As is well known, puraanic literature talks of start of creation from lord Brahmaa. To sustain that creation is the job of lord Vishnu, while annihilation is done by lord Rudra. Creation by lord Brahmaa does not start all of a sudden. First, he develops the five gross elements to elevate these to their highest levels. For example, earth element has to be developed so that it shows smells. Water element has to be developed for tastes. Fire element has to be developed for electricity. Air element has to be developed for praanas/ life forces. Sky element has to be developed for sounds. After these developments have taken place, then one can think of start of actual creation of living creatures.
The word meaning of Brahmaa has been stated to expand/fortification of thoughts. Fortification of thoughts may mean thus : if there is some thought developed inside us, it should fructify immediately in ideal conditions. If it does not happen, one has to think where is the roadblock. The roadblock may be that our mind is said to be a mixture of conscious and unconscious minds. If all conscious forces unite to fulfill the dream, then it will fructify. So, what is desirable, according to Shri Rajneesh, is that we do, learn to do most of our work with conscious mind. What is the difficulty with unconscious mind? This mind is attached with our sins also. In puraanic texts, lord Brahmaa has been depicted as seated in a lotus flower. The property of lotus flower is that it is not wetted by water, the water of sins.
Lord Brahma has been stated to be the cause. It seems that he has also been identified with the toe – shaped person situated in the flower.
It has been stated in one sacred text that whatever is colorful on this earth, that is un pious. One has to take it to the level of light of stars in the sky. But nowhere it is mentioned who is responsible for the colorful picture on this earth. What is or was the initial thrust for that? Once the impure picture is there, Brahmaa can develop it.
In vedic rituals, Brahmaa happens to be a special preist who normally sits besides yajamaana in soma sacrifice. He sits in south direction, facing northward. He is responsible for rectifying all the mistakes of the ritual. Though other priests also do rectify, but the contribution of Brahmaa priest is half in that. He does it mentally only. He is the best physician of the ritual. What can be the ailment of the ritual? Dr. Fatah Singh liked the statement of sacred texts that a ritual is - to perform a work in the best possible way. A work is performed by praana, by speech, by ears, by eyes, by heart, by mind. Vedic texts state each one of these as Brahma. Each one of these has to be worked upon, worked upon by lord Brahmaa, to take these to their highest levels of developments. For example, the highest point of praana has been stated to be to become likable, of speech to become intellect/prajnaa, of eyes to see truth, of ears to hear from infinite, of mind to feel bliss, of heart to become stable?
Brahmaa, the person responsible for rectifying mistakes of ritual, has been stated to be an image of divine lord Brihaspati. What can be learnt from this statement? One possibility is that consort of Brihaspati is goddess Taaraa. Taaraa means who can transform impious picture on this earth into pious ones.
There are vedic mantras which talk of bringing down the benefits of Brahma to the level of Indra, who is a warrior. The person chosen for representing Brahmaa in a ritual should be of Vasishtha subcast. As Dr. Fatah Singh used to say, the characteristic of Vasishtha is that he develops in upward direction, without caring for the surroundings. On the other hand, sage Vishwamitra cares for surroundings also. The quarrel between the two is famous in puraanic literature.
Vedic mantras talk of two types of Brahma – former and later. The former one has been stated to be symmetric and the later one to be non – symmetric. This can be understood better by the concept of Mr. J.A.Gowan.
Why lord Brahmaa is generally stated to be not worth worship-able? One possible answer can be that the essence of five elements has been called Brahmaa. It may mean that our self or ego is also an image of Brahmaa. It is desirable that this individual self assimilates into collective self. Then it will become lord Vishnu who sleeps on infinite one – the Shesha. According to Rajneesh, when one reaches at heart chakra, then the consciousness has such a state that it can neither be called to be individualistic, nor collective.
First published : 23-10-2009(Kaartika shukla panchami, Vikrami samvat 2066)
ब्रह्मा
टिप्पणी : जैसा कि सर्वविदित है, पुराणों में ब्रह्मा को तीन मुख्य देवों ब्रह्मा, विष्णु, महेश में से एक देव के रूप में चित्रित किया गया है । ब्रह्मा का कार्य सृष्टि करने का है, विष्णु का कार्य सृष्टि के पालन का और महेश का कार्य संहार का है । ब्रह्मा द्वारा सृष्टि का कार्य एकदम आरम्भ नहीं हो जाता, अपितु क्रमशः विकास के द्वारा होता है । पहले ब्रह्मा पांच महाभूतों से ५ तन्मात्राओं की सृष्टि करता है । इसके पश्चात् ही जीवों की सृष्टि आरम्भ होती है । उदाहरण के लिए, पृथिवी महाभूत से गन्ध तन्मात्राओं का विकास करना होता है, जल महाभूत से रस तन्मात्राओं का, अग्नि महाभूत से विद्युत आदि का?, वायु महाभूत से प्राण तन्मात्राओं का और आकाश महाभूत से शब्द तन्मात्राओं का । ब्रह्मा बनने के लिए आवश्यक है कि हमारा इस विकास प्रक्रिया पर