Episode 01 - Essential Gita - Chapter 4 - On Prakriti.
CHAPTER 4 - ON PRAKRITI
THE IMMANENT SUPREME BEING – THE ‘ONE’ WITHIN AND THAT ‘ONE’ IN EVERYTHING - CREATION
Even ignoring the scriptural and philosophical tenets inscribed in the Holy Books – the Vedhas, the Quran, the Bible, the Dhammapada – when we try and visualize nature along with the sacred, we get to see the hands of an unseen divine energy permeating in every aspect of this world around us. Obviously, Vedic sages meditating upon truth and seeking union with the Supreme Being in the deep forests of India; , the Buddha deeply engrossed in meditation seeking durable answers for humanity’s pains and sorrows; outpourings - carrying us to the very fringes of the seat of the Supreme Being, laced with vedantic tenets clothed in amazingly simple poetic idioms - by the divinely blessed ones like Nammazhwar, Tyagaraja, Annamacharya - through centuries and across disparate faiths – were all about that central quest: seeking the presence of God – the Supreme Being – in the countless marvels of this creation – in wilderness, deserts, forests, mighty oceans, swirling mighty rivers (the ‘prakriti’ as it is called in Hindu scriptures – and within ourselves, in our hearts – the soul or ‘atman’, as inseparable aspects of that Supreme One Energy.
Wherever ‘the eye of the heart’ could open and see, we have been able to have a glimpse of the beauty and majesty of that Supreme Being.
In the grand, riveting, and mind-blowing forms great devotional minds have adduced to that formless Supreme Being**, in the epics, puranas, folklore in every faith across this world, that unfold for us the glory and virtues of that One. Incarnations that tread this very earth, the heart-melting ‘archa moorthis’ in the great temples of Hindu faith, all brought to us, the simple, uninitiated minds, in emotive and poetically compelling narratives.. That elusive, glowing, divine sense of that One, stands implanted as the central core of our spiritual quest.
In the majestic and limitless expanse of Nature – the mighty rivers, the captivating little rivulets and cascades, in the mighty mountains, impenetrable forests, scalding deserts, roaring oceans, the seething, tumultuous life everywhere matched by inscrutable inanimate universe that yet seem to be alive and breathing somehow; by the awe-inspiring quiet and the ear-splitting tumult, by deaths, by births, by happiness and grief, by cries of joy and cries of pain, by the stars, the stellar systems, the unfathomable order everywhere and the frightening streaks of disorder like the quakes, tsunamis, pandemics, wars, the astounding and fearsome astrophysical drama – millions of light years away from our sight but perceived through modern science: galaxies, the quasars, the implosions, the seemingly impending end of this seemingly infinite universe – when the mind pauses to drink in, we are face to face with that unseen but felt in our bones, by intelligent deduction, inference – that One – the Supreme Being that unquestionably is the source, master and disposer of all these madly swirling energies that engulf the world – and the whole Universe. In the ceaseless changes, seemingly disorderly order of the whole thing.
And, those exalted/elevated souls, who could, in their own inner selves, through their ‘eye of the heart’ as it were, (with the mind stilled, disarmed and transcended by their indwelling ‘consciousness’), search earnestly and with resolute devotion and wisdom, are blessed with that glimpse of the Supreme Being within themselves.
**Bhishma, the grand sire of Mahabharata, weaves and encapsulates the conundrum – how do I get to comprehend that Supreme Being –
Vishvamurtir Mahamurtih Deeptamurtir Amurtimaan |
Anekamurtir Avyaktah Shatamurtish Shataananah (Sloka 77)
Amoorti-Ranakho aChindyo (Sloka 89)
“Amoorti”- One Who has no form - is explained thus - ‘Murtih Ghanarupam Dharanasamartham Characharalakshanam Tadrahitah iti Amurtih – Murtih is an object with “Ghanarupam” i.e. a physical mass - characterised by movement or lack of a movement = an object that could be perceived by sense organs. but Bhagavan is not subject to these limitations, hence He is called Amurtih, One Who is not a material object’.
“Achindhyo” -
(This topic that this ‘conundrum’ leads us to a discussion about the question – is this One with attributes and forms or is It formless and attributeless?
Nammazhwar in his inimitable poetic insight, would hint that much –
உளன் எனில் உளன் அவன் உருவம் இவ் உருவுகள்
உளன் அலன் எனில் அவன் அருவம் இவ் அருவுகள்
உளன் என இலன் என இவை குணம் உடைமையில்
உளன் இரு தகைமையொடு ஒழிவு இலன் பரந்தே
“இரு தகைமையொடு” – He is with both inclinations, asserts the Azhwar – he could
be perceived as a formless one அவன் அருவம் இவ் அருவுகள்; and also as One with form or countless forms - அவன் உருவம் இவ் உருவுகள்
Another of them, one of the first Azhwars, the ‘Pey Azhwar’ proclaims, without an iota of
qualm, what he SAW – with his inner eyes:
திருக்கண்டேன் பொன்மேனி கண்டேன்
திகழும் அருக்கன் அணிநிறமும் கண்டேன் செருக்கிளரும்
பொன்னாழி கண்டேன் புரிசங்கம் கைக் கண்டேன்
என் ஆழி வண்ணன்பால் இன்று!”
He leaves us no doubt at all about what he SAW and what it looked like.
Is this all just – ‘Beauty is in beholder’s eyes’ – or is there some truth that is hidden
Behind these apparently confounding proclamations by sages and seers whose words are not subject to question?
We would leave this question for a comprehensive discussion with the different vedantic tenets that support either view. But suffice for us to know that He or That One lends Itself or Himself to a perception that is attuned to the state of spiritual development and affiliation of the perceiver.)
ON THE SUPREME BEING AND HIS IMMANENCE, OMNIPRESENCE, TRANSCENDENCE
We need not ponder for a prelude to this discussion – Arjuna’s salvo to Krishna is quite direct and should suffice:
Chapter 8 – Verses 1 and 2
arjuna uvācha
kiṁ tad brahma kim adhyātmaṁ kiṁ karma puruṣhottama
adhibhūtaṁ cha kiṁ proktam adhidaivaṁ kim uchyate
adhiyajñaḥ kathaṁ ko ’tra dehe ’smin madhusūdana
prayāṇa-kāle cha kathaṁ jñeyo ’si niyatātmabhiḥ
what is Brahman, what is adhyatma (the individual soul), and what is karma? What is said to be adhibhutam, and who is said to be Adhidaivam? Who is Adhiyajna in the body and how is He the Adhiyajna? O Krishna, how are You to be known at the time of death by those of steadfast mind?
Chapter 8 - Verse 3
śhrī bhagavān uvācha
akṣharaṁ brahma paramaṁ svabhāvo ’dhyātmam uchyate
bhūta-bhāvodbhava-karo visargaḥ karma-sanjñitaḥ
The Supreme Being said: The Supreme One is called Brahman; one’s own soul is called adhyatma. Actions related to the desires and development of the material personality are called karma, or fruitive activities.
On Brahman, in the Brahadaranyaka Upanishad, Yajnavalkya – a chief contributor of the Upanishad, while responding to a series of challenging questions by Gargi – a woman of learning - says this:
etadvai tadakśaraḥ, gārgi brāhmaṇā abhivadanti, asthūlamanaṇvahrasvamadīrghamalohitamasnehamacchāyamatamo'-vāyvanākāśamasaṅgamacakśuṣkamaśrotramavāgamano'-tejaskamaprāṇamamukhamamātramanantaramabāhyam, na tadaśnāti kiṃcana, na tadaśnāti kaścana
“It is neither gross nor minute, Oh! Gargi! neither short nor long, neither red colour nor oiliness, neither shadow nor darkness, neither air nor ether, unattached, neither savour nor odour, without eyes or ears, without the vocal organ or mind, non-luminous, without the vital force or mouth, not a measure, and without interior or exterior. It does not eat anything, nor is It eaten by anybody.”
In other words, the definition is by stating what all it is not. “neti…neti” A comprehensible deduction from that long list of ‘it is not that’ may not be feasible for mortal minds.
In the following answer, the sage enumerates all that is happening in the Universe because of that Brahman – like the elements functioning, the Universe held in order and operating immaculately, etc – leading inferential evidence of the existence of that Supreme Being.
Then, the functionalities of the different aspects of the two lower realms of that Supreme Being are narrated; and the overarching Supreme Being is called Adhiyajna which is the Lord of all sacrifices, one that dwells in the hearts of all beings.
adhibhūtaṁ kṣharo bhāvaḥ puruṣhaśh chādhidaivatam
adhiyajño ’ham evātra dehe deha-bhṛitāṁ vara
“The physical manifestation – the worlds, the Universe - that is constantly changing is called adhibhūtam; the universal form of God, which presides over the celestial divinities – like the Sun, Agni, Vayu, Varuna, in this creation, is called Adhidaivam; I, who dwell in the heart of every living being, am called Adhiyajna, or the Lord of all sacrifices.”
Back to the Gita: Chapter 8, Verse 9
kaviṁ purāṇam anuśhāsitāram
aṇor aṇīyānsam anusmared yaḥ
sarvasya dhātāram achintya-rūpam
āditya-varṇaṁ tamasaḥ parastāt
“The Supreme Being is Omniscient, the most ancient One, the Controller, subtler than the subtlest, the nourisher and Support of all, and of a divine form that is beyond the perception of human minds; He is brighter than the sun, and banishes all darkness of ignorance.”
Chapter 8, Verse 20
paras tasmāt tu bhāvo ’nyo ’vyakto ’vyaktāt sanātanaḥ
yaḥ sa sarveṣhu bhūteṣhu naśhyatsu na vinaśhyati
“Transcending this manifest and unmanifest aspects of creation, (viz. the Atman and the Prakriti), there is yet another unmanifest eternal dimension. That realm does not cease even when all others do.”
(It is not as if there are three ‘unborn’ things that co-exist – eternally: the manifest ‘prakriti’ is but an aspect of the Supreme Being – the Brahman.
Sri Krishna speaks of a dimensional perspective of the manifest component (Prakriti) and the unmanifest whole – Brahman – in Chapter 10,. Verse 42 - thus:
atha vā bahunaitena kiṁ jñātena tavārjuna
viṣhṭabhyāham idaṁ kṛitsnam ekānśhena sthito jagat
“Simply know that by one fraction of My being, I pervade and support this entire creation.”
(Purport: That part of the Supreme Being that is unmanifest – (which the Purusha Sukta says is three-fourths of the Supreme Being) is not touched by the dissolution/creation cycle.)
Chapter 8, Verse 22
puruṣhaḥ sa paraḥ pārtha bhaktyā labhyas tvananyayā
yasyāntaḥ-sthāni bhūtāni yena sarvam idaṁ tatam
The Supreme Being is greater than all that exists. Although He is all-pervading and all living beings are situated in Him, yet He can be known only through devotion.
Chapter 10 Verse 8
ahaṁ sarvasya prabhavo mattaḥ sarvaṁ pravartate
iti matvā bhajante māṁ budhā bhāva-samanvitāḥ
I am the origin of all creation. Everything proceeds from Me. The wise who know this perfectly worship Me with great faith and devotion.
Chapter 13, Verse 13
jñeyaṁ yat tat pravakṣhyāmi yaj jñātvāmṛitam aśhnute
anādi mat-paraṁ brahma na sat tan nāsad uchyate
“I shall now reveal to you that which ought to be known, and by knowing which, one attains immortality. It is the beginningless Brahman, which lies beyond existence and
non-existence.”
(‘sat tan nAsad uchyate’ – resonates with the Nasadiya Sukta acclamation - )
Chapter 13, Verse 14
sarvataḥ pāṇi-pādaṁ tat sarvato ’kṣhi-śhiro-mukham
sarvataḥ śhrutimal loke sarvam āvṛitya tiṣhṭhati
Everywhere are His hands and feet, eyes, heads, and faces. His ears too are in all places, for He pervades everything in the universe.
(Resonates with ‘ Saharaksha Sahasra baath” as Purusha Suktam would acclaim)
Chapter 13, Verse 16
bahir antaśh cha bhūtānām acharaṁ charam eva cha
sūkṣhmatvāt tad avijñeyaṁ dūra-sthaṁ chāntike cha tat
He exists outside and inside all living beings, those that are moving and not moving. He is subtle, and hence, He is incomprehensible. He is very far, but He is also very near.
Chapter 13, Verse 17
avibhaktaṁ cha bhūteṣhu vibhaktam iva cha sthitam
bhūta-bhartṛi cha taj jñeyaṁ grasiṣhṇu prabhaviṣhṇu cha
He is indivisible, yet He appears to be divided amongst living beings. Know the Supreme Entity to be the Sustainer, Annihilator, and Creator of all beings.
Chapter 13, Verse 20
paras tasmāt tu bhāvo ’nyo ’vyakto ’vyaktāt sanātanaḥ
yaḥ sa sarveṣhu bhūteṣhu naśhyatsu na vinaśhyati
Transcendental to this manifest and unmanifest creation, there is yet another unmanifest eternal dimension. That realm does not cease even when all others do.
(Purport: That part of the Supreme Being that is unmanifest – (which the Purusha Sukta says is three-fourths of the Supreme Being) is not touched by the dissolution/creation cycle.)
Chapter 13, Verse 23
upadraṣhṭānumantā cha bhartā bhoktā maheśhvaraḥ
paramātmeti chāpy ukto dehe ’smin puruṣhaḥ paraḥ
Within the body also resides the Supreme Lord. He is said to be the Witness, the Permitter, the Supporter, Transcendental Enjoyer, the ultimate Controller, and the Paramātmā (Supreme Soul).
Sri Narayana Suktam (Rig Veda) affirms this repeated proclamation in the Gita – the Paramatma resides in the heat of every being:
… Padma kOsa pradeehaasa hridyam capyadhO mukham..
thasyanthE sushiram sookshmam, thasmin Sarvam prathistitham…
thasyaa Sikaayaa madhyE paramatma vyavastitah
(There are two vital statements here: a microcosmic replication of the whole universe is established in every heart – in a space narrower than the point of a needle; the Supreme Being, the Paramatma as He is heralded here, is established in every heart as well – in the midst of a divine flame. We find the second – the Supreme Being being established in every heart, repeatedly affirmed in the Gita – Chap.10 Verse 2)
Sri Krishna would affirm this in the Gita in several places .. e.g.
Chapter 10, verse 20
aham ātmā guḍākeśha sarva-bhūtāśhaya-sthitaḥ
I am seated in the heart of all living entities.
Chapter 13, verse 32
anāditvān nirguṇatvāt paramātmāyam avyayaḥ
śharīra-stho ’pi kaunteya na karoti na lipyate
The Supreme Soul is imperishable, without a beginning, and devoid of any (gunas) material qualities, although situated within the body, It neither acts, nor is It tainted by any acts of that being. (A divine sentinel?)
Chapter 18, verse 61
īśhvaraḥ sarva-bhūtānāṁ hṛid-deśhe ‘rjuna tiṣhṭhati
The Supreme Being dwells in the hearts of all living beings, O Arjuna.
Chapter 13, verse 33
yathā sarva-gataṁ saukṣhmyād ākāśhaṁ nopalipyate
sarvatrāvasthito dehe tathātmā nopalipyate
Even as space which holds everything in it, is not tarnished or contaminated by what it holds, likewise, though the Soul – its consciousness – pervades the body, the Soul is untouched and unaffected by the attributes of the body.
Chapter 14, Verse 27
brahmaṇo hi pratiṣhṭhāham amṛitasyāvyayasya cha
śhāśhvatasya cha dharmasya sukhasyaikāntikasya cha
The purport of this proclamation by Sri Bhagavan himself is:
- He, the Supreme Being, the Brahman, is immortal (amritasya) and immutable (avyayasya);
- He is the eternal dharma (shashvatasya cha dharmasya);
- He is limitless Bliss (sukhasya aikAntikasya cha)
This verse encapsulates the tenet – ‘sat, chit and anandam’. 1) that Brahman itself, is ‘sat’; 2) Eternal dharma, the cosmic code of the sentient universe, is ‘chit’. 3. As ‘chit’ contemplates on ‘sat’ and realizes It within, it is delivered unto ‘ananda’ eternal, limitless, bliss.
This verse is also a beautiful bridge between the three apparently diverse philosophical codes that considers Brahman, the Supreme Being and its impact on the sentient and insentient realms – the Advaita, the Dvaita and the Visishtadvaita. Dvaita posits that the Supreme Being, Sri Bhagavan, is distinct from the sentient beings (souls aka jivatmas) – the former independent, the latter dependent on the former. The Visishtadvaita also posits that the Paramatma – Sriman Narayana – is distinct from the sentient souls (jivas), but the latter could, on deliverance reach the Paramatma (retaining their distinction and distanced from the Paramatma – no union); the Advaita philosophy is based on the inseparable connection between the Brahman as the Supreme Energy, the cause of everything and everything else; in this faith, the souls, jivatmas, though apparently distinct while resident in the body, always retain their divinity as aspects of the Supreme Being; and on deliverance, these unite (merge) with the Supreme Being.
In the Dvaita philosophy, the ‘jivas’ – individual souls – could, and should, aspire to attain deliverance by focusing on ‘satvika’ deeds, bhakti and surrender to the Lord. But some could fail and these shall be condemned to the cycle of rebirths – and terms in the nether worlds as well. The Visishtadvaita philosophy on the other hand postulates the hope for every ‘jiva’ without exception that deliverance – Sri Vaikunta Prapti – is attainable. Nammazhwar, the tallest of Sri Vaishnava saints (Azhwars) proclaimed - வைகுந்தம் புகுவது* மண்ணவர் விதியே – It is the DESTINY of every human to attain ‘moksha’ i.e. reach Sri Vaikuntam – abode of Sriman Narayana. But they shall remain apart from the Supreme Being, in His celebration and adoration – i.e. communion is possible but union is ruled out. Advaita too does not specifically preclude any one from attaining ‘realisation’ – ‘moksha’ – deliverance from the cycle of births and union with the Almighty – but would insist that, at that point (‘moksha), the soul becomes merged with the Brahman.
“ESSENTAL GITA” – POST 4
- ON ‘PRAKRITI’(THIS UNIVERSE) – CREATION, EVOLUTION, DISSOLUTION AND REEMERGENCE
CREATION
Theories about the creation of this universe of ours (called in Hindu terms as ‘prakriti’ or ‘prapancham’) is largely a set of conjectures expressed in terms of befuddling postulates of astro-physics and cosmology – the result of centuries of incessant scientific quest and research. In religions, both Abrahamic and Indic too these find forms attuned to the human mind’s imagination, rather than assertions that could be corroborated with physical terms that the world knows now.
Human knowledge, perceptions, speculations and imaginations about this Universe are still evolving and are nowhere near an assertive affirmation – ‘this is it’.
Western thoughts began with a ‘geocentric’ perception of the Universe (with the Earth
as its centre), by the Greeks and some of the Indic philosophers. Centuries later, Copernicus and others elevated it to a ‘heliocentric’ perception, with the Sun as the centre of the Universe. Further cosmological thoughts over time led to the realization that the Sun was, after all, one of the several hundreds of billions of stars in the Milky Way – the mini-universe that we usually think is all that there is; but we are told that the Milky Way is but one of the hundreds of billions of galaxies that exist. ‘Exist’ here is to mean that they evolve without a moment’s relent, expanding mostly.
This currently evolved perception, which might change as time moves into the future, places us, earthlings, in a pathetically dismissive small conext!
But then, how – and when – and with what – did all this start? Was there ‘a creation’? Is this a ‘one-shot’ game? Is there an end to what we have with us right now? How shall it come? And is there a ‘next’ to that? And, most importantly, is there some entity – a power, an energy source, a ‘creator’ and a ‘director’ that keeps this awesome, mind-blowing celestial drama wonder going, as it seem to do?
These and similar thoughts engaged the elevated minds of seers and novices as well, through the world, through all of humanity; but we find those thoughts that have been delivered as perceptions, concepts, tenets, by the vedhic sages of India’s ancient past seem to be the closest to the currently-held ‘scientific’ thought which we have briefly noted above. Some, of course, seem to be imaginative and not connecting as well to the ‘scientific’ thought. We shall look at some of these – both western and Indic.
Biblical version of ‘Creation’:
GENESIS 1 - In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. … Then God goes on to create day, evening, night, morning, the seasons; separated the oceans and created land; created living beings. Then….Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground."
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground."
NORDIC (SCANDINAVIN – INDO-EUROPEAN):
In the beginning there is nothingness. Gradually this space fills with water, which freezes and then partially melts. From the drops of melting water a giant in human form emerges. This is Ymir. From his armpit a man and a woman appear - giants like himself, but capable of producing others by more conventional means.
Meanwhile a cow has licked the melting ice and has revealed another giant, from whom the god Odin (or Wotan) descends. Odin and his brothers kill the aged Ymir. Of his flesh they make the earth, of his skull the heavens, of his blood the sea, of his bones the mountains and of his hair the trees.
CHINA:
‘P'an Ku’ is hatched from a cosmic egg. Half the shell is above him as the sky, the other half below him as the earth. He grows taller each day for 18,000 yards, gradually pushing them apart until they reach their appointed places.
After all this effort, P'an Ku falls to pieces. His limbs become the mountains, his blood the rivers, his breath the wind and his voice the thunder. His two eyes are the sun and the moon. The parasites on his body are mankind.
INDIA – THE UPANISHADS
THE PURUSHA SUKTAM (RIG VEDHA)
(AS THE ‘PURUSHA’ OFFERED HIMSELF AS THE ‘HAVIS’ FOR THE UNIVERSAL FIRE RITUAL,)
Vasanto Asya-Asiida-Ajyam Griissma Idhmah Sharad-[d]Havih |
Spring was (created as) the clarified Butter (of that Yagna), Summer was (created as) the Fuel (of that Yagna), and Autumn was (created as) the Havis (Sacrificial offering of that Yagna).
Tam Yajnyam Barhissi Pra-Ukssan-Purussam Jaatam-Agratah |
The First Divine Men were created as the Holy Water sprinkled with the Kusa Grass in that Yagna (Sacrifice of Creation).
Tasmaad-Yajnyaat-Sarvahutah Sambhrtam Prssadaajyam |
Pashuun-Taashcakre Vaayavyaan-Aarannyaan Graamyaash-Ca Ye ||8||
From the Complete Offering of His (i.e. Virat's) Yagna (Sacrifice of Creation) was obtained Ghee mixed with coagulated Milk, ...
which (i.e. the Ghee and Milk) are (the created) Animals, both of Air (Birds) and of Forests (Wild Animals) and Villages (Domestic Animals).
asmaad-Yajnyaat-Sarvahuta Rcah Saamaani Jajnyire |
Chandaamsi Jajnyire Tasmaad-Yajus-Tasmaad-Ajaayata ||9||
From the Complete Offering of His (i.e. Virat's) Yagna (Sacrifice of Creation) was born the Rig Veda and Sama Veda, The Chandas (Vedic Meters) were born from Him, and the Yajur Veda was born from Him.
Tasmaad-Ashvaa Ajaayanta Ye Ke Co[a-U]bhayaadatah |
Gaavoh Ha Jajnyire Tasmaat Tasmaaj-Jaataa Ajaa-Vayah ||10||
From Him (i.e. Virat) was born the Horses, and all those animals who has teeth in both jaws,
From Him (i.e. Virat) was born the Cows, and from Him was born all types of Goats.
Candramaa Manaso Jaatash-Cakssoh Suuryo Ajaayata |
Mukhaad-Indrash-Ca-Agnish-Ca Praannaad-Vaayur-Ajaayata ||13||
The Moon was born from His Mind and the Sun was born from His Eyes,
Indra and Agni (Fire) were born from His Mouth, and Vayu (Wind) was born from His Breath.
Naabhyaa Aasiid-Antarikssam Shiirssnno Dyauh Samavartata |
Padbhyaam Bhuumir-Dishah Shrotraat-Tathaa Lokaa Akalpayan ||14||
His Navel became the Antariksha (the intermediate Space between Heaven and Earth), His Head sustained the Heaven,
From His Feet the Earth (was sustained), and from His Ears the Directions (were sustained); in this manner all the Worlds were (created and) sustained by Him.
TAITREEYA UPANISHAD
tasmādvā etasmādātmana ākāśaḥ saṃbhūtaḥ | ākāśādvāyuḥ |
vāayoragniḥ agnerāpaḥ adabhyaḥ pṛthivī pṛthivyā oṣadhayaḥ oṣadhībhyonnam annātpuruṣaḥ [Tait. Up. - 2.1]
From this (Supreme Being-Brahman) arose space(akasa); from space air, from air fire, from fire water, from water earth, from earth minerals, from minerals vegetation and from vegetation man.
Then having created everything, it entered into everything, and that single nondual Brahman became everything that there is:
tatsṛṣṭvā tadevānuprabiśat | tadanuprabiśya sacca tyaccābhabat | niruktaṃ cāniraktaṃ ca | nilayanaṃ cānilayanaṃ ca | vijñānaṃ cāvijñānaṃ ca | satyaṃ cānṛtaṃ ca | satyaṃbhabat yadidaṃ kinca | tatsatyamityācakṣate | [Tait. Up. - 2.6]
Having created it entered into it. Having entered it became manifest and unmanifest, defined and undefined, supported and unsupported, sentient and insentient, real and unreal. The Satyam (The Truth-Brahman) became all these that there is. Hence, That is called as Satyam (The Truth).
CHANDOGYA UPANISHAD
tadaikṣata bahu syāṃ prajāyeyeti tattejo'sṛjata tatteja aikṣata bahu syāṃ prajāyeyeti tadapo'sṛjata | tasmādyatra kvaca śocati svedate vā puruṣastejasa eva tadadhyāpo jāyante || 6.2.3
That Existence decided: ‘I shall be many. I shall be born.’ He then created fire. That fire also decided: ‘I shall be many. I shall be born.’ Then fire produced water. That is why whenever or wherever a person mourns or perspires, he produces water.
tā āpa aikṣanta bahvyaḥ syāma prajāyemahīti tā annamasṛjanta tasmādyatra kva ca varṣati tadeva bhūyiṣṭhamannaṃ bhavatyadbhya eva tadadhyannādyaṃ jāyate || 6.2.4 ||
|| iti dvitīyaḥ khaṇḍaḥ ||
Then water decided: ‘I shall be many; I shall be born.’ That water then created food. This is why whenever and wherever there is rain, at once food grows in great abundance. It is from water that food is produced.
seyaṃ devataikṣata hantāhamimāstisro devatā anena jīvenātmanānupraviśya nāmarūpe vyākaravāṇīti || 6.3.2 ||
[Existence] decided: ‘Entering into these three deities [fire, water, and earth], as the individual Atman, I shall manifest myself in many names and forms’.
BRIHADARANYAKA UPANISHAD
Brihadaranyaka Upanishad – 1.2.1 - naiveha kiṁcanāgra āsīt, mṛtyunaivedam āvṛtam āsīt, - at the beginning there was nothing; death (darkness) enveloped everything. Then He wills a Mind for Himself tanmano'kuruta, ātmanvī syāmiti – From that Cosmic mind and its ‘sankalpas’ creation happens. “Just as from a fire tiny sparks fly in all directions, even so from this Atman emanate all Pranas (organs), all worlds, all gods, and all the souls.”
AITERYA UPANISHAD - 1.1.1 –
atma va idameka evagra asit nanyat kincana misat
sa iksata lokan nu srija iti
Before creation of the universe, everything was situated within the Supreme Being (Brahman), everything was contained within Him, nothing was at that time distinct (from Him). The jivas (individual souls, tatastha sakti) and even the energy operates this Universe was still within Him. That Lord then willed to manifest all the worlds through Him (mahi dasa aitareya).
sa imamllokan-asrijata
ambho maricirmaramapah
ado-ambhah parena divam
dyauh pratistha-anttariksam maricayah
prithivi maro ya adhastatta apah
He then created all these worlds. ….
sa iksareme u loka
lokapalan nu arija iti
so ‘dbhya eva purusam samuddhrtyamurcchayat
After contemplating the world He had created, He then decided to fill the worlds. From that waters in which He was lying in, He made the Hiranmaya Purusha.
The Upanishad proceeds to narrate the process of further downline creation by that Supreme Being. Noteworthy is the use of the word EGG in the Upanishad - yathandam mukhadyak.
THE BIG BANG THEORY OF CREATION:
The (view about the) universe of 100 years ago was simple: eternal, unchanging, consisting of a single galaxy, containing a few million visible stars. The picture today is more complete and much richer. The cosmos is believed to have begun 13.7 billion years ago with what is euphemistically called ‘the big bang’. A fraction of a second after the beginning, the universe was a hot, formless soup of the most elementary particles, quarks and leptons. As it expanded and cooled, layer on layer of structure developed: neutrons and protons, atomic nuclei, atoms, stars, galaxies, clusters of galaxies, and finally superclusters. The observable part of the universe is now inhabited by 100 billion galaxies, each containing 100 billion stars and probably a similar number of planets. Galaxies themselves are held together by the gravity of the mysterious dark matter. The universe continues to expand and indeed does so at an accelerating pace, driven by dark energy, an even more mysterious form of energy whose gravitational force repels rather than attracts.
Although the ultimate origin of the universe still lies beyond our grasp, we have tantalizing conjectures, including the notion of the multiverse, whereby the universe comprises an infinite number of disconnected subuniverses.
Edwin Hubble showed, using his 100 inch telescope, that there were innumerable galaxies just like our own—thereby enlarging the known universe by 100 billion. A few years later he showed that galaxies are moving apart from one another in a regular pattern described by a mathematical relation now known as Hubble's law, according to which galaxies that are farther away are moving faster. It is Hubble's law, played in rewind in time, that points to a big bang 13.7 billion years ago.
Computer simulations say that those stars and galaxies emerged when the universe was about 100 million years old. Before then, the universe went through a time called the “dark ages,” when it was almost pitch-black. Space was filled with a featureless gruel, five parts dark matter and one part hydrogen and helium, that thinned out as the universe expanded.
(Resonates with -
- the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad’s exclamation - naiveha kiṁcanāgra āsīt, mṛtyunaivedam āvṛtam āsīt, - at the beginning there was nothing; death (darkness) enveloped everything.
- The Hebrew phrase ‘tohu wa bohu’ used in the Geneses 1 in the Old Testament, means a formless waste. This formless waste can be understood in terms of lack of purpose and therefore considered as nonexistent. )
- Nammazhwar, in his Tiruvaimozhi, hails the Supreme Being as – ‘an all surrounding, rising, plumbing and enveloping – WASTE! - சூழ்ந்து அகன்று ஆழ்ந்து உயர்ந்த முடிவில் பெரும் பாழேயோ
As mortal human minds could project and imagine an object only with reference to its use to life on this planet, it chose a nomenclature for this divine, endless energy that meant ‘useless’ – useless for life here. The Purusha Suktham, though, uses the term ‘Amrtm’ – meaning without an end. )
Even now the universe is expanding, and to astronomers' surprise, the pace of expansion is accelerating. It's thought that this acceleration is driven by a force that repels gravity called dark energy. We still don't know what dark energy is, but it’s thought that it makes up 68 percent of the universe's total matter and energy. Dark matter makes up another 27 percent. In essence, all the matter you've ever seen—from your first love to the stars overhead—makes up less than five percent of the universe.
We, as an infinitesimal fraction of the perceivable Universe of ours and that Universe itself, representing just a pathetic five percent of all (energy – call it dark or whatever, but definitely divine in the sense it is not made by anyone - representing the infinite rest.) This is what a NASA report says about this inscrutable divine force – ‘dark energy’:
“Cosmologists believe about 70 percent of the universe consists of dark energy, 25 percent is dark matter, and only four percent normal matter (the stuff that stars, planets and people are made of).
I really wonder if the percentage affixed to it makes any sense at all since it has to be infinity. Why?
We are told that the Universe (the major one made of billions of galaxies and not just our Milky Way) is expanding – expanding rapidly. It is expanding into what? What is energizing that expansion? Let us recall here, what Sri Purusha Suktham asserts (cited above):
Paado-Asya Vishvaa Bhuutaani Tri-Paad-Asya-Amrtam Divi ||3||
His One Part (fraction?) manifests as all these (visible) Worlds, and His Three (remaining) Parts transcends and surrounds everywhere infinitely, endlessly.
Tri-Paad-Uurdhva Udait-Puurussah Paado-Asye[a-I]ha-Abhavat-Punah
That remaining of Him transcending everywhere without bounds, His One Part (fraction) manifests as this Creation, appearing, evolving, dissolving and reappearing repeatedly.
We are looking at all these elevated thought projections about ‘creation’ to see if there was any convergence or commonality in these thought processes. We could find three features that converge –
- There was nothing that ‘existed’ before the ‘creation’.
- Water was amongst the first things that were created.
- The ‘pre-creation’ context is allegorized with an EGG.
What modern cosmology and Astro-physics could speculate, make a plausible conjecture, after hundreds of years of global research by the sharpest scientific minds and laboratories endowed with awe-inspiring equipment like the Hubble Telescope, these vedhic lines resonate, so very effortlessly and so precisely!
And even a rank nihilist philosopher like Friedrich Nietsche would hypothesize - “Thus Spoke Zarthustra”). He came up with a hypothesis – ‘Eternal Return’ which posits ‘the universe has been recurring, and will continue to recur, for an infinite number of times across infinite time or space.’
Now, taking up the other major convergence in the ancient as well modern perceptions about the ‘creation’ – that there existed NOTHING, before the creation:
We found, while discussing the term ‘Creator’, we had problems with what ‘creation’ really would denote. Creating required two pre-requisites: one, some base material to create with; two an entity (person) that would create. E.g. A table is ‘created’ out of wood, wood being the base material. And we need a carpenter to make the table out of wood. But we are discussing a spiritual philosophy that has as its foundation the irrefutable principle that there is but one God, aka Supreme Being and that includes everything – the base material, the the created, the creator, everything. Otherwise, we get irretrievably entangled in a ‘chicken – egg’ issue – who created the wood, who created the creator, so on endlessly.
Therefore, let us try to understand the term ‘Creation’ as a process, as a point in time, when what had remained unmanifest till then, becomes manifest – due to the will/resolution/tapasya/cosmic thought – what have you.
Is Creation a One Shot affair?
And, we shall also understand that this process does not have a particular beginning nor an end – it is an endless, infinite, process – the Sruti Vaakya is recalled – ‘Bhavath Punah’ – (Sri Purusha Suktam, Rig Veda).
Modern science has been at this seemingly hopeless task of ascertaining with reasonable, acceptable, credible accuracy the origin of this Universe of ours, its longevity and the manner of its demise; and, whether all of this is a one-shot wonder or there was something before the Universe came into being and if there would be something remaining when it comes to its end.
tripAd Urdhva udait purusha: | pAdo 'syehAbhavatpuna:
Simple translation: All this perceivable Universe is but a fraction of Him (the Purusha). The rest of Him stands endlessly as infinity. That fraction of Him is what manifests (as this perceivable Universe), repeatedly.
Even the Holy Qoran asserts that this Universe is created - repeatedly:
Allah begins creation; then He will repeat it."(Rum:11)
Have they not considered how Allah begins creation and repeats it."(Al Ankabut:19)
We found – in this Chapter - that even a nihilist philosopher like Friedrich Nietzsche had come up with the hypothesis - ‘Eternal Return’ which posits ‘the universe has been recurring, and will continue to recur, for an infinite number of times across infinite time or space.’
Even as individual souls are destined to transmigrate – being born, to grow, develop, age, and die and being born again, this Universe is set to be born, grow, develop, age and dissolve and be created again – as ‘padOsyEha bhavat punah’ Sri Purusha Suktam – Rig Vedha – would acclaim.
Verse 20
prakṛitiṁ puruṣhaṁ chaiva Viddhi anādī ubhāv api
vikārānśh cha guṇānśh chaiva viddhi prakṛiti-sambhavān
Know that prakṛiti (material universe) and puruṣh (the individual souls) are both beginningless. Also know that all transformations of the body and the three gunas are produced by (the elements and forces in) the material universe.
The inter-connect, nay the irrefutable relationship – between the gross bodies of beings and the elements, energies, and forces of the apparently external material universe, is established in this verse.
Here, in this verse, Sri Krishna acclaims that both the material realm ‘prakriti’ as well as the individual souls ‘jivatma’s’ are beginningless - like Him. The Visishtadvaita Siddhanta is based on this very premise. But, the Supreme Being is One – without a second, isn’t He? Do we then have three perpetual entities? If so, what is the hierarchical relationship between these three? All these doubts arise. Sri Krishna resolves this debate by acclaiming that these two, though ‘beginningless’ like Him, are but a fractional part of Himself – see Verse 42, Chapter 10 –
atha vā bahunaitena kiṁ jñātena tavārjuna; viṣhṭabhyāham idaṁ kṛitsnam ekānśhena sthito jagat – .
What need is there for all this detailed knowledge, O Arjuna? Simply know that by one fraction of My being, I pervade and support this entire creation.
We also saw that the Taitreeya Upanishad (a ‘Sruti Vaakya), avers that everything (including these two) emanated from the Supreme Being.
ANCIENT MEASURES OF TIME
Chapter 13, Verse 17
sahasra-yuga-paryantam ahar yad brahmaṇo viduḥ
rātriṁ yuga-sahasrāntāṁ te ’ho-rātra-vido janāḥ
Purport: One day of Brahma (kalp) lasts a thousand cycles of the four ages (mahā yugam) and his night also extends for the same span of time. The wise who know this understand the reality about day and night.
The Cosmic measures of time come into the reckoning here – ‘yuga’ ‘manvantaras’ and ‘kalpas’ besides Brahma’s life are implicit in this discussion.
Among the amazingly developed sciences of the ancient Hindu civilization is Cosmology and Astronomy. Carl S. Sagan, the American Astrophysicist and Cosmologist, in his celebrated book ‘Cosmos’, says: “Hinduism is the only religion in which the time scales correspond... to those of modern scientific cosmology. Its cycles run from our ordinary day and night to a day and night of the Brahma, 8.64 billion years long, longer than the age of the Earth or the Sun and about half the time since the Big Bang" To pick just one example, ‘Surya Siddhanta’ an astronomical treatise in Sanskrit dated around 4th century CE (probably preceding the more famous Arya Bhatta by about 100 years), accurately documents the time taken by each of the solar planets for their own respective solar year. Just picking one – Mars – The Surya Siddhanta calculation was 686 days, 23 hours, 56 mins, 23.5 secs; the modern day (20th Century) calculation is 686 days, 23 hours, 30 mins, 41.4 secs.
Even today, equipped with that very ancient scientific tools, Indian pundits produce solar calendars of immaculate precision – not just the time of sunrise, sunrise, solstice, but every eclipse, their extent and duration, the forecast of rainfall – both volume and distribution, even the advent of comets.
Getting back to the cosmic measure of time that Sri Krishna brings up in Chapter 13, Verse 17, the Indian system
The Indian cosmic time system is built around an apparently incomprehensible logic in allocating different number of solar years to each of the four compartments – yugas – of this planet’s evolution. The first yuga – the Satya Yuga or Krita Yuga has 1,728,000 years; the second, Treta Yuga (when Ramayana happened) has 1,296,000 years; the third , Dwapara yuga (that claimed the Mahabharata and the Bhagavad Gita) has 864,000 years; and the Kali Yuga, in which we are privileged to live, has the least longevity of the four has 432,000 years. We find that each yuga is separated by an age difference of 432,000 years. What made our ancients think of this differential allocation? One logical explanation – in material, physical terms – is that the age of the yuga was proportional to the density of beings on the planet and the resources utilization. Puranas would tell us that the longevity of humans in the different yugas also kept declining alongside the longevity of the yugas themselves.
One Maha Yuga (of these four yugas) is thus of 4,320,000 years. One thousand of such Maha Yugas 4,320,000,000 (4.32 billion years) comprise one day of Brahma (the ‘creator’). sahasra-yuga-paryantam ahar yad brahmaṇo viduḥ. Another such kalpa represents a night in Brahma’s life. rātriṁ yuga-sahasrāntāṁ te ’ho-rātra-vido janāḥ
And, Brahma shall live for one hundred years The equation thus is 4.32 billion x 2 x 360 x 100 = 311 trillion 40 billion (311,040,000,000,000)!
We are currently about half-way into the First Maha Kalpa – Sveta Varaja Kalpa – 7th of the 14 Manuvantaras – Vaivasvatha Manvantara – 28th Chatur Yuga (out of the 71 four-yuga cycles of each Kalpa .
(Modern science places the age of the present universe at 13.8 billion years (this is, at best, a conjecture as there is as yet no known measures of corroboration available.)
(This longish divergent detour is just to underscore that the Hindu scriptural terms, when it comes to sciences like astronomy, are not mere mythology; these stack up so well with modern-day versions of those sciences.)
Concluding, we could settle for the proposition that at given time spaces, this Universe and all its beings manifest from the unmanifest and much greater (Supreme Being) Infinite Energy; it evolves over the given time space; and it dissolves and merges into that very same greater (Supreme Being) Infinite Energy, to hibernate for a given time space and re-emerge