178 Teachings of Lord Chaitanya

According to Mayavadi philosophers, Vedanta means the Sariraka com-
mentary of Sankaracharya. By “Vedanta” and “Upanishads,” impersonal phi-
losophers mean “according to the commentary of Sankaracharya,” the
greatest teacher of Mayavadi philosophy. After Sankaracharya came Sada-
nanda Yogi, who said that Vedanta and Upanishads should be understood
through the commentary of Sankaracharya. Factually, it is not so; for the
Vedanta philosophy or the Upanishads there are many other commentaries
made by the Vaishnava Acharyas, rather than those of Sankaracharya.
Mayavadi philosophers influenced by Sankaracharya do not find any impor-
tance in the different Vaishnava philosophical understandings.

There are four different sects of Vaishnava Acharyas, called the Suddhadvaita,
Visistadvaita, Dvaidadvaita, and Achintya Bhedabheda; and all the Vaishnava
Acharyas have written commentaries on the Vedanta Sutra, which the Mayavadi
philosophers do not recognize. Mayavadis make a distinction between Krishna
and Krishna’s Body, and therefore the worship of Krishna by the Vaishnava
philosophers is not recognized by them.

Therefore, when the Mayavadi Sannyasis inquired from Lord Chaitanya
as to why He did not study Vedanta Sutra, the Lord replied as follows: “My
dear sir, you have inquired why I do not study Vedanta. In answer to this
question I may speak something, if you won’t be sorry on hearing it.”

All the Mayavadi Sannyasis present said, “Now, we shall be very much
pleased to hear You, because we see You are just like Narayan, and Your
speeches are so nice that we are taking a great pleasure in hearing Your words.
We are very much obliged to see You and hear You. Therefore, whatever
You say, we shall be very glad to accept and hear patiently.”

Then the Lord began to speak about Vedanta philosophy as follows:
Vedanta Sutra is spoken by the Supreme Lord Himself. The Supreme Lord,
by His incarnation as Vyasadeva, has compiled this great philosophical treatise,
Vedanta Sutra. Vyasadeva’s incarnation of the Supreme Lord means that He
cannot be likened to the ordinary person, who has the four defects of material
existence. The defects of the conditioned soul are: 1. he must commit mistakes,
2. he must be illusioned, 3. he must possess the tendency to cheat others, and
4. his senses must be all imperfect. When we speak of the incarnation of
Godhead, we understand that He is transcendental to all these defects of the
conditioned living entity. Therefore, whatever has been spoken and written
by Vyasadeva is to be understood as perfect. The Upanishads and Vedanta
Sutra aim at the same subject matter: the Supreme Absolute Truth; and, when
we accept the import of Vedanta Sutra and the Upanishads directly, as they
