Muslims & The Straight Path [Published 2010]
Part - 2-B
QURAN MISUNDERSTOOD: THE CONCEPT OF TRINITY
Muslims of the present day own
the Quran as if they have some role to play in its content or revelation. Quran
to them is like a revered book, whose content they do not know. Neither have they
understood the real meaning of the Quran nor they have the willingness to do
so. Whatever knowledge of Quran they possess has been given to them by their
ill-educated mullahs. The problem is further complicated by the vested attempts
to portray the Quran in the manner that suits them the most. Twentieth century
has seen an entirely new breed of maulvis and mullahs, patronized
by the oil money, whose only motive is to present the Quran in the manner their
patrons want. The situation has changed little since the time of Muawiya,
during which Ali – Prophet’s closest companion and the first to embrace Islam -
was being attacked in Friday sermons, through nearly 70,000 mosques spread all
across the Muslim world. Such self-made understanding of Quran, when it
started, led to the Talibanis coming out with their own version of Islam
based on guns, mayhem and suicide-bombings.
Quran claims that Apostles and
Messengers were sent during all times and to each population. In fact, Quran
speaks of Adam being the Vicegerent of God on earth. When Adam was made the
vicegerent, the world comprised of merely two human habitants, Adam and Eve. When
the need for a representative to propagate and protect the Divine teachings was
not left unmet at that time, how can we fathom that Messengers were not sent to
various people when the human population grew and got separated by the
boundaries of region, race, language and religion.
Quran has given names of
several of these Divine representatives. Muslims read the names of Adam, Noah,
Yusha bin Noon, Yahya, Ayyub, Solomon, Abraham, Ismail, Isaac, Joseph, Jacob,
Moses, Jesus and several other Divine representatives. Their stories are
oft-repeated in the Quran. It is said that while several of them were given the
books or tablets, the rest were mere teachers of the books/tablets brought by
preceding Divine representatives. Most unfortunate thing is that while Muslims
call these Apostles and Messengers as their own, they have disowned them
altogether to the extent that they are least bothered about the books/tablets
given to them and their content. Muslims are not concerned that the revealed
scripture of the Jews is as much theirs as it is of the Jews; likewise with
other revealed scriptures. This is despite the fact that the 5th
Chapter of Quran categorically states that the Jews were given part of the
Book. Taking cue from this verse, it becomes evident that if a part of the Book
was given to the Jews and the Muslims of today have totally disowned that part,
then the Quran that they have at present becomes merely a part itself.
Unfortunately, the Muslims
have lost contact with the basics and yet they claim to be representing the
most modern religion. Their condition is similar to a student who is being
taught decimals and square roots but has forgotten the basics regarding ones
and tens.
As we have said, Muslims call
the earlier Apostles as the Apostles sent by their God but have started
treating the books/testaments given to the earlier Apostles as the books of
others. The Muslim of today may be calling Moses as their own Prophet but the
Tablets given to Moses are considered the scriptures of the Jews. Jesus may
also be the last Prophet preceding Mohammad, but his teachings are the
teachings of the Christians and they are compared with the teachings of
Mohammad. How sad indeed when the purpose of God, through sending a last
Prophet, who was the prophet not of a particular region but for entire
humanity, was to culminate the teachings of all the predecessors. Naturally,
when the teachings of various Prophets, be it Krishna or Buddha in India,
Confucius in China, David, Moses and Jesus were being culminated it was inevitable
that a general set of rules are given and the incidents of the life of earlier
Prophets mentioned so as to create the link between Quran and the scriptures
revealed to the predecessors of Prophet Mohammad. Giving brief descriptions,
the Quran cited links to these earlier scriptures through huroof-e-muqatta’at
which were actually abbreviations for the various scriptures revealed earlier.
Without studying these earlier revealed scriptures, it is not possible for
Muslims to understand the Quran in its entirety.
If we follow the manner in
which the Divine teachings progressed, we find a very set pattern emerging. The
earliest Messengers taught the basic teachings regarding the relationship
between God and man. The teachings grew in scope and dimensions to elaborate on
the Creation system adopted by God. The Absolute Unmanifest God created a
Manifest Self or Paramatma as the first of the Creations (Nirakar
creating a Saakar, as Hindus would call it). This Manifest Self started
worshipping the Absolute God but went on to create the first divine creations
from Light (Noor) – the Devatas (as per the Hindus). Simultaneously, the
Creations of Darkness too were created and a system evolved as per which the
mortal creations had the choice of choosing between the path of Light and the
path of Darkness. The Manifest Self considered it its responsibility to lead
mankind towards the worship of Unmanifest Absolute God. If and when required,
it was the Manifest Self which descended in pious and pure souls as Divine Manifestations
or guided the Apostles towards the true path.
Unfortunately, forces of Darkness were ceaselessly trying to pull the
humans towards material attractions and they created deviations in the
teachings of earlier Messengers and corrupted them. The Divine Manifestations
or Devatas came to be worshipped in nearly all civilizations across the
world, all types of rituals and malpractices entered religion and the religion
got distorted to become a collection of rituals and sacrifices as man forgot
the relation of his self with the Manifest Self and the Manifest Self being
further the creation of the Absolute Unmanifest God. Thereafter, the apostles had
to re-explain the true relationship; they endeavoured to remove the vices that
had entered in beliefs and focused greatly on the Manifest Self alone, while
not talking much about the Devatas who were being worshipped. As the
human mind’s capabilities to grasp higher knowledge grew, the Absolute God was
introduced. This is the reason why we find the later day Prophets focusing
greatly on the need to worship the one Absolute God.
The last but one Prophet, as
per the Muslims, was Jesus. If we read
the New Testament, we find him talking about the ‘Kingdom of God’; most
amazingly whenever he talks on this subject it is in the future tense, thereby
signifying that he, Jesus, won’t be a part in the ‘Kingdom of God’. He talks of
a ‘son of Man’, which was understood to be reference to his own self. This is
the greatest of irony because Jesus could be anybody but he was definitely not
a ‘son of Man’; both Christians and Muslims are unanimous in their belief that
he was born to Virgin Mary. Clearly, ‘son of Man’ who will initiate the ‘Rule
of God’ will be somebody else, who perhaps enjoy a closer relationship to God
than Jesus.
Those who have read the New
Testament cannot fail to notice that ‘son of God’, the term which the
Christians use for Jesus, is an oft-repeated phrase. Common men are referring
to him as ‘son of God’ and Jesus is also referring to the common men as ‘sons
of God’. This shows that through the word ‘son’, Jesus may have meant
‘creation’, ‘subject’ or ‘servant’ but definitely not a ‘son’ from progeny, as
some Christians calls him to be. In fact, as you will find later, Jesus had the
same relationship with the Manifest Self as
Prophet Mohammad took the
teachings of the One God to its height, discarding all other subjects.
But the truth remained that
when the spirit of Jesus took birth on earth, the Divine Triad was completed
with the Absolute God at the top, It’s creation the Manifest
Self (Paramatma or rooh in Quran) regulating the affairs of the
world through its retinue of Devatas and angels (Noor signifying
the Devatas, and angels, as per Quran), and the Noor descending
in human form as the third part of the triad. Likewise, in
Fact is that this Divine Plan
was made known to us through God’s own representatives; we are nobody to find
fault or doubt them. As we have said that it was the Manifest Self through the
self-created Devatas who took up the responsibility of leading the
humanity towards worship of God. Places where the Devatas didn’t take
birth in human form, they guided the pure and elevated souls through
revelations. This is the creation plan that we need to understand and this plan
can be seen present in all the Divine Scriptures across the world.
That guidance of the pure and
elevated souls was through revelation can be seen in the Svetasvatara Upanishad
which states that the sage Svetasvatara saw the truth owing to his power of
contemplation, tapah-prabhava, and the grace of Devata, Devata-prasada.
The divine truths being given by us here are present in revealed scriptures all
across the world; this is because the same divine representatives (Devatas)
took care to present them to people in various corners of the world. Even
Athenagoras, who appears to be a Prophet because of his similar teachings,
tried to identify the true relationship between man, Paramatma (Supreme
Spirit or Manifest Self) and God.
This is the true concept of
trinity given by Hindu scriptures as well as Christian. Unable to understand
this, the later day Hindus tried to see Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh as the three
faces and placed them at the same pedestal. In fact, Mahesh was the highest
state of Absolute God, which created a Manifest Self by the name Vishnu and
further led to creation of the Light (Noor) by the name Brahma, through which
all the Devatas who later took birth in human form were created and
thereafter all beings evolved. Kabir Das understood the real concept of the
Hindu trinity when he said: “Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh are the names of the
three states of the same soul – animation, calmness and sloth.”
Since the Manifest Self too is
the creation of God, we do not doubt the Oneness of the Absolute God anywhere.
The Upanishads tell clearly that the Manifest Self was the first of the
worshippers. Since it was not possible to understand the Invisible,
Non-Manifest God, the need to have a Manifest Form became inevitable. At the
time of dissolution, which happen once after every 1000 creations, the Manifest
Self will converge into the Absolute, but only after all the rest of creations
will converge into the Manifest Self. As per Puranas, this is 994th
creation and there will be 6 more creations to follow before the grand
convergence. Thereafter, the Absolute God will create anew. One Upanishad says:
When he (Self) has departed there is
no more knowledge. And one should understand the God through this Self indeed.
You will see later that this apparent
duality has been talked about at other places in the Upanishads.
Verily, there are two forms of
Brahman, the formed and the formless, the mortal and the immortal, the unmoving
and the moving, the actual and the true.
This is reference to Non-Manifest
(nirakaar) and Manifest (sakaar) God. Manifest Self is the creation of the
Absolute Non-Manifest God, and God has allowed the further creation and control
of the universe to this Manifest Self. Knowledge is courtesy the Self. There is
a direct link of the Manifest Self with the self within us. Upon purification
through knowledge (of the divine plan that exists), good deeds and abstinence
from what has been termed ‘bad’ or ‘illegal’, our self gains purity and
elevates to attain unity with the Manifest Self. In such a situation, the self
of common people like us become bearer of all knowledge and carrier of all
virtues on earth.
Let us see what Brhad-aranyaka
Upanishad, one of the most important of all Upanishads, has to say. The second Brahmana
(Chapter) talks of the creation of the world. Before you read kindly keep in
mind that we are relying on the existing translations. Once scholars get an
understanding regarding the true content of these scriptures, fresh
translations are sure to shed much more light on what is being talked about.
See I.II.1:
There was nothing whatsoever, here in
the beginning. By death indeed was this covered, or by hunger for hunger is
death. He created the mind (Mahat
or Intelligence), thinking ‘let me have a self’. Then he (self) moved about,
worshipping. From him thus worshipping, water was produced. ‘Verily’, he
thought, ‘while I was worshipping water appeared, therefore water is called arka
(fire). Water surely becomes one who thus knows the reason why water is called arka
(fire).
This verse explicitly talks of the
creation of the Manifest Self by the Non-Manifest and Absolute God. Scholars
usually call this Manifest Self (Paramatma) as god. But this is clear from this
description that Paramatma itself is a creation of God and was the first
of the worshippers. The verses are clear when they say that the Self ‘moved
about, worshipping’. If Paramatma is god, whose worship was it doing?
This worship of the Divine Manifest Self was responsible for the creation of
the seven who later became fourteen (Devatas or Manus) and subsequently the
universe with all its creatures came into being. (All this can be seen in
detail in ‘God Rediscovered’ or in much greater detail in ‘One God, One
Religion’.)
Note that Mind (Mahat or
Intelligence) has been given place in other Upanishads as one of the seven
names along with fire, water, air, sky, earth and ego.
Importance given to this knowledge is
itself a proof that there is some vital information here that we have not
understood so far. In essence, it means that the person who possesses this
knowledge become united with God. Also, one thing is clear; worshipping the
Absolute God is the essence of the Self, reason for creation of the entire
cosmos, and also us.
Here’s another reason, which refutes
the view of those people who claim that the Self is Absolute God. Verse I.II.4
talks of a second self in I.II.4:
He desired, let a second self (body
or form) be born of me. When he was born he opened his mouth he cried, bhan. That indeed, became speech.
Now see I.II.5 of Brhad-aranyaka:
With that speech, with that self he
brought forth all this whatsoever exists here, (the hymns of) the Rig-Veda,
(the formulas of) the Yajur Veda and (the chants of) the Sama Veda, the metres,
the sacrifices, men and cattle. This second self is also called Aditi.
Note that the Manifest Self is
responsible for all the scriptures. Another interesting point to be noted is
that this second self is named Aditi – female character (devi) . Hindu
scriptures talk of Aditi as the mother of the Devatas. She is also
described as the second half of the Aditya (the sun; also note there are 12
Adityas in all). It is unfortunate that while the name of Aditi abounds in the
scriptures, including the Vedas and Puranas, scholars have not related that
with this verse. Truth is that Aditi, the first of the divisions of the
Manifest Self, as has been said in this Upanishad, is also the Aditi that is
described as devi in Vedas and Puranas.
I.II.6:
He desired: ‘let me sacrifice again
with a greater sacrifice.’ He rested himself, he practiced austerity. While he
was thus rested and heated, fame and vigour went forth. The vital breaths,
verily, are fame and vigour. So when the vital breaths departed, his body began
to swell, but the mind was on the body.
Muslim books have talked of the world
being created from light-heat. In the description of the aforementioned verse,
Radhakrishnan says that ‘heat’ is symbolic of a hen warming the egg and says
that undoubtedly progeny is being talked about here. The self wanted to give a
greater sacrifice, therefore, he practiced austerity and rested, and heated
(gave birth) to vital breath.
Certain
Muslim scholars including the revered Tahirul Qadiri in his book ‘As-saifudjali
ala munkire wilayate Ali’ has talked of Silsalatul-zahad (Golden
Chain) when describing the Ahlul-bayt and most interestingly
Svetasvatara Upanishad, while talking of the process of creation of this Golden
Chain talks of Hiranya-garbha (Golden germ) and goes on to confirm that Rudra
is the name of one of the Devatas, who gave birth to this Golden germ.
See III.4 of Svetasvatara Upanishad:
He
who is the source and origin of devatas (powers), the
ruler of all, Rudra, the great seer, who of old gave birth to the golden
germ. (Hiranya-garbha), may he endow us with clear understanding.
The subsequent verse of
Brhad-aranyaka talks of two types of sacrifices by two Devatas, which can be
more greatly understood through fresh translations in the light of the creation
plan being discussed by us here. The sacrifice was offered to all the Devatas
(all the divisions of Manifest Self). Thereafter, it is said that all the Devatas
are one and one who has this knowledge overcomes repeated death (thereby
meaning, ‘attains to salvation’):
He overcomes repeated death, death
cannot get hold of him, death becomes his body, and he becomes one with these
divinities.
As you can see, the knowledge of this
creation plan is referred to as ‘sanctified’, or ‘proksitam’. And it is
said that one who knows this overcomes repeated death (attains salvation) and
he attains union with these Devatas.
At another place, Brhad-aranyaka
Upanishad states that all Devatas are alike and we should meditate on
them as infinite, whereas there are some people who commit the mistake of
meditating on them as finite.
I.5.13:
These are all alike, all endless.
Verily, he who meditates on them as finite, wins a finite world. But he who
meditates on them as infinite wins an infinite world.
Once again, II.7 indicates that some
divine secret is being talked about.
He (who knows this) overcomes
repeated death, death cannot get hold of him, death becomes his body, and he
becomes one with these divinities.
Subject of discussion, though largely
incomprehensible, is very important and person who knows what is being talked
about “overcomes repeated death, death cannot get hold of him, death becomes
his body, and he becomes one with these divinities.” The word ‘divinity’ proves
that all through it is the divine beings or Devatas who are being talked
about. Is there any doubt that divinities or Devatas are subject of
discussion all through the religious scriptures of Indo-Aryans, whose knowledge
is so vital for us?
Brhad-aranyaka Upanishad begins with
talking of deliverance and vehicle/s of religious truth in the beginning. If no
secret is being talked about here, then why it is being repeatedly said, “He
who knows this stands firm wherever he goes.” So much of weightage is given to
“this knowledge”, in verse after verse.
It is queer why commentators have failed to notice this. Without this, all the
talk of Upanishad remains just plain rhetoric? No words of God are spoken
without any inherent meaning. Will merely knowing the fact that the world was
created in such and such manner be enough for a man to stand firm? Discounting
this vital truth will discount all the so-called spiritualism that the
Upanishads are talking about.
It is also stated in this Upanishad
that speech, life-breath, eye, ear, mind and vital breath, all need to
understand and acknowledge the reason for creation of this universe. It is also
mentioned that the demonic forces will try to replace this knowledge (which is
sanctity in itself, as per Brhad-aranyaka Upanishad) with evil. They will
succeed through removing their names from speech, life-breath, eye, ear and
mind. But when they will try to remove their presence from the vital-breath,
they will themselves get vanquished. Whose names have been removed by the
demonic forces and why? Keep reading to know the answer!
Moving further, let us now see what Brahmana
III of Brhad-aranyaka Upanishad says. Third Brahmana again talks of
the knowledge being discussed earlier. This knowledge about the creation plan
is so important that even the Devatas used this knowledge to gain
victory over demons. Demons who did not chant the Udgitha – the syllable
‘aum’ - and tried to replace it with evil, perished in the end. Says
Anandagiri: “The fact that this knowledge is the Udgitha can be
understood by word ‘proksitam’ meaning sanctified, mantra-samskrtam.”
Unfortunately, this knowledge has remained lost to us till now.
This Brahmana starts with the
description of demons and the Devatas, thereby confirming that the evil
forces too have remained in existence right from the earlier time. In fact
Prajapati (the Head Devata or the first of the Lights created by the
Manifest Self) created both these forces as the forces of Light (Noor, as per
Quran and Devatas, as per Hindu scriptures) and the Forces of Darkness
(Zulmat), prior to the creation of humans. That is why verse I.III.1 says:
“There were two classes of the descendants of Prajapati, the Devatas and
the demons.”
Subsequent passage of this Chapter
tells how, when the demons knew that the Devatas would overcome them,
they tried to pierce evil everywhere. This is so because the demons were
created for this purpose alone. Initially they succeeded in corrupting the
knowledge from the speech, eye, ear, mind and life-breath but when the demons
wished to obliterate the knowledge from the vital-breath, they themselves were
vanquished and the Devatas were victorious. Is this not similar to the
Quranic promise? Promise has been made to Mohammad that there will be a time
when he would become pleased and his mission would gain a victory.
There are descriptions in Purana
regarding the Kalki avatar who will get rid of all evil from the face of
this world and sayings of Mohammad confirm that there will be a time when the
humanity will shed its evil and return to the path of One God. This will happen
when Mahdi – the Awaited – will arrive.
Again III.16 says:
Thus, verily, that divinity carries
beyond death him who knows thus.
Prajapati or Visva – the head of these Devatas
and from whom the remaining were created, through the creation of a Golden Germ
first, is distinctly described in Chapter VIII (verse 7) of Maitri Upanishad,
which states:
And he, verily, is the self within
the heart, very subtle, kindled like fire, endowed with all forms of him all
this is food. In him are woven creatures here. He is the self which is free
from evil, ageless, deathless, sorrowless, free from uncertainty, free from
fetters, whose conception is the real, whose desire is the real. He is the
supreme Lord, he is the ruler of beings, he is the protector of beings. He is
the determining bridge. This self, verily, is the Lord, the beneficent, Creator
of all, the golden germ, truth, life, spirit, the ruler, the unshaken, the
pervader, Narayana. He who is yonder in the sun, he is one. To these who art
this, endowed with all forms hidden in the real space, adoration.
See how through this, the head Devata
(chief Light or Head Noor) is described as the creator of all beings, protector
of beings, the ruler of beings, the pervader and the determining bridge (pul-e-sirat
in Arabic) but is definitely not God. Absolute God is even higher, who created
this creator and the role of this created one is to lead the subsequent
creations to the worship of Absolute God.
Hope it is clear that the Absolute
God created the Manifest Self (Vishnu) through which evolved Brahma (Prajapati
or Vishva) and Brahma divided manifold to create the Devatas – who had a
role in further creation – are distinct and not one. If there is any confusion
still, we present here two separate verses from Subala Upanishad, which will
clarify the distinction between the description of One Unmanifest Absolute God
and the One Manifest Self.
IV.I. In the beginning this was
non-existent, unestablished (in anything else), devoid of sound, devoid of
touch, devoid of form, devoid of taste, devoid of smell, imperishable, not
dense, not prodigious, originless, as one’s own self (he), sorrows not. That
which is lifeless, mouthless, earless, speechless, mindless, splendourless,
devoid of name and clan, headless, devoid of glowing redness (like fire),
immeasurable, not short, not long, not gross, not minute, not small, not great,
not definable, not obscure, not demonstrable, not manifest, not shrouded, not
obscure, not demonstrable, not manifest, not shrouded, without an interior,
without an exterior. It does not feed on anything, nor does anything feed on it.
One should attain this (Brahman) by recourse to the six means of truthfulness,
charity, austerity, fasting, chastity (of mind and body) and complete
indifference to worldly objects. One should also attend to the following three,
self-control, charity and compassion. The pranas (vital breaths) of this
(knower of Brahman) do not go out, even where He is they get merged. He who
knows thus, becoming Brahman remains Brahman alone.
Is this not the same description of
the Absolute God that the Muslims give of their Allah? After this, no Muslim
should ever call a Hindu a Kafir! It is clear from the aforementioned
text of the Upanishad that the purpose of our worship is to cognize the
Absolute God and to bow down in supplication to Him. One who does this and
performs righteous actions, with full knowledge of the path that was laid for
us, goes on to get united with God, and i.e. attains salvation.
The Paingala Upanishad even goes on
to hint the number of Devatas (Noors or Lights) created from Prajapati
(the first of the Devatas) when it says that the divinities so created became
the guardians of the fourteen spheres. The control of these Devatas over
the living beings is explicitly described. There’s a clear statement which says
that Devatas rule over the organs of sense and action. Our senses and
actions have to function in accordance with their wish.
It is said that once the Jivas
(beings) were created, Ishwara (Absolute God) acquired the state of
actor or enjoyer. Clearly there is part of Ishwara in all the Jivas
(beings). This is surely the self, which is affected by organs of sense and
action. Consciousness being a part of the self, tries to show the way.
Ishwara will enjoy only when our organs of sense and action perform as per
the liking of their rulers – the Devatas (14 deities). If one knows how
to utilize the organs of sense and action in accordance with the wish of their
rulers, the self of the person becomes one with that of the Ishwara.
Note that Manus or the progenitors of mankind too are 14 in number.
There is one clarification that needs
to be done. Hindus agree that the Manus are 14 in number. But it is said
that there are huge number of Devatas and various different numbers are
told. In ‘One God, One Religion’, the writer has given several proofs to show
that Devatas and Manus are one and the same. If the Hindus got
confused, it is because each of these Devatas are remembered by several
names. For instance, one Purana gives 108 names by which the Devi was
remembered in different parts of
Upanishad says clearly that all the
Vedas talk about this relationship alone. Once when this relationship of the
Absolute God creating a Manifest Self and the Manifest Self further leading to
creation of Devatas, who are 14 in number, is known, and their true
identity established, the Vedas lose their importance. After all, the purpose
of Vedas is to make us ‘perceive the Self’.
Verse IV.9 of Paingala Upanishad
says:
What is the use of milk to one satiated
with nectar? Even so what is the use of the study of Vedas for one who has
perceived the Self?
Truth is that the names of the Devatas
were in circulation during the period (Book ‘One God, One Religion’ proves that
people were waiting for them and expecting them to arrive), but these names got
lost with time. What their names will be, when they would come to earth, were
kept secret, but their attributes and events of life were well known, so that
when they would come, people recognize them and grasp their teachings. It is
these Devatas who are being referred to as ‘pious men’, Purushottam or
the highest of beings and so on. Unfortunately, none of the commentators of
Upanishads or Vedas have been able to explain who these Devatas are,
whose description can be found everywhere, be it in Upanishads, Vedas or the
Gita.
Gita says that each of us has
the capacity to become Purushottam or ‘the Highest of Beings’ (Ashraful
Makhlooqat in Arabic). However, at the same time, each of us has elements
of becoming the worse of all creations. Upanishads have not even left this
subject untouched and mention how the higher elements of our self have some
direct link with the Manifest Self (Paramatma or Highest Spirit) while
the lower elements lead us towards materialism and eventual destruction. In
other words, as you have seen earlier, Devatas (Noor or Light)
and demons (zulmat or darkness) were created by the Manifest Self;
remember, Quran has used the term lail for night and nahar for
day and this Noor and zulmat signify something else.
We do not know yet how the
spirit moved from Messenger to Messenger, but it is certain that all the
Messengers had a direct relationship with the Manifest Self. Buddha was seeking
to develop the same relationship with the Manifest Self in the name of
enlightenment, when he threw his food in the river saying that if he was to
attain enlightenment then the food should move upstream, otherwise it should
flow down the stream as it usually happens. Repeatedly, Budha has talked of
receiving guidance from the Devatas.
The same is referred to in
these words in Gita:
To protect those who are good and to destroy evil doers, for
establishing righteousness, I assume being, age by age.
As we had seen earlier through a verse from an Upanishad, all the
scriptures emanated from the Manifest Self. In Gita too, it is the Manifest
Self (Paramatma), not to be confused with Absolute God, who is doing the
talking. To protect the good-doers, to
destroy evil doers and to establish righteousness, the Manifest Self (Paramatma
or Divine Spirit) assumes human form age by age. From this it is clear, that
the Manifest Self must have assumed human form other than the case of
Manifest Self is described as
the cause of all life and in which all life would finally disappear. It is the
Manifest Self which tells what is good for a human and which absolves a person
from all the sins. It is the Manifest Self which will decide whether you are a
sinner or a good-doer and whether you are to be absolved from all sins. All
humanity is very dear to the Manifest Self and that is why it will only preach
what is good for the humans.
Verses 64-66 of the last
chapter of Bhagavada Gita perfectly sum up the teachings of the book:
Listen again to My supreme word, the most secret of all; because
you are greatly beloved of Me, therefore I will tell you what is for your good.
Become one in mind with Me: be devoted to Me: sacrifice to Me: bow
down to Me: you shall come to Me alone: I promise you (in) truth: you are dear
to Me.
Abandoning all duties, come to Me, the One, for refuge; I shall
absolve you from all sins; do not despair.
Upanishads clearly state that
the seekers of knowledge and the wise knew the true identity of Manifest Self.
And this is again described as ‘most secret of all’ being told only because we
are ‘greatly loved’ by the Manifest Self.
All through the Gita,
Those Devatas shall bestow
on you all gratifications you desire: one who eats what is given to them
without giving in turn to them, he is a thief indeed. (Gita.III.10-12)
Gita has called that person a thief
who eats without giving a portion to the Devatas. Let us ponder who a
thief is? Thief is one who takes a thing rightfully belonging to someone else,
without the permission of the owner. This verse indicates that the food we eat
rightfully belongs to the Devatas. The words of Gita clearly state that
all those who eat food without giving a portion back to the Devatas are
thieves. What would you call us, who do not even know the true position of the Devatas?
Brhad-aranyaka Upanishad goes on to say
that we all are actually food for the Manifest Self. See III.17:
Then it chanted food for itself. For
whatever food is eaten is eaten by him alone.
In it is established.
This is evident from the translation ‘Then
it chanted food for itself’. Another interesting thing being talked about
is that 'whatever food is eaten is eaten by him alone’. Food is the
essential requirement for spirit. Spirit needs food for energy and sustenance
and it cannot have food if it does not have a body. For this reason, it becomes
essential for spirit to acquire a body. Since our spirits are directly related
to the Divine Spirit, one can safely say that whatever food we take is eaten by
the Divine Spirit (Paramatma or Manifest Self) alone. Next line,
"In it is established" too confirms our view that all spirits are
established in the Divine Spirit.
See how the Manifest Self, who is
doing the talking in Gita, is confirming its link with the Devatas in
Chapter IX of Gita.
Those persons who
meditating on Me to the exclusion of all else, worship Me, to those ever
established unitively I bring that solace of the unitive way of yoga.
Even those who, devoted to
other Devatas,
worship them with faith, they in fact worship Myself, O Son of Kunti (Arjuna),
though not conforming to orthodox rules. (Gita.IX.22-23)
The reference to ‘other Devatas’
in the aforementioned verse confirms that one of the Devatas took birth as
It is clarified in the Chapter X that
the relationship between the Paramatma (Manifest Self), who is doing the
talking in the Gita, and the Devatas too is that of the Creator and the
created. So much power was bestowed on these Devatas that they are
called the fulfiller of desires; it is through them that people attain supreme
merit i.e. salvation and it is they who provide us food and happiness. See the
words of Gita:
Neither the hosts of the
Devatas nor the great sages know My origin; for I am indeed in every way the
source of the Devatas and the great sages. (Gita.X.2)
You have seen here that Devatas
were actually created by Paramatma (Manifest Self). However, if you go
through the Gita, you will find that one who is doing the talking in First
Person (note the words like ‘My origin’, ‘I am the source of the Devatas’)
is also talking about the Absolute God in Third Person, thereby suggesting that
there is one power that is the creator of the Devatas but the Absolute,
Non-Manifest, Invisible God is at an even higher stage and is actually the
Creator of its own Manifest Self - the Paramatma.
Even the Upanishads confirm that Brahma,
Vishnu and Mahesh are not three distinct identities but three
stages of the same process, as said by Kabir. This process, you will see, is
very much like the concept of big bang propounded by the scientists, as per
which there was an Omnipresent, Invisible and Formless Absolute God (nirakaar)
who was all powerful. This Absolute God created a visible power referred to as
the Paramatma (Manifest Self of the Absolute God) which further became
the source of the Devatas, as we have already seen from the
aforementioned verse of Gita and all the rest of creations came out subsequent
to this process.
Thus the Absolute God is the Absolute
Creator, the sole object of all worship, who created the Manifest Self (Paramatma),
a material power, who is doing the talking in First Person in the Gita, saying
that the human beings ought to worship the Absolute God though the Manifest
Self (Paramatma) too can be worshipped and this Manifest Self
(Paramatma) is the creator of Devatas, whose worship has not been
prohibited but termed as unorthodox.
A clear example that substantiates
this can be seen in the following verses of the last chapter of Gita, in which
the Manifest Self who is doing the talking in First Person is telling the path
to identify the Absolute God. Wherever the Absolute God is mentioned, the word
'He' is used thereby signifying the Absolute God is present in Third Person and
the Manifest Self wants us to worship ‘Him’.
How he who has ascended to
perfection thereby obtains the Absolute, that supreme consummation of wisdom,
that do you learn from Me, O Son of Kunti (Arjuna), in brief. (XVIII-50)
And says:
Becoming the Absolute,
blissfully serene in the Self, he neither despairs nor hankers; equal-minded
towards all beings, he attains a devotion to Me supreme (in character).
Through devotion he comes
to know Me, how far comprehensible I am and which, in accord with first
principles; then, having known Me philosophically, he immediately enters into
(Me).
Although still continuing
to do all actions (in life), treating Me as his refuge, by My grace he obtains
the everlasting undiminishing status.
Mentally renouncing all
actions into Me, regarding Me as the Supreme, resorting to unitive
understanding, have Me wholly filling your (relational) consciousness.
(Thus with) consciousness filled with Me, you will overcome all obstacles by My grace, but if, from egoism, you will not listen, you shall come to ruin.
(XVIII-54-58])
Now see how from talking in First
Person, the subject changes to Third Person and Lord (the Absolute God) is
talked about in XVIII-61-62:
The Lord dwells in the
heart-region of all beings, O Arjuna, causing all beings to revolve through the
principle of appearance (maya) (as if) mounted on a machine.
Seek refuge in Him alone in
all ways, O Bharata (Arjuna); by His grace you shall obtain the peaceful abode,
supreme, everlasting.
And in the very next verse, the
speaker (Manifest Self or the Paramatma) starts talking in First Person
again and says that the greatest of the secrets has been conveyed. The greatest
secret was nothing but this difference between First Person and Third Person.
If we visualize
No scholar has been able to
understand till date what the greatest secret that Gita conveys is? Fact is
that the very relationship between us and Absolute God with the Manifest Self (Paramatma)
and the Devatas as intermediaries is the greatest of the secret that
Gita conveys. See XVIII-63-71:
Thus has wisdom more secret
than all that is secret been declared to you by Me; (critically) scrutinizing
all, omitting nothing, do as you like.
Listen again to My supreme
word, the most secret of all; because you are greatly beloved of Me, therefore
I will tell you what is for your good.
Become one in mind with Me:
be devoted to Me: sacrifice to Me: bow down to Me: you shall come to Me alone:
I promise you (in) truth: you are dear to Me.
Abandoning all duties, come
to Me, the One, for refuge; I shall absolve you from all sins; do not despair.
This is never to be spoken about by you to one (spiritually) undisciplined, nor
to one devoid of devotion, nor to one indisposed to listen, nor again to one
who denies Me.
He who gives this supreme
secret to My devotee (thereby) doing for Me supreme devotion, shall doubtless
come to Me.
Nor is there besides such a
one among men any who is the highest performer of dear acts, nor shall there be
for Me another dearer on earth.
And he who will study this
dialogue of ours conducive to righteousness, by him (in effect) I shall have
been worshipped through the wisdom-sacrifice; so I hold.
And the man who may merely
happen to hear, endowed with faith and uncarping, even he, liberated, shall
attain to the good worlds of those who perform meritorious deeds.
It is clear from the aforementioned
verses that the Manifest Self (Paramatma) is concerned about people's
inability to understand the secret that Gita carries. That is why so much
importance has been given to pass on the teachings of Gita to others. One who
passes this supreme secret will doubtlessly go to the Manifest Self and one who
will study the dialogue of Krishna and Arjuna and performs righteous deeds will
get liberated from the continuous cycle of rebirth and attain salvation. Even a
casual listener will get rewards.
Another clear example which will show
you how subject of conversation changes from ‘I’ in First Person, who is the
Manifest Self, to ‘He’ can be seen from the following verses of Chapter III of
Gita:
Know that action arises from Brahma and that Brahma traces his being to the Imperishable. Therefore the all-pervasive Absolute is eternally bound up with sacrifice.
(III.15)
‘Imperishable’ is reference to the
Absolute God; thus
There is nothing in the three worlds that I am obliged to do, O Partha (Arjuna), nor anything unaccomplished to be accomplished, while still remain active (in principle).
(III.22)
If I should not remain active (in principle) never relaxing, men in every walk of life, O Partha (Arjuna), would take to my way.
(III.23)
These (various) worlds would fall into ruin should I refrain from activity and I would become the agent of evolutive confusion (samkaraa) killing in effect the peoples.
(III.24)
And the subject again returns to ‘He’
in Third Person, who is the ultimate object of all worship.
It is taught (in ancient tradition) that the senses are beyond (transcendental); beyond the senses is the mind, beyond the mind is reason and beyond reason is He (the Absolute).
(III.42)
This is the exact concept of triad or
trinity that we have found in the Hindu scriptures. The concept of triad or
trinity exists even among the Buddhists and Christians. Going through their
books you will find that the concept is exactly the same.
Various commentaries of Quran and
several other books written by Muslims ridicule the concept of trinity tooth
and nail and attack the Christians and Hindus for this belief. If Quran and
Gita are indeed from the one and the same source, how is it possible that while
Gita and Christianity are propagating the concept of trinity, Quran is totally
averse to such a concept? Let us find this out from the Quran itself!
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