VERSE 8:
उपादानेऽखिलाधारे जगन्ति परमेश्वरे ।
सर्गस्थितिलयान् यान्ति बुद्बुदानीव वारिणि ॥ ८॥
UPAADAANE AKHILAA-DHAARE
AGANTI PARAMESHWARE
SARGA-STHITI-LAYAAN
YAANTI
BUDBUDAANI IVA VAARINI
(Like bubbles in the
water, the worlds rise, exist and dissolve in the Supreme Self, which is the
material cause and the prop of everything)
A beautiful painting is created in our mind by
this verse.
Till now we learnt the illusory nature of the
world through various example such as silver in nacre, dream etc. Acharya
Sankara in this sloka is further explaining the impermanence of the world by
another beautiful example.
We all have seen bubble in sea, standing on the
sea shore and enjoying the sea view, many times.
Let us think for a minute about this beautiful
bubble that arise in an ocean.
With our intellect, we know that for everything
that happens in this world, there has to be a cause. Correct?
Applying this logic, let us now think about
the cause of the bubble referred to above.
BUBBLE AND THE OCEAN
From where that bubble arises??
In what that bubble sustains??
Into what that bubble goes back??
The bubble that we see is nothing but the water
at the substratum of sea.
Such bubble, appearing separate, has no separate
identity apart from the sea water in which they sustain.
And, after appearing in the sea water for some
time, the bubble then retrace to the origin from where they emerged, which is
the water at the substratum of ocean.
CREATION AND BRAHMAN
From where this creation arises??
In what this creation sustains??
Into what this creation goes back??
Just like bubbles are not different from water
nor do they have any separate existence, so are the creations perceived by an
ignorant person.
This creation which appears separate from
Brahman or the creator is nothing but the creator or the God or the Brahman
Itself.
How this can be understood??
This has to be understood clearly considering
the truth that when God created this creation, there was nothing that existed
other than the God Himself. So, creation ought to be nothing other than God
Himself as He could create the same only by pouring out Himself as the
following causes for this creation
-
Material cause- Matter with which
creation emerged- the 5 elements.
-
Efficient cause- The Cosmic intelligence
with which this creation was planned and created.
-
Instrument cause- The tools / the instrument
for this creation- Anything with which this creation was created by God has to
be God has to be nothing other than God, because except God, there existed
nothing else other than He himself, when He willed to create this creation
/ universe.
All the duality thus has to be known only as an
illusion. And any illusion needs a substratum and that is Brahman. Also through
this example, we also learn that Brahman is not only the efficient cause but
the material cause also. The Support and material cause of all creation is thus
the Self only.
This introduces the fitting metaphor of the
bubbles in water. It is more than just a metaphor, the word bud-bud and even
the English ‘bubbles’ for that matter, captures the sound of what it stands
for, and hence it is called an Onomatopoeia in English.
Other such words which incorporate the sound of
what they describe are: the ‘buzzing’ of bees, the ‘bang’ of a door, the
‘jingle’ of bells, the ‘murmur’ of brooks. Bubbles in water arise as small
pockets of air, become larger as they merge with other bubbles, and rise to the
surface.
There they suddenly burst. It can be an
absorbing, entertaining sight just to watch bubbles in water as they arise,
exist, and collapse. The creation of the innumerable worlds of this whole
cosmos is just like that.
The simile is used so effectively as to even
tell us what the value of this illusory world is – no more than a burst of air
bubbles in water!
The poet in Sankaracharya cannot resist having a
laugh at this universe – “Here, this is what I think of all your majesty! You
are all just bubbles, nothing more!”
