महर्षयः सप्त पूर्वे चत्वारो मनवस्तथा ।
मद्भावा मानसा जाता येषां लोक इमाः प्रजाः ॥१०-६॥
Transliteration:
Lord Krishna further says: O Arjuna, the entire mankind originated by grace of God Almighty. Initially came four great sages including Sanaka. Then came 14 Manu including Svayambhuva Manu. Followed them the great seven Maharishis’! All these jnanis (men of wisdom)… travelers of spiritual path slowly discovered various aspects of humanity for human beings to live life as ordained by God Almighty.
The origin of mankind never happened in days. It took billions of years before mankind came into existence! Before coming of human beings life on mother earth existed in form of insect, plant and animal life. The process of evolution of life in cosmic system initially was slow… very slow! Insects evolved into plants, plants into animals and finally animals into human beings! The initial man did not know anything about cultivation or various aspects of human life.
The human form just came into being. It was only by hit and trial method one was to learn different aspects of life.
Lord Krishna says: after occurrence of big bang… all pure souls’ atmans scattered all over cosmos at unimaginable speeds! In their cosmic sojourn these hurtling souls’ atmans gathered impurities similar as a rolling ball gathers moss. To cleanse self of dross impurities within started cosmic life cycle of every soul atman. It is through cycle of 8.4 million bodies, a soul atman finally reached cosmic end of life when it finally regained its lost original pure prime pristine primordial form forever.
As per Lord Krishna… every single manifestation on mother earth owed its origin to God Almighty! If souls’ atmans exist in cosmos… it was because of existence of God Almighty! Right from stage of amoeba (single cell formation), the first manifestation in cosmic life cycle to stage of human beings (the highest manifest stage in cosmic life cycle)… everything owed its existence to God Almighty (termed Brahman in Hinduism). As per Lord Krishna, god Almighty was an indisputable fact of life… existence of which could never be denied by one.
The Explanation:
When mankind was in its nascent stages… none knew different aspects of cultivation! In absence of many fruit bearing trees… it became difficult for people of those times to survive. One could not have proper meals in absence of cultivation. None knew how to cultivate or indulge in different facets of life that would later become integral part of human life. After Manu followed Rishabhdev… the first intelligent human being to rule the world!
With coming of Rishabhdev… pace of human development gradually picked speed. Until existence of various Manus, progress of human development was dismal… minimal! As none knew even basic concepts of cultivation… people fought for food most of time. It was only with arrival of Rishabhdev… cultivation took firm hold in life of human beings. In Jainism, Rishabhdev is termed as first Tirthankara (preceptor).
Hinduism equates Rishabhdev to Lord Shiva!
In Jainism, Manus have been termed as Kulkara. As per Jainism scriptures before coming of Lord Rishabhdev… there existed 14 Kulkaras! These Kulkaras though not knowing much about cultivation indulged in various hit and trial methods for progress of mankind at large. It was Kulkaras who first realized that everything was not in hands of gods and goddesses. Human beings had buddhi (intellect) exercising which they could counter extremities of life.
Kulkaras slowly taught human beings to develop various kinds of arms to defend and also kill animals for the sake of food and protection. As these Kulkaras started exercising their free willpower, power of discrimination… the development mankind was faster! With coming of Bhagavan Adinatha… spirituality gained footing. Lord Adinatha depended less on rituals and engaged more in free will… power of discrimination!
In Bhagavad Gita chapter 10 verse 6 Lord Krishna makes one thing absolutely clear… evolution of life in cosmic system was gradual! The form of human beings was not planted by God Almighty, nor did it originate with a Sankalp of God Almighty. Neither did God create the manifest world in six days. Everything resulted from slow process of evolution that took billions of years before life originated in cosmic system.
No sooner life supporting planets like mother earth evolved in cosmic system… the hurtling souls’ atmans immediately started manifesting life on planet earth. Life in cosmic system initially started with form of amoeba (single cell formation)… the first manifestation in cosmic life cycle! It further evolved into multi-cell formation, then insect life, plant life, animal life and finally forms of human beings. Before reaching human stage, our soul atman had already manifested 7.3 million life forms. In the remaining 1.1 million manifestations in human form one was expected to reach stage of enlightenment (kaivalya jnana) and finally salvation moksha at the earliest.
The early human being on mother earth was no better than animals. Even though one had free will and was endowed with special power of discrimination… one still feared using these powers! The mental power came into use with coming of 14 Manu. People all over mother earth started working. But managed cultivation was still far away. With coming of Rishabhdev (first Tirthankara of Jainism… preceptor), organized cultivation finally took roots! As human beings indulged in fire (Agni in Hinduism)… they realized the potential of fire for cooking food! Human beings started cooking their food than eating raw! Fire (Agni) also helped human beings in self protection… frightening animals!
The big bang occurred about 13.7 billion years before now. The origin of mother earth is considered about 4.54 billion years. Before planet earth became conducive for life… it took billions of years to evolve. Initially evolved microorganisms (single cell formations) that further evolved into multi-cell formations! The history of human life is hardly 200,000 years old. Any religion, any mythology that states human life existed before 200,000 years were totally under a misnomer. Living in illusion was not being realistic. The intelligent form of human life hardly dates back to 10,000 years, when King Rama came into existence!
With passage of time as more and more souls atmans evolved… the population of mankind kept increasing. But utilization of intelligence was still in its nascent stages. With coming of Ikshvaku clan… the intellect (buddhi) of human beings came to be utilized.
The entire human existence as per Lord Krishna evolved from stage of animals. But the primary human beings who used inbuilt intelligence were sages of different era including Sanaka, Svayambhuva Manu and finally Rishabhdev… the first Tirthankara of Jainism (preceptor).
Commentary by: Vijay Kumar “Atma Jnani”… The Man who Realized God in 1993 – May 25, 2013
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