One and many

The Vedas are the source of rare knowledge and wisdom.  About what? The Upanishadic sages spout out knowledge and wisdom regarding life, living, the world, principles that govern the life and the world, cosmos and the place of this world in the entire cosmos, forces in the nature, objectives of human life, mind and Atman, human body and its various dimensions, relevance of spirituality and its scope, nature of matter and such many such other issues.  For a student of the Upanishads, there is no scope for extremism. The reason is simple. The Vedas speak in the most balanced manner possible.

The extremism we see around is the outcome of severe lack of a balanced outlook.  It proves that the true knowledge and wisdom are not usually served to people at large.

Even those who are striving for right knowledge and wisdom are often struggling. They find it difficult to reach the shore.

We shall discuss just one small but valuable topic. The origin and the expanse of creation, its names and varied forms, colours and expressions--- it is all just rooted in one Absolute, yet has infinite beauty. Here is the part of the main Mantra:

‘Ekam sad, viprah bahudha vadanti’.  It means,

‘one origin can be expressed in many ways’;

or ‘there is one source, which is expressed variously by savants’;

or ‘truth is one, but it can be explained in multiple ways’.     

or ‘truth is one, but it expresses itself in multiple ways’,

or, one Absolute expresses itself in innumerable ways’;

or, ‘one Absolute has innumerable (Absolute number of) faces’.   

The Mantra appears in the Rigveda.1.164.46:

[nd`M ima~M varuNamaignamaahurqaao idvyaM sa saupNaao- garu%maana\

ekM sad\ ivap`a bahuQaa vadint yamaM maatirSvaanamaahu:

(They called ‘The One which is Sat’ variously such as Indra, Mitra, Varuṇa, Agni; and he is heavenly Garuda, who has beautiful wings. The Sat is one, but the sages call it by many names or describe him in many ways. They call him Agni, Yama, Matarisvan).

 

It is perhaps the most balanced statement. The beauty of this statement made by the Rishis is that it leaves no room for extremism.  There is One Eternal in everything. One Sat has expanded infinitely. The ‘One’ has infinite forms.  Infinite forms are basically one Sat.

This Vaidika idea can have profound impact on human mind, if properly understood. It can change the human behaviour significantly.

In the later times when six Vaidika Darshanas were being expounded, this idea was explained extensively, particularly in Brahmasutra of Badarayana. Principle Upanishads too speak a lot on this concept.

There were thirty-four commentaries written on Brahmasutra explaining this concept in as many ways. However, not all the commentaries are available today.  On the basis of these commentaries, many schools or Paramparas were established. Some of the major schools are Advaita, Vishistadvaita, Dvaitavada, Shuddhadvaita and so on.

It is worth nothing that there was no conflict at all among all these schools. These schools coexist even to this date.   

***