Buddha's philosophy: zero, śūnyavādi; and Śaṅkara's philosophy: nirviśeṣa-vādi, impersonal. So we defy these, nirviśeṣa-śūnyavādi. But we have got all respect for them. Don't think that we disrespect. Keśava dhṛta-buddha-śarīra jaya jagadīśa hare (Daśāvatāra-stotra 9). And the Vaiṣṇavas know Śaṅkarācārya. Śaṅkara, svayaṁ śaṅkara, he is incarnation of Lord Śiva, and Lord Buddha is incarnation of Kṛṣṇa. So they come for particular purpose, to benefit the whole world. But that is for the time being. That is not permanent. The permanent solution is mataṁ ca vāsudevasya. That is permanent. Mataṁ ca vāsudevasya. That is permanent.
So vāsudevasya matam? Sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja (BG 18.66). This is vāsudevasya. "You simply surrender unto Me." That is real mata. Everyone is surrendered. Even Śaṅkarācārya says, bhagavad-gītā kiñcid adhita(?). If you read little, a portion of Bhagavad-gītā, your life will be successful. That is the recommendation given by . . . Sva bhagavān svayaṁ kṛṣṇa vāsudeva devakī-vasudevasya nandana(?). He has admitted. Nārāyaṇaḥ paraḥ avyaktāt. Actually, nirviśeṣa-vāda is for this material world, because it is mithyā. They say, the Śaṅkarites, they say mithyā. We Vaiṣṇavas, we don't say mithyā, because mithyā it cannot be. If the Absolute Truth is true, how mithyā can come from the paraṁ satyam, brahma satyam? If Brahman is truth, how—janmādy asya yataḥ (SB 1.1.1), everything is born from Brahman—how something can be untruth? No. That is not. Truth is there, but when we misunderstand the truth or misuse the truth, then we are in trouble. That is Vaiṣṇava philosophy. We have to find out what is the truth in everything. And that can be understood when you are advanced. Vāsudevaḥ sarvam iti (BG 7.19). Sarvaṁ khalv idaṁ brahma (Chāndogya Upaniṣad 3.14.1). There is truth. Nothing can be mithyā; everything is truth. We have to find out the truth.
So what is that truth? The truth is that īśāvāsyam idaṁ sarvam (ISO 1), everything is the God's creation. And Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Lord, God says, bhoktāraṁ yajña-tapasāṁ sarva-loka-maheśvaram (BG 5.29). He is the proprietor. But we do not understand that, that truth, that He is the proprietor. We are creating our proprietorship. That is untruth. That is untruth. That is mithyā, jagat mithyā. Jagat is not mithyā, but our behavior with the jagat, or the world, is mithyā. Jagat is not mithyā. How it can be mithyā? Janmādy asya yataḥ (SB 1.1.1). It is coming, emanating, from the Absolute Truth. It is truth. Therefore we have to find out the truth, what is that truth. That is described by Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī:
- prāpañcikatayā buddhyā
- hari-sambandhi-vastunaḥ
- mumukṣubhiḥ parityāgo
- phalgu vairāgyaṁ kathyate
- (Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.2.256)
If we give up everything as mithyā, prāpañcikatayā, material . . . Hari-sambandhi-vastunaḥ. Because everything is in connection with Hari, His energy. So do not reject things as jagat mithyā. Do not reject. Prāpañcikatayā buddhyā hari-sambandhi-vastunaḥ. Do not reject, but utilize it properly. That is wanted.