“Indeed, You alone know Yourself by Your own potencies, O origin of all, Lord of all beings, God of gods, O Supreme Person, Lord of the universe!” (Arjuna, Bhagavad-gita, 10.15)

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स्वयमेवात्मनात्मानं वेत्थ त्वं पुरुषोत्तम
भूतभावन भूतेश देवदेव जगत्पते

svayam evātmanātmānaṁ
vettha tvaṁ puruṣottama
bhūta-bhāvana bhūteśa
deva-deva jagat-pate

“Once again, apologies for the random thoughts, for the ranting and raving, for the review of rivalries that may not even exist. These things pop into my mind, and so I cannot help but ask questions. Today, we are dealing with marvels of the world. Not in the industrialized nations. No, no, they are already proud of their tall buildings, of their plastic bottles, of their processed food, of their poison injections forced into every healthy child, as soon as they are born, no less. Yes, yes, they have their advanced machines, their computers, along with their pills for depression and anxiety, their lack of control over the senses, and their constant bickering and quarrelling.

“The marvels of which I speak are in other places. In areas where man has roots established hundreds and thousands of years in the past. The people are more or less the same. They can trace their ancestry to notable figures described in their sacred texts, which are in the Sanskrit language. They follow the same traditions that the rest of the world views as needless, archaic, and rooted in superstition. At the same time, these marvels are there. No one else can explain them. More importantly, no one else can even attempt to replicate them.

“For instance, a massive temple complex carved out of a single rock. Descending, such that the artists had to dig. How did they do it? They did not have photography back then. There was no AI twin to review the measurements. How does the saying go? Measure twice, cut once? And yet here it is, this mindboggling structure, still standing. People have been entering and exiting, offering their worship, across centuries. This is not the only place like this. Countless others, many of them described in the same ancient texts.

“My issue is that this should once and for all put the argument to rest. The people who think there is no God are absolute fools. Think about it. You say that the planets, the stars, the sun, the seasons, the lakes, the rivers, the forests, and the mountains happened to emerge from chance or randomness. Chemicals collided to create everything. You can pass along that fraud because no one can really show recorded images of those things being created.

“Nevertheless, we have these objects that were certainly created by human beings. They were not due to randomness. The same skeptics cannot begin to explain how a human being today would go about trying to replicate that which already exists. If you cannot build it, then how can you boast about anything? How can you insert yourself into any adult conversation about the origin of the universe, the durability of the material world, and the meaning for life itself? I fail to understand.”

That is precisely the point to get across, that none of us will ever fully understand. Bhagavad-gita gives the hint, wherein Shri Krishna explains that the most amazing things we see, which we can possibly comprehend, which we can gather together to aggregate into a single collective, is the result of but a spark of the splendor of the Divine.

यद्यद्विभूतिमत्सत्त्वं श्रीमदूर्जितमेव वा
तत्तदेवावगच्छ त्वं मम तेजोऽशसम्भवम्

yad yad vibhūtimat sattvaṁ
śrīmad ūrjitam eva vā
tat tad evāvagaccha tvaṁ
mama tejo-’ṁśa-sambhavam

“Know that all beautiful, glorious, and mighty creations spring from but a spark of My splendor.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 10.41)

To convey how easy a specific task might be, a person says, “Oh, I could do that in my sleep.” Scoring a goal in professional ice hockey. Changing the oil in an automobile. Running a marathon. Putting together a slide deck presentation for the upcoming meeting with the board of directors. Imagine if you could say the same about creating the universe. Not just one universe, mind you, but all of them. You can count how many there are, while no one else could ever comprehend a tally reaching so high. You can also enter into each one of those universes, by expanding yourself, such that you maintain everything. You do all of this with minimal effort. You are there in the beginning, before anyone else. Even the creator is surprised to learn this truth, as he has the power to create and thereby understands the significance of the task of creation.

अहम् एवासम् एवाग्रे
नान्यद् यत् सद्-असत् परम्
पश्चाद् अहं यद् एतच् च
यो ऽवशिष्येत सो ऽस्म्य् अहम्

aham evāsam evāgre
nānyad yat sad-asat param
paścād ahaṁ yad etac ca
yo ‘vaśiṣyeta so ‘smy aham

“Brahma, it is I, the Personality of Godhead, who was existing before the creation, when there was nothing but Myself. Nor was there the material nature, the cause of this creation. That which you see now is also I, the Personality of Godhead, and after annihilation what remains will also be I, the Personality of Godhead.” (Shrimad Bhagavatam, 2.9.33)

If we cannot recreate a structure that we know was built by man, then the limitation should humble us. We should be humbled by the realization that people in supposedly primitive times had more ability than we have today. Not that we are totally worthless, but we should realize there are limitations. The Supreme Lord is Himself known as adhokshaja. We can never accurately measure His qualities. He is beyond measure, but at the same time someone to treasure. That is the real purpose of our existence. Instead of competing, we should acknowledge defeat and work according to His direction, which has kindly descended to us through parampara.

In Closing:

Kindly descending parampara through,
Knowledge of origin who.

In His sleep universes creating,
So old beyond measurement dating.

And each one simultaneously to maintain,
All with minimal effort to sustain.

Of magnitude beyond comprehension,
Appreciate without apprehension.

Categories: questions

Tags: bhagavad-gita, dailyprompt, hare krishna, poem, poems, poetry, science