Oneness

(written on June 15, 2019)

(References: SB 7.15.63-65, BG 9.4, B 5.35, ISO 5.)

Real oneness is understanding that lord Krishna is the cause of all causes and that there is no cause to Him. This is called bhavadvaita, and this is the main of the three principles of real oneness. This concept is very important to understand and is stressed many times in the Vedas. The invocation mantra of the Brahma Samhita states Kirshna’s eternal position too, “Krsna who is known as Govinda is the Supreme Godhead. He has an eternal blissful spiritual body. He is the origin of all. He has no other origin and He is the prime cause of all causes.” Once one truly understands the principle that Lord Krishna is the cause of all causes, they use all activities and all possessions in the service of the Lord. These practices are called kriyadvaita and dravyadvaita respectively. Practicing bhavadvaita, kriyadvaita, and dravyadvaita leads to one reaching true oneness. And once oneness is achieved, one becomes transcendental, as explained in Srimad Bhagavatam 7.15.62, “After considering the oneness of existence, activity and paraphernalia and after realizing the self to be different from all actions and reactions, the mental speculator [muni], according to his own realization, gives up the three states of wakefulness, dreaming and sleep.” This is real oneness according to the Vedas.

Mayavadis, on the other hand, think that oneness is so-called “becoming god” through severe penances. They do not understand real oneness because they believe that Lord Krishna has no personal form. However, it is incorrect to assume that since Krishna has his energies spread all over the universes, he has lost his personal form, as Srila Prabhupada explains in the purport of Bhagavad Gita 9.4. “Yet one should not conclude that because He is spread all over He has lost His personal existence. To refute such an argument the Lord says, “I am everywhere, and everything is in Me, but still I am aloof.” For example, a king heads a government which is but the manifestation of the king’s energy; the different governmental departments are nothing but the energies of the king, and each department is resting on the king’s power. But still one cannot expect the king to be present in every department personally.” The Lord says “I am everywhere, and everything is in me, yet I am aloof.” This is yet another principle that mayavadis do not understand. They think, how can the Lord possess such a mutually contradictory quality? In truth, the Lord possesses infinite qualities like this. Srila Prabhupada explains in the purport of Isopanisad Mantra 5, “Ordinarily, if someone can walk, it is illogical to say he cannot walk. But in reference to God, such a contradiction simply serves to indicate His inconceivable power. With our limited fund of knowledge we cannot accommodate such contradictions, and therefore we conceive of the Lord in terms of our limited powers of understanding. For example, the impersonalist philosophers of the Māyāvāda school accept only the Lord’s impersonal activities and reject His personal feature. But the members of the Bhāgavata school, adopting the perfect conception of the Lord, accept His inconceivable potencies and thus understand that He is both personal and impersonal. The bhāgavatas know that without inconceivable potencies there can be no meaning to the words ‘Supreme Lord.’” Because of his inconceivable potencies, Krishna is able to do things which our limited intelligence cannot understand. Hence, Krishna is in everything, yet everything is not Krishna. Real oneness is not “becoming god,” real oneness is serving God.