(Synopsis of a lecture by Jagadguru Shri Kripalu Ji Maharaj given in Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India, on January 7, 2010)
The Chandogya Upanishad tells that supreme God has eight divine qualities. One of these eight is satya sankalpah. This means whatever God thinks, happens. By merely thinking, “Let universal dissolution begin…” it happens automatically. Creation happens the same way, and in a very systematic order.
From the element of space, comes the element of air, from air comes the element of fire, from fire comes the element of water, from water comes the element of earth, and from earth all life forms arise. Then at the time of dissolution, the earth element enters into water, the water element enters into fire, the fire element enters into air, the air element enters into space, the space element enters into its subtle form, that subtle form enters into ahankar, then ahankar enters into mahan, then mahan enters into prakriti, and then prakriti enters into God and God remains alone. What was once the universe becomes a void.
How did this happen? Merely by His thought. He never lifted a finger or spoke a word. That supreme God has uncountable divine powers, and with these He accomplishes everything. For example, if there is an officer, he gives an order, and accordingly his subordinates do that work. A teacher instructs his students similarly. A doctor prescribes medicine the same way. Whatever instructions they give, people follow. Similarly, God has uncountable powers. Out of these, one is called para-shakti, which is the supreme power (Vishnu Puran 67/61).
What does God do? The Vedas say that according to His desire, He could do or not do anything or do what is the opposite of both of these. What could that be? For example, He could see through His ears instead of his eyes, or hear though His eyes instead of his ears. The Brahma Sanhita says He could perform the work of all the senses through one single sense, or perform the same work without any senses at all. Without any senses, He is performing all actions (Shvetashvatara Upanishad). He created the world, He is maintaining the world, and He will cause its final dissolution. Does He have any object or weapon to do this with? No, He has His supreme power, para-shakti. By this power just giving an indication, all the other powers start to work in a very systematic manner.
We see this in the order of nature. During the hot season, a particular flower will bloom. Yet flowers won’t appear on the sandlewood tree. All life has different qualities, names and forms. How many amazing forms there are! You have never seen all of them. There are so many different kinds that dwell in water, in the sky, and on this earth – and there are not even two faces that are exactly the same among human beings. What a miracle! Out of 6 billion people, you won’t find even two people with exactly the same fingerprints. They are all different. We don’t know anything about our creator. We have never seen Him, yet He is omnipresent everywhere.
The greatest atheist, Hiranyakashipu, said to his son Prahalad, “Is your God who is written about in the Vedas present everywhere? Or is this just talk? Is He also in my home, the home of a demon?” Prahalad said, “Yes, He is.” “Is your God is this column, too?” “Yes, father, He is.” Hiranyakashipu became extremely angry and hit the column with his club. The entire column collapsed and Narsingh Bhagwan appeared standing there, “Look, Hiranyakashipu, I am present everywhere.”
That para-shakti is the supreme power. It has 3 forms: sat, chit, and ananda. You must have heard God referred to as sat-chit-ananda. Sat means eternal. God is eternal. His other name is Radha Rani. She is also eternal. Chit means all-knowing. What is this? Does this mean knowing another person’s thoughts? No, this is what yogis do. All-knowing means to simultaneously know all the actions performed by all the souls every moment in all the states in all the countries of all the uncountable worlds in the universe. This is omniscience. Even while He is doing this, He is also giving the consequences of those actions. He always resides in the hearts of every living being. He could never leave them.
We aren’t aware of this, and that is why we don’t consider that He is doing us a favor. When the soul leaves the body the physical senses stay behind. Even though the body has eyes, they don’t see. There are ears, but they don’t hear. The life of the senses was due to the soul and the soul’s life comes from God, who is the powerhouse or supreme power giver.
(Continued in Part 3)
© Radha Govinda Samiti and Bhakti Bliss
