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re: question on creation

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tavaradhan • May 2, 2002 


srImathE rAmAnujAya namah,


dear devotees,

The following are just my thoughts regarding the issue
of creation. Please take it in that spirit.

regarding creation the following seems to be two
possible scenarios..

scenario (1):

karma is beginningless. Souls are beginningless. Souls

are stuck in  the birth/death cycle. the Lord is 
unaffected by the karma cycle, but He constrains 
Himself (or is constrained?) to provide the 
fruits/punishments according to each and everyone's 
karma (except for the saraNAgathi escape hatch). And 
in His infinite kindness, He works constantly to save 
souls from being perpetually in the karma cycle.

scenario (2):

karma and souls were created by the Lord, and are 
under His complete control. All these are created by 
Him for His leela. (actually, we might never 
understand why He does it). Due to His infinite 
kindness, He works constantly to save the souls from 
being perpetually in the karma cycle. 

There are pros and cons of each scenario. For scenario

(i), the questions that arise in me are "So, is the 
Lord just a supersoul who found us caught in this 
samsAra and is trying to rescue us?" "Given our
relationship with Him, as the things that constitute
His body, how is it possible that  the infinite Lord 
finds His own constituents in a state of cyclic 
birth/death and *then* works on rescuing us?"

For scenario (2), the question that arises in me 
is "Why does He have to create souls/karma and then 
put the souls into this sorrow and then rescue them?"

As far as the pramANAs etc. go, to my limited 
exposure, it  seems like vEdAnta texts support 
scenario (1) and the nAlAyiram supports scenario (2).

for e.g. thiruvAymozhi - "aaruyirEyO agalidam muzhudum

padaiththu idandhu uNdu umizhndu aLandhu"..

rough translation - "Oh the dear one who created, 
saved,  swallowed, regurgitated and measured the 
entire universe".

And in many other verses, the word "padaiththal" 
(creating) is used in the sense of creating souls and 
everything else.

To me personally, I find the latter appealing. I want 
my Lord to be all-powerful, unconstrained and 
unquestioned. For I  know that His kindness is 
limitless AND that He does what is the best for ALL 
his constituents (though we may not appreciate it, or 
recognize it). Given such a Lord who  spares no 
efforts to rescue me (who is His property),would I 
like Him to be constrained by anything?

Also, the eternal relationship between the soul and 
the Lord, the one of complete servitude (sEshatva) 
resonates very well with the second scenario. After 
all, we owe our very existence to Him, so it makes 
sense that we are completely subservient to Him.

That still leaves the question of "Why?" - There can
be
 no answer to this I feel. If we use the word "leela" 
in the generic sense, then we leave Him in a position 
where we can technically ascribe cruelty to Him. the 
AzhvArs use the word "mAyai" (mAyA) to refer to His 
deeds, and that might be the most illuminating 
explanation. We just do not know and cannot find out. 

With respect to scenario (1), I do have 
the "sarvamukthi" question - If the souls are not 
created by anyone,  theoretically, one fine day, there

will be no soul in the leela vibhUti.. Every soul will

be in nithya vibhUti, and does this universe cease to 
exist then? If one considers that the souls can be 
created at will be the  Lord, then of course the 
question of sarvamukti does not arise in the normal 
course of things. Of course, if HE wishes everyone to 
be in srIvaikunTa, he will take everyone, but 
then "sarvamukthi" is not forced on Him.

adiyEn rAmAnuja dAsan,
varadhan

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