Gita 13.15 The Absolute’s paradoxical attributes underscore its transcendental inconceivability

Transcript

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Bhagavad Gita 13.15 Sarve Indriya Guna Abhasam Sarve Indriya Vivarjitam Asattam Sarvabhichaiva Nirguna Muguna Bhoktrucha Sarve Indriya Guna Abhasam Here Krishna in this section is talking about the Genya the object of knowledge and he speaks over here that absolute truth is of the various senses Sarve Indriya all the senses Guna of the modes of the qualities whatever it is either way we can look at it both are aspects of material nature Abhasam so Abhasam is translated as source, origin so all the senses come from him Sarve Indriya Vivarjitam at the same time that absolute truth is free from senses does not have any senses Asattam is detached Asatta is attached Asatta is not attached, detached Sattam Sarvabhichaiva Sarvabhichaiva one who is the maintainer of everyone Nirgunam Guna Bhoktrucha Nirgunam is beyond the modes and Guna Bhoktrucha is the lord of the modes you could even say that is the enjoyer of the modes so how does this work out actually the point here is that we can see paradoxes there are contradictions and there are paradoxes contradictions means there are two statements which just which just are opposite to each other whereas paradoxes means there are two statements which are which seem to be opposite to each other but which actually point to a deeper underlying truth so Sarve Indriya Guna Abhasam Sarve Indriya Vivarjitam here we see that absolute truth is the source of the senses but that absolute truth does not have any senses that absolute truth is detached and is at the same time the maintainer absolute truth is beyond the modes and is still the master enjoyer of the modes let’s look at the second paradox over here Asattam Sarvabhichaiva normally when when we maintain someone when parents maintain their children at that time Asattam Sarvabhichaiva that actually they are they are attached to the child to not be attached to the child is almost impossible especially when the child is to be maintained so Asattam Sarvabhichaiva that means that this absolute truth is the maintainer of all kinds of all kinds of of all living entities Nityo Nityanam Chitmas Chitmanam Eko Bahunam Viddhati Kama the Upanishads say that Eko Bahunam that is the one absolute truth Viddhati Kama maintains all others and fulfills their desires so it’s very difficult to maintain someone without becoming attached to them actually speaking what does it mean to become attached so naturally when parents maintain their children they expect that their children will will to some extent be Xerox copies of themselves will be will be what will be will do what they want them to do and in this way to put it in a somewhat harsh way is that they will be, the children will be extensions of their Ego, extensions of their false Ego I am I am great, see my child is also great and therefore I am also great Adhyo Bhijanvanasmi Konyasthi Sadrushyomaya the 16th chapter Krishna will talk about the mentality of the demoniac people and in that connection he will say that in that connection he will say that that actually these people think that they are themselves that they are successful and they are surrounded by successful people and that proves their unrivalled greatness so normally we expect people whom we are maintaining to do our wedding and we become attached to them but asaktham Krishna has given us free will and he allows us to use our free will the way we want within limits of course, within the limits of Akshetra, it still allows us to maintain our free will so asaktham sarvabhichchaiva that means that he is talking here about the way in which one can actually move towards the absolute in a joyous way by recognizing the lord’s involvement and non-involvement in our lives it could say at one level the lord is intimately involved in our life because he is situated in the innermost core of our heart he knows us inside out literally because he is inside and you can see everything from there at the same time he is also the embodiment of the highest compassion and there is this concern for us which makes him present here within our heart to guide us and he is also attached giving us our free will asaktham sarvabhichchaiva similarly the other two contradictions also which are paradoxical statement that are there over here that absolute truth has the source of the senses but has no senses so here we can differentiate between the material and the spiritual to address to make sense of the paradox so Krishna is not materially attached but he is definitely spiritually concerned for us, he is spiritually attached to us, the word attachment is a negative conception associated with it, negative connotation associated with it in modern context that actually the point is that there is no easy way for us to appreciate this presence of spiritual attachment of course we as seekers also try to develop spiritual attachment it means we develop a spiritual attachment to Krishna and we try to spiritualize our attachments to material things which were earlier material attachments we try to make them spiritual either way the important thing is to recognize that Krishna so he is a source of all the senses but he himself does not have any senses in the Upanishad it is said that that that absolute truth saw and by seeing that absolute truth created now the question comes up that if all the senses are the result of are the result of the creation that means all living beings came and got their bodies and manifested the senses only through those bodies then and all that happened after the creation began and yet here it is said that someone glanced before the creation began so who was it that glanced who was it that had senses and with those eyes could glance this talks about the existence of senses before the existence of the material before the activation of material existence that means there are senses that are transcendental so here Krishna is talking from the material perspective and he says that yes all the senses come from that absolute truth the source of all the senses at the same time absolute truth is not having any senses in the material senses because Krishna has spiritual eyes, spiritual tongue Krishna does not have any material senses and he manifests this extraordinary phenomenon where he is bathed in illumination and he offers illumination to his to he offers illumination so that they all can learn to recognize what is the most important for us in our lives what is the that is truly worth achieving and that is the absolute truth that is Krishna will be revealed later in this and future chapters at this stage essentially this present situation which is like a prison is something which one has to break through and breaking through it begins by appreciating the inconceivable attributes of the absolute even if the absolute manifests in the material world the absolute is not doesn’t become material always remains transcendental thus although is beyond the modes that doesn’t mean the modes are out of control or while he is still the lord of the modes and ultimately whatever is enacted through the modes is a part of his plan for bringing out all round good for everyone