Gita 13.23 – Contemplate Krishnas proximity to bring intensity to devotion

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
And this point of Bhoktrutve will be further elaborated in the next verse. Thank you.
Purushaparaha. There is a transcendental Purusha who resides in this body. So, Krishna has talked about one Purusha who is entangled in the body, that he has mentioned in 13.22. And now, in 13.23, he talks about another Purusha.
Clearly, this is referring to a different Purusha, because the previous Purusha was said, Purushah Prakritisthohi, at 13.22, the Purusha was situated in Prakriti. Bhumte Prakriti Jangunam, whose desire is to enjoy the three modes of material nature, the products of the three modes, the sense objects. Karanam gunasangosya, because of such association with the modes.
Sat asad yoni janmasu. Sat asad, that takes birth in various species, meets with good and bad in this world. So, this verse is referring to the soul who is entangled.
That’s 13.22. And 13.23 clearly refers to a different soul. Upadrashta. Well, that other soul mentioned in 13.22 was Prakritisthohi, situated in matter.
This soul is transcendental to matter. This soul is said to be Upadrashta, overseer. Anamandach is permitter.
So, Bharata, Bhokta, Maheshwara. Bharata means maintainer. Bhokta is the enjoyer.
Maheshwara. Maheshwara means the supreme controller. Maheshwara.
Maheshwara is controller. Maheshwara is the great controller. So, the word Paramatma can, based on context, mean, can refer to the Atma who is Param.
It can mean the soul who is transcendental, the soul who is supreme. And Paramatma is also used as a compound word, which Prabhupada translates as super-soul, which means Paramatmetichapyukto, which refers to the manifestation of the Lord within the heart. So, this verse is clearly talking about that super-soul.
Chapyukto. Ukto means he is known as. So, Krishna is talking about someone in the body who will be called as the super-soul.
Paramatmetichapyukto. Dehesmin purushaparaha. Dehesmin is also inside this body, but purushaparaha, who is transcendental.
Now, this awareness of Krishna’s transcendence amidst his immanence. Immanence means the state of being present within matter. Transcendence at one level means the state of being situated beyond matter.
So, it can mean, of course, that beyond matter can mean that Krishna is situated beyond the material world in the spiritual world, but it can also mean he is situated beyond the influence of matter while being in the material world. And it is in that sense that Krishna is, Krishna’s super-soul manifestation is also transcendent. Clearly, the super-soul is immanent, being present within matter, but even while being present in matter, within matter, the super-soul remains transcendent to matter, being unaffected by matter.
Now, knowing that Krishna is so wonderfully close to us and yet he is so far above us, we are entangled, but he is liberated, that helps us understand that reliable help is not far away. That actually, wherever we are, we may be in whatever level of entanglement in this world, but Krishna is not far from us. And sometimes, say, someone is trapped in an underground mine, and then now one of the biggest dangers is that such a person can lose hope, because not only is that person trapped, but that person doesn’t even know whether others know that I am trapped.
So, if a person loses heart, that person may even, the trapped person may even stop trying to find water, find food, or somehow maintain the will to live. But if that person knows that help is close by, that help is not far away, and I just need to persevere for some more time, and help will reach me, then that gives a great boost to the hopes for rescue. So, similarly, for us, we are at one level, we are living, we are trapped in the immaterial existence, deep down in material existence actually.
So, when we are trapped like this, it is not easy for us to maintain the hope that we will be rescued. And if we lose that hope, then we stop seeking pleasure, or we stop seeking spiritual realization, and we just give in to our desires for material gratification. And that can be disastrous for our spiritual prospects.
To avoid succumbing to this temptation, it’s vital for us to maintain this faith that Krishna is not far away. And by remembering verses like this, that day is when He is right there in our heart. And although our levels of consciousness are very radically different, our consciousness is caught in matter, whereas His is entirely transcendental, still, the fact is that He is, He has not forsaken us.
For our sake, He has situated Himself so close to us, and it is by His mercy that we will be able to, sooner or later, attain liberation. And we just need to hold on. So, a rescue effort is often, we feel that it is we who are putting in a lot of effort.
We are trying to fix the mind of Krishna. We are trying to resist the senses, sense objects, the temptations for the sense objects. And it seems we are doing everything, but actually, it is Krishna’s mercy which is enabling us to do whatever we are able to do.
And by Krishna’s mercy, if we remember that a rescue operation is still on, and help is close to us, then we will hold on till the point when the rescue operation reaches us and liberates us.