Jîva Gosvåmî’s Presentation of Acintya-bhedåbheda: Journal of Vaishnava Studies

Abstract

In the history of theistic Vedånta, one can observe two opposing forces constantly at play with each other: unification and separation of the Lord and his creation. Vedåntic writers ensure that the world has no existence separate from the Lord, and then take care to distance the two so as to not compromise his perfection. They emphasize the Lord’s role as the efficient and substantive cause of the world, while insisting that its fluctuations and miseries have nothing to do with him. On the basis of scripture, they establish that the world consists of Brahman, and that the world proceeds out of Brahman.