16 Dec 2022
Note: This article is meant for intellectuals only
O Learned and Devoted Servants of God,
(This discussion took place in the morning of 07.12.2022, Shri Datta Jayanti)
[Shri J.S.R. Prasad asked:- Sashtanga Pranams Swami. May I request You to please correlate the following Vedic statements –
A. Asdvā idamagra āsīt tato vai sadajāyata
B. Brahma vā idamagra āsīt, tadātmānamavet, Ahaṃ Brahmāsmīti (Bṛhadāraṇyakopaniṣad)
C. Sadeva Saumyedamagra āsīt (Taittirīyopaniṣad)
D. Anādimat Paraṃ Brahma na sattan nāsaducyate (Gītā 13.13). --At Your divine holy lotus feet]
Swami Replied:- There are two contexts (Prakaraṇams):-
i) Discussion regarding the existence of creation and
ii) Discussion about the existence of God.
iii) When the clue of the specific context is not available, we shall try to apply the Vedic statements to both cases (world and God).
The word ‘agre’ means beginning. Beginning may mean 1. Before planning in the mind or 2. Before materializing the mental plan.
I) Context of the existence of creation:
A) Asadvā idaṃ agra āsīt… - here the word ‘idam’ can mean creation. In the beginning, before the creation of mental plan by God, this world existed as non-existent (asat), which is absolute non-reality.
Tato vai sadajāyata:- Then, a mental plan of the world was formed in God and the non-existent world became existent. Even though, mental plan is subtle and not gross, still, the subtle plan also had gifted absolute reality of God and hence, world in this state was subtle-absolute reality.
C) Sadeva Saumyedamagra āsīt:- Here, the word ‘agre’ stands as the stage before the transformation of the subtle mental plan into gross physical world. This means that the mental plan of the world is not absolute non-reality because it is subtle and it is subtle absolute reality.
‘B’ and ‘D’ belong to the existence of God and not to the existence of the world.
II) Context of existence of God:
B) Brahma vā idamagra āsīt, tadātmānamavet, Ahaṃ Brahmāsmīti:- This is purely about God only. This means that the unimaginable God existed even before the mental plan of the world in the mind of God. Mind means awareness and God has awareness due to omnipotence and not because God has relative awareness that is born from inert energy and a materialized nervous system. Hence, the awareness of God before the mental plan of creation is unimaginable (unimaginable awareness). Unimaginable awareness can have unimaginable mind, unimaginable intelligence, unimaginable memory and unimaginable basic ego called ‘the feeling of I’. The unimaginable God got the feeling of ‘I’ and knew the meaning of such ‘I’. The unimaginable God thought “I am the unimaginable God.”
D) Anādimat Paraṃ Brahma na sattan nāsaducyate:- ‘Param Brahma’ means ‘Parabrahman’ or ‘unimaginable God’. This God having absolute reality is neither existent (na sat) nor non-existent (nāsat). 1) He is not existent (asat) means that He is not having relative reality since He is absolutely real. Here, reality (sat) may be absolute (paramārtha) or relative (vyavahāra). 2) He is not non-existent (nāsat) means that He is never absolutely non-existent (atyanta abhāva).
III) Existence of both cases (world and God):
‘A’ and ‘C’ are only to be discussed in the context of both cases since ‘B’ and ‘D’ are clearly in the context of God only. ‘A’ and ‘C’ in the context of world are already discussed in (I). Now, we shall discuss ‘A’ and ‘C’ in the context of God.
A) Asdvā idamagra āsīt tato vai sadajāyata:- The absolute God is already said to be asat or non-existent in the sense that relative existence (sat) is not present in the absolute God. Even before the mental plan of the world in God, absolute God indicated by the word asat as said above, is existing. Later on, the subtle mental plan having gifted absolute reality is born in the mind of God and this is said by ‘Tato vai sadajāyata’, which means that later on, the mental plan having absolute reality (sat) is born.
C) Sadeva Saumyedamagra āsīt:- The word ‘agre’ means beginning, which means before the expression of the gross physical world from the subtle mental plan. In such beginning state (state of mental plan), the world existing as subtle mental plan is also having gifted absolute reality (sat).
In ‘A’ and ‘C’ the word ‘idam’ (this) can stand for God (Brahman) or world (Jagat) because no adjective for the word ‘this’ is specified. In ‘B’ and ‘D’, God is specified. In ‘B’ also, the word ‘idam’ is used, but, it stands as an adjective for the word Brahman. In ‘D’, the word ‘idam’ is not used and directly the word ‘Parabrahman’ is used (Paraṃ Brahma).
★ ★ ★ ★ ★