Gita Rahasya -Tilak
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CHAPTER VIII
THE CONSTRUCTIN AND THE DESTRUCTION OF THE COSMOS
As the description which has been given above of the creation and the destruction of the Cosmos is consistent with Vedanta philosophy— and if you omit the Parabrahman, also consistent with Samkhya philosophy — this tradition of the order of formation of the universe has been accepted as correct by our philosophers, and the same order has been mentioned in the Bhagavadgita. As has been stated in the beginning of this chapter, we come across other ideas regarding the creation of the universe in some places in the Srutis, the Smrtis, and the Puranas, namely, that the Brahmadeva or Hiranyagarbha first came into existence, or that water first came into existence and a Golden Egg was born in that water from the seed of the Paramesvara etc. But all these ideas are looked upon as inferior or merely descriptive ; and when there is any occasion to explain them, people say that Hiranyagarbha or Brahma- deva is the same as Matter. Even the Blessed Lord has in the Bhagavadgita called this Matter of three constituents by the- name 'Brahma' in the words "mama yonir mahad brahma" [1], and He has said that from this His seed, numerous beings are created out of Matter, as a result of three constituents. Vedanta treatises say that the description found in different places that Daksa and other seven mind-born sons, or the seven Manus, were born from. Brahmadeva, and that they thereafter created the moveable and immobile universe [2], which is once referred to also in the Gita [3], can be made consistent with the above-mentioned scientific theory of the creation of the Cosmos, by interpreting Brahmadeva as meaning Matter ; and the same argument is also applicable in other places. For instance, in the Saiva or Pasupata Darsana, Siva is looked upon as the actual creator and five things, causes, products etc. are supposed to have come into existence from him; and in the Narayaniya or Bhagavata religion, Vasudeva is supposed to be the primary cause, and it is stated that Samkarsana (Jiva or Soul) was first born from Vasudeva,. Pradyumna (Mind) from Sarhkarsana, and Aniruddha (Individuation) from Pradyumna. But as, according to the Vedanta philosophy, Jiva (Soul) is not something which comes into existence anew every time, but is a permanent or eternal part of a permanent or eternal Paramesvara, the above- mentioned doctrine of the Bhagavata religion regarding the birth of Jiva has been refuted in the second portion of the second chapter of the Vedanta-Sutras [4] ; and it is stated there that this doctrine is contrary to the Vedas, and, therefore, objectionable ; and this proposition of the Vedanta-Sutras has been repeated in the Gita[5]. |
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