PP) … Prakriti means nature and nature itself is the mother of all that is as a manifest and non-manifest macrocosm and its each part (i.e. Microcosm) … So within Vedic lore, Mother nature (or Prakriti) was also addressed as Pradhan (Pradhana or principal) … Prakriti is of two main categories, Apra and Para i.e. Manifest nature (or Apra Prakriti) and the beyond nature (or Para Prakriti) …
In addition to above, there is also another category but it is not applicable to the macrocosmic creation as this category is adjacent to the abode of creator (which means as the Abode of Brahma or Brahmaloka) … This nature is thus told as Avyakta Prakriti (i.e. neither manifest, nor non manifest) and she is the principal nature who itself is the divinity of the creator … The same Avyakta Prakriti is also addressed as Avyakta Prana (or neither manifest nor non manifest divinity of vitality of the creator) and in the Vedas she is also addressed as Maya Shakti of Brahma … She is also addressed as Avyakta, in addition to being called as the Tusita Loka in Buddhism … But this is not the topic for discussing Avyakta, so this part of the discussion shall taken up at a later stage of this text …
Relation of Aghora to Apra and Para Prakriti …
01 … During much ancient times the painted state of Ahum Naad was also termed as the 8th sphere of macrocosmic nature …
The macrocosmic creation is made up of 9 spheres, which make Apra and Para Prakriti of our discussion …
Of these nine, the lower 8 spheres are of Apra Prakriti and the 9th sphere is of Para Prakriti … Most of these spheres rest within Sound of Ahum only …
As far as the painting of Ahum Naad which was shown at the beginning of this topic is concerned, its blue color denotes the 8th or the final sphere of Apra Prakriti and the subtle white light which is shown in that painting is denoting the 9th sphere of macrocosmic nature or Para Prakriti …
The word Apra Prakriti denotes that which is representing both inert and non-inert natures simultaneously and it is as a by-product of that which represents the entire macrocosmic creation in her manifest state, in addition to being the root energy (Moola Shakti) and root nature (Moola Prakriti) of the entire manifest creation …
If I were to put is simply, then the term Apra Prakriti represents the aspects of Here-Nature and There-Nature, of the Mother Nature itself …
This is also the nature which binds and holds all parts of allness (i.e. all aspirants or microcosms) unto itself, but this binding is only until these parts arrive at an evolutionary ripeness and rightness to evolve beyond her 8th and 9th spheres …
And because Apra Prakriti has an attaching nature inherently present within her, so she was also told as impure nature … But at the same time, this word impure is a misnomer because the word impure was only used to imply “that which binds or holds or attracts or causes inertia” and thus prevents evolutionary standing of an aspirant to reach to that level which is beyond the Apra Prakriti itself (i.e. beyond the 8th sphere of Maker’s Makings) … Thus the 8th sphere can also be termed as the sphere which binds all parts of allness (i.e. all microcosms) to itself and that too by its own inherent binding nature so as to ensure a state of monism is maintained even within pluralistic nature of all individual parts of allness …
But this hold (or binding effect) is only until the microcosm (i.e. aspirant) arrives at an evolutionary ripeness and rightness to enter into that which is beyond …
As such, when this evolutionary ripeness and rightness to enter into that which is beyond is arrived at by any aspirant, then the same Apra Prakriti is the one who shows the exit-path to that aspirant … Thus it is not so-binding in the real sense because when any aspirant qualifies to enter into that which is beyond, then the same Apra Prakriti is the one who shows the way of exit to such an aspirant …
And at the same time, inertia itself is the primary reason for stability of allness and her each part … Without Inertia nothing would remain stable and in absence of stability, existence of all microcosms would also come under peril … When existence itself comes under peril, no deeper analysis on truth can be done by an aspirant due to absence of an inner-calm which itself is the primary base of all self-realizations …
Thus that which maintains stability is also a peaceful state and thus it was given the name Aghora which means not-wrathful (or peaceful) … Due to this reason, even during evolutionary process of any aspirant, the Aghora face of Sadashiva is of paramount importance …
This Here-Nature and There-Nature aspects which were told earlier, are those which we can see, study and analyze because this is analyzable within each aspirant in addition to being analyzable within the allness of manifest macrocosmic creation (i.e. Apra Prakriti) … Thus Apra Prakriti is that component of divinity (energy) component which can be studied, researched upon and analyzed … As such, all that any astronomer can analyze is the Apra Prakriti only because the beyond states of Mother Nature are not even available within this part of the universe and thus they can only be referenced from what is observed … And the fact is that what can be observed is Apra Prakriti only …
Apra Prakriti includes the “inert yet active states” of the five macro-elements (or Pancha Bhoota) … These five macro-elements are of ether, air, light or fire or luminosity, water and earth … And in addition to these, Apra Prakriti also includes the “inert yet non-inert” aspects like knowledge, mind, I’ness … Thus there are eight primary aspects of Apra Prakriti and Ahum Naad which was shown in the earlier painting of this topic denotes the union of these eight aspects of Apra Prakriti itself …
Deviating a bit to explain consciousness and its connection to Apra and Para Prakriti …
In above paragraph that the consciousness is not stated for Apra Prakriti and this is even when its own sound (of Ahum Naad) is a proof of the presence of the conscious-principle within the blue colored 8th sphere (of Apra Prakriti) …
Apra Prakriti does not hold the conscious principle within itself and yet that Apra Prakriti has the conscious principle inherently placed within it because of the fact that Apra Prakriti is an intrinsic part of Ahum Naad itself and Ahum Naad is the one which holds the conscious principle …
As a matter of fact, what is told as Apra Prakriti is an intrinsic part of the much larger Ahum Naad … So Apra Prakriti eventually relates Ahum Naad itself …
As also, even when the Ahum Naad (i.e. Aghora face of Shiva) is a conscious state, yet its own part which is addressed as Apra Prakriti is not holding the conscious principle as an intrinsic part of itself …
And even when above paragraph is true, yet because the Apra Prakriti is an intrinsic partless-part of Ahum Naad, so the conscious principle of Ahum Naad gets reflected within Apra Prakriti and it is due to this reason that Apra Prakriti is “apparently” found to be holding the conscious principle within it as the sound of Ahum and which is even when the conscious principle is not of Apra Prakriti …
And at the same time the fact does not change that the conscious principle which as such is told to be of Ahum Naad is eventually related to the central, colorless crystal like upward facing Ishana face of Sadashiva and it is from this centrally located, all permeating Ishaan face of Sadashiva, that the conscious principle spreads to all the other four cardinal faces of Sadashiva …
Thus basis above, even when Apra Prakriti is a part of the consciousness which is held by Ahum Naad, yet that consciousness is not considered to be an intrinsic part of Apra Prakriti which is being discussed here …
And since Para Prakriti (i.e. Beyond nature) is also resting within the larger envelopes of Ahum Naad who as such is the one who has the conscious principle inherently placed within it and since this conscious principles gets directly transferred to the Para Prakriti, so it is also due to this reason that the macrocosmic plane of consciousness (Brahmic Mahad Chitta) is found to be emanating out of Para Prakriti (or beyond nature or 9th sphere of macrocosmic nature) itself …
Thus due to the discussions of above paragraphs, the macrocosmic plane of consciousness is an intrinsic unbroken part (i.e. an extension) of Para Prakriti and it is from here that the consciousness gets transferred to the Apra Prakriti …
And since Para Prakriti also has the sound of Ahum Naad (sound of Ahum or Sound of Aghora) and since Para Prakriti also resides within the larger envelopes of Aghora face of Sadashiva (or Ahum Naad or Sound of Ahum) itself, so even when Aghora face holds the conscious principle within itself, yet its manifestation as the macrocosmic plane of consciousness is only from Para Prakriti (and thus even the macrocosmic plane of consciousness is not emanated out of Apra Prakriti) …
As such even when both the Apra Prakriti and Para Prakriti reside within the envelope of Aghora face of Shiva (I.e. Ahum Naad) and since sound (of Ahum) itself denotes the proof of existence of the conscious principle within Ahum Naad, yet the manifestation is that conscious principle (or Ahum Naad) as the macrocosmic plane of consciousness is only effected from Para Prakriti … This is even when both these (i.e. Apra and Para Prakriti) reside in the larger envelopes of Aghora (or Ahum Naad) only …
Due to this reason consciousness is not considered to be a part of Apra Prakriti in the ancient texts of Sanatan Dharma … The existence of Apra Prakriti and Para Prakriti within Ahum Naad shall be discussed in the next topic of “From Ahum Naad to ALA Naad” where these two shall be shown to be resting within Ahum Naad itself …
Apra Prakriti is a part of Aghora
Since Apra Prakriti itself is a part of Aghora and since Aghora itself is the better of all paths, so each of the eight earlier listed aspects of Apra Prakriti can be utilized as paths to self-realize the attributeless-infinite Absolute-being …
And it is also due to fact as is stated in previous paragraph that there have been many instances where the Vedic sages had meditated upon (i.e. subtly studied) one of these eight aspects so as to self-realize the truth … And it is due to this reason that there are statements within the Vedic Lore’s where this fact is also proved …
Some of these statements are described below …
- Mann Brahma … Mind is Absolute … This also means that the Mind is the path to the Absolute, as within the Vedic lore that which leads directly to the Absolute, is also a partless-part of the Absolute only …
- Akasha Brahma … This Vedic statement means as the Ether , which itself is as the boundless and unfathomable Akasha and thus infinite space is the Absolute … This also means ether is the path of the Absolute being (reason for this statement is the same as was discussed above) …
- Agni Brahma … Fire is the Absolute … This also means fire is the path of the Absolute being (reason for this statement is the same as was discussed earlier in Mann Brahma) …
- Tejas Brahma … Luminosity is the Absolute … This also means luminosity is the path of the Absolute being (reason for this statement is the same as was discussed earlier in Mann Brahma) …
- The concept of Bhu Devi (Mother earth), Bhagwati Annapurna (i.e. deity of gross and subtle foods), Vayu Devata (Deity of Air), Varuna Devata (deity of macrocosmic and microcosm oceans), Agni Devata (deity of fire), Devi Svaha (consort of fire deity), divinity of rivers (like Ganges, Yamuna, Saraswati, Narmada etc.) also prove the same fact that these are authentic paths to the same Absolute being …
- And many others … I find no need to list these here as those who are interested can be read the Vedic texts …
As also, most of that which rests within the first (or lower) 23 aspects of the great-element (i.e. Mahad Tattva) are mostly related Apra Prakriti only …
02 … Beyond Apra Prakriti is the Para Prakriti which literally means the aspect of “Beyond Nature” of Mother Nature … This is the higher of all states of Mother Nature as it represents the totality of energy, in addition to representing the finality of energy component of Mother Nature … This was also addressed as Adi Shakti or the primordial-divinity or primordial and all enveloping energy component which as such is the original state of Mother Nature …
Para Prakriti also is also one of the higher-spheres of Mother Nature where those highly evolved aspirants who are addressed as Bodhisattvas are residing whilst they only await for their one last and final return back into cyclic existence …
Para Prakriti which as such is the 9th sphere of Mother Nature was also told as the Ninth Sky (or cloud nine) in Buddhism and also in Samkhya and Yoga philosophy and the same nine spheres are also referred to in Mahabharata (Srimadbhagvad Gita) …
Knowledge of Para Prakriti from union to Aghora in some knowledge systems
03 … A very subtle white light exists within the blue envelope … This white light is Adi Shakti of Vedic lore and she also is the primordial Buddha Samantabhadri (of Tantric form of Buddhism) … This subtle white light also denotes Para Prakriti (i.e. beyond-nature) …
And because this white light is also resting in the non-lightness that pervades the universe, so if this white light is seen within the non-lighted envelope then it is always found to be enveloped by a blue light … This union of white light resting within the envelope of blue light was told as Shakti Shiva Yoga within many of the Tantric sects of Hinduism and the same fact of eternal union of Shiva and Shakti was also told as Samantabhadri Samantabhadra Yoga in Tantric Buddhism …
Thus within any part of the universe, whenever the white colored Bhadri is self-realized by any aspirant, then she is always found to be enveloped by the blue colored Bhadra … And coincidently when these two are observed whilst resting within the macrocosmic creation, then both are found to be having the same sound as is of our current discussion i.e. Ahum Naad …
Since within the universal creation Bhadri is always enveloped by Bhadra, so there can never a self-realization where Bhadri and Bhadra are not self-realized simultaneously … Thus since Bhadri seems to reside within the envelope of Bhadra and both are eternally resting within their intrinsic non-dual oneness to each other, so it was due to this reason that the sages had told that “Shakti is Shiva and Shiva is Shakti” because both these are inseparable within their attributed-form and attributed-formless states as are within the microcosm and macrocosm respectively …
Shiva (i.e. Divine) is always with Shakti (i.e. Divinity) and Shakti itself is with Shiva because of the fact that within the universal creation both these cannot even exist without each other … And when we study the reality of things, then it is also found that eventually it is from the ecstasy of this union, that the manifest and non-manifest parts of allness are originated … This ecstasy of union is also the origin point of sound and thus during history some cultures have also stated that sound is the begotten-child from the union of the divine eternal-creator and his pristine timeless-consort and these two have been differently addressed by different cultures … In their originality, all philosophical concepts where there is a divine father and a divine mother and where they also have a single child (including concepts of one begotten child) eventually relate to our current discussion only and this statement is irrespective of what these three are addressed as or are believed to be …
Thus whilst the aspirant is still residing within the universal creation, whenever Bhadri and Bhadra (i.e. Shiva and Shakti) are observed, then they shall always be found to be unioned to each other and this is how it has ever been since the timeless and fathomless eternity of Maker’s Makings …
This state of Shakti resting within Shiva is like a white light present in the blue envelope of the earlier figure of this topic … This shall be discussed in a later figure as the same union also happens inside the physical vehicle …
And all these concepts are also a part of the Aghora of our current discussion …
That’s all …