tman_and_moksa

SR No.: 020053
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: G N Joshi
Publisher: Gujarat University
Publication Year: 1965
Total Pages: 901
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 12 MB

Page 44

Acharya Shri Kailashsagarsuri Gyanmandir
12
Atman and Moksa
others and rules the universe as a sovereign.' Varuņa thus acts as the moral governor of the universe. In him the physical strength is combined with the moral authority. The principle of moral order, the Rta (*) is embodied in him. As Nicol Macnicol says--"Perhaps the most significant fact of all in regard to this Vedic deity, is the connexion of the doctrine of Řta or the moral order with his name and authority."'In the hierarchy of gods, Varuņa stands as the supreme who has under his guardianship the cosmic and the moral order of the universe. Thus in the process of philosophical systematisation in passing from polytheism or numerous gods to one single all-in-all commanding figure like the Varuņa to whom all others are subordinated; as Radhakrishnan remarks, we pass from a polytheistic anthropomorphism to a spiritual monotheism. But for the ethical authority of Varuņa the monotheism could not have been called spiritual. Any power of the highest magnitude divested of its moral use for the betterment of human life turns demonic in nature.
Analogous to the idea of human soul a mention of the world-soul known as the Hiranyagarbha does not escape our sight in the RgVeda. The Hiranyagarbha is the first product of the primeval waters which are created by the first principle known as
Griffith R. T. H. (Tr.): The Hymns of the RgVeda. Rg Veda-I, 24–25. Tr. Vol. I, p. 30-33; and VII, 84, 86. Tr. Vol II, pp. 80–82.
2 Macnicol Nicol : Indian Theism, p. 14. 3 Radhakrishnan S. : Indian Philosophy, Vol. I, p. 91.
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