“The Boy Who Asked Why” - A Story on Creation Theory

Prof. Avinash Chavhan

 Assistant Professor

Bharatratna Dr. P.V. Kane Sanskrit Study Centre, 

University Sub-centre , KKSU Ramtek

“The Boy Who Asked Why” - A Story on Creation Theory

In a quiet village nestled between green hills and silent skies, lived a boy named Rishi. He wasn’t like the other children who ran after kites or climbed mango trees. Rishi had a deep, curious spark in his eyes. He questioned everything, not out of mischief but out of a thirst for knowing the truth.     

One fine evening, Rishi sat with his father under a neem tree. Birds were returning home, and the sky glowed orange. He had overheard a few elders saying, “This world is not real. It’s all an illusion.” 

Confused and intrigued, Rishi turned to his father and asked, “Baba, is this world not real? If I am here, you are here, and I see this vast universe - then how did all this come to be?”

The father smiled, sensing the spark of a seeker in his young boy. “What do you think, my son? Where did all this come from?”

Rishi replied, “I feel… it must have started from one thing. Like when we start a business, we need capital. So maybe the world began with one thing too?”

“Very good,” said the father. “And to begin anything, we need to know when it started, where, and what it started with.”

Rishi thought deeply and said, “Let’s suppose time and space were already there - eternal. Then there must be something within them. Maybe… atoms?”

Father nodded, “Excellent. So if atoms were there, how did they come together to form this vast world?”

Rishi replied innocently, “Maybe... someone made them come together. Maybe Ishwara, God.”

The father smiled, filled with pride. “That’s a good theory! So, atoms formed molecules, which formed matter and the world. Now save this thought in your mind and label it ‘Starting File’ – this is called ārambha-vāda – the theory of beginning.”

Rishi was happy. But happiness never lasted long in his curious mind. The next morning, he came running back. “Baba! I’m not satisfied. Why would Ishwara give that push to the atoms? Isn’t there another way to explain it?”

The father encouraged him, “Well then, what did you think?”

Rishi shared, “Today I saw mother making curd. She added a spoon of curd to warm milk, and slowly, the milk changed. I feel the world is like that - it wasn’t created from outside. It transformed. Maybe Prakṛti – Nature - was already there, and it just became the world.”

Father asked, “But even to make curd, don’t you need a little curd before?”

Rishi grinned, “Yes! And I found that too. That pre-existing 'curd' is Puruṣa! Consciousness! Prakṛti and Puruṣa together led to the transformation.”

“Very wise,” said the father. “This is called pariṇāma-vāda—the theory of transformation. Like milk becoming curd.”

Rishi went to rest. But that night, sleep didn’t come easy. Questions danced in his mind: If Prakṛti is inert, how does it move? How can inert matter create this lively world? How is consciousness connected to this process?

That evening, as he strolled outside, the twilight played tricks. In the dim light, he saw what looked like a snake on the path. Terrified, he ran to bring a torch.  But when he shone the light - it was just a rope. Stunned, he sat beside it and thought deeply. “Just like the rope appeared as a snake, maybe this world appears as real on something deeper.”

He rushed to his father. “Baba! I have a new idea. Just like rope appears as snake, maybe this world is just an appearance on the Truth. It seems real because we are within it. Like a dream feels real until we wake up.”

The father embraced him warmly. “Ah, my boy, what you’ve discovered is vivarta-vāda - the theory of appearance. The Truth is like the rope, the world like the snake.”

“Then Baba,” said Rishi, his eyes gleaming, “what is ultimately true? If this is all appearance, maybe nothing ever really happened at all?”

The father was stunned. He gently whispered, “That thought, my son, is the highest. It’s called ajātavāda - the doctrine of non-origination. From the absolute standpoint, nothing ever began. It simply is. The world never truly came into being. Only the One Reality exists.”

Rishi sat in silence, absorbing the weight of the truth. The neem leaves rustled in the breeze above them, as if clapping for the wisdom of the child. And so, the boy who once asked why, slowly journeyed from gross curiosity to subtle realization - guided by love, simplicity, and the light of inquiry.

Moral / Conclusion:

This story is not just a tale but a map of philosophical evolution - from Ārambhavāda (Creation Theory), to Pariṇāmavāda (Transformation), to Vivartavāda (Appearance), and finally to Ajātavāda (Non-Existance) - the progression of Indian thought from duality to non-duality.