Gita Overview Mumbai 13.13-19 Understanding five koshas and achintyabhedabheda in the Gita

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
Yesterday we discussed about the attributes of Jnana, 13.8 to 12. Now as I mentioned, this chapter is answering those six questions of Arjuna. So it started with Kshetra and Kshetra-jnana.
Then it is going to describe Jnana and Jnana. So Jnana is that which is to be known. So that will be described in the next seven verses, 13.3. In 13.19, so let’s have a look at this.
geyam yathat pravakshami yad jnatva mrtam ashnute anadhimat param brahma na sattanna sadhuchyate So, geyam yathat pravakshami. Pravakshami means to explain or to speak. I will speak to you that which is the object of knowledge, geyam.
And what is the result of this? yad jnatva amrtam ashnute So one will attain immortality, the state beyond amrtam. And it starts by describing anadhimat param brahma. So anadi is beginningless.
Then this brahma, which is one of the things to be known, it is mat param, it is dependent on me. And na sattanna sadhuchyate. So sat asad can mean various things.
It can mean temporary, eternal. It can mean cause and effect. So Krishna has earlier also said in the ninth chapter, when he has been talking about how he is the sacrifice, he says, I am sat asad.
What is that verse? Sadashachaham arjuna. How does it start? 9.18 I think. Sadashachaham uchyate Amrtam chaiva mrtyuscha Sadashachaham uchyate tapam yaha maham varsham Nisrjyamini grhanami cha Amrtam chaiva mrtyuscha Sadashachaham arjuna maham varsham nigranami uchyami cha Amrtam chaiva mrtyuscha Sadashachaham arjuna So this is 9.19 Sad asad chaham So Krishna is saying that I am sad, I am asad.
So although the words are same, they do not necessarily mean the same thing. When Krishna is saying I am sad and I am asad, that means he is saying over here that it depends on what sad and asad refers to. This is a matter of elaborate discussion among the acharyas.
So Prabhupada says that sad and asad refer to spirit and matter, which is fine, in the sense that spirit is eternal. And we say that the soul is satchitananda, the body is asatachitnirananda. So sad asachaham arjuna.
So in what sense is Krishna sad asad? If you look at it, it is clearly not a directly full identification. It is not that Krishna is heat and Krishna is light and Krishna is sun. Krishna is the ultimate cause of all these things.
So similarly when he is saying sad asachaham arjuna, what he means is that spirit and matter are ultimately his energies. So when Krishna is saying I am all these, he is talking more in terms of how he is the underlying cause of which all these are the effects. All these are the manifestations.
But in the process of jnana, which we are discussing now, the bhakti involves seeing the connection of everything with God. Whereas the process of jnana essentially centres on focussing on the disconnection between matter and spirit. Matter has to be rejected and spirit has to be accepted.
So this theme is common to all spiritual paths. In the Upanishads it is asato ma sad gamayo. So go from the temporary to the eternal.
So like that, that is a common theme. But what is the means to go from asato ma sad? So in bhakti, it is used asada as a means to get to the sad. So when we see the whole world as Krishna maya, I see that Prabhupada would say that this maya because it is being used for Krishna’s service, so it is spiritual.
That is one way of looking at things. And it is much more practical in the sense that we can use things of this world in Krishna’s service much more easily than to completely renounce everything and to think of spirit which is invisible and unmanifest and practically inaccessible to most of us. But in the jnana section, that jnana path, that is the process.
That’s why when Krishna is talking about Brahma here, he will say that Brahma has got nothing to do with sattva and asat. So it is not a contradiction. It depends on the context and to make things clearer for us.
So sattva and asat, Prabhupada explains, it refers to the cause and effect in this world. So in one place, the rain showers and there are huge floods. In another place, the rains don’t come and there are droughts.
So now, in this ultimate sense if we see, Krishna is beyond both. Krishna has got nothing to do with the rains. Krishna has got nothing to do with the droughts.
He is actually beyond both. He is beyond both. So sometimes we may use a simplistic correlation.
We say that we did yagya, so rains came. Actually, there is a profound philosophical principle over there. Yagya means that we are expressing our harmony with the universal government.
And then the government is rewarding us by reciprocating or rewarding the citizens of the universe by providing rains. But we should not simplistically misrepresent the philosophy. If I say because we did yagya, so rains came.
Then tomorrow lot of rains will come. Some agents will say you don’t do much kirtan now. Stop the kirtan.
Isn’t it? So we have to be very careful when we correlate God with the actions of this world. It’s not that God is directly to be blamed for the actions of this world. Either way this is.
So now, just as God is beyond, even the soul is actually beyond. Soul is beyond as we know, prakriti kriyamanani, that was 3.27 indicates that actually the modes are doing everything. The modes are doing everything.
The soul is simply misidentifying with the modes. That is the instruction that Swayambhu Manu gives to Dhruva Maharaj when he is trying to pacify him. When Dhruva is very angry and he is killing the yakshas en masse.
So he stops and then Swayambhu Manu comes along and then he instructs him. He says actually neither that yaksha was the killer of your brother and nor are you actually the killer of the yakshas. But everything is happening by the modes.
But when the modes influence a person, that person, that atma becomes entangled. So understand that you are the atma which is beyond all these things. So depending on the context, in the 9th chapter the focus is bhakti.
And that’s why Krishna is focussing on his connection with everything. And he is helping us to see. So as devotees we can see, yes when the rains come we can say it is Krishna’s mercy.
And when the rains don’t come we can also say, yes this is Krishna giving us realisation of how miserable this world is. Vishal Prabhupada, when the bombs were falling on Calcutta he said, oh this is Krishna, he has come. But in a form that is not very congenial for most people, not very appealing for most people.
So as devotees we can see everything connected with Krishna. And that is good. At the same time that doesn’t mean that there is not a proper philosophical understanding of God’s connection with this world.
So in the Jnana path, the devotional connection is not stressed. Rather the philosophical disconnection between matter and spirit is stressed. And that’s why here it is said that, असत्तन्नासदुच्छते that this Brahman, this Brahma is beyond the cause and effect of this world.
So what does this refer to? Generally our Acharyas have said this Brahma refers to the Atma. So the Atma is beyond the cause and effect of this world. Whatever happens, the Atma remains unaffected.
The only reason why the Atma becomes bound is because of the illusory misidentification. But even now the Atma is actually pure. It’s only that there are some misconceptions that are covering it.
Now one of the characteristics of this section 13.13-19 is that it’s open to multiple interpretations. This is the Upanishadic section. Upanishadic means that there are very terse sutra like statements which pack a lot of meaning but unpacking of that meaning can be done in various ways.
Like we have in the Upanishad, तदेजती तन्नैजती तद्धूरे तद्धुअन्तिके So you remember earlier I talked about the difference between paradox and contradiction. Contradiction means two opposing statements. Paradox means what? Seemingly opposite but… Seemingly opposite is a way of pointing to a deeper truth.
Drawing attention to a deeper truth. Patient but enthusiastic. So this is तद्धूरे तद्धुअन्तिके This is far away and yet close.
So that we’ll discuss these verses. But in general I’ll not go into the technicalities of which Acharyas have talked about what meanings of the verses. We’ll just focus on the flow of the Gita.
And we’ll try to understand what is being talked about. Now, Nakshila Prabhupada explains, Therefore the description of Brahman mentioned in this verse is in relation to the individual soul. And when the word Brahman is applied to the living entity it is to be understood that he is विज्ञानब्रह्म as opposed to आनन्दब्रह्म.
So, this is one point I didn’t discuss earlier. About the different कोशाs. Have we discussed the कोशाs anytime in our Ishopanishad? तन्नमै कोश, प्राणमै कोश No.
So, this is the word कोशा. This is talked about in the Upanishads. Now, what is a कोशा? There are two ways of looking at it.
It is the objective level of God’s energy. And it is also a subjective level of individual realisation. So, what does this mean? Before I go into the five levels, let’s try to understand what these two words are.
Objective level of God’s energy and subjective level of individual realisation. So, a simple example for this could be the concept of nationhood. Say, now I am an Indian.
There is an objective fact that I am an Indian. I may have a domicile certificate, I may have an ID proof, which says that I am an Indian. But, there may not be the subjective level of understanding by which I understand that I am an Indian.
For example, if there is a six month old baby. That baby is born in India and the baby is an Indian. But, it just doesn’t have the level of consciousness to understand that I am an Indian.
It is an India, but it is not an Indian in the sense that it doesn’t consider itself to be an Indian. Or consider a dog in the streets of Mumbai. You know, it’s also an Indian.
It’s also Bharatwasi. But, it will not say, Garo se kaho hum Bharatwasi hai. It just doesn’t have the level of consciousness developed to understand that it is an Indian.
So, there is the objective fact that there is a certain connection with one’s surroundings and that level of connection indicates a certain objective reality. Somebody who is visiting India may be a tourist. That person is geographically in India.
There is a certain level of actual reality to that. But, that itself doesn’t mean that that person thinks that I am an Indian. So, geographically, a tourist in India is situated in the same way as an Indian citizen.
But, consciousness wise, there is a difference. So, similarly, so I gave three examples. Somebody who is an Indian, somebody who is a baby or a non-human species and somebody who is a human with adequate intelligence but with a temporary visitor.
So, the subjective conceptions will vary despite the objective reality. Similarly, these five koshas are objective levels of Krishna’s energies. So, but the people who are in that level, they may or may not have those kinds of conceptions.
Now, what are these conceptions? Nationhood is both a conception as well as an objective reality. So, Annamaya kosha means, maya means generally filled with, permeated with. So, Annamaya kosha is the level of consciousness where one’s existence is defined by eating.
Annamaya kosha. For example, there are certain microscopic organisms like say amoeba. Actually, as soon as they interact with something, they will try to expand their shape and they will try to ingest it.
Or if you look at small babies, often they perceive the world through their tongue. And that’s why they may eat, they may just chew on their finger. And even when they grow, some people grow up and still they have that habit of chewing on their fingers.
So, what has happened is that at that level of childhood, the interaction with the world is primarily through the tongue, through eating. And there is no discrimination, there is not even a sense of self-existence. Very clearly speaking.
In the sense that the child may eat something which is harmful also. The child doesn’t understand also that I am a separate being and I have to survive. Sometimes small babies may pass the waste product and then they may try to consume that also.
Because they just don’t have any sense of discrimination. Not just discrimination in terms of aesthetic or things like that, but even in terms of what is favourable for survival. They may eat something which is harmful, which may be poisonous also.
If that’s just in their vicinity. So, annamaya kosha means one is just filled with thoughts of eating. So, the higher level kosha is pranamaya.
So here, one’s existence is defined by survival. One thinks that I have prana and I have to survive. What do I need to do to survive? And actually this is the level of consciousness of most species.
Darwin’s theory of evolution, some of it, especially the part of survival of the fittest, that is a valid truth within nature. The idea of adaptation leading to various species being morphed from one original source, that doesn’t have adequate evidential or theoretical basis. But the idea of survival of the fittest is a fair enough principle.
So, living beings are defined largely by the urge to live. Pranamaya. Now, at the level of pranamaya, the anna is a concern.
Each of these, as we go lower in this, it’s a higher level of consciousness. One, two, three, four, five. So, at pranamaya also one eats.
But eating is not the defining activity of one’s existence. Eating is one activity, important activity. But eating is subordinated to other activities.
So, a deer may be eating grass, but when it sees that a lion is coming behind it, and hears the roar of a lion, or smells the body of a lion nearby, it immediately leaves the food and runs away. Because for it at that level, prana is higher than anna. Now, beyond this, actually, jnana, vijnana and ananda, these three, my koshas, these three are possible only in the human form of life.
Now, in the human form also, anna and prana are important concerns. People say roti, kapda, makan. These are important concerns.
And they cannot be neglected. But at the same time, they don’t have to be the defining conceptions of a person’s life. If they are, then there are so many people who have roti, kapda, makan, and still they are depressed.
Still they often commit suicide or get into addictions. So, these don’t necessarily lead to fulfilment in human life. Because in human life, the consciousness is more developed and one wants something higher.
So, jnana maya kosha means, one starts developing knowledge. And in that knowledge, now sometimes, the word is slightly different. This is sometimes referred to as mano maya kosha also.
So, at this level, one starts pursuing knowledge for knowledge’s sake. And at this level, one may develop poetry, literature, fine arts. And why? Because this is basically one is trying to… What is the idea of fine arts? Fine arts is when we try to depict something so that we can capture something that has inspired us in nature and preserve a portrait of it in some way.
Literature also is an attempt to muse over what is there in nature and to share it with others. So, these are basically characteristics of the mode of goodness. So, basically, this is a rough correlation because these are different typologies.
Typologies mean systems of classification. And we cannot correlate them accurately. But roughly speaking, annamaya kosha is largely in the mode of ignorance.
Pranamaya kosha is largely in the mode of passion. And jnanamaya kosha is in the mode of goodness. And vijnan and ananda, these are transcendental.
Vijnan is roughly spiritual. And anandamaya is devotional. Spiritual means just beyond the mode, at the level of atma.
And devotional means the understanding of the relationship between the atma and parama. So, now, in this vijnanamaya kosha… In the jnanamaya kosha, one starts doing the pursuit of higher knowledge. But this need not necessarily be metaphysical.
Metaphysical means that there is physical and there is metaphysical. So, physical means about the world around us. Metaphysical means what is beyond the world, what is beyond the sensory reality.
So, poetry, artistry and literary inclinations, these can become ways to go towards metaphysics. But they don’t necessarily have to be about metaphysics. So many works of art may just be mundane.
They may be depicting mundane themes. Literature, books, poems, paintings. But still it requires some level of evolved understanding to do these sort of creations.
So, at the vijnanamaya kosha, one starts understanding that actually there is a metaphysical reality and I belong there. This is to some extent the jnani level. And when one goes further beyond that to the anandamaya level, one understands that actually I am the Atma and I have an eternal relationship with this Paramatma and we are eternally reciprocating and in that there is the highest happiness.
That is where one experiences the highest happiness. So, the anandamaya abhyasa, that is it. So, actually, abhyasa, by practise one attains the anandamaya stage.
So, the anandamaya stage is the goal of existence. And actually, even at the annamaya and pranamaya levels, one is trying for ananda. One thinks that by survival, that survival itself is the greatest joy.
The life is so important, let me do anything and everything to preserve my life. But we will see there are great seekers, there may be saints or spiritually minded people, who may, for the sake of, say, vijnana and ananda, they may risk their prana. They may leave the comforts of daily life and they go to the forest, they go out in search of God.
The purpose is that they want something higher in life. So, atha to brahma jijnasa actually is a call to rise from the anna and pranamaya course through the jnana towards the vijnana and anandamaya course. So, Prabhupada explains that for most people, the brahma jijnasa begins with sangha.
It begins with association. Actually, this sutra, atha to brahma jijnasa, Ramacharya and his Sri Bhashya use a hundred page purport. A huge purport.
Even Matacharya’s purport is used. And what is the analysis that he is doing basically? He says, both of them agree that brahma jijnasa is extremely auspicious. That as soon as a soul starts doing spiritual enquiry, that is the womb of great auspiciousness.
But then what causes this auspiciousness? What makes a soul do brahma jijnasa? Is it that just one day you sit and start thinking, where did I come from? That sort of thinking is often armchair speculation. Okay, where did I come from? Anyway, suddenly somebody knocks on the door, where have you come from? I sit and talk. The subject suddenly comes down from spiritual to mundane and people start chit-chatting about gossip.
I had gone here, I had gone there. And it just comes from… So, where does this brahma jijnasa come from? So, they all trace a constellation of factors. But the primary factor they say is that actually it is by association of those who are having brahma jijnasa.
So, it can be by the mercy of the Lord. If somebody has pursued some brahma jijnasa in the past, then one develops brahma jijnasa. And then one continues the brahma jijnasa in this life.
Or it can just be some special mercy of the Lord by which something awakens in this life. Generally, that mercy, that sudden awakening is just a restarting of what one had cultivated in the previous life. But sometime it has to start.
In a previous life or this life. And that starting generally happens by the association of devotees. So, this sort of rising towards the higher koshas is through sangha.
Now, sangha need not necessarily be of devotees. Sangha has to be of those whose brahma jijnasa has been awakened. So, it can be jnanis also, it can be yogis also.
It can be any kind of transcendentalist. Prabhupada writes that in the purport of section 6.37-45 when he is talking about how the deviated yogi continues in the next life. So, there he describes that all those who are pursuing an eternal goal are on the auspicious path.
I think he writes in 6.40 purport. Where Krishna is saying that पार्थनईवेहनामुत्रविनाशिस्तस्तस्यविद्यते नहीं कल्यानकृत् कश्चित् दुर्गतिन्ताते गच्चति So, नहीं कल्यानकृत् कश्चित् कल्यानकृत् means one who is doing auspicious work. So, Prabhupada explains, what is auspicious work? Pursuing anything beyond this world is auspicious.
Because this world is a place of misery. And even if one doesn’t have a clear conception of what to pursue, what to look for, but still, just looking beyond the world is auspicious. Any questions about these koshas? First two are basically at the level of the gross body.
ज्यानमै comes to the level of the subtle body. विज्यानमै is at the level of the आत्मा. And आनन्दमै is at the level of the connection between the आत्मा and the पर्मात्मा.
Is it clear? Any other questions about this? The human beings in this level may know that they are in one type of consciousness. Prabhupada is a pure devotee. When Prabhupada was attacked at the Bhovari, he fled from the place where David was there.
But that is not प्राणमै level of consciousness. So when there is a threat at the level of the body, one may respond accordingly. But the important thing is, what does one conceive to be the defining aspect of one’s life? What does one conceive to be one’s purpose? That is what needs to be seen.
That’s what defines this. I’ll just quickly summarise here. So प्राणमै is mostly animals.
This is mode of ignorance. This is mode of passion. The life of the mind.
This is mode of goodness. That is विज्यानमै. This is ज्यानी’s.
Come to the level of the soul. Spiritual level. And आनन्दमै is भक्ता’s.
They are at the level of परमात्मा or भगवान. Perceived God and it’s a devotional level. Is it clear? We move forward now.
So Prabhupada says that when the Atma is at the level of नसत्तन्नासदुच्छते When the Atma has understood that actually I have nothing to do with this material world. So that time that Atma has gone beyond all these levels. And has actually come to the आनन्दमै level.
So even at the विज्यानमै level there is some understanding that okay I am beyond this material world. But still the identity of the Atma is understood more by it’s negation of material attributes. Then by it’s independent self attributes.
The Atma is defined okay I am not this, I am not this, I am not this. But what am I that is not clearly understood. That’s why Prabhupada says that proper understanding of this विज्यानमै of this नसत्तन्नासदुच्छते will happen when one is at the आनन्दमै level.
So let’s move forward. Now from here onwards the Acharyas describe that the next all the verses are talking about the परमात्मा. So now the गेया, the object of knowledge.
What is the object of knowledge? Actually ultimately what we want to know is our own identity and God. So ब्रह्मा जिग्यासा, ब्रह्मा has two levels. You know ब्रह्मा can also mean आत्मा.
अहम् ब्रह्मास्मी is there. And ब्रह्मा is also परम्ब्रह्मा, the absolute truth. So in the section on गेया the आत्मा is talked about briefly in a half a verse.
And the परमात्मा is talked about in the remaining verses. पाणी and पाद is hands and legs. So, Akshi is eyes, Shiro is head and Mukha is mouth.
And then, so, Pani Pada actually refers to some extent to the Karma Indriyas, Akshi-Shiro-Mukham-Shruti-Malloke, these refers to the Gyan Indriyas, roughly and Sarva-Mavrutti-Tishthati is pervading everywhere. So, basically, the point here is that the Lord knows everything and the Lord can do whatever He wants, wherever He wants. That’s the point of this verse.
So, now, this verse in and of itself doesn’t say who, what it is, Tath, what is that Tath? That is not made very clear in the verse itself. That’s why we need the Acharyas. Later on, we’ll see how the Bhagavad Gita makes it clear in the future verses.
But at this stage, by the attributes, we can understand that this isn’t referred to the Atma. Because the Atma, surely we don’t have our hands and legs everywhere. Our hands and legs are only connected with our body.
This is also another way of looking at the difference between the two Kshetra Gyans. So, yeah. That’s the problem.
So, the question is that, we said that the previous verse is referring to Atma and this verse is not referring to the Atma. So, is there any, there’s no continuity or connection. Yeah.
So, now, I don’t want to go into an elaborate analysis. This is the reason why Samacharyas say even the previous verse does not refer to the Atma. They say that it also refers to the Absolute Truth.
And here, it refers to the Brahma Jyoti aspect of the Absolute Truth. Anadhimat Parambrahma. So, Brahma Jyoti is subordinate to me.
That Krishna will make Brahma, Nohi, Pratishtha, Hum. That’s what he says. So, in that way, the continuity is maintained and the full Gyan that Krishna talks about is the Absolute Truth only, is the Absolute Truth, Bhagwan, Paramatma, whatever, Brahman.
So, that’s another way of looking at it. And it’s also logical in the sense that at this level, Krishna has already explained the Atma in the second chapter itself. So, now the focus is more on the Absolute Truth.
So, that’s one way of looking at it. And some of our Acharyas have done it that way also. Srila Prabhupada takes that this verse refers to Atma and that’s why I focused on that explanation.
So, now as far as the transition is concerned, it is especially in the Upanishads. Generally, the characteristic is that, as I told you in the Vedanta Sutra, just the discussion starts off without even giving the context. Brahma refers to Prakriti or Bhagwan.
Brahma refers to what? Now, what is Brahma? Actually, that word Brahma is used in a particular conversation in Shweta Sutra Upanishad. What does it refer to? So, it doesn’t give the context also. So, Vedanta Sutra is like that in a very, very complex way.
Upanishads are not so complex. But generally, the transitions of thought are assumed to be understood for the audience which is at a particular level of refinement. So that’s why the Upanishads become a little difficult to understand.
So, it’s like, you know, when a lot of things are there on a person’s mind and the person starts speaking. Two people, they are very learned and they are having some discussions. And they have a lot of things on their mind, so when they start discussing, both of them understand what is being spoken.
And when they change from one subject to another, their goal when they are having discussion is not primarily to enlighten everyone else. Their goal is just to have a discussion mutually. So, Upanishads to some extent are like that.
They are the mode of discussion between people who are very elevated in their understanding. And there may be some places where they are enlightening others also. But even those whom they are enlightening are also of a very evolved consciousness.
So, that’s why in the Upanishads, the thought does not seem to be very linear and cursive. It seems to be more of intuitive and spontaneous, going from one level to another. So, in a sense, it’s like the Upanishads offer us vignettes of peaks of conscious insight.
Vignettes means like pictures, portraits. Vignettes of what? Peaks of conscious insight. That means when a person is thinking and in the consciousness, he gets some insight.
So, that insight, you take a picture of it. Our level of insight also sometimes go up, come down. We sometimes understand something, sometimes don’t understand something.
So, when the level of conscious insight has come to a peak, we take a picture of that. And then, sort of make a frame of it and preserve it. So, here the picture is made in text and it is preserved.
So, now, unless we know the context. Now, I might just see a picture. Okay, this looks beautiful.
But what is it? Where is it? Who clicked the picture? Why it is clicked? What am I supposed to learn from this picture? We don’t understand all that just by seeing a picture. We need somebody to explain that to us. You know, there is a saying that one picture is like a thousand words.
That may be true, but often one picture needs a thousand words to explain also. Because if there is only a picture, from one picture people can come up with thousand explanations. See, even words can be multiply interpreted, but words at least are normally in a linear progressive context.
But pictures are often decontextualised. So, to actually understand and explain pictures, we need proper verbal exposition. So, these are like, as I said, peaks of consciousness.
These are not pictures in a visual sense. They are pictures in a textual sense. But the Upanishads, what they offer, that’s why it is said, वेदेशु धुर्लभमा धुर्लभमात्मवक्तो So, they are offering just peaks, snapshots or vignettes of peaks of conscious insight.
And they are difficult to understand. So, that’s why the progression in these verses will be a little difficult. But it will become a little bit, later we will see how it becomes clear that actually two entities are being talked about.
It will become clear in 22-23. So, now let’s move forward. Fifteenth verse.
सर्वेंद्रिय गुणाभासम् सर्वेंद्रिय विवर्जितम् असक्तम् सर्वभृक्चैव असक्तम् सर्वभृक्चैव निर्गुणाम् गुणाभौक्तुच्या निर्गुणाम् गुणाभौक्तुच्या So, सर्वेंद्रिय गुणाभासम् So, अभास here refers to the original source. So, is the source of all senses. That thing, whatever it is, not mentioned clear.
सर्वेंद्रिय विवर्जितम् It is having no senses by itself. So, here we see a direct paradox. First of all, to say that it is a source of something and it doesn’t have that thing.
That is a paradox. But the greater paradox is what was said in the previous verse. Actually, it says everywhere are his hands and legs.
Now, Prabhupada uses the personal pronoun his over there. But there is no personal pronoun over there. There is that, that, this, that in the Sanskrit.
In the previous verse. But in the previous verse, everywhere are the hands and legs and now they are saying that it has no senses. That means no hands and legs also.
So, what is going on over here? सर्वेंद्रिय विवर्जितम् So, actually, it is talking about different levels of things. See, when we are in the material world, we understand that when the previous verse said the connection between previous verse and this verse is that Can the kitchen door be closed? If the soul is not the doer of anything न सत्तन्ना soul doesn’t have anything to do with anything then how are things happening in this world? Now, I am seeing, I am speaking. Things are happening.
So, he says that is happening by the instrumentality of the super soul. That means, actually, the material nature is the doer. The material nature is being acting through the will, by the will of the Supreme Lord.
So, Supreme Lord is acting. So, the Paramatma is everywhere and the Paramatma is acting. So, in that sense, all the Indriyas of all the living beings belong to the Paramatma.
So, Prabhupada gives this in Bhagavatam Parport, this particular explanation that in a sense the Lord’s agents are everywhere because the Lord can act to everyone not just through his devotees. He can act even through non-devotees also. Non-devotees can also be made to do God’s will.
Not necessarily they do it in a willing way but just like Govind Rupa was telling on Sunday that Prabhupada would quote that how when there is a fight between two countries, there is a Second World War between America between the Allies and Axis Powers. So, it is ultimately the Lord engaging both of them to bring their own karmic reactions upon them. So, in an ultimate sense, Krishna is the doer.
So, it is in that sense sarvata paani badham sarvata kishiro mukham. But then, just to make this point clear that actually that absolute truth cannot be blamed for what happens in this world. The point is immediately made that sarve indriya vivarjitam is the source of all the indriyas but he himself does not have any indriyas.
So, here when it is talked about sarve indriya vivarjitam, it is primarily talked about that absolute truth is not having any material senses. And asaktam sarva-bhrukshaiva again there is a contradiction that asaktam is unattached but he maintains everyone. Normally, parents maintain their children because there is some attachment towards them.
This theme asaktam sarva-bhrukshaiva was talked about in 9th chapter also. When it is said that bhuta-bhrinna cha bhuta-stho mamatma bhuta-bhavana in 9.5 and nirguna-muguna-bhoktrucha he is beyond the modes but he is the law controller of the modes also. So, basically these verses very clearly they are the clearest statements within the Bhagavad Gita avadachintya-bhedabhed-tattva There is an earlier statement in 9.4 and 5 where mat-sthani sarva-bhutani mach-vasthani bhutani but here it is much more clear.
Let’s look at this further. I’ll explain this as we move forward and then I’ll give a cumulative understanding at the end. bahir-antasya-bhutana acharam-charame-vacha suksha-matvata-davijnayam durastham-chanti-ke-chatat So, bahir-antasya-bhutana that thing, whatever it is inside and outside of everyone and who are the everyone? It includes moving and non-moving beings.
And then you may say that oh, he is everywhere then inside and outside then why don’t we know him? suksha-matvata it’s extremely minute and it’s interesting that Krishna says it’s so minute, that’s why he is avijnayam the section started by describing the geya so Krishna now says that the geya is avijnayam the object to be known is unknowable of course, unknowable to normal perception by a proper process it can be known and he further says durastham-chanti-ke-chatat so now what does this refer to? bahir-antasya-bhutana the absolute truth is present inside everyone as a super soul the absolute truth is present outside everyone as the all-pervading brahmajyoti there can be various explanations for this similarly, durastham-chanti-ke-chatat is present closer than the closest as the paramatma expansion is there right next to it as the bhagavan expansion as the bhagavan manifestation he is far away in the spiritual world durastham-chanti-ke-chatat now beyond that Krishna will tell further that now this verse specifically focusses on the paramatma and describes how that one paramatma appears many avibhaktam chabhuteshu avibhaktam chabhuteshu vibhaktam ivaca-sthitam bhuta-bhartrucha-tajjeyam grasishnu-prabhavishnucha so avibhaktam avibhaktam means to be divided so avibhaktam chabhuteshu among all living beings that absolute truth is not divided but vibhaktam ivaca-sthitam is situated as if divided what does this refer to? just like there is a sun in the sky and there are many ponds on the earth so the sun gets reflected in each of the ponds so each reflection seems to be different but it is the same sun which is reflected so in a similar way the super soul is one you may have seen that picture but there is one super soul and then that super soul is manifested in various living beings in their heart so and the yogi is meditating on that so avibhaktam ivaca-sthitam is only an expansion and then bhuta-bhartrucha-tajjeyam now here Krishna is telling that actually that absolute truth even in the gyani path at a later level initially one differentiates between matter and spirit but eventually one tries to see how actually matter is an illusion and everything that is there is a spirit only that’s the mood of verses like sarvam khalvam idam brahma which Shankaracharya called the Mahavakya everything is Brahman so in that light what is being said over here is that that absolute truth is the maintainer, is the creator and the destroyer bhuta-bhartrucha-tajjeyam is the maintainer and grashishnu grashishnu means the devourer and prabhavishnu, prabhavishnu means the creator so he is doing all these three things so in a sense we understand that although brahma, vishnu, mahesh are considered to be in charge of all these three but ultimately all three get their power from the absolute truth which is beyond and the absolute truth is Krishna now Krishna will explain further characteristics of this jyotisham apitajyotis jyotisham apitajyotis tamasah paramuchyate tamasah paramuchyate jnanam jneyam jnanagamyam jnanam jneyam jnanagamyam rudhisarvasya vishtitam rudhisarvasya vishtitam so here rudhisarvasya vishtitam this makes something very clear that absolute truth is present everywhere, in all hearts so we are not present in all hearts so in that sense we can say this is referring to the super soul it will become more clear in 22-23 jyotisham apitajyotis he says that that absolute truth is the light of all lights all illumination comes from him and he is situated forever beyond the darkness of material existence tamasah paramuchyate and now these three words are interesting jnanam jneyam jnanagamyam so jnana is knowledge jneya is the object of knowledge and jnanagamya is the goal of knowledge to be approached by knowledge so what is the difference between this, the object of knowledge and the goal of knowledge in a sense they may appear similar he is knowledge, he is the object of knowledge he is the goal of knowledge however there is a difference if a person is on a jail and a person wants to get out of the jail so at that time the person will study the jail very carefully ok, where can i dig a hole in it where is the lock weak when are the guards not there where is the where is the best escape route from it so for the person in the jail the object of knowledge is the jail itself but the goal of knowledge is not the jail the goal of knowledge is freedom that lies beyond the jail so you understand the difference between the object of knowledge and goal of knowledge i study one thing so that i can get something else for example when there is some terrible disease say for example there is AIDS now researchers may do a lot of research to understand ok where does this HIV originate from and what causes this disease, how does it work so when i study the object of my knowledge at that time will be the HIV and its behaviour but the goal of my knowledge is a state of life which is free from HIV isn’t it exactly so now in Gyanis now we will come to this point that in the Gyanis case they may study in a sense Bhakti or Bhagwan but they think actually beyond that is the Brahman and we have to go there whereas Krishna is telling over here that ultimately I am all three when he says I am knowledge what does this refer to, this can refer to two different things earlier in this chapter Krishna has said Gyana is referring to the process by which knowledge is developed and Krishna is saying I am that process that actually that process which liberates you from material existence that process by which you gain that knowledge, I am that another point could be as Krishna will say later in 15.15 so the Gyan that you get is my mercy that is also another way of looking at it now for us as devotees in a sense our object of knowledge is Krishna and our goal of knowledge also is Krishna but for materialistic people for scientists for example their object of knowledge is the material world but what is the goal of knowledge they actually don’t know any further goal of knowledge they think that ok the goal of knowledge is just I want to be happy I want to be here only which we can’t be because this material world is condemned with temporariness so there is this vision of oneness not in the sense of absolute oneness but in oneness in terms of the principle that is sustaining everything so all the aspects of knowledge what I study how I get to study it what I achieve by studying all these three are sustained by Krishna’s mercy so what I study refers to how I study refers to Gyan and what I get by studying is Gyanagamya all this is sustained by Krishna lets move forward Madh Bhakta e Tadvigyanya Madh Bhakta e Tadvigyanya so here Krishna concludes this section by describing to Arjuna what all he has taught Iti Kshetram I have told you about Kshetra, I have told you about Gyan and I have told you about Gyan so now actually Krishna has told about Kshetragya also but Kshetragya and Gyan are more or less similar Kshetragya are the Atma and Paramatma and Gyan is also Atma and Paramatma so Krishna doesn’t repeat that that they are two are similar so Kshetra we remember we talked about in the beginning of the chapter actually verses 2 to 7 is talking about Kshetra Gyan is 8 to 12 and then Gyan is 13 to 18 and very significantly Krishna says who can understand this so even in such a hardcore Upanishadic section Krishna is emphasising the point of Bhakti over here who can understand so this is the second reference to Bhakti in this chapter which was the earlier reference 13.8 to 12 one of the characteristics of knowledge he says so the word Bhava can mean nature or it can mean emotion they attain my nature my nature also doesn’t necessarily have to mean impersonal merging it can just mean one attains spiritual nature or my emotion that can mean they attain love for me they attain emotions for me so what that will actually mean that will vary depending on the context so Prabhupada says they attain to my nature so even for understanding this Gyan actually Bhakti is important even the Gyanis have to practise Bhakti to some extent by which they will understand this complex philosophical analysis now after this in the next verse Krishna will start talking about Purusha and Prakriti we will discuss this in the evening class thank you very much