Why Man Is Called a Miniature Universe

In our scriptures, wherever the building blocks of the universe are discussed, you will see a close connection with the human body.
The tatwas I am talking about — be it the 24 tatwas or 36 tatwas.

At the lowest end, you will find the panchabhutas, the five tanmatras, the five karmendriyas, and the five jnanendriyas.

These are building blocks along with a few more.
But where do you find karmendriyas in a mountain?
In an earthworm, the jnanendriya called eyes are not there.
Trees don't have the sensation called taste.
Then how can you say that these are the building blocks?

Now, if you want to build a house, shouldn't your warehouse have everything that goes into it?
The creator should have all the resources.
That doesn't mean he has to put all the resources into everything.

The flooring of the building need not contain glass or wood.
The window frame may not require tiles; it can be made from wood alone.

This we have to understand.
Every created object and being of the world need not have every ingredient of the universe.
So the mountain need not have all the organs of sensation or organs of action.
The worm need not have eyes.

But there is one being who has all the ingredients of the universe — that is man.
He is made up of all the resources, all the ingredients, and all the building blocks of the universe.
That is why we say man is a miniature universe.
You can't say a snake is a miniature universe.
There may be some components of the universe missing in a snake.
But man is complete in all respects.

It is the creator who has become the universe.
We don't believe that the creator created something else.
The creator turned himself into the creation.
Like how an actor behaves as someone else when he is acting — he is himself becoming someone else.
This is what the creator also does.

But in the case of man, he ensured that man has everything that he has.
Or man should be an exact replica of himself.
Why?
Because the purpose of human birth is to gain knowledge — the ultimate knowledge.
This knowledge should be available to him.
He need not wander here and there for this knowledge.
He can simply look at himself and learn everything.

He only needs to be trained how to look at himself.

Where do you find this truth? In Veda itself.

पुरुषो वै प्रजापतेर्नेदिष्ठम्
पुरुषः प्रजापतिः
प्राजापत्यो वै पुरुषः
पुरुषो वौ सहस्रस्य प्रतिमा

Sage Vyasa also has said:
In the creation there is nothing greater than man.

Even the Holy Bible says the same thing — Genesis 1:27:

So God created mankind in his own image,
in the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them.

God blessed them and said to them, 'Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.'

Mostly, they all talk about the same thing.
Universal truths cannot be different from each other.
How we understand can be different.
How we interpret can be different.
But truths across religions are mostly the same.
The presentation can be different.

Ramaswamy Sastry and Vighnesh Ghanapaathi