Vivekananda on the Vedas (part 52)

May 15, 2001

Parts 1 to 51 were posted earlier. This is part 52. Your comments are welcome... Vivekananda Centre London

Earlier postings can be seen at http://www.vivekananda.btinternet.co.uk/veda.htm

SWAMI VIVEKANANDA ON THE VEDAS AND UPANISHADS

By Sister Gayatriprana

part 52

3. The Personal God of Hinduism Is the Highest Principle of the Universe, in Whom Humanity Can Take Refuge

We shall see how the [ancient Aryan thinkers] took, as it were, this old idea of God, the governor of the universe, who is external to the universe, and first put Him or Her inside the universe....

The Aryan mind had so long been seeking an answer to the question, [where did the universe come from?] from outside. They questioned everything they could find - the sun, the moon, the stars - and they found all they could in this way. The whole of nature at best could teach them only of a personal being who is the Ruler of the universe; it could teach nothing further. In short, out of the external world we can only get the idea of an architect, that which is called the design theory. It is not a very logical argument, as we all know; there is something childish about it, yet it is the only little bit of anything we can know about God from the external world - that this world required a builder. But this is no explanation of the universe: the materials of the world are before Him or Her, and this God wanted all these materials. The worst objection is that He or She must be limited by the materials. The builder could not have made a house without the materials of which it is composed. Therefore, He or She was limited by the materials; He or She could only do what the materials enabled Him or Her to do. Therefore the God that the design theory gives is at best only an architect - and a limited architect - of the universe; He or She is bound and restricted by the materials. He or She is not independent at all. That much they had found out already, and many other minds would have rested at that. In other countries the same thing happened; the human mind could not rest there; the thinking, grasping minds wanted to go further, but those who were backward got hold of them and did not allow them to grow. But, fortunately, these Hindu sages were not the people to be knocked on the head; they wanted to get a solution, and now we find that they were leaving the external for the internal. (40)

The Vedas are full of passages which prove the existence of a personal God. The rishis who, through long devotion to God, had a peep into the unknown and threw their challenge to the world. It is only presumptuous people who have not walked in the path described by the rishis and who have not followed their teachings, that can criticize and oppose them. No one has yet come forward who would dare to say that he or she has properly followed their directions and has not seen anything and these rishis are liars. There are people who have been under trial at various times and have felt that they have not been forsaken by God. The world is such that if faith in God does not offer us any consolation it is better to commit suicide. (41)

All the sects in India believe... in God. Of course, their ideas of God will be different. The dualists believe in a personal God, and a personal God only. I want you to understand this word personal a little more. This word personal does not mean that God has a body, sits on a throne somewhere and rules this world, but means saguna, with qualities. There are many descriptions of the personal God. This personal God as the ruler, the creator, the preserver, and the destroyer of the universe is believed in by all sects. (42)

Ishwara is to be known from the Vedanta; all Vedas point to Him (who is the Cause, the Creator, the Preserver and Destroyer). Ishwara is the unification of the trinity known as Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva, which stand at the head of the Hindu pantheon. [brahma-Sutras, Shankaracharya’s commentary] (43)

Disciple: Is there any such statement in the Upanishads that Ishwara is an all-powerful person? But people generally believe in such an Ishwara.

Swami Vivekananda: The highest principle, the Lord of all, cannot be a person. The jiva [individual soul] is an individual and the sum total of jivas is the Ishwara.... But Brahman transcends both the individual and collective aspects, the jiva and the Ishwara. In Brahman there is no part; it is for the sake of easy comprehension that parts have been imagined in it. That part of Brahman in which there is the superimposition of creation, maintenance and dissolution of the universe, has been spoken of as Ishwara in the scriptures, while the other, unchangeable portion, with reference to which there is no thought of duality, is indicated as Brahman.... When through meditation and other practices name and form are dissolved, then only the transcendent Brahman remains. Then the separate reality of jivas and the universe is felt no longer. Then it is realized that one is the eternal, pure essence of Intelligence, or Brahman.....

Disciple: How then is it true that Ishwara is an almighty person?

Swami Vivekananda: Humans are human in so far as they are qualified by the limiting adjunct of mind. Through the mind they have to understand and grasp everything, and therefore whatever they think is limited by the mind. Hence it is the natural tendency of human beings to argue, from the analogy of their own personality, the personality of Ishwara or God. Human beings can only think of their ideal as a human being. When, buffeted by sorrows in this world of disease and death, they are driven to desperation and helplessness, then they seek refuge with someone, relying on whom they may feel safe. But where is that refuge to be found?... The means may be different in different cases. Those who have faith in a personal God have to undergo spiritual practices holding on to that idea. If there is sincerity, through that will come the awakening of the lion of Brahman within. (44)

Cross reference to:

Taitt. Up., 3.1.1

Shwe. Up., 2.5, 3.8