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1.
Has this universe proceeded from God or from something
else?
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A.-God is the efficient cause of this universe, but the
material cause is prakriti - the primordial elementary
matter.
"He
who has created this multiform universe, and is the
cause of its sustenance as well as dissolution, the
Lord of the universe in whom the whole world exists,
is sustained and then resolved into elementary condition,
is the Supreme Spirit. Know Him, O man, to be your God
and believe in no other as the Creator of the Universe."
RIG VEDA 10: 126, 8.
"In
the beginning the whole was enveloped in utter darkness.
Nothing was discernible. It was like a dark night, Matter
was in its very elementary form. It was like ether.
The whole universe, completely overspread by darkness,
was insignificantly small compared with the Infinite
God who thereafter, by His omnipotence, evolved this
cosmic world - the, effect - out of the elementary matter
- the cause.* RIG VEDA 10: 129, 3
"Love
and worship that Supreme Spirit, O men, Who is the support
of all the luminous bodies (such as the sun), the one
Incomparable Lord of the present as
*
It is remarkable that modern science is slowly but surely
coming round to what the Vedas teach. The atomic theory
is losing ground and the Vedic doctrine gaining ground
day by day. Mark what one of the modern most scientists,
M. Bernard Brunlhes says:- "Matter which seems to give
us the imaage of stability and repose only exists, then,
by reason of the rotatory movement of its particles so
that when atoms have radiated all their energy in the
form of luminous, calorific, electric and other forms
of vibrations, they return to the primitive ether." Rama
Deva.
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well
as of the future worlds, Who existed even before the
world came into being, and has created all things that
exist in space between the earth and heaven.*"RIG VEDA
10:121, 1.
2.
Has not prakriti emanated from God?
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A.- No, it is beginningless.
"O
Men, that All-pervading Being alone is the Lord of the
imperishable prakriti - the material cause of the world
- and of the soul and is yet distinct from both. He
is the Creator of universe - the past, present and the
future." YAJUR VEDA 21: 2
"That
Supreme Spirit, form Whom all things proceed and in
Whom they live and perish, is the All-pervading God.
Aspire, O men, to know Him." TAITREYA UPANISHAD BHRIGU,
1.
"That
Great God should be sought after, Who is the cause of
the creation, the sustenance and dissolution of the
universe." VEDAANT SHAASTRA I. 1,2.
3.
How many entities are eternal or beginningless
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A.- Three - God, the soul, and the prakriti (matter).
Q.What are your authorities for this statement?
A.-
"Both God and the soul are eternal, they are alike in
consciousness and such other attributes. They are associated
together - God pervading the soul - and are mutual companions.
The prakriti (matter), which is
*Literally the sun. -Tr.
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Likened
to the trunk of a tree whose branches are the multiform
universe which is resolved into tis elementary condition
at the time of dissolution is also eternal. The natures,
attributes and characters of these three are also eternal.
Of the two - God and the soul - the latter alone reaps
the fruits of this tree of the universe - good or evil
- whilst the former does not. He is the All-glorious
Being who shines within, without and all around." RIG
VEDA I, 164, 20.
"The
Great God - the King - revealed all kinds of knowledge
to the human soul - His eternal subjects - through the
Veda." YAJUR VEDA, 50, 8.
"The
prakriti, the soul and God, all of them, are uncreated.
They are the cause of the whole universe. They have
no cause of the whole universe. They have no cause and
have been existing eternally. The eternal soul enjoys
the eternal matter and is wrapped up in it whilst God
neither enjoys it, nor, is He wrapped up in it." SHWETA
SHWATER UPNISHAD, 4: 5.
The
attributes of God and the soul have been described iin
the last chapter. Here we shall treat of the properties
of prakriti (matter).
"That condition of matter in which the intellect-promoting
(satva - high), passion-exciting (rajas - medium) and
stupidity producing (tamas - low)qualities are found
combined in equal proportions is called prakriti. From
prakriti emanated the principle of wisdom (Mahaatava),
and from the latter proceeded the principle of Individuality
(Ahakaara) from which emanated the five subtle entities
and the ten principles of sensation and action, and
the manas, i.e., the principle of attention. From the
five subtle entities issued forth the five gross entities,
such as
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solids,
liquids, etc. These twenty-four entities and the purush,
i.e., the spirit - human and Divine - form a group of
twenty-five noumena." SANKYA SHASTRA,1: 61.
Of
all these twenty-four, the prakriti is uncreated, the
principle of wisdom, the principle of Individuality,
and the five subtle entities are the products of the
prakriti and are in their turn the cause of the ten
principles of sensation, and action and of the principle
of attention. The purush - i.e., the spirit - is neither
the cause (material) nor the effect of anything.
4.
Is this whole universe nothing but God
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But it is said in the Chhaandoya Upanishad, "Before
Creation the universe was existent"; whilst the Taitreya
Upanishad says, " It was non-existent or nothing." Again
the Vrikadaaranyaka Upanishad (Chapt. I,4,1) says "It
was all spirit" and lastly the Shatapatha Brahmanad (Chapt.
11: 1, 11, 1) says, "It was all God (Brahma)" and again
"by His Own will the Great God transformed Himself into
this multiform universe." In another Upnishad it is written
"Sarvam Khalu, etc.", which means "Verily this whole universe
is God, all other things are nothing but God."
A._
Why do you pervert the meanings of these quotations?
For those very Upanishads it is said "Oshwetketo, proceed
thou from effects to causes and learn that prithivi
(solids) proceed from liquids, apah (liguids) from teja
- that condition of matter whose properties are heat
and light, ectc., - and teja from the uncreated prakriti.
This prakriti - the true existence - is the source,
abode and support of the whole universe." What you have
translated
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As
"this universe was non-existent" means that it was non-existent
as universe in their gross physical and visible form.
But it existed in essence or in elementary form as the
eternal prakriti. It was not nothing, God and the soul
also were existent. Your quotations which begins with
"Sarvam khualu" is nothing but a pot-pouri, for, you
have taken parts of two verses from two different Upanishads
and put them together and formed them into one sentence.
"Sarva Khalu", etc., is tiken form the Chhaandogya Upanishad
( chapt III: 14, 1) and Nehanaanaaa, from the Katha
Upnishad (chapt. II:4,11).
Just
as the limbs of the body are of use only so long as
they form part of it, but become useless as soon as
they are separated or cut off form it, similarly you
can get sense out of words or sentences when in their
proper places in conjunction with what has gone before
and what follows them, but they become meaningless as
soon as they are dislocated from their proper places
and joined to others.
Now
mark carefully the true meaning of the above quotation.
"Worship, thou, O soul, that Great Being Who is the
Creator, the Support, and the Life of the Universe.
It is by His power that the whole universe come into
being and is sustained, and it is in Him that it exists,
Worship Him alone and no other. He is an Indivisible,
Immutable, Conscious Being. There is no admixture of
different things in Him, though all things with their
distinct individual existence have their being in Him
and are sustained by Him."
5.
How many causes are there of the Universe
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A.- Three - The efficient , the material and the common.
The efficient cause is the one by whose directed
activity a thing is made, and by the absence of whose
directed activity nothing is made. It does not change
itself, though it works changes in other things. The material
cause is one without which nothing can be made. It
undergoes changes, is made and un-made.
The common cause is one that is an instrument in
the making of a thing, and is common to many things. The
efficient cause is of two kinds:-
The Primary efficient cause is the Supreme Spirit
- the Governor
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Of
all, Who creates the universe out of the prakriti (matter),
sustains it, and then resolves it into its elementary
form.
The
secondary efficient cause is the soul. It takes
different materials out of the universe created by God
and moulds them into different shapes.
The
material cause is the prakiti which is the material
used in the making of the universe. Being devoid of
intelligence it can neither make nor unmake itself,
but is always mad or unmade by a conscious intelligent
being; though here and there even one kind of dead matter
(but those changes are never ordered). Let us take an
illustration. God made seeds (of different kinds), when
they fall into a suitable soil and get the prper amount
of water and nourishment, they develop into trees; but
if they come in contact with fire they perish. All ordered
changes in material things depend for their occurrence
on God and the soul.
All
such means as knowledge, strength and hands, and instruments,
time and space, that are required for the making of
thing constitute its common cause.
Now
take for illustration a pot. The potter is its efficient
cause clay its material cause, whilst the rod, the wheel
and other instruments, time, space, light, eyes, hands
(of the pttter), knowledge and the necessary labour,
etc., constitute its common cause. Nothing can be made
or unmade without these three causes.
The
Neo-Vedantists* look upon God as the efficient as well
as the material cause of the universe, but they are
absolutely in the wrong. "Just as a spider does not
take in anything from outside, but draws out filaments
from its body with which it spins its web and sports
about in it, so does God evolve the world out of His
Own self, becomes metamorphosed into it, and enjoys
Himself." MUNDAKA UPANISHAD, I:1, 7.
*i.e., the modern exponents of
the Vedaant Philosophy. -Tr.
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248
6.
Why is not the universe God?
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"So Brahma desired and willed 'Let me assume diverse
forms, in other words, become metamorphosed into the universe'
and by the mere act of willing He became transformed into
the universe."THE TAITREYA UPANISHAD, BRAHM, 6.
It
is said in the Metrical Commentary of Gaurpaada (on
the Vedant Aphorisms). "Whatever did not exist in the
beginnning and will cease to exist in the end, does
not exist in the present age." THE GAURPA DHEYA KARIKA,
31.
In the beginning the world did not exist but Brahma
did. After the dissolution the world will no longer
exist, but Brahma will. Therefore, the world does not
exist even in the present, it is all Brahma. Why is
not the universe Brahma then?
A.-
If, as you say, Brahma (God) were the material cause
of the universe, He would become transformable, conditioned
and changeable. Besides, the natures, attributes and
characteristics of a material cause are always transmitted
to its effect. Says the Vaisheshika Darshana. I: 1,24
"The effect only reveals whatsoever pre-existed in the
(material) cause." How could then Brahma and the material
world be related as (material) cause and effect? They
are so dissimilar in their natures, attributes and characteristics.
Why! Brahma is the Personification of true existence,
consciousness and bliss, whilst the material universe
is ephemeral, inanimate and devoid of bliss.
Brahma
is Uncreated, Invisible, whilst the material world is
created, divisible and visible. Had the material objects,
such as solids, bee evolved out of Brahma He would possess
the same attributes as the material objects. Just as
solids and other material things are dead and inert,
so would Brahma be, or the material objects would possess
consciousness just as Brahma does. Moreover the illustration
of a spider and its web does not prove your contention.
Instead it disproves it, because the material body of
the spider is the material cause of the filaments, whilst
the soul within is the efficient cause.* In the same
way, the All-pervading
*It also illustrates the wonderful
creative power of God that the soul cannot draw out filaments
from the bodies of other creatures.
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God
has evolved this gross visible universe out of the subtle,
visible prakriti that resided in Him. He pervades the
universe and witness all, and is perfect bliss. The
text you have translated into "God desired and willed
'Let me assume diverse forms, etc.," really means that
God mentally saw, contemplated and willed 'Let me create
the multiform universe and become revealed'; because
it is only after the world has been created that God
becomes contemporaneous with the various gross physical
objects and is revealed to the human souls in their
meditations, thoughts, knowledge, preachings and hearings.
At
the same time of Dissolution no one except Himself and
the emancipated souls know Him. The aphorism, you have
quoted, is erroneous; because, though it is true that
before Creation, the universe did not exist in this
gross visible condition, nor will it exist in this form
the Dissolution onwards till the beginning of the next
creation, yet it was not nothing, nor will it be. Before
Creation it existed in a subltel invisible elementary
form, so will it be after Dissolution.
Says
the Rig Veda:-
"In the beginning it was all darkness", the whole universe
was enveloped in utter darkness." RIV VEDA10: 126,3.
Again says Manu, " In the beginning this universe was
enshrouded in darkness. It was neither definable, nor
discoverable by reason. Neither did it possess any physical
signs, nor was it, therefore, perceptible by the senses."
MANU 1: 5. Nor shall it be after the beginning of, or,
during the period of dissolution. But the present time
it is definable, possessed of visible signs and characteristics,
and therefore perfectly discernable by the senses, and
yet that commentator declared the non-existence of the
world in the present, which is absolutely invalid. Because
whatever a person knows on the authority of direct cognition
and other evidences cannot be nothing.
7.
What object had God in creating the world?
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A.- What object could He have in not creating it?
Q.Had
He not created it, He would have lived in happiness?
Besides, the souls would have remained free from pleasure
and pain and the like.
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A.-
These are the ideas of the lazy and the indolent, but
not of men of energetic and active habits. What happiness
could the souls enjoy during the period of Dissolution?
If the happiness and misery of this world were compared,
it will be found that the happiness is many times greater
than the misery. Besides, many a pure soul that adopts
the means of obtaining salvation attains final beatitude;
whilst during the period of Dissolution the souls simply
remain idle as in deep sleep. Moreover had He not created
this world, how could He have been able to award souls
their deserts, and how could they have reaped the fruits
of their deeds - good and evil - done in the previous
cycle of Creation.*
If
you were asked what is the function of the eyes, you
can only say 'sight of course'. In the same way of what
use could the knowledge, activity, and power of creating
the world be in God other than that of creating? Nothing
else. The attributes of God, such as justice, mercy,
the power of sustaining the world, can have significance
only when He makes the world. His Infinite power bears
fruit only when it is applied to the creation, sustenance,
government and dissolution of the universe. Just as
sight is the natural function of the eye, so are the
creation of the world, the free gift of all things to
the souls and promoting the well-being of all the natural
attributes of God.
Was
the seed made first or the tree?
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A.- The seed; because, the seed, cause, Hetu (source),
Nidaana Mimitta (origin), etc., are all synonymous terms.
The cause, being also called the see, must precede the
effect.
9.
God being Omnipotent can he not create matter and soul?
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Q - God being Omnipotent, He can also create prakriti
- the primordial matter - and the soul. If He cannot,
He cannot be called Omnipotent.
A.-
We have explained the meaning of the word Omnipotent
before. But does Omnipotent mean one who can work even
the impossibilities. If there be one who can do even
such impossible things as the prduction of an effect
without a cause, then can He make another God, Himself
die, suffer pain, become dead and inert, inanimate,
unjust, impure and immoral or not? Even God cannot change
the natural properties of things as heat of the fire,
*That is, one preceding the last
Creation.
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Fluidity
of liquids and inertness of earth, etc. His laws being
true and perfect, He cannot alter them. Omnipotence,
therefore, only means that He possesses the power of
doing all His works without any help.
Q.
Is God formless or embodied? If He be formless, how
could He create the world without bodily organs? Of
course an objection like this cannot be urged if He
be embodied.
A.-
God is formless. He cannot be God who possesses a body;
because he would then have finite powers, be limited
by time and space, be subjected to hunger and thirst,
heat and cold, wounds and injuries, pain and disease.
Such a being may possess the attributes or powers of
the soul, but no Divine attributes could be ascribed
to him; since incarnate God could never grasp and control
the primordial elementary matter - prakriti - atoms
and molecules, nor could he create the world out of
those subtle elements, just as we, being embodied in
flesh, cannot grasp or control them.
God
does not possess a physical body of bodily organs, such
as hands and feet, though he does possess Infinite power,
Infinite energy and Infinite activity, by virtue of
which He does all those works that neither matter nor
the soul can do. It is only because He is even more
subtle than the soul and the prakriti, and pervades
them, that He can grasp them and transform them into
this visible universe.
10.
Is God formless or embodied?
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Q - If God be formless, this world created by Him should
also be formless, just as in the case of other living
beings, such as men, - children have bodies like their
parents. Had they been formless, their children would
have been the same. A.- What a childish question!
We have already stated that God is not the material cause
of the universe. He is only its efficient cause. It is
prakriti and paramanus - the premordial elementary matter
and atoms, - which are less subtle than God, that are
the material cause of the world. They are not altogether
formless but are subtler than other material objects,
while less subtle as compared to God.
11.
If God be formless, this world created by Him should
also be formless
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A.-No; because that which does not exist (in any form)
cannot be called into existence. It is absolutely impossible.
It is as
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much
as impossible for an effect to be produced without its
cause as the story of a man, who would brag in the following
way, to be true. "I saw a man and a woman being married
whose mothers never bore any children. They had boys
made of human horns, and wore garlands of ethereal flowers.
They bathed in the water of mirage and lived in a town
of angels where it rained without clouds, and cereals
and vegetables grew without any soil, etc.," or " I
had neither father nor mother and yet came into being.
I have no tongue in my mouth and lo! I can speak. There
was no snake in the hole and yet one came out of it.
I was nowhere, nor were these people, and yet we are
all here." Only lunatics can believe and say such things.
12.
Cannot God create an effect without cause?
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Q. If there can be no effect without a cause, what
is the cause of the first cause then?
A.-
Whatsoever is an absolute cause, can ever be an effect
of another, but that which is the cause of one and the
effect of another is called a relative cause. Take an
example. The earth is the cause of a house but an effect
of liquids (Liquids are the causes of solids as they
precede them in the order of formation. The earth is
solid), but the first cause, prakriti (matter) has no
other cause, viz., it is beginningless or eternal. Says
the Saankhya Darshana, 1: 67 "The first having no cause
is the cause of all effects." Every effect must have
three causes before it comes into existence; just as
before a piece of cloth can be made, it must have three
things - the weaver, the thread and machinery, in the
same way the creation of the world pre-supposes the
existence of God, the prakriti, the souls, time and
space which are all uncreated and eternal. There would
be no world if even one ot them were absent.
The
various objections of atheists are answered below:
13.
If there can be no effect without a cause, what is the
cause of the first cause then
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(i) Shoonya (nought or nothing) is the one true reality.
In the beginning there was nothing but nothing, and nothing
will survive in the end; because whatever now exists will
cease to exist and become nothing.
*quids are the causes of solids
as they precede them in the order of formation. The earth
is a solid.
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A.-
The ether, an invisible substance (such a prakriti),
the space and a point are also called nothing. It is
inanimate and all things invisibly exist in it. Lines
are made up of points, while circle, squares, etc.,
are made of lines. Thus has God, by the might of His
creative power, evolved the earth, mountains and objects
of all other shapes and forms out of a point or nebula
- nothing. Besides, He who knows nothing cannot be nothing.
[Hence shoonya (nothing) does not here mean nothing
put a point or a nebula.]
15.
Can something come out of nothing?
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(ii) Q. Something can come out of nothing , just as
a seed does not germinate and send forth a sprout until
it is split, but when you break a seed an look into it,
you do not find any sprout in it. It is clear then that
the sprout comes out of nothing.
A.-
That which splits a seed before it germinates, must
have already been present in the ee, otherwise what
causes the see to split? Nor would it have come out
had it not been there.
16.
Do we sow what we reap?
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(iii) Q.> It is not true 'As you sow so shall you
reap,' Many an act is seen that does not bear fruit; therefore
it is right it infer that it entirely rest with God to
punish or reward a man for his deeds. It absolutely depends
upon His wish.
A.-
If it were so, why does not God reward or punish a man
for deeds he has never done? It follows, therefore,
that God gives every man his due according to the nature
of his deeds. God does not reward or punish men according
to the caprice of his Will. On the other hand, He makes
a man reap only what he has sown.
17.
Can effects can be produced without a cause?
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(iv) Q. Effects can be produced without a cause just
as the sharp thorns of Acacia Arabica spring out of the
branches that are not at all sharp and pointed but are
soft and smooth. It is clear from this illustration, therefore,
that in the beginning of Creation all material objects
and bodies of living beings come into being without (first)
cause.
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A.-
Whatever a thing springs from, is its cause. Thorns
do not come out of nothing. They come out of a thorny
tree, therefore, that tree is their cause. Hence the
world was not created without a cause.
(v)
Q. All things have been created and are liable to
decay. They are all ephemeral. The Neo-Vedantis put
forward objections like this, because they say, "Thousands
of books support the doctrine that Brahma alone is the
true reality., the world is a delusion and the soul
is not distinct from Brahma (God). All else is unreal."
A.-
All can not be unreal if the fact of their being unreal
is real.
Q.
Even the fact of their being unreal is unreal. Just
as fire not only burns other things and thus destroys
them, but is itself destroyed after others have been
destroyed.
A.-
That which is perceptible by the senses cannot be unreal
or nothing, nor can the extremely subtle matter - the
material cause of the world - be unreal or perishable.
The Neo-Vedantis hold Brahma as the (material) cause
of the universe; He - the cause - being real, the world
- the effect - cannot be unreal. If it were said that
the material world is only a material conception and,
therefore, unreal like the objects seen in a dream or
life a piece of rope seen in the dark and mistaken for
a snake, it cannot be true; because a conception or
an idea is something abstract which cannot remain apart
from the noumenon wherein it resides.
When
one that conceives (viz., the soul) is real, the conception
cannot be unreal, otherwise you will have to admit that
the soul is also unreal. You cannot see a thing in a
dream unless you have seen or heard of it in the wakeful
state, in other words, when the various objects of this
world come in contact without senses, they give rise
to percepts called knowledge by direct cognition - which
leave impressions on our souls, it is these impressions
which are recalled by, and become vivid to the soul
in dreams. If it be possible for a man to dream of things
of which he has had no impressions in his mind, a man
born blind, should dream of colours which is not the
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case.
It follows, therefore, that in the mind are retained
impressions and ideas of external things that exist
in the outside world. And just as external things continue
to exist even after a man ceases to have any consciousness
of them as in sound sleep, so does prakriti- the material
cause of the world - continue to exist ever after Dissolution.
18.
Why not believe that the external things seen in the
wakeful state is unreal?
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As the external objects pass out of our consciousness
in slumber and those seen in a dream in the state of profound
sleep, i.e., perish as far as we are concerned, in the
same way why not believe that the external things seen
in the wakeful state are also unreal?
A.-
No, we cannot believe that; because both in slumber
and profound sleep the external objects only pass out
of our consciousness. They do not cease to exist, just
as different things lying behind us are simply invisible
to us but are there, and have not ceased to exist. Therefore,
what we have said before, that God , the soul and the
prakriti - the material cause - are real entities, is
alone true.
19.
If the five states of matter is eternal why isn't the
world eternal?
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(vi)Q. The five bhuts - five states of matter as Prithivi
(solids), Apah (liquid) etc., - being eternal, the whole
world is eternal or imperishable.
A.-
No, it is not true; because if all those objects, the
cause of whose formation or disintegration is seen every
day, be eternal, the whole material visible world with
all such perishable things as the bodies of men and
animals, houses, and their furniture and the like would
be eternal, which is absurd. Therefore, the effects
can never be eternal.
20.
Are all things distinct from each other?
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(vii)Q. All things are distinct from each other, There
is no unity in them. Whatever we see precludes another.
A.-The
whole exists in its parts. Time, ether, space, God,
and Order and Genus, though separate entities, are yet
common to all. There is nothing that can exist separate
from or without them. Hence all these are not separate
from each other, though they are different by nature.
Thus there is unity in variety.
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256
(viii)
Q. All things exclude each other, and are therefore
non-existent, just as a cow is not a horse, nor is a
horse a cow. Therefore, both the horse and the cow are
non-existent. Similarly, all things are as if non-existent.
A.-
Though it is true that the 'relation of one thing excluding
others does exist in all things, but a thing does not
exclude itself. For example, a cow is not a horse, nor
is a horse a cow; but a cow as a cow and a horse as
a horse do exist. If things were non-existent how could
you ever speak of this Itretaraabhaava relation i.e.,
'the relation of one thing excluding others from itself'.
[Hence the world and things contained therein do exist.
They are not non-existent.]
21.There
can be no creator.
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(ix)Q. The world comes into being by virtue of the
fact that it is in the nature of things to combine together
and produce different things. Just as maggots are produced
the coming together of food, moisture and by decomposition
setting in; or as vegetables begin to grow when the seed,
water, and soil are brought together under favourable
conditions; or as the wind blowing on the sea is the cause
of waves that in turn produce merchaum, which mixed with
turmeric, lime and lemon juice forms what is called concrete,
so does this world come into being by virtue of the natural
properties of the elements. There is no Creator.
A.-If
formation be the natural property of matter, there would
be no dissolution or disintegration; and if you say
that disintegration is also a natural property of matter,
there could then be no formation. But if you say that
both formation and disintegration are the natural properties
of matter, there could then be neither formation nor
disintegration. If you say that an efficient agent is
the cause of the creation and dissolution of the world,
it must be other than and distinct from the objects
that are subject to formation and disintegration.
If
formation and disintegration be the natural properties
of matter, they may happen at any and every moment.
Besides, if there is no Maker and the world came into
being by virtue of the natural properties inherent in
matter, why do not other earths, suns and moons come
into existence near our earth? Moreover, whatever now
grows or comes into being, does so by virtue of the
combination of different substances - made by God. Just
as plants grow wherever the water,
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257
soil
and the seed come in contact under favourable conditions,
and not otherwise; in the same way in the manufacture
of concrete its components such as turmeric, lime, lemon
juice and merchaum do not come together by themselves,
but are mixed up together by some one, nor dot hey produce
concrete unless mixed in their right proportion. Similarly,
the prakriti and atoms, until they are properly combined
by God with the requisite knowledge and skill, cannot
by themselves produce anything. It follows, therefore,
that the world did not come into being by itself, i.e.,
by virtue of the natural properties of matter, but was
created by God.
22.
It was never created nor shall it ever perish.
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Q. This world has had no Creator, nor is there one
at present, nor, shall there ever be one. It has been
eternally existing as such. It was never created nor shall
it ever perish.
A.-
No action or thing - which is the product of action
- can ever come into existence without an agent. All
objects to this world such as the earth, are subject
to the processes of formation, that is, are the product
of definite combination. They can never be eternal,
because a thing which is the product of combination
can never exist after its component parts come as under.
If you do not believe it, take the hardest rock or a
diamond or a piece of steel and smash it into pieces,
melt or roast it and see for yourself if it is composed
of separate particles, called molecules and atoms, or
not. If it is, then surely a time will come when those
molecules will come apart.
23.
Can the highly exalted soul become God?
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Q. There is not Eternal God, on the other hand a highly
exalted soul, that by the practice of yoga attains such
power as the control of atoms, etc., and omniscience,
becomes God.
A.-
Had there been not Eternal God, the Creator of the universe,
Who would have made the bodies, the sense organs and
all objects of this world, the very support and means
of subsistence of the yogi, by means of which he comes
to possess such wonderful powers? Without their help
no one can endeavour to accomplish anything. The endeavour
being impossible how could he have acquired those wonderful
powers? Whatsoever efforts a man may make, whatsoever
means he may employ, whatsoever powers he may acquire,
he can never equal God in His natural - in contradistinction
to the soul's acquired - Everlasting or Eternal powers
which are infinite and manifold; because, the knowledge
of
PAGE258
the
soul, even if it were to go on improving till eternity,
will still remain finite and his powers limited. Its
power and knowledge can never become infinite. Mark,
no yogi has ever been able to subvert the laws of nature
as ordained by God, nor ever shall. God - the Eternal
Seer - possessed of wonderful powers has ordained that
eyes shall be the organs of sight, and ears the organs
of hearing. The human soul can never become God.
24.
In different cycles of Creation does God make the universe
of a uniform or a different
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Q. In different cycles of Creation does God make the
universe of a uniform or a different character?
A.-
Just as it is now, so was it in the past, so will it
be in the future. It is said in the Veda, "Just as God
created the sun, the earth, the moon , the electricity,
the atmosphere in the previous cycles, so has He done
in the present and so will He do in the future." RIG
VEDA 10: 190, 3. God's works, being free from error
or flaw, are always of uniform character. It is only
the works of one who is finite and whose knowledge is
subject to increase or decrease that can be erroneous
or faulty, not those of God.
25.
Do the Vedas and the Shastras harmonize with or contradict
one another ?
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Q. Do the Vedas and the Shastras harmonize with or
contradict one another on the subject of creation?
A.-
They harnonize.
Q.If
they harmonize, why is it that in the TAITREYA UPANISHAD
BRAHMANAND 1, creation is described in the following
manner? Out of prakriti - elementary material cause
of the world - God first created Akasha.* Then was evolved
Vayu - gaseous or vaporous condition of matter; out
of Vayu proceeded Agni - matter which gives out
*A'kaasha is here said to be created,
it only means that by the gathering together of all the
pervading elements A'kaasha as well as space becomes manifest.
In reality A'kaasha is never created, because of there
were no A'kaasha and space, wherein could the prakriti
exist?
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259
heat,
light and electricity - out of Agni proceeded Liquids;
and out of liquids came solids (such as earth); out
of solids issued forth vegetables which yielded food.
Food produced the reproductive element which is the
cause of the physical body and bodily organs." In Chhaandoyga
it is written that Creation begins with Agni, in the
Aitreya Upanishad that it begins with Liquids. In the
Veda itself in some places Purush (God), while in others
Hiranyagarbha (God) has been described as the cause
of the Universe; whilst in the mimaansaa action or application,
in Vaisheshika time, in Niyaaya paramaanus (atoms) in
Yoga conscious exertion, in Sankhya prakriti - the primordial
elementary matter, - Vedaanta, God. Now out of all these
which is right and which is wrong?
A.-
They are all right, not one of them is wrong. He is
in the wrong who misunderstands them. God is the efficient
cause and prakriti the material cause of the universe.
After Mahaapralaya - Grand dissolution - the next Creation
starts A'kaash. In Minor dissolution (cycles) when disintegration
does not reach the stage of Vaayu (gas) and A'kash but
reaches only that of Agni (electricity or fire) the
next creation begins with Agni. But when after dissolution
in which even agni - electricity - is not disintegrated,
the next creation begins with Liquids.
In
other words the next Creation starts at where the previous
dissolution ends. Purush and Hiranyagarbha, as we have
described in the first chapter, are names of God. Nor
is there contrariety in the description of creation
given in the six Shaastraas, because what is contrariety
but contradiction of statements when the subject under
discussion is the same. Now mark how the descriptions
of the six shaastraas harmonize with each other.
- The
Mimaansaa says, "Nothing in this world can be produced
without proper application."
- TheVaisheshika
says, "Nothing can be done or made without the expenditure
of time."
- The
Niyaaya says, "Nothing can be produced without the
material cause."
- The
Yoga says, "Nothing can be made without the requisite
skill, knowledge and thought."
- The
Saankhya says, "Nothing can be made without the definite
combination of atoms."
- The
Vedaanta says, "Nothing can be made without a Maker."
This
shows that the Creation of the world requires six different
causes which have been described separately one by each
separate Shaastra. There is no contradiction in these
descriptions. The six Shaastras together serve to explain
the phenomenon of Creation in the same way as six men
PAGE
260
Would
help each other to put a thatch on the roof of a house.
A man took six men - five of them blind an the sixth
possessed of dim sight - and showed them each a different
part of the body of an elephant. And then asked them
what they thought the animal was like. The first one
answered 'like a pillar', the second 'like a fan', the
third 'like a big pestle', the fourth 'like a broomstick',
the fifth 'like somethingflat', and the sixth one said
'something dark like four pillars supporting the body
of a buffalo'. Similar to these six men is the condition
of those men who, instead of studying the books of rishis
- the true seers of nature - read the current Sanskrit
or vernacular books written by narrow-minded men of
little understanding who malign each other and wrangle
over triflings. Why should they not suffer who are the
blind followers of the blind? The lives of half-educated,
selfish, sensual and ease-loving men of to-day help
to ruin and debase the world.
26.
Why should a cause not have a cause if there can be
no effect without cause?
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A.~ O ye simple bretheren! Why do you not use your common
sense a little? Mark, there are only two things in this
world, a cause and an effect. Whatsoever is a cause (absolute)
can never be an effect; and whatsoever is an effect can
never be a cause at the same time. As long as a man does
not thoroughtly understand the science of Creation, he
can never have a true conception of the universe.
"That
condition of matter in which intellect-promoting (satva),
passion -exciting (rajas) and stupidity-producing (tamas)
qualities are found combined in equal proportions is
the uncreated, imperishable prakriti. The first combination
of the highly subtle, indivisible separately-existing
particles called paramanus (atoms or electrons) derived
from the prakriti, is called the Beginning (of Creation).
The various combinations of atoms in different proportions
and ways give rise to various grades and conditions
- subtle and gross - of matter till it reaches the gross
visible multiform stage called srishti - the universe."
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261
Now
that which enters into the first combination and brings
it about, existed before the combination, and shall
exist after the component parts are pushed as under
is called the cause. Whilst that which comes into existence
after the combination, and ceases to exist after it
has come to an end is called the effect. He who wants
to know the cause of a cause, the effect of an effect,
the maker of maker, the agent of an agent, the act of
an act, is blind though he sees, is deaf though he hears,
and ignorant though well-read. Can ther ever be the
eye of an eye, the lamp of a lamp, and the sun of a
sun? That out of which something is made is called a
cause. Whatever is made from another is called an effect.
Whoever produces an effect out of a cause is called
the maker.
"Nothing
can ever become something, nor can something ever become
nothing. These two principles have been rightly ascertained
by the true seers of nature." GITA 2: 16. How can prejudiced,
sophisticated, insincere, and ignorant minds understand
them so easily? He who is neither well-read nor associate
with the good and the learned, nor meditates on these
abstruse subjects with profound attention, remains immersed
in doubt and ignorance. Blessed are they who studiously
endeavour to understand the principles of all sciences
and having mastered them, teach others honestly.
It
is clear, therefore, that he who believes this world
to have been created without a cause really knows nothing.
27.
The slow and gradual scientific creation of the Universe.
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When the time of Creation comes, God gathers those extremely
subtle particles (called Paramaanus). The first principle
that is produced out of the highly subtle elementary prakriti,
is called Mahaatatva - theprinciple of wisdom -
which is one degree less subtle than the prakriti. Out
of the Mahaatatva is evolved Ahankaara - the principle
of individuality - which is still less subtle and
in its turn gives rise to the five subtle principles,
called Bhuts, besides the five principles of sensation
and five principles of action and the principle
of attention
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262
which
are all a little less subtle than the principle of
individuality. The five subtle bhuts, by passing
through various stages of less subtle conditions of
matter, are finally transformed into five least subtle
states of matter, such as solids, liquids, etc. From
the latter spring up various kinds of trees, plants,
etc., which are the source of food, and out of food
is produced the reproductive element which is cause
of the body.
But
the first creation (of bodies) was not the result of
sexual intercourse; because it is only after the male
and female bodies have been created by God and souls
put into them that the Maithuni (sexual intercourse)
creation begins.
28.
The wonderful creation of the physical body.
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Behold the wonderful organization of the body!
How the learned are wonder-struck with it? First there
is the osseous frame-work girt with a net-work of vessels
- veins, arteries and nerves, etc., - invested with flesh
and the whole covered by skin with its appendages - nails
and hairs. Then how beautifully are the different organs,
such as the heart, the liver, the spleen and the lungs
- ventilating apparatus - laid out. The formation of the
brain, of the optic nerve with the most reticulate formation
of the retina, the demarking of the paths of indryas -
the principles of sensation and action - , the linking
of the soul with the body, the assigning of definite places
to it for wakeful state, slumber and deep sleep, the formation
of different kinds of dhaatus - tissues and secretions,
such as muscle, bone-marrow, blood, reproductive elements
- and the construction of various other wonderful structures
and mechanisms in the body who but God could have caused.
29.
The wonderful creation of the earth.
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The earth studded with various kinds of precious stones
and metals, the seeds of trees of a thousand different
kinds* with their wonderful exquisite structures, leaves
with myriads of different colours** and shades, flowers,
fruits, roots, rhizomes and cereals with various scents
and flavours*** none but God could create. Nor could any
one except God create myriads of earths, suns, moon and
other cosmic bodies, and sustain, revolve the regulate
them.
An
object when perceived produces two kinds of knowledge
in the mind of the observer, viz., of the nature of
the object itself and of its maker. For example, a man
found a beautiful ornament in a jungle. On examination
he saw that it was made of gold and that
*Such as Banyan tree, etc.
**Such as maroon, white , yellow,
dark, be-spotted and other mixed colours.
***Such as sweet, alkaline, saltish,
bitter, astringent, sharp and acid.
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263
it
must have been made by a clever goldsmith. In the same
way, the wonderful workmanship and execution of this
wonderful universe prove the existence of its Maker
Q.What
was first created, man or earth, etc.?
A.~
The earth, etc., because without them where could man
live and how could he maintain his life?
30.
Was one man created in the beginning of Creation or
more than one?
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A.~ More than one; because souls, that on account of their
previous good actions deserve to be born in the Aishwari
- not the result of sexual intercourse - Creation, are
born in the beginning of the world. It is said in the
Yajur Veda, "(In the beginning) there were born many men
as well as rishis, i.e.., learned seers of nature. They
were progenitors of the human race." On the authority
of this Vedic text it is certain then that in the beginning
of Creation hundreds and thousands of men were born. By
observing nature with the aid of reason we come to the
same conclusion, viz., that men are descended from many
fathers and mothers (i.e., not from one father and one
mother).
31.
In the beginning of Creation were men created as children,
adults or old people or in all conditions?
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