Before I go further talking about the Upanishads, I thought it is essential to clear some questions. These questions may give an impression that the Vedas are self contradictory and can be seen as a bundle of incoherent things. Some of the contradictions that one recognizes immediately are
- In the ritual parts such as Samhita and Brahmana, the Vedas talk about many gods. But in the Upanishads the same Vedas say that there is only one God! They even say that the gods of the ritual parts are none other than THE God!. Is there some basic contradiction?
- If Upanishads are meant to convey the futility of worshipping the gods through the rituals, why are those rituals put forth in the first place?
- There is also this mute question which is often a source of debate. If the gods are capable of producing any material thing and also heavenly abodes to those who worship them, why do these gods hanker for Soma drink and animal meat? Why should they depend on humans for them? They can as well create them if they so wish!
Let me try to address these questions in this episode.
It is true that the Samhitas to some extent and the Upanishads in particular put forth an abstract notion of one and only God. This God is so abstract that it cannot be described or even be conceived. In the same breath they even talk about equating this abstract God with multiple personified gods who have human like attributes.
The reason for this is given by this verse in the Bhagavad Geetha which is considered to be the essence of the Upanishads. Bhagavad Geetha says
People who are dominated by their bodies find it extremely difficult to conceive something which has no form whatsoever.-- Bhagavad Geetha 12.5
All our perceptions are through the mechanisms supported by our body. We cannot perceive something that is not accessible to our senses. If the God is defined as something that is beyond our senses and mind, there is no way we can perceive such a God. So, we need something that has some form so that we can relate to it.
In that case, why not talk about one single God who has a personified form, say some human like form, who can talk to us, listen to our woes, take care of us, and solve our problems? Why talk about multiple forms? And why varieties of ways to please them?
The same Bhagavad Geetha has answer to this question as well. It says
People worship different gods following different rituals with the sole goal of attaining various worldly benefits. They are driven by their inherent nature.-- Bhagavad Geetha 7.20
Most people are so immersed in the world that it is their wants that drive them to God and not mere love for God. And these wants are uncountably many. So, they worship different forms of God to achieve different things in life. But why different gods for different things?
One often-quoted analogy is how we use different means to harness different things from the same formless electrical energy. The electrical energy as it is, is of no use to us. If we need light, then we need to pass the electricity through a bulb. If we want heat, then we need to pass the same electricity through a heater coil. If we want to cool down the temperature, we need a fan or a cooler which also runs the very same electricity. The basic power is the same, but depending on our requirements we need different means to harness the very same formless electricity.
So, we need different personified gods to satisfy our different worldly needs even though it is the very same formless God who operates through all these personified gods.
There is also an emotional angle to this. Different people have different frames of mind and they would like to visualize God in different ways. An intellectually inclined person may like to see God as an epitome of knowledge. A warrior may want to see the very same God as a valorous and may be even a fierce being. A musician’s God may even play divine music and dance too! So, depending on their bent of mind, each of them may like to see different form of the very same God. Even the Bhagavad Geetha admits this when it says that “They are driven by their inherent nature”.
When you bring down an abstract God to the level of a personified god, you also feel that you need to treat that person in the same way you would have treated any other individual. What do you do when you invite someone to your house? You offer the person the best of what you have. That is the way you show your love to the person. That is your way of making the other person happy.
The invited guest may or may not really need your hospitality. But you think that it is your duty to treat the guests in a way that befits them. More so, if the guest is all powerful and capable of fulfilling all your needs. That is what the sages did when they invited various gods. They offered them what was dear to them. They offered the food and drink that they felt are special and prized. That may be the reason why they offered Soma and animal meat to the gods when they arrived. Whether the gods were really hankering for them or whether their giving of the boons were conditional on that, did not really matter. The sages wanted to please them in every possible way.
That is probably the reason why reformers like Sankara had no hesitation in dropping out animal sacrifice from Vedic rituals. And gladly there was not much of resistance to it from ritualists.
But still, one wonders whether the God is indeed formless or is he someone who has multiple forms to suit the needs of the people who worship him. How does something that is formless ‘appear’ as something that has a specific form? That is what the Upanishads try to expand upon.
We will see how the Upanishads achieve this, as we continue our discussion.
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A series discussing the most ancient of the Indian scriptures, nay the world scriptures namely the Vedas. © Dr. King, Swami Satyapriya 2021-22
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