Lost in translation – English and the material world vs the concept of anādi Posted in: Divinity, What are we doing here?

Within the Vaishnava tradition, the conditioning of the souls in the material world is said to be anādi – beginningless. If English speakers wish to understand the finer points of the Sanskrit word anādi, there are probably a number of English words they should steer clear of, for example …

• forget – because the word infers previously known
• when – because the word infers something happened at some point in time, and before that point it had not happened
• manifest – because the word infers previously unmanifest
• fallen – because the word infers previously not fallen

Why might clear understanding of anādi be important? I believe it fundamentally informs the way one approaches life. For example, if one has not forgot, then there is no basis for striving to remember, or if one has not fallen, there is no basis for seeking redemption.

Personally, I prefer to think in terms of conditioned souls being unconscious-prone by nature. While I cannot say with confidence why this is the case, I am convinced the reason will sit comfortably with the all perfect, all beautiful, all powerful nature of God.