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Scientists are accustomed to the well-known
phenomenon known as the "Big Bang," an occurrence which is regarded as the
origin of creation of the universe. The meaning attributed to this phenomenon
is that the universe was originally a single Cosmic Atom, as it were, known in
Sanskrit terminology as Brahmanda, which split into two parts by a bang,
an instantaneous separation of itself into two parts, representing what may be
called the Cosmic Subject and the Cosmic Object. The Brihadaranyaka
Upanishad has already proclaimed that there was one Universal Self which
projected Itself as a subjective side and an objective side of Itself, the
Cosmic Positive and the Cosmic Negative. The intriguing secret behind the
relationship of the two Cosmic parts seems to be that there is on the one hand
the duality of the positive and the negative and there is on the other hand the
correlativity of the positive and the negative, since the two phases are
actually the two types of the phenomenal occurrence in the otherwise unitary
indivisible original existence.
Sage Yajnavalkya says that each unit of
life is actually like a split "pea," in which one cannot easily say whether the
pea is one or two things joined together. Also, the very idea of a bi-polar
existence implies the interference of space and time, and even if it is
accepted that the apparent two-fold life is an appearance of the original one
life, the idea of "another" cannot arise unless there is some medium through which
it looks as if it is there, just as one person can look like two persons when
one beholds oneself through the medium of a mirror. Such a possibility involves
the existence of space and time which are the most elusive things everywhere in
creation. No one can understand what these actually mean since these are
involved in the process of thinking itself, and no one can also deny that they
do exist.
The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad goes on
to say that the two Cosmic parts are comparable to husband and wife, in which
context, the one part rushes towards the other part to come in contact with it
while the other part wishes to avoid the contact since such a contact is not
possible as the so-called "other" really cannot stand apart from that which
seeks the contact. Humorously, through an analogy, the Upanishad says that the
wife aspect ran away to escape the husband aspect coming in contact with it
since an attempt at such a contact looked meaningless and also abortive. The
Upanishad goes further and says that the bi-polar wholeness reduces itself to
lesser and lesser "wholes," from gods in heaven down through humans, animals,
plants and trees and even the lowest of creatures like insects, thus making out
that this dual pull is present everywhere in creation from the highest to the
lowest of created elements.
At the human level this principle of
bi-polar existence takes an interesting turn, since in the human being there is
an element of the instincts of the lower species and at the same time a reason
which reflects the characteristics of transcendental existence. While in the
earlier stages of evolution mentioned, the process of bi-polar existence
appears more or less as a spontaneous feature, at the human level it becomes
slightly complicated due to the reason and the instinct clashing with each
other almost everyday of one's life, causing a lot of misery. As the human
being is a unit in human society, the laws framed by society condition the
activities of a person, while the instinctive impulses come from the other
levels of life insist that they should have an upper hand over all things, and
when the instincts are strong enough they can rebel against social norms, much
to the chagrin of the individual, as is well-known in human history. In order
to obviate this problem of conflict between individual and society, people in a
common agreement among themselves have instituted a system called marriage.
Now, what exactly is marriage? It is quite
clear that it is a form of legalisation of the inherent instinct of the bi-polar
existence asserting itself and then a check upon any uncontrolled ravaging
activity of the instinct. The point is that a person cannot live totally
isolated from society since existence itself would be difficult without
cooperation from others. Inasmuch as this instinct is present in every person
and everyone would like to manifest it as much as possible, there would be
difficulty in such a behaviour since everyone else also would like to do the
same thing. This goes to say that the institution of marriage is a process of
granting limited freedom to the operation of the instinct permitting it to
operate within the circle of social norms, with due respect for the welfare of
everyone equally.
However, with all this that has been said
above, a question will arise as to why is there such an attraction between the
male and the female. Philosophically, to answer this question in the light of
what has been detailed above, the explanation would be the struggle of the two
parts of the one whole to unite themselves into a single unit of existence. But
as two things cannot become one, the sexual demand fails to fulfil its purpose
ending in exasperation, disillusionment and a distrust in the meaning of life
itself. The other aspect is the much neglected side of the phenomenon, namely,
Nature's intention to multiply the species. Everyone knows the power of Nature
and no one can resist it. The would-be entrant's push towards this world, which
we call the coming of a child into existence, is the process of an integral
impulse since the child is a whole being, as whole as either the father or the
mother. The pressure of the would-be individual, being very strong, compels the
male and the female to seek each other with great vehemence, to such an extent
that the male and the female elements would even wish to die if this impulse is
not going to be gratified, forgetting thereby that they are only serving the
injunctions of Nature, though Nature has cleverly put them under an illusion
that what they do is for their own personal benefit. Since everything is
destroyed by Time, there is a fear that one's existence would be terminated one
day, and to escape from the grief of this possibility, the biological impulse
wishes to reproduce itself as a child, a son or a daughter, which become a
replica of the parents, whom they hug as themselves, as if the child is
inseparable from the parents. Considering the fact that no one can go against
the injunctions of Nature, sexual life permitted by marriage should be regarded
as reasonable and unavoidable, but considering the welfare of the individual
himself or herself, it brings no such benefit, ending in depletion of energy,
slowly tending towards old age and physical extinction. It looks that the whole
drama of creation is a "hide and seek" affair of the truths of existence where
everyone does something helplessly under the impression that it is done
voluntarily for one's own assumed immortal satisfaction, while the fact is that
the entire exercise is a hypnotised person's supposed voluntary enterprise,
though commanded by the hypnotist's will.
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