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The Nature of The World
अथ चतुर्विंशतितत्त्वोत्पत्तिप्रकारं वक्ष्यामः ।
atha caturviṃśatitattvotpattiprakāraṃ vakṣyāmaḥ .
Now, after understanding what the Self is, we will describe the world, which has evolved from 24 factors.
What are the 24 factors?
Five elements
Five faculties of knowledge
Five faculties of action
Five prāṇas
Mind, Intellect, Ego and Memory
How did the world come to be? Various theories of creation
Big bang theory proposes that the world came out of a singularity. However, it does not account for the creation of space since space would have existed prior to the singularity. Also assumes that consciousness arose from inert matter.
God Himself became this world. This would mean that God is subject to modification.
A part of God became this world. This would mean that God is finite, not infinite.
Vedantic theory of creation
God appears as this world, and that God is Brahman. Brahman does not transform into the world.
Brahman, pure consciousness, appears as this world without going through any modification, maintaining its pristine state.
Example: In a dream, a single mind appears as a world full of variety. And then the dream goes back into the mind. From one mind we get many things. From one mind we get sentient beings and inert things. In the same way, from one Pure Consciousness, the world of variety appears (some sentient and others insentient).
Definition of Māyā
ब्रह्माश्रया सत्त्वरजस्तमोगुणात्मिका माया अस्ति ।
brahmāśrayā sattvarajastamoguṇātmikā māyā asti
Depending on Brahman, māyā exists, which is of the nature of the three qualities of sattva, rajas and tamas.
What are the powers of Māyā?
1. Āvaraṇa śakti: This is power of veiling where māyā covers the truth from us. From the individual standpoint, it veils the difference between the seer and seen. From a total standpoint, it veils the difference between the world and Brahman. This is the tāmasik aspect.
2. Vikṣepa śakti: It projects this world of names and forms. This is the rājasik aspect.
3. Viveka śakti: It gives us knowledge and clarity. This is the sāttvik nature of māyā.
The first two powers of māyā keep us in ignorance. The third power removes us from ignorance.
Rope and snake example
1. In a dimly lit room, we see an object, but we do not know what it exactly is. This is āvaraṇa śakti.
2. Instead of seeing the object accurately, which is a rope, we see a snake instead. This is vikṣepa śakti.
3. The appearance of the snake relies on the substratum of the rope. Similarly, the appearance of the world relies on the substratum of Brahman, which is awareness. Without awareness, nothing exists.