Prologue continues .....

However, the Rigveda also conceives of ‘rita’ (rhythm) as a cosmic and
moral order that reflects a deeper consciousness of a divine order prevailing
in the universe. One Rigvedic hymn says that the Supreme Being is one
but wise men say it differently. These hymns reveal a high level of
realization of the ultimate reality. So, it is legitimate to infer that the Vedic
concept of God evolved from a primitive animism arising from the ‘sense
of inexhaustible mystery’, as Tagore describes it, to a realization of the
existence of a cosmic power.

The basically animistic and polytheistic approach of the Vedas evolved
into more complex metaphysical concepts about the existential problems
of man and his relationship with the Creator in the Upanishads.

The
Upanishads represent the primeval spirit of inquiry of the human mind
into the ultimate reality. They journeyed through the mysteries of nature
and the inner life and revealed the ultimate Truth. The inquiring mind
raises questions and tries to find the answers. The question is: what is that
reality which remains identical and persists through change? The
Upanishads establish the reality of God from the ‘facts of nature and the
facts of inner life’. That reality is called Brahman.
The Upanishads search for this unchanging reality of the highest form.

This search is done through a form of catechism. The ultimate reality is
unravelled through the answers. The Upanishads find that Brahman is the
Reality of the real (satyasya satyam).

To be continued...