Vol 01.009 4. What is God (From ch 6 Hinduism rediscovered)

4. WHAT IS GOD?
FROM CHAPTER 6 OF " HINDUISM REDISCOVERED"-
( What is, Who is, Where is, this Descending and Condescending God?)

Any religious person would be shocked at my temerity in devising such a title for this chapter, when a definition of God has eluded even the greatest minds all over the world from time immemorial. And my posing the Query as `What is God?' would be even more shocking. A rephrasing into `Who is God?" may be less revolting but nonetheless it is not going to make the answer any simpler. We will identify "Who is God?" in the next chapter limiting ourselves now only to the Question "What is God?".

I would be foolish to rush into an area where `angels fear to tread' if only I hazard a definition. What I am attempting is a Quest for a near approximation to the concept of God.

SECTION 1 BRAHMAN
GOD IN THE NEUTER And, in this attempt, I am not alone. The Vedas themselves have addressed the Supreme of Supremes not by any gender appellations but by the neuter expression BRAHMAN". Aphorisms such as

'TAT TVAM ASI' - `That thou art" (in Chandogya Upanishad)
'AHAM BRAHMOSMI' - I am Brahman (in Brihadaranyaka Upanishad)
'PRAJNANAM BRAHMA'- Pure consciousness is God ( in Aitareya Upanishad)
'AYAM ATMA BRAHMA'- This soul is God -( in Mandukyo and Brihadaranyaka Upanishads)
SARVAM KALUIDAM BRAHMA' -`All this is verily Brahman' ( Chandokya Upanishad)
'AASITH EKAM ADVITIYAM.' -`There was but one without a second "(ibid.) etc.

refer to God in the neuter. Otherwise an unwarranted controversy would arise whether God is masculine or feminine; if so, why so and if not, why not. Hence, the neuter suits the occasion. RigVeda Aranam 2 declared that Brahman is neither male nor female or eunuch but merely denoted by the letter 'A'

The neuter is one of the most wonderful expressions in human language. It represents an overwhelming presence of something which is omnipresent. Thus, the neuter Brahman is indeed an expression of such ubiquitous divinity.

The concept of `Brahman" is a courageous attempt to verbalise an essentially mystical experience which defies description. The changeless principle that holds the changing world together and gives it coherence, that on which the warp and woof of the world are interwoven, that which is abiding in the earth, which is other than the earth, whom the earth does not know, whose body is earth, who controls the earth from within and without - This unknown, unknowable something, the Hindus of ancient times called the `Brahman'.

"Brihat means great, It also means `to expand', `to grow', `to fructify'. Brahman is the vivifying expansive force of nature in its eternal evolution" 1

The word is made up of BRIH (Great) + MANAS (Consciousness) or 'Cosmic Consciousness' - the Cosmos that is entirely alive, entirely spiritual, entirely eternal - consciousness that every being has eternal life and undergoes only transformation and never destruction. That Cosmic Consciousness, they called Brahman `into which no evil had ever entered or will ever enter' says Rigveda 10.129.

This Brahman is both IMMANENT (Indwelling) and TRANSCENDENT (Pervading). It pervades the entire Universe 'EXISTING WITHIN AND WITHOUT' the created Cosmos. At the same time, it is ABOVE AND APART from its creations and is not subject to the limitations of its creations.

" Yasmin Sarvam, Yatah Sarvam, Yah Sarvam, Sarvatas Cha Yaha" In Tamil, it is tersely called `KADAVUL' - `KADA' meaning `transcending' and `VUL' meaning indwelling - all at once.

Religion becomes speechless after exhausting all the epithets at its command and after recognising their limitations in relation to the limitless and infinitely wider perspective of BRAHMAN - which transcends all the narrow boundaries of our futile perception. Nobody can adequately express the innumerable qualities of Brahman because every positive expression we venture fits the concept but soon is found to fall far short of the actual qualities of the divinity. That is why the scriptures acknowledging their failure to express qualities in a positive way resorted to the term `Akhila Heya pratyanika' meaning totally devoid of any blemishes, defects and deficiencies. Thus, if we are `finite' - Brahman is `IN-FINITE; If we are temporary - Brahman is E-TERNAL; if we are subject to pain and death - Brahman is IM -PASSABLE and IMMORTAL. Sastras have become silent not because the qualities of Brahman are limited but because their capacity to enumerate has been exhausted.

GOD, INDEED, IS THE SOURCE AND THE END; THE ALPHA AND THE OMEGA. HE IS ANADHI ( BEGINNING LESS) AND ANANTHA(ENDLESS)

A similar sentiment is found expressed in " The Vision of God" by Nicholos- Published by E.T Salters Ch XIII (1928)
" O! You are entirely beyond all being. O! Lord! My God! The helper of them that seek you; I behold you but know not what I see for I see nothing visible; Only this I know that I know not what I see and never can know. And, I know not what you are. If anyone were to tell me what you are or called you by this name or that, by the very fact that you had bees so named would I know that it was NOT your name"
Says Scotus Erigena- " No nomad or triad can express the all- transcending hiddenness of the all- transcending Super- essentially, Super-existing, Super deity."

This Brahman on the positive side, is "Asankhyeya Kalyana GunaGana" - collection of countless virtuous qualities. It is said that Brahman itself does not know how to keep a tab on its own auspicious qualities.

SECTION 2 .CHARACTERISITCS OF BRAHMAN
This phenomenon of BRAHMAN by whatever nomenclature you
call - Nature, Force, Power -( if you do not like the word God)
exerts its influence on human mind and life in several ways.
It is Transcendent like a horizon, Frightening in its dimensions yet
Enchanting in its charms.

TRANSCENDENCE implies that it is beyond our comprehension. There is something `wholly other' about it, something `wholly beyond', something which is opposite of every limitation that can be thought of, something supernatural, something you can only FEEL without being able to give it a clear conceptual expression, something mysterious, unusual, invisible, puzzling, occult, concealed, imperspicuous and wonderful.

FRIGHTENING implies something that instils awe and wonder, a fear, a tremor that can even reach the point of being gruesome and grisly in some cases. It can also mean an upsurge of `creature consciousness' - a feeling of utter dependence on it. There is something very baffling in the way in which it manifests itself. It is like sudden torrential downpour, a powerhouse fully charged with electricity ever ready to discharge itself upon anyone who dares to come into contact with it. It is incalculable, vibrant, resonant and oftentimes seems arbitrary and even tyrannical to an ordinary beholder. It can appear startling, formidable, even appalling, macabre and intimidating, oppressive and threatening to the uninitiated. Its tremendous majesty and might has an absolute over-powering-ness, triggering strange excitements bordering on hysterical frenzy and intoxication to the evolving soul. Its vitality is passionate, kindling emotional temper and trepidation as if in a wrathful urgency of energy. Its will forces an impetus to all movement and activity.

ENCHANTING : At the same time, it is also bewitching. It is uniquely attractive. The mystery is that it en-thralls and en-trances, bewilders and confounds with its benevolence. You are captivated by it, engrossed by it and transported with a strange ravishment of an irresistible kind by bestowing on you such noble sentiments like love, mercy, comfort, felicity, bliss and even pity. This prodigious frightening force when channelled along benign lines can transform its burning strength into an all consuming fire of love and endearment. It can shower an all embracing bliss which all religious doctrines have invoked thus boosting us from the mundane to a rapturous, overcharged, exuberant beatitude. Through devout worship it can ensure a moral uplift and transport one to the zenith of ecstasy.

SECTION 3 . PURPOSE OF LIFE
Now, let us take a few concepts to show how this Brahman's transcendence, tremendous-ness and tranceful enchantment act on various aspects of our life or to put it conversely how we react to the impact of these characteristics in our daily life.

A little reflection on how one spent one's life span is beautifully depicted in GARUDA PURANA. Out of say 100 years a man could be expected to live, 50 years went in sleep; Another big chunk of about 25 years in infancy, boyhood and old age; A major part of the remaining was clouded by grief, misery and may be service to his kith and kin and possibly society. The rest was changeful and transient like the waves of the ocean. What does glory, fame, honour or riches signify?2

An introspection would reveal that in spite of all these disincentives, life was not without a purpose - which however eludes us as transcendent, the bleak side seemingly tremendous while we cannot but be enchanted by whatever joy accrues to us even in the midst of this struggle and misery.

What is the purpose of life? Why there is water? To quench thirst and make the fields yield. Why there is fish? To cleanse the water and maybe to serve as food for bird and man. There seems to be some purpose in both animate and inanimate objects. If this is so, there should be some purpose in our lives also. Are we born only to eat, mate and sleep? We seem to understand everything except our `selves'. At best, we can only conjecture.

Well. What can be that purpose? What does man want to achieve in whatever time he is allowed to utilize or enjoy for himself? In short, what does he desire? ( To continue)