+Connection-web ऋतम्

The web of connections

  • Humans are embedded in an intricate, interconnected, interdependent system. There is a continuity between man and nature. Hindu traditions emphasize this interconnected nature, so that a hindu understands this network not just intellectually, but also in the world of feelings.

Presentations

This has been variously presented in the tradition - Rta, dharma, yajna.

Other traditions - nagAre in shinTo.

Rta

  • Rta (divine order in the universe), whose keeper is varuNa. (gaNesha here.)

Ideal realm

  • Rta is thought to be ultimately mathematical in nature. Its ultimate form is algebra (seen in natural laws of science expressed as symbol-relationships) which determines the functioning of the real world. [MT16]
  • Compare with platonism of the yavanas.

ṛco akṣare parame vyoman
yasmin devā adhi viśve niṣeduḥ |
yas tan na veda kim ṛcā kariṣyati
ya it tad vidus ta ime sam āsate | RV 1.164.39

The motif of yajna

  • The offering of soma into agni during a yAga is representative of reciprocal connections between the sacrificer (yajamAna) and the deity; between the consumed and the consumer in a cycle of consumption and offering. It is symbolic of all sorts of events: from creation to destruction. This symbolism has been made explicit in several places.
    • panchAgnihotra-vidyA presented in chAndogya (6th chapter) and bRhadAraNyaka (5th chapter) vividly represent each link in the (cloud > rain > crops > food > digestion > child-birth > death + cremation) cycle as a yajna, with different entities playing the roles of agni, soma, hotR, smoke, embers, sparks, phala.
    • 5 prANa-s of the human body are thus represented in the 4th prashna of prAshnOpaniShad, aitareya-upaniShad, taittarIya-brAhmaNa (“मानवशरीरे यज्ञोपचारः।”). The digestive fire is called jATarAgni.
  • The act of yAga-s include cooperative participation from a variety of people, reminding and strengthening social connections.

The notion of brahman

  • Everything in the universe is said to be brahman by the many followers of the veda-s. brahman is said to be conscious and bliss in some schools of thought (eg: vedAnta).
  • Consciousness of individual beings is hard to explain scientifically, and so some people have proposed a universal, fundamental aspect of nature (like space and time) as its source [David Chalmers YT1, TED, IMG].

“Body part” representations

Representation of various parts of the nature (including various social constructs) as having originated in (and being various parts of) the same primodial person (puruSha). [puruSha-sUkta, ] - Hindu origin stories espouse either the manifestation of the single underlying spirit in many forms, or a combination of male and female fundamental principles to generate all this diversity. - There are similarly various other personifications (kAvya-puruSha in kAvyamImAMsA, sangIta-puruSha, vAstu-puruSha, loka-puruSha, devasthAna-puruSha, yajna-puruSha).

Nature

  • One can observe close connection to nature in a variety of Hindu concepts.
    • Examples
      • Bird songs, whale songs and sAmans: Neural convergence in animals or imitation? MT
      • The varNa system.
  • That said, some refinement (saMskRti) is applied to the natural state of affairs (prakRti) to enhance effectiveness and good feeling. saMskRti is not opposite to prakRti - it attempts to capture the beneficial essentials.