How The World Came To Be

“Material nature is only the ingredient because actually the manifestation is caused by His energy. The material energy is also His energy; just as the combination of father and mother is the cause of childbirth, so the combination of the material energy and the glance of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the cause of the manifestation of the material world.” (Shrila Prabhupada, Shrimad Bhagavatam, 3.32.7 Purport)

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It’s the question parents don’t want to hear. Indeed, if the person asking the question is a young child, it means they are not mature enough to understand the actual answer. Therefore something vague suffices, something that will stop further questioning. Or the parents will defer to a professional, someone who has studied how best to respond to children who are inquisitive about this topic.

The question is “How did I get hear?” The parents know the correct answer. It is the combination of their energy. The father provides the seed. The mother provides the egg. When the two combine, the result is an embryo, which eventually brings the new life into the world. The answer is simple enough, but the specifics on the original transport are a little too adult-themed for the ears of young children.

The adult is more equipped to understand the actual answer. In the same way, they are ready to know the cause of the entire creation. The child-like remain oblivious on this issue. The parents answering the child sometimes make up stories. “Oh, we got you from the supermarket.” “Oh, you suddenly appeared to us one day, and we were very happy.”

At least in those instances the parents will acknowledge they are lying. They are doing so for a specific purpose. The people putting forth the theory that everything came into existence through chance don’t acknowledge their ignorance. In fact, they will argue to the death with anyone who disagrees with them. The intelligent person takes issue. They have some nagging questions to this theory. They don’t accept it blindly.

“If we came from monkeys, why are monkeys still around? If we’re the fittest species, why does it look like other species live more peacefully? The human birth is like torture for a lot of people. It’s due especially to the increased intelligence. They say ignorance is bliss, and so the animals would have to be in the highest bliss. Also, if everything occurred from a bang of chemicals, why can’t the same be duplicated today? If I give you some chemicals, can you create the sun? Can you create an object that remains suspended in space for an extended period of time, providing heat and light that never exhaust?”

The correct answer is that God created everything. But again, this is a little vague, sort of like attributing the birth of a child to love. The intelligent person wants more, they want someone to expand on this answer. Fortunately, we don’t have to remain in the dark. As much detail as we can possibly comprehend is included in Vedic literature. The Shrimad Bhagavatam is the cream of Vedic literature, and it is not surprising that it includes details of the creation of the universe.

There is the material nature. This is dull matter. Think of a big pot of clay. You can take the clay and shape it however you want. The key is that someone must first take the clay. It does not move on its own and get into shape. There has to be a higher force instigating the changes.

The clay is a kind of energy and the instigator is an intelligent being. Just as the mother and father combine to bring new life into this world, the mother that is the material nature combines with the father in the Supreme Personality of Godhead to give us the universe. It’s as simple as that. A person who understands this fundamental truth has taken a great step forward in the progression of the consciousness.

A real progressive is someone who is marching towards the ultimate objective of pure God consciousness. One way to be conscious of the Supreme Lord is to know, understand, and appreciate how He effortlessly creates this and many other universes. He is both the original mother and the original father. The material nature is one of His energies; its origin is Him. There is infinite recursion with the origin of things and also the end. Time is infinite in both directions. There is always a beginning to a beginning and an end to an end. Only the Supreme Lord can comprehend this; the human brain cannot.

God and the material nature combine to make the universe. This is how it comes to be. Vedic literature also explains the “why.” The material world exists to reform souls who have forgotten their original consciousness. Those who want to pretend to be God get to roam in a land where He is easily forgotten. Through evolution of the spirit, in changing from one body to another, eventually there is the birth in the human species. Ideally this is the final birth. The human being has the best chance of God consciousness, and one of the first steps is understanding the origin of the creation. The Supreme Lord, who is all-attractive and all-powerful, is there to do much more than create. He is there to be served in love, an occupation which lasts forever and brings bliss for the same amount of time.

In Closing:

Instead of with explanation trying,

Parents to the children lying.

 

When of their origin asked,

Sometimes to professional tasked.

 

Adult the real fact equipped to hear,

Better also for truth of creation clear.

 

Material nature and Supreme Lord a combination,

Made for souls with rebellious determination.