Gita 02.20 – The soul doesn’t undergo the six changes that matter does

From the call of Dharma.

That is the central point of this whole section. And that is the direction in which this verse is also pointing. Thank you.

bhagavad-gita 2.20 This verse which has distinctly Upanishadic tone and theme to it. Theme means content and tone means the way it is phrased, the style, the mood. The Upanishads specialize in using the method of Naiti.

Not this, not this, not this. We are so surrounded around us by material things that whenever we think of anything, we think of it in terms of matter. So, in order to think of things, which may be non-material, our conception of existence is so embedded with conceptions of matter that it is difficult for us to conceive of anything that may exist, that may not be material.

So, in order for us to open our minds, to free our minds from the weeds of misconceptions, the Upanishads use the method of Naiti. Not this, not this, not this. So, in this way, when the mind is cleansed of the weeds of misconceptions, then it can become open to understanding spiritual reality.

So, here that sort of strategy is used. Na, na, na jayate, na yam bhutva, na bhavita, anubhuja. So, na, na, that is used again and again to emphasize that it is not like this, it is not like this.

Now, literally speaking, if you look at the verse, it seems to be quite repetitious. Not just repeating what earlier verses have said, but the verse itself seems to repeat what it has said. So, na jayate kriyate, it's not born, it's not destroyed, it does not die.

Kadachi, many times, actually this has been said so many times earlier. So, this is a little curious, na yam bhutva. Now, there are different ways of translating this.

This has not come into being, this is not in being and this will not come into being. Ajo vityah shashuto yam purano, all of these seem to be very similar. Unborn, eternal, ever existing, primeval.

And then na hanyate hanyamane sharir, again the no has come, not, not. It's not destroyed when the body is destroyed. So, to understand actually what the verse is saying.

Is it simply repeating itself again and again? Actually, Baldevidya Bhushan in his commentary explains that this verse is using the naiti strategy to counter our conceptions of matter. Matter, as we know, undergoes six changes. It comes into existence, it grows, it maintains itself, it changes in terms of, say, expanding or reproducing.

And basically it changes in various ways. Then it deteriorates and then it destroys, it gets destroyed. So, these are the characteristics of matter.

Now, Baldevidya Bhushan quotes a specific verse from Yaska. Yaska is a very celebrated Vedic commentator. And he has written a dictionary as well as a commentary.

So, from his Nirukta Dictionary, he characterizes existence, especially in terms of that which exists at the level of matter or at the level of temporality. And he says that it undergoes these six changes. So, this is roughly similar to the six changes that we talked about.

It comes into existence. It maintains its existence. It grows.

It changes. It decays. And then it gets destroyed.

So, Viparanamate includes reproduction also. And as the existence refers even to maintenance. So, now the point of Krishna is to emphasize that matter and spirit are different.

And the destruction of the matter, the destruction of the material bodies of Arjuna's loved ones does not imply the destruction of their souls. And therefore Arjuna need not lament. So, now Krishna goes beyond just saying that the soul is indestructible.

He says the soul is dramatically different from matter. And he says the soul does not undergo the six changes. And so, the verse, this verse 2.20, envisions this as a response to this normal understanding of matter as that which undergoes six changes.

So, how spirit does not undergo six changes is asserted in this verse. So, jayate and vinashyati. It's created and it's destroyed.

That's what is the characteristic of material things. So, na jayate mriyate encounters this. The soul does not undergo creation, soul does not undergo destruction.

So, here va is used in the sense of and. Kadachi, under any circumstances, it's indestructible. Na ayam bhutva bhavita vanabhuyaha.

So, na ayam bhutva bhavita vanabhuyaha. So, it was not born in the past and it will not be born in the past. That means it is not something that comes into existence.

Something that comes into existence may go out of existence also. It just exists. So, the phase of maintenance that is there for things, that itself implies that there was a time when they were not existing and there was no question of maintaining themselves.

So, that existence phase of either coming into existence does not apply to the soul. That is emphasized by the second line. Na ayam bhutva bhavita vanabhuyaha.

It has not come into existence and it will not come into existence. That means it is just outside the time domain and it just exists always. It's not something which comes into existence at a particular time.

And then, Ajo nityahe shashvato yam purano. Ajo nityahe. So, it is nabhuyaha.

So, ajo nitya means it is unborn and it is eternal. So, it is not going to change. It is not going to do vardhate.

Shashvata. Shashvata means that it is eternal. So, it is going to exist forever.

That means it is not going to be apakshiyate. It is not going to decay. So, ajo nitya indicates that from beginning to end it is just existing.

It is not going to change. Shashvata means it is not going to grow and it is not going to deteriorate. And further, nabhuyaha, it does not have growth, it does not have decay.

And purana. Purana means it is primeval. Primeval means as it was in the past, so it is now.

So, there is no viparamate. There is no transformation in it. Thus, the atma is devoid of all such changes.

And because of this atma's nature of being entirely different from matter, therefore, the conclusion is na hanyate hanyamane sharire. That the soul is not destroyed when the body is destroyed. So, the important point, more than looking at the specific one-to-one correlation of which word refers to what, we can focus more on the principle that the atma does not undergo the six changes.

The body undergoes these changes but the atma does not. The atma is indestructible and it is not just that the soul is indestructible, the body is indestructible, the soul is indestructible. That is not the only difference.

The whole difference is that the soul is outside the time domain and that's why it is not affected by any of the changes. It is not affected in terms of growing or deteriorating or changing or having to battle to maintain itself. No, it just is.

And it has been and it will be forever. So, in this way, by understanding the non-material nature of the soul, understanding the transcendental nature of the soul, in analytical depth, we can gain conviction. Arjuna especially can gain conviction to not shirk from his duty of fighting in the war due to some unnecessary, undesirable feelings of sentiment.

And thus, Arjuna can actually move forward in his life and do his duty as a Kshatriya. That is the import of this verse.