Gita 15.10 We need knowledge to see our vulnerability in material existence

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Bhagavad Gita 15.10 Bhagavad Gita Bhagavad Gita when leaving the body or being situated in the body Bhagavad Gita or while enjoying the sense objects under the spell of the three modes Bhagavad Gita Bhagavad Gita the deluded they cannot see Bhagavad Gita but the wise can see with the eyes of knowledge those with the eyes of knowledge can see Krishna here is talking about the importance of education for perception we don’t just see with our eyes we see with our intelligence which enables us to make sense of what we see with our eyes and if the intelligence is not educated then it can’t see so for example if a doctor sees some symptoms the doctor may say that ok this person has got tuberculosis and doctor may even say that ok it seems that you are close to him you also have got tuberculosis probably infected from him so similarly so the doctor one with education can see the symptoms others cannot see the symptoms but they don’t know what the symptoms mean they can’t see the symptoms the same way a doctor sees the symptoms similarly here it is said that those who have the eyes of knowledge knowledge here refers to spiritual knowledge philosophical knowledge about the spiritual side of reality so those who have this knowledge they can see the soul going through various situations how the soul leaves the body and then almost helplessly is transported to an entirely different body normally when we travel from one place to another we usually plan according to our schedule we decide ok this is the mode of transportation I will take and this is the destination I wish to go to sometimes if because of some factors beyond our control we are forced to leave where we are and go somewhere else say late night call comes up and we are told to go there there is an emergency in the plant that we are servicing and we have to fly right away to that place we may get irritated and suddenly without almost against our will we are forced to go somewhere but at the time of death we are not only forced against our will to leave our pleasant place but we know neither the time of departure nor the mode of departure nor the destination where we are going to go so it’s almost like abduction if somebody if a group of abductors abduct someone when the abductors are going to swoop in on the victim how they are going to transport the victim and where they are going to keep the victim none of this is known so in that sense death is such a threat to our routine life that we deal with it by not dealing with it we just don’t think much about it of course we may do some health insurance some car insurance and some other stuff like that but essentially we focus more on so we need to cognize that death is like a fearsome fearful horrifying abduction and we are immensely vulnerable to being abducted at any moment by this fearsome force when we see the gravity of our predicament that makes us sober that makes us think seriously about what we need to do to protect ourselves how we can arrange for our own protection before we can take any security measures we need to first be aware of danger if there is no awareness of the danger then there is no reason actually to seek security and if there is no reason to seek security then there is no security so every one of us is vulnerable and the first step in protecting ourselves is to become aware of our vulnerability to the extent we become aware that this is what is going on in our life utkramantam sthitambapi bhunjanam va gunanvitam that the body that is the home for our soul the body which we identify as ourselves is something that we may have to leave at any moment and when we understand this then we become determined to try to resist to try to overcome whatever circumstances whatever security measures we can have now of course the event of death can’t be avoided but the trauma of death can be minimized through purification through elevation of our consciousness to the spiritual level by which we will realize that we at our core are meant for something much more than casual destruction by a bug or a bang we are meant for life and love eternal and we can persevere we can pursue that and persevere in that pursuit if first we have the knowledge of the danger that we are in and then we take the steps necessary to deal with that danger so the bhagavad gita tells us that we are essentially spiritual that we cannot resist the irresistible power of time which will propel us towards death so even while we are in the body what to speak of when we go beyond the body is taken out of one place and dragged to another so even while we are in the body bhunjanam va gunanvitam actually we are pulled and pushed by the modes dragged by them laboring under certain conceptions of what is enjoyable and we go here there and everywhere seeking enjoyment and getting very little if any enjoyment in the process and thus we find ourselves troubled, tormented defeated ultimately parabhavastavad bodhjato yavanjikyasidatmatatvam the bhagavad gita said that as long as we do not inquire about spiritual dimension of life defeat will be our destination through jnana jakshu the eyes of knowledge help us to see our dangerous and doomed predicament in material existence and seeing this predicament enables us to seek some solution unfortunately those people who are deluded because of lack of knowledge or those who are deluded because of excess of desire for worldly pleasure which cloud their vision they can’t see this predicament so who can see the reality and who can’t will be described in the next verse thank you