[MD] The Beginning of it All

[Dwaipayan Lahiri]

Dear Ham,

Nice of you to respond.
>
> You present a poignant bit of Vedantic prose that recalls the first  
> chapter
> of Genesis.  It's a dramatic, enigmatic account of the Beginning.   
> It's also
> very descriptive where description isn't logically possible.  Like  
> most
> Eastern mystical writing, it raises more questions than answers.
>
If you read the complete article (link I've posted), you'll see that  
Griffith's translation is typical of most Western Efforts to  
understanding Indic materials, and the root of a lot of  
misconceptions about these materials (thus we have semi-informed  
people brushing off stalwarts such as Adi Shankara as 3rd level bench  
warmers -- sheesh! Talk about sass...)

As far as similarities with the Genesis goes, I'd venture to say that  
there is a huge difference between transmission by rote/memory  
without experiential knowledge. That's the difference between the  
Biblical writings and realized material such as the Rig Veda (which  
incidentally predates Vedantic material by at least a few thousand  
years).


> I would question, for example, this line:
>> Darkness there was: at first concealed in darkness
>> this All was indiscriminated chaos.
>
> Why is there "chaos" or "darkness before beingness?
>

Like I mentioned, do take the time to read my analysis of this (often  
patronizingly trivialized) enigma called the Nasadiya Sukta.
http://medhajournal.com/content/view/345/76/


> I prefer this "symmetric-deistic" analysis of Creation by the  
> Israeli art
> critic Tsion Avital, from which I quote in part:

I will address this part of your email in a separate post.
>
> But, then, I don't know exactly what specific "pattern" you wish to  
> follow.
>
> Thanks for the reference, Dwai.
>
> --Ham
>

What you have in the Nasadiya (besides this semi-conscious  
translation by Griffith -- which is considered the "BEST" of the lot  
by many indologists) Sukta is greatly clear representation of the  
formation of Taiji, the creation of Yang from Yin. There is no  
boredom here. As for the reason "Why" -- Who knows?

Regards,

Dwai


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