28 Dec 2012
[Message on Datta Jayanti] Shankara told that the reality of various items of the creation is actually the reality of God or Brahman. We take Brahman as the world due to illusion just like we mistake the rope as snake in partial darkness. The reality of the snake is actually the reality of the rope. Similarly, the reality of the world is actually the reality of God. Such illusion was called as Adhyasa by Shankara. Therefore, God is absolutely real and the world is relatively real. All this is correct. But, you cannot come out of this illusion because you are a part of the effect of illusion. In the example of rope and snake, there are three items:
In the case of world and God, there are only two items:
The observer is a part of the world. In the case of rope and snake, the observer can come out of the illusion because the observer is not a part of the snake. But in the case of world and God, the observer cannot come out of the illusion because if the illusory world vanishes, the observer also vanishes since the observer is a part of the illusory world. When the serpent disappears, only the rope is left over. If the observer is a part of the rope, the observer can still remain even after the disappearance of the snake. This means if God is affected by illusion, God can get rid of the illusion and remain even after the disappearance of the world. God can also be affected by the illusion if He wishes so. Really, God wants to be affected by illusion so that He can enjoy the drama of illusion while the illusion continues. This is self imposed illusion for the sake of entertainment. God does not enjoy fully in this way because the effect of illusion cannot be full in the case of God. However black the cloud may be, it cannot cover the sun fully. Some dim light will appear in the place of the covered sun.
Similarly, God cannot get the complete ignorance to enjoy the world to the full extent. For this purpose, God enters the world (Tadevanupravishat… Veda) by associating with a human being and such association is called as human incarnation. Here, God enjoys fully. The human being is fully ignorant by virtue of its inherent nature since it is a part of the illusory world. The experience of the ignorance of such human being is shared by the associated God just like a cold iron bar receives the heat from closely associated hot iron bar. The enjoyment of God through full ignorance becomes meaningful and fruitful through the human incarnation only. The superimposition is viewed in negative sense since the unreal world is superimposed on the real God. The same superimposition has tremendous positive side in the context where the devotees superimpose God on the human being and take the human being as God in the case of human incarnation. Such superimposition is the real path of salvation since it provides the only way of service to unimaginable God taken as imaginable human incarnation. There is no other way than this to see and serve the unimaginable God (Naanyahpanthah… Veda).
God and His ways are unimaginable. But in certain places, we use the words of imaginable operations for the sake of our clarity only. Krishna lifted the huge mountain by His tender finger. This means that the tender finger has also become unimaginable due to the presence of unimaginable God in it. By this, we understand that the unimaginable God pervaded all over the body of Krishna so that the finger also became unimaginable. In this context, we must say that the unimaginable God pervaded all over the body of Krishna in unimaginable way. The word ‘unimaginable way’ used here indicates that the process of pervasion of God is not the imaginable pervasion like air in the room. The process of pervasion involves the concept of space everywhere and is not applicable in God, who is beyond space. The conclusion that the unimaginable God pervaded the finger of Krishna is only based on the result and the actual process is only an assumption for the sake of our clarity. Therefore, the unimaginable God is not only unimaginable but also His ways are unimaginable. We use the words of imaginable operations in His case only for the sake of assumed understanding and actually this is not the real understanding of the way of God.
In Shivanandalahari, a prayer composed by Shankara, Shankara says “Oh God! You are unimaginable, Your ways are unimaginable, Your creation is unimaginable and the path of devotion to reach You is also unimaginable. What is imaginable in Your case? What could I understand anything regarding You?” God made the superficial realm of the creation imaginable to the science of humanity so that the identification of unimaginable remains due to the reference of some imaginable part. If everything is unimaginable, the identification of unimaginable disappears. There must be some imaginable reference with respect of which only you can understand the individual identification of unimaginable. Just for this reason only, the human being could understand something, which is called as imaginable. Therefore, whatever is understood by the human beings is also due to the will and grace of God only and there is no individual potentiality of the human beings in any sense. Knowing this, the human being should eradicate the ego of its potentiality and become completely obedient to God by total surrender.
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