Supreme Spirit
We now come to the all-pervading Supreme Spirit (known as ‘Brahman’) defined in the Hindu texts. Brahman[1] is beyond creation and dissolution. It is beyond thought, form, and attributes. Brahman is the highest reality. The Vedas mention that the idea of ‘god’ is subsequent to creation[2], thus making a clear distinction between god(s) and Brahman. Hinduism has many deities but only one Supreme Being.[3]
Brahman includes all of creation and is inclusive in every sense.[4] This all-encompassing idea of Divinity naturally makes a Hindu accept the whole world with all its myriad manifestations. Respect for nature – mountains, rivers, minerals, forests, soil, animals, birds, insects, and so on – is ingrained in the Hindu mind. Everything is imbued with divinity, and the whole of creation is seen as sacred. Not having reverence or gratitude is seen as profane.
While Brahman transcends definition, the Vedānta school describes it as sat-cit-ānanda, which we have seen earlier as an attribute of the Self. There is no distinction between the true Self and Brahman—knowing, experiencing, and being Brahman is one and the same.[5] If one negates Brahman, clearly one is negating everything including oneself![6] It is said that the power of Brahman supports the universe[7] but Brahman cannot flourish in the human world without dharma, which is the ultimate support.[8]
The fundamental nature of the material universe is Name (nāma) and Form (rūpa) just as the fundamental nature of Brahman is sat-cit-ānanda. These five—name, form, existence, awareness, and bliss—are grouped together as the basic elements.[9] While nāma-rūpa are ephemeral, sat-cit-ānanda are eternal.
Brahman is all-pervading but it appears in myriad ways because of the distinction of name and form.[10] The whole universe is an appearance of Brahman. It is like bubbles, droplets, and waves arising on the surface of ocean and then merging into it.[11]
While the universal experience of sat-cit-ānanda represents Absoluteness, mithyā represent Relativity. What is true at one level becomes false in the face of a higher level of reality. For instance, the ground on which we stand is flat—and to the extent it is real. But when we see it at the level of the earth, we know that it is curved, for the planet is a globe, not a flat land. The highest level of reality is the Brahman and everything else is relative.
Māyā is the power of sat-cit-ānanda that creates the distinctions of nāma and rūpa. It is the mechanism by which the Brahman appears as the universe. Māyā is an asset for Brahman whereas it is a liability for the individual (as avidyā, Primordial Ignorance).
Māyā represents the nature of indescribability of the universe. Our constant quest should be to come out of the clutches of māyā and realize the Self.
The single-syllable mantra* representing Brahman is Om, the most sacred sound in Hinduism.[12] Om has four parts: ‘a,’ ‘u,’ ‘m,’ and silence; ‘a’ represents birth, ‘u’ – growth, ‘m’ – letting go, and silence represents immortality. Also, ‘a,’ ‘u,’ and ‘m’ represent the three states of consciousness (wakeful, dream, and deep sleep) and the silence represents the all-pervading state of knowing one’s true Self.[13] Om is chanted as part of rituals and during meditation.
Now we can come to the Hindu conception of god. We have several deities but they can be reduced to the trio of Brahmā, Viṣṇu, and Maheśvara (śiva), who are inseparable from their śaktis – Sarasvatī, Pārvatī, and Lakṣmī respectively.[14]
Brahmā is associated with creation, Viṣṇu with sustenance, and Maheśvara with dissolution.
The Vedic deity Prajāpati became Brahmā of the Purāṇas. Similarly, Indra, Sūrya, Bhaga, Parjanya, Savitṛ, and Pūṣan were united in Viṣṇu; Rudra, Agni, Soma, Varuṇa, Marut, and īśāna were absorbed in śiva; Brahmaṇaspati became Gaṇapati; Aditi, Uṣas, Vāk, Sarasvatī merged into śakti. Even the latter-day deities like Māriamma were identified with śakti.[15]
There is no fundamental difference between the Vedic and Purāṇic deities—the former merged with the latter; although there may be some differences in names, forms, and functions, the spirit behind them remains unchanged.
The sense of imbuing the whole of creation with divinity manifested in the deification of the forces of nature (sky, rain, thunder, lightning, mountains, oceans, rivers, fire, wind, earth), animate beings (trees, plants, animals, birds), as well as space (the guardians of the directions[16]) and time (sun, moon).
Viṣṇu (‘the expansive one’[17]) represents space and Maheśvara (also known as Mahākāla and Kālakāla) represents time; Brahmā represents matter and śakti represents energy.[18]
Natural phenomena, the innumerable animate and inanimate beings, and all aspects of life were deified—and seen as an integral part of the Supreme.
We have seen the link between macrocosm and microcosm in the Vedas. The same idea is presented poetically in the Bhagavad-gītā and other works. The macrocosm is represented by the idea ‘Brahman is all-pervasive’[19] and that the Supreme pervades everything.[20] The microcosm is represented by the idea ‘I am Brahman’[21] and that the universe is part of the Supreme.[22]
Thus, the Hindu conception of the divine equips a Hindu to invoke the Supreme in every aspect of his life and see the whole world as a manifestation of the Supreme.[23] This ultimately should lead to realizing the Supreme in oneself.
[1] Brahman comes from the word-root √bṛh–vṛddhau meaning ‘to grow,’ ‘to prosper.’ Thus the word Brahman indicates expanse, greatness, loftiness, and the highest.
[2] ko addhā veda ka iha pra vocat kuta ājātā kuta iyaṃ visṛṣṭiḥ।
arvāg-devā asya visarjanenāthā ko veda yata ābabhūva॥—Ṛg-veda-saṃhitā 10.129.6
[3] indraṃ mitraṃ varuṇam-agnim-āhur-
atho divyaḥ sa suparṇo garutmān।
ekaṃ sad-viprā bahudhā vadanti
agniṃ yamaṃ mātariśvānam-āhuḥ॥ —Ṛg-veda-saṃhitā 1.164.46
[4] sarvaṃ khalv-idaṃ brahma tajjalān-iti śānta upāsīta।
atha khalu kratumayaḥ puruṣo yathā-kratur-asmi loke
puruṣo bhavati tathetaḥ pretya bhavati sa kratuṃ kurvīta॥—Chāndogyopaniṣad 3.14.1
[5] sa yo ha vai tat paramaṃ brahma veda brahmaiva bhavati, nāsyābrahmavit-kule bhavati। tarati śokaṃ tarati pāpmānaṃ guhā-granthibhyo vimukto’mṛto bhavati॥—Muṇḍakopaniṣad 3.2.9
Also see īśāvāsyopaniṣad 16 (“yo’sāvasau puruṣaḥ so’ham-asmi”) and Bṛhadāraṇyakopaniṣad 4.4.7 (“atha martyo’mṛto bhavaty-atra brahma samaśnuta… athāyam-aśarīro’mṛtaḥ prāṇo brahmaiva teja eva, so’haṃ…”)
[6] See Bṛhadāraṇyakopaniṣad 3.9.25
[7] Taittirīya-brāhmaṇa 2.8.9.7 (“…brahmādhyatiṣṭhad-bhuvanāni dhārayan”)
[8] Bṛhadāraṇyakopaniṣad 1.4.14 (“sa naiva vyabhavat, tacchreyorūpam-atyasṛjata dharmaṃ”)
[9] asti bhāti priyaṃ rūpam nāma cety-aṃśa-pañcakam।
ādya-trayaṃ brahma-rūpam jagad-rūpam tato dvayam॥ —Sarasvatī-rahasyopaniṣad 58 (also Dṛg-dṛśya-viveka 20)
[10] See Śatapatha-brāhmaṇa 11.2.3.3 and Chāndogyopaniṣad 6.3.2, 3 for a discussion about Brahman entering the universe by means of nāma and rūpa.
[11] This is the Brahma-vivarta-vāda (Theory of Appearance) of the Advaita-vedānta school of philosophy, according to which the Ultimate Cause appears as a multitude of effects.
[12] See Bhagavad-gītā 8.13 (“om ity-ekākṣaraṃ brahma…”)
[13] See Māṇḍūkyopaniṣad 3–12
[14] While the conception of tri-mūrti (‘three deities’) is the most common, there are other visualizations of the divine, e.g. the pañcāyatana (‘five abodes’) and the ṣaṇmata (‘six sects’).
The pañcāyatana tradition connects the various parts of India as can be seen from the following table –
|
deity Gaṇeśa Sūrya Viṣṇu śakti śiva |
sacred stone Śoṇabhadra-pāṣāṇa Sphaṭika Śālagrāma Ambikā-śila Bāṇa-liṅga |
river Śoṇa Sarasvatī Gaṇḍakī Svarṇamukharī Narmadā |
part of india East West North South Central |
Naturally occurring sacred pebbles are obtained from various parts of India and each represent the abstract form of the deity. In the pañcāyatana-pūjā, the five deities are set in a quincunx pattern (like the five on a dice or a playing card) with the central position given to the iṣṭa-devatā (deity we like the most).
The ṣaṇmata system includes Kumāra (or Skanda) in addition to the five pañcāyatana deities. The ṣaṇmatas are: śaiva (relating to śiva), Vaiṣṇava (relating to Viṣṇu), śākta (śakti), Saura (Sūrya), Gāṇapata (Gaṇapati), and Kaumāra (Kumāra).
We also have composite deities like Dattātreya, Hari-hara, śaṅkara-nārāyaṇa, Ardha-nārīśvara (integration of masculine and feminine forms of śiva), Mahālasa (integration of masculine and feminine forms of Viṣṇu), śiva-Buddha, etc.
[15] Hinduism never treated Mārga (classical, pan-Indian) and Deśī (folk, regional) as separate—whether it is Sanskrit and the various Prakrits (including many languages of Greater India), Vedas and Purāṇas, or classical arts and folk arts. Mārga and Deśī have constantly nourished each other and both have been respected since the earliest times. They are not opposed to one another.
[16] The eight directions are said to have eight dik-pālakas (‘guardians of the quarters’) – Kubera is the guardian of the North (uttara), Yama of the South (dakṣiṇa), Indra of the East (pūrva), and Varuṇa of the West (pāścima); Īśāna is the guardian of the Northeast (īśānya), Agni of the Southeast (āgneya), Vāyu of the Northwest (vāyavya), and Nirṛta of the Southwest (nairṛtya).
[17] The word ‘Viṣṇu’ is explained as vyāpnoti iti viṣṇuḥ.
[18] We see an analogous sort of integration of matter, space, time, energy, and consciousness in the aṣṭa-mūrti-tattva (‘principle of the eightfold form’) that is found in the Śatapatha-brāhmaṇa, Kauśītakī-brāhmaṇa, etc.
In the invocatory verse of the Abhijñāna-śākuntalam, Kālidāsa refers to the eight forms of Śiva – water, fire, yajamāna (one who performs yajña), sun, moon, space, earth, and air.
Kṛṣṇa refers to his eightfold form in Bhagavad-gītā 7.4 – earth, water, fire, wind, sky, mind (represented by the moon), intellect (the sun), and ego (the yajamāna).
We may visualize these eight manifestations as – three states of matter (earth: solid, water: liquid, wind: gas), energy (fire), space (sky), time (sun and moon), and consciousness (yajamāna).
[19] Chāndogyopaniṣad 3.14.1 (“sarvaṃ khalvidaṃ brahma”)
[20] This is the concept of vibhūti (super-human splendour, peerless magnificence) which is seen in Rudrādhyāya of the Kṛṣṇa-yajur-veda and the tenth chapter of the Bhagavad-gītā.
[21] Bṛhadāraṇyakopaniṣad 1.4.10 (“ahaṃ brahmāsmi”)
[22] This is seen in the viśva-rūpa-darśana (vision of the universal form) in the eleventh chapter of the Bhagavad-gītā. It is not too different from what is expressed in the Puruṣa-sūkta in the Ṛg-veda-saṃhitā—everything came from Parama-puruṣa.
[23] See Īśāvāsyopaniṣad 6 and Bhagavad-gītā 6.29, 30.
To be continued.
