| |
|
|
|
|
Articles |
Glossary |
Questions |
Home |
by
Sri Bimal Mohanty
VOL
No. 63
May 2006
ONE
GOD, MANY GODS- Part 1
Based on the lectures by Sri Bimal Mohanty
Some
of the earliest thoughts that must have seized the intelligence of human
mind, is the wonder of the unfolding scenario all around him. Something
is continuously happening everywhere. A new thing, a new phenomenon is
coming into existence which was not there before. This is the concept
of sristi or creation.
The next wonder that would have hit him is that, whatever is getting created,
that very thing is changing right in front of his eyes. Everything is
getting mutated or transformed into something else. The earlier status
is getting lost into somewhere or something and is continuously making
place for a new state of being. That is our concept of pralay
or bilay.
Why is it changing or getting transformed or mutated? Because, the present
is fraught with dissatisfaction as no set of conditions allow him happiness
which he can hold on to. There is an yet unexplained and yet undefined
entity within himself which is constantly longing for happiness that can
last within his present conditions but finds that this is not to be. He
sees logic in the fact that he must discard the present conditions and
change to adapt himself to a new set of conditions to remain happy, hoping
for a possible better and superior state. A particular state can be sacrificed
but something which is his intrinsic nature to be happy can not be wiped
out of existence. That essential nature of his always wants to exist-
he wants sthiti or unbroken state of existence based on happiness
and satisfaction.
This is not a situation at any individual level but in a gigantic scale,
encompassing the entire creation, the samasti or wholeness that
includes every created being around.
In this interplay of sristi, sthiti and bilay-
coming to being, holding on to his essential nature and mutation as a
natural course to achieve that, he discovers the presence of a superior
power that controls this gigantic cosmic enterprise. If on the surface
it appears like madness, there is a well-defined method in this madness
and there is some force that pulls the strings as it were.
That discovery of the presence of a superior entity is the first sign
of man’s evolution into a ‘higher status of mind, higher level
of thinking of a higher being’.
The other realization that eventually dawned upon man is that, this Supreme
Force who constantly controls- the niyantA- , is ever alert (sarvadrstA),
is the primary cause of all actions including his own. In a way, He is
indeed the KartA or doer of all the karmas or actions.
Further, this power is indeed unique in character that it works for every
one’s all round benefit and over all interest (sarva mangala
mAngalyam, kalyAnakAri). Whether the man realizes this immediately
or later, he discovers, that his interests are always protected by this
Supreme power. The Supreme Power always works for him and never against
his interests.
Man is a mental being, an intelligent mental being. Hence it was not long
before, he recognized that if he can totally align himself with the ways
of this superior force, he can reap rich dividends for himself.
He understood the advantage of self surrender and self consecration, the
benefits of saranAgati. It is not a forced surrender but an intelligent
submission with full consent as the advantage of doing so became so apparent
to him.
Once he surrendered himself, he found that the benefits that accrue are
unlimited. More he submitted himself, more this power bestowed its grace.
If he asked a little, he got so much more.
So eventually as man grew in intelligence, he rightly rationalized that
by submitting himself to this supreme power and conforming to its ways
and principles he has so much more to gain. That is man’s recognition
of Brahman or God and the dawn of dharma or religion.
By nature, all living beings show signs of gratefulness whenever they
receive something that appeals to them. That is their higher nature. The
higher nature of man is to be grateful for what he receives and to openly
express his gratefulness.
The development of this expression of gratefulness is the origin of ‘worship’
or pooja. It comes so naturally as part of man’s development.
More the benefits he gained, more he worshipped and more he worshipped
more gains started flowing till this worship or pooja became
a way of life with man, a part of his enlightened mind, differentiating
him from a matter of fact ‘base life’ to a more rational higher
life.
Man’s eternal quest for happiness and peaceful existence finds expression
in this act of Pooja or worship. Pooja is at the root
of this longing in man. And it is only natural that man worships that
power and entity in whose control all his happiness lies.
But this inter-relationship between needs of the man and this process
of appealing to that ultimate benefactor, has many intricacies. As we
have discussed before, our ancient philosophers, (the seers), analysed
that man is not one but a many-dimensional entity. As the Mother of Pondichery
observed ‘Man does not live in a single plane but on many planes
at the same time’. Broadly speaking, there is a physical aspect
of man that every body sees and understands. That is simple enough. But
man also has a mental dimension as well as a psychic dimension which,
when all put together can describe correctly what the man is. His existence,
his development and his ultimate fulfillment takes into account all his
dimensions.
Therefore he has physical needs that must be satisfied. At the same time
his mental needs must be satisfied. And what is more, he can not be truly
satisfied until his psychic needs are also satisfied.
Logic says, that the needs of man at different levels are not the same
and can not be same. His mental needs are so different from his physical
needs. So also his physical and mental needs can never take his mind away
from his psychic aspirations. They may be interdependent but they are
essentially different. One may gain control over the needs, but ‘needs’
can not be totally eliminated as long as man exists.
So for any need of any kind, man always runs to some one for help and
eventually looks upto that ultimate benefactor, that Supreme Power or
God, for fulfillment.
When he needs food, or physical protection, or progeny or power over enemies
he prays or worships the benefactor. When he wants peace of mind or understanding
of the ways of the nature, he worships the same benefactor. When he seeks
the ultimate truth of things, and the permanent bliss he worships again
to that same benefactor.
Man’s needs are countless. From trivial to important, from gross
to subtle, from physical to mental and from mental to psychic, there are
needs and more needs that must be satiated. The Lord has also countless
ways to fulfill every need of the man. All are in His power. Man has only
to appeal to that aspect of the Lord by which that particular need of
his is fulfilled.
That is how man sees God sometimes as provider of food, another time as
the harbinger of rains, giver of good health, enhancer of progeny, kindler
of noble thoughts in mind, bestower of knowledge and understanding, deliverer
from harm, enricher of life and usherer of bliss and peace.
God has no form but in each of these acts of God, man forms his own mental
picture to concentrate upon. He has created benign forms to which he can
relate and be grateful for the grace, when he receives.
Each aspect of that Supreme Divinity, is a God to the seeker. This is
an intelligent and effective way to work out his needs and show his gratitude.
Sanatan philosophy is often ridiculed for its creation of many
Gods. This is very poor understanding. The misrepresentation of inferior
minds without understanding the great concept of form is the reason. Concentration
comes easily when focused on a particular aspect instead of getting scattered
in the vastness (The very concept of Brahman, brhat virAta etc)
of the Lord. This is a great facilitator at initial stages of the development
of mind before it can eventually comprehend the concept of one and only
Brahman.
Where from does man get the ideas to give a form to a God? From the very
same forms around him that have been created by Brahman himself
as part of His creation. He sees the physical nature with its many variations,
picks out the best out of them adds and modifies using his own little
power of imagination and conceives a form that gives him unbound pleasure.
Behind every form of a god there lies this pleasure of love and devotion,
with whom man associates all that he receives, to whom he can appeal and
express his gratitude and worship. A concept psychologically so powerful
when understood.
There are thus many Gods with many forms, each carefully matched to a
particular need or a few related needs taken together, each representing
one or more aspects of that ultimate Brahman who by His very
terms of definition can not be otherwise comprehended with the limited
human mind.
Many Gods are there because man’s needs are also many. Our purAnas
even talk of three hundred and thirty million Gods or three hundred and
thirty million ways by which Brahman may be worshipped. That
goes to justify the statement that sanAtan philosophy is indeed
a way of life. Each man can have his own starting point from where he
approaches God.
The underlying truth behind this is a convenient approach to spirituality
or a spiritual approach to life itself.
Not only man borrowed the forms from the nature around him, but he also
recognized that every entity in the nature or creation, has a specific
gift that goes to serve his purpose in life, supports and enriches his
life. Whether a tree provides fruits, or the sun pours down energy, or
the clouds and rivers provide nourishing water, or a parent raises him
or a teacher imparts knowledge, or a living epitome of wisdom and values
standing out as an example for all, it seems as if each one represents
an agency or medium through which the grace of the Divine comes down to
him. No surprise then, that every object in the creation was seen by man
as an extension of that Supreme Brahman. Each object became a
God to him in its own way and in gratitude became worthy of worship. Man
saw God everywhere and in everything.
Not many philosophies rose to the intellectual height to see everything
as worthy of worship, as ‘gods’, representing some aspect
of that ultimate Brahman.
SanAtan philosophy reveres everything- gross, subtle, living,
non-living- everything around him and declares:
Sarvam khalvidam Brahman…Yat kinca jagatyam jagat…all
that is in the creation are indeed Brahman in different forms.
We shall next take up a couple of representative examples as how the sanAtan
philosophy deityfies and what it sees in them whom it gives the status
of a God.
