________________
XXII] Sāmkhya and Vedānta
475 eternal God; the other beings are but His parts. The other vyūhas, such as the Samkarşaņa, Pradyumna and Aniruddha, are but the manifestations of Vāsudeva (vibhūti) and they are to be regarded as partial creation of God or as Brahmā, Vişnu and Rudra. The power of the lesser gods, Visņu or Siva, is limited, since they cannot produce any change in the regulation of the cosmic affairs. When they speak of themselves as the Supreme God they do so only by a process of self-identification with the absolute God. The mahattatva, with its threefold aspect as sattva, rajas and tamas, forms the subtle body of Brahmā, Vişnu and Siva or Samkarşaņa, Pradyumna and Aniruddha. These three gods, therefore, are supposed to have the one body, the “mahat," which forms the basic foundation and substratum of all cosmic evolution. It is for this reason that they are said to have the cosmos or the universe as their body. These three deities are regarded as mutually interdependent in their operations, like vāta, pitta and kapha. It is for this reason that they are said to be both different from one another and yet identical?. These three deities are identical with "mahat” which again is the unity of purusa and prakyti. It is for this reason that Brahmā, Vişnu and Maheśvara are to be regarded as the partial manifestations (amśāvatam) of Gods and not direct incarnations?
The penetration of Isvara into pradhāna and purusa is through His knowledge, will and effort by which He rouses the gunas and helps the production of the mahat. Bhikṣu takes great pains to show that Bhagavān or absolute God is different from Nārāyaṇa or Vişnu who are direct manifestations of Him just as sons are of the father. Bhikṣu here differs from the opinion of the Pañcarātra school and of other thinkers such as Madhva, Vallabha and Gaudiya Vaisnavas who regard Nārāyaṇa, Vişnu and Krsna as identical with God. The other avatāras, such as the Matsya, Kūrma, etc., are regarded by Bhikṣu as the līlā-vatāra of Vişnu and the āvešā-vatāra of God as bhagavān or parame-svara.
i Vijñānā-myta-bhuşya, I. 1. 5.
2 In this connection Bhikṣu quotes the famous verse of the Bhāgavata, ete că msa-kalāh pumsaḥ krsnas tu bhagavān sziyam. I. 1. 5. He, however, paraphrases Krşņa as Vişnu and explains svayam bhagavān as being the part of God just as the son is the part of the father: atra krsno visnuḥ svayam parameśvaras tasya putravat sākşād amsa ity arthah. Ibid. This, however, goes directly against the interpretation of the verse by the Gaudiya school of Vaisnavas who regard Krşņa as being the absolute God.
as the son is sāksad amsa llorse by the Gaud
