1he lsvoto Clto under Lhe lnfluence of Lhe 8boqovoJ Clto

8andy ulble
12/13/2010
Among Lhe holy books of Lhe ShlvlLe vamacara (lefLconducL") ashupaLa secL ls Lhe lsvoto Clto
(mldLenLh cenLury CL) 1he lsvoto Clto ls llke Lhe laLer uevl Clto ln many respecLs an adapLlon of Lhe
8boqovoJ Clto (Lhlrd cenLury CL) 1he key dlfference ls Lhe orlenLaLlon of Lhe personal Lhelsm of Lhe
Lwo LexLs Whereas Lhe 8boqovoJ Clto ls Lhe earllesL LexL of valshnavlsm seelng krlshnavasudeva as
Lhe Lord (lsvara) and 8lessed Cne (8hagavan) and supreme manlfesLaLlon of Lord vlshnu ln Lhe lsvoto
Clto lL ls Lord Shlva who ls ulLlmaLe 1he 8boqovoJ Clto ls embedded ln Lhe eplc Mobobototo and Lhe
lsvoto Clto ls embedded ln Lhe kotmo lotooo so Lhelr conLexLs dlffer buL many Lhemes ln Lhe laLLer are
dlrecL quoLes from Lhe former
ln vedlc rellglous LradlLlons generally lmlLaLlon ofLen granLs auLhorlLy raLher Lhan Lhe censure
of plaglarlsm LhaL lL does ln our culLure 1hls ls also Lhe case wlLh auLhors of laLer LexLs Laklng on Lhe
name of former masLers ln any case Lhls lnvesLlgaLlon wlll focus on Lhe resemblances beLween Lhese
Lwo rellglous works
ln Lhe beglnnlng of Lhe lsvoto Clto we hear flrsL from Lhe sages" who dlrecL Lhelr lnqulrles Lo
Lhe dlvlne myLhlc sage vyasa Lhe knower of Lhe veda who ls narayana personlfled krlshna uvalpayana
son of arasara and SaLyavaLl As vlshnu ln hls LorLolse form Lhe myLhlc vyasa had prevlously explalned
Lhe savlng knowledge of 8rahman Lo SuLa and now SuLa wlshes LhaL vyasa would explaln lL Lo Lhe
congregaLlon of sages Slnce vyasa was presenL long ago Lo hear Slva hlmself explaln lL Lo Lhe lords of
yoga 8efore Lhem appeared Lhe anclenL unmanlfesL splrlL eLernal self of Lhe unlverse narayana wlLh
hls glrlfrlend nara (ln unlon perhaps?) 1he sages presenL Lhelr quesLlons Lo narayana who Lhen casLs
off hls appearance of an asceLlc and for a momenL nara becomes lnvlslble ln Lhe brllllance of narayana
who holds Lhe bow dlscus conch and club remlnlscenL of krlshnavasudeva ln Lhe 8boqovoJ Clto
1hen Lhe Lhousandformed LhousandfooLed lmpeller of Lhe unlversal machlne and husband of Lhe
moLher goddess Lord Shlva appears whose emblem ls Lhe bull crescenL moon on hls forehead LrldenL
ln hand self of all belngs Pe embraces Lhe brlsLllnghalred narayana who ls really vlsnu and narayana
who ls really vlsnu asks Shlva Lo explaln Lo Lhe congregaLlon of sages Lhe knowledge of 8rahman
A flawless Lhrone appeared ln Lhe sky and Lhere saL Shlva Lhe self lnslde Lhemselves fllllng Lhe
unlverse wlLh radlance beslde vlsnu and narayana lL ls explalned ln 131 and perhaps Lo Lhe
congregaLlon made selfevldenL by Lhe dlsplay ln Lhe sky LveryLhlng ln lnslde of hlm 1hls world ls noL
separaLe from hlm" ChapLer Lwo beglns wlLh Lord Shlva spllllng hls secreLs
1he besL of Lhe besL become 8rahman lL ls Lhe self beyond darkness pure consclousness lLself
Lhe maglclan whose Lrlck ls Lhe manlfesLaLlon of Lhe unlverse Lord Shlva conLlnues Lo explaln Lhe self/
8rahman When he percelves Lhe varlous sLaLes of belng/ As resLlng ln Lhe Cne/ And from LhaL alone
spreadlng ouL/ 1hen he aLLalns 8rahman" 1hls ls lsvoto Clto 23 and ls compleLely ldenLlcal wlLh
8boqovoJ Clto 1330 1he Lheme ls anclenL and common Lo Lhe vedas and much of Lhe laLer vedlc
LradlLlons buL sLlll wlLh Lhe exacL wordlng Lhe same Lhe reference ls clear ln 242 Shlva explalns LhaL
?ogls and followers of Samkhya boLh aLLaln Lhe same sLaLe and Lhose who can see Lhls also know LhaL
Samkhya and ?oga are really Lhe same ln pracLlce Samkhya and ?oga are generally dlsLlngulshed by
Samkhya's emphasls on knowledge and ?oga's emphasls on experlence buL Lhey do have very close Lles
and ln any case Lhe wordlng ls so slmllar Lo 8boqovoJ Clto 33 where Lhe same ls sLaLed LhaL once agaln
Lhe reference ls clear
lollowlng Lhe llsL of concordances ln rofessor nlcholson's recenL LranslaLlon of Lhe lsvoto Clto
wlll furLher elucldaLe Lhe ofLen preclse slmllarlLy beLween Lhe Lwo LexLs 8uL furLhermore wlLhln Lhe
lsvoto Clto lLself Lhere are hldden concordances beLween Lhe very characLers ln Lhe narraLlve even
beLween Lhe characLers and Lhe reader 1he nonduallsm of Lhe maglclan ashupaLa ShlvlLes may have
aL lLs hearL a monlsLlc prlnclple of Lhe Cne Lhe Self who ls noL oLher Lhan oneself lf we read lL from an
AdvalLlc perspecLlve When Lhe self aLLempLs Lo see lLself lL becomes oLher Lhan lLself hence Lhe
necesslLy of appearance or manlfesLaLlon of Lhe aloneness of Lhe purusha (pure consclousness"
beyond darkness") ln Lhe venerable form of Lhe Lord lsvara be lL Shlva vlshnu or krlshna ln Lhe ?oga
LradlLlon ln addlLlon Lo lsvara lL ls called urushakalvalyam Lo denoLe lLs separaLlon lsolaLlon or
aloneness Cf course Lhe reader lsn'L Lord krlshna nor am l Lord Shlva buL lL may be useful Lo lmaglne
lsvara seaLed on a Lhrone ln my hearL demonaLlng Lhrough Lhe undulaLlons of whlch ln an emanaLlon
of reverenL referenLs Lo Lhe quallLy or prlnclple l lnsLanLlaLe ln conLrasL Lo Lhe characLers of Lhe narraLlve
form of expresslon my acLual llfe my llvlng sub[ecLlvlLy brlngs me closer Lo Lhe nonduallsL or monlsLlc
salvlflc goal of onLologlcally sLrlcL unlLy ln radlcal separaLlon from all else ln Lhls mode sympaLheLlc Lo
Lhe AdvalLa vedanLa of Adl Sankaracarya lsvara ls Lhe knowable 8rahman and Lhe nlrguna 8rahman ls
Lhe lnnermosL Self" or supreme Self" Sankara refers Lo ln hls commenLary on 8boqovoJ Clto 1427 (l
am Lhe Abode or foundaLlon or 8rahman") AlLhough Lhe ashupaLa ShlvlLes may be classlfled under
'nonduallsm' for a survey of yoglc schools as ln leuersLeln's LexLbook LhelsLlc LradlLlons generallyand
Lhe adherenLs of Lhe lsvara ClLa are deflnlLely LhelsLlcand boLh ?oga and Sankhya proper are duallsLlc
generally and may be furLher speclfled 1o see a more speclfylng Lendency of Lhls Lhelsm observe Lhe
nexL concordance
anenLhelsm and 8hedabheda
lsvoto Clto 323 lL dwells ln Lhe world/ enveloplng everyLhlng/ hands and feeL everywhere/ eyes
head face and ears everywhere// lL appears Lo have quallLles/ of all Lhe senses yeL ls free of Lhem all/
SupporLlng all Lhlngs lL ls eLernal bllss/ Lhe unmanlfesL free from duallLles"
8boqovoJ Clto 131314 Pavlng hands and feeL everywhere/ Lyes heads and faces everywhere/
Pavlng ears everywhere/ 1haL sLands enveloplng everyLhlng ln Lhe world// Shlnlng by Lhe funcLlon of
Lhe senses/ ?eL freed from all Lhe senses/ unaLLached yeL malnLalnlng all/ lree from Lhe quallLles yeL
experlenclng Lhe quallLles"
lrom Lhe above example lL ls clear LhaL Lhe poslLlon of Lhe sub[ecL descrlbed abovelsvara
from boLh LexLs ls Lhe same as boLh are LhelsLlc LexLs one ShlvlLe (lC) one valsnava (8C) AnoLher
sLrongly LhelsLlc LexL ls Lhe SveLasvaLara upanlshad lLself sLrongly lnfluenced by ShlvlLe LhelsLlc
Lendencles and Samkhya?oga also bearlng sLrong resonances ln Lhls LexL A more speclflc Lendency of
Lhls Lhelsm may be expounded under a couple useful labels l wlll nexL explaln bbeJobbeJo or
JvoltoJvolto on Lhe one hand and pooeotbelsm on Lhe oLher lL doesn'L qulLe roll off Lhe Longue
nelLher Lhe Lechnlcal phraseology nor Lhe concepLs buL Lhe dlssonance ls mnemonlc and lconlc ln lLs
dlsLance from lnLulLlve poslLlons 1hls Lheologlcal sLrucLure ls a sound answer Lo Lhe phllosophlcal
quesLlon of Lhe Cne and Lhe Many" noL oLherwlse as saLlsfled by Lhe comparaLlvely slmpllsLlc noLlons
of monlsm and duallsm LeL me explaln
lsvara wheLher krlshna or Shlva ls omnlpresenL yeL noL llmlLed by Lhe llmlLaLlons of Lhe flnlLe
mulLlpllclLy or conLexLurallLy of Lhe slLuaLed 1hls ls panenLhelsm alllnCod noL mere Lhe equaLlon of
Cod (or Lord lsvara Lhe Supreme ersonallLy of Lhe Codhead) wlLh Lhe unlverse (or naLure an Lhe
All") buL lncludlng and exceedlng LhaL 1hls ls mosL succlncLly summed up ln Lhe lasL llne of 8boqovoJ
Clto 712 8uL l am noL ln Lhem Lhey are ln Me" AlLhough enLlLles may depend on and consLlLuLe
some of Lhe body of Cod Cod does noL depend on Lhem Such ls Lhe glsL of vlslsLhadvalLa vedanLln Srl
8amanu[a ln hls commenLary Lhe 8boqovoJ Clto 8bosyo on 712 SLrucLurally Lhls panenLhelsm may be
seen as slmllar Lo dlfferenceandnondlfference or duallLyandnonduallLy vedanLa Laklng
vl[nanabhlksu's lead
ln hls commenLary on Lhe ?oga SuLras of aLan[all 126 (lsvara was also Lhe Leacher of Lhe
anclenLs because Pee ls noL llmlLed by 1lme") 8hedabheda (dlfferencenondlfference) vedanLln
vl[nanabhlksu explalns Lhe relaLlonshlp beLween lsvara (personlfled 8rahman) and purusha lsvara ls
one wlLh Lhe llvlng enLlLles or lndlvldual souls buL also dlfferenL (a speclal purusha" as ln ?S 124) as ln
Lhe relaLlon of whole and parL flre and sparks eLc 1he relaLlon ls noL one of absoluLe unlLy as ln
AdvalLa buL of nondlfference (from Ldwln 8ryanL's 2009 LranslaLlon wlLh commenLary of aLan[all's
qo 5ottos) 1he spark ls nondlfferenL from Lhe flre ln subsLance yeL noL absoluLely ldenLlcal Lo Lhe
flre lL has lLs own lndlvlduallLy ln Lhls way Lhe purusha ls one wlLh 8rahman ln quallLy buL also
eLernally dlsLlncL ln LhaL lL has lnherenL lndlvlduallLy" (lbld)