Third Section (तृतीयः परिच्छेदः)
Om.
He who is devoid of all faults, embodies the entirety of qualities, is independent, and under whose control all are—that Viṣṇu is regarded as supreme.
Thus, in the Parama Upaniṣad.
He who is eternally full of all qualities and indeed faultless at all times; who is independent, the supreme Viṣṇu, devoid of birth, death, and the like.
Nārada said: “If Viṣṇu is free from defects, how was he born among human beings? How is he seen as bearing anxiety, fatigue, wounds, ignorance, and suffering? O Brahmā, this doubt of mine is lodged in my heart like a thorn. It cannot be removed by other mortals; remove it by the power of apt speech.”
Brahmā said: Viṣṇu’s body is not born from the combination of female and male impurities. Rather, he manifests his own eternal form, consisting of flawless consciousness and bliss. This alone is Viṣṇu’s birth, and no other. Even so, for deluding the demons and, on some occasions, others, he—possessing pure good qualities—may display suffering, ignorance, fatigue, and the like.
How could wounds and the like—and how could ignorance—exist in him whose auspicious qualities are eternal because of his independence? The supreme Hari displays them solely to make liberation difficult to attain.
Because of that fault of false understanding, they do not attain liberation, and by that very fault they go to darkness. Therefore, one should correctly know Viṣṇu as devoid of fault and as having entered into manifestation.
Thus, in the Brahmāṇḍa Purāṇa.
“The qualities, actions, and the like of Viṣṇu are held to be nothing other than his essential nature. Consequently, there is never any difference whatsoever among them either. Yet even in the essential nature there is a particularity, just like essential-naturehood itself. And even in the absence of difference, usage in every respect occurs through that alone.”
Thus, in the Paramopaniṣad.
“Just as being non-different and non-difference, though devoid of difference, may be spoken of separately, so exactly may Hari’s attributes. If there were a difference between non-difference and what is non-different, or between difference and what is different, an infinite regress would indeed result, and there would be no cognition of qualifierhood. Therefore, without knowing the fundamental relation, what is one in Hari is to be spoken of in infinitely many ways by means of viśeṣa through the force of faulty reasoning. That viśeṣa too is the essential nature, and it has the capacity to account for itself.”
Thus, in the Brahmatarka.
“That is one alone, without a second.” — Chāndogya Upaniṣad 6/2/1
“There is no plurality whatsoever here. He passes from death to death who here sees as if there were plurality.” — Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad 6/4/19
“Just as water that has fallen as rain on rugged ground runs in different directions among the mountains, so one who sees the dharmas as separate runs after those very dharmas.” — Kāṭhakopaniṣat 2/1/14
Also because of this and other scriptural passages.
Just as, in such cases as “space is everywhere,” “the person is independent,” and “the eternity of time,” the predication occurs through relation to itself, so too Viṣṇu, whose form consists of qualities, may have qualities and be the experiencer of qualities; and that is he himself.
Thus, in the Brahmatarka.
Having known Viṣṇu to be complete in all qualities and having been freed from saṃsāra, he eternally rejoices near him, enjoying bliss free from suffering. And Viṣṇu is the refuge of the liberated, superior to them, and likewise their overlord. All of them are solely under his control; he is always indeed the Lord.
Thus declares the supreme revelation.
“This is the bridge to immortality.” — Ātharvaṇa Upaniṣad 2/2/6
“He enjoys all objects of desire together with the all-knowing Brahman.” — Taittirīya Upaniṣad 2/1
And so forth.
Indeed, scripture says: “Those who attain liberation, beginning with kings and ending with Śatadhṛti, each successively higher, are hundredfold greater in all qualities and rejoice.”
Thus, in the Padma Purāṇa.
Therefore, it is established that Nārāyaṇa is devoid of every defect without exception and possesses perfect and infinite qualities.
Vāyu’s three divine forms have been fully proclaimed in the Vedic utterance. Indeed, that great radiance of the deity, worthy of sight, has been set down precisely thus. The first form of Vāyu carries Rāma’s message; Pṛkṣa is the second form; but this Madhva is the third. By this one, the treatise was composed for Keśava.
Homage to you, Nārāyaṇa—the independent Lord of all, whose nature consists of flawless qualities, who are dearest to me and supremely complete.
Thus ends the Third Section of the Śrī Viṣṇutattvanirṇaya, composed by the venerable Ānandatīrtha Bhagavatpādācārya.
