The Hindu : Miscellaneous / Religion : Existence of God

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Wednesday, May 05, 2004

Miscellaneous

Miscellaneous - Religion

Existence of God

CHENNAI, MAY 5 . Every individual at sometime or the other in his life is confronted with the question whether God exists or not. It is necessary to find out what is the basis for belief in God. If it is dogmatic faith there will not be certainty because the Supreme Reality is beyond human perception and hence cannot be proved. If it is based on enquiry there will be conviction that there is a supreme power behind all that we perceive.

In his discourse, Swami Paramananda Bharathi said it could be seen that the result of any activity was more fruitful when performed with knowledge. When a person commits a mistake unknowingly the punishment is less when compared to that perpetrated knowingly. The result when scriptural teachings are followed with awareness is similarly more rewarding. As they deal with the Ultimate Reality one will realise God. An example will help to appreciate this. A villager who was used to drawing water from a well was astonished to obtain water from a tap during his first visit to a city. He had to be told that there was an overhead tank into which the owner of the house had pumped water from a sump. Such an explanation was necessary for him to understand that there was someone responsible for this.

If this logic is extended to water flowing in the rivers it is possible to trace their origin to the mountains and still the question remains as to who is ultimately responsible for them. The scriptures point out that God is behind all the phenomena for which human beings are not accountable. An atheist will immediately counter that these can be traced to Nature. The question then arises: "Is Nature inert or conscious?" If it is inert then there must be a conscious, omniscient, all pervading entity directing it, which is only God. On the other hand, if Nature is said to be conscious then this is what scriptures point to as God.

The analogy of an ornament made of gold is appropriate to understand that God is the ultimate cause. One knows that gold and a goldsmith are essential for the creation of an ornament. So one can be sure that God is the sentient cause of the universe; but then, from what does He create this universe? Such a doubt arises because in human understanding the material and intelligent causes for any object are different. But, in the case of the creation, God is both the sentient and material causes. The Vedas give the spider's web as example to substantiate how God creates the universe.

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