इमं विवस्वते योगं प्रोक्तवानहमव्ययम् ।
विवस्वान्मनवे प्राह मनुरिक्ष्वाकवेऽब्रवीत् ॥४-१॥
Transliteration:
Extolling virtues of path of jnana yoga, Lord Krishna tells Arjuna: The doctrine of jnana yoga was first given to Surya (Sun) who in turn gave it to Manu. In Hinduism Manu stands for first cosmic being that lived on mother earth… also considered progenitor of mankind. The sacred Manu Parampara originated after advent of Manu. It is a considered fact in Hinduism that all human beings descended from Manu!
After vital teachings of jnana yoga became available to Manu… he further passed it to his son King Ikshvaku, first scion of solar dynasty. King Ikshvaku was the first who initiated godly knowledge to entire mankind. Maryada Purushottam Rama, a scion of solar dynasty… came much later. Jainism considers King Ikshvaku as first Tirthankara Rishabhdev (preceptor), whose advent resulted in humanity venturing into unknown domain of cosmic wisdom… jnana yoga!
The Explanation:
As detailed by Lord Krishna in Bhagavad Gita chapter 4 verse 1, everything recorded in scriptures of Hinduism was allegorical! We just could not interpret meaning of bhagavad gita chapter 4 verse 1 literally. As per Lord Krishna, Sun (Surya) was not simply a small star. In core of sun exist all souls’ atmans which manifest life on mother earth based on residual balance of karma! It is presence of these souls’ atmans that results in thousands of atomic explosions occurring in core of sun every moment of life! For their existence, souls’ atmans require high temperatures exceeding millions of degrees centigrade! These exceedingly high temperatures result in triggering nuclear chain reactions all over core of sun.
At the time of creation of present cosmos, when God Almighty (termed Brahman in Hinduism) exploded self with a big bang… massive clouds seeded with souls atmans started billowing in all directions at unimaginable speeds! In the melee, pure souls’ atmans gathered impurities. At the time of explosion of big bang… all souls atmans were totally pure, prime reason why this mass of primordial cosmic energy (size of half a thumb) unable to contain itself for long in its prime pure state explodes with a big bang! To cleanse self of dross impurities within starts cosmic life cycle of every soul atman. For souls’ atmans to manifest life… they need a body, a medium! Of itself, no soul atman could purify self!
Similar as one KG of pure gold sandwiched in hundred KG lump of gold ore could not extract self of its own and requires requisite mining machinery and processes… every soul atman also required manifesting a chain of 8.4 million bodies to work out its karma, cleanse self of dross impurities within in totality! It is only after manifesting 7.3 million varied forms… a soul atman finally manifested human form for the first time! The initial 7.3 million manifestations by soul atman occurred in insect, plant and animal life and in remaining 1.1 million manifestations in human form… one was expected to reach stage of enlightenment (kaivalya jnana) forever.
For souls atmans to manifest life in cosmos… life supporting planets like mother earth were necessitated! No sooner life supporting planets like mother earth evolved around the sun in cosmic system, souls atmans immediately started manifesting life! The manifestation of body by a soul atman on an inhabitable planet was termed by Christianity as meeting of Adam and Eve. Adam was the manifest physical life form representing an individual soul atman, the spirit within and Eve… the Garden of Eden, which was nothing more than our dear mother earth! In absence of life supporting planets like mother earth… life could not evolve in cosmic system.
Manu, son of sun (Surya) was nothing more than an individual soul atman, the cosmic spirit! This independent soul atman… the moment it entered forbidden Garden of Eden, manifests life. The Garden of Eden in explicit terms is nothing more than our beautiful planet mother earth.
Initially a soul atman manifested form of an 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! Technically when an individual soul atman for the first time manifested form of human beings… that being was called Adam! Until reaching stage of Adam… a soul atman kept manifesting various life forms until it reached 7.3 millionth manifestation. Thereafter soul atman, the consciousness within manifested form of a human being for the first time! This resulted in starting of human race. As different souls’ atmans entered 7.300001 millionth manifestation, they manifested form of human beings.
The process of evolution, a soul atman initially manifesting form of amoeba and finally form of human beings explained it all. Right from stage of Manu (son of sun God)… to son of Manu (King Ikshvaku of solar clan (dynasty)… all is explicitly detailed in Bhagavad Gita of Hinduism! With coming of King Ikshvaku… the human race started in its right perspective! The inherent jnana (wisdom) that lay hidden in human beings was subject to introspection by kings like Ikshvaku. In Jainism, King Ikshvaku is termed as first Tirthankara Rishabhdev who finally spread wisdom to masses. Tirthankara Rishabhdev (preceptor) was the first human being responsible for usage of free will and power of discrimination that could be exercised by human beings alone!
Human beings getting created in image of God simply mean that source of all humanity was the same! Every single human being had within its core an individual soul atman that required passing through a chain of 1.1 million manifestations in human form to reach cosmic end of life… 8.4 millionth manifestation!
The story of sun God Manu and the great deluge was just an allegory to explain inherent truths of life. There is a famous episode in Hinduism scriptures that clearly explained these cosmic precepts. The evolution of life from insect to plants, from plants to animals and finally animals to human being occurred in stages step-by-step.
Explaining this concept in simpler terms… when insects, that crawled and roamed about everywhere died in the great deluge, they prayed to God Almighty thus… oh God, please tell as we had done nothing wrong, why we died for no fault of ours! God Almighty promised them a stationary life in next manifestation. These insects became plants in next life. In the fastest of breeze they swayed, yet survived! But when came the great deluge coupled with extreme winds, these plants broke… fell apart and died!
After death they pleaded to God Almighty… oh God, please tell our fault why we died in the great deluge for no fault of ours! God Almighty promised them a better life in next manifestation. It gave them legs to run about and escape in a cave or something. When came the big deluge, the animal hid itself in a cave that was located in higher parts of mountains! But the floodwaters entered cave and the animal died.
In the next manifestation, these animals pleaded to God asking him of their fault for their untimely death! God Almighty promised them form of human beings in next manifestation! When came the big deluge… human being, the intelligent human being went to highest point on the mountain and survived. This allegory of great flooding makes us aware that unless intelligent human beings used their power of free will, power of discrimination… they could never indulge self on path of jnana yoga, nishkama karma yoga!
To survive the great flood, great deluge… we had to use our inherent intelligence that was imbibed in us by grace of God Almighty. Only by following path of jnana yoga (path of absolute wisdom) human beings not only saved their lives but also of lower forms of life. The story of Noah picking every form of species simply means… human beings; the highest manifest stage in cosmic life cycle is all the time responsible for maintaining Dharma (righteousness) on planet mother earth. Maintaining harmony between different forms of life was totally dependent upon human beings. On mother earth other than human beings… even form of amoeba (single cell formation) survives till date! That was how life was ordained by God Almighty on mother earth.
It was prime duty of human beings to take care of all lower forms of beings on mother earth! Only then life could survive in this part of cosmos.
In nutshell, in layman terms… in Bhagavad Gita chapter 4 verse 1 Lord Krishna tells Arjuna that life in cosmos came into being when God Almighty (Brahman in Hinduism… sum total of all souls atmans in cosmos in their pure form) explodes with a big bang. This results in all pure souls atmans scattering all over cosmos. To cleanse self of dross impurities within… every soul atman manifests bodies after another! Manu… son of sun (Surya God) represents an individual soul atman. This soul atman on finding Garden of Eden like mother earth immediately manifests a body. To regain absolute purity, its lost original pure prime pristine primordial form… this individual soul atman undergoes a chain of 8.4 million manifestations.
Starting with form of amoeba… the evolutionary cycle passes through stages of different forms of insect life, plant life and animal life and finally forms of human beings! It is only in human form when intelligent souls like King Ikshvaku (Rishabhdev in Jainism) evolved… one could travel path of karma yoga, jnana yoga! This path of jnana yoga as per Lord Krishna was indestructible. By travelling path of jnana yoga when human beings reached stage of enlightenment (kaivalya jnana) and finally salvation moksha, karma having negated to zero forever… one finally reached stage of absolute purity! This stage of enlightenment, salvation moksha was irreversible.
An enlightened one could never revert to daily routines of life… no matter what! The merit of travelling path of jnana yoga can only be realized by undertaking spiritual journey in right earnestness! Asking an enlightened one like Sri Ramakrishna Paramhansa or Maharishi Ramana… one finally realizes potency of travelling path of jnana yoga (absolute wisdom)!
Commentary by: Vijay Kumar “Atma Jnani”… The Man who Realized God in 1993 – May 6, 2013
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