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XXI]
Vanamali Misra
443
been destroyed, but who have still to suffer the effects of their prārabdha karma. The realization of God can destroy the sañcita and kriyamāņa karma, i.e. previously collected karma and those that are performed in the present life, but not the prarabdha karma, i.e. the karma that is already in a state of fruition.
It is wrong to suppose that the attainment of a state of bliss can be desired by any person; the state desired can only be one in which a person enjoys unobstructed bliss1. In a state of deep dreamless sleep one can enjoy a little bliss, but not the full bliss, as the māyāvādins hold. There is but little difference between the māyāvādins and the Buddhists; the difference is only in the mode of expression 2.
The self is regarded as atomic, but its existence is definitely proved by the notion of the ego (aham-pratyayavedya) who enjoys all his experiences. Even though he may be dependent upon God, yet he is a real and active agent who works through the influence of avidya. The existence of the self is also proved by the continuity of experiences through all stages of life. The self-love manifested in all beings for selfish ends also shows that each person feels a self or soul within himself and that this self is also different in different individuals. The difference between jiva and isvara is that the former is of little power and little knowledge and always dependent, and the latter is omniscient, omnipotent and independent; He makes the jivas work or assert their supposed independence by His avidya-power. The jivas are thus different from God, but as they exist in Him at the time of emancipation and as all their actions are guided by the avidya-power of God, they are regarded also as being
sālokya, i.e. existence in the same sphere as God; sayujya, as being merged in God; sāmīpya, as existence in proximity to God as associated with a particular form of Him. The merging in God called sayujya should not be regarded as being unified with God. This merging is like the animals roaming in the forest. The emancipated beings are different from God, but exist in Him (evam muktvā harer bhinna ramante tatra modataḥ (Ibid. II. 61). They can thus come out of God also, and we hear of them as entering in succession the bodies of Aniruddha, Pradyumna, Samkarṣaṇa and Vasudeva. Such emancipated beings are not associated with the creation and destruction of the worlds, but remain the same in spite of all cosmic changes. They are like the being of Svetadvipa referred to in the Nārāyaṇiya section of the Mahabharata. But they are still always under the control of God and do not suffer any sorrow on account of such control.
1 puruşă-rtham sukhitvam hi na tv ananda-svarüpata. Sruti-siddhantasamgraha, 11. 96.
meyato na viseṣo'-sti mayi-saugatayor mate
bhangi-matra-bhidā tu syat ekasminn api darśane. Ibid. 11. 136.
