Gita 02.30 – Knowlege of the soul is not a call for resignation but for action

Bhagavad Gita 2.13 Bhagavad Gita 2.13 so here he is saying Dehi Nityam that soul which is inside the body is Nityam Avadhyayam is indestructible indestructible Avadhyayam what is to kill is to not be able to kill Avadhyayam Dehi is Nityam and is Avadhyayam Dehe Sarvasya Bharata Dehe Sarvasya in all living beings that Dehi exists and that Dehi is indestructible Tasmat Sarvani Bhutani so therefore for all living beings Natvam Shochitum Arhasi do not lament so the point which Krishna is making here is that actually we all have a tendency to lament about things that are not in our control and while there is this tendency at one level is natural but at another level when we accept the inevitability of the inevitable that means it is inevitable but as long as we internally resent it and resist it then we just burn ourselves by it but once we accept it then we can start seeing okay what is in my control and what can I do about it so the Bhagavad Gita is not just opening a gloomy pessimistic delineation of things where it just says okay the body is destructible, soul is indestructible that's the way things are and just accept it so it might seem if it seems like that as just a doctrine of helplessness and you are helpless and better accept that you are helpless and leave things at that live that way itself but that's not what the Bhagavad Gita teaches Bhagavad Gita teaches that yes this body is destructible but the emphasis is the soul is indestructible so nityamavadyo actually means the same, it is eternal and indestructible so by nature it is eternal and even if someone attempts to destroy it, it cannot be destroyed and exists in all living beings and therefore all living beings are indestructible now this is of course not referring to one soul living in all living beings but Krishna is talking about the principle of soul, all living beings have souls and those souls are all indestructible and therefore one need not lament for anyone the whole process of spirituality is not just to either passively accept the destructibility of the material level or merely intellectually analyze the indestructibility of the spiritual level rather the essence of spirituality is to consciously raise oneself from the material level to the spiritual level to recognize that because we are souls and we are meant to raise ourselves to the highest level of consciousness so we actually are eternal and we can realize the eternality by practicing the process of yoga and Krishna will introduce the term yoga for the first time in 39th verse but in the next session he will talk about practical ways in which one can start practicing one's start living according to the path of dharma that will gradually raise one to the spiritual level so actually all of us beyond our bodily differences we are souls and as souls we all have an opportunity for eternal life and just as a child knows that okay I am comfortable at my parents place and my parents love me and they take care of me and they want me to be here and they really coddle me and care for me but I will grow up and when I grow up I will go out of my parents house but then there is a big wonderful life ahead for me or for that matter another example is there is a birdlet inside a shell the birdlet inside the shell although the shell at one level is restrictive inside it is safe but how long is it safe that bird that shell actually it is so destructible it will just crack and the birdlet inside may get crushed although the shell may offer some security but the birdlet is not meant to live inside that shell forever actually the birdlet is meant to crack the shell of the egg and come out learn to fly and fly high in the sky and delight in the flight and look at the big explore the world and enjoy the world similarly the bodily conception is like a shell and although we may get some sense of security in knowing who we are in being comfortable in our skin in accepting ok I am a good looking person I am not a good looking person I am tall or short or whatever there has to be some level of acceptance if we are constantly resenting who we are at the level of the body that resentment burns inside us and that makes us that chokes our energy emotional energy mental energy from any constructive activity but we at a transitional level accept our skin but then the person be comfortable in our skin and then we move on words ok I am a Kshatriya I am a Vaishya I am a Brahmana whatever I am but the important point is I am more than all this I am the soul so right now because I have a particular Varna because I have a particular Swadharma I will do that Swadharma according to my Varna and by that I will rise upwards this will be talked about more in the next section but the point is just the word cracks out of the shell and thereafter its real life begins similarly the whole process of practicing Dharma is meant to help us crack out of the shell of the bodily conception of life so Krishna is telling Arjuna here that crack out of the shell Arjuna you are following the path of Dharma do not let grief check you from following Dharma because this grief is inevitable sooner or later the death will happen and you will grieve at that time if it doesn't happen now it will happen in future and you will grieve at that time so this death and its associated grief you will not be able to avoid but if you break out of the shell of bodily conception then you will not lament and if you do your duty and enable others to also is it an example for others also to do their duty then you will all help them also to break out of the shell of bodily conception and therefore gradually you will rise to the spiritual level and then the pains at the bodily level will not be so much we tolerate and transcend those pains so the whole point is Arjuna by remembering the eternality of the soul and the universality of the soul's presence in all bodies by this knowledge Arjuna transcend transcend by this knowledge you will be able to transcend bodily miseries and for doing that you have to stick to the path of dharma and grief will prevent you from sticking to the path of dharma therefore Arjuna give up grief give up grief and stay firm on the path of dharma so the Atma Gyan is not just meant to make us artificially detached from the level of the body or artificially renounce the bodily conception but to intelligently adopt the process for rising above the bodily conception we cannot arbitrarily just wish away our bodily identity nor can we become unsympathetic to bodily pains but we don't let ourselves become so consumed by bodily pains that we forget our duty so knowing that there is a life higher than the bodily available for us that knowledge will inspire us to follow the process by which we can rise towards that supra bodily life supra bodily means a life above the body, the spiritual life and don't let grief deprive us of that higher life that awaits us as eternal source.