Universal Existence
Divine Life
Society Publication: Commentary on
the Panchadasi by Swami Krishnananda
Satyaṁ jñānam-anantaṁ
yad-brahma tad-vastu tasya tat, īśvaratvaṁ ca jīvatvam-upādhi-dvaya-kalpitam
(37). The Supreme Brahman, the Absolute – this Universal Existence which has
neither anything inside nor outside – such a Being is regarded by us as the
creator of the world on the one hand, and as having become all the individuals
in creation on the other hand.
When this Supreme Brahman is visualized
as the cause of this universe, Brahman is known as Ishvara, the creative
principle. When the same Brahman is viewed as the principle immanent in every
living being in the world, in all individualities, it goes by the name of jiva.
Ishvara is the cosmic manifestation of Brahman; jiva is the
individualised manifestation of Brahman. Only our viewpoints differ; and on
account of the differences in viewpoint caused by the extension and
all-pervading nature of Ishvara and the limited location of the jiva, or
the individual, we make such a distinction.
Really, there is no such
distinction in Brahman. The difference between Ishvara and jiva – God
and the individual – is, according to one analogy, something like the
distinction we draw between cosmic space and the space that is imagined to be
contained within a vessel. The vessel ether is very limited within the walls of
the vessel; the cosmic ether is not so limited. The consciousness of Brahman is
limited within the five sheaths – about which we have made some study earlier.
When this Universal consciousness of Brahman appears to be contained within the
five sheaths, as it were, it goes by the name of individual consciousness, jiva
consciousness, isolated consciousness.
When the very same Brahman,
the Absolute consciousness, is cast in the mould of the creative will that is
at the back of all manifestation, we call that consciousness God, the creator,
Ishvara. Therefore, the distinction between Ishvara and jiva is created
by a kind of upadhi, or adjunct – cosmic adjunct and individual adjunct,
differing one from the other.
When we view Brahman as
pervading the whole cosmos and determining its activities – creating it,
preserving it, and destroying it – we call it Ishvara. When the same Brahman is
reflected through the physical individuality of the five sheaths, we call the
same Brahman as jiva. This is, therefore, a tentative distinction that
is drawn between Ishvara and jiva, by the situation of the jiva
himself.
Maya and avidya
are the two upadhis, on account of whose operation, distinction is drawn
between Ishvara and jiva. The cosmic determining factor is maya;
the individual determining factor is avidya.
Maya is the shuddha
sattva pradhan of prakriti, the cosmic determining factor through
which the Universal Brahman is reflected and becomes the jiva or the
Ishvara – the creative principle of God, and is the very same thing reflected
through avidya, which is predominantly rajasic and tamasic.
Malina sattva is submerged and becomes the jiva, or the
individual. This is the distinction between maya and avidya,
determining Ishvara on the one side and jiva on the other side.
In the beginning, what was
there? Darkness only prevailed. No light was there, because light is
condensation of energy. Unless there is a disturbance in the distribution of
heat, there will be no energy available for action. This is the entropy theory
of modern physics. If there is equal distribution of heat, the whole universe
will become cold in one instant. There is concentration of heat in some places,
and that becomes the stars, that becomes the sun, that becomes fire. But if we
distribute the entire available heat in the whole cosmos equally, it will be
cold, and there will be the end of creation.
Similarly, the Brihadaranyaka
Upanishad tells us about the creation of the universe as having been totally
unmanifest, once upon a time. Then it became manifest by gradual condensation
into name and form, specification into individuality, visible or even
invisible. This Cosmic Unmanifest becomes the well-known principles of Ishvara,
Hiranyagarbha and Virat.
Excerpts from:
Universal Existence - Commentary on
the Panchadasi by Swami KrishnanandaArchives - Blog
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