Philosophy of Sri Chaitanya – the Achintya Bheda-Abheda

Philosophy of Sri Chaitanya – the Achintya Bheda-Abheda
 
Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was the chief proponent of the Achintya Bheda Abheda (Inconceivable Difference/One-ness) Vedanta school and the Gaudiya Vaishnavism tradition within Hinduism. He was born at Mayapur near Navaidip, district Nadia (75 miles from Kolkata) West Bengal, who lived during 1486-1533.
 
The highlights of his philosophy are as under:
 
Sri Krishna, the Supreme Being:

1. Sat-Chit-Ananda Para-Brahman is identified as Sri Krishna, the Supreme Reality. Sri Krishna is Absolute person, indivisible, all-inclusive and unlimited by any other entity beside Him. The Bhagvata Purana was composed of by Vyasa who codified Vedas & Vedanta. The Bhagvata speaks of Sri Krishna as “Bhagavan Svayam” i.e. the Supreme Being.
2. Sri Krishna is transcendental spiritual reality and is the core of Reality, and the indefinite and unmodified Brahman can only be only His peripheral brilliance (Tanu-bha, the surrounding brilliance of Consciousness-Bliss).
3. Sri Krishna and His potency are inseparably related (such as fire & its heat & light) and manifest world. 
4. The Supreme Person remains transcendental while His Shakti (potency) projects the world of multiplicity. The multiplicity is of the Shakti, as the potency of the Supreme person, has no independent existence apart from Him. It constitutes an identical Non-dual whole with Him.
5. The form is more fundamental and Brahman as the formless is only His aura. The Supreme Person has countless forms but this school accepts one form as His original and transcendental form that is of Sri Krishna.
6. Sri Krishna embodies the six fold Divine majesties of Aisvarya (power, Sovereignty), Dharma (goodness), Yasa (glory), Sri (Splendor, Majesty), Jnana (Wisdom) and Vairagya (detachment), for which reason He is called the Bhagavan. Over and above, He is pure Bliss, of which there is only a partial expression in His aspect as Parmatman and much less in Brahman, the formless, indeterminate and pervasive spiritual aura of His.

 
Three Aspects of Sri Krishna’s Potency (Shakti):
The Shakti has three aspects – Svarupa Shakti (Innate potency), Tatastha Shakti (Peripheral or marginal potency) also called as Jiva Shakti and Bahiranga Shakti (Extraneous Potency). The function of the shaktis of Sri Krishna is to carry out His will and contribute to His sportive manifestations, which form the expression of His essential nature of Bliss.

1. Bhairanga (Maya) Shakti is the power of cosmic manifestation. The cycles of creation (Srsti) and dissolution (Parlaya) of all the fourteen spheres; gross and subtle elements which constitute these spheres and the bodies of Jivas inhabiting them, spring from the transformations of Bhairanga Shakti. Bhairanga Shakti is insentient gross matter (Prakriti) constituted of the three Gunas of Sattva, Rajas and Tamas. Only “Sat” attribute of the Supreme Reality manifest in it.
2. Svarupa Shakti is the inherent potency of Bliss. It binds Jivas (center of consciousness) in materiality and makes them forgetful of their divine affinities. It is the power by which the process of creation is originated and sustained. “Chit” attribute of the Supreme Reality which is redemptive power, manifests in it.
3. Tatastha Shakti is the Jiva Shakti and closer to the Supreme reality. It is constituted of the countless centers of Consciousness, called Jivas who are the expressions of His attribute of Chit or consciousness. Tatastha Shakti stands between the other two powers (Bhairanga Shakti and Svarupa Shakti) and partake the nature of the other powers.

 
Bondage of Soul (Jiva):
Being in contact with both, the Jiva gets into the state of bondage (Samsara) when Bhairanga Shakti dominates over him and makes him purely body-minded, but by the practice of devotion and grace of the God, the Jiva is enfolded by the Svarupa Shakti, he attains to his higher spiritual evolution.

1. The Jiva is regarded as both identical and different from Supreme Reality.
2. Each Jiva is an intelligent subject corresponding to the “I” sense and retains his individuality through all changes occurring in physical embodiment.
3. It is self-luminous, conscious (Chetana), subject to ego-sense, different in different bodies, atomic, ever-pure, a center of wisdom, action and enjoyment, and endowed with a natural tendency towards Paramatman.
4. Though it is called atomic it should not be conceived as a material atom.
5. Jivas embody a very limited quantity of the Supreme Being’s nature (Sat-Chit-Ananda). They are never identical with Him either in bondage or liberation.
6. Jiva, while coming under the influence of Bhairanga Shakti, forgets his spiritual nature and gets identified with materiality. But it never loses his essential spiritual attributes. They are only contracted in the state of ignorant identification with the body under the influence of Maya.
7. When the obstructing veils of Maya Shakti are removed through Bhakti, they share the blissful nature of the Svarupa Shakti of the Bhagavat. But they always retain their individuality even in liberation.

 
Manifestations of Potency of Supreme Being:
Svarupa Shakti is the most intimate and fundamental nature of Bhagavan. It has three aspects known as Sandhini, Samvit, and Hladini, corresponding to the Supreme Being as Sat (Existence), Chit (Consciousness) and Ananda (Bliss).
 

1. Sandhini is the energy of the God by which He sustains His own existence as also Jivas and the worlds.
2. Samvit is His knowledge nature by which He has self-knowledge and also knows others and endows others with knowledge.
3. Hladini is the energy by which He enjoys His own innate Bliss and makes others to enjoy the same. It is personified as a Female, Radha, forming the counter-whole and eternal consort of Sri Krishna.
4. Svarupa Shakti manifests in different degrees and combinations constitute the stuff and energies of the spiritual dimensions. It is Shuddha (pure) Sattva, Self-luminous and untainted spiritual element, as distinguished from ordinary material sattva (one of the three aspects of Prakriti) forming an aspect of Maya Shakti along with Rajas (dynamism) and Tamas (inertia). Material Sattva is tainted with Rajas and Tamas and is not self-luminous.
5. When Sandhini predominates, Shudda Sattva expresses itself as Adhara Shakti – the root energy which manifests as, and sustains the Heavenly Residence of Bhagavat.
6. Dominance of Samvit generates the manifestation of Shudha Sattva called Atma Vidya or Self-knowledge which sustains all forms of spiritual consciousness.
7. When Hladini predominates over the other elements, the spiritual energy expresses itself as Guhya Vidya or pure loving devotion (Prema Bhakti). 

 
Liberation of Jiva:

1. The evolution of life and the progress of the soul in higher regions is His sportive manifestation through His Jiva Shakti, also called Tatastha Shakti. The recurring cycles of Samsara that carry Jivas through repeated births and deaths until liberation is the dance of sportive Krishna at level of Jiva Shakti.
2. The Jivas who adore Sri Krishna through pure Bhakti are graced by His Svarupa Shakti and lifted out of the domain of Maya and made participants of Bliss.

 
Reference: Bhakti Schools of Vedanta – by Swami Tapasyananda, Sri Ramakrishna Math, Chennai.