Srimate SrivanSatakopa Sri Vedanta Desika Yatindra Mahadesikaya nama:
Hari Potter or Complexities of Creation
The one thing philosophers belonging to all religions, sects and sub sects are
agreed upon is that God created this world. There might be differences among
them about the exact process and the nuts and bolts of Creation, but they are
unanimous on the Lord's authorship of the world and its innumerable inhabitants.
There is also no difference of opinion that non-sentient matter as well as
sentient beings were indeed products of God's creation. Only the atheists,
consisting of a microscopic minority, disagree with this idea: however, since
they disagree with most of what everyone else agrees upon, we need not take
them seriously.
Turning to our own Sampradaya, as staunch votaries of the Shruti, we believe
implicitly in the Lord being the Creator. The TaittirIyOpanishad says, "yatO vA
imAni bhootAni jAyantE-------tat vijigyAsasva, tat Brahma", conclusively laying
down that the Supreme Power is that from which all beings and objects are born.
This is reiterated in the Mahabharata too, in the words of Sri Bhishmacharya-
"yata: sarvANi bhootAni bhavanti Adi yugAgamE". Sri Nammazhwar concurs with
this at several places in Tiruvaimozhi-
"ondrum dEvum ulagum uyirum mattrum yAdum illa
andru nAnmukhan tannOdu dEvar ulagOdu uyir padaitthAn"
"pAmaru moovulagum padaittha PadmanAbhAvO" etc.
"Eka: tvam asi lOkasya srashtA samhAraka: tatA" says the Jitanta Stotram.
The reason for furnishing these multiple quotes to confirm the same point is to
emphasize the unanimity on the subject.
The Purusha Sukta, describing the process of creation, details a Cosmic yagyam
performed for the purpose, from which was born the VirAt Purusha, from whom
were born various categories of celestial beings. From the Lord's face were
born DvijAs, from His powerful shoulders the princely clan and so on. From His
mind was created the Moon, giving it its pleasant and cool nature, and from His
eyes the Sun, the provider of life-giving light and heat. Again from the face
was born fire and from His breath, air. The skies originated from His navel and
the upper worlds from His head, while the Earth was born from His holy feet.
His ears gave birth to the four principal directions and so were created the
various worlds and their inhabitants.
The process of Creation is recounted in other contexts too in the Shruti,
slightly differing from the one outlined above. The Puranas too devote quite a
few pages to the subject, with minor differences in detail. Again, there is no
dispute about who created the worlds.
If we go into the mechanics of Creation, not only of the Universe, but of any
creation or production, we find that there are three principal requirements for
the process-
1.The material cause- There has to be some raw material, out of which the
proposed object is to be fashioned. This is indispensable, for things can't be
made out of thin air. If we take the oft-repeated example of a pot, it can be
made only out of the basic raw material of clay. Think of anything, you will
find that there is something that goes into its manufacture, an essential
material component.
2. The Accessories- For making anything, one needs tools. Raw materials will
not by themselves be transformed into the desired object, unless they are
processed with the aid of tools. In the aforesaid example of the pot, clay can
be made into a pot only if it is shaped on the potter's wheel.
3. The Efficient Cause-The basic material and the tools of production may be
available, but unless there is someone to make use of them in the appropriate
manner, production would not result. Without the potter, neither the clay nor
the tools themselves would be of any use. It is he who uses both in the
prescribed fashion to turn raw clay into an earthen vessel, with the aid of the
wheel.
Apart from the above, there has to be a place from which the production process
is to be carried out, as the potter, his wheel, clay etc. require a location
from which to operate.
Having accepted the Lord as the Creator, we are faced with a few questions,
seemingly unanswerable, which strike at the very basis of our belief.
First and foremost, it is necessary to have tools for any sort of production or
creation, making them indispensable aids in the process. If we accept this,
then the question arises as to what are the Accessories that the Lord uses when
He creates. Accepting the existence of such accessories would again raise the
question as to who created them. If our reply is that the Lord created the
accessories also, this would raise the query as to what were the tools used in
the manufacture of those accessories. Such questions could hence be asked ad
infinitum, and would be akin to the argument about which came first, the hen or
the egg. If He used tools, then those tools had to be created with the aid of
some more tools, which again would not have been possible without yet more
accessories, and so on. If carried to its impossible but logical conclusion, it
may necessitate an admission as to the existence of tools, which were not
created by the Lord, which again would run counter to our principle of the Lord
being the Universal Creator.
The second question is-when the Lord creates, which place does He have as His
base for the process? Just as the potter has his shed from where he turns out
the pots, the Lord too has to have some place from which he carries on the
process of Creation. If we point to a particular place and ascribe the activity
as based in that place, we would have to answer the question of who created
that place. If our answer is that the Lord did, it would again raise the query
as to from which base the instant place was created. Interminable questions
could be asked in this regard, as each successive production base for the
creative process would be subject to the same objection that it has to have a
different place of establishment.
There are also allied questions as to why the Lord should create the world, for
any action is invariably with a purpose in mind. None, not even a mad man, acts
in a particular fashion, without a specific purpose-"phalam anuddisya na
mandOpi pravartatE". Hence Creation too has to be with a definite objective in
mind. If we accept this, then it would mean that the specific purpose the Lord
had in mind while undertaking creation, was obviously not satisfied prior to
Creation. Had the objective been achieved prior to Creation, there would be
absolutely no need for Creation at all. And if there was a time (before
Creation) when the Lord's wishes had not been satisfied, we can't really call
Him a person with fulfilled wants ("avApta samasta kAma:"), can we?
These and other objections of the same genre are not idle ones thrown up just
for debate, but were issues bandied about by a minority school of thought, who
would not accept the Lord's authorship of the world. This is evident from Sri
KoorattAzhwan's couplet in Sri Vaikuntastavam-
"Kim sAdhana: kva nivasan kim upAdadAna:kasmai phalAya srijati Isa:idam samastam
ityAdi anishtita kutarkam atarkayanta: tvat vaibhavam Shruti vidO vidu:
apratarkyam"
Sri Koorattazhwan terms all the aforesaid questions as "kutarkam" or illogical
arguments against the Lord's Creatorship of the world.
If these are questions regarding Creation, there are others too about the
Lord's role in Destruction, the Cosmic Deluge. This time, it is no cantankerous
adversary who raises the matter, but an Azhwar. Sri Poigai Azhwar, referring to
Emperuman's endearing form, that of an infant lying on a banyan leaf amidst the
raging waters of the Cosmic Deluge, with all the worlds and beings safe in His
small tummy-the Vatapatra SAyee. He asks the Lord, with the liberty of those
who are close, where the banyan leaf came from, when the entire universe was in
the throes of destruction. Where could the parent tree have been rooted, for
there was absolutely no land left, having been inundated by the swirling waters
of the praLayam. Azhwar wonders sarcastically whether the strange tree (which
gave birth to the leaf on which the Lord reclined) had its roots in the waters
or in the sky. Azhwar seeks a categorical reply from the Lord as to the origins
of this weird ad wonderful tree, which had not a place to put out its roots,
yet was able to beget the leaf, which could accommodate the Lord Himself. Here
is the beautiful pasuram, for which the Lord apparently no reply-
"BAlan tanadu uruvAi Ezhulagu uNdu-Alilaiyin
mEl andru nee vaLarnda mey enbar-Al andru
vElai neer uLladO viNnadO maNNadO
sOlai soozh kundru edutthAi sollu"
Imagine the scene-all the Universe, with its innumerable inhabitants, has been
overrun by the swirling waters. There is a great emptiness, relieved only by
the deluge, in which all the oceans have combined to inundate all available
land. The sole remnant of the destructive deluge is the Lord Himself, who has
swallowed all the sentient and non-sentient beings and stored them in His tiny
tummy for safekeeping, till the occasion arises for the next Creative process.
His form, however, is that of a bewitching infant, apparently in hunger and
chewing the toe of His foot, holding it still in His right hand. And amidst all
the deluge and the raging waters, He reclines on a small banyan leaf, hardly
enough to provide full cover to His little back. Amidst the chaotic inundation,
this wonderful leaf and its worthy occupant alone remain stable and steady,
unaffected by the terrifying torrents. It is this scene that makes the Azhwar
wonder where the leaf could have come from and how it was able to accommodate
the great and glorious Lord Himself.
These and other such questions about the Lord's doings are answered by Sri
KoorattAzhwan in the latter half of the sloka cited above-" tvat vaibhavam
Shruti vidO vidu: apratarkyam". Those who have mastered the Vedas know that the
Lord's capabilities are beyond debate, He being verily the omnipotent Supreme
Being, having the wherewithal to make anything happen, however strange and
impossible it may sound for others. His capacity for extraordinary feats is
indeed inexhaustible and it is futile to question Him on how or why He does
certain things and not others.
Lest this be regarded as a facile explanation for the inconvenient questions
posed above, Sri Koorattazhwan cites the impartial and eternal Shruti as the
expert witness in this regard, for proving the Lord's competence for making the
impossible happen ("aghatita ghatanA sAmartyam").
The Upanishad pays glorious tribute to the Lord's capabilities, by putting them
on a lofty pedestal, beyond human ken, and attesting to their varied and
imponderable character-"ParAsya shakti: vividhaiva shrooyatE"
We, who have not even a trillionth portion of the Lord's capacity, in all its
myriad manifestations, are hardly qualified to comment on what He can or cannot
do. Nothing is impossible for Him, for His Shakti is such. If we are able to
accept, albeit with a pinch of salt, the daring and hardly-credible exploits of
Supermen in films and comics, we should have no difficulty in admitting the
powers extraordinaire of the omnipotent Lord for creating without aids or
accessories, for carrying out the Creative function without an apparent base,
for undertaking the function of destruction lying on a little leaf emanating
apparently from nowhere. For, after all, He is the Parabrahmam who is able to
see without eyes, hear without ears and run without legs, capable of achieving
any objective instantaneously, through the single thought that it be so.
Swami Desikan too deals with the matter and arrives at the same conclusion in
his own inimitable way, in Achyuta Satakam-
"Purusha pradhAna sharIra: bhuvanAnAm bhavasi Achyuta! UpAdAnam
nija sankalpa sanAtha: vahasi nimittatvam api adhbhuta shakti:"
Addressing Sri Devanatha of Tiruvaheendrapuram, Swami Desikan wonders at His
astonishing powers for putting through amazing acts, beyond even the
contemplation of the most exalted of deities, powers which have been neither
heard of or witnessed earlier-:adhbuta shakti:". It is this Shakti, which
enables Him to create the various worlds with Himself as both the material and
efficient cause. Having accommodated all matter and beings in a sublime form in
His capacious stomach, He uses the same as the material cause for bringing
forth Creation as and when occasion arises. It is His divine Will, Sankalpam,
to transform Himself from a Supreme Being with sentient and non-sentient matter
forming an inseparable part of Himself, into the Universal Ruler with a full
complement of adoring acolytes, manifesting themselves into a gross form
compared to their earlier subtle one. When He wills to become many ("bahu:syAm
prajAyEyEti"), He creates the innumerable varieties of beings and objects, all
forming His own sharIram.
It is this wonderful character of the Lord that makes Him tower head and
shoulders above deities who are after all His own creation and make the latter
appear to be mere pygmies in comparison. And it is this amazing ability of the
Lord to enact the apparently impossible, that also endows us with the faith
that there is some one who can pardon even our gross, grievous and countless
sins accumulated over one sinful birth after another. Otherwise, we feel
convinced that it is impossible for anyone to take anything but a serious view
of our innumerable indiscretions. As "aparAdha ChakravarttIs" specialising in
transgressions, we are relieved that it is indeed possible for the Lord, with
His powers extraordinaire, to forgive us, notwithstanding our unforgivable
offences, if only we adopt the simple but effective strategy of Prapatti.
Srimate Sri LakshmINrsimha divya paduka sevaka SrivanSatakopa Sri Narayana
Yatindra Mahadesikaya nama:
Dasan, sadagopan
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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