The Gita’s progression from third person references to first person references

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
Hare Krishna. The Gita’s progression from third person reference to God to first person reference.
When we read the Bhagavad Gita, two things will strike the careful reader, among many of course, but especially when it talks about God. Krishna repeatedly declares himself to be God. Many places he declares himself to be God.
At the same time, there is also the opposite idea there’s also something else some other dynamic coming up where Krishna refers to himself by the second person, by the third person. So, first person is I, second person is you and third person is he or she or that. So, Krishna refers to God in the third person also.
For example, towards the end of the Bhagavad Gita, he says, and to that lord you should surrender. So, now, who is that lord? That is actually talked about in the 18th chapter later. This is 18.62 and 18.66 Krishna says, So, here by the first person reference.
So, in this talk, this is the technical talk on the Gita, we will be discussing how these third person and first person references correlate with each other and we will see how the third person reference leads on to the first person. So, progresses to the first person. Now, in general, although there are exceptions to this, but the general principle is Krishna uses the third person when the discussion is about material about God’s connection with material nature and not only the connection of God’s material nature, but the focus is more on what is happening in material nature or on how God is interacting with material nature and not so much on God himself.
So, at that time, the Gita uses the second person reference, the third person reference to God, but when Krishna is talking about himself as a person, as the object to whom we should devote ourselves, then at that time, the focus is not so much on Krishna. The focus is on Krishna and that time Krishna uses the word aham, mam, mama, like that. So, that means when Krishna is talking about God’s interaction with this world, he frequently uses the third person.
When Krishna is talking about his own self-existence, he uses the word mam. So, in the Bhagavad Gita, there is actually a complex multi-level conception of God and although so multi-level conception of God means that God manifests at different levels in different ways. The same one absolute truth manifests as a person who is transcendental to this world and the same absolute truth manifests as the controller who is immanent in this world.
So, the transcendent manifestation of the Lord is called as Bhagavan and the immanent manifestation of God is called as Paramatma. So, in general, whenever there is an immanent manifestation, Krishna uses the word third person to refer to them. Whenever there is a transcendent manifestation, Krishna uses the first person reference.
So, now let’s look at how the reference to the absolute truth evolves from generic third person to specific first person as the Bhagavad Gita flows forward. Now, let’s start first with the reference to one of the things that the yogis do, one of the things that the starting of the spiritual journey for most yogis is through the process of yajna. So, yajna is the means by which we live in harmony with the overall universe.
So, So, in 4.24, the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna states that actually that the various components of sacrifice here are told to be Brahma. So, the fire is Brahma, the spoon which is offered is Brahma, the offering that is made is Brahma, the person who is offering that is Brahma. So, in this way, if one is absorbed in Brahman consciousness, then what happens? That person will attain Brahma.
Why? Because the person is absorbed in Brahma karma, in spiritual work. So, now here, so this is Krishna referring to Brahma as the, telling that actually the ingredients, the components of sacrifice are Brahma. Now, Krishna, at this in the fourth chapter, the Gita’s focus is not so much on on bhakti yoga.
So, it’s not talking about a personal conception of God, it is just talking about the karma yoga, where the seeker is gradually acquiring a spiritual vision of reality and is becoming detached from matter, is following a process to become detached from matter. So, seeing things spiritually and seeing the spiritual as immanent in matter is a good step for this vision. So, at this level, because the focus is not on God per se, there is a reference to God by the generic word Brahma.
But now the same verse, same theme of yajna, of seeing the components of yajna spiritually comes again in the ninth chapter. In the ninth chapter, the focus is on Krishna and how He is the Lord of everything and how He pervades everything. So, there in 9.15 it is stated, So, here all the components of the sacrifice, I am the fire sacrifice, I am the oblation, I am the person who is offering the oblation, I am the ghee that is offered.
So, like that Krishna said, So, what was referred to as Brahma earlier in 4.24 is now referred to as Aham here in 9.15. Now, are Brahma and Aham referring to two different things? No. As we move forward in the Gita, we will see that in 10.12, Krishna is declared by Arjuna to be Param Brahma. So, essentially, what was called as Brahma initially is revealed as Aham eventually in the Gita.
So, Brahma is simply a third-person reference because Brahma is identified as Krishna. So, Brahma is simply a third-person reference. So, the third-person reference moves to the first-person reference because the Gita’s flow moves onwards towards a greater focus on the personality of God, the personal nature of God.
So, this is with respect to the components of Yajna. In fact, if you look at this, the Aham Kartur Aham Yajna verse has six references to Aham, whereas the Brahma Arpanam verse has only six references to Brahma. So, the first-person reference is more emphatic numerically than is the third-person Brahma reference.
So, now let us move onwards. So, one thing is the activities of Yajna that people do. Another we could look at is how the material nature is controlled.
So, Krishna talks about how material nature undergoes a cyclic existence. He talks about this from 8.15 to around 8.19 and then he contrasts 8.20 to 8.22. He contrasts that with the eternality of spiritual nature, of the spiritual world. So, when talking about how the material nature is temporary, he says that it goes through cycles and in 8.19 he states भूतग्रामः सेवायं भूत्वा भूत्वा प्रलियते रात्यागमेऽवशः पार्थः प्रभवत्यः रागमेः भूतग्रामः सेवायं भूत्वा भूत्वा भूत्वा प्रलियते रात्यागमेऽवशः पार्थः When the night of Brahma comes, it is destroyed and Prabhavatyaharagame and when the day comes it is created again.
So here again what is happening? The action is described but the agency that executes the action is not the focus. It is said that just as the time changes, Brahma’s day and Brahma’s night comes, then creation and destruction happens. But if you look at this stage, the focus was on contrasting the temporary nature of material existence with the eternality of spiritual existence.
In the 9th chapter, the focus shifts to how Krishna is the controller of material nature. So in 9.4 to 9.10, Krishna talks about how he pervades and controls material nature. So in 9.8 he says that, प्रकृतिन्स्वामविष्टब्धविष्वजामिपुनापुनाभूतग्रामुन्कृत्स्नम् अवश्यः प्रकृतेर्वशात् So in fact, here Krishna is using the similar word भूतग्राम and भूतग्राम was used there also, the aggregate of material existence.
And there also अवश्यः. So there also the point was that अवश्यः was there, there also. So the topic that is अवश्यः means helplessly.
So here also Krishna is saying that, the material nature is helplessly created and is destroyed. But पकःतिन्स्वामविष्टब्धविष्टब्धविष्ट It is my nature, it is under my control. Krishna controls his nature, so by my will my nature creates and destroys again and again.
So in this way the third person reference moves onwards to the first person and after this if you see the same point is talked about in the same section where in 8.22 it is talked about that the being who pervades all of existence is referred to in third person. So purushasaparapartha bhaktya labhyastho nanyaya syantasthani bhutani ye na sarvamidam tatam so ye na sarvamidam tatam by who this whole existence is pervaded Krishna says but then if you look at 9.4 Krishna says maya tatamidam sarvam so ye na sarvamidam tatam maya tatamidam sarvam. So it’s exactly the same use of tatamidam sarvam but maya that ye na refers to the third person but maya refers to the first person.
So the idea is that the third person reference is given way to the first person reference because at that time in the 8th chapter the focus is more on the yogis who are trying to go beyond material existence and attain spiritual existence whereas here in the 9th chapter the focus is more on Krishna how he is in control of material nature so this is maya. So here again we see a shift from third person to the first person. Now if we move forward again let’s look at another theme.
Is it that when Krishna talks about himself and he talks about someone else. So is he talking about two different people or is he talking about the same person. So now let’s look at this from another point of view with respect to who the fruits of work are to be offered.
So we have discussed about first is when yajna is performed what exactly is yajna. Second is how is the nature acting and who is controlling nature and now when we work in Karma Yoga we have to work with detachment and when working with detachment we offer the fruits of our work to the Supreme. So how exactly do we offer the fruits of the work to him.
So that is talked about in the 18th chapter from 18.41 to 18.48 Krishna talks about Karma Yoga performed within the framework of an ashram and there he talks about how we should worship the Lord through our work. Svakarmana tam abhyarcha siddhim indati ma vannabhasa Svakarmana tam abhyarcha Svakarmana means by your work worship him. Tam abhyarcha Worship him by your work.
So here it is the Supreme is referred to in the third person. Now after talking about Karma Yoga from till 18.48 from 18.49 Krishna talks about Ashtang of the Gyan Yoga which goes on to 18.54 and Gyan Yoga culminates in Bhakti Yoga and he talks about Bhakti Yoga in 18.54-18.55 and from 18.56 onwards again he returns the discussion to comes to Bhakti Yoga and he says that so this was a slow multi-yoga progression from Karma Yoga through Gyan Yoga to Bhakti Yoga. But Krishna says Bhakti Yoga can elevate one from wherever one is.
So this alternative single path trajectory which Krishna gives. He talks about it in So he says be always conscious of me. And then he says So he says that whatever work is for me and he says offer that work to me.
In your consciousness offer whatever work you are doing to me and in this way you will come to me. So essentially here Krishna is talking about the first person. So he is talking about the object to whom we are offering the fruits of work and he talks about that in the first person.
The same whom he has talked about in third person earlier and I was talking in the first person because there the discussion was about Karma Yoga. The Karma Yogi does not know about the absolute truth as personal. So naturally Krishna does not refer to the absolute truth in personal terms in as mom.
Karma Yogi does not know the absolute truth to be Krishna. But in the Bhaktapata Bhakti we know the bhaktas know the absolute truth to be Krishna. So naturally Krishna is the object of worship.
So in case all this seems too confusing we can look at it directly from Krishna’s voice. So let’s look at this and this is seen in the conclusion of the Gita. So Krishna refers to the controller of material nature in third person in 18.62 and he says we should surrender to him.
Surrender unto him Krishna says. So now when he is saying surrender unto him like this what does he mean by this? Who is he talking about? Krishna is talking about we can understand that we are not a supreme controller. There is some supreme controller and we should surrender to that controller.
So the focus when the focus is on understanding that we are not a supreme controller then we will surrender to some other controller. Then the person who is the controller of material nature the focus is on the activity of surrender and in that case Krishna talks about tam in the third person. Now after hearing this Arjuna goes deep into thought because next what Krishna says deliberate on this and you decide what you want to do.
So as Arjuna goes deep into thought thinking what I should do. Krishna’s heart overflows with compassion and he says Arjuna you don’t have to worry all this. I will tell you what you should do and he says I will give you the most confidential knowledge.
So prior to this in 18.63 he had said that I am giving you more confidential knowledge but in 18.64 he says I am giving you the most confidential knowledge. So he says sarva-guhyata-mambhuvya-shunume paramam vachah sarva-guhyata-mambhuvya So he says here I am giving you the most confidential knowledge. This is 18.64. In 18.63 what does he say? So in this way I have told you knowledge more confidential than what I have told you earlier.
So there is the highest superlative. There is confidential knowledge, more confidential knowledge and most confidential knowledge. So in 18.63 Krishna is saying that I have given you the more confidential knowledge but in 18.64 he is saying that I am going to give you the most confidential knowledge and the most confidential knowledge what does he say? He says in the two verses In these two verses he states that So now is there any contradiction? No, there is progression.
So when Krishna’s stress is on personal devotion, the focus becomes mom. When his stress is on a philosophical principle of surrendering to the controller of matter, of material nature, that time he uses third person reference and understanding the object of surrendering the third person he calls that more confidential knowledge, but understanding that the object of surrendering is Krishna he calls it the most confidential knowledge. So clearly the reference in the first person is the most evolved understanding of the absolute truth and in general if you want to understand the Bhagavad Gita how do you understand it? We have to look at its own conclusive understanding.
So there are no third person references towards the conclusion of the Gita. It all concludes in a very direct personal, first person references and we can also look at the understanding of the original student of the Gita, Arjuna. At several points in the Bhagavad Gita whenever Krishna speaks something which raises questions or which is abstruse, so Arjuna pauses and asks questions.
Krishna, how do you make sense of this? So yet he never asks any questions about the first person or third person. Why the references are flip-flopping like this? And whenever he talks about the absolute truth, he talks about the object of surrender, to whom we should surrender, he never talks about him in the third person, he talks about him in the first person. We can see Krishna’s understanding through his statements, philosophical statements which come actually thrice.
In the 10th chapter after he hears the Bhagavad Gita’s chatushloki summary, in 10.8 to 11, Arjuna gives his conclusive understanding and there he declares Krishna will be absolute to them. 10.12 and 13 he says, परंब्रंभः परंधामः पवित्रंपरंभवान् पुरुष्यम् शाषुतं देव्यम् आदि देवम् जंदिभुम् He says Krishna is the absolute truth, परंब्रंभः परंधामः, there is no truth higher than him. And then again he reiterates this in the 11th chapter when he says that it is Krishna who is the source of his enlightenment, it is Krishna who is the controller of material nature, it is this Krishna, he is the absolute truth and Arjuna says I accept you, एवं एत यथा तत्तुम् आत्मानां परमेश्वरः दर्ष्टु मिच्चामिते रूपं अईश्वरं पुरुष्यम् तमां So he said एवं एत यथा तत्तु, so as you have told me I accept you, that is how you are.
So Arjuna accepts Krishna’s supreme position and whenever he is referring to the absolute truth, he refers directly in a second person, त्वां, he doesn’t refer to a third person that, he says you, you Krishna are the absolute truth. And similarly if you see towards the end of the Bhagavad Gita, when Krishna asks Arjuna whether you have understood, Krishna says yes, all my illusion is gone, अश्टो मोहस्मिते लव्धा, so here Arjuna says my illusion is gone and now whatever understanding he is going to give is an enlightened understanding, it is not a lower level understanding or a deluded understanding. And in this understanding what he says, करिषेवचनंतव, he says I will do your words, he doesn’t say I will do the word of that absolute truth or I will surrender to that absolute truth in third person, he says I will surrender to you.
So this way actually if we let the Bhagavad Gita’s flow move towards its conclusion and we look at its conclusion understanding, then the first person reigns supreme, the first person that means that it is the law, it is Krishna who is in the first person, he is supreme lord and he is all attractive, he is all powerful and he is the ultimate object of devotion, he is the highest absolute truth and he is the highest revelation of the Bhagavad Gita. Thank you. Hare Krishna.