The Eastern Vision of the Universe - Part 6

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Dear All,

 

Part 5 of The Eastern Vision of the Universe ended with:

 

We come now to a very important development. The Vedic period, the time of the

Vedas, the Brahmanas, the Aranyakas and the Upanishads came to an end about

500BC, although many of the Upanishads like the Svetasvatara Upanishad, to which

we have just alluded, date from later times. Contemporary with the Svetasvatara

Upanishad is the Bhagavad Gita. Whereas in the Svetasvatara Upanishad Shiva is

the form of the Supreme God, the Supreme Reality, in the Bhagavad Gita the

Supreme Reality is Vishnu. The majority of Hindus are either Shaivites

[followers of Shiva] or Vaishnavites [followers of Vishnu]. (p.73} Vishnu

belongs more to the Aryan world. He is the god of heaven, a gracious god, the

pervader of all things. Vishnu manifests himself through a series of

incarnations, 'avataras', and the great avatara of Vishnu was Krishna. The

Bhagavad Gita was written to celebrate the avatara of Vishnu as Krishna. In the

Bhagavad Gita Krishna is revealed as the supreme Lord of creation, the creator

God. This is a development along the same lines as the Svetasvatara Upanishad.

 

Here then, is Part 6 of the " Eastern Vision of the Universe " by Bede Griffiths.

 

Enjoy!

 

violet

 

 

 

The Eastern Vision of the Universe

 

(Part 6)

 

 

(p. 73} The Bhagavad Gita marks an advance even on the Svetasvatara Upanishad in

that Krishna is revealed as both totally transcendent and totally immanent. In

the Bhagavad Gita Krishna says, " All this visible universe comes from my

invisible being. All beings have their rest in me but I have not my rest in

them. " (Bhagavad Gita 9:4) The whole creation comes from him; all rest in him

and depend on him, but he does not depend on them. Then he says, " In truth they

rest not in me. Consider my sacred mystery, my 'maya'. I am the source of all

beings, I support them all but I rest not in them. " (Bhagavad Gita 9:5) There is

here the concept of a totally transcendent God. Krishna transcends the whole

universe. It comes forth from him and he supports it, but he does not rest in it

and in a real sense it does not rest in him. He is transcendent over it all.

This is a profound insight which was reached at that point.

 

Later, in the tenth book of the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna speaks of the whole

universe being in himself. " I shall reveal to thee some manifestations of my

divine glory. For there is no end to my infinite greatness. I am the beginning,

the middle and end of all that lives. " (Bhagavad Gita 10:19-20) Krishna is the

source, the middle and the goal to which all is tending, the all-pervading Lord.

He then gives various mythological accounts of all these forms which are in him.

Then in the eleventh book, the book of the great theophany, Krishna reveals

himself to Arjuna as the Lord in whom the whole creation exists. (p.74} The text

says, " Then Krishna appeared to Arjuna in his supreme divine form ... and Arjuna

saw in that form countless visions of wonder. He saw in that radiance the whole

universe, in all its variety, standing in a vast unity, in the body of the God

of Gods. " (Bhagavad Gita 11:9,13) The whole creation in all its variety and yet

in its unity was revealed within the body of the Lord, the Lord who sustains the

whole universe and carries it in himself. But he has made it clear that, while

he is immanent and sustains all, he is also transcendent and beyond all. The

vision of Krishna as the Lord is a wonderful theophany. Arjuna bows in adoration

before him and says, " I have seen what no man has seen before. I rejoice in

exaltation and yet my heart trembles with fear. " (Bhagavad Gita 11:4-5)

 

A New Vision of Reality (Western Science, Eastern Mysticism and

Christian Faith)

Bede Griffiths

Templegate Publishers - Springfield, Illinois

ISBN 0-87243-180-0

Pgs. 73-74