“Mind, why are you not worshiping Shri Rama, whose bow is like time, with weapons of arrows representing the different units of time, such as paramanu, lava, nimesha, barasa, yuga, and kalpa?” (Dohavali, 130)

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लव निमेष परमानु जुग बरस कलप सर चंड।
भजसि न मम तेहि राम कहँ कालु जासु कोदंड।

lava nimeṣa paramānu juga barasa kalapa sara caṃḍa।
bhajasi na mama tehi rāma kaha~ kālu jāsu kodaṃḍa।

“In an artificial way. There is suppression. There is a limitation on movement. There is prohibition against following the natural path. I am talking about the effects of following the descending process of knowledge gathering.

“His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada often makes reference to this. The descending process is different from the ascending process. Accept knowledge from a higher authority. First learn the truth. Then go about understanding in a deeper way, to be more convinced of that truth.

“is there not a danger with accepting this path? Why not discover the world around us, first? Why not run experiments to see what is up and what is down? Why not work off of previous discoveries, which were rooted in the ascending process?

“The descending process resembles blind faith. Accept or be condemned. Profess your allegiance or face the reality of eternal condemnation. At least with the ascending process there is acknowledgment of man’s ability to reason, to contemplate choices, to chart a course and see where it leads.”

To understand the distinction, let’s take the concept of the atom. This has supposedly been discovered through the ascending process. That is at the core of the ascension, after all. Discovery. Building upon previous discoveries. Observation and experiment. Refining past theories. Clearing up the picture, which started out completely foggy, in representing ignorance.

Through the passing of the centuries, from ascending, a person or group comes upon the discovery of the atom. This is supposed to be the building block of the universe. It is the most basic unit of matter. Everything else is a collection of atoms.

This is certainly a wonderful discovery. Who would not marvel at the realization that everything they see is a collection of atoms? That from the small comes the large. That from the tiniest unit there is the expansive collective.

But from where does the atom come? Who created the atom? Why is it there in the first place? Why is it that many atoms can form compounds? The field of chemistry has its different scientific laws, but who creates the laws? Why is it that taking certain atoms together creates water, while a different combination creates gas?

If the original source is the proper authority, then the descending process features the same information. The means of acquisition is different. That is the primary difference. As an example, from Vedic culture we already learn about this concept of an atom.

The atom is a way to measure time, as well. Goswami Tulsidas mentions how time has different mechanisms for acting. It goes to work in different ways, and one of those is paramanu. This is the amount of time it takes for the sun to cross over an atom.

From collecting paramanu, we have larger units of time, such as lava, nimesha, yuga, and kalpa. More importantly, since the information comes from the descending process, there is information about the source.

Tulsidas says that these units of time are like weapons released from an arrow that is time. The arrow belongs to Shri Rama, who is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This means that in the descending process I have both perfect knowledge and appreciation.

I have the same awe and reverence of the scientist making the discovery, but without any lingering ignorance. I know exactly who is responsible for the laws of nature. I know that without Rama, there is no such thing as a field of study, such as science.

Tulsidas reminds himself to worship Rama in devotion. This is the best use of the intelligence belonging to the human being. A person worshiping Rama realizes the destructive nature of time and that the person holding the bow is ultimately in charge. He has the most authority to wield.

In Closing:

Most authority to command,
With illustrious bow in hand.

Nothing forever stays,
Arrows through different ways.

For units like paramanu proceeding,
Later discovery not needing.

Both the truth and the source known,
By descending process shown.

Categories: dohavali 121-160, questions

Tags: dohavali, gravity, hare krishna, poem, poems, poetry, science, time