Who Is Sree Ishwara?
H H Maa Purnananda
“Ahamaatma Gudaakesh Sarvbhootaashaya Sthitah; Ahamaadishcha Madhyam Cha Bhootaanaamant Eva Cha……” – (Sreemad Bhagawad Geeta – 10/20)
Do you believe in a Super Power? Do you believe in something which is Great and beyond this world? Do you believe in the Divine Being? Do you believe in the Devi-Devtaa-s? …..in Bhagwaan? …….in Ishwara? ……in Parmaatma? …..in the Consciousness? …..in the Supreme Self? ......in the Absolute-Truth?…..in the All-pervading Brahman?
In Sreemad Bhagawad Geeta, Bhagwaan says that every human being is a believer and all beings ultimately go back to Him. The moment you come across such a Shlok, your mind will have a distinct idea of the Supreme, of Whom, one is supposed to be a believer. It so happens because of you being a believer in a particular way. So suppose you believe in Gods and Goddesses, then your mind would immediately say – “How can I accept what Bhagwaan is telling? I don’t see everyone believing in Gods and Goddesses! In fact, in my own family, most of the male members are not even interested in bowing down at the Altar at home or in going to a Temple!” Don’t you forget at that time that the Gods and Goddesses in Whom you have so much of belief, might be addressed and worshipped by different names and in different ways? Therefore, Bhagwaan says that every human being is a believer.
Out of so many such names given above and so many more such names by which the Supreme is called, revered and worshipped, here we are going to understand one such term used often to address Him, that is Ishwara.
Sadguru Sree Adi Shankaracharya, one of the leading legendry exponents of the Philosophy of Vedaant, has categorically explained the concept of Ishwara in His text Tattwa Bodh. Ishwara, according to Vedaant, He explains, is a phase of the Un-manifest, that is to be understood as the Manifest Brahman, as long as the Jeev’s existence remains due to the non-apprehension of the Un-manifest. Therefore, as long as Jeev remains as an individual egocentric being due to his own ignorance, that long Brahman, or his own True Self, is to be acknowledged, accepted and worshipped as Ishwara by the Jeev. By doing so, the Jeev would be able to grow out of his own mistaken identity and slowly might be able to proceed towards realising his True identity as the Non-dual Supreme Self.
Considering the above explanation, Sree Vedvyaas, Sree Adi Shankaracharya and many other Sadguru-s have explained in various ways that Sree Ishwara represents the Lordship over the Maya. Maya consists of three Guna-s - Sattva, Rajas and Tamas. From the standpoint of Jeev, the union of Brahman - the Consciousness and the deluding Maya – that gives existence to the perception of inert matter, comes forth as Sree Ishwara. Sree Brahma, Sree Vishnu and Sree Maheshwar are the Icons that represent the given three Guna-s respectively and the Trinity of these three is addressed as Sree Ishwara.
Therefore, at the dawn of Self-knowledge when Maya loses its existence, the concept of Ishwara also becomes redundant. Hence, from the standpoint of Brahman, both Jeev and Ishwara do not exist, and therefore Brahman alone exists as the Eternal Non-dual, Absolute Reality.
In the Shlok given herewith, Bhagwaan therefore says that He, the Supreme Self, resides in the very core of the heart of every being. He then adds that He alone is the very beginning, the middle as well as the end of all beings, which, as explained earlier, must be clear by now.
Now whether you call that Supreme Self by any name as mentioned above, aren’t you addressing that One and only Self? Obviously yes, because, for all the believers, their beloved Believed resides very much in their own heart!
But, the question is, do you have a heart? Find it for yourself at SISS, on Sree Kartik Purnima which falls this year on 12th November’19. Join us with family and friends on this Auspicious day at 11.30am to offer Sree Maha Abhishekam to the beloved Sree Ishwara in His Temple and be blessed!