Saturday 9 May 2015

Vedantic Cosmology

  One must be wondering how this universe has come into existence! It is as simple as something like one wishes to build a house and lo, there is the dream house! But, this is possible only for the supreme Lord who is Shree (resourceful) and there is not yet any obstacle like space, time and causation constraints But, this is not the case with mortals who have to struggle hard to get a morsel of food and a shelter. The Lord desires and His desire is the manifest forms of His Self. since everything here is just the manifest brahman such miracles are possible when He bestows His grace, It is possible for the devout ones also to get the dream house! His desire is the universe. This has been stated in Rk Veda as "He Willed" He said unto Him slef "I am alone, I shall be many". Eko'ham bahusyam |  Thus, this 'make believe-world' (maya prapancha) of ours is manifest form of His desire, His will, His shadow and reflections, His resolves,and images.
 The supreme Lord is called 'bruhat'. He is brahman. He is Space, Akasha / ether or "The One who holds everything and enters into it". tad srushtva tat eveanupravishat ||
 "Space / Akasha is required to accommodate anything and it is HE who hold everything in Himself". This projection of His divine Self in everything is manifest brahman. Thus brahman the invisible spirit manifests as Light (jyoti), Force (Shakti), Life-force (prana) chit shakti (Consciousness), manas (Mind), Thought-forces (chitta vrutti), bhavana ort ones feeling, etc. 
 The creative power (kriya shakti) is vikshepa shakti (vikshipta manas/ vikara) presents itself as the avidya/ prakruti/ ajnyana/ nescience/ illusion and vibrates as tamas shakti which when ignited with desire becomes rajas and cooled with realization becomes sattva. The order of manifestation of brahman is stated to be:This is what the jnyanis/sankhyans call prakruti (maya/ajnyana) that manifests from purusha (jnyan). With pure consciousness (Shree Hari chitta) as the basis and with the associated  nescience /ajnyana) predominating in tamas there comes the illusory Space (akasha) that is nothing but hold everything! From this 'nothingness', seen as blank space there appear vayu, agni, jala and prithvi, as if each one coming out of the other! Behind these gross objects lie the subtler and subtler states of each one of these Great Five elements (mahabhuta) called tanmatras, the essence of the elements, manifest qualities. Everything is thus vibration of chit or consciousness of brahman. prajnyanan brahma |
 There arise the need for instruments to experience the tanmatras such as, sound from akasha, feel or touch (sparsha) from air, form (rupa) from light/fire, taste (rasa) from water, and the smell (gandha) from earth (soil) and the resultant cognitive and conative manifest as the ten sense organs (jnyan and karma indriya). Thus, the gross forms are created including the humans. 
  The most intriguing part of this story of evolution is that, "brahman pervades everything as consciousness, chit, and everything that is brahman, such as akash, manas, buddhi, ahankara, chitta, agni, vayu, jal, soil (physical elements), energy, etc. also pervade every other thing". Thus, man is said to be a replica of God. This is explicitly stated  in Veda as: sarvam khaluvidam brahma | ayam atma brahma | aham brahmasmi |
   The human body is created by the spermatozoa (sperm in the egg), essentially made up of food (derived from earth/soil) and water (70%). It is surrounded by the gross aspects, as well as, the subtle aspects such as heat, air, and space. Manas, buddhi and ahankara run the affairs of this elemental body. The jiva is just a puppet in the hands of 'divine will'. There are many subtler aspects that govern the life of a person and these are attributed to karma (results of past karma) or adrushtha (luck) or fate and destiny for want of clear knowledge of the nature of this universe.
   Whatever is outside in akash is also there within the human body, as well. If the gross aspects of the body are removed the inner and the outre become one! This prompted the sages to say: "so'ham" or 'I Am That'. aham brahmasmi |
  Now, as regards the various other theories of origin of the universe, both in modern science and puranas, there is nothing different except for the language, symbolism and the methods of presentation, There are almost twenty theories and hypotheses in modern science and as many in the vedic and puranic presentations. Everything comes down to one simple fact- the vibration and waves of energy, and force.
    If 'A' is Brahman and 'ka' (anu / ion) is Atman in Vedic parlance, it is Zero (bindu, point on the periphery as well as the centre of a Circle (O) in Srividya. It is the same in in Rk Veda. Everything is pervaded by the creative energy, forces operating in the vast space called Vedic Gods like Indra, agni, varuna, maruta, rudra, mitra and vishve devas. These are presented later in puranas as different dramatic personae of the cosmic drama..      

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