Everything about Achintya Bheda-abheda totally explained
Achintya-Bheda-Abheda (in
IAST) is a school of
Vedanta representing the philosophy of
inconceivable one-ness and difference, and also between God and his energies within the
Gaudiya Vaishnava religious tradition. In
Sanskrit achintya means 'inconceivable',(
1486 -
1534) and differentiates the Gaudiya tradition from the other
Vaishnava Sampradayas.
Caitanya's philosophy of acintya-bhedābheda-tattva completed the progression to devotional theism. Rāmānuja had agreed with Śaṅkara that the Absolute is one only, but he'd disagreed by affirming individual variety within that oneness. Madhva had underscored the eternal duality of the Supreme and the Jīva: he'd maintained that this duality endures even after liberation. Caitanya, in turn, specified that the Supreme and the jīvas are "inconceivably, simultaneously one and different" (acintya-bheda-abheda). He strongly opposed Śaṅkara's philosophy for its defiance of [[Vyasadeva |
Historical perspective
Historically, within
Hinduism there are two conflicting philosophies regarding the relationship between living beings (Jiva or
Atma) and God (
Ishvara,
Brahman or
Bhagavan).
Advaita schools assert the monistic view that
the individual soul and God are one and the same, whereas
Dvaita schools give the dualistic argument that
the individual soul and God are eternally separate. The philosophy of Achintya-bheda-abheda includes elements of both viewpoints. The living soul is intrinsically linked with the Supreme Lord, and yet at the same time isn't the same as God - the exact nature of this relationship being inconceivable to the human mind.
Philosophy
The theological tenet of
achintya-bheda-abheda tattva reconciles the mystery that God is simultaneously "one with and different from His creation". In this sense
Vaishnava theology isn't
pantheistic as in no way does it deny the separate existence of God (
Vishnu) in His own personal form. However, at the same time, creation (or what is termed in Vaishnava theology as the 'cosmic manifestation') is never separated from God. He always exercises supreme control over his creation. Sometimes directly, but most of the time indirectly through his different potencies or energies (
Prakrti).
"One who knows God knows that the impersonal conception and personal conception are simultaneously present in everything and that there's no contradiction. Therefore Lord Caitanya established His sublime doctrine: acintya bheda-and-abheda-tattva -- simultaneous oneness and difference." (
A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada) For example both the
sun and
sunshine are part of the same reality, but there's a great difference between having a beam of sunshine in your room, and being in close proximity to the sun itself. Qualitatively both, the Sun and the Sunshine are the same, but in terms of quantity they're very different. This analogy is applied to the living beings and
God - the Jiva being of a similar quality to the Supreme being, but not sharing the qualities to an
infinite extent, as would the Personality of Godhead himself. Thus there's a difference between the souls and the Supreme Lord.
Its is clearly distinguished from the concept of
anivacaniya (inexpressible) of
Advaita Vedanta. There is a clear difference between the two concepts as the two ideas arise for different reasons.
Advaita concept is related to the ontological status of the world, where as both
Svayam bhagavan and his shaktis (in Lord himself and his powers) are fully real, and they're different from each other, but at the same time they're the same. But that doesn't negate the reality of both.
Exceptions
While it applied to relations between
Purusha (the Lord) and
shakti (be it material, marginal and spiritual powers), in the theology of the concept there are areas of exceptions.
Jiva Goswami also accepts that any object and its energy are non-different, such as fire and power of burning. While some maintain that its only a secondary extension of the principle that it's primarily applied to
Svayam bhagavan and his powers. It doesn't however apply to differences between
avatars of
Svayam bhagavan and Lord Himself, so the difference between
Vishnu and his origin, isn't covered by the concept of
acintya bhedabheda, for example it can not be applied in cases where different levels of
purusha are compared.
Miscellaneous
The phrase is used as the chorus line in
Kula Shaker's 1998 hit song
Tattva. "Achintya-bheda-abheda-tattva".
Further Information
Get more info on 'Achintya Bheda-abheda'.
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