Sonhood of God-head.

From SREE SAJJANA-TOSHANI
THE HARMONIST
SEPTEMBER, 1928

The Western savants will be startled when they come across the above heading. They are naturally trained up with the theistic idea of the Father-hood of God-head. They have practised the devotional culture of offering their active enterprise towards an object who at first sight proves to be venerable in every respect. To think in such a light is natural. In human society we find our parents nurturing their children from the beginning of their existence and they continue to do so till the latter stand on their own legs. From this illustration people may be likely to subscribe to the opinion of considering the object of their worship in the Father-hood of Godhead. But there is some other loftier thought that can convince them as well of the other counterpart as the true centre of devotion. If the epistemologic view of Bhakti is properly scrutinised, the idea of concentrating their devotion towards their Father may tend to target the very thing to their most loving children. The three different ideas, that are prevailing among the enquirers of the next world in a theistic mood, will tell us the positions of elevationists, salvationists and devotees. In other words, their respective systems may be branded as the medium of actors, of stupefiers of manifestation and of God-lovers. The elevationists are found to secure the fruition of their desires as they are in need of removing their manifold wants, but their proposition would fail when they run fast. When such enterprisers are disgusted with their multifarious trade, they want to cut off all connection with their aspiring engine and they want an eternal peace for their final location. Here we find two different tracks that are trodden by salvationists, viz. (1) one of these surmises to have the final goal in nonspecification of material phenomena and (2) the other finds it prudent to target the termination in an unspecified object which has been congealed by extreme temperature. The latter wants to diffuse his plan by asking the people to follow him and to neglect the three different situations of observed, observation and observers. The third system of devotion has got a different denotation when the final end is taken into account which can only differentiate his position from the other two. The first two were engaged in ameliorating their condition whereas the last one in view is apathetic to such misconceived selfishness. The former were busy to aggrandise their ugly interests; ‘ugly’—because wrong, selfish motives are present in their attempts. But the latter from the very beginning and during his whole course clings tenaciously to the interests of the Personal Godhead, incorporating his self with Him; whereas the process of isolation is prominent in the former two. The salvationists may question how they are guilty of advocating the principle of detachment when they are always attempting to merge with the Absolute Impersonality. The very idea of Impersonality is tantamount to innate impression of isolation from the true Personality of Godhead. The limited brain of an elevationist is never given an opportunity by a copper-plate inscription to target a supersensuous thing which he has not experienced by his so-called senses and decisions before; moreover, he was simply driven by the phenomenal reasons that surround him, as he has been fully under the clutch of the Octopus Maya. But the case is different with a devotee when we scrutinise the relative position of the three impartially.

The school of devotees may clearly be reached if we study it in reference to the comparative positions along with the other two. The first, viz. the Elevationists are busy with their temporal activities; whereas the other sections are eager to have an eternal rest. The latter thoughts have got their distinctive merits in impersonality and vague conception. The predilection of an impersonalist detests the devotee by assigning on him the evershifting mundane phenomena in the attempt to fix himself on the path of eternal personified standard; but the God-lover if not likely to deviate from the loving Fountainhead. The devotee does not advise the salvationist to give up his claim as a knower having been tempted and deceived by phantasmagoria of natural transitory phenomena. He does not advise him further to hanker after a hallucinative peace which may have no true existence as per his surmise. All that a salvationist wants is to get rid of the unpleasantness offered to him by the defective atmosphere of Nature, so he need not be indulging in total abnegation of the eternal world behind the phenomena. The salvationist might be disappointed if he seeks the counsel of an elevationist who has had no more property beyond Nature. The best thing for a salvationist is to seek the counsel of a devotee who has much to do with an atmosphere far off the speculative range of animation which is strictly confined to things of three dimensions. The devotees as well as the salvationists do not confine their visual range within the horizon of phenomena. Limitations of time and space no doubt permit the human scope to conceive a person who creates time and space and objects therein and can keep himself aloof from his created objects. Yet the Personality with His Almighty Power conceals Himself from the puppy brains of pedants rejecting the fertility of the poor designing brain. The devotees point out various clues of removing the clutch of the Octopus which has shackled them by the iron chains of defective, finite observations. The unsettled conception of space and time, as of objects of more than three dimensions as well as of the meeting point of hyperbolic and parabolic curves of infinitesimal microscopic objects, of macroscope, is not in a position to appease our hunger of knowledge, though we may deceive ourselves with settled views in our present logic. Reason can prevail on atheists to solve the indeterminate unknown when they experience innumerable miseries in everyday life. They cannot deny the tangible fact of a supersensuous agent whom they can at the worst designate as a lifeless thing, but they can as well single Him out whenever they get sufficient light of the cosmic creation. The aphorisms of Vyasa have disclosed many a fact which can enlighten every rationalist in having clue of the tract through which he can proceed towards the personality. Here we find that the salvationist and the devotee differ by their respective views. The former thinks it proper to designate this personality to his hallucinative impersonal views as he cherishes unpardonable aspiration of monopolising the situation of Godhead in him; but it proves to be ineffectual. Such illusory theory is not tenable by the school of devotion which is confident of the Absolute Truth. The extreme idealist may run fast to compromise with the realistic devotees, but the latter cannot agree with him when he confines his method of suggestion to mundane things only.

Hitherto we have been dealing with the three different conceptions to reach three different goals, and in the course of comparison we have shown our predilection to chalk out the path of devotion which will best serve us in the progress of our eternal life. The next thing we are to determine is the object of devotion. As rational men, we have shown the course of our taste to lie in the three directions. If we have confidence in a devotee we are naturally supposed to enquire, ‘where does his destination terminate?’ Our guide in devotion shows different apparels at different times to help us from our particular phase of love. When the object of love is fixed in the all-embracing figure of the Loving, we naturally show our inattention to worldly phenomena that were guiding us in our human existence. The spontaneous attachment towards ephemeral things requires a change in the guidance of a devotee; so we, in order to follow our guide, should regulate, to adhere to his heart-felt injunctions, the direction as well as know the final point of our present mission. In the school of devotion we are taught to direct all our energy towards the infinite Fountain-head of everything Who has attracted by His love all detachable elements which consider themselves to be a different integer instead of a part of the all-loving centre. Now we naturally ask our preceptor who has had experience of loving Him with all his heart the question of the name, size including the colour, His distinctive qualities, His paraphernalia and His exploits. The devotional absolutist in answer to our question delineates the different names, different colour and size, the distinctive features, qualitating Him for our comprehension, His different locations, the whereabouts of His satellites and His different achievements, in different atmosphere. These varieties should not puzzle us in targeting the absolute monopoly of the all-pervading spirit, namely the position of God-head. Language, circumstances and other similar barricades may stand against our prosecution of the present studies, but with the aid and kindly help of the generous director we can tide over these petty difficulties which evil spirits might put in the form of counsels against making our actual progress towards the Spiritual Kingdom. Our present empiric atmosphere has compelled us to take recourse to analogical attempts, but this analogy may either help us or stand against our progress. God is one and without a second and this idea need not bar our access to innumerable simultaneous transcendental figures in Him. As our object of investigation was not accepted as a finite sensuous object we should refrain from showing a misdirected activity with our present acquisitional intelligence. If we do not disturb our attention in thoughts detrimental to our cause we are sure to strengthen our position in admitting ourselves to the undisputed region transcendent. Here we are to adopt the process of the descending order of the Absolute Truth and not to make an irregular move towards diverse finite things. If we are relieved by proper instruction not to meddle with sensuous objects we have taken the longest journey to approach the Absolute Truth in Person.

Our dire experience of this dusty atmosphere leads us to submit ourselves to offer reverence to the powerful great and to persons of whom we beg for something. With this idea we make a division of things we come across of a scale of graduations. When we point out one side of a rod we ignore the specification of the other extremity; the intermediate gap is measured by graduated metre. The two extreme points are named and their directions, size, colour, attributions, neighbouring values and efficacy are also defined. In the present case the object of worship and veneration bar us at the first sight to consider the object in a different mood. In the infinite existence of God-head it is natural to accept Him as the greatest object of veneration, but this adoration when microscopically enlarged is metamorphosed into a transcendental predicament which may be called the Ocean of love. In other words, love when disfigured and contaminated by unhealthy dirts, is worded in hundred different styles. Love devoid of confidence gives the result of less loving activity from the proper. Want of love is found in different shapes in the worldly tie which is but a misnomer of the transcendental word, love. When the integer is scrutinised diverse fractional parts or distinctive impressions are offered by the same integral standard. The different fractions are incorporated in the integer by ties which go by the name of tie of love. The idea of absolute monism is confined in an idealist and that idealist cannot keep up his dogma when a stern realist examines his monistic thought. Idealistic monism shows the result of distinctive and differentiative monism in analytical standard. We are speaking of ties just now which are called the tying potency of the All-loving towards His loved millions. If we are not sanguine to investigate the All-loving and His perpetual faculty we will be at a loss to approach Him properly. His transcendental existence, His love and His loved—all have got the indispensable existence of love, and this is to be singled out from varieties of phenomena and of transcendental manifestation. The mundane phenomena have got some distinctive quality by which we can give a direction of eternal manifestation that lies behind the material world in an inexplicable condition. The rupturous condition of the pessimistic view is remedied by his opposite school by the tie which goes by the name of love. Whenever we miss this tie our existive corporation fails to trace out our connection with the infinite absolute Truth. We cannot call this to have a chaotic fountainhead.

All-loving centre attracts His comrades lying on the circumference, and these circumferences, due to the elongation of the radii, are situated at their respective distances, and hence this is called “Goloka” or the transcendental circular Region. “Goloka” is eternal and ever-manifested, whereas “Bhuloka” is created and ever-changing. The changes that form the progress of the manifestation of “Goloka” are in no way defective and can not be identified with mundane scope. So human range is confined to the universe and the spirit of super-mind or soul or Over-soul is extended to an unlimited and uninterrupted space where unadulterated love reigns with all sublimity, beauty and in super-excellency.

People who are apt to maintain their over-cautious sentiments drag along with them the idea of veneration which is less confidence when they are to come in contact with the All-loving God-head. If they are disregarding the hard and fast rules of veneration they might with all audacity venture to approach God-head with a greater confidence and can render fuller unadulterated service through the tie and in a closer touch. This is love proper and there is no alloy to contaminate the atmosphere of love by foreign defective impressions which are inherent in this temporal plane. When a devotee recollects the majesty, valour (power), properties, amazing beauty, knowledge and dispelling potency in his object of worship he cannot part with his innate veneration for Him; but he can bid adieu to those when he is confident in the all-loving principle of the All-lover and can easily shake off the demarcating line of veneration from closer love. The devotee was confined to serve his lover with the exoteric principle of service, but he finds in himself enough strength when his pass-port of reliance delegates more power than what he could imagine. We can in this position justify the transcendental realisation of Son-hood of God-head in lieu of his Father-hood. This Sonhood is ascribed by the savants who have had access to a region where various degrees of veneration did not offer derision, in the estimated poverty of graduation.