The material universes are created (Sankhya #08)
Up to this point, there was mass of material elements in the form of the mahat-tattva. Taking the primary elements with him, the Lord assembled the material elements into many separate universes.
« SANKHYA, The Philosophy of Lord Kapila
The material universes are created
Up to this point, we had a description of the creation of the material elements, which is part of the primary creation performed by the Lord. Up to this point, there are no material universes, just the mass of material elements in the form of the mahat-tattva. The elements are now manifest, but still not assembled in the form of the universes. It's important to emphasize that in the definition given in the Vedas, the material elements are different from matter. The elements created at this stage manifest later (during the creation of Brahma) as different grades of matter. The elements we studied up to here are still subtle manifestations. We can think of them more like different grades of subtle energy, and not as something we can physically touch.
The next verses explain how the universes came into being:
"When all these elements were unmixed, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the origin of creation, along with time, work, and the qualities of the modes of material nature, entered into the universe with the total material energy in seven divisions.
From these seven principles, roused into activity and united by the presence of the Lord, an unintelligent egg arose, from which appeared the celebrated Cosmic Being.
This universal egg, or the universe in the shape of an egg, is called the manifestation of material energy. Its layers of water, air, fire, sky, ego and mahat-tattva increase in thickness one after another. Each layer is ten times bigger than the previous one, and the final outside layer is covered by pradhāna. Within this egg is the universal form of Lord Hari, of whose body the fourteen planetary systems are parts." (SB 3.26.50-52)
The seven divisions mentioned here are the five elements, ether, air, fire, water, and earth, plus the false ego and the total material energy, the mahat-tattva. The Lord is originally one, Maha-Vishnu, but out of His desire to create the material manifestation, he expands himself into the innumerable forms of Garbhodakasayi Vishnu who enter into the different universes.
In this way, taking the seven primary elements with him, the Lord assembled the material elements into many separate universes. These universes were already present in the mahat-tattva in the form of seeds, and now the complete structures are formed.
Each universe includes a series of shells, composed of primeval elements, each covering being ten times larger than the previous. Because the universes are at this stage just composed of these inert material elements, they are mentioned as unintelligent eggs. However, these inert masses of matter become alive when the Lord enters into each one as Garbhodakasayi-Vishnu, carrying with Him all the souls who will participate in the creation inside each universe.
As Prabhupada explains:
"In sex life, the combination of matter from the parents, which involves emulsification and secretion, creates the situation whereby a soul is received within matter, and the combination of matter gradually develops into a complete body. The same principle exists in the universal creation: the ingredients are present, but only when the Lord enters into the material elements is matter actually agitated. That is the cause of creation. We can see this in our ordinary experience. Although we may have clay, water and fire, the elements take the shape of a brick only when we labor to combine them. Without the living energy, there is no possibility that matter can take shape. Similarly, this material world does not develop unless agitated by the Supreme Lord as the virāṭ-puruṣa. Yasmād udatiṣṭhad asau virāṭ: by His agitation, space was created, and the universal form of the Lord also manifested therein."
The Lord manifests the Virat-rupa inside each universe
Once inside each universe, the Lord fills half of the space with water and lies down on the water on the bed formed by Lord Sesa. Comfortably situated, He proceeds to manifest the universal form, which is the subtle manifestation of the universe. Everything that exists in the universe, including all potencies, is first manifested in a subtle form in this universal form. Later Brahma takes birth and performs the secondary creation, the process of the physical manifestation of the universe.
The process of creation thus starts with Lord Vishnu lying alone in the causal ocean. This stage is described in a famous passage of the Chandogya Upanisad (6.2): tad aikṣata, bahu syām prajāyeyeti, "The Lord then contemplated and spoke: Let me become many! Let me propagate myself!"
Mayavadis interpret this verse as Brahman falling into illusion and becoming fragmented into innumerable conditioned souls who, in illusion, see themselves as separate individuals, although they are ultimately one. Others interpret this passage as describing the creation of the souls, who they thus believe originate from the causal ocean. Both interpretations are incorrect. This passage simply indicates the beginning of one of the many cycles of creation. The souls sleeping inside the body of Maha-Vishnu were present in the previous creation and were just sleeping with the Lord during the period of dissolution. Just as Maha-Vishnu is eternal, the souls are also eternal, and therefore there is no beginning for either of them. As indicated in many passages, the souls are constitutionally part of the spiritual energy of the Lord. Their presence in the causal ocean is already a fallen condition, caused by their forgetfulness of the service of the Lord. After keeping the souls with Him in a long sleep, Lord Maha-Vishnu desires to again create the material universes to give a chance for them to be re-established in their original position of service to the Lord.
The Lord then glances over the material energy or pradhana, sending His time energy, as well as the souls who will participate in the material creation. This leads to the manifestation of the three modes of material nature, which were previously dissolved into pradhana. When the three modes become apparent, pradhana becomes active and is called the mahat-tattva.
The Lord then manifests pure material consciousness as a shadow of the original spiritual consciousness of the soul, and then the false ego, mind, intelligence, and finally the senses (sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch). This restores the subtle bodies of the souls, which were destroyed at the end of the previous cycle. Together with the subtle bodies, the effects of their previous activities (karma) are restored.
By the interaction of the false ego in ignorance with the time energy and the mahat-tattva, the five material elements (ether, air, fire, water, and earth) are successively created, together with their properties (sound, touch, form, taste, and odor) and the sense organs connected with them (ear, skin, eye, tongue, and nose).
After creating the material elements, the Lord expands Himself as Garbhodakasayi Vishnu and forms the material universes. Inside each universe, He manifests the universal form, together with all the potencies that act upon it. Finally, the Lord enters into this universal form as Paramatma, and that's what finally makes it active. This concludes the process of primary creation. The next stage is the birth of Brahma and the physical manifestation of the universe, which encompasses the secondary creation.
This process of manifestation of the universal form and the potencies of the demigods is described by Lord Kapila in verses 53 to 61. This process happens not only in our universe but in all other universes:
"The Supreme Personality of Godhead, the virāṭ-puruṣa, situated Himself in that golden egg, which was lying on the water, and He divided it into many departments.
First of all a mouth appeared in Him, and then came forth the organ of speech, and with it the god of fire, the deity who presides over that organ. Then a pair of nostrils appeared, and in them appeared the olfactory sense, as well as prāṇa, the vital air.
In the wake of the olfactory sense came the wind-god, who presides over that sense. Thereafter a pair of eyes appeared in the universal form, and in them the sense of sight. In the wake of this sense came the sun-god, who presides over it. Next there appeared in Him a pair of ears, and in them the auditory sense and in its wake the Dig-devatās, or the deities who preside over the directions.
Then the universal form of the Lord, the virāṭ-puruṣa, manifested His skin, and thereupon the hair, mustache and beard appeared. After this all the herbs and drugs became manifested, and then His genitals also appeared.
After this, semen (the faculty of procreation) and the god who presides over the waters appeared. Next appeared an anus and then the organs of defecation and thereupon the god of death, who is feared throughout the universe.
Thereafter the two hands of the universal form of the Lord became manifested, and with them the power of grasping and dropping things, and after that Lord Indra appeared. Next the legs became manifested, and with them the process of movement, and after that Lord Viṣṇu appeared.
The veins of the universal body became manifested and thereafter the red corpuscles, or blood. In their wake came the rivers (the deities presiding over the veins), and then appeared an abdomen.
Next grew feelings of hunger and thirst, and in their wake came the manifestation of the oceans. Then a heart became manifest, and in the wake of the heart the mind appeared.
After the mind, the moon appeared. Intelligence appeared next, and after intelligence, Lord Brahmā appeared. Then the false ego appeared and then Lord Śiva, and after the appearance of Lord Śiva came consciousness and the deity presiding over consciousness." (SB 3.26.53-61)
This description of the appearance of the universal form was previously described in the Srimad Bhagavatam on chapters 2.6 and 3.6. The universal form is the reservoir of all the forms and potencies that exist and act upon the universe. It's only because the universal form has a mouth that we can have mouths, and only because it has ears that we can have ears, and so on. The universal form is originally subtle, but later it also gains a gross manifestation with the creation of Brahma. Just like we have a subtle body and a gross body, the Lord accepts the subtle and gross manifestations of the universal form as His cosmic body. This cosmic body is not accepted as an eternal form of the Lord, therefore it is sometimes considered a form of the Lord and sometimes not, depending on the point of view.
The universal form also includes the potencies of different demigods, described in the verses as Vahniḥ (the fire god), Vāyu (the wind god), Sūrya (the sun god), etc. These are the original potencies of the Lord which operate upon the universe. These potencies of the Lord are all conscious. Later, these potencies empower different living entities to act as the demigods and other controllers of the physical universe. During each manvantara, a different living entity assumes the post of the sun-god, for example, and is empowered by the respective potency. In the next manvantara, the same potency empowers a different living entity installed in the same post, and so on. There is thus a difference between these subtle potencies and the living entities who assume the posts of the different demigods later on, just like there is a potency called "strength" which empowers many strong people all over the universe.
Even Lord Brahma and Lord Shiva appear originally as subtle potencies. Normally, Brahma is an entity that is empowered by the potency, just like other demigods, but sometimes the Lord Himself becomes Brahma, when there is no qualified living entity to occupy the post. On the opposite, Shiva is normally a direct manifestation of the potency, but sometimes a qualified living entity becomes Shiva inside of the universe and is empowered by it. This is just another example of how the cosmic manifestation is complex.
The senses appear inside the universe
In the previous stages, consciousness, false ego, intelligence, and mind were manifested from the quadruple expansion of the Lord, Vasudeva, Sankarṣaṇa, Pradyumna, and Aniruddha. In this stage, these four internal senses are manifested inside each universe, forming the heart of the universal form. In the same way, the mind, intelligence, ego, and consciousness of each living being are situated inside the heart, which works thus as the center for all the energies of the body. In modern science, it is believed consciousness is in the brain, but the Vedas explain that consciousness is actually in the heart, and the brain is just a kind of interface between this subtle consciousness and the gross body. This also explains why researchers were never able to identify which part of the brain is responsible for consciousness: they are looking at the wrong place.
The citta, or material consciousness manifested inside the universe is different from the pure Vasudeva consciousness that was manifested in the mahat-tattva, which is in turn just a reflection of the original spiritual consciousness of the soul. This citta manifested here is not pure, it is already mixed with false ego and manifests a propensity for material enjoyment. This is the universal consciousness that will be attributed to the conditioned living entities acting inside of the universe.
After consciousness, the mind appears, and it is presided by the moon. In the Taittiriya Upanisad, the moon is defined as a manifestation of the Lord, just like the sun. Here, however, the moon and sun don't refer to the planetary bodies or the embodied demigods, but to the divine potency of the Lord that manifests through them. The mind is generated from the mode of goodness and is thus presided directly by the Lord. Intelligence is manifested from passion, and thus it is presided over by Lord Brahma, and false ego is connected with the mode of ignorance and is thus presided over by Lord Shiva, who is manifested from Lord Sankarṣaṇa, the original controller of false ego.
We take our birth under this contaminated material consciousness, and the goal is to purify it, coming back to our original spiritual consciousness. As Prabhupada explains:
"The appearance of consciousness after the appearance of false ego indicates that, from the beginning, material consciousness is under the mode of ignorance and that one therefore has to purify himself by purifying his consciousness. This purificatory process is called Kṛṣṇa consciousness. As soon as the consciousness is purified, the false ego disappears. Identification of the body with the self is called false identification, or false ego." As soon as one is freed from the clutches of false ego, his intelligence also becomes purified, and then his mind is always engaged upon the lotus feet of the Supreme Personality of Godhead."
The next few verses describe the manifestation of Lord Ksirodakasayi Vishnu, who permeates everything and thus powers the whole universe. It is only due to the presence of the Lord that the cosmic manifestation can take place.
"When the demigods and presiding deities of the various senses were thus manifested, they wanted to wake their origin of appearance. But upon failing to do so, they reentered the body of the virāṭ-puruṣa one after another in order to wake Him.
The god of fire entered His mouth with the organ of speech, but the virāṭ-puruṣa could not be aroused. Then the god of wind entered His nostrils with the sense of smell, but still the virāṭ-puruṣa refused to be awakened.
The sun-god entered the eyes of the virāṭ-puruṣa with the sense of sight, but still the virāṭ-puruṣa did not get up. Similarly, the predominating deities of the directions entered through His ears with the sense of hearing, but still He did not get up.
The predominating deities of the skin, herbs and seasoning plants entered the skin of the virāṭ-puruṣa with the hair of the body, but the Cosmic Being refused to get up even then. The god predominating over water entered His organ of generation with the faculty of procreation, but the virāṭ-puruṣa still would not rise.
The god of death entered His anus with the organ of defecation, but the virāṭ-puruṣa could not be spurred to activity. The god Indra entered the hands with their power of grasping and dropping things, but the virāṭ-puruṣa would not get up even then.
Lord Viṣṇu entered His feet with the faculty of locomotion, but the virāṭ-puruṣa refused to stand up even then. The rivers entered His blood vessels with the blood and the power of circulation, but still the Cosmic Being could not be made to stir.
The ocean entered His abdomen with hunger and thirst, but the Cosmic Being refused to rise even then. The moon-god entered His heart with the mind, but the Cosmic Being would not be roused.
Brahmā also entered His heart with intelligence, but even then the Cosmic Being could not be prevailed upon to get up. Lord Rudra also entered His heart with the ego, but even then the Cosmic Being did not stir. However, when the inner controller, the deity presiding over consciousness, entered the heart with reason, at that very moment the Cosmic Being arose from the causal waters." (SB 3.26.62-70)
All the different potencies of the demigods and others entered into the universal form, but it still didn't awaken. Even Lord Shiva tried to make it active, without success. Only when the Lord permeated everything as Paramatma, could the material manifestation finally take place. The word "Paramatma" is not directly mentioned in the verses. Instead, the Lord is referred to as caitya-guru (the original guru), which is another name for the Supersoul, which is in turn also the deity presiding over consciousness.
What is the lesson we can learn from this? As Prabhupada explains in his purport, it's not possible to link up with the Lord by performing material activities, including even the pious karma-kanda activities recommended in the Vedas. We can connect with the Lord only by devotional service and detachment.
Although the description of the universe by Lord Kapila is incredibly advanced and helps us to understand the cosmic manifestation in even more detail than the previous explanations, the main goal is to bring us to the platform of devotional service, which will be explained in more detail in the following chapters. As Prabhupada mentions:
"The analytical study of the elements of material nature and the concentration of the mind upon the Supersoul are the sum and substance of the Sānkhya philosophical system. The perfection of this sānkhya-yoga culminates in devotional service unto the Absolute Truth."
The soul and the Supersoul
Lord Kapila then concludes this part of the teachings by stating:
"When a man is sleeping, all his material assets — namely the vital energy, the senses for recording knowledge, the senses for working, the mind and the intelligence — cannot arouse him. He can be aroused only when the Supersoul helps him.
Therefore, through devotion, detachment and advancement in spiritual knowledge acquired through concentrated devotional service, one should contemplate that Supersoul as present in this very body although simultaneously apart from it." (SB 3.26.71-72)
Both the soul and the Supersoul are situated inside the heart. Both are eternal and transcendental to the material manifestation, but there is a difference between them: the soul forgets his original position and becomes attached to the body, identifying with it due to the influence of false ego, while the Lord never forgets his transcendental position.
In another famous passage from the Chandogya Upanisad (6.10), Uddālaka describes several characteristics of the Supreme Self to his son, Śvetaketu, and concludes each explanation with the words "tat tvam asi". These words are accepted by the Mayavadis as their main mantra. Just as we chant Hare Krsna, they chant "tat tvam asi" trying to realize that they are the Supreme Brahman. They interpret this passage as meaning "you are that (Brahman)". Some gurus in the West even translate it as "I am God". However, this is not the correct interpretation.
"Tat tvam asi" indicates similarity. For example, when we say "you are like him", pointing to another person, it doesn't mean that literally, you are him, but that although different individuals, you share similar qualities or characteristics. The soul is the same as the Lord in terms of quality but is different in terms of quantity. The soul is also a separate individual. It's thus incorrect to interpret tat tvam asi as "you are that". The correct translation is "You are like that", indicating that we are like the Lord, although eternally separated as different individuals. Prabhupada translates tat tvam asi as "you are the same spiritual identity" and as "you are as good as God."
Being spiritual and transcendental, as good as God, we need to revive our original spiritual identity by the practice of Krsna consciousness, becoming detached from the material body and the material manifestation, just like Krsna is. As Prabhupada explains:
"Although sitting in the same body as the individual soul, the Supersoul has no affection for the body, whereas the individual soul does. Therefore one has to detach himself from this material body, by discharging devotional service."