AUM ATMA VA
IDAM EKA EVAGRA AASIT
NA
ANYAT KINCANA MISHAT
(In the
beginning, there was but, the absolute SELF alone, nothing else was)
(Aitareya upanishad)
Thus, it
throws light on something that existed prior to creation which did not subject
itself to any of the description of the created beings given in the earlier post under this theme " creation".
So, the above verse says that in the beginning, Only God ( ATMAN) existed ALONE and nothing else was!
IN THE
BEGINNING
Chinmaya
writes, the student has reached the master after using his own intellect trying
independently to understand the world of creation around his life.
In his
enquiry he must necessarily come to ask questions like:-
· From where did all these come?
· What was there before the first creation?
SELF ALONE
EXISTED
The master
looks at the curious disciple and replies, "In the beginning, before the
manifested creation came into being, SELF alone existed".
Who else but
Chinmaya can go on to explain this with the most simple example?
· In a cloth shop, before the creation of cloth, different in shape,
color, volume and quantity, all that existed is cotton.
· Opening a box of ornaments of different shapes and patterns of
different names and descriptions, of different designs and uses, we can say, before
all these was created, in the beginning, all that existed was Gold.
In the same
way, before the creation of this universe, all that existed was God or Self or
consciousness, all alone, without name, without form, without
description, without volume, without various dimension, without
shape, without beginning or end, without any limitation!
If we have
replaced the original word "SELF" in the verse with "GOD",
then, as per the verse, How that God would have been?
· Not created by 5 elements. Since God existed prior to creation,
God was not possibly created by any of the 5 elements because, God existed, as
per the verses given above which say “In the beginning, there was but, the
absolute SELF alone, nothing else was"; “Neither non-being, nor being was,
nor was there space, neither heavens beyond it”.
· Not an effect of any prior cause. Going by the same verses given
above, since there existed nothing other than God, God could not be the effect
of any prior cause as no cause existed prior to God.
· Neither born, nor will die and hence, imperishable. Again, since
God has not been created by anything and it is not born out of anything,
it also has no death and hence, it is imperishable.
So, God as
causeless, not created by any other thing, never born and hence, having no
death, without the limitation of time and space as time
space themselves were not there when He alone existed.
This existence of
God all alone without anything else is described as "KAIVALYA" in
upanishads. Don't we sing, Kamala Nayana Hey Kaivalya Dhama?
And, this
God existing alone is described as "BRAHMAN" in our vedas.
Love.
PS:- While THAT which existed alone is described as Brahman, why in the above verse, it says " only ATMAN existed"? We will learn about this later, after we have gone more deeper into the subject!
PS:- While THAT which existed alone is described as Brahman, why in the above verse, it says " only ATMAN existed"? We will learn about this later, after we have gone more deeper into the subject!
