REALITY

Philosophically the Real is the self which is identical with the Brahman revealing itself in all, becoming the permanent background of the world-process. Religiously it is envisaged as the Divine Self-consciousness, pregnant with the whole course of the world, with its evolution and involution. Throughout its long career the oneness of the ultimate Spirit has been the governing ideal of the Hindu religion. The Rig Veda tells us of One Supreme Reality of which the learned speak variously. The Upanishads make out that the one Brahman is called by many names, according to the spheres of reality in which it is seen to function. The conception of Trimurti arises in the epic period, and is well established by the age of the Puranas. The analogy of human consciousness, with its three fold activity of cognition, emotion, and will suggests the view of the Supreme as Sat, Chit, Ananda - reality, wisdom and joy. The three gunas Satva or equanimity , born of wisdom, Rajas or energy, which is the outcome of spirited feelings and Tamas or heaviness, due to lack of enlightenment and control, are aspects of all existence and even God is not considered  to be an exception to this law of the multiplicity of all being. The three functions of Srishti or creation, Sthiti or maintenance, and Laya or destruction are traced to the three gunas of Satva, Rajas and Tamas. Vishnu the preserver, of the universe is the Supreme Spirit dominated by the quality of Satva ; Brahma, the creator, of the universe is the Supreme dominated by the quality of Rajas; and Siva , the destroyer , of the universe is the Supreme dominated by the quality of Tamas. The three qualities of the Supreme are developed into three distinct personalities and each of these representations of the Supreme is said to function through its own respective Sakti or energy. Brahma, Vishnu and Siva have Saraswati, Lakshmi and Uma as their respective Saktis. Strictly speaking all three qualities and functions are so well balanced in one Supreme that it cannot be said to possess any quality at all. The one incomprehensible God who is Omniscient, Omnipotent and Omnipresent appears to different minds in different ways.