Aitareya Upanishad - 2

 

Section 1

Mantra 1

Om athmaa vaa idam eka eva agra aaseet;  na anyat kinchana mishat.I  Sa eekshata, lokaannu srija iti.II

Om. Verily, this one Athma alone was existing in the beginning. Nothing else whatsoever was there that winked.  He willed Himself; “I shall create the worlds.”

 

The Upanishad starts with the theory of Creation.  It is the common experience that change can take place only upon a changeless base; just as the moving train must have a rigid ground to move upon.  Similarly, the world around us is ever changing and the continuity of change gives us the illusion of permanency to it. For this phenomenon of continuous change, we must have a changeless, permanent factor and all our scriptures are an enquiry into the existence and nature of that permanent Absolute Factor. This Upanishad is one such enquiry. In this Mantra the master says that ‘in the beginning’ i.e., before the manifested creation came into existence ‘Athma alone existed’. It is just like telling in a cloth shop that before all the varieties of fabrics came into being all those were nothing but cotton. In the same way we are told that before the manifested world got projected, it was all Consciousness alone, all pervading and eternal.

Here the sage has deliberately used the word Athma and not Brahman as we can see from the example of foam.  Prior to its manifestation foam was being called as water and after its manifestation it is called both as water and foam. The idea is that before the creation of the pluralistic world of objects, names and forms all that remained was the Athma (individual Consciousness) which is nothing other than Brahman (Universal Consciousness) for there is no difference between pot space and universal outer space. The Mantra adds that there was no other active principle or entity at that time other than the Brahman. This means that the Brahman did not create the world of plurality out of some material cause different from Itself that already existed like a potter making a pot out of clay that already existed. So in the creation of the world the Brahman himself is the material and efficient cause.  Brahman with its power of Maya manifest is called Iswara.  As Iswara, He thought:” I shall indeed create the worlds”.   So the Iswara, Brahman, with the power of Maya manifest, willed to create a world of multiplicity and relativity and Creation is a consequence of that Will Power.

Mantra 2 

sa imaan lokaan asrijata I ambhah marichih, maram, aapah. adah ambhah, parena divam, dyauh pratishthaa; antariksham marichayah I prithivi maroh; ya adhastaattah apah. II

He created all these worlds: Ambhah, Marichih, Marah and Aapah.  Far beyond is Ambha, just above the heaven, with heaven acting as its support; Marichih is the region of atmosphere; The Earth is Marah; What lies below Earth is Aapah. 

Loka means field of experience and fourteen lokas are created as per puranas because Jivas, the living beings, after death, require an environment to exhaust their accumulated punya, papas. Therefore, higher lokas are created for exhausting punyam. They are for higher beings among Jivas.  Same way the lower lokas are created for exhausting papas of lower beings among Jivas.  The four divisions listed here are equivalent to all the 14 worlds.  They are as listed below:

1.    Ambhah – all the 5 heavenly lokas from Suvar upwards; namely Suvar, Mahah, Janah, Tapah, and Satya; Satya is Brahmaloka, the highest heaven.

2.    Marichih – the interspatial world, Bhuvah, between heaven and earth;

3.    Marah – the Earth, Bhuh;

   Aapah – all the 7 underworls; namely, Atala, Vitala, Sutala, Rasatala, Talatala, Mahatala, and Patala.  Patala is the lowest hell.

Mantra 3

Sa eekshateme nu lokaah lokapalannu srija iti; So’dbhya eva purusham

samuddrityamurchhayat. II

He (Iswara) reflected: “Here now are the worlds, (just created). Let Me now create protectors for these worlds.”  Then He raised the Purusha from the waters in the form of a lump and gave Him a shape. 

He then reflected “here are the worlds, let me now create guardians of the worlds to protect it”. He then, like a potter, who first takes a lump of clay in his hands and then gradually gives it a shape, took out a ‘handful’ of this Water of Life.  Then He “gave it a shape” that resembled a Purusha, human form.  Here water should include all the other 4 elements as well.  From the five gross elements Iswara created the Virat Purusha, the chief deity of the whole gross manifestation. Thus we have the creation of VIrat Purusha.  As regards other deities, their creation follows in the next Mantra. 

Mantra 4

tamabhyatapattasyabhitaptasya mukham nirabhidyata yatha andam

mukhadvagvacho agnih I nasike nirabhidyetam nasikabhyam pranah pranadvayuh I akshini nirabhidyetamakshibhyam chakshushchakshusha adityah I

karnau nirabhidyetam karnabhyam shrotram shrotraddishah I

tvangnirabhidyata tvacho lomani lomabhya oshadhivanaspatayo I

hridayam nirabhidyata hridayanmano manasashchandramah I

nabhirnirabhidyata nabhya apano.apanopananmrityuh I

shishnam nirabhidyata shishnadreto retasa apah II

Iswara brooded over him. From him, so brooded over, the mouth was separated out, as with an egg; from the mouth, the organ of speech; from speech, fire, the controlling deity of the organ.   Then the nostrils were separated out; from the nostrils, the organ of smell; from smell, air, the controlling deity of the organ.  Then the eyes were separated out; from the eyes, the organ of sight; from sight, the sun, the controlling deity of the organ.  Then the ears were separated out; from the ears, the organ of hearing; from hearing, the quarters of space, the controlling deity of the organ.  Then the skin was separated out; from the skin, hairs, the organ of touch; from the hairs, plants and trees, air the controlling deity of the organs.  Then the heart was separated out; from the heart, the organ of the mind; from the mind, the moon, the controlling deity of the organ. Then the navel was separated out; from the navel, the organ of the apana; from the apana, Death, the controlling deity of the organ.  Then the reproductive organ was separated out; from the reproductive organ, semen, the organ of generation; from the semen, the waters, the controlling deity of the organ. 

He brooded over the lump, intending to give it the shape of a man. It will be seen from the stages of evolution of man as described above that the visible instruments are formed first, next the subtle organs which are the real instruments of perception and last the controlling deities which animate each organ. The controlling deities are the guardians of the respective organs. The process of creation described here is analogous to the development of embryo in an egg or foetus in the womb. The microcosm of man and macrocosm of cosmos follow an identical pattern. The deities, their seats and the objects in a table form are as below:

Deities	Seats	Objects
Fire (Agni Devata)	Mouth	Speech
Air (Vayu Devata)	Nostrils	Smell
Sun (Aditya Devata)	Eyes	Sight
Space (Disha Devata)	Ears	Hearing
Earth (Vanaspatayah)	Skin	Hair
Moon (Chandramaah)	Heart	Mind
Death (Mrityuh)	Navel	Excretion
Water (Aapah)	Genitals	Semen or Seed

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