सृष्टि से पहले सत् नहीं था,
असत् भी नहीं
अंतरिक्ष भी नहीं,
आकाश भी नहीं था।
छिपा था क्या, कहां,
किसने ढका था।
उस पल तो अगम, अतल
जल भी कहां था।
नहीं थी मृत्यु,
थी अमरता भी नहीं।
नहीं था दिन, रात भी नहीं
हवा भी नहीं।
सांस थी स्वयमेव फिर भी,
नहीं था कोई, कुछ भी।
परमतत्व से अलग, या परे भी।
अंधेरे में अंधेरा, मुंदा अंधेरा था,
जल भी केवल निराकार जल था।
परमतत्व था, सृजन कामना से भरा
ओछे जल से घिरा।
वही अपनी तपस्या की महिमा से उभरा।
परम मन में बीज पहला जो उगा,
काम बनकर वह जगा।
कवियों, ज्ञानियों ने जाना
असत् और सत् का, निकट सम्बन्ध पहचाना।
पहले सम्बन्ध के किरण धागे तिरछे।
परमतत्व उस पल ऊपर या नीचे।
वह था बटा हुआ,
पुरुष और स्त्री बना हुआ।
ऊपर दाता वही भोक्ता
नीचे वसुधा स्वधा
हो गया।।
सृष्टि ये बनी कैसे,
किससे
आई है कहां से।
कोई क्या जानता है,
बता सकता है?
देवताओं को नहीं ज्ञात
वे आए सृजन के बाद।
सृष्टि को रचा है जिसने,
उसको, जाना किसने।
सृष्टि का कौन है कर्ता,
कर्ता है व अकर्ता?
ऊंचे आकाश में रहता,
सदा अध्यक्ष बना रहता।
वहीं सचमुच में जानता
या नहीं भी जानता।
है किसी को नहीं पता,
नहीं पता,
नहीं हैं पता,
नहीं हैं पता।
These are a few beautiful lines from the song we used to listen to in the television serial "Bharat Ek Khoj" that used to be telecasted on DD during our childhood. These lines used to touch our hearts even at that point in time though it was very difficult to understand and appreciate the depth of these lines. Not so that today with four decades of life experience it has become easy for me to appreciate the depth of these lines, however, it is becoming clearer and clearer to the mind that there are much deeper truths of this world than this limited mind can understand. Limited is getting more and more convinced of its limitations.
सृष्टि से पहले सत् नहीं था, असत् भी नहीं
What existed before the creation of this universe. Scientists say that this universe started from a dot in an event called the Big Bang. However, scientists are silent on the question as to what existed prior to the Big Bang. On the other hand, the latest research, especially the CERN experiments in the field of quantum physics tell us that the entire matter has emerged from the field, which is called the Higgs field. The latest research also provides evidence that all the building blocks of this universe such as the bosons and fermions take birth from the field and merge back into the same. It is the degree of interaction of the particles with the Higgs field that determines the mass these particles carry. Probably this Higgs field is the same as the consciousness that existed before the Big Bang.
On the one hand, there exist all the possibilities in the consciousness, on the other hand, it is not any of these possibilities. For example, water has all the possibilities such as glaciers, clouds, and rivers, and yet it is not any of these. In fact, that is the state of the greatest harmony where there is no difference and there is complete union. The moment, a particle takes birth from that consciousness, that is the starting point of the divisions. However, every particle has an option to decide the center of its existence. It may continue to be aware of its origin and therefore may live a life with the "divine as its center of existence" or may lose awareness of the consciousness, where it has emerged from, and may live life with a sense of disconnection and separation from the whole and "ego as the center of existence". This awareness makes all the difference. With both types of awareness, the particle may live the life of Tamas, Rajas, or Sattva. In Tamasik's life, it decides to hold on to what it identifies with. In Rajasik's life, it has a huge inclination for change. Saatvik life has a natural inclination for expansion.
We all are also just conglomerates of these particles and have emerged from the same consciousness. We too live life with the divine center of existence or egocentric existence. Similarly, we too live a Tamasik, Rajasik, or Saatvik life. When we live a Tamasik life, we just hold on to what we have. The things we hold on to may be small or big. For example, somebody may be holding on to his job as a peon, while somebody may be holding on to his position as a minister. Similarly, what we hold on to may be tangible or intangible. Sometimes, we hold on to material objects such as our home or a bank balance. While sometimes, we hold on to ideas, beliefs, and religion. This holding on gives us pleasure on the one hand and on the other hand breeds fear because whatever we hold on to is temporary.
It does not really matter what we hold on to. What really matters is whether we remember where have we come from. If we stay aware of the origin, we know where lies the center of our existence. We also know that the Tamas we are holding on to is temporary. Bharata took care of Ayodhya in that spirit. Though he was the ruler of Ayodhya when Rama went to the forest, he always served Ayodhya as a representative of Rama. His center of existence was always in Rama. There was no sense of separation and that is the reason why he did not have any ego. On the other hand, Ravana has a very strong sense of separation from the divine and that is why his Tamas revolved around his ego.
On the other hand, when we live a Rajasik life, we are more focused on changes. We do not hold on to a particular thing or an idea. We are just like seekers in this world, seeking one home to another, one job to another, one business to another, one travel destination to another, one idea to another, one organization to another, one ideology to another, one stream of knowledge to another, one invention to another.
However, again it does not matter what we devote our energy to so long as we stay aware of the fact where we have come from. If we remember that we have emerged from the consciousness and sooner or later we are going to merge with the same, then the divine will be the center of our existence. We know very well that all sense of separation is just an illusion in the domain of time and space and therefore will not get trapped in that ignorance. Hanumana had an awareness of the oneness of the divine. He identified with Rama so strongly that no sense of separation could take over and he remained egoless the whole of his life. All his actions were devoted to Rama. On the other hand, Ravana also was very Rajasik. However, he did not stay aware of that oneness and that is why the sense of separation dominated his mind. All his actions were driven by ego. Ego-driven Rajas bring anger and exploitation and that is what Ravana did with all his brothers. Restlessness is a natural outcome of ego-driven Rajasik activities.
Similarly, we may also live a Saatvik life, which is the life of expansion. When we live a Saatvik life, we aim at vertical growth. We like to explore new forms of knowledge, and new arts, like talking to different people, and exploring different cultures and thought processes. Basically, we wish to expand. Such expansion may also take place with both the mindset viz: the mind that stays aware of its origin, the divine, and the mind that has forgotten. The aware mind expands with that divine connection like Lakshmana grew with Rama. Despite all his knowledge, he would go to Ravana, while Ravana is on his deathbed, to take the lessons of life from him because Rama has guided him. On the other hand, Ravana would accumulate whole of the knowledge on this earth just to strengthen his ego. The more one strengthens one's ego the weaker and more fearful it becomes because the whole sense of separation is based on ignorance and a false understanding of life.
I feel that the root cause of the problems that the entire humanity is facing lies in ignorance. If we stay aware of our origin: where the Big Bang emerged from and where all the building blocks of this universe have taken birth from, and we stay connected to that source, the consciousness, we can never fall into the trap of ignorance. This ignorance makes us limited and narrow and we get trapped in ego. When our life is centered around ego, whatever way we live our lives: whether Tamasik, Rajasik, or Saatvik, will be full of fear, restlessness, and frustrations. Limited can never become unlimited. The ego can never take over the divine because it is just an offspring of the divine. On the other, hand, when we live a life with the awareness of the divine, we gain wisdom, love, and compassion. We live a fulfilling life. If we try to look at the world and different phenomena from the perspective of ego, we end up dividing the whole world into right and wrong, just like a geo-centric view where we look at the universe from the earth and end up concluding that Venus is bigger and brighter than most of the galaxies.
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