Prakriti and Creation process

[Guest guest]

Dear Advaitins,

 

The prakriti is said to be trigunAtmikA ie endowed with sattwa, rajas

and tamas. It is said to be cause from which the creation sprang up.

But in some scriptures it is said that from Atman Akasha was produced

etc. (AtmanaH AkASha samBhutaH) In the latter methodology can we

consider AkASha as prakriti which forms the source and substratum of

later elements?

 

Since it may be beyond the scope of the novitiates' section , I am

posting this in a seperate thread though related to the weekly

definition given by Sri Mahadevji.

 

Yours in Sri Ramakrishna,

 

Br. Vinayaka

[Guest guest]

advaitin, "Vinayaka" <vinayaka_ns wrote:

>

>

>

> Dear Advaitins,

>

> The prakriti is said to be trigunAtmikA ie endowed with sattwa, rajas

> and tamas. It is said to be cause from which the creation sprang up.

> But in some scriptures it is said that from Atman Akasha was produced

> etc. (AtmanaH AkASha samBhutaH) In the latter methodology can we

> consider AkASha as prakriti which forms the source and substratum of

> later elements?

>

> Since it may be beyond the scope of the novitiates' section , I am

> posting this in a seperate thread though related to the weekly

> definition given by Sri Mahadevji.

>

> Dear Vinayaka,

I think that one need not have studied the

ponderous volumes of the scriptures to understand this. The

scriptures, in accordance with the mental disposition of the various,

individuals, to cater to their needs, have made the varied

statements, regarding the source of the creation. The detailed

analysis is not meant, I believe, to believe in the reality of the

creation, but to understand the creator, the Self in the informing

light of which alone all these creations have a semblance of the

reality. The truth is only the sole existence of the Self. Attributing

the authorship of the creation to the Prakrity, is only to highlight

the insentient nature of the entire existence but for the light of the

atman, which is in its pristine purity incapable of any

objectivisation, the cause for creation. Even to academically

understand this truth, is it not relevant to refer to the extensive

analysis made in the Brahmasutras, tracing creation only to the

intelligent atman, and not the insentient Pradhana. Even the

iconoclastic spiritual teacher J.Krishnamurthy says that matter,

thought, and intelligence, spring from a common source, incapable of

division, which is the supreme intelligence. Please, refer to the

diologue between Krishnamurthy and David Bohm. Ultimately, one has to

accept only the dhrishti-shrishti vada, if one were to do justice to

advaita, the ajata vada being only the grand finale, surpassing all

conceptualization. Ramana says that all creation theories extend only

outwardly. I believe Sri Ramakrishna also has hit upon the same truth.

What else do we require than the authority of these great mahatmas who

walked with god, being totally bereft of the gimmicks of the

intellect, useful only in giving lectures and writing books?

Yogavasishta also says that the various theories, with their painful

dialectical analysis, are meant only for entertaining the

intellectuals who are not interested in meditation.

 

yours in Bhaghavan

Sankarraman

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

J.Krishnamurthy says that the Universe is in a state of creation which seems to be a profound statement, dismissing the idea of any extra-cosmic god as the author of creation. In the highest sense, the universe is not different from god, and god is not a separate being, standing outside the creation, like a potter creating the pots from the clay. Only, the sovereign truth of the non-existence of the separate fragments of the jiva, iswara, and the world, can take us to the liberating knowledge, setting at rest all conceptualizations confounding the mind and the intellect. All these theories have a meaning only in the empirical world, the reality of even which is called in question by advaita.

yours in Bhaghavan

Sankarraman

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Everyone is raving about the all-new Mail beta.

[Guest guest]

Dear All,

 

While I was searching for the answer for the question which I had

posted earlier I came across systematic explanation of prakriti in the

book Bhagavad Gita Transalted by Swami Tapasyanandaji. I thought of

sharing it with the group as it helps to understand the chart

depicting the process of creation which was recently uploaded. The

explanation is as under:

 

Prakriti is the sanskrit expression for Nature. It does not mean

matter as we understand it today, because the matter of the scientist

is a late evolute of Prakriti. It is an expression and a theory

introduced by the sAnkhya philosophy, and this sAnkhya conception of

it and its analysis have entered into all systems of Indian philosophy

and even the sciences as the were developed in ancient India.

 

Prakriti has three constituents, Sattva, Rajas and Tamas called Gunas.

These three are in a state of equilibrium. It is on the disturbance of

this equilibrium that evolution and involution of the creative cycle

depends. A Guna in ordinary language means a quality or attribute, but

the gunas of prakriti are its constituents. Even the word constituent

is misleading. Perhaps 'dispositions' may be more appropriate. They

cannot be isolated as substances or as quantities but are known only

through their effects in the form of various qualities and substances

that constitute the world of experience and are classifiable into

three groups. As far as this threefold analysis of Prakriti into

sattva, rajas and tamas is concerned, satva has effects like

luminosity, peace, knowledge and pleasure and objects with such

properties; rajas expresses as dynamism, passion, attachment and the

like; and tamas, as inertia, darkness, dullness, ignorance and the

like. Objects partaking of such characteristics are the products of

sattva, Rajas and tamas respectively.

 

While the Gita is mainly concerned with the psychological and the

spiritual aspects of the gunas, the sAmkhya philosophy, which

originally propounded this doctrine of prakriti with its three

constituents called gunas, derived all the cosmic categories as their

evolutes, and the whole universe in its subtle and gross aspects as

the permutations and combinations of these categories.

 

(To be continued)