The Sankhya-Yoga-Vedanta synthesis of Vijnana Bhikshu
Brahman
- Brahman is same as Īṡvara, Paramēṡvara and Paramātman. They are not distinguished like in Ṡāṅkara’s theory.
- Brahman is nirviṡēṣa or nirguṇa, i.e., without qualities or without adjectives.
- Brahman is pure knowledge (jn̄āna-rūpa). Brahman does not have knowledge as an attribute, but Brahman is the knower, the known and the knowledge itself.
- Brahman is self-illuminated.
- Brahman is not any god like Viṣṇu or Kṛṣṇa or Nārāyaṇa. They may be considered as partial avatars but not as Brahman.
- Jīva is an aṃṡa (part) of Brahman, the whole (aṃṡin); it is not an adjective or qualified item like Rāmānuja says.
- Jīva and Prakṛti are the ṡaktis (potencies) of Brahman. That is, Brahman is ṡaktimān, the possessor of ṡaktis. Just like energy cannot be split from the energetic, jīva-prakṛti are considered abhinna (identical).
- Jīvas are innumerable but yet they are advaita with Brahman because they are qualitatively the same (sādharmya sharing same behaviours and sajātīyatva in same category of conscious beings)
- Prakṛti and its evolutes too are in indivisible state (avibhakta) due to the Satkāryavāda theory of causation (“effect is pre-existent in the cause”). This unmanifested and undivided mūla-prakṛti is nothing but a ṡakti (potency) of Brahman and hence non-different from it.
- Brahman is not of the nature of ānanda. That is, Brahman is sat-cit but not ānanda.
- There is no world/planet (like Kailāsa or Vaikuṇṭha) that is beyond space and time and full of bliss.
- Brahman is the nimitta-kāraṇa (efficient cause) and upādāna-kāraṇa (material cause) and yet non-different from it.
- Brahman is with upādhis (adjuncts) during the phases of manifested creation, but not post-dissolution. This upādhi is different from Brahman’s ṡaktis! It is eternal.
Jīva
- Jīva is a ṡakti (potency) or an aṃṡa (part) of Brahman. In the sense of a spark being a homogenous part of burning fire - they are qaulitatively same. Not in the sense of jīva being dependent on Brahman (cf. Rāmānuja, Madhva) or jīva being an upādhi of Brahman (Bhāskara).
- Jīva is dependent on Brahmaṇ but that is not the meaning of aṃṡa.
- Jīva is not aṇu (atomic) but vibhu (all-pervading), though there are infinite jīvas. They don’t form a “lump” of consciousness or anything like that.
- The agency (kartṛtva) and experiencing (bhōktṛtva) of jīva are due to upādhis. They are not natural (svābhāvika) and subservient to Brahman (adhīna) like Ramanuja, etc. say.
- Jīva and Brahman will never ‘merge’ to form a single union, even after mokṣa. Jīva is never as great as Brahman.
- A liberated jīva does not end up in four-handed forms like in Vaikuṇṭha (sāyujya-mukti) or a servant-hood (dāsya) in Kailāsa etc.
- Jīva is neither an appearance (fallacious or real) nor a reflection of Brahman. Jīva is not some limited representative of unlimited Brahman. Jīva is not some eternal servant of Brahman either.
- Jīva is just that – he is a homogenous part (sajātīya aṃṡa) of Brahman, he is pervasive (vibhu) and is knowledge (jn̄a) too.
Prakṛti
- It is accepted that Prakṛti is inanimate and of the nature of three guṇas (sattva, rajas, tamas).
- Prakṛti is not independent like in Sāṅkhya but it is an internal potency (antarlīna ṡakti) of Paramātman; just like jīva is also a ṡakti of Paramātman. It is not a form of Brahman (brahma-rūpa).
- Prakṛti is not same as avidyā or māyā or akṣara. Prakṛti cannot be considered akṣara because it is ever-changing (pariṇāminī). Each term has its own nonsynonymous meaning.
- Just like Mūla-kāraṇa Prakṛti is a form of Prakṛti that is an upādhi of jīva, Māyā is the name of that form of Prakṛti which is an upādhi of Īṡvara.
- Māya is not unreal (asat) but actually existing (sat). Māyā is jaḍa (inanimate) but of ṡuddha-sattva and hence of ever-blissful nature (nityānanda) due to the absence of Rajas-Tamas. Hence it is homogenous (sādharmya) with Prakṛti.
- Avidyā is a shorthand for five afflictions (pan̄ca-klēṡa) of buddhi, like egoism, passion, hatred, attachment, etc.
- The main difference between Mūla-prakṛti and Māyā is that the former is subject to change/transformation (pariṇāminī) but the latter is not.
- Prakṛti is real (sat) though transcendental, in the sense that it is a potency of Īṡvara and hence advaita is maintained.
- Thus Prakṛti is of these three forms (mūla-prakṛti, māyā, avidyā).
Other entities like time (kāla), prāṇa, adṛṣta, etc. are also considered inanimate ṡaktis of Paramātman but different from Prakṛti anyway.
References:
Acharya Vijn̄ana Bhikṣu and His Place in Indian Philosophy – in Hindi, by Prof. Suresh Chandra Srivastava.