Gita Rahasya -Tilak 177

Karma Yoga Sastra -Tilak

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CHAPTER VIII
THE CONSTRUCTIN AND THE DESTRUCTION OF THE COSMOS

guna gunesu, jayante tatraiva nivisanti ca I[1] [2]

I have so far dealt with the nature of the two independent fundamental principles of the world according to the Kapila Samkhya philosophy, namely. Matter and Spirit, and have described how one has to release one's Self from the network of the constituent qualities of Matter which it places before one's eyes, as a result of its union with Spirit. But the explana- tion of how this 'Sarhsara' (worldly illusion) is placed by Matter before the Spirit— this its diffusion, or its drama which Marathi poets have given the vivid name of ' samsrtica pimga ' (the fantastic dance of worldly life), and which is called "the Mint of Matter" by Jnanesvara Maharaja— and in what way the same is destroyed, has still to be given ; and I shall deal with that subject in this chapter. This activity of Matter is known as "the Construction and Destruction of the Cosmos" , because, according to the Samhkhya philosophy, prakrti (Matter) has created this world or creation for the benefit of in- numerable Spirits. Sri Samartha Ramadasa has in two or three places in the Dasabodha given a beautiful description of how the entire Cosmos is created from Matter, and I have taken the phrase "Construction and Destruction of the Cosmos " from that description. Similarly, this subject-matter has been dealt with principally in the seventh and eighth chapters of the Bhagavadgita, and from the following prayer of Arjuna to Sri Krsna in the beginning of the eleventh chapter, namely: bhavapyamau. hi bhutanam srutau vistaraso maya" [3], i. e., " I have heard (what You have said ) in detail about the creation and the destruction of created beings ; now show me actually Your Cosmic Form, and fulfill my ambition", it is clearly seen that the construction and the destruction of the Cosmos is an important part of the subject-matter of the Mutable and the Immutable. The Knowledge by which one realises that all the perceptible objects in the world, which are more than one (are numerous), contain only one fundamental imperceptible substance, is called 'janana [4]; and the Knowledge by which one understands how the various innumerable perceptible things severally came into existence out of one fundamental imperceptible substance is called ' vijnana '; and not only does this subject- matter include the consideration of the Mutable and the Immutable, but it also includes the knowledge of the Body and the Atman and the knowledge of the Absolute Self.

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References And Context

  1. "Constituents ( gunas) are born out of constituents, and are merged in them".
  2. Mahabharata, Santi. 305. 23.
  3. (Gi. 11. 2)
  4. (Gi. 18. 20)