Gita 09.17 – Krishna is the sustainer of our sustainers
Thank you. Bhagavad Gita, 9.17, Krishna is speaking here, and He is explaining how it is He who underlies the whole universe. It is He who is the source, the sustainer.
This section, 9.16 to 9.19, is an elaboration of Vishwa-tomukham. Krishna said, ज्ञान्यज्ञेन चाप्यन्य यजन्तो मामुपासते इकत्वेन पुरुथक्त्वेन बहुता विश्वतो मुखम् He said in 9.15 that there are some people, अन्ये, people who are different from the mudhas mentioned in 9.11 and 12, and the Mahatmas mentioned in 9.13 and 14. So these अन्ये, these other people who are between these two, they worship Him through ज्ञान्यज्ञेन, and through the sacrifice of knowledge, they worship Him as एकत्वेन पुरुथक्त्वेन बहुता विश्वतो मुखम् That विश्वतो मुखम्, how they worship Him and His manifestation in the universe, that is talked about over here.
And here it is said that पिताहमस्यजगतो, I am the father of the whole universe. माताधातापितामह, माताधाता, I am the mother, I am the sustainer, पितामह, I am the grand sire, वेद्यम्पवित्रमोंकार, I am the sacred sound syllable, I am the sacred syllable ओम्, वेद्यम्, I am the object to be known, रिक्षाम्यजुरेवच्या, I am the रिक्षाम्यजुरेवच्या, I am the रिक्षाम्यजुरेवच्या, so the first line is पिताहमस्यजगतो, I am the father of the universe, now it's interesting, Krishna is not saying here that I am the father of all living beings in the universe, that he will say in 14.4, when he will say that, सर्वयोनिषु कौंतेय मूर्थयः संभवन्ति अतासाम् ब्रह्ममाध्योनिर्ः अहम् बीजः प्रधः पिताहम्, he says I am the father of, still being father of all living beings, here Krishna is saying I am the father of the universe, now what does father of the universe mean, normally father is one, someone who begets, so now doesn't even beget the universe, so it's actually, this is a non-literal way of stating that Krishna is the father of all living beings in the universe, but specifically because here discussion is of the manifestation of the Lord as the universe, विश्वतो मुखं, so accordingly some non-literal usage is not just acceptable but apt over here, Krishna says I am not just the father, but I am also the mother and the grandsire, माता धाता पितामह, mother sustainer and grandsire, so normally when we say that is the father of the nation, so for example Mahatma Gandhi is called the father of the country India, so like that, now this father is of course in a non-literal sense, but conveys an important relationship with the country as a primary formulating influence, so here we have पिताहमसेजिगतो, that close proximate relationship that Krishna has, this would at least as it is envisioned by the first people performing ज्ञान यज्ञान through विश्वतो मुखं, for them Krishna is revealing how they can do so, there are some people who consider nature itself to be God, such people are often espouses of the doctrine known as naturalism, where they hold that there is no truth beyond nature or even if there is some truth beyond nature, that is inconsequential for us in the study of nature, because that does not interfere in the functioning of nature, nature itself is the highest truth, this sort of deification of nature to an absolute level, it is a mistake, not just a mistake, it is a blunder, because nature itself does not have, nature in terms of, when analysed in terms of matter and material components, it does not have the capacity to explain consciousness, which is a fundamental mystery in the universe, so here Krishna gives us a vision of how the consciousness how the universe cannot function without consciousness, consciousness is the active agent within the universe and that consciousness rests on the supreme consciousness, thus, that the whole universe with all the living beings in it, normally when one has an infant, one is sustained by one's mother and father and of course one belongs to a family and a dynasty and that dynasty and the dynasty has come from one's grandfather, so by stating that, when Krishna states that I am the father, I am the mother and I am the grandfather, what he means to say is that whatever material sources of sustenance we may see in this world, those material sustainers are sustained by him, that ultimately they do not have any power independently to either create life or to maintain life and then after that he says, so now the purpose of living is not just living, now if we think it is only living, then soon we will be on our deathbed, we will die and our purpose of living will be permanently, irreversibly, inescapably frustrated, the purpose of living is actually purifying ourselves so that we can live at the eternal spiritual level of reality and for living at that level, we and for purifying ourselves to raise our consciousness from the material level to the spiritual level, from the mortal level to the immortal level, we need aids. So, so Krishna states that I am the Omkara.
Krishna has already talked about that, in 7.8, he has also identified himself with the Pranava, that he is the Pranava in all sounds, rather he is the Pranava in the Vedic mantras and he says, I am the purifying Omkara. Krishna will talk about once again later, the 10th chapter in the Vibhuti Yoga as well as in the 17th chapter when he talks about Om Tat Sad, towards the end of that chapter. At present, Krishna says that the purification that we are to affect and the tool for that purification, Om represents various mantras here.
So, whatever means of purification that are there, they are represented here by the word Om and Krishna says that I am that Om. So, and Riksham Yajur Aeva Chyo, Aeva Chyo means also certainly, that means, the Acharyas explain that this refers to the fourth Veda, which is not mentioned here, Riksham Yajur and Atharva. And now, our present existence is bilateral, it has a material side and a spiritual side.
So, the material side is provided for our Pita, Mata, Pitamaha and our spiritual side is taken care of by mantras like the Om and of course, the Hare Krishna Maha Mantra, which is the Yoga Dharma for this age. And these prescriptions for all-round balanced living, taking care of both the material and the spiritual sides, that is described, these are prescribed in the Vedas and Krishna says,.