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The Nature of The World in Monism’s Concept of Mahabharata: A Philosophical Study | |||||||
Paper Id :
16003 Submission Date :
2022-04-16 Acceptance Date :
2022-04-21 Publication Date :
2022-04-25
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Abstract |
Mahavarata says everything in the world is impermanent. Whoever has creation has destruction. Nothing in this world is eternal. This world is impermanent so it is not proper to mourn for it. The ignorant person always thinks of impermanence due to ignorance. That is why ignorant people mourn. But scholars are aware of the true nature of the world, so they do not grieve. In the Mahabharata, five Mahabhutas are recognized, which are elements of the world. Earth, water, fire, air and ether are five elements (panchabhuta). These five elements are impermanent. Mahavarata also accepted the five senses organ, the five-motor organ and the mind, these eleven organs. The doctrines mentioned in the Mahabharata concerning the functioning of the senses are not contradictory to logical conclusions, but are consistent with them. Each demon has been characterized here according to its deeds. The Mahabharata states that the earth has these five qualities of sound, touch, rupa, taste and smell. Water contains sound, touch, rupa and rasa. In fire has sound, touches and rupa or sharp. Sound and touch quality from the air. There is only one quality in the ether - the sound. All those smells are earthly. There are ten types of gandha, six types of rasas, twelve types of colour, eleven types of touch, ten types of sounds. In the Mahabharata, the soul or Parameswar is acknowledged as the only eternal. Because it is against the Veda to accept any eternal thing other than the soul. Therefore, in the Mahabharata, are not accepted eternal substance like Vaisesika Philosophy. Twenty-six theories have been accepted in the review of the world in the Mahabharata Samkhya philosophy. At the highest level is Paremeswar or Bramha. Second place is Purusha or self. Then the place of Prakriti. This world is impermanent, come from Prakriti. This Prakriti is called pradhan. There is no causal relationship between these three theories. Mahat is first product of by Prakriti. Ahangkar is second product of Mahat. Ahankara has four kind- mind, five sense organ, five motor organ and five tanmantra or mahavuta. In the Mahabharata, the world is called impermanent. This world originates from the Eternal Parabrahma or Parameswar.
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Keywords | World, Impermanent, Bramha or Parameswar, Maya, Mahabhuta. | ||||||
Introduction |
In the discussion of Indian philosophy, several doctrines can be observed centering on the world and life. The major doctrines among them are monotheism, dualism, special dualism, dualism etc. Among all these doctrines, monotheism has been discussed with special importance. Advaita means recognition of an entity. The creation or emergence of many from one entity. In the ancient Vedic literature of India, Puranas, Upanishads, Mahabharata, Ramayana, etc., the essence has been deeply discussed. Overall, the importance of monotheism in India as a spiritual country is immense. Unity in diversity can be seen in Indian culture. Discussions about this entity occupy a very important place in the Indian philosophical community. The manifestation of Advaita thought can be seen in Advaita Vedanta. Gaurpada was the first to explicitly develop the seeds of monotheism in the Upanishads. That is why Gaurpada is the first proponent of Advaitaism in Vedanta philosophy. He was the guru of Shankaracharya's guru Govinda. The Vedas praise polytheism, so the Vedas are called polytheists. But a feature is present in Vedic thought. In the Rik Veda it is said - ‘Ekang sat bipra bahudha badanti agning yamang matrishvanam ahuh’-1/164/48 – that is, even though the entity is one, the scholars describe it in various ways. She is called Agni, Yam and Matrishva. All the gods are different manifestations of the same entity. In the Rikveda Purushasukta, the Vedic sages have described the unity that exists in the entire universe. Here it is said- ‘Sahasrasirsa Purush: Sahasraksha Sahasrapat. Sa bhuming bisvato vrtvahatyatisthaddasangulam: '- that is, a thousand shirya sahasraksa men are surrounded everywhere and ten fingers the size of the world. The main statement of monotheism is found in the Mandukyakarika of Gaurpada. Many people think that this Karika is the basis of Shankaracharya's monotheism. Shankaracharya's Brahmasutra commentary reveals the deep thought of this Advaita. In fact, the influence of the philosophy of Shankaracharya and his followers is so profound that Vedanta philosophy refers to Shankaracharya's monotheism. The essence of his Advaitabad is - "Brahma Satya Jagat Mithya Jibo Brahmaibanapar:" - meaning Brahma is true, Jagat is false, Jiva is nothing but Brahman.
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Objective of study | Mahabharata is an epic that introduces the literature, history, philosophy, theology, politics, ethics, sociology, etc. of the then India. The Mahabharata is one of the greatest ancient epics. This is the second epic of India. The first epic Ramayana is a linear context. But the Mahabharata, on the other hand, is a multi-linear context. Here, from beginning to end, different doctrines, different philosophies, gatherings of many characters and descriptions of their diverse origins are found. The poet writes about the Mahabharata in his essay 'History of India' - "He unified all the rumors spread in the Aryan society. He stood up in one place. He named it Mahabharata. It is not the history written by any individual; it is the self-written natural history of a nation.” Monotheism is one of the most widely accepted doctrines of existence. According to monotheism, the entity is one and unique. Here the second entity is denied. Attempts are made to explain everything by acknowledging an entity. The concept of monotheism is discussed in spite of the predominance of dualism in the second largest epic of India. In the Mahabharata, Brahma is acknowledged as eternal, Jagat as impermanent, Jiva and Brahma as one and the same. |
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Review of Literature | The English word world comes from the Old
English weorold (-uld), weorld, worold (-uld, -eld), a compound of wer 'man'
and eld 'age', which thus means roughly 'Age of Man.’ (Orel, Vladimir (2003) A
Handbook of Germanic Etymology Leiden: Brill. p. 462 ISBN 90-04-12875-1) The
Old English is a reflex of the Common Germanic wira-alđiz, also reflected in
Old Saxon werold, Old Dutch werilt, Old High German weralt, Old Frisian warld
and Old Norse verǫld (whence the Icelandic veröld).( Lewis, David (1986). On
the Plurality of Worlds. Wiley-Blackwell.) The corresponding word in Latin is
mundus, literally 'clean, elegant', itself a loan translation of Greek cosmos
'orderly arrangement'. While the Germanic word thus reflects a mythological
notion of a "domain of Man" (compare Midgard), presumably as opposed
to the divine sphere on the one hand and the chthonic sphere of the underworld
on the other, the Greco-Latin term expresses a notion of creation as an act of
establishing order out of chaos. Different fields often work with quite
different conceptions of the essential features associated with the term
"world". Some conceptions see the world as unique: there can be no
more than one world. Others talk of a "plurality of worlds". Some see
worlds as complex things composed of many substances as their parts while
others hold that worlds are simple in the sense that there is only one
substance: the world as a whole. Some characterize worlds in terms of objective
spacetime while others define them relative to the horizon present in each
experience. These different characterizations are not always exclusive: it may
be possible to combine some without leading to a contradiction. Most of them
agree that worlds are unified totalities. What is Monism? Monism is a thesis
about oneness: that only one thing exists in a certain sense. The denial of
monism is pluralism, the thesis that, in a certain sense, more than one thing
exists. There are many forms of monism and pluralism, but in relation to the
world as a whole, two are of special interest: existence monism/pluralism and
priority monism/pluralism. Existence monism states that the world is the only
concrete object there is. This means that all the concrete "objects"
we encounter in our daily lives, including apples, cars and ourselves, are not
truly objects in a strict sense. Instead, they are just dependent aspects of
the world-object. Such a world-object is simple in the sense that it does not
have any genuine parts. For this reason, it has also been referred to as
"blobject" since it lacks an internal structure just like a blob.
Priority monism allows that there are other concrete objects besides the world.
But it holds that these objects do not have the most fundamental form of
existence, that they somehow depend on the existence of the world. The
corresponding forms of pluralism, on the other hand, state that the world is
complex in the sense that it is made up of concrete, independent objects.(
Schaffer, Jonathan (2007). "From Nihilism to Monism". Australasian
Journal of Philosophy. 85 (2): 175 191. doi:10.1080/00048400701343150. S2CID
7788506.) Scientific cosmology can be defined as the science of the universe as
a whole. In it, the terms "universe" and "cosmos" are
usually used as synonyms for the term "world".One common definition
of the world/universe found in this field is as "The totality of all space
and time; all that is, has been, and will be". (Schreuder, Duco A. (3
December 2014). Vision and Visual Perception. Archway Publishing. p. 135. ISBN
978-1-4808-1294-9) Some definitions emphasize that there are two other aspects
to the universe besides spacetime: forms of energy or matter, like stars and
particles, and laws of nature. Different world-conceptions in this field differ
both concerning their notion of spacetime and of the contents of spacetime. The
theory of relativity plays a central role in modern cosmology and its
conception of space and time. An important difference from its predecessors is
that it conceives space and time not as distinct dimensions but as a single
four-dimensional manifold called spacetime. This can be seen in special
relativity in relation to the Minkowski metric, which includes both spatial and
temporal components in its definition of distance. General relativity goes one
step further by integrating the concept of mass into the concept of spacetime as
its curvature. Quantum cosmology, on the other hand, uses a classical notion of
spacetime and conceives the whole world as one big wave function expressing the
probability of finding particles in a given location. (Parent, Ted. "Modal
Metaphysics". Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Retrieved 9 April
2021.) World concept in present, A worldview is a comprehensive representation
of the world and our place in it.(Bunge, Mario (2010). "1. Philosophy as
Worldview". Matter and Mind: A Philosophical Inquiry. Springer Verlag.) As
a representation, it is a subjective perspective of the world and thereby
different from the world it represents. (De Mijolla-Mellor, Sophie.
"Weltanschauung". International Dictionary of Psychoanalysis.) All
higher animals need to represent their environment in some way in order to
navigate it. But it has been argued that only humans possess a representation
encompassing enough to merit the term "worldview". Philosophers of
worldviews commonly hold that the understanding of any object depends on a
worldview constituting the background on which this understanding can take
place. This may affect not just our intellectual understanding of the object in
question but the experience of it in general. It is therefore impossible to
assess one's worldview from a neutral perspective since this assessment already
presupposes the worldview as its background. Some hold that each worldview is
based on a single hypothesis that promises to solve all the problems of our
existence we may encounter. On this interpretation, the term is closely
associated to the worldviews given by different religions. Worldviews offer
orientation not just in theoretical matters but also in practical matters. For
this reason, they usually include answers to the question of the meaning of
life and other evaluative components about what matters and how we should act.
("The Old World-New World Debate and the Columbian Exchange".
Wondrium Daily. 31 January 2021. Retrieved 10 April 2022.) A worldview can be
unique to one individual but worldviews are usually shared by many people
within a certain culture or religion. |
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Methodology | Analytical research use in this article, the facts that have been confirmed already to form the basis for the research and critical evaluation of the material is carried out in this method. |
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Result and Discussion |
When Kauravagan was
killed in the battle of Kurukshetra, Dhritarashtra became very tired of
Putrasho. Then Mahamati Bidur went to give them peace and described the true
nature of the living world.Bidur says everything in the world is impermanent.
Whoever has creation has destruction. Nothing in this world is eternal. This
world is impermanent so it is not proper to mourn for it. The ignorant person
always thinks of impermanence due to ignorance. That is why ignorant people
mourn. But scholars are aware of the true nature of the world, so they do not
grieve.Mahamati Bidur tries to explain the impermanence of the world through a
number of anecdotes. - Once a Brahmin entered a deep forest while traveling.
Lions, tigers, elephants and nocturnal animals lived there. They were very
violent and terrible. The Brahmin entered such a deep and terrible forest and
became frightened. Then he began to look around, wondering who he would seek
refuge in. He tried to escape but he could not get out of the deep forest. At
last, he saw a five-faced snake circling around the world. There was a
well-covered with herbs. He inadvertently hangs there on the herbs later. There
were other dangers. In that well was a snake with six months and twelve legs.
There were also some bees on the branches of the tree, from which endless honey
was falling. But even in that crisis the Brahmins started drinking honey
without any hesitation. As he was not satisfied with it, greed continued to
grow. The Brahmin made no effort to get out of the forest in spite of the
danger. After hearing this anecdote of Bidur, Maharaja said to Dhritarashtra -
The deep forest is the world of the universe. All the living creatures in it
are diseased, the well is the human body. The snake in the well is Mahakala,
its six faces and twelve legs are the six seasons and twelve months of this
world, the bee is Kam. Madhu kamaras, which is addicted to human intentions.
Only scholars think of the world as impermanent, so they are not bound by it.
Ordinary people do not know the impermanence of the world, so they are bound to
the world again and again. Only a prudent man can know the impermanence of the
world. He is the one who travels in search of liberation. 3 All material things
in the world have been collected only for worldly needs. All these worldly
things have no essence. These only serve the practical needs of the world.
There is no utility in the world of extra material needs. In the Mahabharata, five
Mahabhutas are recognized, which are elements of the world. The literal meaning
of ghost here is occurring, incidental, secondly past, circle, thirdly true,
fourthly born, fifthly connected, fair, sixthly incarnate, seventhly
panchabhuta i.e., earthly panchabhuta. Here the last meaning has been adopted.4
These five great beings are impermanent. Also recognized are the five senses,
the five senses and the mind, these eleven senses. Now let us come to the
description of the five great beings. Here Akash is the first Mahabhuta,
Shrotra Adhyatma, Shabda Adhibhuta, Dikka Adhidaivita. Air is the second
universe, the skin is spiritual, the visible is dominated, the electricity is
supernatural. Tejah or Jyoti is the third Mahabhuta, the eye is spiritual, the
form is sublime, the Sun is supernatural. Water is the fourth mahabhuta, the
tongue is spiritual, the juice is adhibhuta, soma is supernatural. The earth is
the fifth mahabhuta, the olfactory abyss, the odor abhyavata, the air
adhivaibata. Note that these technical names are not found in the philosophy of
justice. Even the word metaphysicalism is not accepted in philosophy. The
doctrines mentioned in the Mahabharata concerning the functioning of the senses
are not contradictory to logical conclusions, but are consistent with them.
Each demon has been characterized here according to its deeds. The Mahabharata
states that the earth has these five qualities of sound, touch, form, taste and
smell. Water contains sound, touch, form and juice. Words, touches and forms
are sharp. Sound and touch quality from the air. There is only one quality in
the sky - the word. All those smells are earthly. There are ten types of scent
- sweet, sour, sweet, sour, bitter, nitty-gritty, concentrated, smooth, rough
and detailed. There are six types of juice - sweet, sour, bitter, bitter,
astringent and salty. Form Bar Types- White, Black, Blood, Blue, Yellow, Arun,
Short, Long, Thin, Thick, Quadruped and Circular. Eleven types of touch -
rough, cold, warm, smooth, elaborate, hard, smooth, smooth, slippery, fine and
soft. There are ten types of words - Shadj, Rishabh, Gandhab, Madhyam, Pancham,
Nishad, Dhaivat, Ishta, Anishta and Sanhat. Although such divisions are not
recognized in jurisprudential philosophy, they are not against them. The seven specially
recognized substances are not accepted in the Mahabharata. There is no
recognition here other than the Panchamaha Bhoot. All other worlds, except the
one soul, belong to the Panchamaha ghost. Knowledge of time is gained through
the use of material past, present and future, such as antiquity, novelty, etc.
It is useless to accept a separate substance called direction. Because the
east, west, etc. directions are used to indicate the position of the bright sun
in the sky. That is, the imaginary part of the sky where the sun rises are
marked as east and the imaginary part where it sets is marked as west. Thus,
the imaginary part is marked as a direction depending on the position of the
sun. Even the mind was not recognized as a separate product. The mind is a
sense, so the quality that the mind will receive will be the refuge of that
quality. In the Mahabharata, the
soul is acknowledged as the only eternal. Because it is against the myth to
accept any eternal thing other than the soul. Therefore, in the Mahabharata,
special and co-operatives are not recognized as a specially recognized eternal
substance. Even deficiency has not been recognized as a separate substance Twenty-six
theories have been accepted in the review of the world in the Mahabharata
Samkhya philosophy. There are men in the next level. Then the place of nature.
This world is impermanent, the consequence of nature. This nature is called
radical nature or chief. 10 There is no causal relationship between these three
theories. Some of them are not the work of some and some are not the cause of
others. The remaining eight substances are nature and sixteen substances are
distortions. The unspoken, the sublime, the arrogant, the earth, the air, the
sky, the light and the light are known as these eight natures. The original
nature and the mahadadi nature-distortion is only called nature. The
equilibrium of these three qualities is called nature or unexpressed. These
three qualities are not the religion of nature, but they are identical with
nature. If we know the nature of those qualities, then the nature becomes
known. Origin of greatness originates from nature or unexpressed, arrogance
from greatness, ghost quality from arrogance, creation of mind, origin of five
ghosts from mind. Sound, touch, form, taste and smell originate from ghost shots
respectively. Sutras, skin, eyes, tongue and smell originate from the mind. In
the Mahabharata, the world is called impermanent. This world originates from
the Eternal Parabrahma - this statement is found in the Python-Prahlad news.
There, in response to a question from the eldest Pandava Yudhisthira, his
grandfather Bhishma recited to him the anecdote of the dragon Prahlad. He said
that one day Danbaraj Prahlak saw a Brahmin wandering around the world with a
fixed mind and asked him that he (Brahmin) was acting like a boy with no
desire, no arrogance, no mercy, no sense of truth, no talent, no talent and no
wisdom. He has no desire for anything. He does not mourn for loss. Do not
disrespect any object. All the other tenants, like the common man, are moving
towards the unfavorable currents of the world society, but he has also shown
indifference to the righteous deeds, like the ever-satisfied one, who is
different from the other. He is disrespectful to all the sensible things like
form, juice etc. If there is no obstacle, how is he living his life with such
calm, slow and steady wisdom? Then in answer to this question of Prahlad, the Brahmin informed Danbaraja that the origin, decrease, increase and destruction of this demonic community is from the only eternal Parabrahm. So he did not worry about it. Instinct has been instilled from the whole nature. Apart from nature, the tenants have no other refuge. For this, even if he gets the wealth of Brahmalok, he is not satisfied. Connection is subject to all subtraction and destruction to the savings community, for this reason he does not concentrate on any object. Whatever is created from the demonic beings is destroyed or destroyed. Knowing this fact, no human being takes part in any worldly activities. In the ocean, everything from small to large is destroyed. In this world, all the creatures that are subject to the movable and immovable ghosts, from small to large, are destroyed. Even in space, all kinds of astronomical stages, from small to large, are gradually destroyed. Seeing that all the ghosts are being subjected to death or destruction in this form, he is living a life of absolute happiness with equal vision for all. He sometimes eats as much as he wants and may even go hungry. Sometimes he lives in a palace and sometimes he sleeps on the ground floor. Sometimes he wears expensive clothes and sometimes he wears very ordinary clothes. So, he can be calm, stable and free from lust. |
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Findings | This world is impermanent, come from Prakriti. This Prakriti is called pradhan. There is no causal relationship between these three theories. Mahat is first product of by Prakriti. Ahangkar is second product of Mahat. Ahankara has four kind- mind, five sense organ, five motor organ and five tanmantra or mahavuta. In the Mahabharata, the world is called impermanent. This world originates from the Eternal Parabrahma or Parameswar. | ||||||
Conclusion |
The nature spoken of in the Mahabharata is only conducive to the creation of Brahman, although the distinction of nature is not acknowledged here. That is why Srivagavan says- ‘I am creating everything. I am the creator of my own nature and I am creating again and again. ' It is not only the goal of man or living being to know the nature of the Trigunatmika nature, but also the ultimate goal of man is the knowledge of Purushottam or the union of Brahman and man. From the above discussion it is understood that without the use of technical terms like nature, man, greatness, arrogance etc., there would be no difference between Samkhya and Advaita Vedanta. Mahabharata is one of the scriptures, which states that everything in the world is impermanent. Hence, anything created in this world is subjected to destruction. Moreover, it states that nothing in this world is eternal, so it is not proper to mourn for it. The worldly human beings always think about state of permanence due to act of ignorance and that is the reason why ignorant people mourn, but learned scholars are aware of the true nature of this materialistic world, so they do not grieve. In the Mahabharata, five Mahabhutas are recognized, which are elements of the world viz. earth, water, fire, air and ether are five elements and are referred to as Panchabhuta. These five elements are impermanent according to Mahabharata and it also accepted the five senses organ, the five-motor organ and the mind, these eleven organs. The doctrines mentioned in Mahabharata concerning about the functioning of senses are not contradictory to logical conclusions, but are consistent with them. It is important to note that in Mahabharata each demon has been characterized according to its deeds. The Mahabharata states that earth has these five qualities of sound, touch, rupa, taste and smell. In this context, Water contains sound, touch, rupa and rasa; Fire has sound, touches and rupa or sharp; Sound and touch quality from the air. Interestingly, there is only one quality in the ether - the sound. All those smells are earthly. There are ten types of gandhas, six types of rasas, twelve types of colours, eleven types of touches and ten types of sounds. In Mahabharata, Soul or Parameswar is acknowledged as the only eternal, because it is against the Veda to accept any eternal substance as mentioned in Vaisesika Philosophy. Furthermore, twenty-six theories have been accepted in review of the world in Mahabharata Samkhya philosophy, which mentions the highest level is Paremeswar or Bramha followed by second level is Purusha or Self and third is Prakriti. Also, mentions this world is impermanent and comes from Prakriti, wherein this Prakriti is called Pradhan. Moreover, there is no causal relationship between some of these theories. The understanding is that ‘Mahat’ is the first product of Prakriti and Ahangkar is second product of Mahat. The Ahankara has four kinds of minds, five sense organs, five motor organs and five tanmantras or mahavutas. The present study has attempted a philosophical overview on Mahabharata. The observation is Mahabharata states the impermanence of this world and also exhibits that it originates from the eternal Parabrahma or Parameswar. |
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Retrieved 10 April 2022. |