STORY OF
AAKAASHAJA (SPACE-BORN)
INTRODUCTION
The
word ‘Creation’ immediately brings to the mind the picture of Lord Brahmaa with
four faces, the Creator of this world.
Rama
also must have bred on only such an idea.
So
Vasishta here begins his discourse on Utpatti– the ‘Emergence’ of this world
with the story of Brahmaa.
Though
he starts the story as if referring to the Creator Brahmaa who is a Brahmin in
meditation, later he makes this Brahmaa the first and foremost perturbation in
the Chit, from which originate countless perturbations appearing as this world.
According
to Vasishta, Trinities or Gods or whatever or whoever exist as a name and form
are just tiny bubbles in the ocean
of Infinity
In
this section on Creation he starts with the story of a Brahmin and ends it up
with the abstract notion of the Supreme where a tiny little vibration which is
undifferentiated from the Supreme, arises as the originator of endless
creations. His purpose seems to clear Rama’s mind of all the preconceived
notions of creation, religion, and philosophies. Here also in the story of the
Aakaashaja which means the one born out of space (emptiness), the preconceived
notion of the four-faced Brahmaa slowly melts off and we are left gazing at the
infinite state of Para Brahman where just a tiny wave becomes the countless
waves of this world phenomenon.
The
Brahmin who is referred to as an ordinary person born out of ordinary space
later is revealed to be the Spandana -
vibration born out of Chidaakaasha-
the Para Brahman space.
The
stories related in this scripture are not introduced for the entertainment
factor. It is a process of contemplation. Even as one intently listens to (or
studies) the story and contemplates on the meaning thereof, one immediately is
transferred to the state of Supreme Brahman (Reality).
At
the end of the story, do not view Para Brahman as a separate entity existing in
another space/time dimension. Know that whenever the word Brahman is mentioned,
the reference is made only to ‘you’ the substratum, behind the name and form
which you misconceive as ‘you’.
The
space-born or the Spandana (quiver of Chit
expanse) occurred in ‘you’ the Brahman and from ‘you’ alone this world of
names and forms originated.
Actually no ‘I’ and ‘you’s exist in the undifferentiated
the reality. The words ‘I’ and ‘you’ are used for communication purposes only.
This
is not the solipsism -‘Self is the only thing’ theory. There is no ‘Self-topic’
here.
Self-realization
is not staying as the ‘I’; but
staying as ‘no-I’.
Brahman
is a space-less time-less point of Existence. It has no thought of ‘I’ or you’;
for it has no mind.
It
sees no world as such as a separate entity. It is what you see as the world and
yourself.
This
world has no existence at all according to Vasishta. So it is not the ‘Self
which has become all’.
There
is no ‘Self’ or ‘all’; just the ‘vast potentiality of energy state’ which stays
as the perceived including your tiny existence as the ‘I’ and the world.
Actually
there is no ‘you’ or ‘I’ or ‘world’. But since you believe that the world is
there, like a child believing in a ghost, the explanation has to start with only
the ‘ghost-introduction’ and make it disappear through reason; but since the
ghost never existed, to state that it comes into existence or vanishes away
through reason, is meaningless.
Similarly
at the end of the final discourse, all the instructions of the entire book become
meaningless from the state of Para Brahman to which you are led to; and you can
throw the scripture away if you have realized the truth fully.
The
book of Vaasishtam is nothing but a cure for a ‘lie’; a false sword for the false
ghost.
When
Truth is known, what meaning has the ‘Cure’?
That
is why in the first Prakarana, Sage Vaalmiki mentions that this scripture is
fit to be studied not by a fool who has no idea of bondage or liberation, nor
by a Knower for whom the very idea of liberation looks meaningless; but only by
a person who believes like Rama does, that he is stuck in a world out of which
there is no escape. To such a suffering mind only these instructions make any
sense.
At
the end of the story of Aakaashaja, you must realize that ‘You’ (not the name
and form you, but the ‘Para Brahman-You’) are
the Aakaasha or Chidaakaasha from which arose Aakaashaja, the space-born Brahmaa
who caused this world occurrence.
The
story is a meditation process.
Little
by little, step by step, Rama also contemplates on the meaning of the story and
within very few days of the discourse and through the understanding of
countless stories and anecdotes as meditation techniques, attains the state of
realization.
The
story of Aakaashaja is the first state of contemplation, where the
compassionate Sage holds your hand and leads you away from unreality to
Reality, from darkness to light, from the mortal existence to immortality.
वसिष्टोवाच
Vasishta spoke
इदमाकाशजाख्यानं शृणु श्रवणभूषणमुत्पत्याख्यं प्रकरणं येन राघव बुध्यसे ।
Hey Raaghava, Listen to this tale of Aakaashaja
(Space-born), the Section named
Utpatti (production of the world), an ornament to the ear, by which you will be
enlightened.
(This is an allegorical story only; and not to be
confused as a god-story of Puraanas.)
अस्ति ह्याकाशजो नाम द्विजः परमधार्मिकः ध्यानैकनिष्टः सततं प्रजानां च हिते रतः
There
exists a Brahmin (a being established in the Knowledge of Brahman) named
Aakaashaja, a supremely righteous person, engaged only in contemplation, and
always interested in the welfare of the people. (Aakaasha is the principle of space that allows objects to exist within
it. Without awareness or the knowing nature, the objects cannot be perceived;
therefore Chit alone is the Aakaasha for all perceived objects. It is just emptiness of knowledge; and not
material. Aakaashaja is a quiver in the emptiness as it were; and is made of
emptiness only; and not material. It is born out of emptiness and is emptiness
only. Emptiness here is not the emptiness of objects; but
emptiness of emptiness itself; as the absence of the perceived. Nothing came
out of it; nothing vanished also; so it is always empty of emptiness and
fullness.)
स चिरं जीवति यदा तदा मृत्युरचिन्तयत्सर्वाण्येव क्रमेणाहं भूतान्यद्मि किलाव्ययः । एनमाकाशजं विप्रं न कस्माद्भक्षयाम्यहमत्र मे कुण्ठिता शक्ति: खड्गधारा यथोपले इति संचिन्त्य तं हन्तुमगच्छत्तत्पुरं तदा ।
त्यजन्त्युद्यममुद्युक्ता
न स्वकर्माणि केचन ।
(Can this empty thing which came out of emptiness ever
die is the question discussed here.)
As
he kept on living for a long time, Deity of Death (Mrtyu) pondered; ‘I, the
imperishable one, consume all the beings in course of time. For what reason am
I not able to eat this Brahmin named Aakaashaja? Here my strength appears
diminished like the sword blade striking a stone.’
Having
thought like this, he went to that city in order to kill him then.
‘Those
who are devoted to their duties do not abandon their effort at anytime.’
ततस्तत्सदनं यावन्मृत्युः प्रविशति स्वयं तावदेनं दहत्यग्निः कल्पान्तज्वलनोपमः ।
अग्निज्वालामहामालां विदार्यान्तर्गतो ह्यसौ द्विजं दृष्ट्वा समादातुं हस्तेनैच्छत्प्रयत्नतः ।
न चाशकत्पुरो दृष्टमपि हस्तशतैर्द्विजं बलवानप्यवष्टब्धुं संकल्पपुरुषं यथा ।
अथागत्य यमं मृत्युरपृच्छत्संशयच्छिदं किमित्यहं न शक्नोमि भोक्तुमाकाशजं विभो ।
यमोवाच मृत्यो न किन्चिच्छक्तस्त्वमेको मारयितुं बलात्मारणीयस्य कर्माणि तत्कर्तृणीति नेतरत् ।
तस्मादेतस्य विप्रस्य मारणीयस्य यत्नतः कर्माण्यन्विष्य तेषां त्वं साहाय्येनैनमत्स्यसि ।
Then,
as Mrtyu himself enters his house, fierce fire equal to the flames at the time
of dissolution burns him. He
entered inside tearing asunder the great garland of fire flames.
(Brahmaa was shielded by the Knowledge of the Reality and existed in the state of Reality only; and not the perceived. Knowledge-flames blocked the concept of death from disturbing him.))
Seeing
the Brahmin in front, he wanted to make an effort to seize him with his hand. Though
seeing him in front, though he himself was very strong, he was not able to
catch him with his hundred hands, as if that was a person created in
imagination.
Then
Mrtyu approached Yama the ‘Dispeller of doubts’ and questioned; “Lord, why am I
not able to eat Aakaashaja?”
Yama
spoke: Hey Mrtyu! You by yourself have not the capacity to destroy anything by
force.
The
actions which kill belong to the doer himself; not the others. Therefore, try
to find the actions of this Brahmin who has to be killed. Making those actions
as your cause, you can eat him.
(Death can approach a person, if and only he has a
material body, if he is identified with a limited form of a perceiver, if he
identifies with the actions of the Karmendriyas and Jnaanendriyas
(mind/intellect); and believes that he is doing actions bound to results
(Karma/KarmaPhala)).
ततः स मृत्युर्बभ्राम तत्कर्मान्वेषणादृतः मण्डलानि दिगन्तान्श्च सरांसि सरितो दिशः वनजङ्गलजालानि शैलानब्धितटानि च द्वीपान्तराण्यरण्यानि
नगराणि पुराणि च ग्रामाण्यखिलराष्ट्राणि देशान्तर्गहनानि च ।
Then,
Mrtyu intent only on finding ‘those actions of that Brahmin’ wandered all the
worlds, all the quarters, all the lakes, all the rivers, all the directions,
all the regions abounding in forests and desolate lands, hills and ocean banks,
forests situated in various islands, cities, towns, villages, all the countries,
and inside the densely populated cities (wherever the perceived was there).
(Since Brahmaa is the form of Creation itself as
Viraat, Death had to check whether Brahmaa is identified with any perceived
object as his creation, and owns it; but however to his dismay, he found that
Brahmaa had no doership about anything.)
एवं भूमण्डलं भ्रान्त्वा न कुतश्चित्स कानिचित्तान्याकाशजकर्माणि लब्धवान्मृत्युरुद्यतः
वन्ध्यापुत्रमिव प्राज्ञः संकल्पाद्र्मिवापरः ।
In
this manner, having wandered the whole of the earth the arrogant Mrtyu (who was capable of destroying anything and
anybody) did not find the actions of that Aakaashaja anywhere even a
little, like the wise man can never find a barren woman’s son, or a person
cannot see a mountain imagined by some one else.
समपृच्छदथागत्य धर्मं सर्वार्थकोविदं
परायणं हि प्रभवः संदेहेष्वनुजीविनामाकाशजस्य कर्माणि क्व स्तिथानि वद प्रभो ।
He
approached Dharma (Yama), the expert in all sciences and questioned him.
‘For
the subordinates the Master alone is the refuge when in doubt.’
“O
Lord, tell me where indeed exist the actions of Aakaashaja.”
धर्मराजोsथ संचिन्त्य सुचिरं प्रोक्तवानिदं
आकाशजस्य कर्माणि मृत्यो सन्ति न कानिचिदेष आकशजो विप्रो जात: खादेव केवलात् ।
आकाशादेव यो जात: स व्योमेवामलं भवेत्सहकारीणि नो सन्ति कारणान्यस्य कानिचित् ।
संबन्धः प्राक्तनेनास्य न मनागपि कर्मणाऽस्ति वन्ध्यासुतस्येव तथाऽजाताकृतेरिव ।
कारणानामभावेन तस्मादाकाशमेव सः नैतस्य पूर्वकर्मास्ति नभसीव महाद्रुमः
।
Dharmaraaja
then pondered for a while and gave a detailed explanation.
“Hey
Mrtyu! The actions of Aakaashaja do not exist even in the least.
This
Brahmin Aakaashaja indeed is born from space (empty expanse) alone.
He who is born from empty expanse will be as
pure as the emptiness itself. He does not have the least of the concomitant
causes for his appearance.
He does not have the
least connection with actions done in the past; like the actions of a barren
woman’s son; or like the form of a person who is never born.
Due to the absence of
causes, he is void only. He does not have actions done in the past binding him;
similar to the huge tree seen in the sky that has no reality.
(Any thought, any desire,
any memory, any longing, any agitation of the least kind can be termed as an
action and will make a person mortal and bound by limitations. But the space-born
Brahmin has no such agitations at all. He is like space. He has no past,
present or future. He is like the void which has no quality. His actions are as
unreal as the tree imagined in the sky.)
नैतदस्यावशं चित्तमभावात्पूर्वकर्मणामद्य तावदनेनान्यत्र न किन्चित्कर्म संचितम्
।
एवमाकाशकोशात्मा विशदाकाशरूपिणि स्वकारणे स्थितो नित्यं कर्माण्यस्य
न कारणं ।
His mind is not
uncontrolled. (His mind is undisturbed by the agitations called the
perceived.)
Because of the absence
of the past actions he has no collected actions anywhere at present.
(A person is supposed to own three types of actions,
those which have begun to take fruit (Praarabdha), those which remain in the
store (Sanchita), and those which are going to be performed and later bear
results (Aagaami). Aakaashaja Brahmin has none of these to call his own.)
He is as if covered by
the sheath of space only. He extends in the empty space as the empty space
only. He always exists
identified with his cause, the Para Brahman. His existence is not caused by
actions.
(Jeevas are action-identities only. They are bound
by actions and results and are identified with forms; therefore they have to
die bound by the rule connected to causality.
They are produced by the cause namely Vaasanaas;
and so are bound to die.
They begin as bodies; are bound by actions; and
die also as bodies.)
प्राक्तनानि च संत्यस्य कर्माण्यद्य करोति नो किञ्चिदप्येवमेषोsत्र विज्ञानाकाशमात्रकः ।
He has no past actions
belonging to him. He does not perform any actions at present also.
He in this manner is of
the nature of knowledge only.
(Knowledge has no beginning, no end; and Knowledge does not do anything. It cannot die.)
प्राणस्पन्दोsस्य यत्कर्म लक्ष्यते चास्मदादिभिर्दृश्यते अस्माभिरेवैतत्तन्न
त्वस्यास्त्यत्र कर्मधीः ।
The vibration of Praana
that is seen by us as his action is perceived only by us.
(This Creation is vibrating with his Praana as it
were in our limited vision only.)
He does not have the
‘doer ship-idea’ of that action.
(Identified with Knowledge only, this Aakaashaja
has no doership about anything.)
(Contemplation Practice: We who are
caught in the misconceived identity of name and form have to retrace our step
back to our original state, which we start with the contemplation on the state
of Aakaashaja, the first-born and realize that we do not own any Karmas of the
past, present or future.
‘I am born out of space alone; I have no form; my
breathing or whatever is seen only by others; I do not have this body at all…”
so should one contemplate.)
संस्थिता भावयन्तीव चिद्रूपैव परात्पदात्भिन्नमाकारमात्मीयं चित्स्तंभे
शालभञ्झिका
तथैव परमार्थान्तः स्वात्मभूतः स्थितो द्विजः ।
The ‘Supreme’ itself
which is of the nature of consciousness, remains with the conception as if it
is different from the supreme state like the statue carved on a pillar. (The
statue shines with the nature of the stone pillar undifferentiated; yet
separate as it were.) In the same manner, the Brahmin remains in the Supreme
state identified with it (different as it were; but made of that alone).
यथा द्रवत्वं पयसि शून्यत्वं च यथाम्बरे स्पन्दत्वं च यथा वायोस्तथैष
परमे पदे ।
He remains in the
Supreme state like the liquidity in the water, like the void-ness in the sky, like
the movement in the wind. (Liquidity is the water; void is the sky; movement
is the wind.)
कर्माण्यद्यतनान्यस्य सञ्चितानि न सन्ति हि न पूर्वाण्येष तेनेह
न संसारवशं गतः ।
He does not have
present actions and stored actions of the past as belonging to him. As there
are no previous actions, he does not get bound by the worldly existence.
(A Jeeva is bound by the burden of the past; and
the hope of a future; and is helpless in the present. Aakaashaja has none of
these imaginations.)
सहकारिकारणानामभावे यः प्रजायते नासौ स्वकारणाद्भिन्नो भवतीत्यनुभूयते ।
It is a matter of
common experience that a person who is produced in the absence of concomitant
causes is not different from his source.
(Clay-pot transformation
is due to concomitant causes like potter, heat, wheel etc.
Milk-curd transformation
is due to bacteria.
Brahman appearing as
Brahmaa has no such concomitant causes.
Randomly Chit manifests as
Brahmaa, the creative will and perceives the world as if it is different.)
(A man who is standing still suddenly moves; the
‘still man’ is not the ‘Cause’ for the existence of the ‘moving man.’ ‘Still
man’ alone is the ‘moving man’.
There are no instrumental, or intelligent or material
causes for the appearance of the ‘moving man’.
He is just the ‘still man’ who moved. This is a common
experience.
If at all the word ‘cause’ has to be mentioned, then
we can only state that the ‘still man’ is the cause of the ‘moving man’. But
‘man’ is the substratum, the changeless essence of both the ‘still state’ of
the man and the ‘moving state’ of the man. There is no difference between the
two. The movement is just the nature of the man. Therefore, a man does not
exist separately a ‘moving man’ apart from the ‘still man’. There is no
difference between ‘Brahman’ and the ‘Space-born’.)
(A Jeeva is a channel for
Vaasanaa fulfillment only. Vaasanaa is the residue memory of an action done in
the past. Since countless Vaasanaas newly appear every moment, all these become
potential states waiting to become realities.
For example, even in the simple act of
entering a restaurant to eat, you will have to suppress all the desires for all
tasty foods and choose one that suits your pocket or health. The suppressed
wants immediately become potentialities or Vaasanaas. You or some others will
be forced to act as channels for those Vaasanaas. Jeevas are all parts of a
Totality of existence; any Jeeva can have a Vaasanaa; another Jeeva can catch
it like a virus. That is why one should keep away the wicked ones. Brahmaa has no such
Vaasanaas of the past lurking in his mind waiting to become realities.
He is a new appearance of
the Supreme who will channelize countless random Vaasanaas into
Jeeva-manifestations. But he is not a Jeeva and he need not become a channel
for any Vaasanaa.
He is void; his action of
channelizing the Vaasanaas also is void. He remains as identified with the
Supreme and has no ego as separate from Chit. He is pure and untouched as the space.
In the absence of
concomitant causes namely Vaasanaas, he is to be looked upon as not different
from Chit, the source of all.)
कर्ता न पूर्वं नाप्यद्य कथमाक्रम्यते वद ।
यदैष कल्पनां बुद्ध्या मृतिनाम्नीं करिष्यति पृथ्व्यादिमानयमहमिति
तस्य च निश्चयः स पार्थिवो भवत्याशु ग्रहीतुं स च शक्यते ।
पृथ्व्यादिकलनाभावादेष
विप्रो न रूपवान्दृढरज्ज्वेव गगनं ग्रहीतुं नैव युज्यते ।
When he (the Brahmin)
was not a ‘doer’ in the past or present, how can he be conquered by you? Tell
me! If he uses his
imagination and creates the concept of ‘death’ and believes firmly that ‘I am
the physical body made of elements’, then he will be a person made of elements
like earth and can be caught by you. Because of the absence
of the conceptions of the elements like earth, the Brahmin has no form as such. ‘It is not possible to
bind the sky with a thick rope’.
मृत्युरुवाच भगवञ्जायते शून्यात्कथं नाम वदेत मे पृथ्व्यादयः कथं सन्ति न सन्ति वद वा कथम् ।
Mrtyu spoke: Lord, how does he rise out of the
void? How one get or not get the body made of elements?
यमोवाच न कदाचन जातोsसौ न च नास्ति कदाचन द्विजः केवलविज्ञानभामात्रं तत्तथा स्थितः ।
(Brahmaa, the lotus born Creator is just
the pure creative Vaasanaa in the Chit-space.
Countless such creative-vibrations remain unmanifest
in the Chit. Each creative-Vaasanaa has the potentiality of creating unique
worlds of its own. Randomly for no
specific reason, any creation-Vaasanaa rises like a wave and instantly
perceives worlds as per its capacity. This Vaasanaa is just an expression of
Cognition arising from the Chit. It is not a Jeeva with Vaasanaas, or previous
memories, or doer-ship characteristics. It is Chit appearing as a Creative
Cognition. This is termed Brahmaa. It has no physical body made of elements as
it is to be the potential creator of worlds made of elements. It is emptiness
alone shining lustrously with knowledge. Chit alone appears as Brahmaa as if
different and has the ‘I have a form’ idea. )
Yama spoke: He was
never born any time. (He is Brahman only.)
He is never non-existent
ever. (How can Reality cease to be?)
The Brahmin is just the
shine of knowledge (cognition, understanding...). He remains as that alone.
(Knowledge has no death.)
महाप्रलयसम्पत्तौ न किन्चिदवशिष्यते
ब्रह्मास्ते शान्तमजरमनन्तात्मैव केवलं शून्यं नित्योदितं सूक्ष्मं
निरुपाधि परं स्थितं
।
At the time of the
great dissolution, nothing remains left back.
(Dissolution
co-exists with the idea of Creation. Creation and destruction are non-existent
in Brahman. Nothingness
of Knowledge alone stays as itself.)
The changeless, endless Supreme Brahman of the
nature of quiescence alone is there.
The Supreme alone is there which is void (empty of
the perceived), always on the rise (never sets), subtle (not material), without
any faults (of the perceived).
तदा तदनु येनास्य निकटेsद्रिनिभं महः संविन्मात्रस्वभावत्वाद्देहोsहमिति चेतति
काकतालीयवद्भ्रान्तमाकारं तेन पश्यति ।
(Creation idea co-exists as the destruction idea.
Therefore the world has a beginning and end; bodies
have a beginning and end.
However the knowledge of creation and destruction is
indestructible.
Therefore with one creation gone; another rises at the
same place like the world seen by a dead man once again bound by Vaasanaas.
Waves can rise and fall; but not the nature of the ocean which can exist as the
quivers and waves.)
Then, after that
(dissolution scene), a vibration solid like a mountain, of the nature of
cognition alone, arises as - ‘I am the body’. Because of that, it perceives a (conceived)
form through delusion as a sheer coincidence (like a palm leaf falling when the
crow sat on the branch.)
सैष ब्राह्मणस्तस्मिन्सर्गादावंबरोदरे निर्विकल्पश्चिदाकाशरूपमास्थाय संस्थितः
।
That alone is this
Brahmin who exists in the ‘Chit space’ at the time of creation. He stays with a
form made of space. He is completely without any perturbations.
This Brahmin is the
Brahman state of voidness. He is Knowledge only. He is just the conception of a
Creation. He is not affected by the perceived; like the knowledge of fire
cannot be burnt ever.)
नास्य देहो न कर्माणि न कर्तृत्वं न वासनैष शुद्धचिदाकाशो विज्ञानघन
आततः ।
He has no physical
body. He has no actions belonging to him. He has no ‘doer ship’.
He has no residual
Vaasanaas. He is pure space of consciousness.
He spreads out as an
intense form of Knowledge alone.
प्राक्तनं वासनाजालं किन्चिदस्य न विद्यते केवलं व्योमरूपस्य भारूपस्येव तेजसः
।
He does not have in the
least the taint of the past Vaasanaa residues.
He shines as a form
made of void. He shines as a form of luster (not the brightness of a light; but
as the brightness of Knowledge) alone.
वेदनामात्रसंशान्तावीदृशोsपि न दृश्यते तस्माद्यथा चिदाकाशस्तथा तत्प्रतिपत्तयः ।
He does not appear like
this with a form, because his perceptions are subdued.
(He does not do the perceiving action; he is just
aware of the perceptions; that is all.)
His perception is the
expression of the Chit-space alone.
कुतः किलात्र पृथ्व्यादेः कीदृशः संभवः कथं ग्रहीतुं युज्यते
व्योम न कदाचन केनचित् ।
How can the elements
like earth etc can be here, from where and in what manner?
Nobody can grasp the
empty space ever.”
(Emptiness here means,
empty of Vaasanaas, empty of binding actions, empty of physical form, empty of
agitations, empty of everything like empty space; and of course empty of the
concept of emptiness and fullness also; but this tiny expression of Chit (Aakaashaja)
is not empty of knowledge. It knows that it is an expression of Chit; it knows
it is Chit; it knows it has to exist as the cognitions. It is just awareness.)
श्रुत्वैतद्विस्मितो मृत्युर्जगाम निजमन्दिरम् ।
Surprised by what he
heard, Mrtyu went back home. (Death is just a concept only; those who have
it die; those who stay as Knowledge-awareness only, do not die ever.)
रामोवाच ब्रह्मैष कथितो देवस्त्वया मे प्रपितामहः स्वयंभूरजैकात्मा विज्ञानात्मेति मे मतिः ।
Rama spoke: Lord, I believe that you have been talking to me about
the Lord Brahmaa, the Great Grandfather, Self born, single Self of all, and the
essence of Knowledge.
(Rama’s first thought on hearing this little story of
the ‘Space-born’ is the discovery that this is the Brahmin mentioned in the
Puranas as Lord Brahmaa, the four-faced Creator.
He feels that he has solved the first riddle. The
depression state of the young boy slightly changes.
However, Vasishta does not immediately discourage him
saying - ‘No No, I meant the Para Brahman
vibration’. He just encourages the idea Rama mentioned and continues as if
agreeing to Rama’s words.)
वसिष्टोवाच एवमेतन्महाबाहो ब्रह्मैष कथितस्तव विवादमकरोन्मृत्युर्यमेनैतत्कृते पुरा
मन्वन्तरे सर्वभक्षो यदा मृत्युर्हरन्प्रजाः बलमेत्यब्जजाक्रान्तावारंभमकरोत्स्वयं ।
Vasishta spoke: Hey Mighty armed! Indeed it is so! Brahmaa alone was mentioned here.
Long
back in the past Mrtyu argued with Yama about him only.
At
the time of Manvantara, when Death ‘the consumer of all’ ate the beings, he
became strong and started to attack the Lotus-born himself.
(The Mrtyu-concept so pervaded the creation; that no
one could escape it except the Creator Aakaashaja.This Aakaashaja is not actually a single Brahmaa of
one creation; but the quiver of the Knowledge of Creation which is a source of
countless Brahmaas and their creations.)
[Manvantara or age of a Manu, the Hindu progenitor of
mankind, is an astronomical period of time measurement. Manvantara is a
Sanskrit sandhi, a combination of words Manu and antara, Manu-antara or
manvantara, literally meaning the duration of a Manu, or his life span. 14
Manvantaras make one Kalpa - single day of Brahmaa].
तदैव धर्मराजेन यमेनाश्वननुशासितः यदैव क्रियते नित्यं रतिस्तत्रैव जायते ।
At
that very time mentioned, he was advised by Yama, the Lord of Righteousness.
‘Whatever
one regularly does, he gets attached to that alone.’
(Every man at every moment is burdened by the thought
of death.
A belief in the birth as a body brings in the belief
in the death of the body.
The attachment to the body itself turns into the fear
of death; and man creates the imagination of rebirth, heaven, hell etc. these
in turn become his added Vaasanaas.)
ब्रह्मा किल पराकाशवपुराक्रम्यते कथं मनोमात्रं च संकल्पः पृथिव्यादिरहिताकृतिः ।
यद्चिद्व्योमचमत्कारः किलाकारानुभूतिमान्न चिद्व्योमैव नो तस्य कारणत्वं न कार्यता
।
Brahmaa
has a body made of supreme space (emptiness). How can he be destroyed?
His
body is just a conception in the mind. It is not made of elements.
(A conception of fire is just emptiness only; it is
not the fire made of elements.)
He
is a magical creation of the Chit-space experiencing a body as it were. He is
the Chit-space itself.
There
is no causal source for him, nor is he the effect of something.
आकाशे स्फुरदाकार: संकल्पपुरुषो यथा पृथ्व्यादिरहितो भाति स्वयंभूर्भासते तथा ।
निर्मले व्योम्नि मुक्तालीसंकल्पस्वप्नयोः पुरमपृथ्व्यादि यथा भाति स्वयंभूर्भासते तथा ।
Just
as a ‘person in imagination’ with the appearance of a body shines in the sky
bereft of the elements like earth etc, the Self-born also shines the same way.
Just
like a garland of pearls shines in the sky, just as a city shines in
imagination without elements like earth etc, the Self-born shines in a similar
way.
न दृश्यमस्ति न द्रष्टा परमात्मनि केवले स्वयंचित्ता तथाप्येष स्वयंभूरिति भासते ।
There
is no ‘Seen’; there is no ‘Seer’ in the Supreme Self which shines as a single
principle.
Though
he (Brahmaa) is the very principle of chit, he shines as if he is self-born (as
if different).
संकल्पमात्रमेवैतन्मनो ब्रह्मेति कथ्यते संकल्पाकाशपुरुषो नास्य पृथ्व्यादि विद्यते ।
He
is just a conception. Mind alone is known as Brahmaa. He is a person in the
‘space of conception’. His
form does not have earth etc, as its constituents.
यथा चित्रकृदन्त:स्था निर्देहा भाति पुत्रिका तथैव भासते ब्रह्मा चिदाकाशाच्छरञ्जनम् ।
Like
the picture of a girl ‘to be painted’ exists in the mind of the artist without
a body as such, Brahmaa also shines as a clear reflection of the Chit-space (as
a potential state).
चिद्व्योम केवलमनन्तमनादिमध्यं ब्रह्मेति भाति निजचित्तवशात्स्वयंभूः
आकारवानिव पुमानिव वस्तुतस्तु वन्ध्यातनूज इव तस्य तु नास्ति देहः ॥
The
‘Consciousness-Space’, the sole Remaining Principle, the Endless, the Beginning
less, the Middle-less, shines
as Brahmaa the Self-born, by its own Will, as if with form, as if embodied.
In
actuality, the body does not exist for Aakaashaja (Brahmaa) like that of a
barren woman’s son.
(A barren woman’s son is not a possibility at all. It
is just a word with meaning. So also; Brahmaa the Creator is just word with
meaning; not at all an entity who creates.)
