Sri Aurobindo reveals the original 4 Mahashaktis of the Mother. The Mother speaks of the original 4 Overmind Gods. We see that they are corresponding, Mahakali corresponds to Shiva, Mahalaxmi and Mahavishnu, Bramha and Mahasaraswati (I know that the shakti of Vishnu is Laxmi and for Bramha – Saraswati and not Mahalaxmi and Mahasaraswati, but the vibrations seem to match). So are they the same beings, the 4 original Mahashaktis of the Mother and the original 4 Great Gods?
Secondly, it seems to me that one God, Maheshwar, is missing in the Indian pantheon except in some places in Tantra. You once remarked that it is Krishna, but Krishna seems to be more associated with Mahakali and Mahalakshmi vibrations. The one Avatar which seems to match the wideness and ineffable peace vibrations of Maheshwari and Maheshwar seems to be the Buddha, as when I visit the destroyed ruins of the Buddhist monasteries, especially the undisturbed ones like the ones in Madhya Pradesh and see their architecture and vibrations, there seems to be a profound sense of peace and wideness that I seem to feel from Maheshwari intuitively.
One more point that consolidates this view is that when the Buddha Avatar was in India, Sri Aurobindo hints that the Divine Mother was in Rome. And Imperial Maheshwari is the only one who could create such an imperial force like the Roman Empire, which continued for 2000 years after that.
We also then witness that India becomes Ishwara without Shakti post Buddha, i.e. Love, Compassion, Knowledge without Force, and Rome embodies Shakti without Ishwara, i.e. Force without Compassion and Love. That is why they need Christ to come with only Love and no power at all to set an unstable equilibrium to set the balance right, temporarily.
On further inspections, we see Sri Aurobindo reveals the original aspects of the Divine as the trio of Sat-Chit-Ananda, so Chitta and Tapas as one, so among the 4 Overmind Gods, 2 are one, so Shiva and Maheshwara seem to converge, and that is why we see Buddha and Shiva accepted as one being in some South Asian countries, and how the Shaiva Tantra and Vajrayana Tantric Buddhism’s interactions with Mahakala Bhairava coincided in Kashmir and also in Madhya Pradesh.
I hope you will please share your thoughts on whether this logic holds any ground. Subject: Godly Metaphysics in the light of Sri Aurobindo – some speculations…
The four original gods, as revealed by Sri Aurobindo, are the fourfold aspects of the One Divine as Sacchidananda. Brahma is infinite Existence, Vishnu is infinite Consciousness, Shiva is infinite Force, Krishna is infinite Bliss.
Sri Aurobindo reveals this in a note.
‘The One is Four for ever in his supramental quaternary of Being, Consciousness, Force and Ananda.
Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva, Krishna, these are the eternal Four, the quadruple Infinite.
Brahma is the Eternal’s Personality of Existence; from him all is created, by his presence, by his power, by his impulse.
Vishnu is the Eternal’s Personality of Consciousness; in him all is supported, in his wideness, in his stability, in his substance.
Shiva is the Eternal’s Personality of Force; through him all is created, through his passion, through his rhythm, through his concentration.
Krishna is the Eternal’s Personality of Ananda; because [of] him all creation is possible, because of his play, because of his delight, because of his sweetness.
Brahma is Immortality, Vishnu is Eternity, Shiva is Infinity; Krishna is the Supreme’s eternal, infinite, immortal self-possession, self-issuing, self-manifestation, self-finding.’
Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva and Krishna, as we know them in the Puranas, are their further projections in the Overmind. It is here that we have their Shaktis as Saraswati, Lakshmi, Parvati and Radha. Sri Aurobindo does mention Radha, but not among the four great goddesses, which are in consonance with their description in the Chandi. If we try to find the correspondences with the Trinity, we can say that the consort of Brahma would be Mahasaraswati; of Shiva, also known as Mahakal and Maheswara, it will be Maheswari and Mahakali; of Vishnu, Mahalakshmi. Shiva is both the Creator and the Destroyer, the benevolent, compassionate one as well as the fierce destroyer. So both these aspects would go with him. Buddha himself reflected something of Shiva, who created as well as destroyed powerfully. These prepare for the full manifestation of Radha, who is not yet mentioned among the four goddesses.
As to Force without Love and Love without Force, it primarily refers to Islam and Christianity. Here is an aphorism of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother’s comment below.
‘When all is said, Love and Force together can save the world eventually, but not Love only or Force only. Therefore Christ had to look forward to a second advent and Mahomed’s religion, where it is not stagnant, looks forward through the Imams to a Mahdi.
Love alone as preached by Christ failed to transform man. Force alone as preached by Mahomed did not transform man, far from it.
That is why the consciousness which is at work to transform mankind, unites Force with Love, and the One who must realise this transformation will come on earth with the Power of Divine Love.’
Yes, Christ is to the West what Buddha is to the East. The success of the Roman Empire was not just force but the genius of organisation through Augustus Caesar, a Vubhuti of Sri Aurobindo who must have embodied something of the Maheswari as well as the Mahasaraswati aspects.
Affectionately,
Alok Da
