Day 52

Understanding the Vedantic Cosmogony

The Genesis of Creation

The Vedantic cosmogony, as explained by Vasishtha, unfolds from the quiescent state of the supremely Holy spirit. From this divine tranquility, the universe emerges through a series of transformations, reflecting the intricate interplay of cosmic principles.

Brahma, likened to sound sleep manifesting in dreams, orchestrates the works of creation. The world, inherently progressive, is an expression of the divine essence. The chit or Intellect undergoes stages—quiescence, self-awareness, and the emergence of subtle images—before evolving into the living soul, Jiva.

From Void to Elemental Essence

The progression continues with the emergence of a void, Kham or vacuum, giving birth to the property of sound. Egoism and duration, the roots of worldly existence, follow. The ideal knowledge of the divine Spirit takes form, and the cosmic tree of desires sprouts from self-consciousness.

Intellect's Creative Unfolding

The Intellect, transitioning through airy ego and the element of sound, generates the mind. This creative process extends to the formation of words, languages, and the Vedas. The Supreme spirit imparts beauty to the worlds, and words, laden with meaning, proliferate.

Living Soul and Diverse Beings

 The Intellect becomes the living soul, Jiva, the source of diverse beings populating all worlds. Fourteen categories of life spring forth from this living soul, encompassing all forms of growth and life. The Intellect, inflating itself, becomes the element of touch, resulting in the manifestation of air.

Elements and Their Roots

Air, the seed of tangibles, branches into various winds, influencing the breath and motions of beings. The Intellect, ideating light, gives rise to the elemental essence of lustre, shaping the sun, fire, and other sources of light. These, in turn, contribute to the diverse colors in the world.

Fluidity, Earth, and Culmination

Reflecting on fluidity, the Intellect produces the liquid body of waters, linked to the element of flavor. Brahma, desiring the visible earth, assigns the property of smell to it. Elements such as solidity and rotundity become the seeds of forms and the spherical world.

The Cosmic Cycle

All these elements, evolving from the Intellect, cyclically involve themselves back into it, akin to bubbles rising and subsiding in water. Beings remain in their combined states until dissolution, akin to the germination and growth of seeds.

An Analogy: The Story of a Garden

Imagine a serene garden, untouched and pristine, representing the quiescent state of the universe before creation. Now envision a gardener, representing Brahma, who awakens and begins to plant seeds, symbolizing the emergence of the cosmos. As the seeds sprout and grow, they represent the stages of evolution from the subtle to the manifest, mirroring the progression of the Intellect into diverse forms. Each plant in the garden, with its unique characteristics and attributes, reflects the diversity of life emanating from the cosmic Intellect. Just as the garden undergoes cycles of growth, fruition, and decay, so too does the universe experience the cosmic cycle of creation, sustenance, and dissolution. In this analogy, the garden serves as a tangible representation of the Vedantic cosmogony, illustrating the eternal dance of consciousness and creation.