[Why have You created the world with souls? Ignorant people say that You have created this world to enjoy this Rāsa-dance. Why such blame comes to You only? Is soul the best part of the world?]

Śrī Kṛṣṇa Bhagavān uvāca:-

[God Shri Krishna spoke:-]

[I have created this world not for any cheap entertainment since I got bored with loneliness. I am the infinite ocean of divine bliss. Will I get bored in real sense? The climax happiness in this creation is just the tasteless outer leather of a sweet banana fruit.]

[I just desire for a change from the existing state of loneliness and such change is not for getting more happiness. Change to other state even with lesser happiness or even misery is desirable because change from the existent state is the main concept. A king living in palace with full facilities and extreme happiness wants a change and goes to forest for hunting, in which sometimes happiness disappears completely and misery appears. Even then, the change is welcomed due to desire for a new atmosphere. I wanted a change from My loneliness and liked for the appearance of a soul for entertainment.]

[When I say that I desired for a second soul, the people of lower level immediately think that I desire for a soul, which must be in female form so that I can enjoy romance with that form based on My lust. I desired for a soul to appear to enjoy the pure love from that soul and not for the beastly lust. A soul like Hanuman tore His chest with His nails to show Me in His heart.]

[Why don’t people imagine such a pious soul and the purest love of such a devoted soul to God? Especially, in the kali age, people always think about sex only. If they think about God by spending at least 1/100^th time allotted for thinking about sex, they will reach and merge with God forever! The climax of the purest love will make the mind to become mad in the case of anybody!]

[Like this, I am very much fascinated for the true love of a devoted soul irrespective of its gender. For the same reason, I am in this Rāsa-dance. These Gopikas have come to participate in this Rāsa-dance due to their pure love on Me even crossing the justice that gives lot of fear for hell (As told in the Shri Radha Krishna Gita, the sages born as Gopikas actually enacted this divine play as if they have broken justice.).]

[The romantic life is also one angle among the other angles of heroic aspects of God giving the complete personality. It is just like a flower in a garden with a specific color among several flowers having different colors. For the sake of comprehensive personality, this romantic aspect must not be absent. Otherwise, people of lower level will comment that God is impotent. To avoid this blame, you have come down and follow Me as My partner in this romantic angle of life. You are the embodiment of My power called Mahā Māyā and not different from Me due to which I remain as the perfect celibate.]

[In the battle of Rama and Ravana, the monkeys have surrendered their bodies standing on the side of God Rama by becoming ready for the miserable torture and death. Such monkeys are to be saluted by all devotees. The female devotees in sweet devotion surrender their bodies to God by aspiring some selfish sexual pleasure in return from God. The monkeys did not aspire for any good fruit in return from God and were prepared even to receive the bad fruit of death! True love does not aspire for any good fruit in return and is prepared even to receive the bad fruit in doing sacrifice to God.]

[In the unimaginable state, it is not possible to say whether one item exists or two items exist or several items exist. We are forced to say that one item alone exists because two or more unimaginable items can’t be distinguished by their boundaries since boundary is a spatial concept and the unimaginable domain is beyond space. Hence, whether it is Parabrahman or Mahā Māyā or both together forcibly treated as one, the safest word to be used is ‘It’. The Veda frequently uses this word (Tat or It) to denote the unimaginable God called Parabrahman or His inherent power called Mahā Māyā or both together treated as one. Such one unimaginable item is called as ‘Parabrahman’ by the school of Vedanta and the same is called as Mahā Māyā by the school of Śākteya. Such ‘It’ created ‘Tejas,’ which is called as inert energy from which matter and awareness are evolved leading to the creation of the entire world.]

[The Veda also says that It created ākāśa or space as the first item (Ātmana Ākāśaḥ). The same Veda again says that It created tejas or gross inert energy as the first item (Tat tejo'sṛjata). Hence, both space or subtle inert energy (ākāśa) and gross inert energy (tejas) are one and the same inert energy. Space is very subtle inert energy and Tejas is gross inert energy. Both are essentially inert energy only. From this inert energy or Kārya Māyā Śakti or Mūla Māyā, all the world containing both inert and non-inert items is evolved.]

[God Datta called ‘Ātman’ created subtle energy (space or Ākāśa) in the sequence of creation (Ātmana ākāśaḥ - Veda). Then, air, fire, water and solid earth were evolved from space or subtle energy, one from the other in sequence. All these five items are called the five elements (Pañca bhūtas). The fire (Agni) is gross energy. At the end, awareness was created as the sixth element (Annāt puruṣaḥ - Veda). After this, from the five elements, plants were created. After this, animals and human beings were created using the six elements (five elements and sixth is awareness). All this is the process of creation done by God Datta. Even before God Datta appeared, It created the Tejas or gross energy from which an energetic being called ‘Datta,’ who is an energetic body with awareness as individual soul, is created. The space (subtle energy) that is required to accommodate Datta was also created using the gross energy even before the creation of the energetic being called Datta. Gross energy and subtle energy differ only in the range of frequencies of the energy. In fact, the space is subtle inert energy and the energy of the body of the first energetic being (Datta) is gross inert energy. The awareness as individual soul of that energetic being is also inert energy only because awareness is a specific work form of inert energy only. The same gross inert energy appeared as space, energetic body and energetic individual soul by the will of It. Then, It merged with Datta (the energetic body with individual soul) so that Datta became God Datta. Even before this creation of ultimate space (called as ‘Paramavyoma’ in the Veda) and the first energetic being and  even before the subsequent process of the actual creation of the entire world done by God Datta, It created gross inert energy or Tejas (Tat tejo'sṛjata - Veda) in the very very beginning itself, which became the ultimate space or ultimate subtle inert energy (to accommodate the first gross energetic body called Datta), gross energetic body of Datta and its individual soul called awareness of Datta. Parabrahman merged with Datta or medium to make Him as God Datta. God Datta, the Parabrahman, created this universe afterwards and for such creation, He first created the worldly space (ātmana ākāśaḥ - Veda) or subtle inert energy (to accommodate the world) followed by the other four elements and awareness. Paramavyoma is eternal by the will of It (unimaginable God) and the rest space dissolves in the final dissolution. The difference between Paramavyoma and the rest space is not in terms of their frequency, but in terms of eternality wished by God. This eternal space and the energetic being turned to God Datta will never perish at any time even though the world has the possibility of dissolution if It wishes. Hence, the word ‘Tejas’ comes in the context of creation of the first energetic being by It and the word ‘Ākāśa’ comes in the context of creation done by God Datta later on. First It created tejas or gross energy, a part of which was converted into space or subtle energy. A part of the same gross energy was used to create the energetic body of the energetic being directly and other part of the same gross energy was used to create individual soul or awareness of the first energetic being. Since gross energy is also basically inert energy only, there is no difficulty in converting the gross energy into space or subtle energy. Energetic body of energetic being is directly made from the gross inert energy and the individual soul or awareness of the energetic being is indirectly made from gross inert energy because the individual soul or awareness is a specific work form of gross inert energy only.]

[As per the Veda, the sequence of creation states that the subtle energy (space or Ākāśa) is initially condensed into matter as atoms, which are free from each other due to the absence of bonds among them and this is called gaseous state (air or Vāyu) of matter. This means that the space or subtle energy became matter. From this gaseous state of matter, again gross energy (Agni) is generated. These two steps (space or subtle energy to air or matter and air or matter to fire or gross energy) prove that energy and matter are interconvertible. Later on, liquid phase of matter (water or Āpaḥ) and solid phase of matter (earth or Pruthivī) evolved. In this way, the five elements are classified into two states of energy and three states of matter. The two states of energy are:- i) space or Ākāśa, the subtle energy and ii) fire or agni, the gross energy. The three states of matter are:- i) gas or Vāyu, ii) liquid or āpaḥ and iii) solid or Pruthivī.]

[By the above explanation, the topics of both inert energy and matter are covered. The subtle energy in the form of space is the root source or the causal inert energy from which matter and awareness are evolved. From Pruthivī or earth, inert plants came and from inert plants came the inert food. From food, the awareness is evolved in the form of non-inert zoological living beings. When the inert energy generated from the oxidation of food enters the materialized functioning nervous system of the zoological living beings, this inert energy is converted into a specific work form of inert energy called ‘awareness.’ Awareness means the capacity to know about itself and to know anything other than it that is in contact with it. This process of knowing is the specific work form of inert energy called awareness.]

[The word ‘food’ is used by God in the Veda referring to the plants and plant products alone and not to animals (Oṣadhībhyo 'nnam— Veda). The reason is that plants don’t have awareness due to the absence of brain-nervous system. In animals, the brain-nervous system is present and hence, awareness exists in animals only and not in plants. In the plants, the process of inert mechanical respiration takes place, which is consumption of oxygen and liberation of carbon-dioxide. This process of inert respiration is linked with the generation of non-inert awareness because the inert energy, released by the oxidation of food by using oxygen, is converted into awareness in the functioning brain-nervous system. The respiration is called ‘Prāṇamaya kośa’ and the awareness involving mind, intelligence, memory and basic ego is different from ‘Prāṇamaya kośa,’ which is involved with inert gases like oxygen and carbon-dioxide.]

[Therefore, consuming food from Botanical plants and trees is not sinful because the plants having no awareness don’t suffer when they are cut and eaten. But, Zoological living beings like animals, birds, human beings etc., suffer while they are killed due to the existence of awareness in them and hence, it is sin to consume Zoological living beings as food. Even the huge Botanical tree has no trace of awareness. But even a unicellular Zoological organism called Amoeba has awareness and it is the first Zoological living being.]

[Scientists and atheists say that this world is God and there is no God other than this world. Some of them quote the Veda also in this context since the Veda says that all this world is God (Sarvaṃ khalvidaṃ Brahma). This argument should not be entertained because the nominative case (Prathamā vibhakti) in Sanskrit grammar has two senses of usage:- i) both are one and the same and ii) one is in control of the other. Here, we have to take the second sense and understand that all this world is under the control of God.]

[If you say that ‘X is Y’ in nominative case, such statement has two meanings: i) X and Y are one and the same and ii) X is under the control of Y. While writing the boundaries of a property in the document, the boundaries are mentioned by the names of the owners of their properties. If it is written that East is Deva Datta, it means that the East boundary is the boundary of the property controlled by Deva Datta. Deva Datta is represented by the property as its owner or controller. When East boundary is written as Deva Datta, it does not mean that Deva Datta himself is the very East boundary. Here, we find that the first sense is rejected and the second sense is accepted. Similarly, we have to take the Vedic statement in the second sense and not in first sense.]

[The scholars argue with each other whether the process of creation done by God is real modification (pariṇāma) or apparent change (vivarta). The confusion in this debate is that nobody is confirming about the item that is really modified or apparently changed. If you take Parabrahman, He is apparently changed. If you take the inert energy or Kārya Māyā Śakti generated by Mahā Māyā in unimaginable state through an unimaginable process, it is real modification. The Mahā Māyā is taken as the representative of the world and hence, the real modification of inert energy into the entire world is superimposed on Mahā Māyā.]

[In the unimaginable state, we can’t isolate both unimaginable Parabrahman and unimaginable Mahā Māyā. Hence, in that state, we can’t say whether the Parabrahman is really modified or the Mahā Māyā is really modified. In fact, both are not at all really modified since real modification is impossible in unimaginable Parabrahman or unimaginable Mahā Māyā. We have taken Parabrahman as the representative of apparent change and Mahā Māyā as the representative of real modification. Due to this reason of representative process, we say that Parabrahman is not changed due to apparent change and that Mahā Māyā undergoes real modification.]

[We are taking Parabrahman and Mahā Māyā in the unimaginable state and since both are unimaginable items, we have to take both as one unimaginable item only (any number of unimaginable items together become only one unimaginable item). This one unimaginable item is represented by the word ‘Tat’ or ‘It’. Now, we can say that ‘It’ created the world by real modification and at the same time, ‘It’ remained as it is without any change. By this, there is no mutual contradiction. Because of this unimaginable nature of ‘It’, ‘It’ is said to be unimaginable and most wonderful. Hence, ‘It’ is called as Mahā Māyī, which means the most wonderful. Here, one should not put his/her dirty finger and say that the Parabrahman is most wonderful because of His most wonderful power called Mahā Māyā. One should not speak this statement since both unimaginable items can’t be isolated and separated.]

[The above process of creation can be explained taking Saguṇa Brahman or the first energetic incarnation called ‘God Datta.’ The external medium (consisting of the gross energetic body, the space or subtle energy occupied by the energetic body and individual soul or awareness) of God Datta is purely made of inert energy only. The world is only a modification of inert energy. Based on this similarity of inert energy, we can say that the energetic body of God Datta is modified into the world. This does not mean that the energetic body of God Datta is directly modified into world. Here, the energetic body means the extra inert energy created by God Datta. Since the energetic body of God Datta and the created energy are one and the same inert energy, we shall take the meaning of the word ‘energetic body’ as the further inert energy created by God Datta. Inside the energetic body of God Datta exists the unimaginable ‘It’, which does not undergo any real change.]

[The example of apparent change or Vivarta is water wave in which water is not modified into wave, but appears as a wave and this is the proposal of Shankara. The example for real modification or Pariṇāma is conversion of milk into curd in which the milk is really modified into a different item and this is the proposal of Ramanuja.]

[Madhva objected both these proposals by very powerful logic. He says that God is different from the world. From a single pure substance, another different substance can’t be generated. If separate different world is not created by God and if God created Himself in the name of the world, this shows that God is not omnipotent since He couldn’t create different world separately. Only a different world existing separately can give real entertainment to God. Hence, God created this separate different world through unimaginable process. In apparent change, illusory world can be generated and real world cannot be generated by God. Since real world alone can provide real entertainment to God, if God cannot create a real world, God becomes inefficient to create real entertainment for Himself and this contradicts the omnipotence of God. In real modification, the cause must be reduced or must disappear if the cause is really modified into the real different world. But here, the cause is not reduced even by a trace and hence, this process of creation can be taken as unimaginable. Hence, the creation is totally different from God existing as an independent item and the process of creation is totally unimaginable.]

[The latest among the three philosophies is the philosophy of Madhva and Madhva studied the two prior philosophies, whereas Shankara and Ramanuja did not study the philosophy of Madhva. Hence, the philosophy of Madhva can be taken up for the correlation of the three philosophies. World is totally different from God and stands as a separate entity with its own absolute reality. This is true because the world is granted absolute reality of God by God. God (mediated or unmediated) is unimaginable and invisible. World is imaginable and visible. Hence, the world is totally different from God and totally real with its absolute reality gifted by God. World must be totally real like God and must be totally different from God because then only, God can get real entertainment from the world. The world is not only different from the unimaginable God, but also different from the mediated God because the unimaginable God like the naked person in the bathroom and mediated God is the same person coming out of the bathroom after wearing clothes.]

[Creation, maintenance and dissolution of the world are done by mediated-unimaginable God. This is accepted by all the three Divine Preachers. God Datta is mediated-unimaginable God. For Shankara, the created world is illusory since Parabrahman alone is the absolute reality. For Ramanuja, the world is the modification of the external medium (inert energy) of God. For Madhva, the separate world is created by God and it has independent status and absolute reality.]

[Madhva’s philosophy is correct since the process of creation of imaginable item from unimaginable item doesn’t exist in the imaginary world. Hence, the unimaginable-mediated God must have created the imaginable world through unimaginable process. Here, the philosophy of Shankara is correlated because the created imaginable world did not exist before its creation and such non-existence of world before its creation doesn’t contradict the present inherently non-existent world becoming existent with God-gifted absolute reality. The philosophy of Ramanuja is also correlated here because all the world is the modification of inert energy that forms the medium of the mediated-unimaginable God. It should be noted that the qualitatively same inert energy is created and modified into the world and not the quantitatively same inert energy present in the medium of mediated-unimaginable God. This means that the quantitatively same inert energy present in the medium of God Datta is not modified into the world since other quantity of the qualitatively same inert energy is created by God Datta and modified into the world.]

[The latest philosophy of Madhva always stands on the present existing situation. We find the world existing independently and separately from God and this makes us to think that the world is a separate item existing independently without being created by God and existing independently like God Himself. But, Madhva clearly says that the world is created by mediated unimaginable God called ‘Narayana.’ The world will exist in the future also because this world goes into subtle state in the final dissolution for the sake of interval for God and it will again be expressed in gross state for the entertainment of God. The world (film show) is withdrawn from gross state (cinema on the screen) to subtle state (film reel) at the time of dissolution (interval-break). Standing in the present state, we need not link the world to God as creation and creator in the past because the totally different world with multiplicity can’t be generated from perfectly pure singular God. Hence, Madhva took the presently existing state of an item as it is, especially when there is defect in the past assumption. At the same time, Madhva says that the world is created by God. Hence, the process of creation must be unimaginable, meaning it is miraculous.]

[Madhva did not give perfect independent status to the world as said above. He told that the world is created and controlled by God like a kingdom controlled by the king. This conclusion is drawn by Him since the miraculous powers of God are seen in this world. This is also a concept established by taking the independently existing present situation of the seen miracles of God in the world. As far as the present and the future states of the world are analysed, the theory of Madhva is perfectly correct and no other theory can contradict the theory of Madhva as far as the present and future states of the world are concerned. When the background of the miracles is discussed, the past process of creation comes into the picture, which is the source of the two theories of Shankara and Ramanuja.]

[When we analyse the past state of the world, which was before the creation of the world, the world did not exist by itself like the shape of a pot before the pot is produced from mud. Hence, Shankara told that the world was inherently non-existent by itself and became existent by the absolute reality of God that was gifted by God during the process of creation itself. Shankara accepted the absolute reality of the world in the present state since He never denied the existence of world (Vyavahāra sattā) in the present state. Hence, the past status of the world taken by Shankara does not contradict the present status of the world taken by Madhva. Past status can never contradict the present status and hence, Shankara’s philosophy is perfectly correlated with the philosophy of Madhva.]

[Ramanuja said about the real modification of God into the world and this can be explained in the cases of both i) unimaginable and ii) imaginable states of God. i) The unimaginable power of unimaginable God (Nirguṇa Brahman) is said to undergo real modification into the world for the purpose of understanding, due to the representation of the real modification of inert energy into the world. Since in unimaginable state, this unimaginable power becomes one with unimaginable God, we can say that the unimaginable God is really modified into the world. ii) Since the imaginable medium of the mediated-unimaginable God is pure inert energy in basic sense, its modification into the world can be superimposed on the mediated God (Saguṇa Brahman). It is already told that the actual medium of Saguṇa Brahman is not modified and it only means that the inert energy, which is similar to the medium is said to be modified for the purpose of understanding (This concept can be explained like this: All the employees of a king are servants of the king. When we say that the king ordered his servants to go and fight a war, it does not mean that the king ordered his personal servants also to go to the war. Since soldiers are also his servants, this finally means that he ordered his soldiers alone to go to fight the war.).]