What is Life?
‘Life’
as ‘energy’ is a ‘force’, that goes to make the living beings live and
work. It is extremely difficult to
know and understand what this ‘life-force’
is and where it begins and where it ends. ‘Life’,
is called a ‘Life-force’ (prana), found
in all the five elements (pancha
mahabhuta- akash, vayu, agni, jal and
pruthvi). It is always there and it has no beginning or an end! It exists
as ‘energy’ (€) everywhere in an invisible form. It has the ability to enter
and exit anything and thereby, create or destroy a living-being! Thus, any
living being is classified as a ‘moving’ or ‘non-moving’ object like a plant,
fish, bird, or animal, that can grow and propagate or reproduce. Behind these
lie the inorganic substances supporting soil, minerals and compounds, water and
other materials. Thus, it is clear that a living being is a mass of substances
supported by life force, ‘prana’. All
living beings are subject to decay or death. There are billions of species of
living beings and the human species alone accounts for almost a 830 million!
The animals, birds, and small insects are of varied forms and functions. It is
still not clear whether there exists life-forms of this kind in any other
planet other than ours, called the ‘living and pulsating earth’. The tiniest
form of a life-form is a microbe, of the type of an unicellular amoeba. Much
research is in progress in the study of ‘cell’ and its structure (like ribose,
DNA) and we know very little about the tiniest organisms that may exist in deep
forests! The true nature of life is thus ever eluding! This is elaborated later
in the text here.
The
search for a common universal ancestor is still on and what all we know so far
may be summed up here as follows:
May be, there existed a single nuclear
particle, an entity that qualifies for a living entity, existed 3.5 billion
years ago when the earth was too hot and was undergoing cooling. This may be a
kingdom of microbes from which evolved three prominent types of living entities
such as: the bacteria, the archeans, and the eukaryotes. Deducing from what is
known to the depth of the unknown, the effort is to trace the starting point
and the archetype. The different environments and ecosystems pose a challenge
here and it is difficult to arrive at an agreeable conclusion. It ends up in
probabilities. However, it is now possible to trace the ancestors of the
present day living creatures with the help of the genes decoded from the amino
acids – ribosomal RNA and the DNA chain. The DNA letters- A, T, G, C, are an indication
to this! Each letter of this signifies the clan and may take us to the
primordial one. Hence, the earliest life-form to appear on earth is yet to be
traced! However, it may be presumed that the earliest creature must be the
tiniest that can survive enormous heat, that of volcanic magnitude. It is also
predicted that the life-form adapted to extreme heat is dated back to million
years after the earth gradually cooled from its gaseous and molten state. It is
almost an invisible unicellular microbe that evolved later into bacteria, archeans
and eukaryotes. Which constitute the universal ancestors. All that exists as
different forms of life such as insects, birds, and aquatic, amphibian,
arboreal, and land animals belong to these three. Archaic one, may be a sort of
weird one, is believed to be the earliest! The DNA studies have facilitated an
easy way of learning about life-forms. The first full DNA, or genome, of a
bacterium has been decoded. One of the four letters of the DNA chain– A T C G,
of the links of the chain, must be holding a secret. Most probably, we assume, the
letter A of the DNA chain holds the key.
This, we infer from our Vedic knowledge
that ‘brahmn’ initially holds everything that manifests later as powers that
can create any and every diverse objective phenomenal world! Here, the same DNA chain that contains the
four links or ladders- A G C T are full of knowledge, intelligence, creative
power and energy, as well as, creative skill. These may be interpreted as- ‘A’
as brahmn, ‘G’ as Gods of different
powers/shakti, ‘C’ as Consciousness, cit, and ‘T’ as Time. The Ribosomes (RNA)
get these from DNA as genetic code and converts it into a function (deciphering
the genetic code) in the cells that form the amino acids (that shapes the
organs, also hold the key).
However, it may be safely concluded that
the very ‘concept of life’ is yet to be understood properly. As and when
compared to the materialistic way dealing with the scientific methods, the spiritual
path taking recourse to yoga with the assistance of an attained soul and attain
samadhi to visualize the truth seems to be far more reliable.
‘Who am I’?
Before answering this significant spiritual
question, it is important to note what Bhagavan Sri Krishna says about the
three constituents of the human being (jiva)-
the adhibhoutika, adhidaivika and the
Adhyatmika. The human body has four
main components- physical body (sthula
sharira), the mind (manas),
nervous system (nara-nadi),
and the soul (Atman).
The nervous system consists of an extensive network of nerves and neurons,
although included in the physical body as a gross entity such as the alimentary
canal or the food pipe, the wind pipes, blood veins, and smaller and smaller
veins that constitute the subtlest of subtle aspects of the jiva that carries
signals like sentiments, emotion, pain, pleasure, love, compassion, and many
other invisible forces!
The
outer material body or the earthen shell is made of soil and water, rather
food, and support the tissues, organs and the body that comprise of small
invisible cells numbering about several trillions! As a matter of fact, the jiva is a gross body (sthula / adhibhuta) made up of the five
elements- (a) pruthvi /earth/soil and
minerals (food), (b) jal- water, (c) agni-fire, (d) vayu/air, and (akasha) space.
The second one is the Mind (manas / adhidaiva); it is both gross and subtle according to its changing
states- mind and mood (chitta). Mind
and mood play a very dominant role in the life of the jiva.
The
third one is the subtle causal spiritual entity (karana sharira / adhyatma) which normally does not play active
role, unless activated by the Mind (manas)
and the Intellect (buddhi). This the
subtler aspect of the jiva. It is a complex system of nerves and neurons that
carry all that is subtler and vital to the very survival of the jiva. These are
partly visible and partly invisible carrying currents of sensation, life-force,
thoughts and feelings, emotions, and, as such, very little understood by the
jiva. The entire body is a network of these nerves and neurons numbering 36 000
on each side of the body totaling 72 000. One central nerve only branches out
into a hundred, which in turn each one into a hundred and thereby cover the
entire body. These nerves and neurons play a very significant role in the life
of the jiva conveying the life-forces, emotions, signals and enable the organs
to function. Of these four major constituents of the jiva, the outer physical
body depends on food, water, and air. It is controlled by the Mind that
interacts with and through the physical instrument of brain located in the
head. The Mind, however, is greatly influenced by food, drinks, and the objects
of the world including the waves and tides! However, the soul remains a mere
spectator, unless called for with the help of yoga with the help of a learned
spiritual teacher.
The fourth component is the Soul, Atman, the core of the jiva. The
living being, jivatman, is a noble
aspect of creation. It is the invisible essential part of the entire system! In
fact, it has all the knowledge, information and technology, ability to create
and transform whatever it needs! This is the divine aspect of creation, may be,
the Creator only! There is nothing besides this in all the universe and entire
universe is the manifest forms of this invisible powerful divine entity!
What is mysterious about the jiva, as a living entity, is the system of
living cells- pindanda. This unique biological phenomenon is a conglomerate
of a very complex system of intelligent cells (andanda)! These cells, almost invisible to our naked eyes, perform
wonders! Each biological cell (jiva kosha)
is equipped with Consciousness (chit),
knowledge and intelligence (jnyan and
buddhi), and an immense capacity to
function in multifarious ways, such as, understanding, considering, discerning,
disseminating, connecting, coordinating, conducting and conveying (without
itself moving!), diligently organizing, dividing and destroying, etc. These
cells, initially, one single entity consisting of amino acids, ribosomes, di
oxy ribonucleic acids (DNA), enzymes, vitamins, genes, Harmons, chromosomes,
and a host of other invisible forces and power that can execute the signals
such as desires (ichha), dreams,
imaginations, and the like of the jiva!
Each and every organ of the jiva is a
complex system of tissues made of cells. The cells that constitute the heart,
the lungs, the kidney or the liver, the brain, the nerves and neurons, the
bones and bone marrow, the blood, the skin, and all the minute organs of the
body are nothing but the pulsating cells, and nothing more than that! More than
all these, the cells have the innate capacity to construct or destroy whatever
they deem fit and the decision making capacity is inherent in each cell,
thereby, the body grows, matures, deteriorates, and dies!
The scientists are working out the ways and
means of making these cells constantly rejuvenate endlessly, keep the body
young without ageing and deteriorate and collapse. However, it is difficult for
the maturing cells to go back in time- from old age to childhood!
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