Matter can neither be created nor destroyed! Nothing is lost when the candle burns! That is called the Law of indestructibility of Matter! It may look surprising but it is a fact. Matter can lose its shape and form but it will take a different form and shape. Destruction means transformation of one object into another. What happens when clay is destroyed? It has taken the shape of a pot! When the pot is broken it shatters into pieces but the clay aspect remains. When it is powdered and pulverised the particles of clay mix with earth but are not destroyed totally! Similarly Atma can neither be created nor destroyed. It is without a beginning, middle or end. Such Atma is retained by Paramatma and He acts very carefully during the period of Pralaya or deluge. It is said the great Markandeya Maharshi enjoyed the vision of that bliss! It is the prerogative of Paramatma to retain, protect and release the Atma according to situations!
A beautiful analogy of this action is that of the spider and its web! It weaves its sticky web and waits for small insects! The insects enter the web and are caught without any chance of release or liberation! The spider releases a thin thread to catch insects and again withdraws it into itself! The very object of the spider is to catch as many insects as possible and feast over them! Similarly Paramatma releases that which is in Him and later withdraws every creature into himself! He swallows up everything and protects and brings them out once again! It is He that grants boons.He himself is the Creator! He is the one that is created! He eats everything and is being swallowed! For the Grace of Lord Vishnu, one has to surrender himself and everything that belongs to him. He should pray that the Lord should take over all his responsibilities!
One of the most common names of the Lord is Vishnu. What does that name signify? The Upanishad and the scriptures proclaim, “ ajayamano bahudha vijayate”--without birth, He is born in many! and “ Ekah paratma bahudeha varti”- the One Paramatma manifests in many bodies! In other words Paramatma is all pervading. There is not not a single atom or a fraction of it that is not filled with It! Anything that is all pervading is called Vishnu! In the sloka on Sri Vinayaka, we find the word ‘Vishnu’. It has nothing to do with Lord Vishnu! It only means that Lord Vinayaka is all pervading!The Brahma Sutras lay down the requisites for the Parabrahman. What is He? What distinguishes Him from all other minor gods and others? The loftiest of all Gods, the Lord of everything in the universe should not have three important defects!
The Brahma Sutras lay down, “ Dushana traya rahityam Brahmanah parama lakshanam”. The Absolute should be free from three defects! The very fact that He is all pervading and all encompassing is a proof that he has no such defects! These are explained according to Tarka Sastra or Logic. What are the three defects which the Absolute should avoid? They are “ avyapti, ativyapti and asmbhavam” A clear research into the name Vishnu proves that the Absolute is devoid of these three defects! The word Vyapti means spreading all over. Avyapti is the opposite of Vyapti ie not spreading. Asmbhavam is something that can never happen. When I say the cow is white it doesn't mean that all cows are white. This is avyaptidefect. When I remark that all cows have horns and find horns on buffaloes too, there is the defect of ativyapti! A person points to another and says that he has taken bath in mirage and he has the lotus from the sky on his head and that he has a bow made of the horn of the rabbit! This is an example of the defect asambhavam. One can never take bath in a mirage as there is no water! There is no lotus in the sky and rabbit has no horn at all!
As Paramatma in the form of Vishnu is all pervading, we can never attribute the ‘avyapti’ defect to Him. He is the inner spirit of all animals plants, nature, mountains rivers and above all the Atma in all of us! There is no power higher than the Absolute Brahman! Hence there is no ativyapti defect in Him! There is nothing that is not in Him! Hence He has no ‘asambhava’ dosha!? It is because He transcends and remains above all these defects he is called Vishnu the all pervading, Omnipresent, Omnipotent and omniscient God! Arjuna was dumbfounded at the vision of Viswarupa that the Lord gave him on the battlefield of Kurukshetra! He was aghast at the worlds in the stomach of the Lord! He saw many people being swallowed up by the gigantic form! He shook with fear and after viewing the mighty form prayed Krisna to revert to his usual human form. Thus Paramatma comes in different forms, creates, protects and destroys everything according to His Will! There is nothing that he cannot do! He is “ Sarva Vyapi” who has pervaded in allHis creation
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