Before the creation within the universe takes place and after the Lord enters the universe, there is a period of non-activity for one thousand celestial years. All of the living entities that have been injected into the mahat-tattva are divided among all the universes along with each expansion of Garbhodakashayi Vishnu, and all of them are as if dormant in the Lord until the birth of Lord Brahma. From Brahma all other demigods and living entities are born.34
Once all of the universes are created, which are unlimited, Maha-Vishnu expands Himself into unlimited forms and enters each universe as Garbhodakashayi Vishnu. Once He is in each universe, He sees that there is no place to reside. Then, after some consideration, He fills half of the universe with water from His own perspiration.35
On that water He creates his own residence as an expansion of Vaikuntha and rests in the waters on the bed of the great serpent, Lord Ananta, Seshanaga.36 Although He appears to be in slumber, enjoying transcendental bliss in his internal potency, His eyes are slightly open. When He is ready to begin the act of creation, a golden lotus springs from his navel that becomes the birthplace of Lord Brahma. Within the stem of that lotus are the fourteen planetary systems.37 Then Lord Brahma is manifested as described in the chapter on Brahma.
Not only do the creations and annihilations of the cosmos go on continually, but the maintenance of the universe also takes constant supervision. It is explained that as long as the Supreme Being as Maha-Vishnu continues to glance upon nature, the material world continues to exist. Thus, the variegated flow of universal creation perpetually manifests through procreation.38 So, we can see that time and nature have no power to act independently, but are under the supervision of the Supreme.
However, it is also described that it is not only the material nature that is maintained, everyone in it is also given the ability to act and function through the power of the Supreme in His form as the Supersoul. He creates the entire variegated universe and then enters into it as the Supersoul. Through this means He provides the life force and consciousness of everyone, and, thus, maintains the creation. As Sri Krishna further explains, "As the mighty wind, blowing everywhere, always rests in ethereal space, know that in the same manner all beings rest in Me."39 As the Supersoul, He also enters into each planet, and by His energy they maintain their orbits.40 Thus, the Lord's energy enters each universe, each planet, every living being, and even each atom, by which everything is appropriately manifested and maintained. Without this, everything would revert back to chaos and deterioration.
Another way that the Lord maintains the universe is by personally appearing within it, or by manifesting His plenary expansions. The scriptures proclaim that Lord Krishna descends to take away the burden of the earth. However, it is Krishna's expansion as Lord Vishnu who primarily engages in maintaining this universe. It is Lord Vishnu who makes the adjustments for the proper administration of the cosmic creation. When Lord Krishna personally appears, His primary mission is to simply display His transcendental pastimes and attract the conditioned souls for going back to the spiritual domain. However, since Lord Krishna is the source of all avatars and expansions of the Supreme, all other incarnations and forms of the Divine combine together within Him when He descends. In this way, all other lila or pastime incarnations, the yuga-avatars, the manvantara avatars, and as many other incarnations as there are, even Lord Vishnu, all descend into the body of Sri Krishna when He appears. Thus, He is the complete Supreme Personality and can do whatever He likes to exhibit His power and maintain the universe when He descends.41
The Supreme Being also sets up the universal demigods to continue overseeing the maintenance of the universe. For example, it is explained that Indra, after receiving benediction from the Supreme Lord, maintains the living beings by pouring sufficient rains all over the planets. Furthermore, in every yuga, the Supreme Lord assumes the form of Siddhas, such as Sanaka-kumara, to preach transcendental knowledge for the well-being of everyone. He also assumes the form of great saintly persons such as Yajnavalkya to teach the way of karma. He assumes the form of great souls, such as Dattatreya, to teach the system of mystic yoga. In the form of Prajapati Marici, the Supreme creates progeny; becoming the king, He kills rogues and thieves; and in the form of time, He annihilates everything. All of the different qualities of material existence are aspects and a display of the energy of the Supreme Absolute Truth.42
So, because of the benediction and power given by the Supreme to the demigods, they can provide the living beings with all necessities. However, Lord Krishna explains in the Bhagavad-gita (3.14-15) that all living entities subsist on food grains, which are produced from rains, which is manifest through the performance of spiritual activities prescribed in the spiritual writings of the Vedic scripture and the teachings of the Lord and great sages. Consequently, the all-pervading Transcendence is eternally situated in acts of sacrifice.
This is all a part of the process of how the Lord and His expansions of Vishnu maintain the world. As mankind engages in acts of sacrifice or spirituality, which simply means the worship, meditation and thoughts of the Supreme, the Lord and the demigods are automatically satisfied to supply everyone with all necessities of life. In this way, there can be proper cooperation between man, nature and God so that everyone can be peaceful and content with the facilities for living in this world.
CHAPTER NOTES
1.Mahabharata, 5.70.13
2.Rig-veda 1.156.1,2-4
3.Vishnu Purana 1.22.68
4.Krishna Upanishad 23
5.Gopala-uttaratapini Upanishad 55-57
6.Vishnu Purana 1.22.72
7.Ibid., 1.22.69
8.Parameshvara Samhita 6.269. 276-77
9.Mahabharata 1.32
10.Caitanya-caritamrita, Madhya-lila, 20.314-15 & Brahma-samhita 5.46
11.Caitanya-caritamrita, Adi-lila, 5.51
12.Ibid., Madhya-lila, 20.255-6
13.Ibid., Adi-lila, 5.4-6, 8-11
14.Ibid., Adi-lila, 5.41 & pur.
15.Ibid., Adi-lila, 2.56, pur.
16.Jaiva Dharma, Chapter 15, page 74
17.Caitanya-caritamrita, Adi-lila, 5.45
18.Ibid., Adi-lila, 2.36, pur.
19.Brahma-samhita 5.11-12
20.Caitanya-caritamrita, Madhya-lila, 20.268-271
21.Ibid., Adi-lila, 5.54
22.Brahma-samhita 5.47
23.Caitanya-caritamrita, Madhya-lila, 5.120-124
24.Srimad-Bhagavatam 10.87.12-13
25.Caitanya-caritamrita, Madhya-lila, 20.272
26.Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.5.26
27.Ibid., 3.5.27
28.Ibid., 2.5.21
29.Ibid., 3.26.19
30.Caitanya-caritamrita, Madhya-lila, 20.275-282
31.Brahma-samhita 5.48
32.Caitanya-caritamrita, Madhya-lila, 20.324
33.Ibid., Madhya-lila, 20.292, 294-5
34.Srimad-Bhagavatam, 3.6.6, pur.
35.Caitanya-caritamrita, Madhya-lila, 20.284-6
36.Ibid., Adi-lila, 5.95-101
37.Ibid., Adi-lila, 5.102-3
38.Srimad-Bhagavatam 11.24.20
39.Bhagavad-gita 9.6
40.Ibid., 15.13
41.Caitanya-caritamrita, Adi-lila, 4.8-11, 13
42.Srimad-Bhagavatam 8.14.7-9
CHAPTER FIVE
Lord Brahma
Lord Brahma represents the mode of rajas, passion, in which the propensity for creation is found. It is from Brahma that all forms of space, names, and forms manifest. Brahma also produced Sarasvati, the goddess of learning and knowledge. Brahma represents the essence of the Vedas, and Sarasvati represents their meaning. Thus, all knowledge and wisdom, in their manifest form, comes from them, after, of course, Brahma first received it from Lord Vishnu. Brahma is also wedded to Sarasvati because he must possess that spiritual understanding by which he is enabled to create.
Brahma is often pictured with four heads, each facing in one of the four directions. They are often seen w
ith eyes closed in meditation. They represent several things, first of which is the four Vedas. They also represent the four yugas (divisions of the ages, namely Satya, Treta, Dvapara, and Kali-yuga). Brahma also has four arms, which indicate the mind, intellect, ego, and conditioned awareness. They are shown holding japa mala (rosary beads), a kurcha (a brush of kusha grass), kamandalu (a water pot), and a pushtaka (a book or four books), and sometimes, according to the image, a ladle and spoon. The rosary represents the passing of time, which Brahma controls, and the water pot represents the causal waters from which the creation has sprung and upon which it rests. The kusha grass, as well as the ladle and spoon, represent the Vedic process of sacrifice by which the living entities are properly sustained. The books represent knowledge or the four Vedas, of which he gives all forms of knowledge to the living beings. His hand gestures show the giving of blessings and granting protection. He is also seen most often standing or sitting on a lotus, which comes from the navel of Vishnu. Or he is seen sitting on his carrier, a swan (hamsa), which is a symbol of knowledge. This also signifies that he moves about with the unique facility that a swan possesses. As a swan is said to be able to separate the milk when mixed with water, Brahma, as a being of higher awareness, can detect the one Supreme Reality that exists in the cosmic creation. Sometimes he is seen riding a chariot as it is being pulled by seven swans, which signify the seven worlds or planetary systems. He often has a reddish complexion and usually has a beard, signifying the maturity of life.
Lord Brahma is the secondary creator after Lord Vishnu. He sits on a lotus flower that is rooted in the abdomen of Maha-Vishnu. Thus, Brahma is fixed in the Infinite Reality. Lord Brahma is manifested from Lord Vishnu to assist in the secondary process of the universal creation. Yet, this process of creation is described a little differently in various Puranas. This does not mean that they contradict each other. The pattern of creation can and does change as many as 25 different ways in the order of events that unfold in various kalpas or days of Brahma.1 It changes depending on the different states of mind and consciousness Brahma enters as he creates the subsequent species, which may differ from one kalpa to the next.
Lord Brahma's other names include Hiranyagarbha (the golden embryo) and Prajapati (the progenitor). He is also called Svayambhu (self-born), Pitamaha (great patriarch), Adikavi (the first-seer), Lokesha (master of the world), Drughana (the undivided impulse), Nabhija (navel-born), and Abjaja (lotus born). He is sometimes called Visvakarma, who is the architect of the demigods or the universal architect, and who is an aspect of Lord Brahma.
Brahma is considered a universal creator, and thus is not a god of liberation or of material and heavenly facility. Therefore, he is not viewed as a god for much worship. And as we can see, there are very few Brahma temples in the world. However, in most major Vishnu or Shiva temples, there will be a shrine or an image of Brahma usually on the north wall, which is offered some daily worship.
There is one tale which explains why Lord Brahma is not worshiped much on Earth. Shortly after the creation of the universe, Brahma was sent to find the end of the linga of light, a shaft of light that extended from the top to bottom of the universe. Though he did not find it, he lied that he did. So, Lord Shiva cursed him that he would not be worshiped on Earth. However, in some of the Puranas, we do find that the demigods who act in accordance with universal management do offer prayers to Brahma.
Another reason why he is not so often worshiped in India is that the idea of creation of new thoughts is unwanted for a person who is trying to become spiritually advanced. The creation of thoughts, or in other words an uncontrolled mind that drags one deeper into material desires, is what helps veil the Absolute Truth from the seeker. The idea is that the seeker must control thoughts and the mind, or even rid oneself of unwanted desires, and maintain that mental state until the higher Truth is revealed. For this reason, Shiva and Vishnu are worshiped in preference to Brahma.
BRAHMA'S MAIN FUNCTION
Lord Brahma plays the part of manifesting the cosmic creation in the secondary phase of the creative process, after the first phase when Lord Vishnu manifests the material universes and ingredients. There are nine types or categories of creation that are described in the Puranas, and they are divided into two parts, primary and secondary. The primary part of creation is the Prakrita-Sarga, or the natural creation that comes about due to the interaction of the modes of material nature and the time element. The order of the Prakrita-Sarga generally begins with the manifestation of the mahat-tattva, or the seeds of the sum total of the material ingredients in its subtle form along with time. Due to the presence of the Supreme Lord, Maha-Vishnu, the modes of nature begin to interact. In the second stage of creation, the false ego is generated in which the material ingredients along with material knowledge and activities arise. In the third stage of creation, the elements, such as ether, air, fire, water, and earth, are generated along with the objects of the senses, such as what is seen, heard, tasted, touched, and smelled. In the fourth stage is the creation of knowledge and working capacity, or the working senses.2
In the fifth stage of creation, by the interaction with the mode of goodness, there is the manifestation of the controlling deities (devas), or what could be called the universal departmental managers. In the sixth stage of creation is the manifestation of ignorance or the principle of forgetfulness, which causes the conditioned souls to be bewildered as to what they really are, which is why they remain in illusion or darkness.3 The five types of darkness are tamasa (ignorance), moha (delusion), mahamoha (great delusion), andha-tamisra (blinding darkness), and avidya (nescience).4
Now we come to the secondary part of creation, called the Vaikrita-Sarga, the creation from Lord Brahma. This is the process of creation that manifests not simply by the mixing of the modes of nature and various material ingredients, but directly by the superior power or guidance of Lord Brahma. All of the innumerable forms and types of bodies that manifest are for accommodating the different levels of consciousness of the living beings in the universe. These many forms are created out of the different levels of consciousness experienced by Lord Brahma through his creative meditation. He is able to create simply by the power of his mind. This is an example of how thoughts are actually things. They are vibrations that can produce effects. And when you have a mind as strong as Lord Brahma's, such thoughts will manifest forms. Thus, by his accepting different states of mind, material bodies were manifested that would accommodate the appropriate states of being of the innumerable living entities.
First from Brahma is the creation of all immovable objects and entities, called the seventh stage of the creative process. The eighth stage of creation involves the manifestation of the lower species of life. The ninth creative stage is that of the humans. The creation of the varieties of demigods, and those beings living in the astral planes, are considered the tenth level of creation. Finally, the appearance of the Kumaras is considered to be part of both the natural or primary creation and the secondary creation from Lord Brahma.5
HOW BRAHMA IS MANIFESTED FROM LORD VISHNU
As described in the Vedic texts, when the Lord as Maha-Vishnu expands Himself and enters each and every universe, He becomes known as Garbhodakashayi Vishnu, or Hiranyagarbha. He then expands further into the form known as Antaryami, the Supersoul. It is this Lord who is glorified by Vedic hymns. He is the master of each universe and the shelter of the external or material energy, although He remains beyond the touch of this energy.6
Before the universal creation takes place and after the Lord enters the universe, there is a period of non-activity for one thousand celestial years. All of the living entities that are injected into the mahat-tattva by Maha-Vishnu are divided among all the universes along with each of His expansions known as Garbhodakashayi Vishnu. All of these jivas or spirit souls remain as if dormant in the Lord until the birth of Lord Brahma. From Brahma all other demigods and living entities are born.7
Entering the universe, Lord Gar
bhodakashayi Vishnu finds only darkness with no place to reside. Thus, He considers what to do next. He then creates the waters of the Garbhodaka Ocean from the perspiration of His own body and fills half the universe. On that water He creates his own residence as an expansion of Vaikuntha and rests in the waters on the bed of the great serpent, Lord Ananta, Seshanaga.8 Although He appears to be in slumber, enjoying transcendental bliss in his internal potency, His eyes are slightly open. When He is ready to begin the act of creation, a golden lotus springs from his navel which becomes the birthplace of Lord Brahma. Within the stem of that lotus are the ingredients that develop into the fourteen planetary systems.9
This is similarly described elsewhere as follows: Once Lord Vishnu desires to begin the act of creation, on which the Lord's attention is fixed, the subtle form of creation pierces through His abdomen, agitated by the material mode of passion. Then a golden lotus springs from His navel as He floats on the Garbhodaka Ocean. The lotus, called Brahmaloka or Satyaloka, becomes the abode of Lord Brahma. The golden color of the lotus represents the dim reflection of pure consciousness.10 The lotus is the gigantic universal form of the Lord in the material world. This universal form becomes absorbed in Lord Vishnu at the time of dissolution and again reappears during creation. It is this lotus that contains the sum total of all fruitive activities of the conditioned living beings, the first of which is Lord Brahma who is generated in that lotus. It is also the seed from which all creation springs at the time of manifestation.
If the manifestation of this lotus is after a previous devastation, the golden lotus illuminates everything and dries up the waters of devastation. Then Lord Vishnu personally enters that universal lotus flower as the Supersoul. When it is thus impregnated with all the modes of material nature, the personality of Vedic wisdom, Lord Brahma, whom we call the self-born, is generated.11
In this way, the divine lotus became the birthplace of Lord Brahma who is well versed in the Vedas. The lotus is also spiritually related with all souls in the universe, the stem of which is where the fourteen planetary systems of the universe are generated.12
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