Gita 08.01 – Terms have specific and generic meanings
Thank you so Arjuna being attentive hearer is immediately raising questions about some unfamiliar terms or unfamiliar usages of familiar terms that have occurred in Krishna's speech in the last two verses of the previous chapter so Arjuna is asking about kim tad brahma what is brahma kim karma purushottama oh Krishna you are purushottama, you are capable of answering all questions the best among all people so please explain what is what is adhyatma adhibhutam chakhim proktam what is called as adhibhutam adhidaivam kim uchyate and what is adhidaivam so in the previous verses 7.29 and 30 Krishna used these words jara marana mokshaya mama shitya tantiyete brahma tadvidho krishnam adhyatmam karmachakhilam so here he used the word brahma, adhyatma and karma and in 7.30 he has said sadhibhutadhidaivam mam sadhiyagyam chaye vidho prayanakale pichamam te viduryuptachetasaham so he has asked sadhibhutam so one who understands me sadhibhutadhidaivam which a person can remember prayanakale pichamam that person can remember even at the time of death te viduryuptachetasaham person would be in proper consciousness even at the time of death so the questions put on which are used in 29th text they comprise the first half of this verse kim tad brahma kim adhyatmam kim karma purushottam so brahma, adhyatma and karma are terms which are which are in 29th text and then the remaining terms adhibhutadhidaivam are from the 30th verse and Arjuna will continue the question in the next verse also where he will ask about the last term and about prayanakadhyagyam who is adhyagya, how is it situated in the body and how can one how can the regulated soul know you at the time of prayanakal at the time of death so we discuss the questions discuss the term specifically when Arjuna Arjuna's questions are answered by Krishna in text 3 and 4 here let us right now focus on the underlying principles the underlying principles here are that in the field of spiritual inquiry there are no easy ways out it means that sometimes we may think that we know particular words but we may well find that what we know are not actually the words are just the words we don't know the concepts associated with those words or we find that we understand the words in one context as associated with one aspect of the concept but then the words are used either to refer to some other concept or some other aspect of the concept if you look at a dictionary sometimes words have multiple meanings so for example in English if you consider the word spiritualist now spiritualist can be the proper noun can be the noun referring to the person who either practices spiritualism or practices spirituality there is no difference in terms of the noun form thereof so spirituality refers to a concept very different from spiritualism, spirituality is the emphasis on the spiritual side of things if you consider spiritual subjects to be important they are called as spiritualists they are said to be studying spirituality and then they are studying or practicing spirituality and those who do this are called as spiritualists spiritualism is a different ball game entirely the word spirits is used in English to refer to the ghostly beings beings who are presently existing in a disembodied state such beings can be contacted using planchets and some other mystical means and the methods for contacting them may be getting some messages from them they are called as spiritualism usually what is the word spirits these beings are called as spirits in the plural whereas when we talk about the soul if at all we use the word spirit we use it singular now while we are discussing this here is that just as words can have multiple meanings the word spiritualist can refer to one who stresses the spiritual side of life and one who tries to communicate its spirits similarly the word Brahma can have multiple meanings the word karma can have multiple meanings so when Krishna has used them in a particular context in the previous in two verses earlier in 7.29 Arjuna wants to know what is the meaning of that word in that context and he also wants to know the general definition of the word so here Krishna is asking these terms are not unfamiliar to him but he wants to understand the precise definitions as well as their contextual application of those terms in the context that Arjuna has heard Krishna speak a few verses earlier so every question arises from a particular context and to the extent we understand that context, to that extent we can understand both the question and the answer that comes because every answer may not be universal in its scope it's like if somebody asks, if a diabetes patient asks a doctor should I eat so and so food and doctor may say no you should not now that may not apply for everyone others may be able to eat that food at least in moderation without any harmful effects but this person will not be able to eat so to the extent we understand the context to that extent we can understand the meanings more precisely and thus we can understand the overall flow of the Gita Thank you.