Gita 13.32 The soul is situated in the body, but its consciousness doesn’t have to imprisoned in the body

Transcript

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Bhagavad Gita 13.32 अनादित्वान निर्गुणत्वात् परमात्मायमाव्य यहां शरीर स्थोपिकोंते नकरोती न लिप्यते नकरोती न लिप्यते so he speaks over here about the spiritual reality Krishna is speaking in the section about ज्यान चक्षु seeing with the eyes of knowledge and while seeing with these eyes he urges us to see beyond what is visible with our normal eyes that spiritual reality which underlies the endless variety of this world seeing which comprises spiritual vision Krishna has said in the previous verse अनादित्वान इदा भूत प्रत्थक्भावं एकस्थमनुपश्यति एवच्यविस्तारं ब्रह्म संपध्यते ददा there he has said that seeing beyond the variety of this world is the sign of one who has got spiritual knowledge who is situated in spiritual vision in this verse Krishna is saying what does one see when one sees the spiritual reality so he says over here अनादित्वान निर्गुणत्वात अनादित्वान is that they see that actually the supreme spiritual reality is beyond time is beyond beginning अनादित्वान निर्गुणत्वात is transcendental beyond the modes so modes we could say they refer to the fabric of matter so beyond matter but beyond time and space अनादित्वान निर्गुणत्वात परमात्मायं अवयह so the word परमात्मा can have both meanings it can refer to the आत्मा who is पर and it can also refer to the it can also refer to the super soul supreme being अनादित्वान निर्गुणत्वात परमात्मायं अवयह अवयह imperishable so sometimes the word eternal अनादित्वात it is not exactly eternal it is more for आदि that there is no beginning to it अनादित्वात निर्गुणत्वात परमात्मायं अवयह शरीरस्थोपि कौंतेय न करोति न लिप्यते so here he is saying that we understand that transcendental reality शरीरस्थोपि although that reality is situated in this material world presently but शरीरस्थोपि is situated in the body if you consider शरीरस्थोपि then it becomes clear that परमात्मायं अवयह that is referring to to the it can refer to the super soul also but in this context you can see it refers to the body शरीरस्थोपि कौंतेय although situated in the body न करोति न लिप्यते it doesn’t do anything and is not bound the next two verses will elaborate actually how the soul doesn’t do anything and how the soul is not bound at this stage let’s simply focus on the point that the soul is transcendental to matter.
Krishna has talked about शरीरस्थोपि is called in 13.22 similar theme he has talked about it उरुष्यः परकृतिस्थोः so परकृतिस्थोः शरीरस्थोः situated in material nature situated in the body so when he is talking about the language of उरुष्यः परकृति then he says उरुष्यः परकृतिस्थोः that is section 13.22 from 13.22-24 where Krishna is talking primarily about परकृति and उरुष्यः so here Krishna is giving overall vision so he uses the word शरीर so there is no denying that we are situated in the body that our consciousness is radiating through the body and we function through the body at this stage so for all practical purposes unless we are very spiritually realized our arena of action is shaped and restricted by our body for body’s dysfunction we cannot function of course our consciousness remains and our consciousness can actually function by moving towards Krishna but it is not easy to do that because the consciousness is also attached to the body and therefore for it to become detached from the body is not easy so शरीर स्थोपी we are certainly situated in the body but situation in the body situation of the soul in the body does not have to lead to incarceration of its consciousness in the body just as people who are in a prison, they are physically in a prison but in their heart they will be longing for freedom, they will be looking forward to the day when they are released from the prison and at that time they will be liberated they look forward to life after that now for us as souls we are caught in the body and we cannot do much without the body at present but still we do have an opportunity to raise our consciousness beyond the body and the way we can raise our consciousness is by practicing spiritual life by the practice of consistent practice of sadhana we can raise our consciousness to the spiritual level and thus our body consciousness can be freed from its incarceration within the body so there is no beginning so the more we understand that actually I am a soul the more I understand that I am a spiritual being the more I can purify myself the more I get an impetus it’s like a person if that person is always born in poverty and then the person may get used to the idea of staying in poverty of course nobody gets used to the idea, they still aspire for wealth always but if a person has been very wealthy and that person has become poor and the person remembers why he was so wealthy then that person’s aspiration to return to a stage of comfort or at least to become to rise above a stage of great indigence indigence means shortage that desire is quite strong similarly when we have raised ourselves above the physical level then we can at least if we remember intellectually that we are non-physical beings then that itself gives us some impetus to not let our consciousness be restricted at the bodily level just like if a player who has been very healthy and that person falls sick and becomes unfit now if a person has always been unfit physically they may get used to it but a player who has been fit and then becomes unfit that player strives very strongly to come back to fitness because they want to have that life back, they want to delight in the joy of fit living and they may train very hard so when we understand our spiritual identity, we understand this is the core of, this is who I am at my core and then the body is limiting me in so many ways now the limitations of the body are what? first of all the body limits us in the sense that it forces us to grow old, get diseased and die and there is no way we can avoid that no matter how much we deny our mortality our mortality is just a fact of life which is going to be foisted upon us sooner or later further our body subjects us to so many activities for its maintenance that itself takes so much of our time for more constructive activities eating, sleeping, mating, defending takes so much of our time, we look forward to it as sources of pleasure but actually the pleasure that they give is quite limited further the body itself subjects us to so many desires we eat, sleep, mate, defend not just out of necessity but when we think of these sources of pleasure then we get into so many complications in the quest for pleasure and thus we become bound and beyond that if we get addicted to various things that also causes bondage so overall the body doesn’t provide us pleasure the body limits the ways in which we can seek pleasure so rather we may think that oh actually it is my spiritual practices that are restricting me that are limiting me, they are telling me don’t enjoy this way, don’t enjoy that way so my spiritual practices are limiting me in the ways I can find pleasure, actually it is not that way it is the body that limits us in our quest for pleasure by making us repeatedly run on those tracks where pleasure is actually very limited very finite and it is our spiritual spiritualization of our consciousness that enable us to experience the unending fulfillment that we always seek so by understanding our spiritual identity we can aspire towards lasting spiritual happiness