THE HOLY GITA
CHAPTER NUMBER 08
AKSHARA BRAHMA YOGA OR THE YOGA OF THE IMPERISHABLE BRAHMAN:
VERSE NUMBER 18
Text in Transliteration:
avyaktaad vyaktayah sarvaah prabhavanty aharaagame
raatry aagame praleeyante tatraai ‘vaa ‘vyaktasamjnake
Text in English:
At the coming of day all manifest beings proceed from the unmanifested, and at the coming of night they merge again in the same which is called the unmanifested.
COMMENTARY BY SWAMI SIDBHAVANANDA:
The plan of nature is the same both in the macrocosm and the microcosm. In accordance with it, when a Jivatman (human being) goes to sleep the world projected from his mind gets withdrawn into it. The manifest and the unmanifest states of this world are all related to the wakefulness or otherwise of his mind. Similarly, the macrocosmos comes into being when Brahma wakes up and it helplessly vanishes into the unmanifested state when he goes to sleep. His day and night function on a universal basis. Creation, preservation and destruction of the universe are all contained in the states of the mind of Brahma. And this is an eternal cosmic play.
COMMENTARY BY DR.S.RADHAKRISHNAN:
Here the unmanifested is prakrti (nature).
COMMENTARY BY SWAMI SIVANANDA:
When Brahma awakes, all manifestations, moving and unmoving (animate and inanimate) stream forth at the coming of the ‘day’ from the Avyaktam or the Unamifested. When Brahma goes to sleep, all the manifestations merge in the Unmanifested, for the cosmic night has set in.
Coming of the day; Commencement of creation.
Coming of the night; Commencement of dissolution. (Cf. IX.7 and 8)
Comments by the blogger:
Since the unmanifested is prakriti or nature, God does not take any part in it. He created the nature and left the entire thing to it. When the Brahma’s day approaches the prakriti comes into being and the evolution of the universe starts from the beginning. The Big Bang is just the part of the process of evolution of the Universe. Both the animate and inanimate comes forth when Brahma (not God or Brahman, mind you) wakes up. Brahma should not be confused with the Ultimate Reality or Brahman. And when the night commences all beings and non-beings or inanimate are sucked up by prakriti or nature.
This is the difference between the Hinduism and the two major Religions of the world, namely Christianity and Mohammedanism.
The Lord of Gita states clearly that the world is within Him and He is not in the world.
Why this major difference between the Hinduism and other two major Religions above-mentioned?
First, the Hinduism alone contemplates rebirths for beings. The inanimate is only for the sake of the animate, that is, the beings. It is a cyclic happening for the beings to be born and die and take rebirth after spending their time allotted in any of the seven lokas or the worlds or plane of consciousness as Swami Sidbhavananda has written for another verse. So it all relates to the Lord’s magnanimity and compassion to have given us an umpteen number of chances to redeem ourselves by gradation or step by step, birth after birth.
Other Religions think it foolish to say a man could take many births. Their conception of Lord is somewhat cruel. For how can I redeem myself with only one chance being given? There are so many desires and likes and dislikes in me. This is because of the Lord. Mind you, you or I hadn’t, in the beginning, asked for being created and sent down to the earth’s plane. We are all minute consciousness of the Lord. We were in the beginning part and parcel of the Lord. This is the second major difference between the Hinduism and the other two major Religions of the world. And we are going to be sucked up into Him or mingle with Him at the end of the millennial day and millennial births. Thou art that is the Great Sentence the Vedopanishadic Seers and Sages found out. They did not invent it. They only discovered it, OK? They discovered the scheme of the Universe, the created beings and God and the relationship between the three.
For the other major Religions, for their men and women, there is only one chance for redemption?
How cruel it is!
Would you give your child only one chance to stand up and walk? And even when your child grows into a man or woman, would you give only one chance to him/her with respect to any worldly goal? In the material world, in the day-to-day mundane existence, you act as God, (the Hindu conception of God, that is) with reference to your children’s proving him or herself with respect to any goal. But the God of THEM gives just one chance to redeem oneself. How cruel a conception of the Lord?! Could God be more cruel with His children (us) than you with your children? AND THEY WANT TO PROPAGATE THEIR RELIGION AND CONVERT OUR POOR PEOPLE! HOW RIDICULOUS! AND MILLIONS OF DOLLARS COME TO INDIA EVERY YEAR FOR THE PURPOSE OF CONVERSION.
When Swami Vivekananda went to Chicago and became History and then toured all over America and gave his scintillating speeches, some of the American religious leaders said, “It seems the Hinduism is all right. And why should we need to convert them to our faith? Everything seems to be all right with their religion. The Hindus are not the superstitious and lost souls as we thought!” There was a wholesome awareness that the Hindus have found the Truth and nothing is wrong with them.
Thirdly, just think of the consequences if the Brahma’s night does not happen and a full stop is put to the existence of the Universe till the dawn of the Brahma’s day.
The ozone layer has been ruptured. Already the climatic changes are quite discernible. And the man in his ruthless quest for wealth and comfort and pleasure, the deforestation is almost complete. If this thing goes on for another reckless fifty years, do you think human life on the face of the planet would be possible? England and America are the major countries that are responsible for the tattered ozone layer. With them, China also may be added. But England and America want us and other poor countries to bear the responsibility equally along with them, the culprits! When it comes to International relationships it is the nation with the power who rules the rest with an iron fist.
We are digressing.
And what about the sun? It is a proven fact that the sun is a gaseous mass and has been continuously burning for millions of years. And millions of years hence there won’t be any sun! What would human ingenuity do then? There have been rudimental efforts to find places of livelihood in other planets for shifting the human beings. It is not assiduously followed. But it is in the theoretical stage. Do you think it would happen? Even if it would happen, what would the human beings shifted to such planets do? They would simply pollute such of the atmosphere there! The Mount Everest is cluttered up with canes, plastic bags and other refuse, they say. It is the highest point in the world. And the able persons who mount the Everest are well educated. But still, refuse were not taken back when they came down the Everest! You can trust human beings to spoil quickly such of the atmosphere that exists on other planets. The unhindered pursuit of wealth, power and glory has turned the world into an inhabitable one. One shudders to think how would be the lifestyle in our grandchildren’s time.
Think in whatever manner, the present Universe must come to an end. According to the Hinduism, it is a temporary end only or Brahma’s night. And for the other two major Religions it would spell the end of life here. Ok, then what would be the case of the majority of people at the end of this world who would be in varying stages of redeeming themselves? Or what would be the case of those who might be far from the stage of redeeming themselves? All of them should go to hell literally? Don’t forget we are all minuscule expressions of God, according to the Hinduism. For THEM it is not so. For one religion all of the human beings are sinners. Another religion, which is only an offshoot of the former, at the day of judgement, all the sinners would be tossed into Hell’s fire and they would be that way forever! This after giving the human beings only one chance to redeem themselves!
The world is full of desirable objects and God is not coming down to warn us say every ten or twenty years! We have been cursed with indrias or senses and kama is the result of the Lord’s illusion. And it is very hard to cross the ocean of illusion. And how could God be excused if He would only give us one chance to redeem ourselves?
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