Gita 11.02 – Freedom from delusion comes by understanding the ephemeral and the eternal beyond the ephemeral

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bhagavata 11.2 creation and the destruction bhuta naam of all of existence of all living beings i have heard of it spoken by your lord in detail patah kamal patraksha and you oh lotus eyed one mahatmyam apichavyayam i have understood i have also heard about your imperishable lorries these verses are arjuna's prelude to his request in 11.4 to be shown the vishwaroopa in the previous verse he has stated that madanugraha yath paramam guhyam adhyatma sangeetam yatha yoktamba chisthena moho yam vigato manma he says my dear lord because of your mercy on me the words you have spoken mercifully they have freed me from illusion and what is the content of those words which has freed him from illusion he gives a rough hint of that he says i have understood about the creation and the destruction appearance and disappearance of all living beings of all of existence indeed and so now there are two main points in this verse and there is an important contrast that there is the temporary and there is the eternal and so beyond the temporary beyond the appearing and disappearing existence is the glorious eternal existence of the supreme and the beauty of the eternal existence is conveyed through the use of the word very intimate describer of beauty that is kamalpatraksha now in the bhakti literature especially when the bhakti saints are glorifying the lord and his beauty the lotus is the favourite metaphor to describe the lord's beauty but in the bhagavad gita which is primarily a philosophical discussion on dharma in such a book this is practically the only very intimate describer of krishna's beauty there are words like maha yogeshwara which will come later in this chapter itself maha which talk about his great mystic power maha baho so those sort of words convey krishna's greatness of course there are words in which krishna expresses affection for arjuna by using words such as tata oh dear one arjuna also at times uses affectionate forms of address but an affectionate form of address which invokes the beauty of the supreme lord which refers to and thereby invokes the beauty of the supreme lord in that category there are very very few names and this is one of those names so you are the imperishable lord of you oh lotus eyed lord that also i have heard in this world there is the enduring unendurance of things there is the enduring unendurance that means that things are temporary and they are permanently temporary nothing can make the things eternal if we have a run down if somebody is living in a run down shack which may collapse at any time then they will want to shift to some other house which is more secure or the government will tell this is a life hazard you cannot stay here then they will shift so a more steady house made of concrete and cement that may seem to offer a more long time shelter but even that is temporary so everything in this world even if it attracts us is temporary and that temporary nature of things can frustrate our longing for love our longing for security our longing for happiness but if we know of the eternal beyond the temporary and we direct our longing for love security happiness towards the eternal then we can attain lasting happiness and that to do that kind of redirection one needs to understand the ephemeral as ephemeral and one needs to understand the eternal to be eternal so that sort of understanding of the difference between the temporary and the eternal between the ephemeral and the eternal that understanding frees one from illusion because attachment to the temporary will cause illusion and bondage and suffering and even aversion to the temporary without any positive vision of the eternal that will also not lead to much satisfaction there has to be this combination of detachment from the temporary and attachment to the eternal and the knowledge about this is what Krishna has given Arjuna so whereas Krishna talked about the appearance and disappearance the creation and destruction of things he has talked about it in the eight and the nine chapters in the eight chapter when he talked about how even Brahma's abode is temporary that was 8.16 and after that the question may come more isn't Brahma supposed to live eternally then in 8.17,18,19 in three verses Krishna tells about how all the Brahman is for a very long time yes he lives for a long long time but even that long time is not eternal that is also temporary that understanding of how that which is normally thought of conventionally thought of as eternal that is also temporary ultimately nothing material is eternal and of course before this section started Krishna has told in 8.15 and again in 8.16 also he says that so Krishna is not just beyond Krishna is eternal Krishna's abode is eternal that is talked about again in 8.20,21,22 where the temporary nature of material existence given in 8.17,18,19 is contrasted by talking of eternal nature beyond the manifest and unmanifest material there is the spiritual which is indestructible which is never destroyed and then in the 9th chapter so in the 8th chapter the mood is that there is temporary and there is eternal and one should redirect oneself from the temporary towards the eternal in the 9th chapter Krishna says that this manifestation and unmanifestation this creation and destruction the temporary it is not that Krishna is simply beyond this Krishna yes Krishna is definitely beyond it but Krishna is also supervising it so Krishna even more famous one 9.7 and this is 9.10 so here Krishna tells how he is beyond the temporary he is existing at the eternal level of reality and it is in that eternal level of reality that there is Krishna who is not just beyond the ephemeral but he is beckoning us beyond the ephemeral from an eternal realm he supervises the ephemeral and he beckons us beyond the ephemeral to the eternal so this is with respect to the nature of existence of things but in nature and Krishna talks about how even the devatas they are also temporary he has talked about this twice in 7th chapter as well as in 9th chapter 7.20 23 wherein 23 so in 7.23 he states that the worship of the devatas gives a temporary result antavat and a similar analysis of the worship of the devatas comes in 9th chapter from verses 9.20 to 25 and there Krishna says that 9.22 in 9.20 and 21 he states how even if somebody worships according to the Vedas 9.21 so even if somebody worships properly and goes to the heaven still after their punya gets over they will fall back so going to the devatas gives a temporary result 9.22 it is said that worship of Krishna gives eternal results and in this way the contrast is drawn between the worship of Krishna and the worship of the devatas so further in the chatushloki gita Krishna says how those who devote themselves to him he personally helps them 10.11 thus Krishna for a person who has a philosophical vision Krishna is not just the ultimate substantive principle he is the ultimate he is the ultimate substance he is the thing which will exist forever and ever and he is also attractive and he wants us to attain him so all this is beautiful to understand Krishna's glory to understand Krishna's eternality to understand Krishna's loving nature it evokes attraction towards him it evokes affection towards him and whereas understanding the material nature of everything can be very sobering sometimes even depressing understanding the eternal nature of Krishna's love eternal and benevolent nature of Krishna that actually brings hope brings purpose and brings ultimately joy in our life so this beauty and mercy of Krishna is conveyed through the address Vata Kamalapatraksha O lotus eyed lord you are Mahatmya special aspect of the Mahatmya there is much Mahatmya of Krishna you are imperishable your love is imperishable and my illusion has been dispelled I simply want to devote myself to you so to the extent our heart is redirected from the temporary towards the eternal to that extent as is pointed out in this verse when we say we understand the temporary nature of things and we understand the inexhaustible glories of the lord then we will also come to the stage that is mentioned in the previous verse my moha my illusion has gone oh lord.