Central to Sanaatan Dharma is the concept of God as a Divine Being who is limitless, all pervading and supreme. That Divine is omnipresent, that is, present in every single atom of creation, animate and inanimate, at the same time and at all times. He is omnipotent, able to perform any task, as nothing is impossible for His limitless powers to achieve. He is omniscient, knowing all and everything. This Supreme Being is called by many names, including Brahman or Supreme Being and Paramartma or Supreme Soul.
The Supreme exists in two states: Nirgun Brahm and Sakar Brahm. When God is formless and infinite, without any limitations of physical characteristics such as form, shape, gender, colour, qualities, He is Nirgun Brahm or Nirakar Brahm, God without qualities. When Nirgun Brahm takes a form and assumes a finite shape with qualities and attributes, for example, Shri Vishnu, Lord Shiva or Durga Mata, He is called Sakar Brahm or Sagun Brahm, God with qualities.
Sanaatan Dharma is a theistic religion and we believe in the existence of a Supreme Being, whether Sagun Brahm or Nirgun Roop. There are many who are atheistic and do not believe in the existence of a God, for many reasons. One of the reasons given for the non-belief in God is the fact that there is no proof of his existence, meaning that he is not visible in a physical form. However, that Divine Lord assumes a physical form only under certain conditions.
What evidence is there that God exists and what can we do to set the conditions right for that unseen God to become seen? Let us answer this by asking a question. Have any of us seen air? No, we have not and cannot, simply because it is not in a form that is visible to the human eyes. However, we know that it exists, because we have felt it and we know we are alive because of air. If we were to stretch out our hand and move it from side to side in a fast motion, we would feel the force of the air against our hands. Therefore, we know that physical sight of a phenomenon is not the only deciding factor of whether it exists or not. It is the same with God. We may not be able to see Him but we would have experienced the presence and miracle of God in our lives on many occasions.
To take the analogy a step further, we may not see air when it is in the form of a gas or vapour, but it may become visible if the process of cooling is applied to it. It then changes its form from gas to water and then eventually turns to a solid, ice. So too with the case of God: as Nirgun Brahm we may not see Him, but if we have unwavering faith, belief and love for that Lord, then He assumes a physical form and appears before us. For that Nirgun Brahm to manifest as a physical form and stand before us, we must apply the process of prem, bhakti and shradha (love, devotion and faith).
In the Shri Ramacharitramanas, Baal Kaand, when the Devtas were trying to locate the Lord, Shivaji made the statement, “Hari Vyapak Sarvatra Samana Prem Tay Pragat Hohi Mai Jaanaa” – God is present everywhere and, through love, he is revealed. Many see Sanaatan Dharma as a polytheistic religion, where there are many Gods. However, scriptures state, “Ek Brahm, Dwete Anasti”: “One God with no second.”
Nirakar Brahm, that Unmanifest, becomes Sakar Brahm, manifested in various forms, but it is the same one God. Everything in this world is but a differentiated state of the one Supreme Being. As a result of Maya and our clouded intellect, we see the world in duality with each entity being separate. However, the reality is that there is only One. Upon realisation of this truth, upon identifying with the Divine, only then do we achieve Moksha or liberation. When we are one with the Divine Lord, there is freedom from this world of duality.
If five containers of water were placed in an open area, you would see five reflections of the sun in the water. But are there five suns? No, what we see are reflections of that one sun. So too, all forms of God are but manifestations and reflections of that Paramartma. That One Infinite Lord is complete at all times. Just as reflections of the sun do not diminish the wholeness and brilliance of the sun, so too the manifestations of the Lord do not make him less complete. Therefore, even when the Lord manifests and creates from Himself and out of Himself, he is not diminished. When he reabsorbs into Himself, he is just as complete as before. Everything that emerges from the Lord is just another state of that complete Paramartma, the Supreme Soul that permeates all and is all.
The sacred mantra, “Om Poornamida Poornamidam…” speaks to the completeness and infinite nature of the Divine. It means that the Divine is complete regardless of whether anything is taken away from it and even when anything is added to it, it is not more complete. Within that Lord everything is contained, from Him comes everything and to Him, everything will return.
If we consider the mango seed, within that seed is the potential for the roots, trunk, leaves, fruit and the entire creation of that tree. When that tree grows and bears fruit, in the seed of the fruit, is another tree waiting to flourish. Consider also the waves and the ocean: The waves rise out of the ocean but are not separate from the ocean and do not reduce the ocean. The waves merge once again with the ocean, but do not add to the ocean. They are one and the same, just as the Lord and His manifestations are one and the same.
