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

Synonyms

oṁ—the Complete Whole; pūrṇam—perfectly complete; adaḥ—that; pūrṇam—perfectly complete; idam—this phenomenal world; pūrṇāt—from the all-perfect; pūrṇam—complete unit; udacyate—is produced; pūrṇasya—of the Complete Whole; pūrṇam—completely, all; ādāya—having been taken away; pūrṇam—the complete balance; eva—even; avaśiṣyate—is remaining.

Translation

“The Personality of Godhead is perfect and complete, and because He is completely perfect, all emanations from Him, such as this phenomenal world, are perfectly equipped as complete wholes. Whatever is produced of the Complete Whole is also complete in itself. Because He is the Complete Whole, even though so many complete units emanate from Him, He remains the complete balance.”

Purport

Here the basic principle of the Supreme Absolute Truth is given. Everything we can know, or name, must be defined in relation to some central point. That point is the Absolute, and it is a semantic singularity that must exist for every ontological system and every world view. This axiomatic Absolute Truth is the semantic raw material that makes all other meanings possible; therefore the most basic and universal definition of the Absolute is simply the sum total of everything that exists.

The concept of the Complete Whole is therefore a kind of ontological Rosetta Stone, or key connection between and among all bona fide religious, spiritual and scientific systems, because it must exist in all of them in some form. Therefore it is the beginning and foundation of the Esoteric Teaching.

For example, in Western empirical science, the concept of the Complete Whole is called the universe. In theology it is called the Kingdom of God. The conception of the Complete Whole is therefore basic to all systems of thought, including of course, the Vedic Esoteric Teaching. But it is rare indeed to find such a subtle ontological conception explicated so clearly and cleanly in a traditional religious text. This is because the Vedic sages were not mere theoretical speculators, but had a deep understanding the science of meaning and how it affects consciousness. Therefore, they insisted upon both ontological rigor and direct personal realization for confirmation of the philosophical and ontological insights revealed in the Vedas.

To the sages of the Esoteric Teaching, the Complete Whole, or the Supreme Absolute Truth (satyam param—that truth, once knowing which there is nothing further to be known), must be the complete Personality of Godhead. Realization of the impersonal Brahman effulgence as the Absolute, or of Paramatma, the Supersoul dwelling in the heart of every living being, are simply stages of incomplete realization of the Complete Whole. This is because the Supreme Personality of Godhead is sac-cid-ananda-vigraha:

īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ
sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ
anādir ādir govindaḥ
sarva-kāraṇa-kāraṇam

“Kṛṣṇa, who is called Govinda, is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the Supreme Controller. He has an eternal spiritual body of transcendental bliss. He is the origin of everything and everyone. He has no prior cause, for He is the prime cause of all causes.” [Brahma-samhita 5.1]

Realization of impersonal Brahman is consciousness of His sat feature, or His aspects of eternity and the source of all emanations. Eternal existence is a natural quality of spirit—indeed, eternality is the principal distinguishing quality of spirit from temporary matter. Paramatma realization is direct consciousness of His sat and cit features: His aspects of eternity, unlimited knowledge and all-penetrating cognizance as Antaryami, the indwelling Supersoul. But realization of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is direct knowledge of all three transcendental features: sat, cit and also ananda, the bliss of knowing both the Lord as an eternal Divine Person, and one’s eternal spiritual identity in an ecstatic loving relationship with Him. The ecstatic moods of spiritual love (rasa) experienced by the advanced bhaktas or devotees of the Lord are wonderful beyond any other state of consciousness. Therefore complete realization of the Complete Whole is necessarily personal.

One who realizes the Supreme Person realizes all aspects of the Absolute Truth in fullness and completeness. Vigraha means form: the Complete Whole cannot be formless because He is the source of so many forms. If He were formless, or if He displayed less opulence or a smaller ensemble of qualities than His creation, He would not be complete. Besides, the emanated energy of the Absolute having greater quantity or more qualities than its source would violate the universal principles of conservation of energy and information. Nevertheless, if He did not have a formless aspect, He would also be incomplete. The Complete Whole must simultaneously contain and display everything, both within and beyond our experience; otherwise He would not be fully complete. This is not contradictory because He is transcendental; therefore whatever He does automatically becomes the standard by which perfection is recognized.

The Supreme Personality of Godhead, the Complete Whole, emanates unlimited spiritual potencies that are as complete as He is—that is to say, they are also persons. Spiritual energy is always conscious individual and personal. Even the material energy, although its manifestations may be impermanent, is ultimately conscious, personal and eternal because it is an energy of the personal Complete Whole. Just like the Supreme Whole, this phenomenal world is also complete in itself and inherits from its source the qualities of an ontologically cognitive, self-referentially meaningful, individually conscious entity. Therefore it is no coincidence that the material elements and physical parameters this universe are intelligently balanced and regulated to produce everything necessary for the creation, maintenance and ultimate dissolution of this universe via the agency of time.

The manifested universe displays the symptoms of wholeness and completeness because it emanates from the Complete Whole. Similarly, all other individual emanated units, such as the conscious living entities, inherit the complete spiritual qualities of the Complete Whole. Yet, certainly the living entities in the universe do not and cannot maintain the universe because the quantity of potency we inherit is limited. We cannot even understand how heartbeat, breathing and digestion are maintained in our bodies during sleep. This bafflingly vast and complex universe functions on an immense time scale, which is begun and maintained under the complete control of the Complete Whole; and when His purposes are complete, this temporary material manifestation will be completely annihilated.

All forms of incompleteness—such as the sufferings, failures, errors and embarrassments of material existence—are experienced by the complete living units only because of incomplete knowledge of the Complete Whole. However, by the complete arrangement of the Complete Whole, complete facilities are provided to the complete subatomic spiritual particles (namely the jivas or living beings) to enable them to attain complete realization of the Complete Whole, even within this creation. This complete facility is found in the complete Esoteric Teaching, which is contained in Bhagavad-gita and other Vedic literature, and passed down by an unbroken line of completely self-realized individuals.

The human form of life is a complete expression of the consciousness of the living being, and according to the complete Vedic wisdom, it is obtained only after transmigrating through 8,000,000 lower species of life in the cycle of birth and death, samsara. If, in this rare human life of complete consciousness, the complete living entity does not completely realize his relation to the Complete Whole, he loses this precious opportunity for spiritual liberation, and the stringent laws of karma again put him into the cycle of samsara. It may be many births before the wheel of time gives such a fallen soul another chance at complete self-realization.

The Complete Whole is neither an irresponsible nor an unkind Creator; therefore He has made complete provision for the complete universal population of living beings. But because we have completely forgotten the key to the operation of this divine system, we remain ignorant of the fact that there is a complete arrangement in nature for our maintenance. Thus tragically, we spend the majority of our valuable human life making strenuous and time-consuming efforts to selfishly exploit natural resources to create an artificial life of complete sense enjoyment. This completely mistaken path simply continues our bondage to the merciless laws of material nature, and ultimately ends in futility.

The life of material sense enjoyment is misleading and illusory because ontologically, the eternal spiritual living entity cannot enjoy the temporary life of the material senses. Temporary, incomplete material enjoyment can never completely satisfy the eternal spiritual living being. Our efforts to enjoy life always will remain imperfect and incomplete without being dovetailed in spiritual relationship with the Complete Whole.

My hand is apparently a complete unit, but it inherits the symptoms and qualities of life only as long as it is in proper relationship with my complete body. If my hand is severed from my body, it may superficially look like a complete hand, but it completely loses the qualities and functions of a hand because it has lost its relationship with the complete body. Similarly, the living beings are complete parts and parcels of the Complete Whole, and therefore they inherit the complete spiritual qualities and potencies of a complete living entity: consciousness, individuality, personality, embodiment, desire, life energy, creativity, initiative, etc. from Him. But if the living beings are severed from their original natural relationship the Complete Whole, no illusory material representation of completeness can fully satisfy them.

When we expend valuable time and energy to serve the multifarious, conflicting purposes of the illusory material manifestation, we simply waste our time and energy chasing and anticipating a mirage of complete happiness that never actually arrives. Complete human happiness and well-being requires complete engagement in the service of the Complete Whole, the complete Supreme Personality of Godhead. The benefits expected from all work and service in this world—social, economic, political, national, international or even interplanetary—will remain incomplete until they are put into proper relationship with the Complete Whole. For, everyone whose life energy and consciousness are completely dovetailed with the Complete Whole by the process given in this Esoteric Teaching, also realizes his eternality and completeness by the esoteric process of ontological inheritance from his origin, the complete Supreme Personality of Godhead.