The Philosophy of the Panchadasi: Chapter - 6-4: Swami Krishnananda.

 

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Tuesday 03, February 2026, 05:40.
Books
Upanishad
The Philosophy of the Panchadasi: 6-4.
Chapter 6: Light on the Analogy of a Painted Picture-4.
4.Isvara or the Universal God: 1.

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4.Isvara or the Universal God: 1.

The Yoga doctrine feels the necessity for an Isvara, inasmuch as Purusha and Prakriti, alone, cannot, by mutual contact and non-contact, explain the law and justice operating in the world, for there would be none to dispense the deserts of the Purusha if they are let free to themselves. There should be, therefore, an over-all, regulating law, above Purusha and Prakriti. This is the Isvara of the Yoga school.

The Sruti (Antaryami-Brahmana) is in support of the Yoga in advancing the doctrine of Isvara, but we have different schools of thought defining Isvara in various ways. The Yoga defines Isvara as a special kind of Purusha who is unaffected by anything, therefore untouched by afflictions, Karma, their fruits and their impressions. He is unattached consciousness. Though He is untouched, He is the ruler of the universe, because on the non-acceptance of such a ruler of all things, there would be confusion, and there would be no arrangement for the liberation of the Jivas from the state of bondage. The Upanishad refers to the existence of Isvara when it states that 'due to His fear' everything functions everywhere. Though the Jiva also is untouched and untainted consciousness, essentially, like Isvara, it gets into bondage by a mistaken notion of the identity of itself with Prakriti.

The Naiyayikas or the logical schoolmen feel that a completely detached Isvara cannot have rulership over the world. So they attribute to Him qualities like eternal knowledge, eternal effort, and eternal desire. “His desire is truth; His volition is truth,” says the Upanishad. Isvara is a special Purusha, on account of these attributes.

The worshippers of Hiranyagarbha think that if Isvara in His original state were to be the Creator, there would be perpetual creation due to His permanent contact with all things. Hence, it should be regarded that He is Creator only in a state of Hiranyagarbha with a Universal Subtle Body, and not otherwise. In the Udgitha Brahmana of the Upanishad the glory of Hiranyagarbha is sung abundantly. Though Hiranyagarbha has a subtle body, he is above Jivahood because of his universality, and so above Karma and its fruits. Some think that without a gross body there cannot be even an idea of the subtle body. Hence the Virat or the Cosmic Body spreading everywhere, alone, is to be considered as the real Creator and not Hiranyagarbha. The Rigveda and other scriptures corroborate this view when they say that the Purusha is thousand-headed, thousand-eyed, all-seeing, etc.

As it is difficult to conceive of Virat in His essential nature as Creator due to His being inside and outside, equally, Brahma, described in the Puranas, is to be considered as creator, in the opinion of the Upasakas of Brahma. The Vaishnavas regard Vishnu as supreme since even Brahma came out of his navel, according to the Puranas. The Saivas regard Siva as supreme, and quote the instance from the Puranas, where it is said that Vishnu and Brahma could not fathom the depths of Siva. The worshippers of Ganesa think that he is supreme, as even Siva worshipped him while engaged in the destruction of the Tripuras.

Thus, there are countless views of Isvara from the points of view of different Jivas in different levels of evolution, looking at Isvara from particular angles. Right from the Upanishad concept of Isvara, down to such deities as trees and stones, there are religious beliefs and worships, covering a wide range. The truth, however, is that Isvara is the Absolute Individual, including even space and time within himself, and operating both as the instrumental and material cause of creation, with His power called Maya. Maya is inseparable from the one who wields it. Everything is strung in the body of Isvara, as beads in a thread, and He exists supreme above all things like a magician who is untouched by the magic he displays. From this standpoint of Isvara, as the all inclusive whole, every special form of worship has a truth in it, and meaning, since Isvara is everywhere, and is everything.

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Continues

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