Re: The why of creation.
From the Bhakti List Archives
• May 2, 2002
--- In bhakti-list@y..., "vaidhehi_nc"wrote: > Dear Krishna, > > I made a statement explicitly saying that "off-handedly > (without referring to the text)" in those two AzhwAr's pasuram,we > recognize "praLaya". If I'm right(my tamizh has become weak due to > lack of touch)amalan means world and adipirAn means the > First/Beginning Cause/God. Dear Vaidhehi, 'amalan' comes from the Sanskrit 'amala' or 'a+mala', meaning he who is without any defect or flaw. Amalan refers to the Pure Stainless Lord. As an interesting comparison, 'amalatva' or absolute purity is one of the essential attributes of the Supreme in Sri Ramanuja's philosophy (svarUpa-nirUpaka-dharma). I am not a scholar of the Nalayira Divya Prabandham, but I am pretty sure whenever the Alvars refer to creation they mean emanation in the Vedantic sense, and not ex nihilo creation a la Christianity or Islam. Emanative creation is a fundamental axiom of nearly all Eastern religions including the many varieties of religious thought in India. The idea of ex nihilo (out of nothing) creation is absent in India to my knowledge. The very idea of something coming from nothing is inconceivable in this context, and I would be very surprised if the Alvars would be exceptions to this general trend. For example, Nammalvar is quite clear that when the Lord creates the universe, He *becomes* the universe -- 'kaDal ~nAlam ceydEnum yAnE ennum, kADal ~nAlam AvEnum yAnE ennum ...' These words are said by the nAyikA (lovelorn heroine) who in her ecstatic anubhava identifies so much with her lover (the Lord) that she experiences the act of creation itself. The second line in this poem explains that not only does the Lord create (ceydEnum), but he also *is* (AvEnum) the entire universe. I find little support in the Divya Prabandham for a different type of creation. Now, as to the "why" of creation -- strangely enough this question is never really asked by any of our Vedantic philosophers such as Sankara, Ramanuja, etc., as far as I know. It's merely accepted that the jIva is forever embroiled in samsAra out of beginningless karma (anAdi mAyayA suptaH according to the gaudapAda kArika, an axiom accepted by all schools of Vedanta). In fact, if I am not mistaken this very vAkya is quoted in the introduction to several of the traditional commentaries on the Divya Prabandham. ramanuja dasa, Mani -------------------------------------------------------------- - SrImate rAmAnujAya namaH - To Post a message, send it to: bhakti-list@yahoogroups.com Group Home: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bhakti-list Archives: http://ramanuja.org/sv/bhakti/archives/ Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
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