According to the ancient Sanskrit text known as the Bhagavat Purana (or Srimad Bhagavatam), and the interpretation of it by yogis and philosophers of old, there is only one original source of everything and that source is conscious. That source is consciousness personified. That source is a conscious person.
And everything going on everywhere, including all the creation, maintenance and destruction and killing, is going on by the will of that source. Not by us. We are not the doer. Of anything. All is done by the will of the original personality of consciousness. He did it. Or She, if you prefer.
Not only that, but that source of it all is not really interested in our existence here in this material plane, on earth. We are nothing more than a plaything to a child, to be a trivial toy for amusement and to pass the time for a while, only to be discarded afterwards on a whim. That's what you mean to the creator, according to the Sanskrit text which you can read verbatim below. Not according to me. What do I know about this abstract philosophical concept? Only what I read or realize.
The text says: "The Supreme Personality of Godhead, the master and proprietor of everything, is certainly not interested in the temporary cosmic manifestation. Nonetheless, just as a boy at the beach creates something in which he is not interested, the Lord, keeping everything under His control, causes creation, maintenance and annihilation."
So not only are you insignificant in his eyes, but you are like a plaything for his amusement. Let that sink in to your big head. Furthermore, you are capable of nothing on your own. You have no agency, less even than an AI agent chatobt. You are not in control and have no control. He is the controller. You are the controlled.
The exact translation into English by the translator says: "The agents for creation, maintenance and annihilation have no independent potency, but because of the spell of the illusory energy, one thinks himself the creator, maintainer and annihilator."
You have no independence, and thus no free will. How does that sound to you? To me it sounds hard to digest. I have no way to know if it is true or not either. But that's philosophy for you.
These words in the Sanskrit text quoted below are apparently the words of the wisest man that ever lived, called Narada Muni, who speaks these words to a king, a long time ago, longer than we can fathom. Narada is the topmost son of the first created being in the universe, named Brahma. You may have heard of him, along with Vishnu and Shiva. So this is going back to the dawn of creation, or thereabouts.
Furthermore, this insight is echoed in a more popular Sanskrit text, on which I comment more often, called Bhagavad Gita, in which it says in ch3:27 that “The bewildered spirit soul, under the influence of the three modes of material nature, thinks himself the doer of activities that are in actuality carried out by nature.”
So this seems to be the underlying philosophy of the Vedas, of the ancient Sanskrit tradition of yoga and meditation, in the oldest texts on the planet known to us. It seems far from our understanding of reality today. We think that we are the controller, the doer, the agent with all the agency we will. Whatever we will, we can attempt to achieve. That's what we believe, as free and independent people today.
In previous ages it was less so. We thought is was all by the will of God. You hear of that phraze in older mediaeval or Christian type of thought, or should I say Semitic thought becasue the Muslim will say the same thing still. "If it is God's will". That's what they all say in Semitism. And now it seems the Hindu or Vedic wisdom says the same thing.
Yet here we are today thinking that this is nonsense, mythical thinking. Who knows for sure? I certainly don't. In fact the older I get, the less I feel I know. I simply hear what others say and do. I don't even trust my intuition because my mind has led me astray more times than I can remember. All the theory and experience still leave me inconclusive regarding fate versus free will. And many other things.
The translator of this Sanskrit text, who is an Indian Hindu Vedic scholar and monk who died in 1977, says in his commentary (quoted below) that according to the Bhagavad Gita, the one original supreme personality of consciousness directs and does everything through his agents, the material nature, in Sanskrit called prakriti. Nature does it all, as God's agent. And we are all pushed about to act by nature, who does the will of God, the source. So we do nothing and have no free will and are responsible for nothing. According to this philosophy.
Nobody kills anyone. No one is responsible for anything other than the source, God. You are not the killer, or the creator of anything. So you are like an animal, sinless. What an intersting concept. I never thought of it like that before because I always knew that animals are sinless, pure and not guilty of anything. They are under the influence of instinct and nature. We all understand that.
But now it seems that humans are in the same boat as animals, pure, sinless, responsible for nothing and purely under the influence of material nature, or human nature, driven like an animal. I used to think that humans are different because we know right from wrong, we have free will to choose. We have human nature which is above animal nature. But this Sanskrit text in these two different books both say the opposite. Humans are no better than animals, led by instinct and also not to blame for acting under instinct, even if we kill.
Now that is deep. Can you even fathom how deep that is? Hitler is not to blame for killing anyone. Stalin, Mao, Pot, Bush, Obama, they are not guilty of any crimes against humanity or genocide or murder. They are innocent like animals. No one is guilty.
It's an odd philosophy because it contradicts the same Sanskrit Vedic philosophy that says our karma or actions produce reactions which we must suffer or enjoy. So where does that law of karma fit in, if I am not the doer and have no independent agency? Who can answer this paradox because I can't.
The devil made me do it, they say. Now it's God made me do it. So I don't deserve any karma, I'm just an instrument. What a conundrum. It shows you that one can use sacred texts like a lawyer uses law. One can shift the framing or the perspective and justify anything. Which means nothing is written in stone. Yet at the same time it is. It can be one way or the opposite way simultaneously. I give up trying to know the truth at this rate. I'm too dull.
My cognitive dissonance is bouncing against my suspended disbelief as it flounders in the deep sea of perplexity and uncertainty. Here I am, a mere trifling plaything to the gods, pushed about to kill and breed for his amusement, and to suffer like a dog in hell, for his amusement, forced to act and get sick and die, with no way to escape it, and to be held responsible by fellow humans - when I am not the doer. I don't understand it at all.
What kind of sick and twisted god is this that enjoys seeing even one single living creature suffer like a worm crushed by a little boy in the garden for his amusement? It sounds truly horrific. But that is what the wise texts and their followers say. I can't make sense of it. Karma and repercussion but no freedom to opt out, a mere doll to pushed around via instinct and nature, no free will.
And even worse than that, everything is coming from this original conscious source called god. Even us. So we are part of god, just like material nature and just like spiritual nature. All is the energy and expansion of the one original source, just in different modes. We are also part and parcel of that source, in minute quantity. So we are doing it to ourselves. Beating up our children. God looks like an evil parent abusing his offspring. How horrific.
Please make it make sense. Life on earth is only possible because of death. It's the Hunger Games and always has been. No one lives unless someone dies to feed them. What do you eat? How did it die to feed you? You can't enjoy life unless some creature dies to feed you and that, to me, is evil. Life on earth is evil because it is built on death.
There is no pleasure when someone has to suffer for my pleasure. it's win-win or no game. It's evil as long as one creature is obliged to feel suffering for the pleasure of another. Yet that is all of life on earth for you. A life built on death and ended by our own death. How absurd, when all I know is life, to be alive.
That's how I see it. I can't unsee it. And that's why I'll always be sad. As long as there is death, even for a cow, I will feel sorrow and disgust for this existence on this planet. This is no place for a gentleman. It is a prison built on death for all, with no way out of it. That's what happens when I think too deeply about life. It ends up looking awful.
As long as there is suffering somewhere, I can't really be happy myself. And since the entire planet in one big war zone with more death and suffering than ever, I can never be happy. I can fake it for appearances, but philosophically this is a place of evil at this stage in the great ages of earth. Kali yuga is the hell on earth stage. We had heaven on earth apparently, thousands of years ago. Now we have hell, and then annihilation at the end. For all of us. Then another beginning at the golden age of heaven on earth once more. So earth had its hey day. it wasn't always hell on earth like it is now for the past few thousand years. But now it is hellish.
And god apparently doesn't care too much about that. According to this text quoted below. And that's why I don't care too much about my life or life on earth either. I can't take any of it seriously. it's all just a game. It's the playtime of god.
The illusion is not sticking well for me any more. The mask is dropping. The Truman Show is how I feel. And it's not going to get better here on earth. The Matrix revisited. We may live longer and cure more disease and in that sense it appears to get better. Yet the more people on the planet means that there are more to suffer in the deadly wars going on. More people to live in poverty and horror all their lives in the growing slums and ghettoes near you.
More people doesn't mean better quality of life for all, only for the elite few who exploit the rest, like a lion dominates the savannah. It's pure and natural exploitation, without sin. One living entity is food for another, the Veda says exactly those words. That's how god made it. Adapt or die. We all do eventually. More people means more death, more slavery, more ignorance, more suffering.
That's why I could never in good conscience bring another child into this world. I never wanted children. That's why the demographic is collapsing. No one wants to bring children into this difficult world any more. Only the Semites in their illusion. Well they can have the place. I am heading for the exit with no desire to ever return. It will only be worse in coming decades anyway. Soft slavery and low security prison, is still prison for one who knows a different freedom.
But that's my choice. Or is it? Do I have a choice? Do I have any agency or free will? Not according to the Sanskrit Veda, as you can read below. Others speculate differently and we still have the rules of law, crime and punishment, even if that law is skewed for the rich and sometimes for thee and not for me. Two tier law is still slavery.
What more can I say, you caught me on a cynical day. Too much philosophy will make an existentialist out of you, or a nihilistic Buddhist. Perhaps that's why their monasteries are so high up in the mountains, hidden from the madness. The only problem is that you can't hide anywhere on this planet, unless you have a solitary place somewhere. Then it's just you and your mind.
And my mind is losing its bearings fast lately. So trust nothing I say. I certainly don't. Trust nothing the government says. Can we even trust the ancient Sanskrit Veda? Or the interpretation written today of something supposed to be thousands of years old? Trust the science, they said in 2020. And we can see where that got us.
Even in the monastery, or in a cave alone, one still has to eat someone, or something to survive. Someone still has to die for you to live. Perhaps the Jains had a good point. Kill nothing. Eat fruit that falls off a tree without killing the tree. Light no fire. There are ways to avoid being a killer.
What do you think?
Bhagavat Purana 6:15:6
bhūtair bhūtāni bhūteśaḥ
sṛjaty avati hanti ca
ātma-sṛṣṭair asvatantrair
anapekṣo ’pi bālavat
SYNONYMS
bhūtaiḥ—by some living beings; bhūtāni—other living entities; bhūta-īśaḥ—the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the master of everything; sṛjati—creates; avati—maintains; hanti—kills; ca—also; ātma-sṛṣṭaiḥ—who are created by Him; asvatantraiḥ—not independent; anapekṣaḥ—not interested (in creation); api—although; bāla-vat—like a boy.
TRANSLATION
The Supreme Personality of Godhead, the master and proprietor of everything, is certainly not interested in the temporary cosmic manifestation. Nonetheless, just as a boy at the beach creates something in which he is not interested, the Lord, keeping everything under His control, causes creation, maintenance and annihilation. He creates by engaging a father to beget a son, He maintains by engaging a government or king to see to the public’s welfare, and He annihilates through agents for killing, such as snakes. The agents for creation, maintenance and annihilation have no independent potency, but because of the spell of the illusory energy, one thinks himself the creator, maintainer and annihilator.
PURPORT
No one can independently create, maintain or annihilate. Bhagavad-gītā (3.27) therefore says:
prakṛteḥ kriyamāṇāni
guṇaiḥ karmāṇi sarvaśaḥ
ahaṅkāra-vimūḍhātmā
kartāham iti manyate
“The bewildered spirit soul, under the influence of the three modes of material nature, thinks himself the doer of activities that are in actuality carried out by nature.” Prakṛti, material nature, as directed by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, induces all living entities to create, maintain or annihilate according to the modes of nature. But the living entity, without knowledge of the Supreme Person and His agent the material energy, thinks that he is the doer. In fact, he is not at all the doer. As an agent of the supreme doer, the Supreme Lord, one should abide by the Lord’s orders. The present chaotic conditions of the world are due to the ignorance of leaders who forget that they have been appointed to act by the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Because they have been appointed by the Lord, their duty is to consult the Lord and act accordingly. The book for consultation is Bhagavad-gītā, in which the Supreme Lord gives directions. Therefore those who are engaged in creation, maintenance and annihilation should consult the Supreme Person, who has appointed them, and should act accordingly. Then everyone will be satisfied, and there will be no disturbances.
Ref: Srimad Bhagavatam, translation and commentary by Swami A. C. Bhaktivedanta, original unedited edition.
Image: https://pixabay.com/illustrations/ai-generated-diwali-candle-9137711/
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With Hive price near all time low, it is not such a happy birthday. It's going from bad to worse here on Hive on several levels, as you know. Very bad show.
This world is maya and thats why everyone is searching for moksha (escape) from this maya. We all tend to forget that all of this is illusion.
The best example would be our life, when we were kids the stress was the school, later college, then job, then family, it keeps changing but the funny thing is one wouldn't be thinking about these on their deathbeds the time people spell worrying don't matter. 😅
I got to here from the other post. This has been an interesting read let me read the part of it 🤗☮️♥️
Thank you so much for sharing your insights on the subject sir. The illusion keeps us bewildered but with knowledge and experience, we are awakening.