Posted on: 01 Sep 2010
Note: This article is meant for intellectuals only
Krishna Ashtami Special Message] Krishna gave two statements in the Gita. The first statement is that He is unimaginable because nobody can know Him (Maam tu veda na kashchana…). The second statement is that He entered a human body (Manushim tanumaashritam…). These statements together give the total concept of God. God is beyond spatial dimensions and hence, He is beyond imagination. In order to preach the spiritual knowledge, to give the correct direction to the humanity, He comes down to the world of human beings by entering a human body. The human body means a human being. The inert material body associated with inert energy consisting of awareness with different feelings (jeeva) is the human body. Human body does not mean mere inert body containing inert matter and inert energy only. Such a body cannot be even a living body due to absence of life. If you say living body, it may mean the body of a bird or an animal also. Such living body cannot deliver the knowledge to the human beings. The human body consists of five inert elements, out of which space and fire are the two parts of inert energy. Space is the invisible energy, where as fire is the visible spectrum of energy. Apart from these two, the other three are air, water and earth, which constitute the three states of inert matter viz., gas, liquid and solid [respectively]. Apart from these five inert elements, the mind, intelligence and the feeling of ‘I’ constitute life and the awareness being the work of nervous system. These three are the different forms of the work of inert energy in a functioning nervous system. The fourth work form of nervous energy is storing of information in the brain. Brain is made of inert matter in the form of chemicals. The information is stored in the form of electrical pulses, which are inert energy only.
In the wakeful state, the nervous system functions and therefore, you can memorize any bit of information that is stored. In deep sleep, the brain and storage of information (chittam) exists as it is and difference is only that the nervous system does not function due to rest. Mind is only the process of variation in the analysis. Intelligence is the process of conclusion in the analysis. The process of functioning of nervous system stops in deep sleep and hence, mind and intelligence naturally disappear since they are also processes of functioning [nervous system] only. The feeling of I is just like a pulse (sphota) like any other feeling representing the total human body. The process of functioning means only work, which is not a pulse. Therefore, in deep sleep, there are no mind and intelligence since both are work forms only. Even though the pulses exist in the storing faculty of brain, they remain in their original nature, which is inertia. When the pulses are associated with the work of functioning nervous system, you call the resultant work as awareness. Therefore, awareness is defined as the work of nervous system involving the interaction of pulses or feelings. When there is no interaction of any pulse, the nervous system may still function and it looks like a working grinding machine without grains in it. Such a state is called as pure awareness and this is the state of transcendental meditation. The grinding work of grinding machine without the grains to be ground is this state of meditation. The awareness without any feeling is called as pure awareness. In deep sleep, the grains or feelings are stored in the overhead tank of the machine, called as brain as inert pulses. The static grains in the tank are the inert pulses present in the chittam in deep sleep. In the awaken state, the grains move into the grinding machine and the grinding work goes on. Even without grains, the grinding work may go on due to function of the machine. Similarly, in the meditation state, the awareness exists without feelings. In deep sleep, the machine is not working and the grains are static inert pulses. This means that in deep sleep, the awareness is absent and the feelings are in the form of static inert pulses.
Pure Awareness is Different From It’s Causal Form
The basic (causal) form of the grinding work is the electrical energy. Similarly, the basic form of awareness is inert energy. In deep sleep, the inert energy does not enter the nervous system, which is either stored in the human body or functions in other forms of work of other functioning systems like lungs, heart etc. When the grinding machine stops, the electricity is either in the battery or in other forms of work existing in other functioning machines. There is difference between the pure form of awareness and basic form of awareness and you should not mistake one for other. The pure form of awareness is the work form of functioning nervous system without feelings in the state of meditation. The basic form of awareness is the inert energy present elsewhere in the body since the nervous system does not function in the deep sleep. The pure awareness exists in the human being in the state of meditation. The impure awareness exists in the human being in the normal awaken state. The basic form of awareness exists in the human being in deep sleep. Therefore, awareness is only a special work form of inert energy existing in the functioning nervous system. This work depends upon the availability of inert energy that is generated from food by oxidation with the help of respiratory and digestive systems. This work also depends upon the functioning condition of nervous system. Thus, awareness is the work depending on several systems. Generally, any work is not an independent entity and depends on the system. Awareness is the process of knowing, which is the work of functioning nervous system. Awareness is not an independent entity since it is work. It looks like an independent subject. Similar subjects are talk, walk etc., which are also works since talk is the process of talking and walk is the process of walking. Hence, awareness, talk, walk etc. look like independent subjects, but if you analyze, they are works only depending on the condition of several systems. If you say awareness is God, God also becomes dependent on some systems. The awareness of a human being has birth in the wakeful state and death in deep sleep (Athachainam…) and it depends on the functioning condition of nervous, respiratory and digestive systems.
When you speak about awareness of God, it is also the work of God and is not independent entity. The unimaginable God does not require these systems for the generation of awareness but still the awareness is generated by unimaginable way. The generated awareness of God is the same awareness of a human being in qualitative aspect. The awareness of omniscient God is aware of all the things by unimaginable way and the awareness of human being is aware of few things only by imaginable way. This is quantitative difference only and not the qualitative difference. The cause of God’s awareness is unimaginable, which is the unimaginable God, but God’s awareness itself is an imaginable item. The gold produced from a metallurgical furnace is the same gold generated by a miracle from the space. The process of generation and the cause of generation only differ but not the product of generation. In both the cases, gold is one and the same imaginable item, which is the product of generation. The process along with the cause of generation in a miracle is unimaginable and the same in the case of furnace is imaginable. Similarly, the unimaginable awareness of God means that the process of generation along with the cause is unimaginable, but the awareness is imaginable item only. The imaginable awareness of human being means that the awareness along with the process of generation and cause is totally imaginable. Therefore, the awareness of God and the awareness of human being are one and the same qualitatively and both are work forms of the basic inert energy only. In such case, the dependable work form of awareness cannot be the independent God. Even the awareness of God is depending on God just like the awareness of human being depends on human being. When God entered the human body, it means that God entered the human body having the work facility of awareness. If you say that a student is admitted in the college, it means that the college is running with academic work and the college does not mean mere static inert buildings. Therefore, the unimaginable God is not only different from the inert human body but also different from the awareness, which is the special working facility of human body. He entered the human being, which is nothing but the human body along with its inherent facility of awareness. The Lord mentioned that the awareness is the ninth part of His creation or Prakruti. Prakruti means the famous creation (prashastaa krutih). The human awareness is the ninth part of His creation, which is called as para or the best of all the items of creation in view of its most subtle technology, which is very difficult to imagine but not unimaginable (Vimudhaa naanu pashyanti…). However, the technology of God’s awareness is unimaginable. Apara consists of eight parts and para consists of ninth part. The ninth part of the creation is only creation but not the creator. If it is creator, it cannot be called as prakruti or creation. If you say that prakruti means root cause and hence, para prakruti is God, there will be two objections.
People mistake para prakruti as God since the Gita says that this world is maintained by para prakruti (Yayedam dhaaryate jagat…). If you take para prakruti as chittam, the storing system of information, here, the word world means the world of informative pulses. If you take para prakruti as the basic inert energy (since work is a form of energy only), the word world means the real materialistic world that is maintained by the basic inert energy. The basic cosmic inert energy is generating the world, maintaining it and finally dissolving it by the will of God. The basic inert energy present in a human being is qualitatively the same cosmic energy. The difference is only quantitative and hence, the limited basic inert energy of a human being represents the unlimited cosmic inert energy in qualitative sense. In this way, the inert energy of human being representing the cosmic energy is told as the maintainer of this real materialistic world.
The whole confusion came since the awareness is called as ‘Brahman’. Brahman means the greatest. The soul or awareness is greatest among all the items of creation as long as God does not come into picture. God is greater than this greatest and hence, is greatest in the total sense. But, soul is also greatest item as far as all the items of the creation are concerned. Therefore, the soul is greatest in the creation and God is greater than this greatest soul. Hence, God is finally greatest and stands as the final meaning of the word Brahman. At the same time, any greatest item in a category can also stand as the intermediate meaning of the word Brahman. To avoid all this confusion, God is called as Parabrahman, which means that God is greater than Brahman (soul). The word Parabrahman has another meaning also according to which God is different from Brahman (soul). The word Brahman can be also used to the greatest item in any category. For example, the Veda is called as Brahman and the Gita says that Brahman (Veda) is created by God (Brahmaakshara samudbhavam…). The Gita says that Parabrahman is the beginning-less absolute God about which you can neither speak that it exists nor you can speak that it does not exist (Anaadimat Parambrahma na sat tat naasaduchyate…). If you say that the unimaginable God exists, it may mean that you have understood God, because, generally everyone speaks about the existence of known items only. If you say that the unimaginable God does not exist, it is also wrong because actually the unimaginable God exists and if He is absent, this creation could not have been created. Therefore, Shankara says that the best expression about the absolute unimaginable God is silence (Maunavyakhyaaprakatita Parabrahmatattvam…).