गोविन्द भाष्य (श्रील बलदेव विद्याभूषण - अचिन्त्यभेदाभेद वेदान्त ब्रह्मसूत्र भाष्य सटीक)
Govinda Bhashya of Baladeva Vidyabhushana with Commentary
by श्रील बलदेव विद्याभूषण (संपादक: कृष्णदास बाबा जी)
Page 363 of 647
Read in context"A pure heart can understand that the Lord and His attributes are not different.
He who sees them as different travels from death to death."
yathodakaṁ durge vṛṣṭaṁ
parvateṣu vidhāvati
evaṁ dharmān pṛthak paśyaṁs
tān evānuvidhāvati
"One who thinks the Lord and His attributes are different falls into hell as
rainwater glides down a mountain peak."
In the Nārada-pañcarātra it is said:
nirdoṣa-pūrṇa-guṇa-vigraha ātma-tantro
niścetanātmaka-śarīra-guṇaiś ca hīnaḥ
ānanda-mātra-kara-pāda-mukhodarādiḥ
sarvatra ca svagata-bheda-vivarjitātmā
"The Supreme Personality of Godhead is independent, faultless, filled with
virtues, not residing in a material body, untouched by the modes of nature or a
material body fashioned of inanimate matter, but still possessing a face, belly,
hands, feet and other features of a spiritual body filled with bliss. He is not
different from His various limbs, features, and qualities."
Because in this way the scriptures deny that the Lord is different from His
attributes, therefore the Lord is not different from His attributes. Therefore the
word “bhagavān” (the all-opulent Supreme Lord) is defined in terms of the Lord's
knowledge and other attributes. In the Viṣṇu Purāṇa it is said:
jñāna-śakti-balaiśvarya-
vīrya-tejāṁsy aśeṣataḥ
bhagavac-chabda-vācyāni
vinā heyair guṇādibhiḥ
"The word bhagavān' means He who has all knowledge, strength, wealth,
power, heroism, and splendor, but no faults'."
Although the Lord and His attributes are actually one, they are spoken of as
being two in the same way that a body of water and its waves are spoken of as
being two. The Lord is blissful. He is also bliss itself. Therefore His form is full of
bliss. Because the Lord's activities are eternal, therefore the Lord's form is also
eternal. However, for the sake of ordinary dealings a pretended distinction is made