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COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS 1 Veda and Torah in Creation Structural Affinities in Symbol Systems From our analysis of the symbol systems associated with Veda and Torah we have seen that in certain strands of the brahmanical tradition and the rabbinic and kabbalistic traditions scripture is represented as a multileveled cosmic reality that is correlated with the different levels of the Word and the different levels of creation. Four types of formulations can be distinguished, in which Veda and Torah, respectively, are variously represented as (1) the totality of the Word, which is the essence of the ultimate reality; (2) knowledge , which is an aspect of the creator principle; (3) divine language , which constitutes the archetypal blueprint of creation; and (4) a concrete corpus of oral and/or written texts. While the seminal expressions of these conceptions are found in Vedic and rabbinic texts, the most extensive discussions are found in post-Vedic and kabbalistic texts, which reformulate and elaborate the seed speculations contained in the earlier texts, embedding them in complex cosmologies. It is in these later texts that we find the most significant parallels among representations of Veda and Torah. (1) Scripture as the Word: The Essence of the Ultimate Reality Veda and Torah are represented in certain strands of their respective traditions as the Word in its totality, which is the essence of the ultimate reality, particularly in its manifest form in relation to creation. The Veda is at times described in Vedic and post-Vedic mythology as the Word, brahman, which is the essence of Brahman and is particularly associated with the sagu7Ja dimension of Brahman that expresses itself in creation. In this context the Veda is identified in certain post-Vedic texts with Sabdabrahman , Brahman embodied in the Word. The Torah is similarly identified with the Word (daQar) of God or Name (sem) of God, an identification that is generally assumed but not expanded upon in rabbinic texts. The Torah as the Word of God or Name of God is described in certain kabbalistic texts as the total manifestation of God's essence that is revealed in and through creation and is at times directly identified with God himself. 213 214 Veda and Torah Veda and Torah are represented as participating in the ultimate reality not only as its inner essence but also as its form. The body of Brahman is described in certain Vedic and post-Vedic texts as constituted by the Vedic mantras, and in particular by the fortyeight van;a-sounds of Sanskrit that compose the mantras. Similarly , certain kabbalists maintain that the mystical body of God is constituted by the letters of his Name (= Torah), while others claim that the very substance of the Godhead is woven with the twentytwo letters of the Hebrew alphabet that compose the Torah. (2) Scripture as Knowledge: The Creator Principle Veda and Torah are not only identified, respectively, with the essence of the ultimate reality, but are associated more specifically with that aspect of the divine which is responsible for bringing forth the phenomenal world. On this level, each is represented as the undifferentiated totality of knowledge or wisdom that serves as the immediate source of creation. The Veda is at times identified with the creator Prajapati or Brahma, the demiurge principle, who is extolled as the embodiment of knowledge and Veda incarnate. The Torah is personified in certain rabbinic texts as I:Io~ah, primordial wisdom, which serves as God's architect or co-worker in creation. In kabbalistic texts the Torah as I:Io~ah is hypostatized as the Father, who functions as the demiurge principle in the sepfrotic pleroma. (3) Scripture as Divine Language: The Blueprint of Creation Veda and Torah are each at times depicted as the subtle plan or blueprint of creation, its constituent sounds or letters constituting the primordial elements of the divine language from which the realm of forms is structured. On this level the Word has differentiated from its original state of unity; the one Word has given rise to words. On the most subtle level these words are the "ideas" of all the forms of creation conceived in the mind of the creator as the ideal plan of the universe. These ideas are then uttered by the creator as vocalized words, which are then precipitated to form the multiplicity of phenomena. The Vedic mantras are represented in certain Vedic and post-Vedic accounts as the primordial utterances through which the creator brings forth the universe. In post-Vedic...

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