OMNIPOTENCE
Bestower of gorgeous gifts of spiritual strength
Benefactor of the entire world at great length
Blissful donor of contentment as the rarest wealth
Proud presenter of purity as the essence of mirth
Let us undertake actions under your influence
Multiplying genuine joy of people for existence
Generosity glistening marks all our subsistence
Ending apprehensions with opulent confidence
Let us heal all the festering wounds of hearts
With our consummate compassion in all parts
Let us end all perverse attacks of envy's darts
Rendering assistance to creatures of all sorts
Energize us with all your enormous enthusiasm
To establish peace in the universe with altruism
Let us widen wisdom to propagate monotheism
Ending all human conflicts with humanitarianism
Isvara -- Antti Silvekoski
Ishvara is a generic name for God, the Supreme Power, as well as a philosophical concept denoting one supreme personal power who rules the cosmos. The feminine Ishvari refers to a female Supreme God. The word is an extrapolation of the Sanskrit verb root "ish" (to have power) and may be used interchangeably with terms such as "isha" and "ishana" -- all of them mean "lord" or "possessor of power." The term is often used in the "Rig Veda" to describe the powers of specific deities, indicating their dominion over aspects of the cosmos or natural phenomena; some gods such as Rudra or Indra are routinely described as "ishana" or "ruling one" in recognition of their exceptional power. In the "Taittiriya Brahmana" and "Atharvaveda Samhita," Ishana is a title referring specifically to the "lord" or "master" of the universe; in the latter work it also identifies the original cosmic man Purusha, who sacrificed himself and thus created the universe from his severed parts; in the "Svetasvatara" and other Upanishadic texts, it refers to the cosmic monarch who spawned existence and who provides liberation to individual souls within it. However, the term should not be confused with any specific deity, since it is used interchangeably for God in various Indian languages, along with other terms such as Paramatman and Bhagavan.
ReplyDeleteIn some Hindu schools, the term is used apologetically to affirm that God is a deeply personal and loving figure rather than a cold, distant, impersonal force. Of the six major schools of Hindu philosophy, only two, Samkhya and Mimamsa, do not acknowledge the concept, while the other six all developed their own understandings of Ishvara. The Raja Yoga school, founded by Patanjali, acknowledges the existence of Ishvara, although he is neither the efficient or material cause of the cosmos but, rather, a representation of absolute freedom, where spirit has been freed completely from the fetters of material existence; thus, Ishvara is the god who assists yogins in their spiritual activities. For the Nyaya school, God must exist since every effect is produced by a cause, so Ishvara is the possessor of all the material within creation; Ishvara joins atoms together in an orderly fashion and maintains the world's continual integration; in addition, Ishvara is the source of all knowledge and the author of the Vedas; in addition, Ishvara, in upholding the laws of karma, determines the fruits of human action. Similarly, the Vaisesika school claims that that the interactions of different types of atoms (leading to the creation of new material) had to be directed by the will of a higher power, Ishvara. The Vedanta school has the most diverse views of the deity. Shankara, the founder of Advaita Vedanta, held that Brahman, the monistic essence of the universe, is the only entity that truly exists, and every other individual thing perceived in the universe is essentially an illusion; so Ishvara is a creation of the limited, finite human mind, and has taken on various projections of human attributes such as personality and parenthood; however, acknowledgement of Ishvara may be helpful in aiding individuals toward the divine. Visistadvaita Vedanta holds that Ishvara, the universe, and all sentient beings (which are actually part of Ishvara) form a triad which is the ultimate Brahman; while Brahman is without attributes, Ishvara is the omniscient, omnipresent, incorporeal, and independent creator of the universe, who actively sustains it as ruler and who will also destroy it; he is causeless, eternal, and unchangeable, and yet represents the material and the efficient cause of the world, the Supreme Cosmic Spirit who maintains complete control over the universe and the sentient beings. On the other hand, Dvaita Vedanta believes Ishvara exists totally separate from the material world and the sentient beings within it and is the efficient but not the material cause of the universe; Isvara is the highest form of truth and his personalistic attributes do not mitigate his supremacy, since each one of His characteristics is fully perfected; any conception of the divine without such attributes is impractical in the context of everyday worship, compared to the useless concept of the incorporeal Brahman. Moreove, modern devotional monotheistic schools, such as Vaishnavism and Shaivism, worship their own supreme deities (Vishnu and Shiva) as the only Ishvara; Gaudiya Vaishnavism holds that Krishna is the supreme personality in the universe, representing the monistic essence of all being, including Brahman. This concept emerged in post-Vedic literature, especially the "Bhagavadgita," where Krishna is referred to as "bhutanam ishvarah," the lord of all creatures, a transcendent god who is the ground of all existence as well as a anthropomorphic figure worthy of an individual's unquestioning devotion.
ReplyDeleteGorgeous poem! Wise! Just what the public needs! Duane Vorhee's subsequent explanations: perfect!
ReplyDeleteRead the poem everybody!
Read Arlene Corwin on being a monad!