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WHAT IS NOT—DHAMMA
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should ask you, ‘Well! Good friend ! This most beautiful woman in the land, whom you thus love and long for, who is she? Is she a noble lady, or a Brahmin woman, or of the trader class, or a Sudra ?’
“With regard to the origin of Maha Brahma, the so-called creator,” the Blessed Lord said, addressing Bhardvaja and Vasettha, “Friends, that being who was first born thinks thus : I am Brahma, the Great Brahma, the Vanquisher, the Unvanquished, the All-seeing, the Disposer, the Lord, the Maker, the Creator, the Chief, the Assignor, the Master of Myself, the father of all that are and are to be. By me are these beings created.
“This means that Brahma is the father of those that are and are to be.
“You say that the worshipful Brahma, the Vanquisher, the Unvanquished, Father of all that are and are to be, he by whom we were created, he is permanent, constant, eternal, unchanging, and he will remain so for ever and ever. Then why are we who are created by that Brahma, have come hither, all impermanent, transient, unstable, short-lived, destined to pass away ?”
To this Vasettha had no answer.
His third argument had reference to the Omnipotence of God. “If God is Omnipotent and is also the efficient cause of creation, then because of this man cannot have any desire to do anything, nor can there be any necessity to do anything, nor can he have the will to do anything or to put forth any effort. Man must remain a passive creature with no part to play in the affairs of the world. If this is so, why did Brahma create man at all ?”
To this also Vasettha had no answer.
His fourth argument was that if God is good then why do men become murderers, thieves, unchaste, liars, slanderers, abusive babblers, covetous, malicious and perverse ? The cause of this must be Ishwara. Is this possible with the existence of God who is good ?
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