Gita 15.04 The Personal Absolute is not a way to transcendence – he is the summit of transcendence

Transcript

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Bhagavad Gita 15.4 Bhagavad Gita 15.4 Krishna is continuing here his analysis of the material world as an upside down tree and in the previous verses he has talked about how this tree has its roots upwards and shoots downwards how it is nourished by the moulds how its form is very difficult to conceive how it needs to be cut down with the weapon of detachment now he says that what is to be done after we cut off ourselves or cut our attachment to this tree there after one has to attain we go to that place from which we do not return and there we surrender to the supreme person that from whom the whole of material existence has expanded so here clearly Krishna is talking about the personal aspect of the absolute as being transcendental to this world Krishna does not say over here that one needs to surrender to transcend the world but rather we surrender after we transcend the world of course Krishna does say later in 18.66 that we can surrender at our present level of existence also that we can surrender even when we are having some sinful contaminations and he says that actually those sinful contaminations will be overcome by our practice of bhakti so in that sense he gives a vision of spiritual growth that is inclusive and progressive but that is in the end and right now the stress is not so much in that we eventually surrender the point is that Krishna’s message here conveys that actually bhakti is not just something which we do along the way to transcendence Krishna is talking about how bhakti is something which we do even after we have transcended Krishna says go to that supreme abode and after having gone there then you surrender to me so it’s quite a radical prescription over here what he is giving and he is not talking about any transitional abode or anything like that he is clearly talking about the ultimate abode because he also says that once we go there, from there we will not come back and there we surrender to the supreme person that supreme person that means he is something who exists beyond the illusions, the dualities of this world and to attain him we need to also go beyond the dualities of this world and as if that itself were not a clear enough categorical enough declaration Krishna also says further that it is from him that the whole world is manifested that means he is not some transitional temporary manifestation of the absolute rather he is the supreme manifestation it is from him the whole world is manifested this is a very strongly personalist understanding which Krishna is giving here he is not saying at all that we will attain him by the practice of bhakti he is rather saying that he is not saying that bhakti is something which we do just transitionally on the way towards transcendence rather the supreme lord is the object of transcendence after we have transcended we become absorbed in him we devote ourselves to him and thus his stress is on attaining that transcendental reality and how attaining that transcendental reality can help us in our attaining the summit of transcendence so we could say there are two points being talked about over here one point is that he is talking about the supreme lord existing beyond matter he is not a tool to go beyond matter and that it is not some impersonal absolute that has sourced this world rather it is this personal absolute who has sourced the world so either way this was very significant when we consider a personal understanding of the absolute now parimargitavyam parimargitavyam means actually one has to search for that abode it is one thing to know that the material world needs to be transcended but it is quite another to actually transcend the world and to attain thereby attain the absolute so it is like if I am sick I definitely need to recover from sickness but recovering from sickness alone is not enough after I recover from sickness I have to move onwards towards health I have to move onwards towards regaining my health and if I do not find out what was it that actually what is the actual means to health then even if I recover from sickness my recovery will not be complete so Krishna is saying that with the weapon of detachment as he said in the previous verse cut off your entanglement with this world but after that there is more work to be done and that more work is we need to surrender to the absolute we need to devote ourselves to the absolute so the absolute is not just a way to transcendence the supreme person is not just a way to transcendence he is the summit of transcendence and it is with the yogis they will search who is the absolute I wish to know the absolute Krishna has talked earlier about how among the four categories of people who surrender to him one of them are the Jnanis and they surrender to him because they recognize that he is the absolute there is no absolute apart from him that that after many lifetimes the wise surrender to him and those who surrender to him actually go beyond beyond the material world they go beyond the illusion of this world towards supreme reality of Krishna now of course here Krishna has not identified himself as the absolute but a couple of verses later things will become clear when he will say that actually he says that supreme abode is my abode so the describer of that abode that is the same that is the same in this fourth verse also means having gone there one doesn’t come back it also means the same thing the supreme abode is the supreme’s abode that is what the Bhagavad Gita is quite clear and a similar message also comes earlier in 8.21 when Krishna says so that which is called the supreme destination he again uses the same describer having gone there one will not come back so he uses that that describer so the personal personality of the supreme absolute truth is stressed in this verse and the identity of that absolute truth will be conveyed