COSMIC ORDER

The term "cosmic order" essentially connotes that there is order based on stability, predictability, and regularity in every phenomenon and noumenon in the cosmic universe. It is often closely related to ideas of natural law, harmony, and balance.

In a way, cosmic order implies a fundamental governing structure of control, monitoring, and evaluation for the universe that governs its behaviour and the interactions of its various elements. Throughout human history, civilisations, cultures, and philosophical systems, this concept has been in existence. It is seen as a manifestation of divine will in some belief systems, while in others it is simply understood as an inherent aspect of the physical universe.

However, regardless of the variation, the underlying pattern behind the concept of cosmic order is normally associated with notions of stability, predictability, direction, purpose, and regularity in the workings of the cosmos.

 1. Outline

The cosmos is orderly, harmonious, and systematic. There is no deviation in any way. The cosmic order, in vedic philosophical parlance, "Ṛta" (Sanskrit ऋत ), is subscribed to Satya (Truth). The Vedic principle of natural order is believed to regulate and coordinate the operation of the universe on the natural, moral, and sacrificial levels. Satya (Truth) is the essence of governance, and order is its exterior as well as interior credo. It is followed by Dharma (a righteous order or way of life with no equivalent English translation) as the means and end of good governance. Order is the basic credo from the macrocosmic level to the microsubatomic level. whether we may look at the basic unit of our lives as family, community, society, nation-state, or international community. Even if we go beyond the level of the star and interplanetary objects, there is only order and no chaos. It is conspicuously manifested in their spherical movement and operation. Any slight deviation might result in a big catastrophe that would go beyond our imagination.

In the Vedas, the word "Ṛta" has been used quite frequently, but in later scriptures, its use came down. In its place, words like satya, truth, and dharma, righteousness, have been used more frequently, often carrying the same connotation as "Ṛta." "Ṛta" has also been used in the Vedas to convey many different ideas. The word "Ṛta" is derived from the root, ṛ—its meaning in the Rig Veda being ‘to go the right way, to be pious or virtuous'. "Ṛta" means ‘fixed or settled order, law, or rule'. In the Mahabharata, the Bhagavata, and some other sacred texts, "Ṛta" means ‘true’, and, at times, ‘truth personified’.

2. Indian Phiolosophy

The entire cosmic order, "Ṛta," as per the Sanātana Dharma (eternal order or righteousness) or Vedic philosophical parlance, is based on the doctrine of Truth. Truth is God, and God is Truth. It is the Supreme Being, or Brahmān, eternal, unchangeable, distortionless, constant, and beyond the grasp of time, space, and person.

In Vedic philosophy, "Ṛta" refers to the cosmic order or universal law that governs the functioning of the universe. "Ṛta" (Sanskrit ऋत) is intertwined with Satya (Truth). Satya (Truth) is manifested by the establishment of the cosmos, while "Ṛta" is the mode of being that promotes the freedom, safety, security, and stability" of the truth. It is a fundamental concept in Vedic philosophy and is often described as the principle of natural order, truth, and justice that underlies the entire universe.

According to Vedic philosophy, "Ṛta" is considered the ultimate reality and is believed to be the force that governs all aspects of life, from the movements of the stars and planets to the behaviour of individuals. It is often associated with the Hindu concept of Dharma, which refers to the moral and ethical code of conduct that individuals are expected to follow in order to maintain harmony and balance in the universe.

The concept of "Ṛta" is closely related to the idea of karma (duty), which suggests that individuals create their own destiny through their actions and thoughts. By acting in accordance with Rta and adhering to the principles of Dharma, individuals are believed to contribute to the harmony and balance of the universe and, ultimately, to their own spiritual evolution.

Swami Vivekananda says that "a truth that is independent of time (kāla), space (deśa) and causality (nimitta)—a truth that stands on its own, a truth that is completely independent—deserves to be the absolute truth." Vedanta identifies it with what is truth or real (satya), conscious (jñāna), and infinite (ananta) (Taittirīya Upaniṣad, 2.1.1). All other "truths" besides this are relative in nature".

The aphoristic statement of satyameva jayate (Truth alone wins) in the Mundaka Upanishad It says

satyameva jayate nānṛtaṃ satyena panthā vitato devayānaḥ |

yenākramantyṛṣayo hyāptakāmā yatra tat satyasya paramaṃ nidhānam || 6 |

Truth alone wins, not falsehood; by truth, the Devayanah (the path of the Devas) is widened, that by which the seers travel, having nothing to wish for until they reach where there is that—the highest treasure attained by truth.

Adi Shankaracharya observes: Truth alone wins; not he who utters falsehood, for there can be neither victory nor defeat between abstract truth and falsehood where they do not cling to men. It is well known in the world that he who utters falsehood is defeated by him who speaks the truth, not the converse. Therefore, it is established that truth is a strong auxiliary. Again, the superiority of truth as an aid is also known from the sastras; how? It is only by the truth, i.e., by a determination to speak what had occurred, that the road named "Devayanah" (the way of the gods) is widened, i.e., is kept up continually; by this road, seers free from deceit, delusion, fraud, pride, vanity, and falsehood, and having no desires, go about to where the absolute truth exists, the highest treasure covetable by man and attainable by the important aid, truth, The expression "where the greatest, etc.," is connected with the preceding clause, "the road by which they go is widened by truth." What that is and what its characteristics are will be explained.

Upanishads deal with meditation, philosophy, consciousness, and ontology. The Great Sayings, or the Mahāvākyas of the Upanishadas, tersely say Brahmān (the Supreme Being) is one and infinity, which have a profound significance as pointers to reality.

i. Prajnanam Brahma (प्रज्ञानम् ब्रह्म)– Consciousness is Brahmān, Aitareya Upanishad, Rig Veda.

ii. Aham Brahmāsmi (अहम्  ब्रह्मास्मि ): "I am Brahmān", or "I am Divine," Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, Yajur Veda.

Iii. Tat Tvam Asi (तत् त्वम् असि )– That Thou Art, Chandogya Upanishad, Sama Veda.

iv. Ayam Atma Brahma (अयम् आत्मा ब्रह्म) – This Self is Brahmān, Mandukya Upanishad, Atharva Veda.

This "Brahmān is the whole," "Brahmān is ātman" and "Brahman" is this very self," emphasises by Sage philosopher Swami Krishnananda in his commentaries of the Philosophy of the Panchadasi. One of the central themes of the Srimad Bhagavad Gita is the idea of cosmic order, which is based on the intertwined concepts of Satya (Truth), "Ṛta" (Sanskrit ऋत), Dharma (order or righteousness), and Karma (duty). It says all beings have a duty to fulfil their own unique dharma, or purpose, in life. This duty is not only individual but also universal, as all beings are connected and part of a larger cosmic order.

The Srimad Bhagavad Gita teaches that this cosmic order is sustained by the divine and that the ultimate goal of life is to seek union with the divine. This can be achieved through the practise of Dharma (order or righteousness), Karma (duty), Yoga (union with the divine through various spiritual and physical disciplines), Jnana (knowledge), and Bhakti (devotion).

Overall, the Bhagavad Gita emphasises the importance of understanding and aligning oneself with the cosmic order in order to live a fulfilling and meaningful life, both individually and collectively.

mayā tatam idaṁ sarvaṁ jagad avyakta-mūrtinā

mat-sthāni sarva-bhūtāni na chāhaṁ teṣhvavasthitaḥ

This entire cosmic manifestation, according to Srimad Bhagavad Gita, is pervaded by Me in My unmanifest form. All living beings dwell in me, but I do not dwell in them.

sarva-bhūtāni kaunteya prakṛitiṁ yānti māmikām

kalpa-kṣhaye punas tāni kalpādau visṛijāmyaham

prakṛitiṁ svām avaṣhṭabhya visṛijāmi punaḥ punaḥ

bhūta-grāmam imaṁ kṛitsnam avaśhaṁ prakṛiter vaśhāt

At the end of one kalpa, all living beings merge into My primordial material energy. At the beginning of the next creation, I manifest them again. Presiding over my material energy, I generate these myriad forms again and again, in accordance with the force of their natures.

3. Western Philosophy 

Heraclitus, the famous  Greek philosopher, saw the unity of experience. He claims to announce an ever lasting world according to which all things are one, in some sense. Opposites are necessary for life, but they are unified in a balance of exchanges. The world itself consists of a law-like inter change of elements, symbolised by fire. Thus the world is not to be identified with any particular substance but with an ongoing process governed by a law of change. The underlying law of nature also manifest as a moral law for human beings. Heraclitus is the first Western philosopher to go beyond physical theory in search of metaphysical foundations and moral applications.

Pythagoras presented a cosmos that was structured according to moral principles and significant numerical relationships and may have been akin to conceptions of the cosmos found in Platonic myths.

The universe, Plato proposes, is the product of rational, purposeful, and beneficent agency. It is the handiwork of a divine craftsman who, imitating an unchanging and eternal model, imposes mathematical order on a preexistent state of chaos to generate the ordered universe (kosmos). The governing explanatory principle of the account is teleological: the universe as a whole as well as its various parts are so arranged as to produce a vast array of good effects.

According to the theory of forms, the physical world we live in—the one where you can read this article on a monitor or hold a glass of water—is actually just a shadow.

The real world is that of "ideas" or "forms." These are non-physical essences that exist outside of our physical world. Everything in our dimension is just an imitation or projection of these forms and ideas. The science of physics, Aristotle stresses, contains almost all there is to know about the world. Were there no separate forms—entities such as the unmoved mover at the pinnacle of the cosmos—which are without matter and are not part of the physical world. As there are such separate entities, physics is dependent on these, and is only a second philosophy. Nevertheless, the interaction between these two “philosophies” is not completely exhausted by the causal influence exerted on the world by the supra-physical entities—the prime movers as it turns out. 

Immanuel Kant, the German philosopher, believes that there lies behind every phenomenon a being-in-itself, a noumena, from whence such a phenomenon obtains its existence. But he undertook to derive this from the given representation itself by adding its laws that were known to us a priori. Yet just because these are a priori, they cannot lead to something independent of and different from the phenomenon or representation, and so for this purpose we have to pursue an entirely different course.

4. How to Approach the Truth?

But the issue is how to approach the truth. The Srimad Bhagavad Gita says it as

tad viddhi praṇipātena paripraśhnena sevayā

upadekṣhyanti te jñānaṁ jñāninas tattva-darśhinaḥ

Learn the Truth by approaching a spiritual master. Inquire from him with reverence and render service to him. Such an enlightened saint can impart knowledge to you because he has seen the truth.

The same is also observed in the Srimad Bhagavatam as

anādy-avidyā-yuktasya
puruṣasyātma-vedanam
svato na sambhavād anyas

tattva-jño jñāna-do bhavet (ŚB 11.22.10)

A realised person or spiritual master is essential to imprinting the knowledge of truth. Because a person who has been covered by ignorance since time immemorial is not capable of effecting his own self-realisation, there must be some other personality who has factual knowledge of the absolute Truth and can impart this knowledge to him.

5. Remarks

This "Brahmān is the Whole," "Brahmān is ātman" and "Brahman is this very self." The concept of cosmic order suggests that the universe is not chaotic or random but rather operates according to a set of fundamental and unchanging principles and that humans can strive to understand and align themselves with this order in order to live in harmony with the world around them.

The Srimad Bhagavad Gita observes that the Brahmān (Supreme Being) is supreme and all-encompassing. He is the substratum over which this entire creation exists; He is the Creator, Sustainer, and Annihilator.

mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyat kiñchid asti dhanañjaya

mayi sarvam idaṁ protaṁ sūtre maṇi-gaṇā iva

There is nothing higher than Myself. Everything rests in Me, as beads strung on a thread. "Be not self-conscious; be conscious of the self," so says the Srimad Bhagavad Gita.

yadā viniyataṁ chittam ātmanyevāvatiṣhṭhate

niḥspṛihaḥ sarva-kāmebhyo yukta ityuchyate tadā

It is when the controlled chitta (consciousness) becomes fixed and focused exclusively on God. It is then simultaneously and automatically weaned away from all cravings of the senses and desires for worldly enjoyment. At that time, one can be considered to have yukt, or perfect Yoga.

It urges us to give up material desires and thereby situate ourselves in consciousness of our true selves. The more we live in harmony with our spiritual identity, the less we worry about our material image because we understand that it is peripheral to our actual self. Once we start relishing the fulfilment of our true spiritual identity and glory, the need to be self-conscious and seek flickering pleasure through a positive self-image in the world disappears.

These four Mahāvākyas are considered to be the foundation of Advaita Vedanta and are used as a means of attaining self-realisation and understanding the true nature of the self and the universe. The Mahāvākyas verily state that every individual is essentially divine and that the separation between the individual self and the ultimate reality is an illusion.

-Asutosh Satpathy