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Achintya-Bheda-Abheda (अचिन्त्यभेदाभेद,acintyabhedābheda inIAST) is a school ofVedanta representing the philosophy ofinconceivable one-ness and difference.[1] InSanskrit,achintya means 'inconceivable',[1]bheda translates as 'difference', andabheda translates as 'non-difference'.TheGaudiya Vaishnava religious tradition employs the term in relation to the relationship of creation and creator (Krishna,Svayam Bhagavan),[2][3] between God and his energies.[4] The movement's theological founder,Chaitanya Mahaprabhu[5] (1486–1534), is considered the philosophy's main proponent, and differentiates the Gaudiya tradition from the otherVaishnava Sampradayas. It can be understood as an integration of the strict dualist (Dvaita) theology ofMadhvacharya and the monistic theology (Advaita) ofAdi Shankara.[6]
Advaita schools assert the monistic view that the individual soul and God are one and the same,[7] whereasDvaita schools give the dualistic argument that the individual soul and God are eternally separate.[8] The philosophy of Achintya-bheda-abheda includes elements of both viewpoints. The living soul is intrinsically linked with God, and yet at the same time it is not the same as God - the exact nature of this relationship being inconceivable to the human mind. The soul is considered to be part and parcel of the God, the same in quality but not in quantity. God having all opulence in fullness, the soul, however, having only a partial expression of this divine opulence. God in this context is compared to a fire and the souls as sparks coming off of the flame.
Bhāskara's commentary on the Brahma Sutra is the earliest complete work of Bhedabheda to still exist.[9]
The Bhedabheda philosophy became the foundation for the traditions ofNimbarka, Vallabha, and Caitanya.[10]
The theological view ofachintya-bheda-abheda tattva asserts that God is simultaneously "one with and different from His creation". God's separate existence in His own personal form is not denied, even as creation (or what is termed in Vaishnava theology as the 'cosmic manifestation') is never separate from God. God always exercises supreme control over his creation. Sometimes this control is directly exercised, but most of the time it is indirect, through his different potencies or energies (Prakrti).
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada summarizes theachintya-bheda-abheda philosophy in the following way: "One who knows God knows that the impersonal conception and personal conception are simultaneously present in everything and that there is no contradiction. Therefore Lord Caitanya established His sublime doctrine: acintya bheda-and-abheda-tattva -- simultaneous oneness and difference."[4]
The relationship between the Sun and sunshine analogizes the relationship between God and thejiva.[11] The Sun and sunshine are not different qualitatively, but different quantitively— there is great difference between proximity to a beam of sunshine and proximity to the Sun. Similarly, thejiva is qualitatively similar to God, but does not share God's qualities to aninfinite extent, as would God himself.[12]
Another conception of difference-in-nondifference is thatjivas partake in the consciousness and bliss aspect of God, but not the being aspect. Thus,jivas are ontologically distinct from the absolute body of God.[13]
The essence of Achintya Bheda Abheda is summarized as ten root principles called dasa mula.[14]
In Advaita Vedanata, the concept ofanirvacaniya refers to the inexpressible nature of the world; it is neither real nor unreal. Thus,anirvacaniya is an ontological category. In comparison,acintya refers to the inconceivability ofBhagavan and hisshaktis being different from each other, but at the same time being the same. This does not negate the reality of both.[1][15]
