Vedanta-sutra (III, 3, 36)

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Sarva Vedanta Sara: This purport ends with the SUTRA being explained.

 

Vaisnavas define dhama as Vaikuntha, or that transcendental place beyond all the

limitations and misery of the material world of birth and death. Dhama is

completely different from mundane existence, both gross and subtle, because it

is a limitless, supra-mundane reality utterly beyond the power of maya. Dhama is

identical in nature with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Thus we hear in the

Mundaka-upanisad (III.3.7),

 

yah sarvajnah sarva-vidyasyaisa mahima bhuvi

divye brahma-pure hyesa vyomnyatma pratisthitah

 

The Supreme Self, who is all-wise, omniscient, and whose glory is pervertedly

reflected in the mundane world, resides eternally in the divine city of Brahman,

within the great vacuum. "

 

(Vyoma literally means " vacuum, " according to the Visvakosa Sanskrit dictionary,

and as Vaisnavas we were somewhat hesitant to use this translation because of

its suggestion that the kingdom of God is merely some kind of void. However, we

can understand that the Upanisad used the term vyoma to erase completely any

hint of materiality in relation to the Supreme Lord's personal realm, or dhama.)

 

Grammatically, vyoma is in the locative case, and thus it literally 'locates'

the kingdom of God in a place perfectly free of all matter. This accords with

our Vaisnava understanding that the personal realm of the Supreme Godhead, Sri

Krsna, is devoid of any material attributes, being a limitless eternal plane of

spiritual existence wholly different from prakrti, or mundane nature.

Divya-brahma-puri, in the above sloka, is the dhama itself, the transcendental

abode of God, and it includes all His divine and glorious qualities, associates,

paraphernalia, and pastimes. The holy and eternal kingdom of God, His sacred

dhama, is therefore as worshipful as He is.

 

Ref. the following sutra (aphorism) by Sri Dvaipayana Vedavyasa in the

Vedanta-sutra (III, 3, 36)---antara-bhutagramavat svatmanah: " In the kingdom of

God, things look similar to that of any ordinary village in the material world,

but they are actually different in essence. Self realized devotees of the

Supreme Lord can see this difference. "

 

 

Richard Shaw Brown, PG

Musician, Designer, Gemologist & Author

www.richardshawbrown.com

 

 

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