Muslims & The Straight Path [Published 2010]
Part - 2-F
QSELF POWER IS MANIFOLD
If you recall Brahma is the third
stage, with Vishnu and Mahesh being the higher stages. If we look at it from
Islamic terminology, Brahma is the stage of one Noor or light (also
referred to as self-power), which subsequently divided to become manifold.
Whereas Prophet Mohammad talked of
one Noor dividing into two Noors of Mohammad and Ali, talked of
Fatima his daughter as part of him, whose marriage with Ali gave birth to Hasan
and Husain (the two children of Ali and Fatima); these five are called the Panjetan
or ‘Five-Bodies’. It was these five who were collected under the vestment and
identified as Ahlul-bayt, whose description you will shortly see in Hadees-e-Kisa.
Since Mohammad had talked of 12 Imams after him, Ali, Hasan and Husain being
the first three, nine Imams in Husain’s progeny too were included as Ahlul-bayt,
to take the number to 14 Ahlul-bayt. This was in the light of several
traditions of Prophet one of which said that the first, the middle and the
last, all were one and the same; all were Mohammad.
Thus, the one Noor which got
created by the Manifest Self is called Brahma. This one Noor, divided
two-fold to become the Noors of Ali and Mohammad. See whether the same
thought is mentioned in the Upanishads!
Maitri Upanishad further states the
process of creation of the Devatas by Prajapati (Brahma):
Verily, in the beginning Prajapati
(Brahma or the first Noor) stood alone. He had no happiness, being alone. Then,
meditating on himself, he created numerous offspring. He saw them to be like a
stone, without understanding, without life, standing like a post. He had no
happiness. He then thought to himself, ‘Let me enter within in order to awaken
them.’ He made himself like wind (spirit) and sought to enter into him. Being
one, he could not do it. He divided himself five fold and is called prana,
apana, samana, udana, vyana.
Prana, Apana, Samana,
Udana, Vyana were the names given to the five fold manifestations that were the
consequence of the Prajapati dividing “himself five fold”, to create “numerous
offspring”. Other Upanishads confirm
that these numerous off-springs was the Devatma-sakti.
Most of what we wish to prove is
already known to you and if we talk of the subject further, it will be merely
restatement of the facts. Svetasvatara Upanishad refers to Devatma-sakti
(self-power) as the cause of this universe, and goes on to say in verse I.4
that the rope of this Devatma-sakti is manifold. That is confirming that
there are more than one Devatas.
In this Upanishad, Sage Svetasvatara
is asked the question, “What is the cause? Brahman? Whence are we born? By what
do we live? And on what are we established?” Svetasvatara replies that the
cause is the Devatma-sakti, which is presided by the Brahman (God),
thereby confirming that Brahman (God) is not involved in the day-to-day affairs
of the running of this world. All these affairs, including life and death,
creation and destruction, and sending of the Messengers to lead us to the
worship of Absolute God are in the hands of the Devatma-sakti; thus the
Devatas.
Now see this verse from Svetasvatara
Upanishad:
I.13.
As the form of fire when latent
in its source is not seen and yet its seed is not destroyed, but may be seized
again and again in its source by means of the drill, so it is in both cases.
The self has to be seized in the body by means of the syllable Aum.
The Eternal is very much present in
the self inside our body but it cannot be truly known without a sincere effort
in the right direction. The syllable Aum helps us in attaining this
objective. It would be naive if we conclude that merely utterance of syllable
Aum would lead us to salvation. If attaining salvation is so easy, what was the
need of such detailed explanations in scriptures? Salvation cannot be attained
unless we know the meaning of Aum truly (See book ‘One God, One
Religion’ for the true meaning of syllable ‘Aum’). Most extraordinarily, if you
read the Upanishads you will find that even syllable Aum is related to
the flight towards attaining unity with God, but through a bird composed of
fourteen Devatas, one of whom is a Devi. The vowels of Aum
signify the five Devatas, who were created from the One Self called Life
or Prana, and the ardh-matra signify the 9 Devatas, also
part of the Prana or Life. We are sure you are already aware of the
names of these 14 Devatas and their inter-relationship by now.
I.14.
As oil in sesamum seeds, as
butter in cream, as water in riverbeds, as fire in friction sticks, so is the
Self seized in one’s own soul if one looks for Him with truthfulness and
austerity.
Manifest Self can be realized within
our self; one who is able to do so attains salvation. But it is prerequisite
that we search for it with truthfulness and austerity. On the other hand, those
who align their self with the negative forces end up in the fire of hell.
See what Isa Upanishad has to say
further:
I.6:
And he who sees all beings in
his own self and his own self in all (14) beings, he does not feel any
revulsion by reason of such a view.
This verse too states clearly that
there are more than one being related with our self and hence it cannot be
meant for God. It is the Devatas who pervade our soul and body to such
an extent that there would be no life without them. That is why realizing one’s
own self is possible only by knowing all the beings. (see verse I.7)
I.7.
When, to one who knows, all
beings have, verily, become one with his own self, then what delusion and what
sorrow can be to him who has seen the oneness?
Next verse again talks of Absolute
God in Third Person, saying that all this is possible only courtesy the One
God, who is the cause and source of all.
I.8.
He has filled all; He is
radiant, bodiless, invulnerable, devoid of sinews, pure, untouched by evil. He,
the seer, thinker, all-pervading, self-existent has duly distributed through
endless years the objects according to their natures.
The following verse shows that one
who worships the Unmanifest Absolute God but does not cognize the Manifest is
in blinding darkness and one who knows the Manifest but doesn’t know the
Unmanifest is in still greater darkness. Eternal life (salvation or moksha)
is only for those who have the knowledge of both Unmanifest and Manifest.
I.12.
Into blinding darkness enter
those who worship the Unmanifest and into still greater darkness, as it were,
those who delight in the manifest.
I.14.
He who understands the manifest
and the Unmanifest both together, crosses death through the manifest and
attains life eternal through the manifest.
That we have deviated from the true
path far enough can be seen from the fact that none of us knows the distinction
between Manifest and Unmanifest, something that the Upanishads are trying hard
to preach. How then can we think of attaining salvation when it is clearly
stated that salvation is directly linked to this knowledge?
God was fully aware of the nature of
man and knew that majority of them would not be able to comprehend the presence
of an Unmanifest God. Therefore, he initiated the entire process, starting with
the Manifest Self of God and followed by Brahma, which is elaborately described
in Brhad-Aranyaka and Paingala Upanishads. The facts that these Upanishads,
despite wayward translations, even give the number 5 and 9 to constitute 14 is
proof that the same knowledge is contained in both Quran, Gita, Vedas and
Upanishads.
These were the 14 Noors (also
described elsewhere as 14 Manus or the first progenitors of mankind).
These 14, in their light state, are all powerful and at opportune time they
take birth in human bodies, to guide and lead mankind towards the path of the
Absolute God.
Lest these divisions make somebody
think that their power diminished due to divisions, Upanishads have laboriously
tried to send the message that all were equal in power and status to the
original Manifest Self of God, in spite of all divisions and retained all the
characteristics of the original Manifest Self of God. This has already been
described previously in Isa Upanishad itself, which says:
That is full; this is full. The full
comes out of the full.
Perhaps Mohammad too was trying to
convey the same message when he said:
First of us is Mohammad, last of us
is Mohammad, the middle of us is Mohammad, all are Mohammad.
That the Manifest Self is the
lord of 14 beings so created from Brahma or One Noor, they are ever
united in approach and deeds, is said in II.5.15 says:
This Self, verily, is the lord of all beings, the king of all
beings. As all the spokes are held together in the hub and felly of a wheel,
just so, in thyself, all beings, all Devatas, all worlds, all breathing
creatures, all these Selves are held together.
It is time now to read the
translation of Hadees-e-Kisa and compare it with the aforementioned
description. Kindly note that just as Gita, towards the end, attaches great
importance to passing it to others and reading it, the same importance is
attached to Hadees-e-Kisa perhaps because here too, if read by the wise,
the great secret regarding the real role of Ahlul-bayt in the scheme of
the Manifest Self of God is being told.
See its translation:
In the Name of God, the
All-merciful, the All-compassionate.
Fatima Zahra, the daughter of
the Prophet is to have thus related (an event): -
My father, the Prophet of
Allah, came to my house one day and said to me: “Peace be on you O Fatima,” to
which I replied: “And upon you be peace.” He said “I feel weakness in my body”
I said “May Allah protect you from weakness, O my father”. He said “O Fatima,
please bring the vestment of
After a while, my son Hasan
came in and said:
“Peace be on you, my mother”.
I replied: “And upon you be
peace, O Light of my eyes and the happiness of my heart”. He then said:
“Mother! I smell a fragrance so sweet and pure, as that of my Grandfather, the
prophet of Allah”. I replied, “Yes Indeed your Grandfather is lying underneath
the vestment.” Hasan went near the vestment and said:
“Peace be on you my
Grandfather, the Prophet of Allah; do you permit me to enter the vestment with
you?”
He replied. “And upon you be
peace, my son and the master of my fountain. I do give you permission to
enter”.
So Hasan entered the vestment
with him.
After a while my son Husain
came in and said:
“Peace be on you, my mother”.
I replied. “And upon you be
peace, O light of my eyes and happiness of my heart”.
He then said: “Mother I smell
a fragrance so sweet and pure as that of my Grandfather, the Prophet of Allah”.
I replied, “Yes. Indeed your
Grandfather and your brother are lying underneath the vestment”.
Husain advanced towards the
vestment and said:
“Peace be on you, O my
Grandfather, the chosen of Allah, do you allow me to enter the vestment with
both of you?
He replied: “And upon be
peace, my son and intercessor of my followers, I give you the permission”.
So Husain entered the vestment
with them.
After a while, Abul Hasan Ali
son of Abu Talib came in and said:
“Peace be on you, O daughter
of the Prophet of Allah”.
I replied, “And upon you be
peace, O Father of Hasan, and the Commander of the Faithful”.
He then said, “O
I replied, “Yes, He is
underneath the vestment with your both sons”.
Ali then went near the
vestment and said:
“Peace be on you, O Prophet of
Allah; May I enter the vestment with you?”
He replied, “And upon you be
peace, my brother, my legatee, my successor and my standard bearer; I give you
permission to enter”.
So Ali, entered the vestment
with them.
Then I said, “Peace be on you,
my father, O Prophet of Allah; do you permit me also to enter the vestment with
all of you?”
He replied, “And upon you be
peace, my daughter, O part of myself; I give you permission to enter”.
So I entered the vestment.
When all of us had gathered
together underneath the vestment, my father, the Prophet, held the two ends of
the vestment and raised his right hand towards the Heavens and prayed, “O
Allah, these are the people of my Household (Ahlul-bayt) and very specially my
own and my protectors. They are of my own flesh and of my own blood. Whoever
gives them trouble gives me trouble too; whoever makes them unhappy, makes me
unhappy too, I am at war with those who are at war with them, I am at peace
with those who are at peace with them.
I am the enemy of those who
are at enmity with them; I am the friend of those who befriend them. Indeed
they are from me I am from them. Therefore, send Thy Blessings, Mercy,
Forgiveness and Pleasure upon me and upon them. Also remove all blemish from
them and keep away impurity from them.
Then Allah, the Majestic, the
Glorified, spoke (to the Angels), “O My Angels and the Residents of Heavens,
verily, I have not created the erected Sky, the spread Earth, the illuminated
Moon, the bright Sun, the rotating Universe, the flowing Seas, and the sailing
Ships, but for the love of the Five Souls lying underneath the vestment.
The Gabriel, the trusted on,
asked Allah, “O Lord, who are under the vestment?” Allah, the Majestic, the
Glorified, answered. “They are the Household of the prophet and the mine of
prophethood viz.
Gabriel then said, “O Lord,
may I go to the Earth to be sixth of them.”
Allah replied, “Yes, I have
given you permission to do so.”
Gabriel, the trusted came to
the Earth and said, “Peace be on you, ‘O Prophet of Allah. The All Highest
conveys His peace on you and His salutation, and has sworn by His Honour and
Glory that he has not created the erected Sky, the spread Earth, the
illuminated Moon, the bright Sun, the rotating Universe, the flowing Seas and
the sailing Ships but for your sake and your love. God has given me permission
to enter (the vestment) with you. Do you also give me permission, “O Prophet of
Allah?” The Prophet replied, “ And upon you be peace, O thou who art trusted
with the Revelations of Allah; yes, I grant you permission to enter.” So
Gabriel entered the vestment with us and said to my father that indeed Allah
has sent this Revelation to you:
Verily Allah desires to keep away all blemishes from you, O
Ahlul-bayt (People of the Household) and keep you pure with perfect
purification.
Then Ali asked my father, “O
Prophet of Allah what significance does Allah attach to this Event of our
gathering underneath the vestment?” The Prophet replied, “I swear by Him who
appointed me a Prophet and chose me a confident Messenger, that no assembly,
wherever this Event is narrated by my followers and devotees, shall remain
without the Mercy of Allah descending on them, and encircling Angels asking
Allah for the remission of their sins till the assembly has dispersed.” All
exclaimed, “I swear by Allah the Lord of the Kaaba, we have succeeded and our
followers have succeeded too.”
Again the Prophet said, “I
swear by Him who appointed me a Prophet and chose me a confident Messenger that
in any of the assemblies on the Earth, in which our followers and friends have
gathered, wherever this Event is narrated there shall remain none grieved but
Allah will remove his grief; there shall be none distressed but Allah will
dispel his distress, and there shall be none who seeks a wish but Allah will
grant his wish.” Ali then said, “Verily, by Allah, we have succeeded and become
happy so also our followers have succeeded and become happy in this world as
well as in the next world by the Lord of Kaaba.’
O Allah, send Thy Blessings on
Mohammad and the Descendants of Mohammad.”
Isn’t it clear that God is
explicitly saying that it is His wish that all good comes to the doorsteps of Ahlul-bayt
(the people of the House) and all impurity remains away from them? Also, the
identity of the Ahlul-bayt is being recognized, just as the verse from
Brhad-aranyaka had done so.
We wish to add a very crucial
point here. Note that God is addressing not just the Prophet, but a select
group of people as Ahlul-bayt, and Mohammad is surely included among
those who are being addressed as Ahlul-bayt. Therefore, those who call Ahlul-bayt
as People of the House of Prophet are wrong. Ahlul-bayt are the people
of the House of God (or rather Manifest Self of God). It is well known fact
that Quran has addressed Ibrahim and Ishmael too as Ahlul-bayt. And with
bayt (house) of Allah (Kaaba) in Makkah, we fail to understand why
Muslims excluded Mohammad from the list of Ahlul-bayt, when he was the
first to enter the vestment.
Even in the Quran, it is not
said that the Ahlul-bayt of the Prophet. Muslims are of the opinion that
certain members of Mohammad’s family are being talked about and hence the word Ahlul-bayt
has been used. If we read the Quranic verse, it talks of the wish of Allah and
then refers to “my Ahlul-bayt”, thereby implying that Manifest Self has
called them Ahlul-bayt (the People of the House) of Itself. We are sure
it won’t be difficult to understand this in the light of the Upanishads and
Vedas. What none knew till we read the scriptures assigned otherwise only to
Hindus was that the status of Ahlul-bayt is actually far loftier than
what Shias believed till now, despite all the blames put on Shias for enhancing
their status. Their true status was known only to the so-called Hindus of a
particular period, to Apostles like
The fact that for Ali’s birth,
the wall of the House of God – Kaaba – split into two and then got united shows
that God wanted at least one member of His house to be born in the house
assigned to Him. This event itself was of such importance to God that Buddha as
well as David have talked of the incident much in advance (See ‘One God, One
Religion).
There is another interesting
observation that we wish to present. From the narration of this verse it is
clear that not only the Prophet but also Ali, Fatima, Hasan and Husain (even
though the two were young children) knew in advance that this verse was about
to be revealed from God and all, including the two children, made preparations
to come under the vestment, lest the entire house, which even had a wife of
Prophet, is considered as Ahlul-bayt. This also is a clear proof of the
lofty status of these five who were all fully aware of the Quran in advance and
even knew when a particular verse was to be revealed. They seemed to be the
knower of the will of God. Why it is then that they are not considered the
People of the House of (Manifest Self of) God?
Now see how Allama Ali Naqi
Naqawi has clarified on this. He says: “People forego the literal meaning of
this verse of Tatheer (Purity), as these meanings do not fit with their
interests. All of these Persons referred to by this verse knew that the Ayat
(verse) was going to come. Even the Angel was looking forward to come. The
Angel came inside the vestment to recite this verse lest the residents of the
entire house are taken as meaning.
‘Innama’ meaning ‘only or
alone’ at the beginning of the ayat (verse) points at a particular point,
similar to the word ‘This’. Gabriel did not come to the door of the house to
seek permission to enter. Rather he came to edge of the vestment, which already
had the five, and recited the verse only upon getting inside.”
Allama says: “Ahlul-bayt
is actually combination of three words: (Al- meaning ‘the’, Ahl
meaning ‘people of’ and bayt meaning ‘house’. ‘The’ indicates a
particular group. If we say ‘Day’, it could be any day, but when we say, ‘The
Day’, it means ‘Day like this’. This shows ‘Al’ points at the present persons.
Therefore, Ahlul-bayt points to ‘People of this house’. The word ‘This’
cannot be understood unless you see who is being pointed at. When one points
‘This’ that would indicate the thing that stops the vision. If we say ‘This’
and point upwards, this would mean the roof, and if there were no roof, it
would mean the sky.
At all times, Prophet was in
one house or other, even so it was the House of God. So wherever the verse
would have come, people of that house would be the ones being pointed at. That
is the reason why the Prophet created a house within the house, and becoming
the root cause or chief pillar of the house, went under the chadar
(vestment). And then all the constituents of the House came to gather inside
the chadar. This shows that all the components of the House knew what Ayat
(verse) was going to come. The Ayat (verse) would come later, but they
were creating the background for it beforehand.” Does this not point at the
great Divine position they enjoyed?
Some would say how a vestment
could become a house? Allama has given several examples through the help of
prevalent Arabic literature, where the term ‘Bayt’ was used for enclosure and
not ‘house’. It could have been an enclosure made by tents. A famous poet even
called the face of a woman, hidden or enclosed by her hair, as bayt.
God addressed Ibrahim and Ishmael
in Quran and says: ‘Keep my house free from blemish.’ It is clear from this
that while God assigned the purification of the House (Kaaba) to Prophets; he
kept the purification of the Ahlul-bayt in His hands. One is the Ayah-e-Tatheer
(Verse of Purity) for the Bayt (House i.e. Kaaba) and the other for the Ahlul-bayt.
In clear terms, God is addressing the Ahlul-bayt to confirm that He
would keep them pure. The previous Prophets, in spite of their high positions,
were to keep the house of God clean, whose rightful occupants are Mohammad,
Ali, Fatima, Hasan, Husain and the 9 Imams after him. If Ahlul-bayt took
upon them the task of leading mankind to God, who are we to doubt?
God’s promise was fulfilled in
such a manner that all attempts to malign the identity of the Ahlul-bayt
remained fruitless; the Ahlul-bayt tried all through their lives to make
efforts to lead mankind towards the worship of God. They are doing the same
today from their Light (Noor) state. In their attempt, they sacrificed their
lives and the lives of their near and dear ones. The last of the 14 Ahlul-bayt
is still trying to take the mission to fulfillment. It is the promise of God in
Quran that they would eventually be successful, even if it would be at the
hands of the last of the 14 Ahlul-bayt, the last Manu or the
fourteenth Devata, who is also the Kalki avatar (and the Awaited,
as per the Jews and Christians), about to come any moment now.
We give here few more hidden
aspects of this Hadees that are mostly not given attention. We recount
our opinion on them here:
1. It
is evident that motive behind all actions in this Hadees is to identify
the true position of the people who had accumulated under the vestment. And the
purpose is to tell that the position of those under the vestment is far higher
than what we perceive them to be. When the earth, the sky, the moon, and
everything else have been created for them, all the Prophets that came to the
earth were inferior to those under the vestment. This is exactly similar to the
description of the Upanishads about these Devatas (Divine Lords).
2. It
is evident that not just the Prophet but all those who came under the vestment
knew previously that it is time for the verse to reveal and they collected
under the vestment to prepare the ground for the verse. We have no choice but
to conclude that these Ahlul-bayt are aware of the wish of the Manifest
Self.
3. It
shows that there was some special fragrance in the Prophet at least, if not in
all of them; that was cognizable only to those who came under the vestment and
not to the common men.
4. Hasan
has been identified as the master of the fountain (in the heavens) by the
Prophet.
5. Husain
has been identified as the intercessor of the followers of the Prophet.
6. Ali
has been identified as Prophet’s legatee, his successor and standard-bearer by
none other than Prophet. It is sad that the Muslims, who believed this
narration to be true, did not try to make Ali the successor after the death of
the Prophet.
7.
8. Prophet
had prayed to God that those under the vestment were his Ahlul-bayt. But
when the verse was revealed, it is not said that they were Prophet’s Ahlul-bayt.
In fact, Prophet Mohammad is also included in the Ahlul-bayt, owing to
him being under the vestment. If you have read the content of the Brhad-aranyaka
and our interpretation a little earlier, you will agree that both are right. If
the people from the house of Prophet on earth were to be included, Prophet’s
wives would not have been spared. But here ‘People of the House of Manifest
Self’ were being identified. Twice Ali has referred to God as the Lord of the
Kaaba, which is called the House of God. This is enough to indicate that just
as the Kaaba is a physical manifestation of the House of God on earth, the Ahlul-bayt
are the physical manifestations of God or rather Manifest Self on earth – they
are proofs of God for all humanity and the ones whose path is to be followed in
order to attain salvation.
9. Prayer
of Mohammad says ‘whoever gives them trouble, gives me trouble; whoever makes
them (Ahlul-bayt) unhappy, makes me unhappy too, I am at war with those who are
at war with them, I am at peace with those who are at peace with them.’ clearly
shows that not only those who killed Hasan or Husain, but even those who
troubled Fatima and Ali were actually at war with the Prophet. This has to be
believed by Muslims unless they wish to believe that the Prophet prayed and the
prayer remained unfulfilled.
10. If
waging the war against a person is trouble or unhappiness, then we also invite
all to find in history the names of all who came in opposition to Ali. And you
will then realize that Satan is continuously at work and it can corrupt the
minds of even the seemingly most pious men and women.
11. We
have seen in the Upanishads that the Devatas were created from the sattvik
or pure essence. Here, the God is testifying the purity of the Ahlul-bayt.
The fact that God has taken a guarantee that the Ahlul-bayt are free
from blemish and pure in Quran itself, it has to be seen with an absolutist
meaning, for it cannot be possible that a little blemish or a little impurity
would remain after the God’s guarantee. Even those who deny the entire hadees
cannot deny the God’s words in Quran and the fact that it is Mohammad, Ali,
Fatima, Hasan and Husain who are the subject of discussion. If talking insane
is a blemish, then we invite you to find the names of those who said that the
Prophet was talking insane because of his illness and denied him the paper and
pen that he was seeking. If labeling false accusations is a blemish then you
will have to agree that when
12. The
sky, the earth, the moon, the sun, the universe, the seas, the ships could be
created for the five, in the words of God, but one of them, who was the main
battle winner during the days of struggle, the acknowledged most learned among
men, and the first to accept Islam in the eyes of the world, was not found fit
to be the successor of the Prophet by the Muslims after Prophet’s death.
13. If
you believe that God is knower of all, then you will have to accept that he
also knows your languages perfectly and not even a comma or sign in His book
can be without significance or meaning. The Arabic language does not have just
singular and plural words. Rather, there are three, singular, one signifying
two, and another signifying more than two. When Allah replies to Gabriel’s
question regarding the people under the vestment, He said that it included the
Prophet, Fatima, his daughter, her husband and her sons. Those learned in
Arabic language say that as per Arabic grammar, the wordings refer to only one
daughter, one husband and more than two (and not two) sons. This was despite
the fact that there were only Hasan and Husain under the vestments. This
suggests that those sons of Husain who were to be the future Imams too are part
of Ahlul-bayt. Therefore, there are fourteen Ahlul-bayt of God.
We know that the fourteen had seven names.
What is most interesting is that when an Upanishad
described this event, it said of an inverted cup with seven names underneath it
and then went on to give the seven names. Clearly, from heaven, the vestment
with people inside would have appeared as an inverted cup with all the
components of Ahlul-bayt inside it. What is more interesting is that
even the conversation of God has been described in this Upanishad.
14. Another
interesting thing that has been left unnoticed by people is that Fatima is the
narrator who not only narrates the incidents taking place in her house but also
goes on to narrate the conversation between God and his Angel Gabriel high up
in the heavens. You will have to either discard this narrative as a pack of
lies or believe that
15. The
fact that the Prophet has sworn by the name of Allah that no place where this
event would be recited would remain free from God’s blessings and mercy is
evident proof why the Prophet did not mention about rebirth. The knowledge that
he was leaving was such that those who would follow it would gain access to
God’s mercy and won’t be sent again in this world. However, punishment for the
unrighteous acts would be given and nowhere has this been denied.
16. This also is an evident proof of the words of Gita, which say
that salvation is achieved when a person recognizes the Self. It has been
clearly established from the Upanishads that the fourteen Devatas
comprise the God’s Self and we have proven that these fourteen are the ones who
together comprise God’s Manifest Self and therefore, knowing whom one attains
salvation.
17. That
Ayesha (another of Prophet’s wife who later led a war against Ali) too has
narrated this event is proof that knowledge alone is not sufficient to keep a
person on the true path. He or she has to continuously strive for perfection
and strictly forbid Satan from affecting his/her words and deeds, and
ceaselessly endeavour to remain as close to the true path as possible.
18. It
also tells that the proximity of the pious is not a proof that the person too
is pious.
You will be glad to know that the
same incident is described in Brhad-aranyaka Upanishad as well. We present here a passage from
Radhakrishnan’s translation of Brhad-aranyaka Upanishad, which, in our view, is
narrating the same incident, described in Hadees-e-Kisa. We have already
said to you that Brhad-aranyaka is regarded as one of the most important of all
Upanishads.
The only difference is that
while
We invite you to compare the
conversation given in Brhad-aranyaka with that described in
Now see the text from this
Upanishad:
II.5.3.
On this, there is the following verse: ‘There is a bowl
with its mouth below and bottom up. In it is placed the glory of manifold forms.
On its rim sits seven seers, and speech (Gabriel) as the eighth communicates
with Brahman.’ What is called ‘the bowl with its mouth below and bottom up’ is
the head, for it is the bowl with its mouth below and bottom up. ‘In it is
placed the glory of manifold forms’; pranas (breaths), verily, are where the
glory of manifold forms is placed, thus he says pranas (breaths). ‘On its rim
sit seven seers’, verily, the breaths are the seers; thus he says breaths.
‘Speech as the eighth communicates with Brahman,’ for speech as an eighth
communicates with Brahman.
II.5.4.
These two here are Gotama and Bharadwaja. This is Gotama,
and this is Bharadwaja. These two here are Visvamitra and Jamadagni. This is
Visvamitra, this is Jamadagni. These two here are Vasistha and Kasyapa. This is
Vasistha, this is Kasyapa. The tongue is Atri, for by the tongue food is eaten.
Verily, eating is the same as the name Atri. He who knows this becomes the
eater of every thing: everything becomes his food.
Book ‘One God, One Religion’ gives
reasons to show that Atri has been used for Fatima, Vasistha and Kasyapa are
Ali and Mohammad. Therefore, we have reasons to believe that Gotama and
Bharadwaja are none but Hasan and Husain and Viswamitra and Jamadagni are names
of Jafar and Musa. These are the seven names inside the inverted bowl; in
essence, these are the fourteen who are called Ahlu-bayt.
That the fourteen are ever
united, in approach and deeds, is said in II.5.15 says:
This Self, verily, is the lord of all beings, the king of all beings.
As all the spokes are held together in the hub and felly of a wheel, just so,
in thyself, all beings, all Devatas, all worlds, all breathing creatures, all
these Selves are held together.
“O
All-creating Devata please sweep away from us all sins, vices and miseries and
grant us all that is beneficial and auspicious.”
Rig Veda
It is these whom the Rig Veda – one
of the four most important scriptures of the Hindus - invokes to remove all our
sins, vices and miseries. As we read the four Vedas, the other three being
Yajur Veda, Sama Veda and Atharva Veda, we find that they almost entirely talk
of the Devatas (See ‘One God, One Religion’ for details).
It is clear from the aforementioned
verse that things beneficial and auspicious are granted by the Devatas;
they enjoy a very important place in the cosmos. By the time, the learned
scholars sat to re-understand the content of Vedas from 10th century
onwards, after a gap of several centuries during which Brahmins had to hide
their scriptures for fear of overzealous Buddhist rulers, the vital links that
could have led to the understanding of scriptures had been lost. The myths and
legends had got such deeply intermingled with the real facts that it was not
easily possible to separate them. The scholars knew that the Vedas were
divinely revealed scriptures but, removed as they were from the real truths,
couldn’t understand the subject that they were talking about.
The problem was further compounded by
the British researchers who began attacking the Vedas saying that they contain
description of Devatas who were merely prehistoric men who are of no
relevance to the man of modern times. These researchers were in fact
missionaries, whose attacks at Hinduism had the motive of conversion. This led
the later day scholars like Rishi Dayananda Saraswati to rewrite the
commentaries of Vedas in which he altogether removed the presence of Devatas
and claimed that the Vedas were talking of scientific revolutions related to
material fire, air, etc. ‘One God, One Religion’ shows the extent to he went
out of way to reach out to give some very absurd arguments to support his view.
If there are no Devatas,
who are Siva and Parvati, in whose name Hindus take the seven pledges at the
time of their marriage? If there are no Devatas, in whose name the
Hindus travel hundreds of miles to bring a token amount of water from the
sacred rivers? If there are no Devatas, in whose name are the Chhath
celebrations undertaken? If there are no Devatas, who are the people to
whom several of the ancient temples of Hindus and Buddhists devoted? If there
are no Devatas, who is prayed to when there is no rain, who is it who is
the Devi of learning and wealth, and so on? More importantly, if there are no Devatas,
who were the people Rama and
Devatas are truly there but ask any
Hindu and nobody knows their identity. Hindus have no idea at all what these Devatas
are doing presently, where are they based, what is their role in this cosmos,
how are we related to them and how are they related to the Absolute God that
Krishna talked about all through the Gita. If the knowledge too has been lost,
how will we approach the Devatas to remove sins, vices and miseries and to
grant us all that is beneficial and auspicious?
Fact remains that the names of the Devatas
were made known as a divine plan right from the time of creation and it were
these names that the demonic forces worked overtime to remove.
Verse 2:31 of Quran says that certain
names were taught to Adam at the time of his creation.
And He taught Adam all the
names, then presented them to the angels; then He said: Tell me the names of
those if you are right.
Pooya/Ali commentary of Quran states:
“The hum of aradahum does not refer to the “names” but to the
“named”, and as a plural term cannot be used for Allah, therefore, it cancels
the possibility of interpreting these names as the names of Allah. When
reference is made in Arabic to several objects of inanimate nature, a singular
feminine pronoun is used, but when the objects are conscious beings, a plural
masculine pronoun is used, as done here through aradahum, to point out
the “named ones”. If the object referred to is inanimate, the singular feminine
pronoun, tilka or hadhihi should have been used. Here the
personal demonstrative pronoun refers to the conscious beings of a
superior-most status, knowledge of whose names entitled Adam to the vicegerency
of Allah. Thus the existence of the beings of the highest status has been
established.”
Putting two and two together, there can be no greater proof required that
Vedas, Upanishads, Gita and Quran are from one and the same source? Also,
Buddha and Jesus,
Pooya/Ali further writes that these
beings are the highest beings, the most perfect and the most blessed beings.
See what the commentary says: “Due to the affinity between Adam and these
highest beings (Aalin), he was capable to function as the medium of
their manifestation. Verse 4 of Surah al Tin says that the status of
man, in the order of creation, is the highest in excellence. The Aalin,
the highest beings, referred to in this verse, are the most perfect and the
most blessed human beings, for whose manifestation in the arc of ascent, Adam
was chosen. Till then the names of the highest beings along with the insight
and vision of their realities, their latent qualities and inherent endowments were
unknown to the angels.”
Now see verses 2:32 and 33 from
Quran.
They said: Glory be to
Thee! we have no knowledge but that which Thou hast taught us; surely Thou art
the Knowing, the Wise.
He said: O Adam! Inform them of their
names. Then when he had informed them of their names, He said: Did I not say to
you that I surely know what is ghaib in the heavens and the earth and (that) I
know what you manifest and what you hide?
Through Adam the angels became
acquainted with the glory of the glorious beings. When Adam, at the command of
Allah, stated the names, qualities and symbols of those highest beings whose
collective and comprehensive status can be termed as wisdom personified, the
angels witnessed the glory of the infinite power and wisdom of the Lord that
could create such perfect beings of the highest calibre, in substance as well
as in style, like of whom they did not know till then.
In Durr Manthur, Jalaluddin Sayuti
says that the Holy Prophet had said:
“The objects shown to the angels were five lights. Allah
informed the angels pointing to each of the lights respectively:
(i) This is Mohammad, the most praised, derived from My name,
the praised one.
(ii) This is Ali, the high, derived from My name, the highest.
(iii) This is
(iv) This is Hasan, the bountiful, derived from My name, the
benefactor.
(v) This is Husain, the good, derived from My name, the good
in origin.
(vi) O angels! It is in love of these five that I have created
the universe.”
These five, you know by now, are
known as the Panjetans or first five of the 14 Ahlul-bayt (Masooms
– the Infallible and Pure Ones). Remaining 9 were born in the progeny of
Husain. It is they who will grant all that is beneficial and auspicious.
There is no doubt that Mundaka
Upanishad too is talking about the same five spirits, referred to as the first
five of Ahlul-bayt, when it says:
He (Prajapati or Brahma) made himself
like wind (spirit) and sought to enter into him. Being one, he could not do it.
He divided himself five fold and is called prana, apana, samana, udana, vyana.
Verse II.7 further describes the
Manifest Self that was created owing to creation of five spirits and its
relationship within the bodies of each of us "unaffected, as it seems, by
the light or the dark fruits of action."
II.7.
Verily, this self, the seers
declare, wanders here on earth in everybody unaffected, as it seems, by the
light or the dark fruits of action. On account of this unmanifestness,
subtility, imperceptibility, ungraspability, freedom from self-sense (the self)
is unabiding and a doer only in seeming, truly is not a doer, he is abiding.
Verily, he is pure, steadfast, unswerving, stainless, unagitated, free from
desire, remains fixed like a spectator and abiding in his own self. As an
enjoyer of righteous work he covers himself with a veil made of qualities, but
he remains fixed, yea, he remains fixed.
This explains that the Manifest Self
has a role to play inside our bodies as well.
See these verses from Maitri Upanishad.
Those who still see air, fire, etc. as five elements, please take special note.
IV.5.
They said, ‘Revered One, you
are the teacher, you are the teacher. What has been said has been duly fixed in
mind by us. Now answer a further question.
Fire, air, sun, time, whatever it is,
breath, food, Brahma, Rudra, Vishnu, some meditate upon one, some upon another.
Tell us which one is the best for us! Then he said to them.
Please note that all names are not
taken. This is evident from mention of ‘whatever it is’ in between. It is clear
from the question that the questioner wished to ask whose worship was the best,
out of all the Devatas. See the answer in IV.6:
IV.6.
These are but the chief forms
of the Supreme, the immortal, the bodiless Brahman. To whichever each man is
devoted here in this world he rejoices. For it has been said, ‘Verily, this
whole world is Brahman.’ Verily, these, which are its chief forms one meditates
upon, worships and discards. For with these one moves higher and higher in the
worlds. And when all things perish (in universal resolution), he attains unity
of (with) the person, yea, of the person.
They are the chief forms of the
Supreme. The fact that names like Brahma, Rudra were there should have been
enough to conclude that Agni (Fire), Vayu (Air), Kal
(Time) too are references to Devatas and it has been said that these are
the Chief forms of the Supreme – the bodiless. Truly this is the Manifest of
the Unmanifest, as said in the Gita.
Unable to notice the words like
‘chief forms of the Supreme’, and presence of revered names like Brahma, Vishnu
and Rudra, Radhakrishnan has wrongly concluded that this is reference to entire
humanity. But says that towards the end of
this world, even this Golden Germ will converge in the Absolute God: ‘At the
end of this world, at the time of universal dissolution, Hiranya-garbha
lapses into the Absolute Brahman. Till then individualities are retained by the
souls including the world-soul.’ You have already seen earlier that the Golden
Germ was created by the chief of Devatas, viz. Rudra.
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.
In IV.2.1 of Maitri Upanishad, Janaka
says that he is willing to be instructed. It is evident from conversation that
Janaka is well equipped with the teachings of the Upanishads, and had studied
the Vedas. Yajnavalkya asks him, ‘Where will you go when you are released (from
this body)?’ and tells him of the Person to whom he will go.
IV.2.2:
Indha by name is this person
who is in the right eye. Him, verily, who is that. Indha people call Indra,
indirectly, for the Devatas are fond of the indirect, as it were, they dislike
the direct.
Fact is that people of today have
forgotten the true position of Indra who is so important that it is said that
we would all go to him upon death. Gita has talked of Indra’s heaven, thereby
substantiating the claim. Yet, we do not recognize Indra. How can we think of
going to his heaven, if we do not recognize his identity?
The aforementioned verse clearly
tells that Indra is a Devata and also says that the Devatas are
fond of the indirect, thereby giving the reason why they have been referred to
indirectly through names like Agni, Vayu, Varuna, etc.
Difference between our time and that
of Yajnavalkya is that while we have forgotten who the Devatas are and
how we are related to them, the people of Yajnavalkya’s time had gone to the
extent of deifying them and had forgotten the true position of the Devatas
in between us and the Manifest Self of God. Therefore, you must remember that
we are trying to trace the importance of Devatas from the text written
when they were being deified as gods and God’s Messengers were in fact trying
to lessen their role. Now we are trying to identify the Devatas from
those very books at a time when the Devatas have been entirely
forgotten. Thankfully, Yajnavalkya and others have also talked of their true
position and we must be grateful to them.
Yet, there were also people who had
started doubting the existence of Devatas, when the wait became too
long. The following verse from Rig Veda confirms this and says that people were
having doubts whether Indra actually existed.
Of whom they ask, where is he? Of him
indeed they also say, he is not. In another hymn, the priests are invited to
offer a song of praise to Indra, ‘a true one, if in truth he is, for many say,
“There is no Indra, who has ever seen him? To whom are we to direct the song of
praise?”
This shows that Indra had not come
till the time of Rig Veda. No body had seen him by then. Yet Rig Veda goes on
to talk of Indra at innumerable places. The verse saying that no body has ever
seen him, even when the Vedas are replete with his name, is proof that all
myths about Indra meeting people or Indra producing children were product of
fictitious thinking. Moreover, we know that the tone of the Vedas is future
tense. All this too proves that Indra was to come in future.
The same who are described as five
above are referred to as the seven at some places and as seven and seven
(fourteen) at others. We have already explained why this has been done. The
Purana also states that these rishis (saints) survive the dissolution.
This dissolution is followed by a period of nothingness which is equal to the
period of Brahma’s Day, and thereafter a new creation comes into
existence and these rishis once again involve themselves in the
activities of running the cosmos.
If
you have any doubt about the presence of some people in the new creation, Quran
(Surah Ar-Raad) even puts that doubt to dust and confirms that there
will be at least some people from this creation who will also be there in a new
creation. See verse 5:
If thou dost marvel (at their want of faith), strange
is their saying: “When we are (actually) dust, shall we indeed then be in a
creation renewed?” They are those who deny their Lord! They are those round
whose necks will be yokes (of servitude): they will be
Companions of the Fire, to dwell therein (for aye)!
Matsya Purana says clearly that in
all the Manvantara classes of Rishis appear by seven and seven, and
having established a code of law and morality, depart to felicity. These seven
and seven have already given the code of law, but we couldn’t understand!
The same is said in I.2.5 of Mundaka
Upanishad, which says:
Whosoever performs works,
makes offerings, when these are shining and at the proper time, these in the
form of the rays of the sun lead him to that where the one lord of the Devatas abide.
Now see II.I.8 of the Mandukya
Upanishad of the Atharva-Veda:
From him come forth the
seven life-breaths (seven pranas or lifes), the seven flames, their fuel, the
seven oblations, these seven worlds in which move the life-breaths, seven and
seven (comprising fourteen) which dwell in the secret place (secret place being
the desert of Arabia).
Likewise, “the Seven Imperishable
Ones” in Brhad-aranyaka (Chapter II) are Rudra, Parjanya, Aditya, Fire, Indra,
Earth, and Heaven. (Certain Upanishads have refered to seven as Agni
(Fire), Water, Sky, Vayu (Wind), Heaven, Mahat (Mind) and Ego.).
And the five are referred to as Agni (Fire), Water, Vayu (Air),
Earth and Akash (Sky). These five are misinterpreted by Hindus as the
five basic elements through which the cosmos is composed. Truly, these are the
five basic entities responsible for creation of entire cosmos, as you have seen
in the description contained in Hadees-e-Kisa, but they are not physical
elements like material fire, earth, etc. Moreover, if they are physical
elements then will anybody tell what relation they have with Rudra, Indra,
Mahat (Mind), etc. Will you call Indra too as element? If Indra is a Devata,
Rudra (Shiva) too is a Devata, then you will have to believe that these
five ‘elements’ too have much higher divine connection than being merely
‘physical elements’.
Verse I.2.8 of Mundaka Upanishad
tells clearly that those who consider themselves as wise but are ignorant of
this knowledge related to the role of the Devatas in bestowing salvation
and subsequent permanent stay in Brahma’s Heaven, are blind.
I.2.8:
Abiding in the midst of
ignorance, wise in their own esteem, thinking themselves to be learned, fools,
afflicted with troubles, go about like blind men led by one who is himself
blind.
I.2.9.
The immature, living
manifoldly in ignorance, think ‘we have accomplished our aim.’ Since those who
perform rituals do not understand (these 7 moving tongues of fire) because of
attachment, therefore they sink down, wretched when their worlds (i.e. the
fruits of their merits) are exhausted.
I.2.10.
These deluded men, regarding
sacrifices and works of merits as most important, do not know any other good.
Having enjoyed in the high place of heaven won by good deeds, they enter again
this world or a still lower one.
At another place, Mundaka
Upanishad says:
II.I.10.
The person himself is all
this, work, austerity and Brahma beyond death. He who knows that which is set
in the secret place, he, here on earth, O beloved, cuts asunder the knot of
ignorance.
He who knows the seven and seven
(equal to fourteen) pranas emanating from the Divine Person or Paramatma
– the Manifest form of the Unmanifest God – is removed from ignorance and
attains enlightenment. Even Gita says that such a person alone attains to
wisdom and gets united with the Divine Spirit. Ultimate goal is to reach the
Supreme Brahman, but only through the path of these Devatas, who are the
one’s meant by the syllable ‘Aum’.
Moreover, note the emphasis on the
‘secret place’ where they would dwell. It is clearly stated one who knows this
fact cuts asunder the knot of ignorance. ‘Here on earth’ is again used to
emphasize that they would take birth on earth. What nobody knows was that they
already took birth at a largely unknown and secluded place, in the
Kausitaki Upanishad is one of those
Upanishads that confirms the importance of Devatas and leads us back to
God, which is the ultimate culmination of all efforts. See these verses from
Chapter IV.
IV.3: Then Balaki said, ‘The person
who is in the sun, on him indeed do I meditate!’ To him, then Ajatsatru said,
‘Do not make me to converse on him. I meditate on him who is the Devata, clad
in white raiment, the supreme, the head of all beings. He who meditates on him
thus becomes indeed supreme, the head of all beings.
IV.4. Then Balaki said: ‘The person
who is in the moon, on him indeed do I meditate!’ To him, then, Ajatsatru said,
‘Do not make me to converse on him. I meditate on him as the self of food. He
who meditates on him Thus becomes indeed, the self of food.’
IV.5. Then Balaki said, ‘The person
who is in the lightning on him, indeed, do I meditate.’ To him then Ajatsatru
said, ‘Do not make me to converse on him. I meditate on him as the self of
truth. He who meditates on him thus becomes, indeed, the self of truth!’
IV.6. Then Balaki said, ‘The person
who is in the thunder, on him, indeed, do I meditate.’ To him then Ajatsatru
said, ‘Do not make me to converse on him. I meditate on him as the self of
sound. He who meditates on him thus becomes, indeed, the self of sound.
Thereafter, the person who is in the
air, space, fire, water, mirror, shadow, echo, sound, body, right eye, left eye
are mentioned. In the end Ajatsatru said:
He, verily, O Balaki, who is the maker of these persons (whom you have mentioned in succession), he of whom this is the work, he alone is to be known. And that He is the God.
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