কোথা হতে আসি কোথা ভাসি যাই- My thoughts and a deep dive into Nāsadīya Sūkta

 Who am I?  where did I come from? Where will I go after I pass away? What, in essence, is the mystery of creation? This riddle intrigues a wise man / woman, philosopher, scientist, as well as the average person and a young child. Unfortunately, no field of knowledge has a conclusive response to it. This is true despite the fact that every field of knowledge must face this issue and provide a workable solution in order to advance.

The encounter between Einstein and M. Lemaitre (b. 1894), a Christian priest, scientist, and astronomer, helps to explain the enigma of the process of creation. He was the one who initially put forth a clear articulation of the Big Bang hypothesis as well as the notion of an expanding cosmos. Physics had previously accepted a static universe similar to that portrayed in the Bible until Einstein explained his theories and the mathematics supporting them. 

Lemaitre had used Einstein's Theory of Relativity as the foundation for his conclusions. The famous scientist is claimed to have told him, "Your maths is correct, but your physics is abominable" after hearing about his theories about the expanding cosmos. Later, even after theories about the expanding cosmos, the big bang, and other concepts gained popularity, Einstein refused to accept them and attempted to refute them by creating a theory known as the "cosmological constant," which was never accepted by other scientists. This demonstrates how even for scientists, the concepts relating to the universe's creation may be rather challenging.

The more intriguing aspect of the idea of the expanding universe is the "singularity," or point at which equations collapse, indicating that it is impossible to know with certainty what occurred in space and time prior to that point.

Puruṣa Sūkta and Nāsadīya Sūkta are two hymns in the Vedas that present opposing perspectives on cosmology and creation. In Puruṣa Sūkta, creation is said to have originated from God, the Lord, whose external form makes up one-fourth of the entire manifest universe. In contrast, Nāsadīya Sūkta theory of creation is more impersonal, contending that the creative power preexisted after the dissolution of the previous cycle (kalpa), without vibration (Ānidavātam). There is a certain type of equilibrium in the situation, which is distinguished by the lack of any motion. When the creative process is about to commence, a mystery force that disturbs this equilibrium suddenly manifests, and the process of creation is restarted.

                                                                     Nāsadīya Sūkta                                                                          One of the Vedic hymns with the most exquisite beauty, profundity, and abstraction is Nāsadīya sūkta , which lyrically describes the creation process as understood by the sage. The hymn is perfect philosophically, logically, and spiritually. Swami Vivekananda translated it in poetry form because he loved it so much. 

This song demonstrates how the sages engaged in intense concentration to discover truths that are very comparable to those found in the Upanishad chapters. This further demonstrates how the Upanishads developed gradually starting with the time of the Veda's original authorship rather than suddenly. 

Philosophers from all across the world have taken a variety of stances on the philosophical issues surrounding time and space. Greek philosophers defined space as something that holds items and time as the length of an occurrence. From that point on, matter was understood to be anything that takes up space. 

Newton represented all of this mathematically as a space-time continuum, which meant that regardless of the presence of matter, space would exist. As a result, space-time became fixed, like an empty container into which God, the universe's watchmaker, placed matter. The term was altered to the Space-Time-Matter continuum by Einstein. These three were now dependant on one another. If you remove one, the other two will crumble. 

That is how Newton's mathematical formulation of absoluteness was eliminated. The Sankhya philosophy in India views the universe as a continuum of Space-Time-Matter-Mind, with each of these elements constantly interacting with the others. So, it is impossible to think of someone in isolation from others. 

The Vedanta philosophy, which is the closest to the Vedic philosophy, refers to a continuity of space, time, matter, mind, and consciousness, meaning that these four elements are like waves in the ocean of consciousness. These four only occur during times of creation, but after disintegration, they blend into the consciousness that has always existed, much like waves do when they combine to form a peaceful ocean.

As a result, there is an inherent tension between the Western scientific perspective and Indian spiritual truth that cannot ever be resolved.

Devatā – Paramātmā

nāsad āsīn no sad āsīt tadānīṃ nāsīd rajo no vyomā paro yat

kim āvarīvaḥ kuha kasya śarmann ambhaḥ kim āsīd gahanaṃ gabhīram

Meaning:  Existence was not then, nor non-existence

the world was not, nor the sky beyond
What covered it, where was it and for whose protection?

was water there, unfathomable depth of water?

What was there before creation, the hymn's first line asks? The answer is no, there was no non-existence.  Asat can signify a variety of things, including prakti, invisible items, and absence. It broadly refers to the consciousness of absence. For instance, saying "elephant is not here on the table" is both a negation of something and a positive affirmation of a false statement based on conscious knowledge that incorporates the senses, the mind, and the knowing process. According to this scripture, none of the three organs of knowledge were present before creation, so no one is aware of what existed before it. Sensations arrive far later than the mind, which is born immediately after creation.

 

This mantra rejects the Skhya and any other philosophy that holds that Prakriti (the whole of matter, energy, and mind) has an autonomous existence by rejecting the existence of asat prior to creation.  

Does this imply that life ever existed in some form? The claim that existence was not there is another denial of this. The definition of Sat is existence. Here, it refers to perceptible things. One cannot assert that something existed before to creation because the mind or senses did not exist.

Sat can have two different meanings: Bromho (because it is pure existence), or Prakti (being after creation). If the foregoing argument denies the existence of Prakti, does it also deny the presence of Bromho, implying the sunya of Buddhists? No. Pure consciousness, known as bromho, is never the subject of knowledge since it can only be understood while in the greatest samadhi state, in which all mental processes cease. Therefore, the question of whether it exists or not is absurd. According to the mantra, neither the presence nor the absence of what existed before creation could ever be fully understood by the mind or described in words.

This describes Advaita, which is non-dualism and not monism. Advaita refers to pure existence, of which a human can become one but never fully comprehend. Advaita is beyond both of these; it is neither 0 nor 1. Sri Ramakrishna had used the analogy of ten pots of water in which the sun was reflected to illustrate this to Swami Vivekananda. This resulted in eleven suns (ten reflected and one in the sky). There would be two suns if the pots were destroyed one by one until only one remained. How many suns would still be present if the last pot was to be broken as well? "One" was Swami Vivekananda's response. Sri Ramakrishna corrected him by saying that since no one is left to speak for what is left after that, it cannot be spoken. This is Advaita; it is indescribable.

The mantra says, "na sat raja," meaning that there were no particles present. The word "raja" has many connotations that indicate substance. Here, it refers to the numerous types of existence that make up the three domains of existence—physical, subtle, and causal—as discussed in the first chapter, as well as particles and everything that may be made from them.

Was there space, then? No vyom paro yat, there was no sky or space, is the correct response. The lokas are surrounded by some sort of space, much like how the sky envelops the planet. The mantra disproves that theory. Therefore, no matter nor space existed. What, then, did kim āvarīvaḥ cover whatever was there? Nothing.  Whose welfare is Kasya śarman concerned with? Not anyone. Every item has a purpose and is used by someone. Where was this creation located, and for whose pleasure? Since there was nothing, the answer is, for no one.

na mṛtyur-āsīd-amṛtaṃ na tarhi na rātryā ahna āsīt-praketaḥ

ānīda-vātaṃ svadhayā tadekaṃ tasmād-dhānyan na paraḥ kiṃ canāsa

Meaning : Death was not then, nor immortality

the night was neither separate from day
That One Thing, unmoving, breathed by its own nature 

apart from That nothing did exist

There was neither immortality nor death, na mrtyu st amta na.  Every religion emphasizes attaining immortality by leaving the world and joining God. Death and immortality are not a topic because there was no creation. Day and night are used here as metaphors for the passage of time; at that time, they could not be distinguished from one another. Time was created, just as matter, consciousness, and space. This mantra describes the lack of time, whereas the previous mantra addressed the absence of space. In Hinduism, time, also known as Kala, holds a particular place. Going beyond time, which can only be accomplished by God because everything in the world is attributed to time, is therefore everyone's ultimate purpose. All religious rituals and spiritual exercises strive to transcend time and, by extension, the cycle of life and death.

So, the Supreme Lord, about whom nothing can be known in that stage, stayed ānīt, without breathing, i.e. without any kind of movement, since it was the state of avātaṃ, no air. In that state of unified existence there was no energy in a differentiated form to make things move. The energy that works within and outside is known as prāṇa. Living beings are characterised by the working of prāṇa within them and hence they are known as prāṇī in India. God is no prāṇī, so the question of His breathing or not breathing does not arise, as mentioned here.

That supreme One stayed Svadhayā, holding its existence by Itself. God in that state held Himself by His own power. Later scriptures and philosophers came up with terms like Māyā, Prakṛti, Śakti, etc. to explain the mystical power of God that creates, sustains and destroys the universe. But in the original state, God stayed with Its own power, internalised within It. Sri Ramakrishna used the example of a snake sitting in a coil, and the snake that moves. Brahman before creation is like the snake sitting in a coil, holding its power to itself, and It is like a snake that moves when creation comes into being. Once the Creation begins, and subjects and objects are born, one can freely use terms that best suit them to describe this power. Apart from Brahman and His inherent power, nothing else existed, tasmāt ha anyat na paraḥ kiñcana āsa.The first two mantras thus show the non-duality of existence before creation.

tama āsīt-tamasā gūḷham-agre-(a)praketaṃ salilaṃ sarvamā idam

tucchyenābhv-apihitaṃ yad-āsīt-tapasas-tan-mahinājāyat-aikam

Meaning: There was then only darkness covered in darkness

undistinguished as one mass of water

Then That which lay covered by nothing

was produced by the power of tapas

A wonderful example of poetic beauty is the phrase "darkness covered in darkness" used to convey the depth of darkness.  It indicates that everything that is currently observable in the universe was once obscured by maya and rendered unknown and unmanifest, just as everything is obscured by night and rendered unknown and unmanifest. Therefore, the items were present in the form of identical seeds. As a result, it is impossible to talk about any "thing" existing before Creation without creating a contradiction. The best that can be claimed is that Bromho, existing within Itself, contained the capacity for "becoming" everything. Physics states that a similar phenomenon occurs when matter and energy are created as a single entity and then gradually expand to form the universe.  This idea is used by various philosophical schools to support their position on Creation.   

Before creation, everything was only water, or salilam sarvam idam. The two key facets of the world, cause and effect, were mingled together like milk and water. Salilam, which means "water," is frequently used to refer to the element that created the cosmos, although the element that gave rise to everything is not ordinary water.

When it was finally time to begin constructing the universe, God did so using the tapasa mahin, or power of tapas, which is typically interpreted as the heat resulting from a single-minded resolve. It can also denote learning. In Indian literature, the notion that God created the universe through tapas is particularly prevalent.

The universe's cause, Prakriti, who had previously been combined with God, became manifest with the start of the creation process thanks to the strength of God's will. Tat ekam. Saguna Brohmo, the personal God who creates, maintains, and destroys the universe, represented the unknowable God.

kāmas-tad-agre sam-avartatādhi manaso retaḥ prathamaṃ yadāsīt

sato bandhum-asati niravindan-hṛdi pratīṣyā kavayo manīṣā

Meaning: In the beginning there was desire

which became the first seed of mind

Sages in their hearts gained the knowledge

of the bond that ties “sat” with “asat”

The desire for it emerged in God's mind just prior to the creation, tat agre kama samavartata. This is a complex issue. Why would God, who is already satisfied, want anything? Additionally, how can one know what was in God's mind when only a superior mind is capable of knowing another mind? There is no rational response to this, other than to view the occurrence from the perspective of those who always act on their desires first. It is always offered as a word of warning that God's will is not your typical desire. The phrase "God willed" simply means that there is no plausible explanation for it.  

When the universe was first created, God's will—the first seed of thought—was adhi manasa reta prathamam. Given the interdependence of thought, will, and mind, God's will implies God's mind. The word "reta" is frequently used to describe several instances in which something comes into being. Once more, this seed is not an ordinary one, but it is the cause that drives the jiva (embodied soul in the world) to create karma (impressions of an individual's acts in the mind) and later reap the rewards of their karma. The Upanishad concept that "That" which "is" conceives that which is "not" yet appears to be through the power of "my" may be seen in this early example.

Why should we believe what is being said here? How do we know all this? The sages, kavaya, or hdi praty man, acquired this knowledge by meditation, is the response. Kavi is krntadar, which is Sanskrit for "those who can see things in totality" (i.e., simultaneously in the present, past, and future). God is therefore the real Kavi. However, the great sages who have surpassed the boundaries of their thoughts also possess this power, and as such, they are reverently referred to as Kavi. These sages learned about God with a pure mind and in their hearts. This name refers to the fact that the majority of meditations involve focusing the attention at the Kundalini.

The tie between the existent and the nonexistent, or sata bandhum asati niravindan, is the most significant piece of information the sages learned through meditation. Since creation lacks a permanent existence and is not as "Real" as God, as was previously said, it is not as real as God. So, while the mystery of how these two came to be cannot be understood by the mind of the common man, it may be understood by the perceptive and wise mind of a sage. One who binds, bandhum, is a lovely word because it also means friend, suggesting that friendship serves as the connecting thread between two people. In this instance, creation and God are intertwined.

tiraścīno vitato raśmir-eṣām-adhaḥ svid-āsīd-upari svid-āsīt
retodhā āsan-mahimāna āsant-svadhā avastāt-prayatiḥ parastāt

Meaning: When matter and energy first manifested, in whatever form, they filled the universe like the sun's beams do the planets. So how were they distributed? Did they rise or fall? Is it straight or angled?  Even this, in fact, is still a mystery. 

Because it scatters seeds to inspire the production of its replica, retodh, that which retains the seed, denotes the jiva. When the words majestic and male and female principles are combined, the result is mahimna, or majestic.

But sages understand these two words in different ways. Swami Vivekananda understands these as energy and substance, although Syacrya interprets them to mean jiva and its food. These imply the dualism of subject and object in either situation.

It's interesting to note that Swami Vivekananda understood it to refer to energy and matter, with energy interacting with itself to produce the purest form of matter. Before Einstein published his Special and General Theories of Relativity, he carried out this action. How did Swamiji come up with this incredible interpretation, one would wonder? He and all other sages would receive the same response, which is that such wisdom comes in a single, intuitive flash that leads to immediate and complete comprehension.

There are mainly two types of creation theories. The first one is where things came out serially, as in the theory of evolution. The second one is the Creationistic theory, according to which God creates beings one after another, in no particular order. This hymn belongs to the evolutionary category, according to which, ākāśa (finest form of matter that gives rise to other forms of matter) comes from ātman, implying time, space, matter, consciousness continuum. This has been elaborated in Gita (VII.5) as “The material Nature or matter is My lower Nature. My higher Nature is the Spirit by which this entire universe is sustained, O Arjuna.”

The development of creation was so sudden and quick like a flash of lightning (for, it is God’s creation), that the series could not be distinguished. Note how uncannily this mirrors contemporary scientific thought on the incredibly rapid expansion and development of the universe in the first few picoseconds after the Big Bang.  

ko addhā veda ka iha pra vocatkuta ājātā kuta iyaṃ visṛṣṭiḥ

arvāg-devā asya visarjanenāthā ko veda yata ābabhūva

Meaning: Who really knows, and who can say

 from where all this came and how creation happened

The gods (were) subsequent to the (world's) creation

so who knows truly whence it has arisen?

Creation is a mystery that can never be explained satisfactorily, ko addhā veda kaḥ iha pravocat. And not only creation but also its purpose remains a mystery, kuta ā jātā kutaḥ iyaṃ visṛṣṭiḥ.

The proposition is that though sages, philosophers and scientists may not be able to explain the mystery of creation, but what about the gods who are the rulers of human destiny? The answer is that not even they have the answer to this mystery, since they came into being after creation, arvāka devāḥ asya visarjanena.

To remind, the gods are the faces of the Infinite. They are also seen as embodied but higher beings. In either case, their presence came into being only after the process of creation was over, so they cannot say for certain how it all took place.

Here, the sage resists all temptation to hold forth as an oracle of knowledge and acknowledges the limits of knowing. They go so far as to challenge the ability of even deities to transcend this limit, and do so without any fear of being deemed a heretic, even though the Veda focus on the worship of the gods.

iyaṃ visṛṣṭiryata ābabhūva yadi vā dadhe yadi vā na

yo asyādhyakṣaḥ parame vyomantso aṅga veda yadi vā na veda

Meaning : He, from whom this creation arose

may comprehend it, or may not

He who is its superintendent in the highest heaven

he knows, or maybe he knows not

The hymn is addressed to the entire humanity, aṅga, human beings, to remind of the fact that only yo asya adhyakṣaḥ parame vyoman, the Supreme being who stays in His own majesty and is the master of the universe, yadi vā dadhe yadi vā na, if  he upholds it or he may not be, meaning He may alone have the idea (hold) why and how creation happened. Other than God, no one else has a clue to the mystery of creation.