Gita 07.06 – Nothing exists outside the purview of Krishna’s energies

Thank you Bhagavad Gita 7.6 Vedad Yoni Nibhutani Sarvani Tyuptaraya Aham Krishnasya Jagataha Prabhava Pralayas Tatha Vedad Yoni Nibhutani here Krishna is continuing the analysis of theistic Sankhya Sankhya is one of the six systems of philosophy among Indian philosophies. The Indian systems of philosophy are classified into two broad categories, orthodox and heterodox, or theistic and non-theistic.

So, theistic or orthodox, these refer to those philosophies that accept the authority of the Vedas. And the non-theistic or the heterodox philosophies, they reject the authority of the Vedas. So, the heterodox philosophies are Buddhism, Jainism, Charvakism.

The orthodox or theistic philosophies which accept the Vedic authority are Sankhya, Yoga, Nyaya, Vaisheshika, Karma Mimamsa and Uttar Mimamsa, Vedanta. So, Sankhya is one of these six systems and Sankhya focuses on analysis of material elements into its components. And that is what Krishna is doing over here.

However, Sankhya, as it is conceived of in one of the six systems of philosophy, is not always understood as theistic. So, Sankhya often focuses on the analysis of the material elements and it's left at that. In the Mahabharata, it's indicated that there are three kinds of Sankhya.

There is 24 Sankhya, 25 Sankhya and 26 Sankhya. So, 24, 25, 26, of course, refer to the number of elements that are conceived of as present in the Sankhya philosophy. So, 24 Sankhya refers to the system of Sankhya in which there is analysis of the material world into 24 elements.

Krishna will mention these 24 elements in 13.6, where in 13th chapter again he comes back to analysis of Sankhya. So, Mahabhutani is the five gigantic elements. So, these are the five elements.

Ego is the sixth. Buddhi is intelligence. Avyakta.

Avyakta is the unmanifest material nature, that is Pradhan. When it's transformed, it becomes Mahat Tattva. So, this is… Till now, Krishna has said, Eight and Buddha.

Indriyanidashayakamcha is 11 elements. So, these are five working senses, five knowledge acquiring senses and one mind, which is also considered to be Indriya. And then, And there are the five sense objects.

So, 11 plus 5 is 16. And then there are the eight elements of material nature. Earth, water, fire, ether, mind, intelligence and ego.

And then mind is counted earlier. So, then what remains is Pradhan. So, that way, there are 28 elements.

Now, in the Sankhya, when there is the talk of these 24 elements, then these are considered the Prakriti. And apart from them, there is the Purusha. The Purusha is the conscious being.

Now, in some systems, Sankhya Purusha is thought of as an illusion, whose existence is to be ended. And then suffering will end. So, that is 24 Sankhya.

In 25 Sankhya, the Purusha is considered to be the reality, Purusha is the reality who is entangled in matter. And when the Purusha becomes disentangled from matter, that is liberation. And in 26 Sankhya, it is understood that there is a Purusha and then there is a Param Purusha.

So, Param Purusha is Krishna. So, both the Bhagavad Gita and the Bhagavatam talk about this 26 Sankhya, theistic Sankhya. So, in the theistic Sankhya, within Sankhya itself, Purusha and Prakriti is the primary duality.

So, Purusha is the enjoyer, is the active principle, Prakriti is the inactive principle. However, Purusha gets entangled in Prakriti, and Purusha needs to become liberated from Prakriti. But in the theistic Sankhya, still there is a duality of Purusha and Prakriti.

But there is also the understanding that from the point of view of Purushottama, from the point of view of the Supreme Purusha, even the small Purusha, so it means all of us, are also Prakriti. So, Prakriti can refer to insentient material nature when it is contrasted with Purusha, which is the conscious being. But when the reference point is the Supreme Being, and from the Supreme Being's point of view, both the conscious being as well as the unconscious nature, both are energies, and both are under the control of the Supreme Being.

That's why, from that point of view, both are Prakriti. So, that's why Krishna has used the word Prakriti to refer to even the Jivas. Krishna has said in the previous verse, in 7.5, that this is my Paraprakriti, as contrasted with Aparaprakriti, which is earth, water, fire, air, etc., which is matter, basically.

So, now, with this background, we understand how important this particular verse is now, 7.6. So, what is Krishna saying over here? So, in this world, whatever living beings are there, all of them exist and all of them have their origin in these two natures. Whether it is a giant blue whale in the ocean, or whether it is a tiny microbe, thousands of which are there within one small drop of liquid at times. Whether it is a huge hippopotamus or a tiny ant, all of them have their origin in these two natures.

There is a soul, which is the Paraprakriti, and then there is the body, which is the Aparaprakriti. And the body may vary according to the different species in which the soul is, but all species everywhere, all existence of all species is a combination of these two natures, the body and the soul. And Krishna further says, so, in this way, he gives a basic reductive framework for us to see some first principles, to see some underlying unity behind the bewildering diversity that strikes our eye when we look at the world.

We can see hundreds and thousands of different species if we observe nature as ethologists do, and each species can have its own special fascinating characteristics, but we understand that underlying it all, there is the Aparaprakriti and the Paraprakriti, and their combination is manifested in this wide variety of beings. And then Krishna takes us further in this verse. He says, OK, see that I have a material diversity, and see that there is basically the commonality of these two prakritis coming in combination with each other.

And then he says, see further behind it. What shall you see further? aham kritsnasyajagatah prabhavapralayas tatha He says, aham, I, kritsnasya, kritsnasya is for everything, prabhavapralayas tatha I, prabhava is the origin, pralaya is the end, the destruction. So, I am the creation, and I am the destruction of everything.

So, that means, I am not exactly the creation, I am the origin of everything, and I am the shelter of everything after destruction. In the Chitushloki Bhagavatam, it is stated that, aham evasam evagre nanyam that in the beginning I alone was there, in the middle I am there, and in the end also I alone will be there. What this means is, that Krishna is the essence of existence.

aham kritsnasyajagatah prabhavapralayas tatha kritsnasyajagatah prabhavapralayas tatha So, both these words convey that what Krishna is, the frame of analysis that Krishna is giving over here is universal. It applies to everything and everyone. So, all species have their origin in these two natures, the Para and Aparaprakrati, and the sustenance of all Para and Aparaprakrati is Krishna himself.

And in this way, Krishna is the shelter of everything and everyone. It is this all-attractive Lord who is manifesting in various ways through His various energies. And to the extent we understand Him, and to the extent we develop our devotion to Him, to that extent, our life will become auspicious.

So, Krishna will now, after telling about how He lies at the root of all of existence, Krishna will give further examples and illustrate how He is the essence of everything. First, He will give an important verse which talks about this principle through an example, and then He will give further illustrations through nature, talking about His pervasion of material nature, of various material manifestations as their essence. That we will discuss in our future talks.

Thank you.