oṁ pūrṇam adaḥ pūrṇam idaṁ pūrṇāt pūrṇam udacyate pūrṇasya pūrṇam ādāya pūrṇam evāvaśiṣyate

(4) To answer Saṅkaracarya's commentary on the forty-fifth verse, the substance of the transcendental qualities and their spiritual nature is described in the Laghu-bhagavatamrta, verses 97 through 99, as follows: "Some say that transcendence must be void of all qualities because qualities are manifested only in matter. According to them, all qualities are like temporary, flickering mirages. But this is not acceptable. Since the Supreme Personality of Godhead is absolute, His qualities are nondifferent from Him. His form, name, qualities and everything else pertaining to Him are as spiritual as He is. Every qualitative expansion of the absolute Personality of Godhead is identical with Him. Since the Absolute Truth, the Personality of Godhead, is the reservoir of all pleasure, all the transcendental qualities that expand from Him are also reservoirs of pleasure. This is confirmed in the scripture known as Brahma-tarka, which states that the Supreme Lord Hari is qualified by Himself, and therefore Visnu and His pure devotees and their transcendental qualities cannot be different from their persons. In the Visnu Purana Lord Visnu is worshiped in the following words: 'Let the Supreme Personality of Godhead be merciful toward us. His existence is never infected by material qualities.' In the same Visnu Purana it is also said that all the qualities attributed to the Supreme Lord, such as knowledge, opulence, beauty, strength and influence, are known to be nondifferent from Him. This is also confirmed in the Padma Purana, which explains that whenever the Supreme Lord is described as having no qualities, this should be understood to indicate that He is devoid of material qualities. In the First Chapter of the same Padma Purana it is said: 'O Dharma, protector of religious principles, all noble and sublime qualities are eternally manifested in the person of Krsna, and devotees and transcendentalists who aspire to become faithful also desire to possess such transcendental qualities.' " It is to be understood that Lord Sri Krsna, the transcendental form of absolute bliss, is the fountainhead of all pleasurable transcendental qualities and inconceivable potencies. In this connection we may recommend references to Srimad-Bhagavatam, Third Canto, Chapter Twenty-Six, verses 21, 25, 27 and 28.

Sripad Ramanujacarya has also refuted the arguments of Saṅkara in his own commentary on the Vedanta-sutra, which is known as the Sri-bhasya: "Sripad Saṅkaracarya has tried to equate the Pancaratras with the philosophy of the atheist Kapila, and thus he has tried to prove that the Pancaratras contradict the Vedic injunctions. The Pancaratras state that the personality of jiva called Saṅkarsana has emerged from Vasudeva, the supreme cause of all causes, that Pradyumna, the mind, has come from Saṅkarsana, and that Aniruddha, the ego, has come from Pradyumna. But one cannot say that the living entity (jiva) takes birth or is created, for such a statement is against the injunction of the Vedas. As stated in the Katha Upanisad (2.18), living entities, as individual spiritual souls, can have neither birth nor death. All Vedic literature declares that the living entities are eternal. Therefore when it is said that Saṅkarsana is jiva, this indicates that He is the predominating Deity of the living entities. Similarly, Pradyumna is the predominating Deity of the mind, and Aniruddha is the predominating Deity of the ego.

"It has been said that Pradyumna, the mind, was produced from Saṅkarsana. But if Saṅkarsana were a living entity, this could not be accepted, because a living entity cannot be the cause of the mind. The Vedic injunctions state that everything-including life, mind and the senses-comes from the Supreme Personality of Godhead. It is impossible for the mind to be produced by a living entity, for the Vedas state that everything comes from the Absolute Truth, the Supreme Lord.

"Saṅkarsana, Pradyumna and Aniruddha have all the potent features of the absolute Personality of Godhead, according to the revealed scriptures, which contain undeniable facts that no one can refute. Therefore these quadruple forms are never to be considered ordinary living beings. Each of Them is a plenary expansion of the Absolute Godhead, and thus each is identical with the Supreme Lord in knowledge, opulence, energy, influence, prowess and potencies. The evidence of Pancaratra cannot be neglected. Only untrained persons who have not genuinely studied the Pancaratras think that the Pancaratras contradict the srutis regarding the birth or beginning of the living entity. In this connection, we must accept the verdict of Srimad-Bhagavatam, which says: 'The absolute Personality of Godhead, who is known as Vasudeva and who is very much affectionate toward His surrendered devotees, expands Himself in quadruple forms who are subordinate to Him and at the same time identical with Him in all respects.' The Pauskara-samhita states: 'The scriptures that recommend that brahmanas worship the quadruple forms of the Supreme Personality of Godhead are called agamas [authorized Vedic literatures].' In all Vaisnava literature it is said that worshiping these quadruple forms is as good as worshiping the Supreme Personality of Godhead Vasudeva, who in His different expansions, complete in six opulences, can accept offerings from His devotees of the results of their prescribed duties. Worshiping the expansions for pastimes, such as Nrsimha, Rama, Sesa and Kurma, promotes one to the worship of the Saṅkarsana quadruple. From that position one is raised to the platform of worshiping Vasudeva, the Supreme Brahman. In the Pauskara-samhita it is said: 'If one fully worships according to the regulative principles, one can attain the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Vasudeva. It is to be accepted that Saṅkarsana, Pradyumna and Aniruddha are as good as Lord Vasudeva, for They all have inconceivable power and can accept transcendental forms like Vasudeva. Saṅkarsana, Pradyumna and Aniruddha are never born, but They can manifest Themselves in various incarnations before the eyes of pure devotees. This is the conclusion of all Vedic literature. That the Lord can manifest Himself before His devotees by His inconceivable power is not against the teaching of the Pancaratra. Since Saṅkarsana, Pradyumna and Aniruddha are actually the predominating Deities of all living entities, the total mind, and the total ego, the descriptions of Saṅkarsana, Pradyumna and Aniruddha as jiva, mind and ego are never contradictory to the statements of the scriptures. These names identify these Deities, just as the terms 'sky' and 'light' sometimes identify the Absolute Brahman.

"The scriptures completely deny the birth or production of the living entity. In the Parama-samhita it is described that material nature, which is used for others' purposes, is factually inert and always subject to transformation. The field of material nature is the arena of the activities of fruitive actors and since the material field is externally related with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, it is also eternal. In every samhita, the jiva (living entity) has been accepted as eternal, and in the Pancaratra the birth of the jiva is completely denied. Anything that is produced must also be annihilated. Therefore if we accept the birth of the living entity, we also have to accept his annihilation. But since the Vedic literatures say that the living entity is eternal, one should not think the living being to be produced at a certain time. In the beginning of the Parama-samhita it is definitely stated that the face of material nature is constantly changeable. Therefore beginning, annihilation and all such terms are applicable only in the material nature.

"Considering all these points, one should understand that Saṅkaracarya's statement that Saṅkarsana is born as a jiva is completely against the Vedic statements. His assertions are completely refuted by the above arguments. In this connection the commentary of Sridhara Svami on Srimad-Bhagavatam (3.1.34) is very helpful."

For a detailed refutation of Saṅkaracarya's arguments to prove Saṅkarsana an ordinary living being, one may refer to Srimat Sudarsanacarya's commentary on Sri-bhasya, which is known as the Sruta-prakasika.

The original quadruple forms Krsna, Baladeva, Pradyumna and Aniruddha expand into another quadruple, which is present in the Vaikuntha planets of the spiritual sky. Therefore the quadruple forms in the spiritual sky are the second manifestation of the original quadruple in Dvaraka. As explained above, Vasudeva, Saṅkarsana, Pradyumna and Aniruddha are all changeless, transcendental plenary expansions of the Supreme Lord who have no relation to the material modes. The Saṅkarsana form in the second quadruple is not only a representation of Balarama but also the original cause of the Causal Ocean, where Karanodakasayi Visnu lies asleep, breathing out the seeds of innumerable universes.

In the spiritual sky there is a spiritual creative energy technically called suddha-sattva, which is a pure spiritual energy that sustains all the Vaikuntha planets with the full opulences of knowledge, wealth, prowess, etc. All these actions of suddha-sattva display the potencies of Maha-Saṅkarsana, who is the ultimate reservoir of all individual living entities who are suffering in the material world. When the cosmic creation is annihilated, the living entities, who are indestructible by nature, rest in the body of Maha-Saṅkarsana. Saṅkarsana is therefore sometimes called the total jiva. As spiritual sparks, the living entities have the tendency to be inactive in the association of material energy, just as sparks of a fire have the tendency to be extinguished as soon as they leave the fire. The spiritual nature of the living being can be rekindled, however, in association with the Supreme Being. Because the living being can appear either in matter or in spirit, the jiva is called the marginal potency.

Saṅkarsana is the origin of Karana Visnu, who is the original form who creates the universes, and that Saṅkarsana is but a plenary expansion of Sri Nityananda Rama.