Monday, March 12, 2007

Devatas came and are gone

Hadees 684 of chapter 49 of al-Kafi states that there was no knowledge that God had given to Prophet that he did not share with Ali.
See the narration:
Indeed (angel) Gabriel brought two pomegranates to the Messenger of Allah ate one of them; then he broke the other into two, and ate one half himself and gave the other half to ‘Ali to eat. Then the Messenger of Allah said: ‘O my brother! Do you know what these two pomegranates ere? He said: ‘No.’ He said: ‘The first was the prophethood and you have no part in it, but the other was Knowledge and you are an (equal) partner with me in it.’ I said: ‘May Allah make things well for you, how is this? How did he become a partner with him in it?’ He said: ‘Allah did not teach Mohammad any knowledge, without commanding him to teach it to Ali.
You will be interested to know that a verse from Svetasvatara-Upanishad says:
One ate the sweet fruit and the other looked on without eating.
Not only this, it is evident from the following verses of Svetasvatara-Upanishad that Mohammad and Ali are being talked about. See for yourself:
IV.I.
He who is one, without any colour, by the manifold exercise of his power distributes many colours in his hidden purpose and into whom in the beginning and at the end the universe is gathered. May He endow us with a clear understanding.
He has clearly been used for the Non-Manifest Absolute God by the Manifest Form of Absolute God. It is said that he was without any colour, but through his power he was able to create several powers with colour. Who these several powers with colour are will be described in the next verse. It is stated that all beginning emanates from Him and all end concludes in Him.
IV.2.
That indeed is Agni, that is Aditya, that is Vayu and that is the moon. That indeed is the pure. That is Brahma. That is the waters. That is Praja-pati.
This verse talks of the powers that got created out of the Absolute God, the colours that were given by One who Himself was without colour. Note that here again seven names have been taken.
IV.3.
You are woman. You are man. You are the youth and the maiden too. You, as an old man, otter along with a staff. Being born you become facing in every direction.
It is clarified here that the Absolute God alone needs to be worshipped. He is the power behind all women and all men, thereby suggesting that there were women also in the list of seven described above. This Absolute God, when His powers became manifested, appeared to look in all directions.
IV. 5.
The One Unborn, red, white and black, who produces manifold offspring similar in form (to himself), there lies the one unborn delighting. Another unborn gives her up, having had his enjoyment.
This verse clearly talks of Mohammad, Ali and Fatima. We know now that the one noor or Self became two and part of one when married to the second of the two led to the creation of remaining Masooms, viz. Hasan, Husain and 9 others in Husain’s progeny. It is to be noted here that they are referred to as Unborn, suggesting clearly that the relationship being talked about would be properly understood when they would take birth at a later stage. Mohammad’s saying that all of them were Mohammad and hence identical too is endorsed here when it is said that manifold offspring similar in form were produced. After having had his enjoyment, one Unborn, viz. Mohammad gave his daughter to another Unborn, who would be producing manifold offspring similar in form (to himself). All would be Mohammad.
We invite you to note that for the first time in these verses, the word ‘her’ has been used signifying that a female is beingtalked about. That female is none other but Fatima.
IV.6.
Two birds, companions (who are) always united, cling to the self-same tree. (Of these two) the one eats the sweet fruit, and the other looks on without eating.
Now that the three have been talked about, it is clearly stated that in spite of the fact that the two had the same origin (cling to the self-same tree), one ate the fruit of Prophethood, while the other looked on without eating. This is exactly what happened in the real life of Prophet Mohammad and Ali, as has been described earlier. Even here the word ‘self-same tree’ is remarkable and suggests that the two were related to the same Self. You are also invited to note the word ‘tree’ as you will find an inverted tree mentioned by Krishna in Gita. That tree of Gita too, with its roots in heaven and branches coming to the world, is nothing else but these Ahlebayts or devatas, who have their roots in heaven, in the Manifested Self, and they take birth on earth as branches.
Is there any doubt that the Upanishad above talks of Mohammad and Ali, who are described as always united and who both are produced from the same self? As if continuing with Mohammad’s statement that all the Masooms are same as Mohammad, this verse too confirms their equality and unity.
Next verse even states Ali’s position when caliphate was denied to him, which was rightfully his. In spite of this, Ali is happy to see that an increasingly large number of people are worshipping his lord – the Absolute God.
IV.7.
On the self-same tree, a person immersed (in the sorrows of the world) is deluded and grieves on account of his helplessness. When he sees the other, the Lord who is worshipped and His greatness, he becomes freed from sorrow.
We request you to read the Brhad-aranyaka Upanishad, which categorically states at one place that five selfs were created and at other place refers to certain names being taken, through which the demons were defeated. In the Brhad-aranyaka Upanishad, you have seen that Udgitha (or letter Aum) was chanted to defeat the demons. You have already seen earlier from another Upanishad that syllable ‘Aum’ signifies the fourteen devas, whose light or self was created prior to the creation of mankind.
According to verse 75 of Sad in Quran, He has created Adam with His two hands, matter and spirit, which gives man the distinctive power of expression, termed as biyan by the Quran. In Brhad-aranyaka Upanishad, this speech has been named ‘bhan’. Is there much difference?
Muslims know nothing about the constitution of spirit mentioned in Sad. The spirit mentioned here is nothing but the Divine Spirit (Paramatma) or the Manifest Self created by God as an intermediary between man and the Absolute Non-Manifest God. Upanishads and Vedas have dwelled extensively on highlighting this relationship between man and God through the Divine Spirit. If the Muslims too come to the same conclusion that the spirit talked about in Sad is actually the Paramatma or the Manifest Self of the Upanishads, Vedas and Gita, then will have no problem in understanding the Quranic verses which talk of God being nearer to us than the artery in our neck. After all, there are several Upanishads who have described the relationship of the Manifest Self or Divine Spirit to the self and spirit inside us, and Quran too is referring to the spirit that was used in the creation of Adam.
The importance of having an intermediary between us and God is that it endows man with vast potentialities and scope for progress and development. It is this relationship of man with God through the 14 devatas or Prophet Mohammad and rest of Ahlebayts, which gives the man the power to progress and become one like them. They are the manifest proofs of God on earth and very much in our reach. In fact, it is possible for us to copy them, to take lessons from their acts and lifestyle and try to upgrade us to their level. This is the reason why Gita says that those who are able to recognize this Self truly, their character start showing the characteristics of God’s personality.
The disappearance and the promised re-appearance of the living Imam Mahdi resemble the disappearance and the promised re-appearance of Isa; both are examples for the house of Ismael and the house of Israel respectively (Zukhruf: 59). When both of them will re-appear at the end of the world, before the day of resurrection, prophet Isa will follow Imam Mohammad Mahdi, and the whole mankind will follow them.
Five persons talked about in the aforementioned verses of Upanishad are the five persons (Panjetan) about whom Prophet Mohammad had said that the world was created from the noor (light-heat) of the Panjetan (the Five Persons). He said:
The highest seat and the throne (arsh and kursi) from the noor of Prophet Mohammad; Angels and the book and pen (malaika and loh-o-qalam) from the noor of Ali.
Earth and sky (zameen-o-aasman) from the noor of Fatima
Moon and Sun (chand-o-sooraj) from the noor of Hasan
Heaven and the apsaras of heaven (jannat and hoorane-jannat) from the noor of Husain.
Writing about this, Pooya/Ali Commentary states: “The Holy Prophet and the twelve holy Imams (are those) in whom each quality is manifest in its highest perfection and completeness. They are those who have been chosen by Allah to guide mankind towards the path of Allah through the Quran. Therefore, Shias, after the Holy Prophet, follow only Ali and the holy Imams as their guides because of their unique merits, acknowledged even by their enemies. The whole Muslim world, without exception, knows and accepts the fact that it was Ali alone who earned the unique title of mazhar ul aja-ib - the manifestation of (divine) wonders, because Ali and the Holy Prophet are the manifestations of one and the same divine light.”
It is interesting to note that both the Upanishads and the traditions of the Prophet have equated the Ahlebayt to the rope from Allah. Even Gita has referred to the rope but we will be addressing it at an appropriate time.
Quran says:
Hold fast, all of you together, to the cord of Allah.
It gives a mental impression that a rope is hanging from the heaven so that those who are below on the ground (earth) may climb up, by holding it, and reach the presence of the Lord to seek His nearness.
Abu Sa-id Khudri reports that he heard the Holy Prophet saying:
I leave behind me, among you, two ropes. If my people hold fast to these two ropes, after me, they shall not go astray. They are the book of Allah, hung from the heaven unto the earth, and my Ahlebayt. One of them is greater than the other. Be it known that these two shall never be separated from each other; and joined together, they shall meet me at the spring of Kausar. (Tafsir Kabir and Durr al Manthur)
In another similar declaration, known as hadees-e-Saqalain, the Prophet stated:
My Ahlebayt, among you, are like the ark of Nooh (Noah). He who sails on it will be safe, but he who holds back shall perish.
The Holy Prophet has said:
Verily the Quran has been revealed in seven letters. There is no letter which has not an evident and a latent meaning; and verily Ali knows the evident as well as the latent. (Itiqan-Sahih Bukhari)
A commentator of Quran says: “The holding fast to the book of Allah and “Mohammad and ale Mohammad” means total attachment with and devotion to them because all good generates from this act which enables man to rise upward and reach nearness to Allah. The life of the Holy Prophet and his Ahlebayt is the best example of the teachings of the Quran.
They are also called Ahlebayts (Men of the House) because a verse from Quran addressed them in this manner. As regards to Masooms (meaning Pure or Sinless), that too is said in the light of certain verses from Quran, which say that it is the wish of God that they (the Ahlebayts) are kept pure.

The Divine Messengers came to teach human beings regarding the path of self-building, nourishment and perfection of self, as well as to accompany them as their guide and helper in this vital and determinant task. They came for cleansing and sanctifying human selves from their indecent moral characteristics and animal instincts, and bestowing upon them superior spiritual virtues. The prophets lectured human beings about the self-building program, acted as helper and knowledgeable guides in identifying the ugliness in their moral conducts, and showed them the ways and means for self-control against their selfish whims and passions. By timely issuance of warning and intimidating they succeeded in sanctifying the human selves from the moral obscenities and indecencies. They came for plantation of sapling of higher moral virtues within human souls, nurtured and protected it for its eventual blooming, and in doing so acted as guides, friends, and helpers of the people by encouraging and pursuing them towards the desired sublime objectives. The Holy Prophet has said: I emphasize the importance of good morals for you because God-Almighty has sent me especially for this purpose. (Bihar al-Anwar vol. 69, p-375) He further said: I was appointed for the Prophethood so that I may accomplish the important task of moral perfection within human souls. (Al Mustadarak, vol. 2, p-282)

They will ask the (of Mohammad) concerning the spirit. Say: The spirit is by command of my Lord, and knowledge ye have been vouchsafed but little. (Quran, 17:85)

In the above verse the spirit has been defined as an existence belonging to the celestial world which is superior than the material world. Also, it is clearly stated that very little knowledge has been given about the identity of the spirit. The reason for giving little knowledge is perhaps that already the preceding messengers had given a great deal of this knowledge, be it by Krishna among the Indo-Aryans or Avicenna among the Greeks. God knew that when it will be the time for all religions to shed their deviations and come to the One and Only True Path, truth will get unveiled even if it has been discarded and lies underneath several layers of untruth. Fact remains that the Upanishads and Gita contain far greater depth of knowledge about self and its true relationship between with the Manifest Self and then with the Absolute God. This knowledge is far greater in proportion to that given by all other religions of the world. It is only through recourse to the Upanishads and Gita that a lot many mysteries related to Quranic verses and the sayings of the Masooms can be understood. Whereas it is only through recognizing the Masooms that a true relationship with one’s self can be built with the Absolute God. The true composition of the Divine Spirit (Paramatma) is the subject of Upanishads. How the spirit has to be recognized has been dealt in the narrations belonging to Islam. Isn’t it evident that in the present conditions, Hindu scriptures cannot be understood without recourse to Islamic scriptures and neither can Islamic scriptures be properly comprehended without access to Hindu scriptures? The two are made complimentary to each other. And we are only finding it now!

Ali is the Saviour

The third chapter of Svetasvatara Upanishad describes Rudra further. Here it is explicitly stated that Rudra is the great seer, and source and origin of all the devatas, the one who gave birth to the golden germ. It is he who rules all these words with his ruling powers, he is the protector, and it is he who after creating all worlds withdraws them at the end of time. See what III.1-2 says: The one who spreads the net, who rules with his ruling powers, who rules all the world with his ruling powers, who remains one, while arise and continue to exist, they who know that become immortal.Truly Rudra is one, there is no place for a second, who rules all these worlds, with his ruling powers. He stands opposite creatures. He, the protector, after creating all worlds, withdraws them at the end of time. You had seen, while reading about the time that the devatas in heaven were given power and knowledge. The extent to which they have been empowered can be seen from the aforementioned verses. It is Rudra or Ali as devata who has spread this net of creation and who rules overall the worlds, who is the protector, after creation, and who it will be who will withdraw the creation towards the end. Interestingly, there is a small prayer to Ali that some of his devout followers recite when in need of help. It goes like this: Nade aliyan mazharul ajaib (Try to call Ali, who is the carrier of miraculous powers of God); Tajidho aunan laka fin nawaib, kullo hamminv wa ghamminv sayanjali (you will find him coming to assistance in each of your problems and calamities); be azamateka ya Allah (in the name of the greatness of God), be nubuvvateka ya Mohammad (in the name of the prophethood of Mohammad), be vilayateka (in the name of Ali’s successorship) ya Ali, ya Ali, ya Ali adriknee (O Ali, O Ali, O Ali help me). You have seen that Solomon called him and Noah too called him at the time they needed help. Pity we couldn’t identify the truth. History records that much later than the time of Vedas, and after Puranas were compiled by Vyasa, there was a time when the Vedas had fallen in disuse and forgotten, and the Brahmans were again instructed in them by Saraswata, son of Saraswati. It was perhaps this reason why a river was named Saraswati, and a distinguished tribe of the Brahmans were known as Saraswata, based on the name of Saraswata who revived the Vedas once they had fallen in disuse. It seems that these Brahmans continued to hold on to the real teachings of Vedas till the time of the advent of Prophet Mohammad. We can say this because it was these Saraswata Brahmans who went to the aid of Husain, when enemies at Karbala surrounded him. By the time they reached Karbala, Husain had already been killed. The fact that these Saraswata Brahmanas realized the true position of Husain through their scriptures can be understood from the fact that they stayed back in Iraq even when they got to know that Husain and his friends had been killed. The Saraswata Brahmans, who proudly call themselves Husaini Brahmans to this date, played a key part in avenging the killing of Husain. In the process, several of them got killed but they returned to their native country only when they had seen with their eyes that the killers of Husain got killed. Nobody ponders and thinks why certain group of Brahmans would go all the way to fight for a person, who had been surrounded by the mighty armies of the strongest king of the period in the entire world. Our view is that these Brahmans identified, through their scriptures, particularly from the Vedas, that those who had taken birth in the distant land of Arabia, were indeed the devatas that they had waiting for. Not this alone, there were Jats in Basra on whom Ali trusted the guardianship of treasury when fighting with Muawiya, Yazid’s father. And there are recounts of a king from Northern India, sending his chief minister to Arabia to identify whether the person who claimed to be prophet was indeed the one the Indians had been waiting for. That the Chief Minister came to realize this can be understood from the fact that he went on to stay in the company of Mohammad and asked him to pass on his teachings. At least 40 of the sayings of Mohammad are attributed to this Chief Minister of the King of North India.

There remains no doubt that Mohammad, Ali, Fatima, Hasan and Husain are the five who have been referred to as Panjetan or Five Persons in Muslim traditions. Mohammad’s daughter Fatima was married to Mohammad’s cousin Ali, and had two sons, Hasan and Husain, thereby completing five. Nine successive sons of Husain completed the fourteen. From Imam Ali to Imam Mohammad Mahdi, they are the 12 Imams or Divinely designated successors of Mohammad – the last of the Prophets. These are called the 12 Adityas or Maruts in the Upanishads and Vedas. It is these 12 Imams along with Fatima and Mohammad who are called the fourteen Masooms or the fourteen devatas of Vedas and Upanishads. Devatas and Manus are one and the same. They have seven names and as an Upanishad said earlier, seven and seven makes fourteen.
You would say how is it that the 14 are being mentioned in Upanishads and Vedas, when they actually took birth much later on earth. Fact is that Upanishads and Vedas have never said that they had taken birth on earth. At all times, Upanishads and Vedas are talking of them as dwelling in the heavens. Prayers are made to them to come on earth, to take birth in human form so as to show us the way and lead us to the worship of God.
It so happened that the Formless, Non-Manifest God decided to have a Manifest Form and in the process created a Divine Self or Paramatma. This Self too used to worship the One Non-Manifest God. It divided into two, which became five and nine more were born in succession from the fifth to make it fourteen. The process is even more elaborately described in certain Upanishads which say that One enlarged as if a man and woman in close embrace and then divided into two, exactly similar to each other, and similar to the one from whom division had occurred. The female half emanated from one of them who united with the other to give birth to two Aswins. In the progeny of the later of the two Aswins, the nine devatas were born.
Another interesting observation is that the word devata is derived from divya or light. And noor too means light. The noors of the fourteen that has been referred to time and again in the Islamic traditions and it is said that this noor was in existence even prior to the creation of Adam.
Through these lights or devatas, God created the rest of the beings. A direct relationship was created between the selfs of all the animate and non-animate life on earth and the Manifest Self whose constituents are the fourteen Masooms or fourteen devatas in their light or noor state.
This process is exactly similar to the origin of Mohammad, his daughter Fatima, Ali, Hasan, Husain and the remaining 9 Masooms or Imams. This is also similar to what has been described in the Buddhist scriptures.
However, we do not want you to believe that the two are the same, until you ascertain it yourself. In this BOOK we have given their description and invite you to assess on the basis of your reason and intellect whether the two are actually the same or not. If your doubts have still not been removed, we are sure that by the time you will reach Part-II of this BOOK, which deals with the subject of the Vedas, you will have a clear understanding about God and His plan.

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