Cosmology is the science that studies the origin and development of the universe. Cosmogony is a related branch of study that focuses on the inner nature and purpose of the universe.
A study of the Rig Veda 10:190 (Agha-marshana Mantras) yields the following ideas:
- In the beginning, Knowledge first became manifest. Based on this Knowledge, the Universe was designed. Both Knowledge and the Universe were produced effortlessly through the Conscious/Indomitable/Ignited Will-Force of God. The plan of the creation was in the Cosmic Mind of the Creator before the actual act of creation took place.
- The Cosmos is dissolved by this same Will-force. After a prolonged state of dissolution, a new cycle of cosmic creation commences. Each cycle of creation is followed by a cycle of dissolution, and then again, by another cycle of creation. Creation (dynamics, movement) and dissolution (statics, inertia) both make up the logical order in which Nature functions.
- In the process of the creation of the universe, after the ‘big bang’ explosion takes place, planets are flung out into curved space. Attracted to the sun, they eternally revolve around the sun.
- Rotation causes the concept of Time to be realized. Time is divided basically into day and night, principally because of the influence of the sun and moon.
- In creating the universe, God separated it in three principal regions – heaven, sky and earth.
- In addition to these three main divisions, He created other regions filled with natural objects that are meant to yield happiness for humanity.The present creation is just like the past one, and the future one will resemble this current creation. This uniformity in all cycles of creation points to the Intelligence of a Conscious Creator. There is nothing like natural, spontaneous, or magical creation. It is all the result of a Cosmic Plan that existed in the Cosmic Mind.
After the Vedas, it is admittedly the Manu Smṛiti that presents a theory of the creation in some detail. This creation theory is as follows:
1. In the beginning, in the period of grand dissolution, before creation took place, this universe existed in the shape of darkness, unperceived, destitute of distinctive marks, unattainable by reasoning, unknowable, as if immersed in deep sleep from all around [1:5].
2. After the period of grand dissolution, God – the Self-Reliant One, indiscernible to the naked eye – caused this Universe to become manifest. In so doing, He infused inexhaustible energy into Matter causing the great elements, and the rest, to evolve.
3. From Matter that was under His Control, God drew forth Mahat, Cosmic Intelligence that contained in itself both Sat [the material cause for subsequent evolutes] and Asat [the yet-to-evolve evolutes themselves]. From Mahat, God drew forth Ahankaar or Ego, the powerful sense of individuation [1:14].
4. The Creator caused the great mind that aids the Soul, all five subtle and gross elements rooted in the three qualities [Sattwa, Rajas, Tamas], and then, one by one in due order, the five cognitive and five active senses that grasp the objects of sensation [1:15].
5. God’s Power is unimaginable. After He produces all this manifest universe and [all human beings, including] me [Manu], He repeatedly suppresses one period of creation by one period of dissolution. During the period of dissolution, He ‘steps back’ from sustaining the sleeping cosmos [while all souls are also inactive]. It is as if He disappears in Himself [1:51].
6. When the Radiant Designer is ready to design again, then the whole universe that was ‘sleeping’ in the period of dissolution is now once more in motion. [Atoms vibrate and coalesce, stellar bodies are formed, and they go into patterned rotation, oceans flow, animals and birds move, human beings are born, they breathe, and they begin living, etc.]. After one period of active cosmic movement, there is a period of cosmic dissolution at which time the Peaceful Supersoul ‘steps back’ from actively sustaining the cosmos [1:52].
In essence, these foregoing six verses tell us the following: 1. God is the agent [efficient] cause of the universe. As an efficient cause, God inspires change in primordial Matter.
2. Unlike what proponents of Adwaita-Monism claim, God is not the material cause of the universe. Like flour being transformed to become bread, primordial Matter is transformed to become the visible universe.
3. The universe, while evolving from chaos to cosmos over a prolonged period, gradually passes through the ethereal, gaseous, igneous, aqueous, and solid stages; Creation [or evolution] did not happen instantaneously or just over a few days.
4. Given what is said in 1, 2, and 3 above, we can only accept that the universe constitutes dynamic realism. It is certainly not an illusion, or a dream.
5. Before the universe evolved to become manifest, there was a prolonged period of deep darkness. This is the darkness caused by a total dissolution of all forms. Each cycle of creation is followed by a cycle of dissolution, which again is followed by another period of creation. Cycles of creation and dissolution follow each other endlessly, uninterruptedly, and rhythmically.