Gita 13.21-22 Material existence as a virtual reality

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
Hare Krishna. So, when I was here last time, I was taking a series of classes on Nauti Gita verses. You know, Gita verses which have some concepts that are not very easy to grasp.
So, I will take today some concepts from the 13th chapter of the Bhagavad Gita. The 13th chapter, as we know, is the first chapter in the Jnana section of the Gita. And in that 13th chapter, Krishna uses many terms which are not very easy to understand at first reading.
So, we’ll look at several verses, but we’ll see how much we can go ahead in our discussion. So, 13 point, I’ll discuss today 13 point 21 and 22. And while discussing these two specific verses, I’ll also explain that.
So, generally when I take this discussion on Nauti Gita verses, we take a particular verse, understand it in its context in the flow of the Gita. Then we discuss what is the complexity in that verse. And then how our philosophy helps us to reconcile that complexity.
So, 13 point 22, so I’m going to discuss 21 and 22. 13 point 22 is called by our Acharyas as the Bijya Vakya of the last six chapters of the Gita. So, Bijya Vakya is just like there is a seed that leads to the growth of the entire tree.
Similarly, this verse 13 point 22 is the seed by which the whole remaining six chapters manifest. So, let’s recite this verse. First we’ll recite 22, then we’ll come back to 21.
We’ll understand what it is all about. Purusha Prakriti Sthohi Bhungte Prakriti Jaan Guna Karanam Guna Sanghosya Sada Sadyoni Janmasu So, this verse is called as the Bijya Vakya. And what is it actually telling? Purusha Prakriti Yoga This is the name of the 13th chapter.
So, in this chapter Krishna is describing how the Purusha and Prakriti get entangled. Purusha Prakriti Sthohi Sthohi means to be situated. So, the Purusha, the soul, the enjoyer gets situated in Prakriti, material nature.
Why? Bhungte Prakriti Jaan Guna Bhungte because of the desire to enjoy. What? Prakriti Jaan Guna, the products of material nature, which are manifested through the three moods. And because of this Karanam Guna Sanghosya, because of the association of the three moods, Sada Sadyoni Janmasu, the soul is born in auspicious and inauspicious moods.
So, this verse and especially the word Bhungte, enjoying mentality, that describes the reason why Purusha gets trapped in Prakriti. And then this verse is, in a sense, expanded in the remaining six chapters. So, Guna Sangha.
So, naturally the question is, how does the soul get entangled in Prakriti? That is because of the moods. So, what these moods are is described in the 14th chapter. 14th chapter is Guna Traya Vidhaga Yoga.
The three moods of material nature. Now, after that, from the seed, the tree grows. So, what is that tree? The tree is described in the 15th chapter.
That’s why the 15th chapter is, Urdhva Moola Madhya Hrishakam. The upside down banyan tree is described. Then after that, this tree has its two extremes.
The upper part and the lower part. So, because it’s an upside down tree, the roots are above and the shoots are below. So, these refer to the higher planets like the Brahma Loka and the lower planets, the Pataras and Naraka Loka.
So, these two, so now the soul, basically when he gets Bhunte, when he starts enjoying the material world, the soul wanders in material existence. So, the two extremities of this tree, the two extremities of where the soul can wander within material existence, that is described in the 16th chapter. That is, Daiva Asura Sampada Vibhaga Yoga.
So, now, the 16th chapter ends with Krishna telling Arjuna, you should follow Shastra faithfully. So, there are these two extremes of the divine and the demoniac nature and the divine and the demoniac lokas correspondingly, where these natures will take people. So, how have we started? 13th point when it is described, Bhunte.
The enjoying mentality traps the soul in matter and the mechanism by which the soul is trapped is described in the 14th chapter, that is the modes. And when the soul is trapped, how the soul’s journey in material existence unfolds, that is described with the metaphor of the upside down tree. And it is described in the 15th chapter, second verse, that actually this tree is nourished by the modes.
It grows because of the modes. So, now once the tree is described, then the extremities of the tree are described in the 16th chapter. And in the 17th chapter, the intermediate part of the tree is described.
The starting question of Arjuna in 17.1 is, यहशास्त्रविदिमिच्छुज्य वर्ततेश्रद्धयान्वितः So, those who don’t follow Shastra, but they have some faith, what happens to them? What is their destination? That is talked about in the 17th chapter. And what Krishna describes in response is, how a person lives and what the person’s faith is and then accordingly, how the person’s fate will be. So, our faith determines our fate.
So, the faith and the fate are described for those who are neither divine nor demonic. That will be determined by how they are entangled in the three modes. And that’s why the 17th chapter is शद्धात्रय विभागयोग So, it describes the intermediate part of the tree of material existence.
And then the 18th chapter is basically a summary of the theme of the Bhagavad Gita from the yoga ladder starting from Karmakand up to Bhakti Yoga. But it is now entirely from the ज्यानपरस्पेक्टिव ज्यानपरस्पेक्टिव means that here the verse is गुणसंग the association with the modes of the cause of bondage. Now, in the 15th chapter when Krishna talks about disentanglement from material existence he uses the opposite word of गुणसंग.
He says असंग असंगशस्त्रेन दुधेन चित्वा So, that असंग, that detachment how that is to be brought about that is through an analytical understanding of the three modes. And that’s why in the 18th chapter Krishna starts by describing the various factors which determine various components of action. ज्यानं गेयं परिज्याता त्रिविधा कर्म चोधना कार्णं कर्म कर्तेति त्रिविधा कर्म संग्रहा So, these six elements ज्यान, गेय, and परिज्याता and then कर्णं, कर्म, and कर्प we will discuss that in the future classes.
So, these six elements are condensed to three elements because they are equivalent more or less. And those three elements are described and after that Krishna describes So, three elements in the three modes are described. And then after that Krishna describes about बुद्धी, दृति, and सुक्र Ultimately, all actions are motivated for happiness.
So, this whole analysis is given so that one can develop a संग and then one can become liberated. And of course, from 18.56 Krishna describes in alternative ways. So, 18.1 to 18.56 is describing a progression from कर्म to भक्तियोगा and to Bhagavan realisation by analysis and transcending of the modes.
But from 18.57 Krishna describes in alternative way. Actually, 18.55 He describes भक्तियोगा and then from then, our use is सर्वकर्मान्यपिसदा कुर्वानोमद्यपाश्रयः So, सर्वकर्मान्यपिसदा Krishna is telling over here that whatever work you are doing, if you take shelter of me you can transcend the modes. So, in a sense, the 18.56 describes the whole Bhagavad Gita.
The Bhagavad Gita first describes the hierarchy from कर्मकांड to भक्तियोगा and that’s what the 18.56 does. But it also describes in alternative way that wherever one is, one can start practising भक्तियोगा. So, then the reason I am giving this whole analysis is to explain this point that this verse, 13.22 leads to the development of the whole chapter of the whole last ज्ञान सेक्षिन, the 66 chapters.
So, this verse is preceded in 13.20 by a description by Krishna. In the 13th chapter, Krishna gives more than anywhere else, he gives many sort of bracketing verses. Bracketing verses means that okay, this section I have completed now and this is what I am going to describe.
This is what I have done. So, he does that in 13.4 for the first time. Then again he does in 13.13. He says, गेयं यत्तत् प्रभक्षामि यत् ज्ञात्वामृतम अश्णुते He says, now I am going to speak about ज्ञान.
Then in 13.19, he says, now I have spoken about ज्ञान. Then 13.20, he says, now I will speak about पकृति and पुरुष्य. And then he will speak about, 21.22, he will speak about प्रकृति.
And then he talks about the disentanglement through various means. So, now 13 chapters started with 6 questions of Arjuna. So, out of those first 4 questions have been answered by Krishna.
And now 13.20 onwards, answers the last 2 questions, पुरुष्य and प्रकृति. So, let’s look at this 21st verse and then we will come back to 22nd verse. कार्यकारण करतृत्वे हे तू प्रकृति रुच्चते पुरुष्य सुख दुखानाम भोप्तृत्वे हे तु रुच्चते So, कार्यकारण करतृत्वे This is a quite enigmatic verse and in Bhagavatam also there is a very similar verse which also means something similar.
Its content as well as meaning is similar. But let’s look at what this verse actually means. So, Krishna is basically in the previous verse he talked about there is purusha and there is prakriti.
So, now the whole question which is also asked in third canto by Devahuti to Kapiladeva is if the soul is transcendental then how does the soul get affected by any changes in matter? How does the soul get affected because of anything that happens to matter because the soul and matter are entirely different. So, now Krishna says that there are two distinct things. The first line tells generally when in scholarly circles when we are referring to verses verses are also referred to by their sub-sections.
So, this will be the first line of this is called as 21a then 21b, 21c, 21d. So, 21a and 21b कार्यकारण करतृत्वे हे तु प्रकृत्रुच्चते This refers to what is happening in material nature. And 21c and 21d that is भोक्तुत्वे हे तु प्रकृत्रुच्चते कार्यकारण करतुत्वे हे तु प्रकृत्रुच्चते That refers to how that affects the soul.
So, now what is this verse actually saying? हेतु, हेतु means cause or the instrument. So, this translation may seem a little puzzling. I will first read the translation and I will explain.
Nature is said to be the cause of all material causes and effects. Now, when we say the cause of causes, it seems a little confusing. So, another alternative word which we could use for this cause is actually the substratum, the foundation, the arena where things happen.
So, all material causes and effects, they take place in the arena of material nature. So, here, कार्यकारण करतुत्वे हे तु प्रकृत्रुच्चते हे तु प्रकृत्रुच्चते हे तु प्रकृत्रुच्चते in the word-to-word translation gives us instrument. So, that means, it’s like, a simple example to understand this could be an example of watching a TV or watching a virtual reality show.
Now, suppose many times when people say, are to be trained as fighter pilots, pilots or specifically fighter pilots. So, usually this is done through computer simulation. You can’t have fighter pilots experimenting, dropping bombs and see whether they’re dropping it in the right place or the wrong place.
So, they use computer simulations. Now, in the computer simulation, generally, if we look at normal movies or normal television, it involves two senses. It involves the eyes and the ears.
And that itself is quite a captivating illusion. But in virtual reality, more and more senses get involved. So, apart from the eyes and the ears, the chair on which the fighter pilot is sitting in the simulation, that is also made in such a way that the way the flight is moving, the chair also moves that way.
And then he can also feel the motion of the plane in terms of, in some, there can be different ways, a person can feel the whistling in the ears or whatever. The whole idea is, in the virtual reality, more and more of our senses get involved. So, now imagine that this person is sort of projecting his consciousness, the pilot, and is visualising that the plane that he’s driving into the enemy territory.
And then there is an anti-aircraft missile that is being shot. And the two collide. Now, actually speaking, nothing has happened to the person.
The person is sitting safely in the training centre. But depending on how much that person is engrossed, absorbed, attached, entangled, emotionally, in the events on the computer screen, depending on that, the person will be affected. So, when the anti-aircraft missile kicks, so, actually, what happens? He will be devastated.
If he thinks that, actually, I’m there, he thinks, I’m going to get burned now. The plane is going to explode, I’m going to die. So, now, if you look at this, कार्यकारण कर्तुत्वे हेतु प्रकृति विच्चिति Now, actually speaking, whatever has happened on the computer screen, in the virtual reality, that is just the interaction of some electronic signals.
That is entirely in the realm of virtual reality. So, that has no actual effect on the person. But, because that person has the desire, भोगत्रुत्वे, so, that’s why the consciousness is entangled in the virtual reality.
And because the consciousness is entangled in the virtual reality, that person gets affected. सुसुक दुखानाम् So, if the anti-aircraft missile hits him, then there is दुख, and if he hits the target and comes back successfully, there is सुक. So, the whole interaction is happening within the virtual reality.
And if there is an effect on the observer, the effect is because of भोगत्रुत्वे, because of the desire to control, the desire to enjoy, the desire to bring about a particular result. Another simpler example is, nowadays in India, especially in the metropolitan cities, football is becoming extremely popular. Now, India is nowhere on the world football map only, practically speaking.
India’s performance is quite dismal. But football is immensely popular. The reason for that is just media blitz.
And there is so much talk, especially the European football leagues that are there, and Manchester United and all these teams, there are young people who are so, they stay awake late nights and they watch the football matches and they wear the corresponding t-shirts and everything, and they captivate it. Now, actually, it has got nothing to do with India. The European economy is going through some difficulty, and to ensure the survival of the European football league, they decided, where can we get money from? So, they found India has a huge untapped market.
And they just sustained publicity and propaganda that has made people quite infatuated by the whole thing. So now, actually speaking, what is happening in Europe has got nothing to do with people in India. But when a particular team wins or a particular football player performs well, there are hundreds and hundreds of Indians, especially in metropolitan, just get elated or they get dejected completely.
So, what is happening? What is happening in America, in Europe is, कार्यकारण करतुत्वेतु प्रकृतुच्छि That has got nothing to do with India. But why is there सुख तुखानम over here? भोगतुत्वे So, because of the enjoying mentality, because of the desire to enjoy, what actually has no connection, a connection is forged. And the enjoying mentality forges a connection between essentially disconnected things and leads to the consequence of happiness or distress.
So, similarly, the soul and matter are essentially disconnected. And whatever happens in the realm of matter has got nothing to do with the soul. So, that’s why Krishna says, कार्यकारण करतुत्वेतु So, कारण is the instrument or the cause.
Ropa translates here as cause. In general, कार्य and कारण can have multiple meanings. This is a very philosophical section of the Gita.
And Acharyas give different explanations in these verses. So, we could call कार्य as action and कारण as the instrument for executing the action. Or, ultimately, the instrument leads to a particular effect.
So, we could say, कार्य as the effect and कारण as the instrument or the cause. So, for example, I am speaking right now. So, my throat is the कारण.
And what I speak, the resulting sound vibrations that come out, that is the कार्य. So now, my speaking through my throat as well as the sound vibration that is coming out, both of these are in the realm of matter. So, कार्य and कारण.
So, the sensory object, the sensory instrument and the corresponding sense object that is stimulated in material space, in material nature. Both of them are within the realm of matter. But when I speak something, depending on my interest, depending on audience interest, then depending on the whole attitude, there may be boredom, there may be enjoyment, there may be irritation.
So, basically, the emotions that we experience, the emotions that we experience, they have essentially got nothing to do with the person. For example, Radha Gopinath temple is very clean, but imagine there are some cockroaches or some ants over here. They are here, but they don’t experience anything.
No irritation or no enjoyment. They are just going on with their life. Because there is no connection of the consciousness over here.
So, that Bhoktrutve is the connection of the consciousness. Now, if you go backwards to 13.6 and 7, you will see something a little more interesting. That Krishna 13.6 and 7 is the description of Sankhya in the Bhagavad Gita.
And when we look at Sankhya, the first verse describes the elements of material nature. So, let’s recite this verse. mahābhūtānyahankāro mahābhūtānyahankāro buddhirauvyakta mevaccha buddhirauvyakta mevaccha indriyāni dashaikamcha indriyāni dashaikamcha pancha chendriya gocharaha pancha chendriya gocharaha So, this describes the 24 elements.
Mahābhūtāni, the Mahābhūtāni are the gigantic elements. There are five. Ahankāra is the sixth element.
Then, buddhirauvyakta mevaccha. Buddhirauvyakta makes it eight. Indriyāni dashaikamcha.
So, eleven indriyas. That is, nineteen. And pancha chendriya gocharaha.
So, eleven indriyas are the karma indriya, jñāna indriya and mana. And pancha chendriya gocharaha. These are the five sense objects.
This makes it twenty-four. Now, in the Uddhava Gita, Uddhava and Krishna have a discussion where Krishna says that the different philosophers, they analyse material nature in different ways. Some places, material nature has 14 elements, 18 elements, 24 elements.
So, he says, by doing this, the philosophers, the munis, they exhibit their creativity in analysing material nature. And this creativity pleases me. Krishna says.
So, basically, material nature can be analysed in different ways. But, the significant part is, here in the second part, Krishna will say that chetana, chetana is consciousness. Normally, we say that consciousness comes from the soul.
But Krishna says, this chetana is a part of the kshetra, not the kshetra. So, let’s see this. How this is and why it is.
So, So, here, Krishna is describing that etak kshetram samasena, samasa in samadhi, this is kshetra, and the savikara, the transformation of kshetra. So, the kshetra refers to what is described in the sixth verse. So, 24 elements comprise the kshetra.
And then, what is described in 7 A and B, that is, These are the kshetra vikara. These are the transformations of material nature. So, So, So, desire, attachment, aversion, happiness, distress.
And then, convictions and consciousness. So, all these are the transformations of material nature. Now, we know, Srila Prabhupada is very emphatic that life comes from life, not from matter.
Consciousness doesn’t come from matter. Then why is it that chetana, consciousness, is called as a kshetra vikara? It is not called as a part of the kshetrajya. So, Baldevidya Bhushan in his Govinda Bhashya analyses this quite elaborately.
First Adhyaya of the Vedanta Sutra, his commentary, and he explains that actually, the consciousness of the soul is originally spiritual. And he differentiates between two technical terms called as chit and chittar. So, what is the difference between chit and chittar? Chit is consciousness.
So, we know sat, chit, ananda. These are three characteristics of the soul. Eternal, full of consciousness and full of bliss.
So, now he says that now going back to the earlier example of say a TV show or a virtual reality, say the person is say, what, simulating a flight. Say India, India, there is some India-China hostilities now. So, say Indian pilot is simulating a flight into the Chinese territory.
So, now that fighter pilot is sitting in the training room and maybe the mentor is also sitting next to him. Now, but the consciousness of the person is completely caught in the virtual reality. Okay, the plane is going here and there, there is a air pressure balance here, here the enemy radar is reaching, here the enemy radar is not reaching.
He is completely absorbed in finding the best strategic way to penetrate into the enemy territory. So, now the consciousness of the person is such that he can be aware of everything. He can look around and can see the people around him.
He can look at the roof, he can look at the chair. But to the extent he is absorbed in the virtual reality, in the projection, to the extent he becomes oblivious of other things. So, or similarly, if a person is watching a movie, then the movie creates a certain amount of visual captivation and the person becomes oblivious of other things.
So, although the person’s consciousness is such that he is capable of perceiving various things apart from the movie also, but the consciousness is caught in the movie. So, Chit refers to the original free consciousness of the soul and Chitta refers to the consciousness of the soul that is funnelled into material nature, that is caught in material nature. So, that means the Paramatma is sitting right next to us.
Although the super soul is right next to us, we are deaf and blind to its presence. We can’t hear him, we can’t see him. Why is that? Because we are caught in the display of material energy that is being played in front of our senses.
So, right now all that we can experience is Chitta. We can’t experience Chit. So, the difference between Chit and Chitta is, Chit is the original spiritual consciousness that can perceive the totality of material reality.
A person can watch the movie and a person can watch the theatre in which the movie is also going on. So, like that the soul can observe material reality and the soul can also observe the spiritual reality that is distinct from the material reality. That is, when the Chit consciousness is awakened.
But, when the consciousness is rooted, is caught in material nature, at that time it is called as Chitta. And that Chitta is basically the consciousness which is trapped in material nature. And then that consciousness of the soul which is trapped in material nature undergoes emotions which have got nothing to do with the soul originally.
Just like I gave the example, a person in India has got nothing to do with the result of football matches in America, in England and Europe say. But, because the consciousness is caught in the football matches, so there is the result. The opposite happens to distress.
Iccha Dvesha leads to Sukham Dukham. So, when I have an Iccha and by the Iccha I get what I want then it leads to Sukham. When I have Dvesha of something, but then I get that then that leads to Dukham.
So, that means Iccha Dvesha is referring to the projection of the Chitta within material nature. That I like certain things, I don’t like certain things. And Sukham Dukham refers to the interaction of whatever happens within material nature and the consequence of that.
That leads to Sukham and Dukham. So, a particular player, Indian fan likes a particular football team in Europe. And when that team wins he has the Iccha that the team wins then there is Sukham, the team wins.
But there is another team which he doesn’t like. And then there is Dvesha. But if that team wins there is Dukham.
So, now all this is happening within material nature. So, although these emotions the faculty for all emotions originates in the soul. But these emotions are experienced entirely in terms of material stimuli, material phenomena.
So, because of that they are considered as Shetravikar. Because they are entirely in the realm of matter. The cause and the effect both are going back to the earlier verse 13.21 So, the Karya and the Karana both are in material nature.
That means the person who is watching the football match, that person is now caught in the illusion of the television. So, the senses are caught over there. The Karana is caught over there and the Karya that is happening, that is also happening on the computer screen only.
It’s happening somewhere far away but with respect to this person it’s happening only on the computer screen. But both of them are in the realm of material nature. So, the events and the emotions both are in the realm of material nature and that’s why they are considered to be Kshetravikar.
So, the first two are the Kshetra describes the arena where all this happens. And the Kshetravikar is when the soul is caught in that arena then what are the effects? Now, here the word Kshetana doesn’t refer to Chitta. It refers to Chitta.
It doesn’t refer to the original pure consciousness of the soul. That Krishna has already talked about in the earlier part of the 13th chapter. It is referring to Kshetragya who is the knower of the feet.
But now the difference is when the Atma is caught in the body, the Atma is not exactly knower of the feet. We just don’t know the feet. We think we are the feet.
We don’t think that I know the body. We think I am the body. So, although the Atma by constitution is Kshetragya when the Atma is very attached to the body and the consciousness of the soul is trapped in the body then for all practical purposes the Kshetragya is not the Gya of the Kshetra.
The soul is not the knower of the body. The soul for all practical purposes becomes the body. And now Krishna uses the word Kamaatmanaha in the second chapter of the Bhagavad Gita where he is talking about those who are attached to sense enjoyment.
No, it was before that. Kamaatmanah Swarga Parah Janma Karma Phala Pradam Kriya Kamaatmanaha He talks about 2.43 Kamaatmanaha So, he says that for such people Kama is their Atma That means for all practical purposes their whole self-conception is centred on the fulfilment of material desires. Kamaatmanaha So, they also have Atma that is different from the body but they think that the essence of their existence is the fulfilment of Kama.
So, the Chetana which Krishna is talking about over here is the consciousness projected within the body and that consciousness which is projected within the field that whatever happens to that consciousness all that is the product of material nature is a transformation of material nature. So, now let’s go back to the words which we have discussed. Any questions till now? Is all this becoming too technical? I am trying to give as many contemporary examples as possible but still this section is technical.
And now going back to the earlier verse now. So, that’s why Krishna says that this is a part of the Khetra Vithara. Now Kare Kare Tattu Prakriti Ruchate So, whatever changes are happening within the senses and the arena that’s all in material nature.
But, the way a person will enjoy or suffer that will depend on Bhoktruthve. So, now this Bhoktruthve the desire to enjoy can be shaped by the three modes. So, the same activity now all of us we are not transcendental but still we may not feel so enamoured by say the football matches.
Why? Because there are people who are in the mode of passion and we may be relatively speaking in the mode of goodness. So, Bhoktruthve doesn’t necessarily have to refer to the soul wanting to enjoy life. That is a generic point but within that depending on what kind of Bhoktruthve what kind of desire to enjoy a person has accordingly there is enjoyment or suffer.
So, going back to the TV metaphor different people may enjoy different TV programmes or somebody may find the football match boring and that same person may find a soap opera very enjoyable. Somebody else may find some news programmes some discovery channel enjoyable. So, it will vary depending on the person.
There are some people who just like horror movies. There is terrible destruction that is there and they just enjoy that. So, it will vary.
Somebody in goodness may like more informative programmes. Somebody in passion may like more say opera type programmes which are involving affairs and things like that. Somebody else in ignorance they may write just gory brutal violence and horror.
So, even within the realm of television depending on the mode that a person is in the person may enjoy different things. Now, of course we could say that the basic foundation of enjoying television itself is Tamasic. Why is it? Why is the basic foundation of enjoying television Tamasic? Because it’s enjoying material nature is Rajasic.
But television is actually second hand enjoyment of material nature. Second hand means somebody else is doing eating, sleeping, people are imagining if I was there it would be so nice. So, actually speaking, when people enjoy television they don’t even have enough passion to do those things.
But they just have so much lethargy caused by ignorance that they think that a person is in a sense such a lazy bum that he can’t even get off his bed and he thinks that shooting down images on a TV screen or a video game screen makes him into a big hero. So, you could say that the basic foundation is Tamasic. But still within that Tamasic foundation also there is variations.
Just like another example is all animals are in the mode of ignorance. The animal body itself is in ignorance but within the animal species also there are some species which are in goodness like cows. There are some in passion which are like say tigers, some in ignorance say monkeys or whatever.
So, there is variation in animal species although there is basic Tamoguna. Similarly, what Krishna is talking about in this verse and what he will explore in the 14th chapter onwards is that this Bhoktrutve leads to Sukha-Dukha and the kind of Sukha-Dukha that a person will get will vary depending on the Bhoktrutve. The kind of enjoying mentality that a person will have accordingly that person will get Sukha or Dukha.
So, this chapter it will move forward and afterwards Krishna will describe two verses later. The verse after 22 talks about the Supersoul. So, the same theme is continued.
We will look at that verse. So, here, Krishna this is the first time in the Bhagavad Gita Krishna sort of defines or names the Paramatma. The word Paramatma comes earlier in the 7th verse of the 6th chapter also.
6.7 he says One who has conquered the mind has reached the Paramatma. But there Krishna doesn’t clearly explain who is the Paramatma. But here he says That is known as the Paramatma.
Who is that? The overseer and the permitted. And he is the And he is He is in the body but he is another transcendental person. So, going back to the virtual reality.
So, there is the trainee fighter pilot and there is a mentor fighter pilot. Or there is a mentor over there. The mentor is also sitting, the mentor is also observing.
But the mentor is not entangled emotionally to the extent that the trainee is. So, actually the whole system of the computer simulation of the fighter pilot’s actions, that whole system has been set up by the mentor, by the trainer. So, he is Upadrishta and Anumanta.
So, he is the overseer and he is the permitted. You do this, you do this, you do this. The rules are set up.
Even if a person is playing a simulation the fighter pilot there are rules within video games also. There are rules within the virtual reality also. If a person is flying a plane if the plane crashes into the ocean the plane cannot float in the ocean.
The plane will sink. So, even within the virtual reality there are rules. And there are certain things which are allowed, certain things are not allowed.
So, there is Anumanta, Upadrishta and Anumanta. So, the soul, Gunasanghasya, by association with particular modes he gets a particular kind of body. Sat Asadyon Janmasu.
And according to the body that the soul has got the soul can do certain things, can’t do certain things. So, Upadrishta, Anumanta. Supersoul is observing all this.
And then, after that in subsequent verses Krishna will talk about how there are various processes by which the soul can become disentangled. So, in the 25th verse he will talk about the three processes, Jnana Yoga, Karma Yoga, Dhyana Yoga. And in the 26th verse he will recommend Bhakti Yoga.
So, even in the Jnana section Krishna actually recommends Bhakti Yoga. So, let’s look at these verses. Krishna will, as I told in this section, because this is a very technical section so Krishna helps us to understand by giving periodic intervening, bracketing verses.
You know, suppose somebody is telling a pastime, then the pastime is simply going chronologically. So, you don’t have to tell, ok, now this part of the pastime is completed this part is going to go. It’s just flowing linear, it’s not required.
But when a person is going through a lot of conceptual description, then ok, this concept is completed, now I’ll describe this concept. So, that sort of point-wise summarization and giving preview that helps to understand when the subject is very intricate. So, Krishna gave a bracketing verse in 20.
He said, now I want to speak about Purusha and Prakriti. And now he used another bracketing verse in 24. So, one who understands the knowledge of Purusha and Prakriti what he understands is Purusha, Prakriti and Gunai.
So, how the Purusha and Prakriti are bound together is because of the Gunai. So, when you understand this what will happen? In all situations such a person will not take birth again. That means, ok, it’s like a particular movie programme is going on, whatever movie programme is, we can’t shut it out immediately.
But we can live in such a way that we don’t have to watch another programme. We end the TV and we come out of the illusion. So, this material existence, this body that we are having, we can’t stop whatever is going to happen to the body.
Only deceased death is going to come to us. But we can live in such a way that if there is no more Bhogpurthru, there is no more desire to enjoy, then we don’t have to go and go to another illusion. So, Krishna says, if we understand this difference between Purusha and Prakriti clearly and when we understand that, ok, the Gunas are binding me, then we will not let ourselves become entangled.
But then Arjuna gets the question, how is this practically possible? So, then Krishna gives two sets of processes. In the next verse he will give various processes Karma, Dhyana and Dhyana and then in the verse after that he will recommend Bhagwan. So, … … … … … So, here Krishna describes that Dhyana and Atmanu Vashanti.
Some people see the Atma, the Purusha with Dhyana. Others they see it by Sankhya. Sankhya refers to in the Bhagavad Gita, Sankhya Krishna uses quite often interchangeably with the process of Jnana Yoga.
Sankhya is analysis. So, it’s analysis of material nature which leads to the vision of that which is beyond material nature. So, Krishna uses this word Sankhya.
So, Sankhya in a Yoga, it refers to Jnana Yoga. And then some other people practise Karma Yoga. So, they are basically Karma, Jnana and Dhyana.
Some people do this, some people do this, some people do this. But then, Krishna actually uses the strategy of some people, some people, some people in the 4th chapter also. In the 4th chapter, it talks about … Some people do sacrifice for the demigods.
Some people do this. Some people do Pranayama. Some people practise Brahmacharya.
Some people practise Grahastha Ashram. And then he gives all this and then 4.34. So, this analysis of various process starts from 4.25. It goes to 4.29 and 4.30 to 4.33, he gives a summary of the verses. And then he says, what should you do? … … He says, this is what you should do.
So, like that, Krishna says, some people do this, some people do this, some people do this. But what he recommends to Arjuna, he tells in the next verse. … … … … … … … … … … … … Those who do not know about this, all this, there are still others who don’t know any of this.
… But there are saints of the world, Anya comes twice. So first Anya refers to a set of ignorant people, those who don’t know anything about it, but they hear from others who are knowledgeable, Shrutva Anyavya Upasate, and they start worshipping, they start practising, they start focussing themselves on the spiritual level. And then, Devte Pichati Tarantyeva, so the 24th verse talks about, Nasabhuyo Vijayate, one will not take birth again.
Krishna has described the same result, they will go beyond death, Devte Pichati Tarantyeva they will go beyond death, and how will that happen, Shruti Parayana, by being devoted to Shruti. So, generally we talk about Narayana Parayana, devoted to Lord Narayana, but here we are talking about Shruti Parayana, devoted to hearing. So Krishna says that by becoming devoted to hearing, one can rise, one can attain the spiritual reality that is beyond death.
So, I will conclude this discussion now of the virtual reality, that now the way out of the virtual reality is primarily, one can practise detachment, so Karma, Jnana, Sankhya, Karma, Jnana and Jnana are the processes which ultimately lead to detachment, that’s one way of doing it. But the other way is that, it’s like, you know, somebody is watching a movie, and then when the movie ends, what happens is, on the movie screen, the end comes along, and then after that, the lights turn on, or when the movie starts, what happens is, first the lights go off, and then the illusion starts off. So both go together, they are progressive, and both lead to the magnification of the illusion, the lights going off all around, and the lights on the screen turning on.
So all the other processes, they involve this in two steps. First is, by Karma Yoga, Jnana Yoga, Dhyana Yoga, essentially a person detaches oneself from material nature, that means, we try to turn off whatever, we turn off what is happening on the screen, we turn off, we turn ourselves away from what is happening on the screen. And then we start exploring what is the higher reality.
And by that, a person can say, okay, this movie, I don’t want to see it, let me look somewhere else, what is there? On the other hand, the movie is going on, the lights are dark, but somebody comes and starts talking, what are you doing, wasting your time like this, there are so many other things that you can do. So when that sound vibration comes up from the realm of reality, then that awakens the person, that awakens the person, hey, let me come on, you’ve got so much work to do, you’ve got tomorrow’s exam, you’ve got to go and study, the person just jolts out and comes out. So like that, now this is a one step process, one doesn’t have to turn off the television or turn off the illusion and then look around and discover the reality, what is there, but if some sound vibration comes from the reality itself, then that is one step by which both can happen.
So Shloka Prabhupada talks about this in his Markele Bhagwat Dharma, he says, भागवे तेर कथा शुने यदी बार बार, धीर होया यदी, what does that mean, dheera hoya, the person who is in a mode of passion and ignorance, भागवे तेर कथा सै तब अवतार, धीर होया शुने यदी काने बार बार, so he says, भागवे तेर कथा सै तब अवतार, this is actually your manifestation, your avatar, and when one hears it repeatedly what happens, धीर होया, the person becomes sober, शुने यदी काने बार बार, one hears it again and again. So actually, when one hears sound vibration on a regular basis, what is happening is, that sound, there is a difference between the sound vibration that is about Krishna, and the sound vibration that is about Krishnetara, what anything other than Krishna. Sound vibration that is Krishnetara, that is separate from Krishna, is like the sound that is coming from the movie screen, that only increases the illusion, that only furthers the forgetfulness of the person.
But the sound vibration that is coming from Krishna, that is not coming from the illusion, that is coming separately, and that is coming from the stratum of reality, and that awakens the person to the higher reality. So even in this Jnana section, Krishna recommends Shruti Parayana, becoming devoted to hearing, as the means to rise to the higher spiritual reality, to become disentangled from material nature. So, I’ll summarise, and we have few minutes for question and answers.
So in this 13th chapter of the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna describes in this B.G. Vakya 13.02, that the Bhoktrutve or Bhunkte, that is the cause of the entanglement. And we discussed that with respect to the example of a movie or a virtual reality, that whatever is happening in the movie or the virtual reality is actually simply electronic signals. But why that has an effect on the observer is, because the observer has a desire to enjoy.
So similarly, the soul is transcendental. Whatever happens in the realm of matter, that affects the soul, because the soul has a desire to enjoy the material nature. And the way to come out of that is, all the other processes, Karma Yoga, Jnana Yoga, Dhyana Yoga, there are two step processes.
First is become, turn oneself away from the illusion, and then discover what is the reality, and then go towards the reality. Whereas the process of Bhakti Yoga is, directly the sound vibration, the connection from the reality comes to us, and then it pulls us out of the illusion. It pulls us out of the illusion.
So, now Sridhar Swami in his commentary on the 12.6 and 7 in the Bhagavad Gita, the previous chapter, that that I lift you out of material existence. So Krishna, now we know that Krishna does it personally for his devotees. He comes and delivers them from material existence.
But Sridhar Swami explains in his commentary to this verse, that actually how Krishna helps a devotee is, by giving him knowledge. So, he says that, that I will become the swift deliverer from material existence. That knowledge that Krishna delivers by giving the knowledge in chapters 13 to 18.
So, that means, in the 12th chapter Krishna has completed Bhakti Yoga. And the Bhakti section has got over in the 12th chapter. And Krishna is contrasting the personalist and the impersonalist.
And he is telling that, the impersonalist, they cultivate knowledge by their own efforts, and that is Klesho Diktaras, that takes a lot of effort. But, the devotees, do they get the knowledge? Krishna says, I give them the knowledge. And that knowledge, which will disentangle a person from material existence, is the knowledge that Krishna gives in chapters 13 to 18.
So, as Sadhakas, this knowledge can help us to stay detached from material illusion and stay attached to Krishna. Not by necessarily a process of intricate analysis, which is what we did in this class. As Sadhakas, we don’t necessarily have to do this intricate analysis.
But, if we can just fix ourselves in the awareness of the potency of spiritual sound vibration, then we can become, to use that spiritual sound vibration to come out of illusion directly. So, for us, the philosophy is not so much for analysing material illusion. The philosophy that we study, is for reinforcing our conviction that we need to fix our mind on Krishna.
That’s why, in Chaitanya Charitamukha also it is said, Siddhanta baliya chitte na kare alas, Iha haithe Krishna lage sudhru dharmanas. So, normally the Mayavadis, they do Siddhanta, they study philosophy to differentiate between matter and spirit. But for a devotee, the Siddhanta, the analysis, is not for differentiating Purusha and Purusha.
The analysis of Siddhanta is to fix the mind on Purushottama. To fix the mind on the sound vibration that will take one to Purushottama. So, Iha haithe Krishna lage sudhru dharmanas.
So, by philosophical analysis, we understand that this whole analysis is so complex. So, we don’t have to study this complex analysis. But actually, if we take shelter of the Hare Krishna Mahamantra, if we take shelter of the Bhagavatam sound vibration, whatever purpose is served by this intricate philosophical analysis, that is served relatively easily for us by taking shelter of sound vibration.
Thank you very much. Are there any questions? Yes, please. I am talking about the difference between Chit and Chitta.
So, when I say Chitta, I mean the difference between Devanagari and Chitta. Oh, okay. Okay, there is a difference between Devanagari and Chitta.
Yeah. Chit is, okay, it’s English C-I-T and C-I-T-T-A. Chit and Chitta.
So, it will be the Chit and Ta will be single, and there will be Ta half and there is another Ta over there. Chit and Chitta. It is consciousness rooted in material nature.
Not necessarily material consciousness. It’s consciousness rooted in material nature. Krishna says, Fix your consciousness on me.
Now, Prabhupada translates Chitta generally as consciousness, or he can sometimes translate it as mind. But the idea is, this is an elaborate concept, I won’t go into that now. See, Krishna manifests Himself within material nature for us.
So, for example, Krishna manifests as a Deity. So, now, my consciousness right now is still rooted in material nature only. I can’t see Krishna Satchitananda form.
But within my materially imprisoned consciousness, Krishna manifests. And if I fix my consciousness on that, then I become purified by that. So, therefore, Chitta doesn’t necessarily refer to material consciousness.
It is consciousness rooted within material nature. Even when the consciousness is rooted in material nature, rooted is not R-O-U-T-E-D. It’s R-O-U-T-E-D, rooted, passed through material nature.
It’s consciousness rooted, passed through material nature. Even that can be spiritualised. So, by beholding the Deities, although I am seeing only material things, but because Krishna has manifested through a manifestation of the Deity, which is made of matter, I can spiritualise my consciousness.
Is it clear? So, thank you very much. Shreemad Bhagavad Gita Ki Jai! Krishna Prabhupada Ki Jai! Gaur Bhakta Vrinda Ki Jai!