Running of the Gods

Running of the Gods - Shrikant Vasudeo
Isha Upanishad Second Stream V 4-5 Part III 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



As the Truth is included in this manifested world of limitations, it is also beyond this world. Similarly, When we dwell in Vidya, that is the knowledge of the One as the Supreme Reality, we are arriving at only one aspect of The Truth. This is because even in understanding of the One, we are taking help of our discriminative mental faculty. Here again, we need to understand that the Brahman is absolute, infinite and beyond discriminations and therefore beyond the grasp of our mental faculty – even if we are here trying to seize the Truth as the One Reality and not its multitude manifestations. Our consciousness can understand One as a ‘representative’ of the REAL ONE BRAHMAN. We can understand One as a ‘contrast with the multiplicity’. Both Vidya and Avidya are the eternal powers of the Supreme Consciousness – ‘Chit’. Any one of the these powers in isolation represents only one aspects of the Truth. This is the common error in popular perception of the Brahman and it needs to be rectified.

Having said so, between the One and the Multitude, between Vidya and Avidya, the One is at the foundation of the Reality. It is more near to the Reality than the Many manifestations. Being is more fundamental than the Becoming. Being is the basis of Becoming and not vice versa. This leads us to the premise that the oneness is our self and the essential nature of our Being. On the other hand, the multiplicity is only a representation of Self. It is becoming of the Supreme Being. Brahman is One Self of All. The manifested world, which is Maya is the becoming of the One Being. However, both the Being and the Becoming or Maya are Brahman. We can not include one of these to the exclusion of the other in our concept of the Brahman. Both the Being as well as the Becoming or Maya are REAL. The Maya is as much Real as the One. To say that the illusion (Maya) is Real appears to be the contradiction in terms. It is not. The apparent contradiction goes to the root of the development of our thought system and the consequent language. If we reject Maya as unreal, then we land up rejecting the Brahman as well. Maya is a Power of Brahman and is very much part of the Supreme Reality. The One is the basis. The multiplicity is the ‘flowering’ of this base reality.

The Running of the gods
Life in this manifested world is an interplay of the two principles of Purusha and Prakriti. Purusha is Sat, the Stable, Immutable principle of Brahman. He is God, Spirit. When Purusha by the power of Chit – the active consciousness, projects itself as Motional phenomena, it becomes Prakriti – Nature. It becomes Force – Shakti. It becomes World-Principle – Maya. All are the manifestations of the One Stable, Immutable Purusha. Prakriti is the executive power. Purusha is the Soul governing, but not itself involved in the action. It takes the cognizance of the action of the Prakriti. It enjoys the works of Prakriti. This duel principle is also represented as the duel play of Ishwara and Shakti. She is the self-cognitive, self-existent and self-effective Power of the Lord. Shakti is the expressive faculty of the Shakta - Ishwara. In the original meaning contained in Veda, Maya is comprehensive and creative Wisdom. The meaning of illusion was attached to Maya at a later development of the philosophy. In the Upanishad, the meaning of the word Maya is as per the original thought contained in Veda – that is comprehensive and creative Wisdom. If we take Maya in the sense of illusion, then we relegate its position to the lower Nature (apara Prakriti). In this lower Nature, it seemed to have forgotten its Divine Wisdom and is absorbed in the experience caused by the separative Ego. This is NOT the sense in which it is used here in the Upanishad. Here what we mean by Maya is the Supreme Nature, which is a creative Wisdom.

We have now to understand as to who are the gods and what is their role in the cosmic scheme of things. Gods are the cosmic Personalities of the One Brahman. They are the various representations of the Brahman – who is also called the Supreme Godhead. These gods are the various play of the principles of Nature. In other words, they are part of the World of Maya. They are placed at the apex position in this Maya World – Prakriti – Nature. All other beings are referred to as the Brahman representing in the separative consciousness of the Many (sarvani bhutani). It should be noted that even the gods are tied to the Wheel of Nature in this manifested world. All this manifested world, including gods and many beings, are making an evolutionary steady and slow progress towards the ultimate Goal of reaching the Brahman. This Goal is working at the background of our consciousness. At the front of our consciousness is our various temporal goals driving us towards their attainment. Brahman is the beginning as well as the ultimate Goal. It is the Cause as well as the Result of the Movement.

Now here comes the twist. Having said these things about the Final Goal of Brahman, we are now giving some clarifications, which may appear to be the change in our position, thought in actuality it is not. This very idea of the final Goal of Nature is itself an illusion – Maya. Brahman is Absolute, Infinite. It is BEYOND THE ATTAINMENT OF GOAL. This lands us in a rather piquant situation of a Mirage in the desert. As we think that we have reached the location of water as indicated by the Mirage, we find that the location of water has further moved forward. This is a continuous process – the water ever keeps on moving forward – ever beyond our reach – though appearing to be an attainable goal. As the gods labour to reach the Goal of Brahman and as they attain their immediate next goal on the way, they find that the Brahman is further moving forward – like our example of the mirage of water in the desert land. This is because we live in our consciousness which is relative and not absolute. Our consciousness can take into cognizance only symbolic representation of the Brahman – which is Unknowable. In other words, we are trying to know something which by very definition is unknowable. We are trying to reach to Brahman when in reality he is beyond our reach – Infinite. If we reach the Goal of Brahman, then he becomes Finite – he loses his essential characteristics of Infinity.

Again a twist in the story. We are not saying that the Brahman is un realisable by the Gods and by us. Brahman is very much realisable. Actually, there is nothing to realise. All things are already realised in Brahman. This manifested world does not lose Brahman in the process of its manifestation. It is only working out by the principle of Causality, in the parameters of Time and Space, through the instrumentation of Prakriti, something which the Brahman already possess. The idea of the Goal is itself illusory. There is nothing to attain when the thing to be attained is already included in the person who is trying to attain it.

Brahman exceeds the Movement. He is beyond Time. He includes in itself, all the three aspects of Time – namely past, present and future. He includes them ‘simultaneously’ so to say. Actually it does not make any sense because on the one hand we take time as ‘linear’ and make the distinction of past, present and future. And on the other hand we use the word ‘simultaneous’ demolishing the very essence of the Time – its linear-ability. This non-sense happens because we are ourselves ‘trapped’ in the function of the ‘linear’ time and trying to comprehend something which is beyond Time. Therefore, the concept of ‘moving’ forward, which implies the functionality of time, is non-applicable. Rather than considering it as ‘illusory’, we better understand the term by referring to it as ‘non-applicable’.

As with Time, so with Space. The Brahman contains in itself all the Formation of this World integrally. It does not have to move forward, as there is no forward for it – all the forward, back-word etc are contained in it at all locations.

Similarly, Brahman exceeds the principle of Causality. Brahman contains in itself all the potentialities and eventualities in a free form. There is no cause and no effect. There is no potentiality trying to realise itself in an eventuality. Both these terms are already included in Brahman at any single event. It contains all these while at the same time is beyond the ‘chain’ of causality. Brahman has already realised everything that is to be realised in his capacity as Lord of the Universe. The apparent process of accomplishment of the individual beings of Personalities of the Brahman is only a secondary aspect of the Reality expressed in Prakriti.