Conception of creation and man in Hinduism is entirely different
from Christianity. The Hindu teaching on creation (projection) was far ahead of
time even for the modern era. The Hindu thought existed thousands of years
before Bible and Jesus.
Christian theological notions or semitic thought has a
linear conception of time, according to which time is like a line with an A and
a B as its ends and creation began at or near point A and will end at B. God, a
Being outside the process, is at the helm of it. He created many kinds of
living beings, and over and above them all, He created man in His own image.
When He accomplished this end of creation, He was satisfied, and He left all
the rest of creation for man’s enjoyment. What His purpose was in all this is
anybody’s guess. There is also the idea, that, later, man went against the
Almighty and as a consequence, was in danger of being damned and destroyed, had
it not been for God’s mercy of atoning for his sins by the blood of His Son.
Thus after man’s sinning, a purpose is created for the rest of human history,
although we cannot think of any purpose for events that took place before his
sinning.
The Hindu conception of creation and man is different from Christianity.
In Hinduism creation has no beginning. It is a cyclic process in which a long
period of manifestation of the worlds with and without sentient beings takes
place, followed by an equally long period of dissolution or withdrawal of the
world system into their causal condition. This process repeats itself
indefinitely. Hence there is no beginning but only repetition.
Whatever exists
goes back into the germinal condition and, after a period of abeyance, comes
out again. This cosmic process is called Srishti, ‘projection from a latent
condition,’ which differs in meaning from the word ‘creation’ which conveys the
idea of an absolutely new beginning. The point to be noted is that, in this
scheme, there is nothing like a beginning or a culmination.
As per Hinduism, the earth sphere or Bhu is not the only
dimension; the universe is immensely vaster than the sense-world revealed by
even the most powerful telescopes.
Bhu includes all the planets, stars, and galaxies, in fact
all spheres of which the normal human senses, by themselves or with the aid of
instruments, can be aware of. In fact the Hindu thinkers speak of fourteen such
dimensions (Lokas), of which Bhu is the midmost, occupied by beings at a certain
stage of evolution. There are seven dimensions of an order lower than Bhu
(Atala, Vitala, Sutala, Rasatala, Talatala, Mahatala, Patala) and six higher
(Bhuva, Suva, Maha, Jana, Tapa, Satya).
So man (Jiva) occupying the Loka called Bhu can evolve into
higher and higher stages of refinement until in Satyaloka he attains unity with
the Supreme Spirit. So, from the point of view of Vedantic thought, there is no
meaning in speaking of man as the culmination of creation. Man is a link in the
evolution of the Spirit. When the growth possible in the earth sphere is
complete, the Jiva goes to other spheres for further evolution.
The process of manifestation (Srishti) and dissolution
(Pralaya) is an eternal process, in the nature of things, or is a part of the
all-inclusive existence that is the Divine. All that we can say is that it is
His self-expression; it is not for the attainment of any extraneous purpose.
Creation is therefore described as Lila, a spontaneous and sportive upsurge of
the Supreme Being.
Source – excerpts from an article by Srimat Swami
Tapasyanandaji Maharaj (1904 to 1991), Vice President of the Ramakrishna Order
in the May 2018 edition of Vedanta Kesari Magazine.