knowledge due to maya. Maya has two
potencies with which to execute her two functions—praksepatmika-sakti, the power
to throw the living entity in the ocean of material existence, and avaranatmika-sakti,
the power to cover the knowledge of the living entity. The function of the
avaranatmika-sakti is exptained in Bhagavad-gita by the word mayayapahrta-jnana.

Why the daivi-maya or illusory energy of Krsna takes away the knowledge of the
Mayavadi philosophers is also explained in Bhagavad-gitd by the use of the words
asuram bhavam asritah, which refer to a person who does not agree to the existence
of the Lord. The Mayavadis who are not in agreement with the existence of the Lord
can be classified in two groups, exemplified by the impersonalist Sanikarites of
Varanasi and the Buddhists of Saranatha. Both of them are Mayavadis, and Krsna
takes away their knowledge due to their atheistic philosophies. Neither of them
agree to accept the existence of a personal God. The Buddhist philosophers clearly
deny both the soul and God, and although the Sanikarites do not openly deny God,
they say that the Absolute is nirakara, or formless. Thus both of them are avisuddha-
buddhayah, or imperfect and unclean in their knowledge and intelligence.

The most prominent Mayavadi scholar, Sadananda Yogindra, has written a book
called Vedanta-sara in which he expounds the philosophy of Sankaracarya, and all
the followers of Sahkara’s philosophy attribute great importance to his statements.
In this Vedanta-sara Sadananda Yogindra defines Brahman as sac-cid-ananda com-
bined with knowledge and without duality, and he defines ignorance (jada) as knowl-
edge distinct from that of sat and asat. This is almost inconceivable, but it is a pro-
duct of the three material qualities. Thus he considers anything other than pure
knowledge to be material. The center of ignorance is considered to be sometimes all-
pervading and sometimes individual. Thus according to his opinion both the all-
pervading Visnu and the individual living entities are products of ignorance.

In simple language, it is the opinion of Sadananda Yogindra that since everything
is nirakara (formless), the conception of Visnu and the conception of the individual
soul are both products of ignorance. He also explains that the visuddha-sattva con-
ception of the Vaisnavas is nothing but pradhana, or the chief principle of creation.
He maintains that when all-pervading knowledge is contaminated by the visuddha-
sattva, which consists of a transformation of the quality of goodness, there arises
the conception of the Supreme Personality of Godhead who is the omnipotent, om-
niscient supreme ruler, the Supersoul, the cause of all causes, the supreme /svara,
etc. According to Sadananda Yogindra, because isvara, the Supreme Lord, is the
reservoir of all ignorance, He may be called sarva-jria or omniscient, but one who
denies the existence of the omnipotent Supreme Personality of Godhead is more
than iSvara, or the Lord. His conclusion, therefore, is that the Supreme Personality
of Godhead (iSvara) is a transformation of material ignorance and that the living
entity (jiva) is covered by ignorance. Thus he describes both collective and individual
existence in darkness. According to Mayavadi philosophers, the Vaisnava conception
of the Lord as the Supreme Personality of Godhead and of the jfva or individual soul
