Vedas - Sound and Creation - Part 1

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Sound and Creation - Part 1

 

"To the modern mind the claim that the breath of Isvara is manifested

in the form of sound seems nonsensical, also that it was with this

sound that Bramha performed his function of creation. But on careful

reflection you will realise that the belief is based on a great

scientific truth.

 

What is sound? According to modern science, it is vibration. "If you

examine the core of an atom you will realise that all matter is one. "

This Advaitic conclusion is arrived at according to nuclear science and

the concepts of Einstein. All this world is one flood of energy

(sakti); everything is an electromagnetic flow. But how do we account

for the manifestation of different objects? It is to be attributed to

different type of vibrations.

 

Where there is vibration there is a sound. Conversely, to produce a

sound, the vibration corresponding to it must also be created. The

scientific concept that the different vibrations of the same energy are

the cause of creation is the same as the belief that world was created

with the breath of the Paramatman manifesting itself as the sound of

the Vedas.

 

Consider human beings and other creatures. What is it that determines

their health and feelings? The breath that passes through our nadis,

blood vessels, during respiration produces vibrations and on them

depends the state of our health. Those who keep their breathing under

control through the practice of yoga are healthy to an amazing degree.

They do not bleed even if their veins are cut. They are able to remain

buried in the earth in samadhi stopping their pulse and heartbeat. They

are not poisoned even if they are bitten by a snake or stung by a

scorpion. The reason is that they keep the vibrations of the nadis

under control during breathing.

 

Breath is vital not only to the body but also to the mind. The mind

which is the source of thought and the vital (pranik) energy that is

the source of breath, are the same. Healthy or unhealthy thoughts are

to be attributed to different vibrations of the nadis. You may test

this for yourself. See for yourself how you breathe when you are at

peace before the sanctum of a deity or in the presence of a great and

wise person and how you breathe when your mind is quickened by desire

or anger. The happiness you experience when you take part in something

divine, like a bhajan or a temple festival, must be different from the

pleasure that sensual gratification gives you: the vibrations of the

nadis concerned will also be correspondingly different.

 

When you experience joy of an elevated kind, the passage of breath will

be through the right nostril, but when you are enjoying sensual

pleasure, it will be through the left. When you meditate, with

increasing concentration, on the Reality Serene which is the source of

all your urges and feelings, the breath will pass through both nostrils

slowly, evenly and rhythmically. When you are absorbed in the object of

your meditation breathing itself will cease, but there will still be

life. The great awareness called jnana will then be in bloom as it

were.

 

The inert body of a man and the awareness that is the vital essence of

his life, are both dependent on the course of his breathing. They grow

or decay according to it. The course of a man's breath keeps his inner

vibrations in order.

 

Is it not from the Paramatman that so many countless inert objects and

so many sentient beings have originated and grown? The movements

appropriate to these should have also occurred in the Ultimate Object

that is the Paramatman.

Even according to non-dualism, the Brahman that is utterly still and is

unconditioned and has no attributes (nirguna) manifests itself in the

countless disguises of this cosmos with the power of Maya, Maya that

cannot be described. Disguises or no disguises, we have to concede the

existence, in a mundane sense, of the inert world and of the sentient

beings. But we must remember that even Maya has its source in Isvara

who is "Mayin". But the power of Maya apart, all that we see have

arisen from the vibrations in the Object called the Parabrahman. At the

same time, with all these vibrations, this Object remains still and

tranquil inwardly. This stillness not withstanding, there are movements

that are apparent to our perception. They are not disorderly movements

but constitute a system embracing vast heavenly bodies like the sun at

one end and the tiniest of insects on the other or even something as

humble as a blade of glass.

It is this orderliness that goes to make worldly life happy. The

Paramatmam has created this by bringing all powers of nature within an

orderly system. But if you sometimes see flaws in it and the natural

forces going against us, it is because he likes to be playful now and

then.

 

The human mind can go astray to any length. Indeed it keeps wandering

aimlessly like a globin or an imp. Whatever the extent to which cosmic

life is orderly, it (the human mind) breaks free from all control and

runs about like a mad dog.

 

When the powers of nature are unfavourable to us, is there a way to

change their behaviour and make them favourable to us? Is there also a

means by which our mind could be brought under control when it goes

haywire? If everything is caused by vibration, by sound, there must be

a way of making the forces of nature favourable to us and of purifying

our mind and bringing it under control through this very sound. The

Vedas constitute such sound.

 

By controlling our breath through the practice of yoga, it is possible

to gain access to the breath of the Paramatman and by this means

perform such actions as can uplift our own Self as well as mankind.

Here the vibrations of the nadis do not produce the sound that is

audible to us. Science tells us that there are sounds outside the range

of human hearing in the same way as there is light that does not pass

through the lens of the human eye.

 

However, it is possible to bring within us (within our reach) that

which is without. When a musician sings on the radio, the sound of his

music is converted into electromagnetic waves which travel through

space. But how do we hear music? The receiving set captures the

electromagnetic waves and reconverts them into sound waves. (Science

is not opposed to religion. It seems to me that it even helps in the

growth of religion. A century ago, before the radio and the telephone

were invented, it would not have been easy to counter the arguments of

an atheist who dismisses claims made on behalf of the sound of the

Vedas as absurd. Now the discoveries of science have come to our

rescue.

I do not mean to say that we must accept the Vedas only if they conform

to present-day science. Nor do I think that our scripture, which

proclaims the truth of the Paramatman and is beyond the reach of

science and scientist, ought to be brought within the ken of science.

Many matters pertaining to the Vedas may not seems to be in conformity

with science and for that reason they are not to be treated as wrong.

But our present subject -- how the breath of the Parmatman can become

sound and how the function of creation can be carried out with it -- is

in keeping with science. )

 

It is possible for humans to earn the power of energy possessed by such

an inert object as the radio set. Indeed we can earn much more, do much

more. It is tapas, ascetic endeavour, that will give us such energy.

What is tapas? It is the determination to find the truth: it is keeping

the mind one-pointed in this search, forsaking food, sleep, home,

everything. But when you are a seeker like this, you must remain humble

and erase the least trace of egoism in you. You must realise that the

truth you seek will be revealed to you only with the grace of Isvara.

The sages performed austerities in this manner and attained to the

highest plane of yoga. They could perceive the vibrations in creation,

that is the course taken by the breath of the Supreme Godhead. Besides,

they also knew them as sound capable of being heard by the human ear in

the same manner as electric waves converted into sound waves. It is

these sounds that they have passed on to us the mantras of the Vedas."

 

Continued ..........Sound and creation - Part 2

 

The above is an extract from the speeches of His Holiness the

Kanchi Paramachaarya as given in the books "Dheivathin Kural" in

Tamil ( copyright : Vanathi Pathippagam, Chennai) and in the "Hindu

Dharma" in English (copyright : Bharathiya Vidya Bhavan, Mumbai) .

 

For reading the entire treatise on Vedas and its fourteen angaas, (

running to more than 1000 printed pages) , please refer

to the online "Hindu Dharma" book at the following web sites

www.kamakoti.org or www.vrnt.org (Veda Rakshana Nidhi Trust).

 

 

 

 

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