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TOP       =======UNDERSTANDING HINDUISM=========

EGOISM                          
            
THE FIRST CREATION                   
From The Mahabharata
Aswamadha Parva, Section  XL
Translated by Sri Kisari Mohan Ganguli

Brahma said:  From the unmanifest first sprang Mahat (the Great Soul), endued with great intelligence, the source of all qualities.That is said to be the first creation. The Great Soul is signified by these synonymous words -- the Great Soul, Intelligence, Vishnu, Jishnu, Sambhu of great valour, the Understanding, the means of acquiring knowledge, the means of perception, as also fame, courage and memory. It stands, pervading everything in the universe. Of great power, that Being is stationed in the heart of all. Minuteness, Lightness and Affluence, are his. He is the Lord of all, and identical with effulgence, and knows not decay.

In Him are all those who comprehend the nature of the understanding, all those who are devoted to goodness of disposition, all those who practise meditation, who are always devoted to Yoga, who are firm in truth, who have subdued their senses, who are possessed of knowledge, who are freed from cupidity, who have conquered wrath, who are of cheerful hearts, who are endued with wisdom, who are liberated from ideas of mineness, and who are devoid of egoism.

All these, freed from every kind of attachment, attain to the status  of Greatness.That person who understands that holy and high goal, viz., the Great Soul, becomes freed from delusion.The self-born Vishnu becomes the Lord in the primary creations. He who thus knows the Lord lying in the cave(Heart of people), the Supreme, Ancient Being, of universal form, the golden one, the highest goal of all persons endued with understanding, - that intelligent man lives, transcending the understanding.

E G O I S M
Mahabharata, Aswamedha Parva
Section XLI)

Brahma said, That Mahat, who was first produced is called Egoism. When it sprang up as I, it came to be called the second creation. That Egoism is said to be the source of all creatures, for these have sprung from its modifications. It is pure effulgence and is the supporter of consciousness. It is Prajapati. It is deity, the creator of deities, and of mind.It is that which creates the three worlds. It is said to be that which feels - I AM ALL THIS.- That is the eternal world existing for those sages who are contented with knowledge relating to the soul, who have meditated on the soul, and who have won success by Vedic study and sacrifices. By consciousness of soul one enjoys the qualities. That source of all creatures, creates (all creatures) even in this way. It is that which causes all changes. It is that which causes all beings to move. By its own light it illuminates the universe likewise.

From Egoism were verily born the five great elements. They are earth, air, space(akasha), water and light. In these five great elements, in the matter of sound, touch, colour, taste, and smell, all creatures become deluded. When at the close of the destruction of the great elements, the dissolution of the universe approaches, a great fear comes upon all living creatures.

Every existent object is dissolved into that from which it is produced. The dissolution takes place in an order that is the reverse of that in which creation takes place. When all existent objects, mobile and immobile, become dissolved, wise men endued with powerful memory never dissolve.
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Related articles
Maya
Creation
Dissolution

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