kṛṣṇe bhakti kara — ihÄya sabÄra santoá¹£a
vedÄnta nÄ Å›una kene, tÄra kibÄ doá¹£a
kṛṣṇe - unto Kṛṣṇa; bhakti - devotional service; kara - do; ihÄya - in this matter; sabÄra - of everyone; santoá¹£a - there is satisfaction; vedÄnta - the philosophy of the VedÄnta-sÅ«tra; nÄ - do not; Å›una - hear; kene - why; tÄra - of the philosophy; kibÄ - what is; doá¹£a - fault.
“Dear Sir, there is no objection to Your being a great devotee of Lord Kṛṣṇa. Everyone is satisfied with this. But why do You avoid discussion on the VedÄnta-sÅ«tra? What is the fault in it?â€
ÅšrÄ«la BhaktisiddhÄnta SarasvatÄ« ṬhÄkura comments in this connection, “MÄyÄvÄdÄ« sannyÄsÄ«s accept that the commentary by ÅšrÄ« Åšaá¹…karÄcÄrya known as ÅšÄrÄ«raka-bhÄá¹£ya gives the real meaning of the Vedanta-sÅ«tra. In other words, MÄyÄvÄdÄ« sannyÄsÄ«s accept the meanings expressed in the explanations of the VedÄnta-sÅ«tra by Åšaá¹…karÄcÄrya, which are based on monism. Thus they explain the VedÄnta-sÅ«tra, the Upaniá¹£ads and all such Vedic literatures in their own impersonal way.†The great MÄyÄvÄdÄ« sannyÄsÄ« SadÄnanda YogÄ«ndra has written a book known as VedÄnta-sÄra, in which he writes, vedÄnto nÄma upaniá¹£at-pramÄṇam. tad-upakÄrīṇi Å›ÄrÄ«raka-sÅ«trÄdÄ«ni ca. According to SadÄnanda YogÄ«ndra, the VedÄnta-sÅ«tra and Upaniá¹£ads, as presented by ÅšrÄ« Åšaá¹…karÄcÄrya in his ÅšÄrÄ«raka-bhÄá¹£ya commentary, are the only sources of Vedic evidence. Actually, however, VedÄnta refers to the essence of Vedic knowledge, and it is not a fact that there is nothing more than Åšaá¹…karÄcÄrya’s ÅšÄrÄ«raka-bhÄá¹£ya. There are other VedÄnta commentaries, written by Vaiṣṇava ÄcÄryas, none of whom follow ÅšrÄ« Åšaá¹…karÄcÄrya or accept the imaginative commentary of his school. Their commentaries are based on the philosophy of duality. Monist philosophers like Åšaá¹…karÄcÄrya and his followers want to establish that God and the living entity are one, and instead of worshiping the Supreme Personality of Godhead they present themselves as God. They want to be worshiped as God by others. Such persons do not accept the philosophies of the Vaiṣṇava ÄcÄryas, which are known as Å›uddhÄdvaita (purified monism), Å›uddha-dvaita (purified dualism), viÅ›iá¹£á¹Ädvaita (specific monism), dvaitÄdvaita (monism and dualism) and acintya-bhedÄbheda (inconceivable oneness and difference). MÄyÄvÄdÄ«s do not discuss these philosophies, for they are firmly convinced of their own philosophy of kevalÄdvaita, exclusive monism. Accepting this system of philosophy as the pure understanding of the VedÄnta-sÅ«tra, they believe that Kṛṣṇa has a body made of material elements and that the activities of loving service to Kṛṣṇa are sentimentality. They are known as MÄyÄvÄdÄ«s because according to their opinion Kṛṣṇa has a body made of mÄyÄ and the loving service of the Lord executed by devotees is also mÄyÄ. They consider such devotional service to be an aspect of fruitive activities (karma-kÄṇá¸a). According to their view, bhakti consists of mental speculation or sometimes meditation. This is the difference between the MÄyÄvÄdÄ« and Vaiṣṇava philosophies.
