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अखण्डमण्डलाकारं व्याप्तं येन चराचरम् ।
तत्पदं दर्शितं येन तस्मै श्रीगुरवे नमः ॥ १॥
akhaṇḍamaṇḍalākāraṃ vyāptaṃ yena carācaram
tatpadaṃ darśitaṃ yena tasmai śrigurave nama:
Salutations to my guru who taught me about ‘That’ which has the form of the entire cosmos, moving and non-moving things alike.
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Let us try to expound the meaning of the above verse:
The Self is referred to in the scriptures as ‘That’. We know Brahman encompasses everything and is beyond everything. When everything is included, it automatically means entire cosmos, which obviously includes moving and non-moving things.
Talking things in the macro scale, everything moves – planets move, stars move, galaxies move, the universe itself keeps expanding, Most things that we consider stationery are only from relative view point. Irrespective of what they are, Self encompasses everything and is also beyond it. When the Self has permeated the macrocosm, it has indeed pervaded the microcosm too.
Fundamental building blocks of the entire cosmos (akhandamandala) are the same that we see in the microcosm level, for instance with living beings. Everything is made up of atoms and different elements. Elements heavier than hydrogen and helium were forged into the stars, and when they died in supernovae, the elements spread through and eventually became parts of planets and the microcosm then comes from those every elements. Living beings are formed from the ‘star dust’. Furthermore, both living beings and cosmos (micro and macrocosms) require energy to function and exist. Both need forces like gravity, electro magnetism, nuclear force etc.
This underlying cosmic oneness, pervasiveness (being the very fabric of existence; vyapta), both dynamic (chara) and static (achara) transcending duality – changeless absolute reality but also the cause of all changes is none other than the Self.
To the guru who taught me that ‘That’ is verily the entire cosmos, my salutations.
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