Shiva Mahimna Stotra

Shloka 4

Meaning:  O Varada (Lord Shiva, the giver of boons)! The three Vedas have established that with your power you create, preserve, and dissolve the universe. This power works through your three forms (Brahma, Vishnu, and Mahesha) which differ by the dominance of the three gunas (Sattva, Rajas, and Tamas). However, to destroy this fact, a few ignorant people with their dull intellect, present baseless theories which seemingly look pleasant to the dull-minded, but in reality, it is unpleasant.      

Reflections:                          

The scriptures establish the fact that Brahman is the cause of the creation, preservation, and dissolution of the universe. The power of Brahman, called Prakriti, or Shakti is made out of three gunas; sattva, rajas, and tamas. Brahman creates the universe through Its form Brahma which is dominated by rajas.  Brahman preserves the universe through Its form Vishnu which is dominated by sattva. Brahman dissolves the universe through Its form Mahesha which is dominated by tamas.

The following are a couple of quotes from the scriptures which establish this fact:

The Brahma Sutra (1.1.2) says that ‘Brahman is the only cause of creation, preservation, and dissolution of the universe’.

Taittiriya Upanishad (3.1) says, “That, from which these beings are born, by which, when born, they live, into which (at the time of dissolution) they enter, they merge – seek to know That. That is Brahman.”

Taittiriya Upanishad (2.1) says, “From that Atman (Brahman) Aakaasha (space) was born; from Aakaasha, Vaayu (air) was born; from Vaayu, Agni (fire) was born; from Agni, Aapa (water) was born; from Aapa, Prithvi (earth) was born; from Pruthivi, Anna (food) was born; from Anna, being was born.”

Brahman is Omnipotent, Omniscient, Infinite, and devoid of any qualities. However, It appears as the universe because of Its delusive power Maya or Shakti.

In Viveka Chudamani, Sri Shankaracharya calls the power of Brahman as Avidya or Maya.

“Avidya or Maya is the power of the Lord. It is Unmanifested when It is inactive. It is beginningless, supreme, and made up of three gunas; sattva, rajas, and tamas. Wise people realize Its existence by Its effects. It brings forth this whole universe.” Viveka Chudamani – 108

In Shri Durga Saptashati (11.11) Rishi says, “O Narayani (All-Pervading Mother)! You are the power to create, preserve, and dissolve the universe. You are the support of the three gunas (sattva, raja, and tamas) and you have all the virtues. I salute you.”

In the Bhagavad Gita (9.7)Shri Krishna said, “O Arjuna! At the end of the cycle of the universe (at the time of dissolution), all beings enter into My Prakriti and at the beginning of a cycle I generate them again.”

People who believe that the Vedas are the highest authority regarding the fundamental truth of the universe accept that Brahman is the cause of its creation, preservation, and dissolution. But a few people present theories and reasons to destroy this fact. These theories and reasons amuse dull-minded people who do not think deeper. Let us reflect on these two sides.  

There are two major theories popular in the world:

Theory 1 (Believers): There is some power that is responsible for the creation, preservation, and dissolution of the universe. People call this power by different names, like Brahman, God, Consciousness, or something else. The Vedas call it Brahman.

Theory 2 (Non-believers): There is NO power working behind the universe. Meaning there is no Brahman, Atman, God, Consciousness, or anything which is the cause of creation, preservation, and dissolution.

About Theory – 1: Among the believers of Theory – 1, there are many philosophies regarding the nature of God. But all the believers agree that there is something beyond this body and mind or the physical universe that we perceive which is the cause of the creation, preservation, and dissolution of the universe. The Vedas are included in this theory.

About Theory – 2: Pushpadanta says that to destroy the assertion of Theory – 1, a few people propose a theory and give reasons to spread the idea that there is no Brahman, or Atman, or God, or Consciousness, or any such thing which is the cause of the creation, preservation, and dissolution of the universe.

From the Vedic time, a group of such people called Charvakas have been trying to destroy the assertion of the believers, especially the assertion of the Vedas. The word ‘Charvakas’ came from the Sanskrit words ‘Chaaru’ and ‘Vaac’. ‘Chaaru’ means pleasant, and ‘Vaac’ means speech. Thus, Charvakas means people whose talks are pleasant. One of the popular ideas of the Charvakas is:

“As long as you live, live happily with all the worldly joys. If you need to borrow money to have all the worldly pleasures (mainly eating, drinking, and sense-pleasures), then just do it. When the body burns to ashes, it is not going to come back.”

The last line implies that there is NO Atman or Brahman. All that we have is a body with a mind.

They even went further to say that those who wrote the Vedas are cheats, fools, and demons.

Pushpadanta says that such talks are very pleasing to few people who are not capable of thinking deeper. But in reality, these thoughts are unpleasant and harmful. A question comes, “Why such thoughts are unpleasant and harmful?”.

Here are a few answers:

(i) Life will be meaningless. If a person is limited to just body and mind, then for many people life will not have any purpose or meaning. They will not be happy to run around and go through many struggles just to maintain the body and to seek material pleasures. These people know that we really feel happy when we forget our body and mind. After deep sleep, one feels great joy. When we forget our little selves by listening to music, seeing beautiful pieces of art, reading engaging material, finding new research results, enjoying the vastness of nature, expressing our unselfish love, doing unselfish service, or any such activity, then we experience joy within which is nowhere near the sense-pleasures.

Also, life is short, and we cannot achieve what we had desired to achieve. Having just one life will not give us an incentive to continue working until the end.   

(ii) Life will be devoid of love.  Let us call the body-mind existence a ‘little self’. If each individual is interested to make his/her little self happy and that is the ultimate goal of life, then love will become selfishness. A person loves another person as long as the other person gives material pleasure to the first person. There will not be the love that we know now in the world. If society becomes truly selfish, then the parents will not be interested in raising the children when the children are not giving them material joy. Each one will be left to work hard to fulfill one’s own little self’s material desires. Even now, when children come to a certain age, selfish parents tell their children to get out of their houses and take care of themselves. If parents want to make their children self-dependent, then it is good. But to stop loving children or hating them because they are obstacles in their parents’ selfish joy is a horrible idea. How do we feel when mothers give birth to children and then parents abandon them to survive on their own? Without love, society will go towards its own destruction.

(iii) No explanations for the discrimination among children:  If there is only one life with this little self, then how can we explain why some children are born in extremely rich families and some are born in extremely poor families? Why some children are very talented in music or some other skills and some are not?      

(iii) Incomplete scientific explanations: The science talks about the Big Bang Theory for the creation of the universe. But there is no explanation for many things, like from where these objects and the force came which made the collision.

Also, some present a theory that in the beginning, only matter existed and at some point, consciousness came out from the matter. How can consciousness which is sentient come out from matter or material combinations which are insentient?

(iv) World is not chaotic: Everything in the universe is working very precisely.  For example, the sun, the earth, and the planets are precisely performing their functions. Our senses, heart, brain, digestive system, etc. are functioning precisely. This suggests that a systematic power with perfect thinking is working behind the universe. The world is not functioning because of random combinations of matters or powers. Our finite brains cannot comprehend infinite power. We can get some feeling about the infinite, but we cannot comprehend it fully.  

(vii) Counter-intuitive: Thinking that we are only little selves consisting of only body and mind is counter-intuitive. Intuitively we all feel that we are not limited to our body and mind, and we are eternal even though our body dies. There is a basic feeling of freedom in all of us. The idea that we are bound suffocates us. Also, we are not our resumes.  No matter how much we write about a person, we cannot describe the person completely. That is the reason why the world has not become completely materialistic even though Charvakas and others were trying to spread their pleasant theories.        

(viii) Not all are materialists: People may get turned off by religions due to the inhuman acts of religious leaders and fanatics, but they are not materialists. When many such non-believers come in touch with genuine spiritual people, they get attracted to spirituality or at least understand that it is a better way of living than a materialistic life.