Gita 08.04 – Everything is ultimately a manifesatation of Krishna
In due course, thank you Bhagavad Gita 8.4 so here Arjuna's next set of questions are answered in the previous verse Krishna answered what is Brahma the transcendentally realized living entity is Brahma Adhyatma is its very nature at the spiritual level then that that which leads to the production of the material bodies of the spiritual living being that is Karma now in this verse Krishna answers what is Adhibhuta what is Adhyakya and what is Adhidaiva so Adhibhutam Ksharobhavah Adhibhuta Ksharobhavah so Kshara is that which changes Bhavah, nature so Adhibhuta is that which is of a changing nature, the word Kshara is the opposite of the word Akshara which Krishna used to describe Brahma Aksharam Brahmaparamam that was 8.3 so here Krishna is contrasting that by saying in 8.4 that Adhibhutam Ksharobhavah so whereas spirit is characterized by its changelessness matter is characterized by its constant change so this is the difference between spirit and matter and it is a subject for important discussions what is the nature of reality what is the best way in which the soul can live true to its spiritual nature this is a question which needs to be answered and as long as the soul's consciousness is caught at the material level the soul doesn't live true to its spiritual nature rather the soul lives according to its material nature and the soul stays caught in material existence to the extent the soul recognizes that I am a spiritual being that I need to realize Krishna I need to attain Krishna to that extent the soul goes beyond material nature and attains spiritual nature so here we need to work in our realization of Krishna Bhakti that we are unchanging, we cannot change the changeability of material nature but so when Krishna says that the material nature is ever changing so this we are contrasting with Daksharam Brahmaparamam this helps us to distance ourselves from our infatuation with material nature and move closer towards realizing our spiritual identity and now we may wonder if Krishna is characterizing the Adi Bhuta as ever changing then what does it mean Sadhi Bhuta Di Daivam Mam so how can Krishna be Adi Bhuta that is pointed out in 7.4 when Krishna says that the material nature is his energy this is my prakriti but it is Bhinna and the connection of this material nature with him will be told later in 9.10 when Krishna says this is his prakriti but it is under his supervision so one of the fundamental philosophical questions in Vedanta is that how is if the Brahma is unchanging as is pointed out over here then how is the unchanging Brahma related with the changeability of this world how can the changing the ever changing come from the ever unchanging so here we understand that the Brahma is not just a unified oneness the Brahma is a oneness with variety the Gaudiya Vaishnava philosophy explains that Brahman is a person with energies and the person is unchanging but the energies are changing so in the synthetic sense the energies and energetic are one so in that synthetic sense we can understand the 7.30 declaration Adi Bhuta Adi Daivam Mam that the one who understands the Adi Bhuta to be me but in the analytic sense we understand that the energies are different from the energetic and that strength in that sense we can understand Adi Bhutam Ksharobhavah Purushascha Adi Daivatam so Adi Daiva Daiva refers to the predominating deity Adi Daiva refers to the supreme deity who is that? Adi is original, Adi is supervising so here it is Adi Daiva so the supreme deity is Purusha now what is this Purusha? the concept of Purusha will be talked about elaborately in the 13th chapter Arjuna will ask specifically what is Purusha and what is Prakruti and there Krishna will talk about two kinds of Purusha there is the Anupurusha and there is the Vibhupurusha there is the Purusha who is entangled in material nature and the Purusha who is transcendental to material nature so that usage of Purusha is usually in contrast with Prakruti so Prakruti is unconscious Purusha is conscious at the same time the word Purusha has other meanings also so here we see Prabhupada translates Purusha as the Virata Purusha the cosmic form so Purusha is the Purusha the Adi Daiva is the Purusha it means the supreme predominating deity is it the Virata form? No there is a supreme being who can be known through the Virata form so we will see in the Virata Rupa how Krishna is non-different from the Virata Rupa will be revealed in the 11th chapter of the Gita so here there is a condensed explanation of things and so these Adibhuta, Adidaiva they are different manifestations but they are different manifestations of the same one absolute truth and so here Krishna unambiguously declares that I am the Adiyagya Amevatra Dehe Deha Bhrutam Vara here we have a poetic alliteration in 8.4 where Krishna uses the word Deha twice Dehe Deha Bhrutam Vara so first Dehe refers to in the body Deha Bhrutam Vara is a compound word which refers to Arjuna as Vara is the best Bhrutam is one who is accepted Deha Bhrutam Vara means the best of the embodied beings there are various kinds of embodied beings but those embodied beings who have come to the spiritual level of realization who have understood spiritual reality they are Deha Bhrutam Vara Arjuna is one such special living entity and he is referred to as Deha Bhrutam Vara so Dehe Deha Bhrutam Vara so Dehe and Deha is the alliteration of the first two pronouns.