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ISVARA
INTRODUCTION TO ISVARA
When one looks at
oneself, one sees oneself to be an individual living in this world,
responding to various objects, situations and people. One also sees an
intelligent design throughout the entire creation. There are stars,
planets and satellites that function in an orderly manner. The earth
moves in its own orbit as even the other planets
do. The sun never fails to rise, the oceans
never dry up and all the elements function within the framework of
physical laws. The various forms of life live in a complex interdependent
relationship. A human body, like other life-forms, is made up of many
components, each having a distinct function. Every organ and cell in the
body seems to have a definite purpose. There is nothing that is redundant
in this vast creation. The exquisite order and beauty of the creation
indicates the presence of a cause which is intelligent.
Who is Isvara?
The creation of any
object, such as a pot, involves a two-fold cause. One is the creator, the
pot-maker, who has the knowledge and the skill to make the pot. The other
is the material from which the pot is made, for example, clay. In
Sanskrit, the intelligent cause is called nimitta-karana
and the material cause is called upadana-karana.
The creation, being intelligently put together, must
also have an intelligent cause. Just as the creator of an object must
have the knowledge of his creation, so too, the creator of the world must
have knowledge of this entire creation. Therefore, omniscience, all
knowledge, must reside with the creator. The creation must also have a
material cause, the material from which it is made. Here the question
arises as to whether the material exists apart from the creator. In the
case of the clay pot, the material, the clay, exists apart from the
pot-maker who uses the clay in order to create the clay pot. In the case
of the creation, however, one is unable to assume that the material cause
is separate from the intelligent cause. If the intelligent cause were
separate from its material cause, the intelligent cause would have to
exist outside the creation. Since outside and inside are concepts used in
reference to space, and space itself is part of creation, nothing can
exist apart from the creation. Therefore, the intelligent cause can only
be non-separate from the creation.
Furthermore, if the
intelligent cause were separate from the creation, another question would
arise as to where the material cause for the creation came from. If one
presumed the existence of another material cause for the creation, the
question would arise as to the source of that material. This would lead
to the fallacy of infinite regression, because the source of the first
material cause would rest in another material cause, whose source would
rest in another material cause, and so on, leading to an
indefiniteness in conclusion.
There is a finality
of perception, however, because one does see a creation. Seeing the
creation, one must account for its material cause. Therefore, one can
only infer that the material cause of the creation cannot be separate
from the intelligent cause.
Examples of both
the intelligent and material causes resting in one entity are not unknown
in one’s experience. When one dreams, for example, one creates an
entire dream world. The dreamer is the intelligent cause of the dream.
The material cause from which the various objects in the dream are made
is not separate from the dreamer. It is the thoughts and memories of the
dreamer which make up the dream. Another example is a spider that spins a
web. The spider has the knowledge of how to make the web and finds the
material to do so within itself.
The one who is thus
both the intelligent and the material cause for the whole creation is
known as Isvara, the Lord.
Isvara - He or She?
One generally uses
the pronoun He for Isvara. This is only
a convention and does not imply that Isvara
has a gender.
In the creation one
sees both the masculine and the feminine genders. A gender indicates
functional and anatomical differences between living organisms. Gender
differences do not extend beyond these differences. There is no male eye,
female hunger, or neuter sadness. Looking at the world comprising all
three genders one cannot attribute only one gender to Isvara.
One can only say that Isvara is not
male, female, or neuter; or one can say that Isvara
is male, female and neuter, being the cause of everything.
The intelligent
aspect of Isvara is called purusha, which is masculine and the material
aspect is called prakrti or maya which is feminine. This combination of
the male and the female aspects in Isvara
is represented in the form of the deity called Ardhanarisvara,
winch is half male and half female.
Where is Isvara?
One does not encounter Isvara as a resident of any particular place.
Were he a resident of a particular place in the creation a question would
arise as to where he was before the creation of the universe. Let one
assume that Isvara is an individual
entity living in a particular place that is not available for one’s
immediate perception, for example, heaven. If this were so, where was he
before he created heaven? Saying that he lived in another heaven or hell
leads to the same problem of infinite regression.
Looking at the example of the
dream, if one were to ask where in the dream world the dreamer is
located, one would see that, with respect to the dream world, the dreamer
is everywhere in it. The dream mountains, dream rivers, dream animals and
dream people are not separate from the dreamer, the dreamer pervades the
dream. In other words, the dreamer is immanent in the dream. Similarly,
if Isvara is the intelligent and
material cause of the creation, he is immanent in the creation; there is
nothing in the creation that is apart from Isvara.
This is what is meant when one says that Isvara
is all pervasive or omnipresent.
Even though the dreamer pervades
the dream, the dreamer is not the dream. It is the dream world that
resolves into the dreamer. In other words, the dreamer is the one who
pervades the dream and at the same time transcends it. In the same
manner, Isvara pervades the creation and
transcends it.
Therefore, to find Isvara one does not need to look for a
distinct individual being because the creation does not exist apart from Isvara. In fact, the creation is nothing but Isvara.
For more information, please mail to info@purnavidya.com
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