The Concept of God

     The Vedanta Sutra of Badarayana (2^nd aphorism) defines God as ‘the One from whom the origination etc. of the universe proceeds’. In other words, ‘Brahman’ is the father from whom the universe has sprung, by whom it is sustained and dissolved’. God is the cause of the causes, the universal cause. Every act, event, or occurrence has a volition as its prompter, a will-force giving the initial impulse. It just cannot be ‘law of nature’ a non-intelligent principle, ultimate cause cause, according to Shri Madhvacharya. He is the Supreme Inteligence. Karma, illusion, aberration, time, attributes or gunas, or matter cannot be the cause, for they are non-intelligent and incapable of volition. A volition proceeding from chit-intelligence is the source of every movement, of every action, of every vibration. God is the universal cause; God is the will-force that accounts for the worlds from the infinitesimal vibration of the molecules for the thrilling march of the starry galaxy in orbits immeasurable. The Samkhyan, who admit God as the ‘Supreme Being’, make Him (the Lord) an appendage of Prakruti.

    God pervades through every conceivable atom of the universe, occupies every point of space, ever engaged in creation, Preservation, destruction, and, all the rest. This is known as the ‘immanence of God’ in the universe. Wordsworth, Carlyle and many others hold to this view. There is a similar view. “Not a blade of grass waves without Him and all is governed by His volition,, icCha, and is permeated by it. He is present nearer than the nearest, directing everything. This is the concept of ‘omnipresence of God’ defined in Vedanta.

   In Bhagavad Gita, Lord Shri Krishna says, ‘I am the indwelling soul residing within the heart of every creature. I pervade the earth and everything born, and sustain it by my power’.

    Shrutis, the Upanishads declare: ‘He is the hearer, thinker, ordainer, announcer, knower in detail, the inner guide of all beings’.

  Vishnu, the all-pervading supreme reality, is the ‘One without a second’. Cardinal Newman defines God ‘as absolutely self-dependent ‘Being’ and the only ‘Being’ as such’.

   There is a beautiful explanation in Kenopanishad that makes very clear the entire concept of what is God and what is not God. The disciple puts the questions: ‘Who impels the mind to alight on its object? Enjoined by whom does the vital force proceed to function? At whose behest do men utter speech? What Intelligence, indeed, directs the eyes and the ears?  The common sense view that sense faculties, mind and the life force- either each in itself or as a psychophysical combination centering round the body -  are in themselves the ultimate factors in personality. However, there is the suspicion that there is in us something deeper than these- an unrestricted Intelligence that ultimately guides all our mental and physical faculties.

    The answer given to these questions are to be understood carefully.

“It is the Atman, the spirit, by whose power the ear hears, the tongue speaks, the mind understands and life functions. The wise man separates the Atman from these faculties, rises out of sense-life, and attains immortality”. By themselves, these senses are inert. The Atman is the sole intelligent principle in man. By its presence behind our various organs, It enables them to fulfil their respective functions. But not knowing this fact, ignorant man mistakes the senses, mind, etc. to be really intelligent, and, therefore identifies the Atman with them. The wise man, on the other hand, overcomes this identification, realizes his spiritual nature and hence attains immortality. The Atman is beyond the ken (why) of the senses and the mind, It being the source of the intelligence. It cannot be known as other things of the world, i.e., in an objective sense. “One who syas he knows It, does not know It”. It cannot be explained by words like other objects. “It is not this, anything, that the people worship here”.

  It should be very clearly understood that the ‘Atman’ is the ‘Spirit within’ man. It is the source of all faculties of personality; and, it is this Spirit that governs all activities of man. The ‘Atman’ stands for the ‘Spirit within man’ and the ‘Brahman’ stands for the ‘Spirit behind the universe’. To establish unity between the two is ‘to know’ the Reality, ‘the Sat’. This ‘knowing’ is a continuous process and it never ends. “It is knowable but never known”. Thus, the ultimate reality of the creation of this cosmic world, the Universe, is beyond the province of mind and language. 

  There is the ‘Devatmashakti’ that guides the life and activities of all human beings. Here, ‘Deva’ means God  (of religion) and ‘atma’ means the self (of philosophy), and ‘shakti’ means the energy (of science). It also means the self-conscious power, which is inherent in all jeevas, and Deva meaning, the self-luminous.

   ‘Devatmashakti’ also means the source of knowledge, emotions, and will  - the three aspects of the mind. ‘Deva’ stands for knowledge, ‘atma’ for the emotions, and ‘shakti’ for the will. One who puts his heart and soul into all his actions will no doubt achieve all success in his endeavour.

         An ignorant man is usually concerned only with himself and the world. To him, God, the third entity, does not exist. The intelligent man soon finds out, however, that there is some unknown power behind the Universe, which is guiding his destiny. The first part of spiritual practice, therefore, is to realize the existence of this power on which both he and the world depends. At first, this realization is only intellectual.

       The idea of God comes early in the life of individuals. However, with the maturity of intellectual power comes, the real search as to the fundamental character of this power. Sadhana first begins with a separation of God from the Universe, as a being with qualities entirely different from the individual and the world. Subsequently, with the analysis of the individual and the world psychologically and scientifically, the various systems of philosophy come into being. Each system represents a stage in the progress of thought and sadhana. In the final stage of realization in the depths of samadhi, the world and the individual soul, as we know them, vanish entirely and God alone remains. The individual soul gradually acquires all the fundamental characteristics of the world, the world consisting of all dualities such as: gross and the subtle, spirit and the matter, cause and effect. The realization of oneness of Jeeva and Brahman is referred to as ‘Divine Grace’. It also means, that Lord’s Grace is required for the realization of identity. One must understand that the Grace of God is bestowed on a person only after he has reached the limits of self-effort.

       Matter is perishable but God is imperishable and immortal. God rules over all the perishable matters, and the individual souls, too. By meditating upon Him, by uniting with Him in thought, and by becoming one with him, there is cessation of all illusion in the end. With the knowledge of God all fetters fall off; with the waning of ignorance, birth and death cease. Going beyond consciousness of the body by meditating upon Him, one reaches the stage of Universal Lordship, become one without a second-  fulfillment of all desires and attaining Universal Lordship.

         Even those who seek salvation or ‘mukti’ and want to become one with Him should realize that they are aspiring for something what they do not know. To become one with God is just impossible according to Sri Madhwacharya, who is the incarnation of Hanuman and Bhima of the previous Treta and Dwapara Yugas, respectively. Shankara’s commentary on Upanishad lays stress on the great principle, ‘Mahat Tattva’-‘Tat tvam asi’. The great Sage Aruni imparted this Principle to his pupil Svetaketu; Aruni asks Svetaketu to discover this Truth for himself by spiritual practice. But, this has not been properly understood and it is widely believed that God is none else but the One who dwells in oneself. In order to realize this, one has to become God, rather should acquire divine qualities and behave as God Himself dispelling all tamasic and rajasic gunas, and even transcend the Sattvic guna. One should get rid of ari-shadvargas such as desire (kama), anger (krodha), greed (lobha), selfishness (moha), ego (mada), jealousy ( matsarya) and become totally benevolent. One must become pure in mind, heart and soul and attain choiceless awareness,‘poorna prajnya’ state, a state of Supreme Consciousness. This is a tall order for one who comes within the grip of the samsara, bondage and attachment to this earth. Hence,‘God Realization’ is a remote possibility according to Shri Madhwacharya.  He says, “To him, let alone merge with him, even visioning Him is a remote possibility”.

   There are four kinds of ‘mukti’ and there is no equality in bliss among jeevas and that there are degrees of enjoyment graduated and allotted according to the devotee’s worth.

 These four kinds of ‘Bliss’ are: 1.Salokya, 2. Samipya, 3. Sarupya, and 4.Sayujya. God being at the top of everything, He is absolutely an unattainable Perfection of Bliss. The released souls are not absorbed into the Brahman in the sense of attaining identity with the Supreme Being. It is believed that the released souls dwell in Vaikuntha (Salokya of Shriman Narayana) and enjoys bliss in the Divine Presence and Fellowship. This is ‘mukti’ gained after attaining samadhi in Transcendental meditation  turiya avastha in ‘samadhi’ of the great sadhaka.

    It is a fundamental theory in respect to the soul that whatever appertains to it, is an uncreated entity. The capacity of the Jeeva, its aptitudes and tendencies, its joys and sorrows, are the permanent attributes of the soul, undifferentiated from its essence. Hence, the bliss felt in ‘moksha’ is something not created and bestowed on the Mukta, but something which had all along remained latent and inherent in him and which, by the Grace and blessing of God became patent after redemption. It is the soul’s essence that becomes unfolded and the manifest, the obstructions and impediments having been removed by God. Hence, redemption is self-realization, the bliss attained by a mere blossoming of the soul’s essential nature, that too, by the Grace of the Lord.

  As regards erecting temples for Gods and performing puja etc. Pancharatra clearly defines the modus operandi. Pancharatra is all about the science and technology, Shastra, about the details of Plan, construction, installation an d consecration according to Vedic rites idols and methods of worship, etc. It is the archa avatara, the mode of worship of idols with description as stated in the Shastra - having four hands holding conch (shanka symbolic of shabda from which creation starts), Sudarshana chakra -symbolic of Time, mace (gada) and Lotus (padma), or hand postures (mudra) of vara and abhaya, or astra or ayuddha (arms like ankusha, pasha, mace, etc.) symbolic presentation of tools to punish the wicked.   

   All these are prescribed for the beginners who need something to concentrate on during meditation. This involves devotion of the highest order. Later on the devotees need not use these outward worship and, as well, take to concentrate on images within the mind and chant the names. Chakra dhyana, bijakshara dhyana, kundalini etc are advised for advanced upasakas. In all these, the devotees seek liberation, emancipation, mukti, moksha and supreme bliss. The embodied souls seek redemption from rebirths on this earth, considered the mrutyu loka, where old age, sickness and death are a certainty.