World History from Adam to Abraham

Chapter 42 – The Eternal World Drama

Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual Organization

Pandav Bhavan, Mount Abu (Rajasthan)

INDIA - 1985

 

 

REVELATIONS OF SHIV BABA VIS-À-VIS
THE BIBLICAL LITERATURE

 

 

SHIV Baba has revealed to us through His corporeal medium, Brahma, that before the days of Abraham, there was only one world religion, one world sovereignty and one world language and that the earth was ruled by gods and goddesss of Sun Dynasty and Moon Dynasty. He has also revealed to us that, originally, the world was a garden of flowers and man was sinless and had undivided sovereignty but when man became body-conscious and sex-lust entered into the world, this world became a forest of thorns and thistles, and floods and earthquakes ravaged the earth and then mankind became divided by multiplicity of religions and languages. Then Abraham came on the world-scene and became the first Father of a religious dynasty or a family of religions. But, when we bring these revelations into the notice of mankind. many people, Hindus, Christians and Mohammedans among them, consider these strange. However, as we shall point out, these revelations are confirmed by the literature of the Judaic family of religions, particularly by the Bible.

 

 

 

Originally, man was in the likeness of God

For example, on this point that the world, originally, was a garden of flowers and the earth was inhabited by gods and goddesses, created by God in His likeness, the Bible says the following:

 

"And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. Genesis 1-26

 

"So God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him..."
  Genesis 1-27.

 

"...In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made He him;" Genesis V-I

 

 

The World was once a Garden of Flowers

Further, Bible says it explicitly that this world was a garden of flowers and that, originally, man had undivided sovereignty over the whole earth and all the sea and the flora and fauna :

 

"And God said, ...let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth. and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth" Genesis 1­-26.

 

The same thing has been said again in Genesis 1-28 so as to lay emphasis on this fact. Now, it has been further explained that this world was a veritable garden of flowers:

 

"And the Lord God planted a garden eastward ... and there He put the man whom He had formed" Genesis II-8.

 

Again it is said:

 

"And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden... to dress it and keep it" Genesis II-15.

 

 

 

Non-violent and Vegetarian

Now these gods and goddesses were the human souls who had been blessed by God and who were non-violent and vegetarian. Says the Bible:

 

"And the Lord God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in which is the fruit of a tree-yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat" Genesis 1-29.

 

Thus, originally man did not eat flesh of animals but rather the fruit of trees was the meat for him. It is said again:

 

"And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to everything that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat..." Genesis 1-30.

 

Thus, it is clearly stated that not only man did not eat flesh but even the beasts also were given herbs to live upon. These men and women, who had been created by God in His own image, were blessed but when they ate the forbidden fruit (of body-consciousness) and became naked, and sex-lust entered into this world, they had been cursed because of the Devil, Satan, Maya, Sin or Evil. We quote from the Bible to point out:

   (i)               that originally man was blessed and

   (ii)              that he was seduced by Maya to deviate from God and

   (iii)             that he became naked and was cursed and,

   (iv)             that it was since then that sorrow entered the world and women felt

                      pain at the time of conception and the world became a forest of thorns and now

   (v)              Death also entered the world of hitherto immortal deities.

 

 

God blessed them

 

(i)         "And God blessed them..." Genesis 1-28

 

Male and female created He them ; and blessed them..." Genesis V-2

 

 

Man and Woman were beguiled by Maya

 

(ii)        Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made..." And the serpent said unto the woman, ye shall not surely die." "For God doth know that in the day ye eateth thereof, then your eyes shall be opened..." Genesis III-1. 4 and 5. This subtle serpent is subtle Maya which deviated man from God and seduced him and her to disobey Shrimat or the commandments of God.

 

 

Eyes or outlook became tainted by body-consciousness

 

(iii)       "And when the woman said that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took off the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her and he did eat" "And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked..." Genesis III-6 & 7.

 

This also shows that man's eyes were the first to beguile him. First of all, it was his outlook (vision) which became tainted with carnality. His Drishti became vicious. He was deceived by his eyes which came under the influence of a vicious or Mayaic mind. The whole story is given in an allegorical and metaphorical way.

 

 

Sorrow entered the world later through Maya

 

(iv)       "Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception: in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee, ""And unto Adam He said.... cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life," "Thorns and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat herb of the field;" "In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground," Genesis III-16 to 19.

 

 

Paradise was Lost when sin entered

It is clear that, in the beginning of the world, i.e. in the Golden Age, women did not suffer pain when they conceived a child nor was there any sorrow in the world nor did man need to sweat for his living nor was woman ruled over by man. This world became hell when sex-lust entered, bringing into its trail, other vices, such as greed, attachment and anger and, thus, the man was ousted of the garden, and the paradise was lost to him. Says the Bible:

"Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden..., to till the ground...”

"So, he drove out the man;” Genesis III 23-24.

 

 

Death now entered in hitherto immortal world

God had said that if man ate of the tree of knowledge (of body), he will surely die. So now Death also entered the world:

(v)        "... thou shall not eat of it; for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die".
 Genesis 11-17.

 

 

Now brother fought against brother

When man and woman committed sin in the form of sex-lust, their progeny, now-born through sexual means, was unrighteous, irreligious, vicious and unlawful so that man was angry even with God and brother fought against brother. This is evidenced by the allegorical narration about Cain slaying his brother Abel. The Bible says:

 

“..And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell. And the Lord said unto Cain, Why art thou worth?..." Genesis IV .5-6.

 

"And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel, his brother, and slew him". Genesis IV-8.

 

"And the Lord said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not; Am I my brother's keeper?" "And He said, What hast thou done? The voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground." "And now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother's blood". Genesis IV 8-II

 

 

Cult of Worship started

Now in the vicious world; the cult of worship or what is called 'Bhakti Marg' started. The Bible says:

 

"...then began men to call upon the name of the Lord" Genesis IV-26.

 

 

 

In ancient times, reproduction was by holy power

In this connection- it should be noted that previous to this period, reproduction of human race was by a holy or a godly method; it was not by a prurient way. Therefore, the Bible say: "And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them." "That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair, and they took them wives of all which they chose." Notice the words "the sons of God" and "the daughters of men" Some saints and scholars have interpreted this to mean that this was the period of transition when there were some degenerate `gods' and `goddesses' and there were also men and women and now the `gods' and `goddesses', having lost their power of purity, took course to Vam Marg, i. e. the way of vicious men. It seems that one of Abraham's son was born by the power of purity and the other by sexual indulgence.

 

Though this is not certain, the Bible throws here a hint. We will discuss this point later in this chapter. Presently, we wanted to point out that this was the period when man, having fallen, lost the kingdom of heaven. He deviated from God. We quote from the Bible:

 

"And the Lord said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh; yet his days shall be a hundred twenty years" Genesis VI-3.

But even now man was not degraded as he is in the present age, for there was some godliness still there. The Bible says: "There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came unto the daughters of men and they bore children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown. "(Genesis VI-4)"... "and yet his days shall be hundred and twenty years" (Genesis VI-3). Now these giants were the spiritual giants-the rishis­ the sages who were men of renown. The average age of man was even now about hundred and twenty years. But since attraction of bodily form and sex had now overtaken when (wherefore it is said that the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair); man had become body-conscious. Gradually, therefore, wickedness spread so that the Bible records:

 

 

Wickedness spread

"And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually." (Genesis VI-5).

 

 

Grave Floods and Natural calamities

So now there were some grave natural calamities. The Bible mentions a great flood in the times of Noah which inundated a major part of the earth and wiped off remains of the ancient civilisation of Golden Dwarka or the Atlantis. The Bible says.

 

"And the Lord said, "I will destroy man whom I have created... both man and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls.of the air .."

 

"But Noah found grace in the eyes of Lord" (Genesis VI-8). It further says: "The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence". "And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth"' (Genesis VI-11-12). This latter, means either that all men were now born of sex-lust or it means that all people were now body-conscious and corrupt. At that period in human history, there was, according to the Bible (Genesis VII-17), "a flood for forty days "and the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth; and all the high hills that were under the whole heaven, were covered;" "And the waters prevailed upon the earth a hundred and fifty days Genesis VII-24). This was the period, called The Copper Age or Dwapur Yuga when, in the words of the Bible, "the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth" (Genesis Vlll-21). It was now from this man of sex-lust that the beast of the earth and fowl of the air also were afraid. And it was now that some fallen men began to eat flesh or meat (Genesis IX 2-3) and also began to drink. During this period of many calamities that man had migrated into many lands.

 

 

Languages multiplied and people scattered only later

The Bible clearly says that, up to this time, there was only one language and people lived in the east: we quote:

 

"These are the families of the sons of Noah, after their generation, in their nations ;and by these were the nations divided in the earth after the flood" (Genesis" X-32)

 

"And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech.' "and it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar ; and they dwelt there." (Genesis XI-1 and 2)

 

"And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them thoroughly..." "And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth." "And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded." "And the Lord said, Behold, the people is one, and they have one language; and this they began to do; and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do." "Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another' s speech." "So the Lord scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city" "Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the Lord did there confound the language of all the earth; and from thence did the Lord scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth." (Genesis XI-I to 9).

 

 

Thus it is clear that it was during this period that `they journeyed from the east' to the west and "Scattered abroad upon the face of the earth" and that multiplicity of languages and confusion started. And it was now that children began to die before their father, for the Bible says: "And Haran (the brother of Abraham) died before his father Terah in the land of his nativity, in Ur of the Chaldees"

(Genesis XI-28)

 

Abraham was born in Ur and was against idol-worship

Now, it should be remembered that Abraham was born to Terah in the Ur of the Chaldees and it has been established by many historians that originally the Chaldees had actually migrated from India, for their language, religion, and culture shows that they had their origin in India.

 

 

Abraham and his times and his name and sons

Abraham's father was a sculptor who made stone idols of gods and goddesses. Abraham was against idol worship, for he thought that these were lifeless and were incapable of doing any good to the worshiper. He believed that God was one. His belief became a cause of clash of views between him and his father and the community so that Abraham had to leave his native land and his father had to move from Chaldees towards Canaan, Beth-el, Hai and towards Egypt and, finally, to settle in Hebron, from which is derived the word `Hebrew'.  Abraham built an altar unto God at these places and called upon the name of the Lord.  Abraham's wife, Sarai, also was with him and he once fought also for his nephew Lot. (Genesis XII, XIII. & XIV). The biography of Abraham shows that idol-worship had started in those days.

 

Now follows that part of the Bible which we wish to discuss specially. The following versions are worthy of special mention and discussion:

 

"Now Sarai, Abraham's wife bare him no children and he had a bondmaid, an Egyptian whose name was Hagar" "And he went in unto Hagar and she conceived..."  (Genesis XVI-1 and 4)

 

"And when Abraham was ninety years old and nine, the Lord appeared to Abraham and said unto him. I am the Almighty God; walk before Me, and be thou perfect". "as for Me. behold, My convenant is with thee and thou shalt be the father of many nations" "Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee."

(Genesis XVII-4 to 5)

 

 

The Bible further says:

 

"And God unto Abraham, as for Sarai, thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall her name be."

"And I will bless her, and give thee a son also of her yea, I will bless her and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of people shall be of her."

"Then Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed and said in his heart, Shall a child be born unto him that is an hundred years old? and shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear?" (Genesis XVII- 15 to 17)

 

"And the Lord visited Sarah as he said, and the Lord did unto Sarah as he had spoken." "For Sarah conceived, and bare Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time, of which God had spoken to him" (Genesis XXI 1-2)

 

 

Are these things about Abraham an allegory? How?

Now Saint Paul, in the 4th chapter of his `Epistle to the Galatians' asserts that these things concerning Abraham `are an allegory". Says he:

 

..It is written that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a free woman. But he who was of the bond woman was born after the flesh; but he of the free woman was by promise.  Which things are an allegory for these are the two convenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar..."

(Galatians IV-22 to 24)

 

 

Abraham's father was worshipper of Brahma `Abraham' means: `like Brahma'

Scholars have written that Terah, the father of Abram (Abraham), who lived in Ur, in the lard of the Chaldees, was a worshipper of Brahma, the Hindu god-father. Terah named his child Abram or Abraham. For, the Hebrew word 'Ab' means' Father' and 'Ram' means 'High'. Again, 'Ab' means 'father' and 'Sara' meant creator and 'am' meant `people' and thus, 'Abraham' meant: `like Brahma, the creator of people' or 'Prajapati---the father of a religious dynasty. Dunlap has written in his book 'Firegod of Ur', on page 75 that 'Abraham' has the same meaning as `Brahma' in India.

 

C. W. King also in his book "The Genostics states that the words 'Brahma' and `Abraham' have the same numerical value. The root is'bar' (Creare) : allied to 'lubar', a sun beam and 'birh to produce."

 

A.H. Sayce also says in his 'Science of Language' that the word 'Brahma' means the hearing of me Thus, with the Hindus, Brahma is God, Creator, Father.

 

About 'Sarah', Abraham's wife. Dunlap says (on page 76 of his book): Sarah is the moon". He says that the old Arabians considered Abram as their progenitor and Sarah (Asarah) as their Almighty Mother. Dunlap also states that the city of Ur was dedicated to the Moon­god Sin, and that Chaldean monarchs traced their descent from Sin­the Moon. Another Scholar Sayce also says that Sin-ai is the range of Mountain of Sin, the Chaldean Moon-god. In the Bible also the word Sin refers to the Moon in Numbers ---XXVIII-15 and XVIV-10. Cholsohn, another writer also says that the people of Haran worshipped the Moon under the name Sin.

 

 

Abraham was born to the descendents of the Sun

and the Moon Dynasties

So Abram (Abraham) and Sarai (Sarah, the Moon) are mentioned by the Biblical scribe as the original progenitors of those religious dynasties, for Abraham means 'the Father on High' and this also means 'Sun', for, in those days, sun was regarded as the Generative Principle or the Creator. Thus, what Saint Paul calls 'an allegory' implies that the progenitors of the Judaic family of religions were descendents of the Sun Dynasty and Moon Dynasty who had degenerated or fallen.

 

Again, as is said by Saint Paul, quoted above, one son of Abraham, from his wife Sarah was 'By promise' of God and was named Isaac ­whereas the other son by a bond maid. named Hagar, was `born  after the flesh'; he was named Ishmael.  Saint Paul says that this incident has been mentioned in the Old Testament in the form of an allegory. Some scholars say that the words `by promise' of God mean that this son was born by means of holy power, i. e. the holy method of human reproduction which had hithertofore been prevalent. Contrary to this, the words `born after the flesh' means that the other son, Ishmael, was born by means of sexual indulgence or relationship of flesh with a bondmaid. Earlier, Abraham had failed to have a son by holy power because human beings had now almost lost that holy power, but, in his late old age, he was able to have a son 'by promise of God', i.e. by God's grace, as it were, and, admittedly, God will not promise a 'son born after the flesh' because God has called such a relationship as sin and Abraham also understood this wherefore he sent away Hagar, the bond­maid and her son Ishmael (Gen. 16)

 

Thus it is clear that, in ancient times, reproduction of human race was by holy powers and also that Abraham and Sarah and Abraham's father Terah were descendents of people of the Sun and Moon dynasties from the East (India) and that the Old Testament confirms, to a great extent, what Shiv Baba has revealed, though we did not interpret the biblical story of creation as we do it today, for previously we had not had this knowledge as Shiva Baba has now given us through Brahma.