Gita 02.12 – Spirit is not just eternal but also plural

Bhagavad Gita 2.12 so here Krishna is continuing to instruct Arjuna about the difference between the temporary body and the eternal soul and that connection he is stating that Natva Evaham Jatunasam actually there is Ta Evaham you I Jatunasam but actually na it begins with na not so Krishna is using the negative which is start a sentence means to have an emphasis so neither I neither you nor I but not that that you will come in the next line Tvam it is so but neither you nor I Asam Asam means exist refers to or did not so Asam means it was not that you nor I ever it did exist Natvam Neme Janadhipah Adhipah means to control or to rule Jana means people Janadhipah those who rule people that means the kings so Ime Janadhipah that means all these kings were assembled in this war war war war war war war war war war war war war so here essentially What Krishna is telling Arjuna is that YOU ocrishna are eternal and you are indestructible and so is everyone else and eternal means existing in the past existing at present and existing in the future Ok So where do we move forward from here? Krishna will explain the consequence of knowing this when he will say that namuhiyati, dheerasvatar namuhiyati, don't be deluded by these things.

The previous verse said that Arjuna you are getting affected by things, you are getting, you are mourning for things which are not worthy of mourning and next verse says that such a person will not mourn, the sober person will not mourn, that means the knowledge is described here can make you Arjuna also like that. So now what exactly is this knowledge? We will all continue to exist, specifically what is it that continues to exist that Krishna will hint at in the next verse when he talks about dehi, he talks about how inside the body there is a soul and the soul is eternal but in this particular verse Krishna is talking about the fact that everybody will continue to exist, he is not talking so much about who is it that will continue to exist, he is talking about the fact that they will all continue to exist. Now of course the bodies are going to die so it's clear that Krishna is not referring to the continued existence at the bodily level, he is talking about existence at the physical level, at the spiritual level that will become more clear in the next verse but this verse can refer to not just, it refers not just to the body but to the soul and as by referring to the soul it refers to the fact that actually the eternal is unchangeable, it is indestructible, it lasts forever and therefore Arjuna all these kings are going to live forever and all these kings because they live forever you should not grieve for their death.

This verse our Acharya has explained especially from the point of Ramanujacharya onwards can serve as a refutation of the Mayavadi idea that we all merge into the absolute in an absolute sense and there is the whole idea of individuality is an illusion because if the idea of individuality were an illusion then Krishna would not have said that in future also they will continue to exist. So now Krishna talks not just about those kings continuing to exist, Krishna talks about I-ness and U-ness even with referring to himself. The impersonals hold that such concepts of I-ness and U-ness are actually illusory.

So if they are illusory then why is Krishna using them? If Krishna is under illusion then there is no need for Krishna, then Krishna speaking of philosophy is invalid. Krishna is under illusion and how can he speak philosophy that can take us out of illusion? Krishna is not under illusion, Krishna is actually enlightened. Actually Krishna is the person who is himself enlightened and knowing whom makes everyone else enlightened.

So therefore to say that Krishna is under illusion is a serious misconception with serious consequences. In order to counter that misconception it's important that Arjuna recognizes the true nature of Krishna and that recognition is what this verse underscores. So right at the beginning of Krishna's talking about spirit, Krishna talks about the multiplicity of spirit and there is not just one spiritual being, there are multiplicities and he says about them in the future also.

By this he points out how individuality is an irreducible reality in the spiritual realm and this argument is so important that Krishna will revisit it again in 7.24, 9.11. Of course in those verses he focuses on the eternality of his personality but that also serves the same point. If his personality is eternal that means personality is eternal and if personality is eternal then impersonalism is what is a temporary illusion. It is not an eternal truth.

So here Krishna is saying to Arjuna that don't think that your loved ones will cease to exist. They will continue to exist and therefore you don't have to lament for them and they were existing in the past, they are existing in present and they will exist in the future. So let's quickly recap what he's saying.

First of all he's talking about the plurality of beings and he's talking about the eternality of beings. So the impersonalists talk only about a unity of being and they talk only about a unity of being in an impersonal sense. So there is just existence which is contentless consciousness.

That means normally whenever we are conscious of something that there is the subject, there is the object and there is a stream of consciousness that links the subject to the object. Let me say if I observe the computer in front of me then I am the subject, the computer is the object and there is a stream of consciousness which moves from the subject, from me to the computer. So normally consciousness implies these three things subject, object and stream of consciousness.

But Mayavad implies that or Mayavad argues that there is no subject and object. There is only in their words they call it pure consciousness. Pure consciousness is according to them contentless consciousness.

So pure consciousness that sort of consciousness actually there is no one to be conscious of and there is nothing to be conscious of and there is really no happiness actually to be had without any individuality and reciprocity. But what Krishna is saying over here is not contentless consciousness. There is clearly content.

Krishna is saying I, you and they. So all of us are there and that indicates that there is content even to pure consciousness. So pure consciousness actually is not contentless consciousness.

It's contaminationless consciousness. So contaminationless consciousness means that there are no illusions, there are no material attachments, there is no lust, anger, greed, envy, pride and delusion and because of that the consciousness stays eternally. The consciousness delights eternally at the spiritual level in the reciprocation of pure spiritual love and that revelation will come progressively in the Gita for example in 10.11 and at other places where spiritual ecstasy will be talked about.

But essentially in this verse by emphasizing the eternality of various beings Krishna not only refutes materialism but also refutes impersonalism. Thank you.