Gita 09.09 – Krishna is concerned but not sentimental
Bhagavad Gita 9.9 In all this karma, in all this activity, nurture, certainly not maam, I am. So, in all this activity, I am not nibadnanti dhananjaya, I am not bound odhananjaya, oh conqueror of wealth.
Why? Because I am situated. I am situated as if detached, as if indifferent. Asinam.
Asinam is a word used for sitting. It is a variant of the well-known word asana, as we can have a simhasana or asasana. So, asinam means I am seated as if detached.
I am, asakta is attached, asakta is detached, is the opposite of attached. So, Krishna is using two significant words here, udasin and asaktam. So, do they mean the same thing, indifferent and detached? So, interestingly Krishna uses the word udasinavada, as if indifferent, like indifferent, asaktam, tesu karmasu, I am detached from all this work.
So, in this section, Krishna is talking about his relationship with material nature. And in that connection, he is stating that the temporary nature of material nature happens by prakritir vishad. He says everything is happening under the control of prakriti.
And someone may ask, all this annihilation takes place. Normally, say, if some terrorists blow up some place, then that is considered a very terrible act of destruction. And the government finds those terrorists and punishes them severely.
So, they are responsible for having caused the destruction. So, is it that Krishna is also responsible for the destruction of material nature? The whole universe with the various planetary systems are existing and suddenly at one time they are all destroyed. So, is Krishna responsible for all this? No, he says it is not.
If Krishna were responsible, then he would be bound. Bondage is a result of accountability and responsibility. Normally, we understand that people have a responsibility to act in responsible ways, and act in proper ways.
If they act improperly, then we ask for an explanation, why did you do like that? And if they act not just improperly, but grievously, grievously means very, very badly, then there can often be a severe reaction to that kind of action in terms of they being punished, penalized. So, is Krishna also implicated by all this destruction that happens in the universe? He says no. I don t get bound.
Why? He is seated as if detached and he is he is seated as if neutral, indifferent and he is detached. So, now this might seem, suppose say a tsunami comes along and sweeps away and destroys the whole coastline and somebody stays detached. He is just sitting as if neutral.
You may say that is also, wasn t that, doesn t that make the person culpable? That person, when they saw destruction, even if they did not cause the destruction, at least they could have done something to minimize the damage. So, how can, if Krishna is saying that I am going to sit as indifferent, how can he not be culpable, if not for causing the damage, at least then for neglecting the damage being caused and not trying to minimize or correct it? Actually, the way Krishna works to minimize the damage and distress caused by the destructiveness of this world is not by changing the destructiveness of the world, but by changing the direction of human consciousness. As long as we humans are focused on trying to attain happiness in this temporary world, till that time we will be caught, we will be bound, we will be implicated.
And if you want to avoid getting implicated, what we need to do is recognize that we are eternal beings and by putting ourselves in a temporary body and seeking of temporary pleasures, we are placing ourselves in an incompatible situation. We need to raise ourselves from the temporary to the eternal. And the way to raise ourselves is by directing your consciousness towards Krishna.
So, this whole is a part of the plan of this material existence, that the temporary nature of material existence is meant to push and prod and impel us to seek the non-temporary. And when we wish to seek the non-temporary, then Krishna from within the heart as a super soul and Krishna through the scripture of the Bhagavad Gita informs us about what the eternal is and guides us towards raising our consciousness towards the eternal. So, when Krishna says he is udasinavadasinam, that is not an, we see the Krishna using udasinavada.
He is not, he is seated as indifferent. So, he is not actually indifferent. He is concerned and he is distressed when there is suffering.
Anyone suffers because all living beings are his children and he does not want them to suffer. But consider a parent who comes to know that his child has got a diseased limb which needs to be amputated. At that time, it is not that the parent likes to see the child in pain.
It is not that the parent wants the child to suffer. But the parent knows that cutting of that limb is vital for the well-being, maybe even the survival of the child. And when the doctor comes along and takes the patient for surgery, takes the child for surgery, the child may turn to the parent and say, help, help, don't let me go there.
And the parent, at that time, udasinavada. The parent will not interfere. Asaktam tesu karmasu.
It is not that the parent is heartless, but the parent cannot be carried away by the same emotions of fear and protest and refusal that characterize the response of the child. So, asaktam does not mean that Krishna is uncaring. Rather, Krishna does not let his emotions be invested in the same way as the conditioned soul lets his emotions be invested.
So, when the surgery is to be performed, at that time, the patient, the child may protest and cry, but the father will feel for the child, but the father will not intervene, because they know that it is good for the child. Similarly, the process of the destruction that happens in material existence, that although it is distressing for the soul, it is ultimately essential for the ultimate liberation of the soul. Because only on seeing firsthand the destructiveness of the world, the soul starts thinking of what might be indestructible and thus the soul becomes open towards brahma jijnasa, towards spiritual inquiry.
And thereafter, the soul moves onwards towards spiritual knowledge and realization through scriptures like the Bhagavad Gita. So, Krishna is not responsible because he has not placed the souls in temporary material existence. The soul, the temporary nature of material existence is not to cause the soul suffering, it is to direct the soul towards the arena which is free from suffering, just as the amputation, the surgery and amputation are not to cause the patient pain, not to cause the child pain, but to restore the child to a state of health free from the source and cause of the pain.
And thus, Krishna, he is nani badnanti, he is not bound and he is situated as indifferent and acts as if detached when the soul undergoes the destructiveness of material existence.