Gita 17.23 Everything is sustained by its connection with the Absolute

Transcript

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Bhagavad Gita 17.23 Om Tatsaditi Nirdesho Brahmanas travidaspata Brahmanas te na vedascha Yajnasch Vihitapura Om Tatsaditi Nirdesho In this chapter Krishna is now going towards the conclusion of his description of how Krishna is modes permeate everything and how we can spiritualize whatever we are doing.
So he has said that there is food, yajna, dana, tapa, all of these can be in the three modes. And we need to move forward from the level of the modes towards transcendence. So what is the transcendental reality? That is om tatsad iti nirdesho.
Nirdesho is pointed out, is depicted, is represented by the three syllables om tatsad. Brahmanasya vedasya yajnasya vedasya. So that means by the threefold reference om tatsad.
Om is the absolute to that, tat and sat, that is real. Om that which is real, it’s an invocation, that is used to address the absolute. And it is my understanding that the absolute is a target of everything, that everything falls in place.
So vedas are the scriptures, yajnas are the sacrifices and brahmanas are the performers of those sacrifice. So everything is held in place by its connection with the absolute. The bhagavatam which in many ways continues and expands on the themes taught in the Bhagavad Gita states that we at our core are spiritual and the world is also connected to the supreme spiritual reality.
So the world is not maya, it is our conception of the world as separate from the Lord, that is maya. So when we understand this point, then we move forward towards Krishna in our pure spiritual intentions and thus we can attain Him. So Krishna is the supreme absolute truth and even those who are in the modes of material nature and are not aware of His supremacy, if they understand that beyond this world is that which is real and that whatever is of value in this world, whatever is considered sacred, that gains its value and sanctity by being connected with that absolute truth, by being directed towards that absolute truth.
Krishna has talked about how yajna, which is considered to be so pure and sacred, yajna can also be in the three modes. So when we perform yajna for the absolute, who is designated by Aum Tat Sat, by understanding that it is He who is the supreme, it is He who is the ultimate goal of life, also by understanding that we can move forward towards life’s perfection. The scriptures are also described, they can also be in three modes of material nature.
There are Sattvic Puranas, Rajasic Puranas and Tamasic Puranas. And similarly, those who teach scriptures and perform yajnas, the brahmanas, they can also be in the three modes. Even Ravana, the Rakshasa, he had his own set of brahmanas who would perform rituals to propitiate the gods on his behalf.
So brahmanas can also be in the mode of ignorance, when they are performing the rituals meant for those in the mode of ignorance. So for example, Tamasic brahmanas may well eat meat if they are performing rituals in which meat is there. And that meat is of course, Yajna Shishta Ashina, that is the remnants of sacrifice.
So when we understand that we need to carefully and determinedly move towards the supreme by our steady spiritual practice, then we become more and more spiritually inclined. And for that spiritual inclination to even awaken in somebody’s heart, at least their understanding has to be there that Om Tat Sat, that I am doing all this for that supreme reality, that beyond this whole world is some higher reality, which is designated by Om Tat Sat. So it is by the arrangement of that reality that Yajna, Veda and Brahmana, they have their potency, they have their position in the overall scheme of things and they have their purpose.
So to the extent we see the connection of what we are doing with the whole picture, to that extent we stay on the progressive path towards the supreme. To the extent we become disconnected from awareness of the supreme as the ultimate purpose of life, to that extent we get caught and we become deluded. So for us to understand that it is the supreme who is the ultimate goal of life and it is towards him that all religious rituals are meant to be directed, understanding this is critical in our spiritual growth.
bahunam janmanam ante jnanaman mam prapadyate vasudevah sarvamiti samatma sudurlabha. Vasudevah sarvamiti. That we understand that Vasudev is everything, that he is the supreme reality, he is life’s ultimate goal and he is the purpose and perfection of everything that we do, whatever we are attracted to, he is the embodiment and fulfillment of it all in its highest manifestation.
By such understanding we can progress from wherever we are towards the ultimate spiritual realization and reciting Om Tat Sat and contemplating on its meanings while studying scriptures, while associating with brahmanas or by performing sacrifices that ensures that we stay on the progressive spiritual path towards the ultimate,