Posts Tagged ‘jivatma’

Darshan (Philosophy) I

Monday, May 3rd, 2010

Shad Darshan – Sankhya and Yoga:

General

Since Hinduism has its base in Vedas and Vedas are considered words of God directly revealed to the great Rishis, Hinduism is not considered as a philosophy. Hinduism is the Vedic way of describing the Absolute Truth. Vedas are considered eternal (without any origin), authorless (apaurusheya – means not the work of mankind or beyond human imagination), and infallible (never wrong). The directly revealed words of God are considered as the form of God. “mada vāni, mada rupam”, meaning, “My words are my form.” It is considered as one of the ways of understanding or claiming the Truth, just like any other religious philosophies. It will be surprising to know that almost all religious philosophies agree to believe that the “Truth” or “Absolute” is one, but it is equally surprising that the claimants or claimers are many! Because, Hinduism is not considered as a philosophy but is considered as the first hand or direct information about the truth, the philosophies developed on the bases of the Vedas – the words of God, are called “Darshans.” Darshans are philosophies – philosophical interpretations about the Truth by the great scholars. Darshans literarily means the views, visions, or philosophies and are also known as “Tattvagnān” (also spelled as “Tattvagyan” or “Tattvajnan”). Hinduism is not the “Darshan” or “Tattvagnān.” “Shad” means six and “Darshan” means philosophy. The six major philosophies of Hinduism developed from Vedas and Upanishads are: Sānkhya, Yoga, Nyāya, Vaisheshika, Purva Mimānsā (Mimamsa), and Uttara Mimānsā (also known as Vedanta.”) All these philosophies were basically developed before the Common Era except the few major philosophies based on Vedanta.

Sankhya:

Sankhya” is the oldest classical philosophical system of Hinduism founded by rishi Kapil. According to Sankhya, there are basically two realities: Prakruti and Purush. Prakruti means the Nature which consists of 24 elements (tattvas). Purush means the essence or the controller of Prakruti. It is ontologically and characteristically distinct from Prakruti and is considered as the 25th element that is transcendental to all other elements. The responsibility of exploring or knowing in detail and further describing the Nature or Prakruti has been taken up by the Science, The responsibility of knowing and describing God or Purush has been taken up by the Religion.

The objective of Sankhya is to obtain discriminative knowledge of the manifest (vyakta) nature (prakruti), the unmanifest (avyakta) nature (prakruti), and the knower (purush). “Tadviparitaha shreyān vyakta-avykta-gna-vignānāt ||” (Sāmkhya Kārikā: 2) According to Sankhya, Vyakta prakruti includes Mahattattva, Buddhi, Ahamkar, five Tanmatra, ten Indriya, and five Mahabhut. Avyakta prakruti is Pradhān. The knower (gnaha) is known as Purush.

Sankhya philosophy maintains multiplicity of Purush. “janana-marana-karanānām pratiniyamādugapatpravruteshcha | Purushabahutvam siddhim traigunyaviparyayāshchaiva ||” (Sāmkhya Kārikā: 18) “Everybody does not born at the same time, does not die at the same time, everybody does not do same activity (karma) at the same time, everybody does activities (pravrutti) according to their psychological state of mind (gunas), such as some do virtuous activities (dharma), some do wicked activities (adharma);  some do cultivate detachment from the worldly object (vairagya) some not; some gain knowledge (gyān), some not. These diversities themselves show the plurality of purushas.”

Sankhya does not separate jiv or soul from sharir or the body. It considers jiv or soul as a part of 24 elements of Nature (also called Pradhān Prakruti) because jiv is intermingled or blended with them so closely that it cannot be separately identified. The 24 elements along with jiv are considered as the field called “Kshetra” and Purush is considered as the fielder called “Kshetragna.” They have controlee and controller relationships, respectively. This can be compared to the Dualism. But, the dualism of body and its life force (soul, atma or jivatma) or the dualism of cosmos (Prakruti) and its super-soul (Purush) and not the dualism of body and mind (According to Hinduism mind or antahkaran is part of the body – ontologically same element or reality) as against Monism. In Sankhya, the intellect or conscious is called “mahat” (mahattattva). Sankhya describes three kinds of proofs or evidences called “Pramānas,” namely, “Pratyaksha pramana” meaning direct perception, “Anumāna pramana” meaning logical inference, and “Sabda pramana” means verbal testimony.

Sānkhya is the eyes (ānkhya) to visualize the Truth. The message of Sankhya is to utilized this material world for improving one’s understanding about the Truth, at the same time developing the detachment from it, and hence to uplift the soul considering that this material world is not that important, permanent, or giver of the happiness or the bliss. It can just give comfort at the most. It is called the Nature or Prakruti – the jad (lifeless), aparā (non-transcendental) Prakruti which is “nāshvant” meaning destructible. The real essence is its life force, motivating force, its cause, its controller called Purush, Ishwar, or God. One should cultivate the attachment with the Truth. Sankhya generally believes in unrestricted use of nature or the worldly products of the nature and then either to forget it or to rationalize it to remain permanently detached from it so that one always remains in the state of bliss and avoid pain and sufferings.

In Sankhya, the question of salvation remains open. If Purush is God and Prakruti is His creation then salvation of Purush is out of question. If Brahmand is Prakruti (Pradhān) and its chief controller is Purush and if there is only one brahmand then the separation of Purush from its brahmand happens at the dissolution. But it doesn’t explain multiplicity of Purushas. If there are many brahmands, and hence many Pradhāns then it explains existence of many Purushas. But then it does not explain the supremacy of one God. One needs to add or explain the existence of the supreme reality. If Prakruti is body and Purush is its essence, called Jiv or soul, then it explains many bodies and many souls – a separate soul for each living being. But then the soul becomes the 25th element and what about God? What about salvation? Who gets salvation and who gives salvation? If souls get salvation, then who gives them salvation? The above ontological questions or flaws in Sankhya philosophy creates the necessity of at least one more reality, either soul or God, which is explained by the next philosophy.

Yoga:

Yoga was developed by rishi Pātanjali for creation of the spiritual bonding or union of a soul with the God. But now it has taken a 360 degree turn to help built physical health globally. The principals of Yoga are mentioned in his text of “Yoga Sutra.” Patanjali’s yoga system accepts the principles and concepts of Sankhya about the 24 kinds of physical elements. Patanjali’s Yoga texts (Yoga Shāshtras) go one step further. According to yoga, soul or jiv is ontologically different than the 24 kinds of physical, material, or worldly elements. So soul or jiv can be considered as the 25th element and God automatically becomes the 26th element. God is still maintained superior to all that makes up the topmost transcendental element or fundamental entity constituting the creation. God in Yoga is personified, Supreme, and of the nature of soul, that is, purely spiritual. He facilitates the attainment of liberation of the souls of His devotees. He remains non-doer or “akrtā.” Meaning, He doesn’t do anything directly by Himself and remain detached from its creation. He is called “Ishwar.” In Yoga, Ishwar is described as one, “in whom there is the seed (bij) or source of unsurpassed (nirātishayam) quality of all-knowing (omniscience),” “Tatra niratishayam sarvagnatva-bijam” Meaning Ishwar is omniscient or all-knower (sarvagna) (Yoga Sutra: 1.25) and “Sa purveshām-api guruhu kālenānavachchhedāt” (Yoga Sutra: 1.26) Meaning, “who is Guru (mentor or the ideal) of also ancient ones (primary creators, such as Brahmā and others), for, He is unbounded (pierced) by time (for He has no beginning and end, meaning eternal, whereas others have beginning and end).” Ishwar is “Purush-vishesha” (Godhead) untouched, unaffected, and free from the “klesha” (afflictions), “karma” (deeds or actions), “vipāka” (fruits of the deeds or actions), and “āshaya” (intentions or desires). “Klesha karma vipākāshayair aparāmrushtaha purusha-vishesha ishwaraha” (Yoga Sutra: 1.24). Souls are pure, eternal, immutable, and are countless in number. They remain attached to the world and worldly things. Souls assume innumerable embodied forms in the cycle of birth and death. In Yoga, the intellect or conscious is called “chittva” (chitt). Unlike the unrestricted use of nature in the Sankhya system, Yoga believes in the restricted use of the nature or in the well controlled and willing (not the forceful and against one’s will) suppression (nirodh) of the thoughts (vruttis) of the conscious (chitt). To understand the elements let us take only one kind of element, say the “Pruthwi” element. It consists of particulate form of more than 112-118 elements of the periodic table. Yoga also describes perceptions, but only of two kinds: “Savikalpa” meaning relative and “Nirvikalpa” meaning absolute perception.

In Yoga, Ashtang Yoga or meditation (dhyān) is used as the means of communion with the Divinity or God. Divinity or self is the object of meditation. Yoga recommends considering the soul, jiv or atma as the distinct (chaitanya) entity from the physical or worldly (lifeless) objects or entities and to develop “Atmabhāv” or “Atma-realization”; and then to worship Paramatma (God) who has definite form (sākār). If we have a physical form, then God has to have, physical but divine (divya sakar), form otherwise the union cannot be strong and fruitful. This is called “sajātiya” union, meaning the union “of a kind” or “of the same kind,” because, Soul and God both are believed to share ontologically common traits. The message of Yoga, as compared to Sankhya, is not to utilize this material world at all or at the minimum necessary level to keep one’s body, mind, and soul healthy and long-lasting keeping in mind that it is just the vehicle in developing the union with the Truth called God or Narayan and attaining the liberation.

Thus, Yoga emphasizes for spiritually leveling or uplifting the “Atma to God” or “Jiv to Shiv (God)” or “one eternal to another eternal” (shāswat) objects, rather than downgrading oneself with the worldly, material, destructible (nāshvant) objects by thinking or being as a part of a physical elements. If a person thinks him or herself as a part of the material world and worships God then his or her union or bonding with the God does not become complete, strong, and permanent. There always remains a flaw or hanging sward over that union and ultimately it breaks with even a trivial reason.

Yoga philosophy explains three basic or fundamental realities and salvation of souls, but it creates one more issue. If one understands Ishwar from Yoga only, being defined as Purush form, God as a person gets many limitations in understanding. One cannot get it how personified God can be all-knower or omniscient (sarvagna), all-controller, inner-guide of all (sarva antaryāmi), all-pervasive (sarva vyāpak), present everywhere at the same time (omnipresent) and absolutely perfect (paripurna).

Yoga was meant for the union of the atma (self or soul) with Paramatma (God) and the object of meditation was self or God. But in modern period of times, the object of meditation is changed from the divinity to diversity and yoga has just remain one of the means of attaining or maintaining well being of the body only, not even of mind and the soul.

Body in Hinduism I

Wednesday, January 6th, 2010

Sharir – In general

The creation of God, also known as the Nature, is called “Shrishti” (also spelled as Shrushti) in Hinduism. Hinduism believes in Prakruti and Purush (Controlee & Controller), Jad and Chid (Matter & Energy), Achetan and Chetan (Non-divine & Divine), Kshetra and Kshetragna (Field and Fielder), Brahm and Parabrahm (Sharir & Shariri), Body and Soul (Insentient & Sentient), and Deh and Jiv (Anātmā & Ātmā) theory. According to Hinduism, the cosmos (universe) consists of body (Virāt) and its life force (Virāt-Purush). The life force of the Prakruti (Nature) is known as Purush. Similarly, the body of an individual living organism also consists of a body and its life force. The life force of the body (sharir) is known as jiv, ātmā, or jivātmā. In English, “jiv” (also spelled as jiva or jeev) is generally translated as “soul”. Hinduism believes that all living things have souls that control their own bodies. Souls are many.

According to Hinduism, all souls are similar in strength and in elemental composition. They all make their own category of fundamental eternal reality, called Jiv category, consisting of similar philosophical element (tattva). According to Hinduism, from the tiny bacteria to demigods all are of Jiv category. It is said that by worshiping God a trivial fly has elevated to the level of Sun. It is saying that, “This jiv has been elevated from the level of fly to the level of Sun.” The soul of an ant or mosquito is similar in characteristics of the soul of an elephant or lion. But, because of the limitations of the body their potential or power differs. Once detached from the body and after becoming brahmanized (brahmrup) all souls become equally powerful. Hinduism believes in the concept of transmigration of the soul or rebirth. Reincarnation (punah avatār) and rebirth (punah janma or punarjanma) are two different things. Rebirth means the same soul is reborn again. The word “incarnation” means “avatar” and it should be used for the manifestation of God only. Reincarnation of God means God manifests or appears, by His Godly power, on this earth or anywhere in brahmands in different physical forms, for different purposes, never ever leaving His abode. In both these processes of rebirth and reincarnation, soul and God, elementally, never transforms, only their body or external appearance changes. In rebirth soul gets different body. In reincarnation God reveals Himself differently while remaining in His abode in His original form. Thus, the word “reincarnation” is supposed to be used restrictively for God or divine power only and not for common un-liberated souls. After death of a living being the soul goes through the cycle of transmigration – the cycle of birth and death, also known as “Samsār chakra”. This cycle is also known as “Lakh Chaurasi” meaning the cycle of 8,400,000 lineages of life forms. The concept of 8.4 million species of life forms existed for many millenniums in Hinduism. It Graur and Li in their “Fundamentals of Molecular Evolution,” page 436) estimate the number of extant species to be 4.5 – 10 million. Currently new species are being discovered every day.

It is said that the current systems of classifying forms of life, known as “rank-based scientific or biological classification”, descend from the thought presented by the Greek philosopher Aristotle, who published in his metaphysical and logical works the first known classification of everything whatsoever, or “being”. Aristotle (384 BC – 322 BC) was a Greek philosopher, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. The current rank-based classification of organisms is attributed to Linnaeus and is known as Linnaean taxonomy. It was first presented by Linnaeus in his Systema Naturae (1735) and his subsequent works. In his Imperium Naturae, Linnaeus established three kingdoms, namely Regnum Animale (Animal Kingdom), Regnum Vegetabile (Vegetable Kingdom), and Regnum Lapideum (Mineral Kingdom). Thus, Carl Linnaeus (Carolus Linnaeus, 1707 –1778) laid the foundations for the modern scheme of binomial nomenclature. He is known as the father of modern taxonomy.

Most possibly, the concept of classification of living things goes back to Vedic period of Hinduism. Long before Carl Linnaeus (1707 –1778) and Aristotle (384 BC – 322 BC), if it is not incorrect to say, Hinduism has classified living things or organisms into three or four major groups or divisions based on birth similarity. Chhāndogya Upanishad divides all life into 3 classes in this way: “Tesam khalv esam bhutanam triny eva bijani bhavanti, andajam, jivajam, udbhijjam iti.” Meaning, “In truth, beings have here three kinds of seeds, born from the egg, born alive, and born from the germ.” (Chhāndogya Upanishad 6.3.1). Not only that, Shrimad Bhagavat Puran has even classified the so-called animal kingdom of Carl Linnaeus in 3 major subdivisions as shown by this shlok: “jarāyujaḿ svedajam aṇajodbhidaḿ carācaraḿ devarṣi-pitṛ-bhūtam aindriyam dyauḥ khaḿ kṣitiḥ śaila-sarit-samudra-dvīpa-graharkṣety abhidheya ekaḥ” (Shrimad Bhagavat 5.18.32.)

Thus, these four groups are: Jarāyuj, Andaj, Swedaj, and Udbhij. Jarāyuj (also known as Pindaj) are placental (jarāyu means outer covering of embryo or placenta, also translated as womb) or mammals which are born directly from the body or occurring by means of a placenta or placenta like organ; such as humans and other animals. Andaj are born from an egg (anda means egg) such as birds, fishes, and amphibians. Swedaj are born from or out of the sweat, dander (material shed from the body of various animals), shed skin cells and flakes, organic detritus, biotic material, or moisture generated by breathing, perspiration, saliva, and other secretions (sweda means sweat) such as insects and other tiny or microscopic creatures. Udbhij (also spelled as Udvij) are born from the ground or grow out of earth (udbhud means comes up, created, or born from bhu means ground or land) such as trees and plants. First three groups belong to animal kingdom (Kingdom Animalia) and the last one belongs to the plant kingdom (Kingdom Plantae).