- Author : Vidwan Sri Shivaraja Upadhyaya, Kamblakatta
- Translator : Sri Akshay Venkatesh
amshā ēva hīmē jīvā amshī hi paramēshvaraha |
swayam amshairidam sarvam kārayatyachalō harihi ||
As stated above in Gaupavana Shruti, all beings are parts of God himself; God is whom we are all a part of; and Hari himself, residing in us does all actions. Thus some Shrutis say, we are a part of God, while some others say the opposite like this:
naivāmshō na sambandhō nāpēkshyō jīvaha parasya|
tathāpi tu yathāyōgam phaladaha prabhurekarāt
na niyamyaha sa kasyāpi sasarvasya niyāmakaha ||
A jīva is not a part of God. There is no relationship between a jīva and God, and even though God does not need anything from a jīva, He gives the results per the jīva’s merit. He is omnipotent. Thus when Shrutis give us opposing views, we doubt if a jīva is part of God or not a part of Him.
amṣa (Part) are of two types, swarūpāmṣa and Bhinnāmṣa.
svāmshaschāṭo vibhinnamhaha iti dvēdHamṣa ishyatē |
amshinō yattu sāmarṭyam yatsvarūpam yaṭastiṭihi ||
tadevā nānumātrōpi bhedaha svāmshāmshinōhō kvachit|
vibhinnamshōlpa shaktihi syāt kinchitsādrushyamātrayuk ||
Per bhāgavata, God’s svarūpāmṣa means there is no difference in the powers of His forms residing in the jīvas and the power of His original form. While bhinnāmsha are the parts in jīvas where only few powers and similarities are found (in comparison to the original form).
Who is svarūpāmṣa ?
amṣatvēpi na matsyādi rūpī paraha ēvam vidaha |
Although a jīva is part of God, he is not His svarūpāmṣa (like Matysa, Kūrma etc.,) but he is His bhinnāmṣa.
amṣāscha dēha yogyatvājjēvāha bandhādi samyutāha |
anugrāhyāchēshvareṇa na tu matsyādiko harihi ||
Beings are bhinnāmsha as they have body made of five elements and thus are called jīvas (beings). They go through the cycle of life and death. The beings act only through God’s blessings. But forms like Matsya etc., do not have any deformities because they are God himself.
apūrnashaktitvāccha jīvasya na matsyādi sāmyam |
Per the above saying, jīvas by the virtue of their limited powers cannot thus match forms like Matsya etc, it is like comparing the brightness of a firefly to that of Sun. Thus we understand the relationship when viewed per the concepts explained above.
Krishna said, “mamāivāmshō jīvalōkē jīvabhūtaha sanātanaha”, implying that a being is part of God, akin he is His bhinnāmsha, not His svarūpamsha. A jīva cannot act without God’s grace.
Image by Phạm Quốc Nguyên from Pixabay
Ramaa-kalatrana Daasa-vargake Namipenanavarata || Always at the humble feet of Sri-Hari’s dasas!!
When we say Jiva is part of God and a jīva cannot act without God’s grace, how does that explain all the evil things done by people like murder etc? Can such people justify that it was will of the God not their own? Please clarify this paradox. Thanks.
Yes.. very valid question. From hearing the words of many pravachanakaras and swamigalus, i will make a humble attempt to explain what i have understood. Please reconfirm the same with other scholars.
Yes, jiva cant act without the will of god. God through tattvabhimani devatas makes the jiva do deeds as per jiva’s inherent iccha,kriya and gyana shakti (swarupa yogyatha). All jivas have inbuilt iccha, kriya and gyana shakti, which is why they are jivas. No one created the jivas. But 3 types of jivas are there..saatvika, raajasa and taamasa. The saatvika will at some point in time try to get brahma gyana. The rajasa will be indiffernet and interested in repeated enjoyment and suffering of samsara. The taamasa jiva will always be against paramatma. Even the satvikas who are eligible for moksha, are bound to samsara due to anadi kamyaka karmas resulting in punya and anadi paapa resulting in agyana (incorrect knowledge of god). When satvika jiva bu grace of god, accumulates nishkaama karma punya, his quest for knowing god gets fuelled. God leads him to guru and over many janmas, he achieves aparoksha gyana. When a jiva throgh gyana realises that he is not the karta.. na aham karta.. harih karta..not mere bookish but has anubhava of that, he has reached a state of surrender, so, automatically, god makes him do only vihita karma.. sometimes some paapa may occur due to balance of prarabdha.. but then the jiva realises that its hari iccha that god has made it happen through tattvabhimani daityas through tattvabhimani devatas. He undergoes the punishment for that happily contemplating on god. The taamasa jiva already has wrong knowlege that he is only the doer and all is under his control.. this fuels him into a vortex of paapa karmas. Even this happens due to hari iccha.. but without jiva realising it. This is because gods sankalpa that each jiva should attain its inherent end.. jiva swarupa wasnt created and will not be changed.. so.. gods sankalpa is satvika will get mukti (through gyana) .. tamasa has to get andhah tamas through repeated agyana.. example is duryodhana.. as palimaru swamigalu explained in many pravachanas.. duryodhana saw krishna but still didnt realise.. arjuna too saw krishna but when he got gyana.. he realised.. he god gyana as he surrendered to god and asked him to lead.. thats the inherent difference between satvika jiva & taamasa jiva.
One may ask.. then how should i know my swaroopa.. what if i do all and finally doomed to tamas as swarupa is tamas.. for that .. one pravachanakara explained.. if one feels that he/she should do vihita karma with bhakti.. it itself is an indication of sativika swabhava.. so.. proceed on sadhana path with dedication. Yes… we may do many papa karmas inspite of that… then think that god is making me do this due to anandi kala papa resulting in agyana.. ask god to crush that papa karma under his feet & not make us do such a thing again. Please excuse me for any mistakes which are etirely due to my incorrect undertsanding. Please consult a guru to guide further. Sri krishnarpanamastu.
Thanks for the reply. That opens up a lot more questions.
If a jeeva has no control over it’s actions and everything is “Hari chitta”, what was the need for Lord Krishna to do geetha upadesha to Arjuna? Anyhow the god would control everything including the mind of Arjuna. Without the Geeta conversation, Krishna could have changed the mind of Arjuna to set him to the war.
If the Lord Krishna has given a message to the world through bhagavat geetha, does it mean that some effort is required from jeeva to move towards moksha? These efforts lead to punya/paapa and based on that the god decides the deed one would face. Can it be like that? This is where I’m really confused on this subject. Thanks.