In one of the theories of creation, Srimad Bhagavatam described how life manifested. With the movement of the Supreme Being called the purusha in the space within the body, the four elements of ojas, sahah, balam and prana manifested. The last one provides life to all beings. When the prana functions, all beings function. When the prana does not function, nothing functions. All senses, functions and actions follow prana just as the subjects follow a king.
When this prana circulated freely, a mouth appeared in the person of this purusha as hunger and thirst were generated. In the mouth was generated the tongue where different tastes could be experienced.
When the cosmic being chose to speak, the lord of fire, Agni, expressed through his mouth as speech. This person remained surrounded by water until speech emerged. Then nostrils happened when the being tried to push out its breath and inhale. The sense of smell also happened in that tiny nose.
It was that divine being who wished to push out eyes and see as he was surrounded always by darkness. A pair of eyes developed and the sun-god, master of the faculty of sight, expressed through it and the purusha could see form.
Eternal words of knowledge in the atmosphere—the Vedas—activated themselves to awaken the purusha and so he desired to hear them. A pair of ears developed. The Digdevatas or the deities of 10 directions expressed through them, giving the ears the power of hearing.
It was this cosmic being that wished to experience soft textures and hard, light and heavy touch, wet and dry objects and the sense of touch manifested through the skin. The god of wind pervaded the skin, creating the sense of feeling: The sense of grasping, walking, the power of reproduction and excretion, presided over by Vishnu, Prajapati and Mitra. Prana or the upward flow of energy dissociated from apana, downward flow of release.
The cosmic being’s desire to take in food produced a space in the abdomen. The heart appeared for his contemplation, presided over the deity of the night sky—the moon. The mind got two qualities of willing and desiring.
The gross form of the Supreme Being is sheathed in earth, water, fire, air space, ego and mahat or the sense of I. The subtle and the gross parts of the personality are the products of maya. People with real intelligence do not pay much attention to the gross and subtle aspects of the personality. They worship only the Supreme Being. Finally, it is not about some god somewhere but the divine science behind birth and the divine presence within.
The author is Sevak, Chinmaya Mission, Tiruchi; email: brni.sharanyachaitanya@gmail.com; www.chinmayamission.com