Talks with Sarbabhouma Battacharya 223

You said that it is the duty of every Sannyasi to hear Vedanta Sutra, so I simply
hear; but the meaning which you create—that I cannot understand.” In other
words, the Lord was explaining that in the Mayavadi Sampradaya there
are many so-called Sannyasis who are even illiterate and have not sufficient
intelligence but just as a matter of formality they hear Vedanta Sutra from their
Spiritual Master, although they do not understand anything. So far as Lord
Chaitanya was concerned, He did not understand the explanation of Bhat-
tacharya because He did not approve of the explanation of Mayavadi phi-
losophy.

When He said that He was an uneducated fool Who could not follow,
Bhattacharya replied to Him, “If You do not follow what I am saying, how
is it that You do not inquire, but simply sit down silently? It appears that You
do have something to say about my explanation.”

Then the Lord replied, “My dear sir, so far as the Vedanta Sutra or the
codes of the Vedanta are concerned, I can understand the meaning very nicely,
but the explanation which you are promoting is not understandable by Me.
There is nothing difficult about the meaning of the original codes of Vedanta
Sutra. But the way you were explaining them appears to be obscuring the real
meaning of the codes. You do not elucidate the direct meaning of the Vedanta
Sutra, but you imagine something and hide the true meaning. I think you
have a particular doctrine, and you are trying to expound it through the
codes.”

According to Mukti Upanishad, there are 108 Upanishads. Some of them
are: I. Iso, 2. Kena, 3. Katha, 4. Prasna, 5. Mund, 6. Mandukya, 7. Tittirih,
8. Aitriya, 9. Chhandogya, 10. Brihadaranoyakam, 11. Brahma, 12. Jaivalya,
13. Javala, 14. Svetsva, 15. Hansa, 16. Arunih, 17. Garbha, 18. Narayana,
etc. These 108 Upanishads contain all knowledge about the Absolute Truth.
Sometimes people inquire about the meaning of these 108 prayer beads, but
we think because there are 108 Upanishads which contain full knowledge
of the Absolute Truth, therefore 108 beads are accepted. Sometimes, on the
other hand, the Vaishnava transcendentalists think there are 108 companions
of Lord Krishna in His Rasa Dance, and therefore 108 beads are accepted.

Lord Chaitanya protested against misinterpretations of the statements of
the Upanishads, and so any explanation which did not follow the direct meaning
of the Upanishad He did not accept. The direct interpretation is called
Abhidavritti, whereas the indirect method is called Lakshnavritti. The indirect
meaning, or Lakshnavritti, serves no purpose. There are four kinds of under-
standing, called: (1) direct understanding, (2) hypothetical understanding,
