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words in the write-ups on this web site are in italics. The meaning of these sanskrit
words as transcribed in English language is being continually included in
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site. It is imperative to understand the full meanings of these sanskrit words
in order to understand the teachings of ved. So please make an effort to
visit the Sanskrit Glossary...the karma-phal will be eternal aanand
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THE SEVENTH AVATAR: SHREE RAAM
...........FROM AADHYAATMAA RAAMAAYAN...............
an overview of
...........BRHMAH and
primary forces of
creation.....
brhmah is the name of the shakti
(power) which is the root cause of this universe. brhmah is neither
male or female or neuter. brhmah creates everything in this creation
of universes as per own self's satya-kaamnaa
and satya-sankalpanaa. satya-kaamnaa
is a desire or a wish which is for based on satya. To base anything on satya
is to mean the purpose and intention of it is for the kalyaan
(good and welfare) of others. satya based purpose and intention is also
for performing sevaa (service) to others. Similarly,
satya-sankalpanaa is an imagination or a thought generated based on satya
- for the kalyaan and sevaa of others. satya based
activities are also nish-kaami, that is not for doers own benefit and not
desiring any return or fruits of the activity for the doer.
How does brhmah create?
brhmah creates everything in this universe through his inherent shakti
(power) called chaitanya (consciousness). chaitanya
has two shaktio - gnan-shakti
and kriyaa-shakti. gnan- shakti
is the powers derived from gnan
(knowledge). We all know the famous modern cliché: KNOWLEDGE
IS POWER. kriyaa-shakti is the power which creates
action, motion and processes. Thus, chaitaniya empowers all creations
with gnan-shakti and kriyaa-shakti.
Without chaitanya any creation will be jad,
meaning inert, immobile, inactive, dead, not living.
In the creation process formula, brhmah exists as para-brhmah
before any creation happens. In this para-brhmah state, diverse and
different attributes and characteristics which we experience in the creation do
not exist. There is only aanand (pure
bliss) which is a state without opposites of joy and pain, without birth and
death, without kaam (desires),
krodh (anger), lobh
(greed), moh (attachment to others),
mada (passions of intoxications, joy, delight, attainment), matsar
(covetousness). The only one existing is para-brhmah, that is why para-brhmah
is called sat meaning real and only
existence. In para-brhmah exists chaitaniya which is also called chitt.
para-brhmah is indescribable as it is infinite and immeasurable and
unknowable. However, para-brhmah is
described as sat-chit-aanand to
describe the state in which para-brhmah exists. And sat-chit-aanand
is also a synonym for para-brhmah.
As everything we experience in this universe has its own special attributes
and characteristics which makes it a distinct creation different from others. As
para-brhmah has no attributes and characteristics it is called nirgun-brhmah.
In the nirgun-brhmah state there is no manifestation meaning there is no
universes as we know.
para-brhmah creates with chaitanya manifestations of the brhmah-self
in the form of shursti (universes). Thus, as soon as the manifestation of
the brhmah-self of nirgun-brhmah occurs, the self which is manifested is
called sagun-brhmah. sagun-brhmah
then creates with chaitaniya all the universes and everything in the
universes that we know and do not know from huge galaxies that we are starting
to know to the tiniest part of an atom called quark that we are struggling to
know in recent times. sagun-brhmah is what is referred to when the
name brhmah is used. brhmah becomes substrate of every creation.
That is brhmah is in everything or nothing exists without brhmah.
sagun brhmah then manifests the self into the shakti with naam
(name) and rup
(form) called maha-maayaa or simply
called maayaa. brhmah
activates and animates this maayaa with chaitaniya. Without chaitaniya
maayaa is jad meaning inactive or inanimate. Other synonym for maayaa
is bhuneshvari. maayaa is
described as brhmah's shakti which creates everything. This maayaa
creates everything through its two shaktio - aavran and vikshep.
maayaa creates multiplicity of brhmah with its vikshep shakti. maayaa
also hides brhmah's presence as substratum or base of everything. This
means because of aavran shakti every creation believes that it
exists by itself only as an independent, self-sustaining unit of creation in
this universe. maayaa also has three guno which are again shaktio
of maayaa. The three guno of maayaa are:
satva-gun, rajas-gun, and tamas-gun.
satva-gun has the power of nourishing and sustaining what is created. rajas-gun
has the power of creating creations and giving them their naam (names), rup
(form) and shaktio (powers). And the tamas-gun has the power of
ending the ordained life span of any creation by dissolving the creation back
into the satva-gun. These 3 guno can exists in unity only as one
entity called maayaa. None of the 3 guno can exist by itself or separately
on its own. All the 3 guno exists in varying strengths in any creation.
When the 3 guno becomes equal to each other the creation goes into an
inactive state called pralay. The
creation with 3 guno in perfect balance exists but is inactive or cannot
act.
It was indicated before that brhmah manifests the own self in many
forms each having a naam (name) and ruup (form). The naam
and rup of satya gun as a shakti is vishnu-dev.
The naam and rup of rajas-gun as a shakti is
brahmaa-dev. The naam and rup of tamas-gun
as a shakti is shiv-dev.
vishnu-dev was given the shakti called
mahaa-laxmi or simply laxmi.
brahmaa-dev was given the shakti called
mahaa-sarasvati or simply sarasvati.
shiv-dev was given the shakti called mahaa-kali
or paarvati. Each one of the 3 guno
performs its designated function in the creation through its individual
shakti.
mahaa-maayaa then creates manifestations as directed by the satya-kaamnaa
and satya-sankalpanaa of brhmah. In the process of creation mahaa-maayaa
is also known as prakruti. All
creations are born of prakruti which has three guno of maayaa. All
creations are activated and animated by brhmah's chaitanya and
possess 3 guno in varying proportions. prakruti is of two types: satva-prakruti
in which satva-gun is predominant is known as maayaa
and avidyaa is the prakruti of mixed guno where the
3-guno are of varying strength.
brhmah's chaitaniya also manifests itself as aatmaa (soul).
aatmaa is the reflection of chaitaniya in prakruti. As an
aatmaa is a reflection of chaitanya it has the same shakti of activating
and animating prakruti's creations. All living beings have aatmaa.
An aatmaa of a living being empowers all the functions of the living
being. When brhmah's chaitaniya reflects in maayaa,
the reflection aatma is called ishvar.
When brhmah's chaitaniya reflects in avidya,
the reflection aatmaa is called jiv.
The ishvar has predominant satva-gun and has all the attributes of brhmah
such as omniscience, omnipotency, possessing all knowledge of brhmah and
obliging to everybody without partiality. Whereas, jiv has all attributes
of avidyaa which creates upaadhi
or limitations of all the attributes of ishvar listed above. These
limitations of jiv are called panch-kanchuk.
An aatmaa,
as ishvar or jiv, journey's through the universal time cylce of
creation and dissolution of creation in different naam and rup.
Each journey of an aatmaa has a definite life span and has a definite naam
and rup. A typical creation time cylce of many journeys for an aatmaa is
a kalpa. A kalpa is a day or
night of brahmaa-dev's life of 100 years. A kalpa or day or night
is of 4.32 billion years. All creations are created and journeys through and
with different naam and rup and with different life spans during brahmaa's
day. At the end of brahmaa's day of 4.32 billion years, all creations are
dissolved back into brahmaa-dev through a process called laya performed
by shiv-dev. And they stay dissolved for 4.32 billion years old brahmaa's
night. This period of dissolution is called pralay.
This cycle of creation and pralay is repeated for 100 years of brahmaa's
life when everything including brahmaa himself is dissolved into
brhmah. This period of dissolution in brhmah is called mahaa-pralay
or prakruti-pralay and last for 100 years of brahmaa's life after
which creation cycles starts again. 100 years of brahmaa's life is 311
trillion and 40 billion years.
So now we know that raam and sitaa were aatmaa journeying
through the brahmaa's day we exist in the present
kalpa.......
At PVAF, we pray to bhagvaan to bless us to keep
learning ved in the serial to appear in the days to come to eternity...........om
namah brhmah......om shaanti shaanti shaanti........om tat sat........
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