For this article I am getting into philosophy and spirituality.
I believe that I am a spiritual person, though I am not a religious person. However, when I close my eyes and chant mantras, the image of Lord Krishna forms in my mind, maybe that’s the way my mind has been programmed since childhood.
During the 14 days of my COVID isolation, I spend a lot of time reading about philosophy, reading the Bhagwad Gita and also articulating my thoughts in a journal. I persent some pages from my journal in todays Blog
Let us delve into how the word “Bhagwan” or God came into existence. It is actually an acronym of the combination of 5 elements of nature.
- BHA – Bhoomi – Earth
- G – Gagan – Sky, Space
- V – Vayu – Air
- A – Agni – Fire
- N – Neer – Water
The early vedas or upanishads (1500 – 1200 BC) do not mention or refer or use the term “Bhagwan”. the oldest sanskrit texts use the term “Brahman” or “The Universe” to represent an abstract “Supreme Soul” or “Absolute Reality”. Nature was worshipped during this period.
The later vedic texts (1100 – 500 BC) such as Bhagwad Git and Puranas refer to the word Bhagwan for dieties like Krishna, Vishnu, Shiva.
During the Bhakti movement (8th to 18th century), Bhagwan started to be used typically for any deity to whom prayers are offered like Rama, Ganesha, Krishna, Brahma, Shiva, Vishnu and many more.
The Vishnu Purana defines Bhagwan as “He who understands creation and dissolution, the appearance and disappearance of beings, the wisdom and ignorance, should be called Bhagvan or Bhagwan”.
The Buddhists refer to Gautam Buddha as Bhagwan. Jains refer to Mahavira as their Bhagwan.
My perspective – We can train our mind and body with the help of certain techniques and bring about an awareness of our soul to become the “Param Aatma” or “Supreme Soul” or “God”.
There is GOD or BHAGVAN within each of us, as we are made up of the same 5 elements that constitute the universe, the same 5 elemens which are collectively called “Bhagvan”. We simply need to realize this and bring about inner awareness of the soul and practice “Conscious Living”.
Would love to know your views on it. Do put in a comment about your prespective on Bhagvan
