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Re: AntarvyApti and BahirvyApti (Was Re: Doubt)

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Murali Kadambi • August 2, 2000 


|| srImate vEdAnta rAmAnuja maha desikAya namah ||

Dear bhAgawatAs,

These are some of my layman thoughts on the subject. 
I do not have too many sAstraic statements to quote,
just some logical analysis of the subject.

Given that Ramanuja has classified dravyas into six
categories, viz, prakrti, kAla, jnAna, nithya-vibhUti,
jeevAtma and paramAtma, let us pose ourselves this
question.  Can any dravya CO-EXIST with any other
dravya?

Since we all intimately know the prakrti and kAla
dravyas, let us analyze these two.  For these two
dravyas, the answer to the above question is YES.  We
see prakrti everywhere around us, and so do we
experience kAla.  Since prakrti and kAla are
orthogonal entities they can very well co-exist.  Yet,
can we really make statements such as "prakrti is
inside kAla" or "kAla is inside prakrti."  No, because
they are different (vilakshaNa) from each other.

Now consider jeevAtma, kAla, and paramAtma.  Here
again the three entities are totally different from
one another.  ParamAtma is described by RAmAnuja as
"sva-itara-samasta-vastu-vilakShaNa" - "He is
different from all entities other than Himself
(including jeevAtma and kAla)."

Extending the same analogy to these entities as well,
it is clear that paramAtma and jeevAtma can co-exist. 
So, the aNutva of jeevAtma and the vibhutva of
paramAtma do not contradict each other.  Similarly,
the vibhutva of kAla and the vibhutva of paramAtma do
not contradict each other.

Having said this, bahir-vyApti and antar-vyApti of God
can be explained as follows.

Bahir-vyApti constitutes the supporting aspect
(AdhAratva) of God.  That is, no entity in the
universe whether aNu or vibhu can EXIST without Him
(His svarUpa).  This is the purport of the definition
of nArAyaNa as nArAh ayanam - All entities (other than
Him) find their abode in Him.  So, all entities are
"inside" Him not physically but as supported entities.

Antar-vyApti constitutes the controlling aspect
(niyantratva) of God.  That is, no entity in the
universe whether aNu or vibhu can FUNCTION independent
of His will (His sankalpa).  This is the purport of
the definition of nArAyaNa as nArANam ayanam - He has
made all entities (other than Himself) His abode.  So,
He is "inside" everything not physically but as a
controlling entity.

Obviously my understanding of the topic is elementary,
so I would urge you to correct me if I am wrong and
shed more light on this subject.

|| sarvam srI krshNArpaNamastu ||

- adiyen, murali kadambi


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