Principle of Life

The Principle of Life - .................................................Shrikant Soman

Isha Upanishad Second Stream V 4-5 Part IV Shrikant Soman
Verse 4
One unmoving that is swifter than Mind; That the Gods reach not, for It progresses ever in front. That, standing, passes beyond others as they run. In That the Master of Life establishes the Waters.

Verse 5
That moves and That moves not; That is far and the same is near; That is within all this and That also is outside all this.
….. repeated and continued from Part I, II and III


Let us now consider the objective of this interplay of Being and Becoming, One and Many, Immutable and World of Changing Forms, Infinite Eternal Brahman and the World limited by Space and Time.

Let us look at this from a different perspective. This Movement of this manifested world is a Rhythm. It is a Harmony expressed by the Supreme Reality in the form of Universal Life. This Harmony and Rhythm is created in the Conscious Being through the multitudinous Forms which are nothing but the representative symbols of Itself. It is a formula for ‘knowing’ the Reality which is by itself Unknowable. This expression of Reality in our consciousness goes much beyond what is actually expressed by it. Its depth is much deeper than what is perceived. It is a play of the divine Consciousness – a Leela. This play is for its own Joy. However, we should also note that in this process of creation it does not actually add anything to That which is already complete. It exists in our conscious being. It gets justified by its own existence – and not by any other purpose. There is no purpose of its existence other than the very fact of its existence.

Let us understand that this idea of an objective, goal, purpose etc is a product of gradual self-unfolding by the world of its own true nature. This unfolding is perceived by the individual Souls residing in the forms of creation. The Being progressively reveals itself within its own becoming. This process of the unfolding from Being to Becoming is gradual and progressive. When the Being is self-revealed in the multiple becoming, we get the understanding of Unity in the midst of multiplicity. The whole meaning of the diversity of forms gets radically changed when we perceive this Unity secretly residing in the inner chamber of all the manifested forms.

Though this self-unfolding appears to be natural, there is a governing principle behind it. Its cosmic action has a complexity of consciousness which determines the process of unfolding. The consciousness is not a ‘single’ homogenous principle. It is not as simple as that. Out consciousness has seven levels of existence or grades of conscious activity. At its apex level is Pure Being. At its lowest level is our physical world. The interplay of these various levels of our consciousness creates the worlds. It is the origin of all our activities. It is the constituent of our manifested world. The Master of all these interplay is Brahman. He self-extends himself within the parameters of Space and Time. This is the birth of the Universe.

First, the Earth Principle is the Mother of all material projection of Brahman. He represents himself as formative Nature – Prakriti. Its first appearance is in the form of matter. It is called prithvi or the Earth Principle.

Second, we have Prana which is Life Power. This is called Matarishwan in the Upanishad. It is a dynamic energy of Life. It is also Brahman representing itself in this manifested world. It is in charge of the function of all arrangement and formation of this world.

The Universal Life gets involved in the Matter. It thus establishes the seven levels of consciousness. The interaction of Prana which is a dynamic energy of creation with the material world creates a Matrix of things. This is the origin of the creation of manifold forms and beings. It is the basis of evolution or the gradual unfolding of the Brahman in this manifested world.