“A human being is part of the whole, called by us ‘universe’, limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest — a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness.” – These were the words spoken by the great scientist Albert Einstein.
Does it sound familiar? For many, it may not. Yet this concept has been there in the Vedas and Upanishad for ages. The essence of what Einstein spoke is captured in the concept of Brahman and Atman. Whereas Brahman is the universal supreme being, the originator of the life force; the Atman is the individual soul. Both are eternal, indestructible, and immortal. If Brahman represents the sea beach, then Atman is like a grain of sand that is part of that beach. Brahman is the root word for Brahmanda translated as Universe. Our individual souls are part of the entire cosmos and we can realize this truth only by connecting our souls to the cosmos. Let me explain further.
Srishti se pehle sat nahin thaa,
asat bhi nahin Antariksh bhi nahin,
aakaash bhi nahin thaa.
Chhipaa thaa kyaa, kahaan,
kisne dhaka thaa?
Us pal to agam,
atal jal bhi kahaan thaa.
Shrishti kaa kaun hain kartaa?
Kartaa hain yeh vaa akartaa?
Oonche aakash mein rahtaa.
Sadaaa adhyaksh banaa rahtaa.
Wohee sach much mein jaantaa..
Yaa nahin bhi jaanataa
Hain kisi ko nahin pataa,
Nahin pataa, Nahin hai pataa, nahin hai pataa.
This song was the opening stanza of the title song of a very popular television series “Bharat Ek Khoj”. This was telecasted a long time ago when I was just a child, probably less than 10 yrs. I could not understand a word of it and did not like the song. Only recently a few years ago, I realized this stanza was the translation of Nasadiya sukta from the Vedas. It is interesting how the Vedas described the origin of the universe and left the question open-ended. There was neither existence nor non-existence, neither air nor space or water, only darkness was there. Who created this universe? No one knows! Who can even define the Supreme force or cosmos, often termed as universal consciousness by scientists? We cannot see it; only feel it through self-awareness or “Aham Brahmasmi”, a term used frequently in the Vedas to describe self-awareness. If we literally translate this phrase, it means “I am Brahman”, or “I am God”, an exceptionally powerful phrase because no other religion equates human beings to GOD. But only literal translation can never do full justice to our Vedas. This has a deeper meaning which is spread across multiple cultural practices that are followed throughout India, like Atithi Devo Bravo meaning a guest is like God. In a nutshell, God is within every human being and we must recognize that. It is this God within us that binds us to the cosmos and subsequently to all human beings on earth.
Now you must be wondering what has it got to do with the subject of the bridge to connect or relationship? Think deeply. Isn’t our relationship with our soul the most paramount one? This self-awareness that we have an eternal soul that never dies and is born again and again indefinitely through rebirth is the essence of the concept of karma that is so ingrained in our philosophy. How else would you define the sufferings around the world if we remove the concept of karma? Thus goes the saying “You shall reap what you sow”, if not in this birth, then, may be in some other birth. By realizing the immortality of the soul, and keeping it connected to the cosmos through good karma, we can attain moksha. This is the ultimate teaching of the Bhagavad Gita.
If our relationship with our soul is the foremost, the second most important relationship is the relationship of our soul with the universe or the Brahman. Consider this scenario. A rosebud on the rose plant will eventually bloom to its full potential and slowly lose its petals and die one day. But if we pluck the flower from the plant, the flower will wither sooner. Similarly, we are all like rosebuds who are connected to the universal consciousness or the Brahman and as a consequence connected to each other whether we like it or not. Like the rose flower, one day we will die too. But if we try to disconnect our souls(Atman) from the Brahman, we are most likely to damage our souls. People who view their every action in isolation from the society and whose world revolves around “I, Me, Mine and Myself” need to rethink their approach toward life.
Luckily most of us do not fall into this category. There is inherent goodness in all of us. As human beings, we all have a tremendous capacity to love and be compassionate. We have already proven this whenever our society is threatened by disaster or calamity. “Vasudhaiva kutumbakam” – the Sanskrit phrase “the world is one family” is mentioned in both Rigveda and Upanishad and is the basis of moral value in Indian society, so much so that it is enshrined at the entrance of our parliament.
As a Vedic civilization, we are already doing the right things since it is so heavily ingrained in our culture. We just need to propagate this knowledge to the next generation about why we do what we do. Once this realization is there, we will no longer look up to other cultures for inspiration!
This post was published in the URMI magazine, Journal of the Odisha Society of the Americas 2022
