These Tables must not be mistaken for human genealogies. The reader will
have to carry himself in imagination to a time when there was a vast
sheet of nebulous mass, when the globes and planets had not been formed,
and the phenomena now known as day, night, year, month and season were
still unknown.
The process known as Pralaya had absorbed the life energies of Triloki,
which remained latent in that intermediate plane between the higher and
the lower Lokas known as Mahar Loka. When the creative process set in,
and the ground was prepared for the manifestation of life, life energies
streamed forth from the Mahar Loka, more as types than as individuals.
These types are called Prajapatis or the Lords of life kingdoms. They
carry back to Triloki all the life energies of the previous Kalpa. At
Pralaya, they draw back unto themselves all the life energies of the
dying Triloki, and take a lasting sleep in the archetypal plane ( Mahar
Loka ) to which they properly belong. The Prajapatis of the First
Manvantara become the Rishis of other Manvantaras. As the first Lords of
creation bring back the life energies as well as the lost experiences of
the previous Kalpa, so the Rishis bring back the lost knowledge of each
Manvantara. This is fully explained in the fourteenth Chapter of the
Eighth Skandha. The Kumars are not Prajapatis, as they come from a plane
higher than Mahar Loka. In the first Manvantara, Marichi, Atri Angirasa,
Pulastya, Pulaha, Kratu, Bhrigu, Vasistha, Daksha, and Narada are
mentioned as the chief Prajapatis. Of these, Narada is not strictly
speaking a Prajapati, or Lord of creation, as he took no part in the
work of creation, though he is called so having proceeded from Mahar
Loka. Kardama, Ruchi and Visvakarma are some of the other Prajapatis.
Of the Prajapatis, seven form distinct types by themselves. They preside
over the seven stars, which form the constellation of Great Bear. They
send forth their energies from the plane of the Seven Sages, and guide
the course of life evolution that takes place in Triloki. The sages are
relieved every Manvantara by others who take up their place. The seven
sages of our Manvantara, are different from the Prajapatis of the first
Manvantara. It is by great sacrifices and by great efforts that the
highest Rishis of a Manvantara attain the position of the Seven Sages.
The Sages may become Prajapatis, and Prajapatis may become Kumaras. And
men may become sages, if they follow the true path. The grades that
divide men from sages or Rishis proper are many, and human evolution
proceeds on the line of those grades.
Energies of another kind proceeded from Mahar Loka, energies known as
Devas and Asuras. They work out, or rather they are intimately connected
with, the tendency of life-evolution. There is a tendency in the
Spiritual Jiva to acquire experience of the lower planes, through senses
which they develop. The Asuras are connected with this tendency. There
is the opposite tendency in the Jiva to get rid of the material taint
and the material restriction earned in the efforts to acquire manifold
experiences and to gain back the original state of purity after the
acquisition of fresh spiritual treasures though the experiences of
matter. The Devas are connected with this tendency.
These are the forms of life which then come into existence and work out
their evolution in this Triloki.
Life evolution proceeds on two different lines -- that of globes and
that of individuals. They are represented by the two sons of Manu --
Priyavrata and Uttanapada.
In the line of Priyavrata we find how the globes were formed in the
solar system, through various cosmic fires originating from Visvakarma,
how this earth was formed, its continents and countries. The different
divisions of the Bhur Loka are presided over by different forms of
intelligence, who are the sons of Priyavrata.
In the line of Uttanapada we find the different life kingdoms passing
through different stages of evolution.
First of all, we find a limit is put to life existence in Triloki by
Dhruva. Dhruva, son of Uttanapada, presides over the Polar Star. That
Star forms the farthest limit of Triloki. Matter is so attenuated there
that it can last for one Kalpa. We are speaking of a period when infant
souls merged out to commence the race of life in the present Kalpa. They
were spiritual and highly spiritual too. But they were carried away by
the general current of creative tendencies. They were to limit
themselves by sheath after sheath, so that they might acquire the
experiences of Svar Loka, of Bhuvar Loka and of Bhur Loka in succession.
Dhruva, the infant soul, a child only five years old, however, resisted
the common temptation. He would not go down, for he had an important
service to render to the Universe. Who would advise him in this noble
mission but Narada. Narada was out of element when the creative process
was in full swing, and it was a necessity of life evolution. But there
were instances of exception, instances of noble souls who would not go
in with the general current, but would like to remain fixed in spiritual
life, and Narada was always to be found helping them with his advice.
Dhruva remained fixed in his early spirituality. That was a sacrifice,
for he could not enrich himself with further spiritual experiences,
through the senses, of the lower planes of life. But he had to keep up
an abode which was to be resorted to by evolved souls in later days,
souls that in due course would reach that high spiritual plane.
From that Kalpic plane and the dweller thereof, we come to lower planes
and their dwellers, to the divisions of time that rule the lives of
individuals and of lives adapted to these divisions of time. We come
from the elementals of the Svarga plane, or the Devas, to the elementals
of the Astral or Bhuvar plane, the Pitris, Bhutas, Pretas and Pisachas,
till we reach the mineral kingdom, represented by Himalya, the Mountain
king. At this point a turning point was reached in life evolution, and
the goddess of life-evolution became the daughter of the Mountain king.
Of this we shall know more hereafter.
We know of Daksha, first as the son of Brahma, the creative Prajapati
when the life-process rapidly worked itself out in Elemental forms. Then
there was no sexual procreation. Creation meant the materialisation of
the Jiva. Sati, the daughter of Daksha, was the guiding energy of
life-evolution. She became wedded to Siva, the Lord of Bhutas, Pretas
and Pisachas who by the infusion of their Tamasic energies could bring
down Jivas from their high spiritual plane.
When the process of materialisation was over, when the Jivas or Monads
reached the lowest limits of materiality, the mission of Daksha came to
an end.
Life evolution had now to pass through mineral, vegetable and animal
stages, until at last the human stage was reached.
Sati now appeared as the daughter of the mineral king Himalaya. She gave
the upward bent to life evolution and by the energy she imparted
minerals were able to shake off the rigidity and stability of gross
matter, to develop the sense of touch and to become vegetable at last.
In like manner vegetable became animal, and animals at last became men.
Siva, the husband of Bhagavati or Durga, as Sati was now called, is the
Purusha of Dissolution. Bhagavati is His Energy, Who guides the Monadic
or Jiva Evolution of the Kalpa. It is the wear and tear, the process of
destruction, that counteracts the cohesive strength of the particles
forming mineral matter, which by its action becomes flexible and so
receptive of outside influences.
Cells by division and death become capable of the life process in
themselves. Vegetables grow by the rejection of cells, which
necessitates a number of physiological processes. Death brings on life,
waste, repair.
If animals exist in one and the same body, progress will be limited,
further evolution will be impossible. It is by death that we evolve.
Bhagavati works out the evolution of life in different kingdoms till the
stage of humanity is reached.
At this point Aryaman, one of the Adityas, comes to the help of
humanity. Through his influence the sons of humanity become endowed with
the power of reasoning, -- the faculty of discrimination.
The sons of Aryaman are called Charshanis. The word Charshani literally
means a cultivator. Its secondary sense given in the Vedic lexicon is
one endowed with the discriminative faculty. The word Charshani is used
in the Vedas for man. It is the equivalent of Arya or Aryan, the
ploughman. But it is not as ploughmen or cultivators, that the Aryans
had their high place in humanity, but as men endowed with the power of
discrimination. And this we owe to Aryaman. This is why, though an
Aditya, he is called the chief of Pitris by Sri Krishna.
"I am Aryaman of the Pitris." -- Bhagavat Gita.
We have thus the first stage in life evolution, when the spiritual Jiva
had to descend from the elemental to the mineral form. Next we have the
second stage, when minerals passed through higher forms of life till the
Human Kingdom was reached.
Then we have the third stage, when men became endowed with the power of
discrimination.
In the exercise of the discriminative faculty men were helped by their
elder brothers, the Rishis and Mahatmas of every period, and by Avataras
Who apeared from time to time.
Then the ground was prepared for further evolution. The Sacred
Injunctions or the Vedas were revealed to men to give them a sense of
right and wrong, of duties and prohibitions. The Vedas also held out to
the developed sense of men the charming prospect of life in Svarga Loka
with its lasting and alluring enjoyments. This may be called the stage
of Karma Kanda. In following the stages of human evolution we have come
down to Vaivasvatu Manvantara.
Side by side with the efforts made to raise humanity in the scale of
evolution, sin was accumulating in the great Atlantean continent which
spread over the whole of what we now know as the Bay of Bengal. The
Atlanteans had acquired a mastery over the five forces of nature, which
they used for selfish objects and against the cause and current of
evolution.
Then there was a great revolution in Nature. The great Atlantean
Continent went down with its load of sins. The sons of Sagar, the
Atlantean king, became buried under the great ocean, which overtook the
doomed continent, and to this day the sea is called in India, "Sagar" or
relating to Sagar.
There was a corresponding upheaval in the Himalayas, and the sacred
river Ganga streamed forth from their sides, inaugurating the spiritual
regeneration of the Universe. Much of what we now know as India must
have been raised up at the time, and on its sacred soil appeared the
great Avatara Rama, Who put an end to the disorganising, chaos-loving
sons of Lanka. The people of Lanka were called Rakshasas as they were
working towards the destruction of all order, all progress in the
Universe, and rendered everything topsy-turvy in Nature.
Now it was time for Sri Krishna to appear, the greatest of all Avataras
in our Kalpa, Who gave the last bent to the progress of humanity. He
wedded Himself with all the principles that enter into the constitution
of man, so that man may come up to Him. He taught the basic unity of all
beings, and laid down the path of Service and Devotion. He established
the reign of spiritual life, and ever since His lotus feet sanctified
the soil of India, the Scriptures only re-iterate His teachings, and
they all sing His glory for ever and ever. We shall find in its true
place the Service done by Lord Sri Krishna, and how by His Avatarship
humanity has made one more advance in the scale of human evolution. When
the Lord appeared, Bhagavati made her appearance too as the daughter of
Nanda. It is with Her energy that Sri Krishna performed the mission of
His Avatarship.
This is a bare outline of what the Tables teach us, We shall consider
them each in its own place. We shall find a detailed account as to how
the Universe is preserved. We shall hear of great Rishis, of many
Avataras, of the part played by Devas and Asurus. We shall see how the
Monads pass through different stages of evolution, till the idea of
perfect humanity is presented by Lord Krishna.
The Tables sometimes speak of life Kingdoms, sometimes of human races,
sometimes of types and principles, and sometimes of individuals.
Sometimes, the names used convey a good deal of hidden meaning,
sometimes they are used at random.
In the line of Priyavratra, we find how globes are formed, how
continents and countries appear. The solidification of earth is
indicated by the muteness of Bharata. Bharata Varsa or India is called
the first born of all countries, and other lands are enjoined to follow
and to obey their eldest brother.