In the previous episode, we had concluded the first “Amsa ” of the great Shri Vishnu Puraana, and with this, the underlying message was that, the entire world is getting created by none other than Bhagawan Vishnu Himself. The entire world is created by Bhagawan Vishnu with just a bare minimal effort from His side, and such is His unending significance. This is what we often chant in the beginning of the Shri Vishnu Sahasranaama as follows:
“Avikaaraaya shuddhaaya nityaaya paramaatmane!
Shataika roopa roopaaya vishnave sarva jishnave!!”
Thus, the above sloka means that without even a small stress to His body, Bhagawan Vishnu creates the world. For instance, if we’ve to perform some physical activity, we’ve to undergo some physical stress and strain, isn’t it? However, if we’ve to compare the “physical activity” of creating the world, Bhagwan Vishnu doesn’t even have an iota of strain in Him. Thus, we’ve to understand here that the entire creation is from Bhagawan Vishnu and none else. In fact, if we look closely at this Shri Vishnu Puraana text, it has different “Vyaakyaanas” (Explanations). One explanation is in the channel of the philosophy called “Advaita”, another explanation is in the channel of “Vishista Dvaitam” and the third is through the “Dvaitam” philosophy. We should not confuse ourselves here. The text is the same, but the way in which we’re looking at the text might vary this way. However, the ultimate point that we’ve to remember here is that, the ultimate “Brahman” is created by Bhagawan Vishnu and at the end of it’s span, it again goes into Bhagawan Vishnu. This is what we’ve seen in the first Amsa at various points.
In due course, we’ve also seen that Bhagawan Vishnu creates this world with His “Sankalpa Shakti” (Power of His Will). For instance, if we’ve to make a mud pot, we’ve to take all the mud, heat it, make it hard, assemble it and then create a pot out of it. This involves a lot of physical work. However, Bhagawan Vishnu doesn’t require any sort of physical labor to create this world. The entire creation called “Brahman” is created only out of Bhagawan’s “Sankalpa Shakti”. I’m emphasizing and re-emphasizing these points time and again, only for the understanding of our readers. We might think that we’re wasting time by repeating these points, however, these are certain complex lessons that we’re learning here and this requires repetition. Obviously there are storylines, and when we come across such instances, we shall move a bit faster. But when it comes to important concepts of “Vedanta”, we’ve to stress and re-stress upon them several times, so that we get a firm understanding of the same.
In fact, if we look closely in both these cases – The person who is creating the mud pot, is making a “Sankalpa” within himself before making it. Bhagawan also makes a “Sankalpa” within Himself that He’s going to create this world. But what is the difference between both these cases? When the potter is taking this “Sankalpa”, he has to physically work and prepare the pot all by his work. However, if Bhagawan does the “Sankalpa”, He doesn’t require to do any sort of physical activities to create the world. It happens only by the very “Sankalpa” itself. So for today, let us understand this difference very clearly and we shall wait till the next episode to continue with the introduction to Amsa – 2. Lot of interesting and important points await us! Stay tuned! 🙂
The Indian Dharma 