Creation of the World/ Jagat

         Creation of the world/universe

We will learn now;  how this world/ universe is created. 

Let’s begin with an analogy.

To create a pot, one needs two causes. The material ( clay) and The maker of the pot ,(a potter).

Clay is called  the material cause/उपादान कारण and the Potter is called efficient cause/निमीत्त कारण.

Here clay( material cause) and Potter( efficient cause) are different. That means Potter creates the pots with clay and sells it. Potter and clay are not the same. very easy to understand. Isn’t it?

What are the material and efficient causes of the world??

You already know that entire world is constituted of the 24 factors, and those factors are made up of gross and subtle panchmahabhutas/ five great elements.

These Five great elements are the material / उपादान कारण of the world.( just like a clay is the material cause of the pot)

Now can you guess, Who must be an  efficient cause/निमीत्तकारण for the world? ( like a potter who creates a pot from a clay)
Now be attentive _

One who makes the object must exists before his creation of the object. do you agree? Let’s simplify it with examples-

You created/ prepared laddoos. That means you exist before the creation/preparation laddoos. Potter exists before his created pot. So, one who created the world with five great elements must be existed prior to the five great elements.  Got it?

So who must be there?

It is The Brahman / The Truth exists in all the periods of time. When there was no creation, still It was exist. (That’s why it is Sat/ Existence principle). Thus logically creator must be the Brahman. The five great elements also must have came out/ evolved from the Brahman ( as nothing exist before the creation but the Brahman)

Thus if you think carefully, you will notice that here the creator and the created is one. If you are not convinced,  remember a spider creating a web out of its own secretions. Got it??

Now one more difficult concept- When material and efficient causes are one and the same, the created thing is an illusion. Seems to be confusing, isn’t it? Let’s make it understandable.

You see a dream. Who creates the dream?? The Mind. In the dream world, there are people, houses, weapons, animals, the sun, moon, lovers, haters,etc. Out of which material the mind creates the dream world?

You are lying down in the bed, still you are digging a hole in the ground in the dream. You are lying in the bed, but you are eating the sweets in the dream? Where do the Axe and sweet come from?

The creator/mind has created the axe and sweets, beings, etc itself for its dreamworld and you very well know that dream is an illusion. There is no logic in the dream. Thus when efficient & material cause are one and the same, created object/ thing/ event is an illusion. This being so, there is no logical sequence to creation. Illusion has no logic. It’s all play of Maya. This is how the Advait philosophy considers the world as an illusion / mithya. This explains the mahavakya, “Brahma Satya Jagat mithya”. ब्रह्म सत्यं जगत् मिथ्या।

In the rope- snake analogy, rope is real. But because of the ignorance (maya) it appeared as a snake.  Where do the frightening quality and looks of the snake come from?

Upon the rope, snake was an illusion/ mithya. But for that duration of time of the ignorance,  we considered it as the real snake. Rope was unaffected. Snake appeared to be real, but it disappeared after knowledge.

Although we appreciate all these concepts intellectually,  still the waking world is real for us. It does seem to be governed by natural laws and there also seems to be a cause – effect relationships between various happenings. Thats why, for us, Keeping our experiences in mind, Adi Shankaracharya explains the sequence of creation.
World gets created, sustained, and destroyed/ dissolution.( सृष्टी उत्पत्ती, स्थिती, लय), again and again but the nondual Brahman is as It is,  It is beginningless and endless. It is Infinite. ( अनादि, अनंत, असिमीत).  In fact, It is the Substratum for all the happenings in the Jagat/ Universe.

Imagine a steady and still water in the ocean with no waves or bubbles.  When wind blows, waves of small and large size are created on the same water. How does the wave get created? with power of wind.

Brahman the Truth alone has intrinsic existence. In this Truth , there is no trace of Maya. Maya has no separate existence apart from the Truth. Without Existence nothing can exist.  Just like a snake is born or created by maya upon the substratum of the rope, world also seems to be created by maya upon the substratum of the Brahman.Thats why  maya is called the Ishvara shakti.

Before the creation,  at the time of dissolution the three qualities of maya ( satvik, rajasic, tamasik) remain in their unmanifest form and in a state of equilibrium ( साम्य अवस्था). When this balance is somehow disturbed the process of creation begins.  At this stage Brahman associate with maya is labeled as Ishvara.   Ishvara with the power of three gunas/ qualities (maya) is also called saguna Brahman/ सगुण ब्रह्म. Otherwise  the Brahman is without any qualities/निर्गुण ब्रह्म.
Thus upon the substratum of Brahman only maya is creating the world. 

Rope is there. It itself doesn’t creates the snake. It’s the ignorance of the rope ( Avidya maya) which creates the snake. If rope wouldn’t be there, no snake would be created. Got it?? Rope doesnt frighten us but the snake. When Rope is known, play of maya ends and we no more get frightened by the snake. 

In the same way , if Brahman is known/ experienced, play of maya ends and we no more get affected by the dualities/ dvandvas of the world.

We will see how the whole world gets created in detail in next part.
          Hari Om !

Reference- Tatvabodh by Bhagvan Adi Shankaracharya, commentary by Pujya Guruji, CIF.