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The Upanishad seers dived deeper into the origin of Akasha and Prana and found a still higher entity, called the Mind. The Mahat or the universally existent Thought Power. This existed in the beginning and evolved itself into Prana and Akasha and by the combination of these two; the whole universe has been produced. From this universal Thought, the Infinite Godhead, there came forth Brahman, who embodies the process of evolution into name and form by which one appears to be many and many as only one and the same. The apparent two are in reality one and the same. As Duessen says that ‘Brahman was regarded as the cause antecedent in time and the universe as the effect proceeding from it; the inner dependence of the universe on Brahman and its essential identity with Him was represented as a creation of universe by and out of Brahman.”

The Sankhya theory gave another expression to it.  It quotes Geeta ( IV -6) in which Lord Krsna says, ”Though I am unborn and am of imperishable nature, yet, ruling out My own nature, I take birth by My own Maya." In (vii-6) He says, ”By My higher Prakriti, I uphold the very life element of this world and constitute the eight fold Prakriti by My lower Prakriti. “ The eight-fold are –  water, earth, fire, ether, air and mind; ego and intellect. Sankhya also explains this manifestation in terms of Purush and Prakriti; spirit and matter; Purush as the spirit and is the energy power the creative one which manifests as the phenomenal world. Prakriti is the substance of all thought, forms and the individual psyche. We experience it on both the level of gross and subtle

The Conclusion

The main thought of Hinduism is the Brahman as the only reality. Besides this every thing is unreal. The Supreme Reality is the homogeneous one, an Entire Whole. The appearance of the Multitude plurality as appears is nothing but a superimposition upon the Truth. It remains a Whole. An Infinite entity remains Infinite even if we take an Infinite out of it.

When something comes out of a thing, the cause also goes a change in becoming the effect. Seers say that even after the production of the finite, the Infinite still remains uncontaminated and does not change. Vedanta clearly states that this creation is not like an actual production. Therefore the relation between the world and Truth is not a relation of a cause and effect. The peace invocation quoted above speaks of this truth. This, at a later date, led to theory of Maya or illusion. Leading to the conclusion that world is mirage; an unsubstantial appearance which is superimposed on Brahman, the real par excellence.

According to Shankara, God is both the material and the efficient cause through Maya but not in reality. God has not become the universe, but the universe is not and God is Hindus believe the world as the Absolute Brahman, the undifferentiated Consciousness, Existence and Bliss. It is the phenomenal world which is false. The universes cannot be seen if Brahman does not exist as its substratum. Brahman is Reality of Reality.

In reply to the question, what is Cosmos? Is it Brahman?, the Shvetasvatara Upanishad says thus

The world is the river of God,
Flowing from Him and flowing back to Him.
On this ever revolving wheel of being,
The individual self goes round and round,
Through life after life, believing itself
To be a separate creature, until
It sees its identity with the Lord of Love.
And attains immortality in the Indivisible Whole.
He is the eternal; Reality.    

Hindus believe the world as the Absolute Brahman, undifferentiated Consciousness, Existence and Bliss. It is the phenomenal world which is

January 1, 2006

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The Week of January 1, 2006     
BJP Cannot Become National Alternative by Rajinder Puri
Baluchistan: The United States Silence
      On Pakistan Army's Genocidal Operations by Dr. Subhash Kapila 
Act Without Forethought, Brag Imprudently and Repent Forever by Gaurang Bhatt, MD
To Believe or Not to Believe by Arya Bhushan 
The Stages In-and-Outs of Life by Michael Levy
Peacefully Violent by J. Ajithkumar 
Greene Junction by Rajgopal Nidamboor   
Why Consistency is Important but Parents Feel Bad by Michael Grose
The Hindu View on Cosmogony by Dr. R.K. Lahiri 
Home is Where the Heart is by Neha Girotra 
The Art of Eating by Vikram Karve  
Ananda Sankaram by NS Murty 
Winter in Berlin - A Photo Essay by Jayati Gupta