Shloka
13. 30: When one realizes that the state of diversity
of living things is rooted in the One, and that their manifestation is also
from That, then one becomes identified
with Brahman.

Continuing
his teachings Swamiji said up to the 24th shloka of this chapter, Sri Krishna dealt
with the six topics that Arjuna wanted to know
and from shloka No.25 up to the end, now, Sri Krishna winds up the present discourse by talking about Gyana sadhanani and Gyana
phalam. In three shlokas, 25, 26 and 27, the sadhanas were talked
about in the form of karma yoga, upasana, vedanta vichara, etc.

And now from the 28th shloka onwards, the Gyana phalam is being talked about. Of that, we have seen up to shloka No.30 the first phalam that was mentioned by Sri Krishna was sarvatra sama darshanam. Even though superficially, the sense organs continue to see the differences, the eye of wisdom sees the inherent non-duality. The inherent oneness behind this superficial duality, the Gyani sees and this very sama darshanam, saves him from strong raga dvesha. Powerful raga dvesha alone is the cause of samsara. Raga dvesha gets weakened because of the sama darshanam. This is benefit No.1.

Then the second benefit mentioned was amrtatva prapthi. When a person sees plurality and limitation, finitude and mortality are inevitable. When I see the variety of waves, certainly I will see the birth and death of the wave, mortality is my vision; but
when I see the water behind the waves, from the standpoint of the water, there is
neither birth nor death and therefore, ekatva darshanam or sama darshanam leads to
amrtatva prapthi that is the
second phalam mentioned.

And
the third phalam mentioned in the 30th shloka is akartrtva darshanam. This is recognition
of the fact that all the actions belong to the Prakrti, the matter principle only
and I the Purusha who is the sakshi behind the
Prakrti, who is the kshetragnya
behind the Kshetram that I do not
perform any action. In my presence actions take place but I, myself, am akarta. This
akartrtva prapthi, freedom
from the notion of doership is the third phalam. So Sama darshanam, amrtatva
prapthithi,
akartrtva prapthi are all
benefits.

And then the fourth phalam, which I introduced in the last class, in shloka No.30 is brahmathva prapthi. I recognize I am Brahman, the jagat karanam; The jagat adhishtanam. And to assimilate this idea, in the scriptures, self-knowledge is compared to waking up from a dream. Imagine I am transacting in dream, when I am in dream identified with the dream body; I feel I am a small creature, located within dream-time and dream space. And within the dream itself I see varieties of things and beings who are all capable of frightening me, giving me Raga, dvesha, and even I run away from some of the dream objects. And I run towards some of the other dream objects; pravtti, nivtti, all of them are there. Therefore, when I am in dream, I feel that I am located within the dream world. I am a creature in the dream-world. But the moment I wake up, I discover I am not a member within the dream-world; on the other hand, the whole dream-world, including the Dreamtime; dream-space, dream-objects; dream-mountains, stars, my pravrtti, my nivrtti, everything is existing within me, the waker. As a dreamer, I am a creature within the dream, whereas as a waker, I am the creator of the dream.

A big reversal, the creature becomes the creator. And this conversion did not require any change at all; it only required waking up, which is nothing but dis-identifying with the dream body and claiming my waker nature. And therefore this reversal is not an impossible thing. What reversal? Reversal from creature to creator; or reversal from creature within the dream, to a creator of the dream. Not only I am the creator of the dream, I am the one who sustains the dream. Not only srshti karanam, sthithi karanam and at the time of waking up, the whole dream world resolves within my own mind. Not only dream world, even dreamtime and space are followed. I am not within the dreamtime; On the other hand, dreamtime is within me. I am not within the dream space; but the dream- space is within me. I am not a product within the dream world; the dream world itself is a product of my mind.

What does Vedanta say: This universe is also another channel of the dream and just as I convert myself from dream-creature to dream-creator, I can convert myself from the waking-world-creature to waking-world-creator and this conversion is accomplished by dis-identification from the body. Dis-identification from the dream body made me waker No.1. Dis-identification from this body will make me a higher waker. And as a higher waker, what do I claim? I am the consciousness principle from whom, this world, this time, this space, including this body is born. Just as I create a special dream-body for myself for transacting in the dream world, this body is also created by me who am the original waker, who is called the consciousness principle and therefore, I create this world along with time and space. I sustain this world along with time and space; and ultimately I resolve this world into Myself. This is revealed in the well-known Kaivalya upanishad mantra: that says, that everything is born out of Me. The waker is able to make this statement with regard to the dream creation. Gyani is able to make this same statement with regard to this creation. What is this creation? Everything is born out of me; the Me being the creator, the conscious principle.

And the day I am able to claim this
glory that I am not a creature, but the creator himself; that I am not a karyam, but I am karanam; then Sri Krishna
says, then and then alone, you can claim aham brahma asmi.

These
are all wonderful verses giving you the essence of the Upanishads. The shloka
says, the wise person sees this following fact and how does he recognize this
fact. Who helps him wake up, just as for waking up from this dream, some parent
mother or father has to wake him up? Similarly, the guru and the shastram shake me.

So, supported
by the teaching of Guru and shastra, this wise person sees the existence of this manifold
universe in one atma, which is himself. So when the wiseperson recognizes the fact that this
pluralistic universe of things and beings is resting in me, the non-dual self. So in me alone the world rests, from me
alone the world emerges; just as we can say that the dream world rests in me,
and the entire dream world emerges out of me. But the tragedy is that the
dream that comes out of me; the very same dream, which I create, becomes a
nightmarish experience for myself. So it also becomes in real life as well.
Thus, I am srshti karanam as well.I am also, thus, the Laya karanam. When Ican make this statement, not merely
verbally, but I can make this statement from my own inner heart only then can I
claim Aham brahma asmi. Sri Krishna says then and then alone,  Gyani
has become one with his higher nature, justas the dreamer on waking up, has become one with his own higher waker
nature. Thus, I have become one with Brahman, my own higher waker nature. After
waking up, dream is not a problem. It is in dream that dream is a problem. So, the
fourth benefit is Brahmathva prapthi.

Shloka
13:31:

Being without beginning
and without alities, O son of Kunti, this immutable, supreme Self does not act.
nor is It affected [Also translated as tainted.-Tr.], although existing in the
body.

I said that self-knowledge could be
compared to waking up from dream. Even though there are many similarities
between self-knowledge and waking up from dream,there is one major dissimilarity that we have to remember. So
whenever we give an example, the example and the original will have many
similarities; but we should remember the example and original will have
dissimilarities as well. If there is no dissimilarity at all, it will not be an
example it will be an original. So Gyanam is comparable to waking, but there is
a small difference. What is the difference?When I wake up from dream, the dream totally disappears from my experience.
When I wake up from dream, the dream-world physically disappears. But in the case
of Self-knowledge, I do wake up from this dream; but even after waking up, for some time, this world continues to appear in
front of me. In this respect, there is a difference between waking from the
dream and waking up from ignorance. And therefore Gyani knows I am the karanam and the
world is my projection alone but the world continues to appear and this state
is called jivan-mukthi; if
you can imagine, it is like a person who wakes up from dream and continues to
have the dream.We only say, imagine.
Imagine the dream world continues.  What
will happen? You will enjoy the glory of the dream, but you will not be
frightened; because of the dream-ness of the dream is known to you.Similarly, the Gyani continues to live
in the world, continues to be in the body as well, but he has the knowledge
that the body is like dream and I am like the waker.  So, gain or loss in this
world will not make any difference for me, who am the waker, who has the higher
nature.

And therefore, Sri Krishna says here,
ayam paramatma avyayaha. I the atma, my own
higher nature of consciousness, is avyayaha, is not subject to anychange. Atma is Nirvikaraha. Just as the
waker is not wet by the dream rain; not burned by the dream fire, not wounded
by the dream tiger biting; whatever happens in the dream world, the waker is
not affected; similarly, I, the paramatma, avyayaha. And what is
the reason, because the atma
is without a beginning or Janma rahitatvat. And you should remember what Tatva Bodha says; Janma is
one of the six modifications; asthi, jayathe, vardhathe, viparinamathe, apakshiyathe, vinashyathe.Birth is one of the six modifications.
If birth modification is not there, all the other modifications are also not
there. And therefore, atma
is avyaya or nirvikara.
It also
means it is attribute less or without any modifications. Now, modifications are of two types. When milk becomes curd,
the modification is known as substance modification; substantial modification,
the milk substance itself has undergone a change. So this is called substantial change.

When you are making ornaments out of
gold, when gold becomes a bangle, there is no change in the substance. So when
gold becomes ornaments, the change is only in the superficial form or an
attribute.Thus change is two-fold;
substantial and attribute change.  Atma does not
have both changes. Being birthless, it does not have substantial change; being
attributeless, it does not have attribute-change. Therefore, it is absolutely changeless.
Thus, even after up waking up and knowing that I am the atma, I continue
to be in the body, however,the atma
remains akarta; free from
actions and continues to be abhokta, without the phalam. The Shariram and mind alone have action and results, but atma does not
have karma or phalam. And therefore, the next benefit of atma Gyanam is
that it is an abhokta.
Thus, I have akartrtvam
and abhoktrtvam.

And remember, samsara is defined
as akartrtva and bhoktrtvam only; thus doership and enjoyership belong to samsara alone; atma is free
from both.

Shloka 13.32:

As the all-pervading
space is not defiled, because of its subtlety, similarly the Self, present
everywhere in the body [The singular number is used to denote a class, i.e. all
bodies. See S.-Tr.], is not defiled.

 In the previous shloka Sri
Krishna said, atma is associated with everything; but not affected by anything. This
is also called immanence and transcendence. Immanence means it is associated
with everything and transcendence means it is not affected
by anything. Just as the screen of the movie is associated with every object in
the movies; thus on screen it is intimately associated with fire, but it is not
burned. Similarly, in the movie Titanic, water is
all over; screen is intimately associated with the water, but it not wet by
water. This pervasion is called immanence but remaining untainted
is called transcendence. Similarly, atma is associated with all
but not affected by any; in this context Sri Krishna wants to give two examples
that he borrows from the Upanishads,
one example is akasha, another example is prakasha.  Akasha
means space and remember space is not emptiness, but it is the subtlest form of
matter. Space is not nothingness or emptiness; it is the subtlest form of
matter. Space is one example, and prakasha, the light, is
another example.

Space and atma have got several common features. That is why
it is an ideal example. What are some of the common features?

Ekathvam. Both are only one.  

Sarva vyapakathvyam.  Atma is all-pervading.

Achalatvam – Being all pervading, atma cannot move from one place to another, akasha cannot also move. Your body can go. You cannot go. akasha remains the same. It does not get older or younger. it does not get out of shape; akasha is Nirvikara (changeless) atma is also nirvikara. Akhandathvam. atma is part-less. Khanda means part. akasha also does not have part.

Akashah is indivisible and akasha and atma are asangaha.
This is the main thing Sri Krishna is going to talk about. akasha is
associated with everything but it is not polluted; is not tainted by either the
good qualities or the bad qualities; it does not become
turbid. it does not become fragrant or foul smelling, asangatvam.

And finally akashaha is sarva adharatvam. It accommodates, supports everything. The whole cosmos is located in it, therefore akasha is vishvadharam, and atma is also vishvadharam.

And therefore, atma is like akashaah; but
Atma
is not akasha. Aksha is jadam, achetana
tatvam; whereas atma is chetana tatvam; therefore it is only comparable to akasham.

And one more quality is , Sukshmatvam.
Akasha cannot
be easily comprehended, intellectually. That is why scientists had confusion in
determining the nature of akasha. Sometime they
thought that it is emptiness; for some time, they thought that it is ether; I
do not know whether Scientists clearly know what space is: Therefore it is not
easily comprehensible, you cannot see; you cannot hear
it; you cannot touch it,
see it, but somehow
you conceive of akashaha.

Therefore Sukshmatvam is another common feature between akashaha and atma And therefore Sri Krishna gives this example that All pervading space is not affected by anything.

Because
of its extremely subtle nature; Fine nature; minute nature, it is not affected
by anything. Similarly, the
atman also is
not tainted or polluted by anything, Even though it
is associated with everybody. Body may be fat; but atma is not fat;
you need not slim the atma.
 atma is not
lean; mind may have raga
dvesha kama krodha, but atma does not
have these qualities. So thus atma
is comparable to akashaha. Then the next
example.

Shloka # 13.33:

As the single sun
illumines this whole world, similarly, O descendant of the Bharata dynasty, the
Knower of the field illumines the whole field.

The second example is surya prakashaha. We are not talking about the source of the light; but we are talking about the sunlight, the formless light, which pervades the entire earth during daytime. And atma is comparable to the sunlight. And here also you can find several common features, many of them similar to the akasha example. So here also Ekathvam, Sunlight is only One, because there is only one Sun. and here also Sarvagatatvam; the sunlight pervades the entire earth, at least relatively, and achalatvam; sunlight does not move because it is already everywhere; Nirvikaratvam, the light does not undergo any change at all when I move the hand; light is not moving or changing. And similarly, asangatvam, the light does not get polluted, even when it falls on my hand. Light falls on my hand but light does not get dirty.

Similarly, akhandavtham, light is partless; it cannot be cut; and finally, the light illumines everything and like the light atma also illumines. Illumines means makes everything known, because of consciousness alone, things are known or illumined; without consciousness, if matter alone is there; in the universe, there will be nobody to know anything. Imagine, without us being present, things like, light fan, etc. are there, Who is conscious of whom?

There is no subject object relationship at all. Subject can come only when consciousness comes and therefore consciousness is the illuminator of everything like the Sun.

And
therefore Sri Krishna says one sun or sunlight, illumines this entire universe
but without getting
polluted by it.

And similarly sukshmathvam, the light also cannot be touched by me; light is here; I cannot touch it; you cannot taste it; light cannot be smelled; you cannot hear the light; in fact you cannot even see the light here. I have often told you when the light is there; without a reflecting medium, the light by itself is incomprehensible. So therefore light is sookshmam. Similarly, atma also cannot be touched, cannot be smelled; cannot be heard; cannot be seen; Therefore you cannot say that it is not there; since I cannot touch the atma, therefore atma is not there; one cannot tell that way; since I cannot touch the light, you cannot say that light is not there; you cannot say that: light is there; even though intangibly.

This
is the definition of atma
given by Kathopanishad. Where atma is compared
to akashaha and prakashaha.

And that atma I am. I am like akashaha and I am like prakashaha. So two brilliant examples were given by Sri Krishna. They are not original examples but borrowed one’s from the Upanishads.

Shloka # 34:

Those who know thus through the eye of wisdom
the distinction between the field and the Knower of the field, and the
annihilation of the Matrix of beings,-they reach the Supreme.

So the final benefit of this knowledge is given here in the form of moksha itself. The one who has got the discrimination between Kshetra and Kshetragna or to put in another language, the difference between Purusha and Prakrti; Or, to put in English, the difference between consciousness and matter; How do they see the difference; with Gyana chakshu; with the penetrating discerning eye of wisdom. So the sense organs cannot differentiate. Just as I cannot differentiate the electricity and fan by this eye, but the differentiation is in terms of my understanding. The light and hand are not physically separated, but intellectually you know the difference between the light and hand. Similarly, brain and consciousness; they are not one and the same; brain is matter; consciousness is a separate principle. The one who knows the difference and what are the differences?

We
saw four differences:

One
is chetanam, another
is achetanam;
sentient; and insentient; one is nirgunam another is sagunam; one is attributeless; the other is attributed. Consciousness
is attributeless; matter is attributed. Nirvikaram-Savikaram, Conciousness is changeless; matter
is ever changing.

And
Sri Krishna wants to emphasize the fourth difference in this sloka, which is
the most important and technical difference. Do you remember the fourth
difference?

It
is Sathyam and mithya. Consciousness alone exists independently; matter cannot
exist independently. So consciousness has got intrinsic existence; matter has
got only borrowed existence. Just as the screen exists independent of the
movie; but movie characters cannot exist, independent of the screen. If Screen
goes, movie characters cannot be there; but if movie characters go, screen will
still be there.

Similarly
I the consciousness exist independently;
the whole world is like a movie running in me and just as movie cannot taint
the screen, the mithya prapancha cannot
affect I, the sathya Purusha.

So
here moksham refers to mithyathvam.
Very careful. Here moksha means the absence
of real existence.  That means it has got
only borrowed existence; like the dream or movie. So mithyathvam of what? Purusha or Prakrti?

The mithyathvam here is of Prakrti as well as the other inert things, and beings. The mithyathvam of matter, indirectly also includes the satyathvam of consciousness.

So,
those
who recognize aham sathyam jagan mithya and therefore world cannot touch me; they
alone attain freedom from the fear of the world. That is called jivan mukthi
that they attain.

This
is the final benefit of self-knowledge.

With
this Sri Krishna concludes Gyana phalam topic as well.

Thus
ends the thirteenth chapter called kshetra kshetragnya vibhaga yoga or Prakrti Purusha yoga.

Take away:

Powerful raga dvesha alone is the cause of samsara. Raga dvesha gets weakened because of the Sama darshanam.

As a dreamer, I am a creature within
the dream, whereas as a waker, I am the creator of the dream.

I am not within the dream time; On the other hand, dream time is within me. I am not within the dream space; but the dream- space is within me. I am not a product within the dream world; the dream world itself is a product of my mind.

Just as I convert myself from
dream-creature to dream-creator, I can convert myself from the
waking-world-creature to waking-world-creator and this conversion is
accomplished by dis-identification from the body.

Even after waking up, for some time,
this world continues to appear in front of me. In this respect, there is a
difference between waking from the dream and waking up from ignorance.

Similarly I the consciousness exists
independently; the whole world is like a movie running in me and just as movie
cannot taint the screen, the methya prapancha cannot affect I, the sathya Purusha.

With Best Wishes,

Ram Ramaswamy

Shloka 13. 27:He sees who sees the supreme Lord as existing really
in all beings, and as the Imperishable among the perishable.

Continuing
his teachings Swamiji said up to the 24th shloka, Sri Krishna dealt with all the six
topics that Arjuna wanted to know: Prakrti,
Purusha, Kshetram, kshetragnya, Gyanam
and Gneyam. And thereafter, from shloka No.25 up to 27 in three shlokas, Sri
Krishna talked about the sadhanas or preparatory disciplines required to gain this
knowledge; Knowledge given in the first 24
shlokas. And he talked about all the levels of sadhanas, starting from Karma Yoga, and then passing through Upasana, then Shravanam, Mananam and
Nidhidhyasanam and that the
culmination of the sadhana should be only
in knowledge.

And also Sri Krishna pointed out why he
is insisting on knowledge, the reason is that the problem of samsara is because
of an error with regard to our perception of ourselves.
So self-error, or error with regard to self-understanding is the problem and
any error is caused by ignorance alone and therefore without the removal of ignorance,
self-delusion cannot go away. And therefore, knowledge is compulsory and
through the knowledge self-delusion goes away and through that the samsara also
goes away. Thus the sadhanas were talked
about in three shlokas from shloka  #25 to
27 and then from 28 onwards Sri Krishna is talking about the phalam, the benefit
of this knowledge. In shloka # 28, one gets the right vision of the
world, a complete understanding of world, and a proper perspective. Proper
perspective is that the whole universe is a mixture of Prakriti and Purusha.
Just as a child has features of both father and mother, our vision will be
right and balanced only if we are aware of Prakriti and Pursuha.. If we are
preoccupied with just anyone of them alone it can be a problem. Every living
being is a mixture of Prakriti and Pursuha. The Prakriti part is solidly
visible; it is Saguna, Savikara, Mithya and Achetana Tatvam.While Purusha is
Nirguna, Nirvikara, Satyam and Chetana Tatvam that is not visible to physical
eyes and one has to appreciate it through our understanding. Just as in an
electric fan there is the physical fan and the electricity principle. Fan we
can see but electricity we have to appreciate it through our knowledge of
physics. So, the Shastra Gyana Chakshu (understanding) helps us see the
Purusha. Our two eyes will see Prakriti and the third eye will see Purusha.
Here we should note that Prakriti changes while Purusha does not change. Prkriti
is variable from individual to individual; varna
bheda
is there; ashrama bheda is there; linga
bheda
is there; it is vishamam, whereas Purusha
is samam in all the people.

Therefore
Sri Krishna says parameshvaram
is Purusha. Do not imagine a personal God is sitting in everyone. Here, the
word parameshvara represents
Nirguna, Nirvikara, Sathya, and Chetana Tatvam Parameshvaram. And that
does not mean in his preoccupation with Purusha darshanam, he loses sight of Prakrti; he
sees the Prakrti also, he is also aware of the
Purusha; Just as I
apprecite both the fan aspect, as well as the electricity aspect. And according
to the context, he emphasizes Prakrti or Purusha. But
there are occasions when Prakrti creates problems. Mortality frightens. Actions
become a burden. Life becomes a bore. And when a person troubled by life, when
it appears noisy, constant activity and becomes
a drag, then a person requires a different channel. Then change the channel.
When you look for stability, when you look for permanence, when you for purnathvam, then
the Prakrti will not be able to provide; in
fact all the higher needs of human beings, Prakrti will not provide. It is very
useful and entertaining in all transactions; but whenever there is a higher
need Purusha alone helps. One lady was telling me; Swamiji I have everything
but I am missing something. I do not have anything to complain, because I have wonderful
husband, wonderful children, beautiful house, no water problem; and the
business is going well; I do not have any
complaint at all; but there is something missing. This is called higher spiritual
need; when such a need arises, I should be able to withdraw from Prakrti and
own up the Purusha tatvam which
alone gives peace, purnathvam, security,
immortality, stability, etc. And once you are rejuvenated and fresh, you are
ready for all the activities. Like getting up after sleep. Therefore, that balanced vision of Purusha and Prakrti; not losing sight of Purusha in and
through the transaction, is
called atma nishta. They call it
sahaja samadhi. Sahaja samadhi means in and through
all the transactions, not losing sight of the Purusha tatvam. Up to
this we saw in the last class.

Shloka
# 13:28: Since by seeing eally God who is present alike
everywhere he does not injure the Self by the Self, therefore he attains the
supreme Goal.

So the previous shloka gave the first phalam
as right vision. Then in this shloka, Sri Krishna
gives the second benefit of this knowledge, which is amruthathva prapthi;
Transcending mortality; or immortality, is the second benefit. This wise person
learns to have the sama darshanam,
in and through the vishama darshanam,
which is required for transaction. Though transaction requires vishama darshanam the moment
you lose sight of the sama darshanam,
Prakrti will frighten you. It is like the dream. The moment you lose sight of
the fact that you are lying down on the bed
comfortably; that is forgotten, the dream is capable of frightening You. The
moment you lose sight of the screen in a movie, the characters
become more real than they actually are, and the movie can terribly frighten
you; not only at that time, afterwards when you go home also. Similarly, the moment Purusha is lost sight of, Prakrti becomes a
nightmare; and, therefore, samam pashyan sarvathra; in all the states, all the
conditions he see Arupa
Ishvaram, free
from all attributes. Samam means which is same in everyone.

And sama vasistitham is very present as
the adhishtanam, the support
of Prakrti. Because Purusha
is sathyam, while Prakrti is Mithya, without any support.

The wise person sees all the time, in
all the places appreciating through Gyana chakshu the Purusha.
And what is the benefit he attains? He attains the highest
goal of immortality. He attains immortality. He, thereafter, does not subject
himself to mortality. And here Sri Krishna says, presents that this Gyani does
not destroy himself thereafter. So according to Sri Krishna, every Agyani samsari is
destroying himself. Even though he puts the blame on the world and the people,
according to Vedanta, world does
not create any problems, rather because of ignorance, we are killing ourselves.
We are all self-destructive people. This is based on the Ishavasya Upanishad, which says
everyone is committing a suicide. How is everyone committing a suicide? Shankaracharya explains
this in two different ways:

How does a person destroy himself?
Because of the self-ignorance, ignorance of the fact that I am atma, he
identifies with the body, the anatma. So ignorance leads to body identification. And once I
identify with the body I become a karta. As atma,
I am not a karta, but once Dehabhimana comes, I
become a karta. And as a Karta, means Doer of actions, I perform
varieties of actions and earn punya papa
karmas. And therefore
what are my earnings? So we have a very huge deposit of punyapapa karmas. And according
to vedanta, it is
these punya papa karmas that
are responsible for the creation of the body. And therefore, I create a body
for myself by my own karma. If in the next janma, I am going to acquire a body
who is responsible? Not the next janma parents. Not God. Not anything else. If
I acquire a body in the next janma, I am responsible for the arrival of that
body through my own karma. So therefore, according to the Shastra, I create
a body and then after the body hangs around for sometime, when the body
perishes, the end of the body is also caused, by our own karmas.

Therefore, body’s arrival and departure
is all caused by my own karmas, and once that body is gone I then acquire another
body. This process of acquiring and departing from bodies continues.  Therefore I
alone am responsible for the repeated birth and death of myself; through the
arrival and departure of the body. Therefore I am creating myself and I am destroying myself from the standpoint of the
body. And therefore, I am self-destructive. I kill myself. And how long this
will continue? As long as Karmas continue.
Punarapi Jananam, punarapi maranam. I am
responsible for my death. So therefore I am a atmaha;
atmaha means killer of
myself, from the standpoint of my body.

And then Shankaracharya gives another meaning as well. From the standpoint of my
higher nature, that is my atma
svarupam nature
also, because of self-ignorance, I am killing, (as though), my own higher
nature. I am destroying myself; myself means not the
body; my own higher nature. Then Shankaracharya raises the question: how can a self-ignorant person kill
his own higher nature, the atma,
because, after all, the atma
is indestructible? Shankaracharya says ignorant
person kills the atma
in a figurative sense.  What do you mean
figuratively killing the atma?
When I am not aware of my higher nature, I disown my higher nature. Just as a
person who does not know the treasure, which is lying underneath the ground;
his own land; is not going to claim it, he is going to disown it because of his
ignorance; Similarly, an ignorant person disowns his higher nature and
therefore the benefit that he can derive from his higher nature is denied to
him. Since I am not enjoying the benefit of my higher nature, it is as though
the higher nature is absent. While the higher nature is present, it is as
though absent, because I do not derive the benefit of my higher nature; because
of my sheer ignorance; and since the higher nature is as though absent; Shankaracharya says: we have
killed or destroyed the higher nature as though. If something is destroyed, you
do not derive the benefit of that. Similarly, atma is as though destroyed because I do
not derive the benefit of it. And therefore, a self-ignorant person has “destroyed”
his own higher nature, because he does not enjoy the benefit of purnatvam, abhayathvam,
etc. And therefore from that standpoint also, he is a committing suicide; he is
destroying himself. And therefore every aGyani
destroys himself from the standpoint of the body as well as from the standpoint
of atma as well.

And if every aGyani is self-destroyer,
what is the definition of a Gyani? Its opposite. Therefore, Sri Krishna says, a
Gyani does not destroy himself; he is not a self-destroyer. Unlike an Agyani, a
Gyani does not destroy himself, either by the standpoint of the body or from
the standpoint of the atma. And therefore he is not a self-destroyer; he has
discovered immortality.

Shloka
13.29: And he who sees actions as being done in
various ways by Nature itself, and also the Self as the non-agent,-he sees.

The third benefit of the knowledge is
given here. We have seen two: first one is sama darshanam; the
second one is amruthathva prapthi. The third benefit is akartrtva
prapthi.
Discovering the fact that I am akarta. I am not a doer of any action. And
this is a very important thing because kartrtvam alone is the cause of all the
problems. Because as long as I am a karta, I can never avoid karmas and therefore
Karta
will
be eternally associated with karma. And karmas will never remain the same, they will gradually ripen. The
karmas will gradually ripen and get converted into favourable and unfavourable
conditions. Even now our prarabdha karmas are
ripening. When the karmas ripen, the ripened
karma phalam in the form of favourable and unfavourable
situations, they will come back to me alone. When the karma phalas comes
to me and I have to face the music, I become a
bhokta. If I am a
karta, I can never
escape from being a bhokta and that bhokta status is a choiceless, helpless
situation. So therefore, you can never escape
from being a bhokta. To get out of
bhoktrtvam, there is only
one way; you should get out of kartrtvam. You will definitely have kartrtvam as long as you
have deha abhimana, because deha means karma
will be there, because there are Gyanendriyani, karmendriyani; and
therefore, Prakrti abhimana makes me a
karta. And the
moment you drop the Prakrti abhimana, and claim that aham Purusha, that Purusha-owning up
alone will take you out of both kartrtvam and bhoktrtvam. Therefore, Sri Krishna says: All the karmas, good
and bad actions, they are all done by Prakrti alone, Prakrti alone can do karmas,
because doing karma requires modification. Any karma, change is required. If I have to talk, my mouth has to undergo change. Even
if I have to do a thinking action, there should be thought change. So karma
means vikaram. Prakrti
alone can do karma, because it is subject to
modification. Whereas Purusha means he is
Nirguna, Nirvikara, Satya, Chetana Tatvam;
that Purusha is incapable
of doing action and therefore Sri Krishna says all the actions by all means, whether
it is kayikam, vachikam, or manasam, whether
it is dharmikam, or adharmikam, all of them are performed by Prakrti. Prakrti means
the body mind complex.  And this wise
person is very much aware of that. But he does not identify with the body mind
complex rather he identifies with Atmanam. He does not say I am doing. He says in my presence Prakrti does
everything. In my presence, Prakrti does everything
or body mind complex does everything. Then who am I?  I am akarta and therefore I do not have sanchitam;
I do not have agami; I do not
have prarabdham. Or
else how is it possible to experience and finish off the karmas? It is
impossible for you to exhaust all the karmas as even as we are exhausting
karmas we are also adding many more. So it is impossible to put an end to the
cyclic arrival and departure of karmas. The only way out of is you do not stop
the cycle, but you get away from the cycle.  Similarly, Prakrti cannot be stopped; I
have to transcend Prakrti, like waking up from dream.  Prakrti will continue. Let me now
identify with that. Of course this verse should be carefully understood. It
should not be misunderstood and abused. Suppose a person argues after
performing all the akramams and says that the body does everything. Imagine a
criminal who is tried in the court and the
judge passes a verdict and therefore 7 years RI. He tells, Oh Judge, the body
does all the karmas, I the atma did not do any karma at all, and why are you giving me
RI. What will judge the say: My dear, I am not imprisoning you. In fact, I
cannot imprison you because you are the all-pervading atma, which
cannot be accommodated in any prison. In fact, all prisons are existing in you;
I am not imprisoning you, because you are akarta and abhokta, you said body
only did all the crimes and therefore I am only imprisoning the body.  So therefore:
Remember Vedanta should never
be used for promoting adharma. Whenever we feel like supporting adharma through
Vedanta, it means
we have not assimilated vedanta properly. If vedanta is correctly assimilated, it will
promote dharma. In fact Vedanta is the best method of promoting dharma. So whether I have assimilated vedanta properly or
not, how do I know? If vedanta promotes dharma in my life, it should promote ethical
life, if it is supporting adharma, the best thing is keep aside the vedanta for
sometime; follow dharma shastra after studying
it properly and therefore vedanta is not for abuse. This should not be misinterpreted.
Thus the third benefit of atma Gyanam is Akartrtva prapthi.
Discovering the fact that I am akarta.

Shloka
13. 30: When one realizes that the state of diversity
of living things is rooted in the One, and that their manifestation is also
from That, then one becomes identified with Brahman.

So this is a deeper and significant
verse wherein several steps of vedantic understanding are hidden. The
understanding of atma has to grow through several stages.
And to understand those several stages, we will first take the example of akasha or space.
Initially, I do not understand space at all, because it is too intangible, invisible.
Generally we think space is emptiness and nothingness and therefore we take
space for granted. So first I should learn, this hall, for example, or any enclosure for that matter, has got space within.
So when I am looking into a hall, there are two things. Not hall alone, but the
hall with space inside. When space alone is
there, generally we think, we say there is nothing. It is not nothing, space is
not nothingness but it is a positive substance. Even scientifically space is
not emptiness or nothingness, it is a positive
substance; a subtle substance.

What I understand first. There is space
inside. Then later I understand that space is not only within this hall, but
the space is inside all the enclosures; big halls, small halls, or even a
vessel or our own stomach, in all space is there. That is the next stage. Space
is not only within one hall, but also in all enclosures, next stage. The next stage I understand is that even though
halls are many and varied, the space within is not many and varied; space is
one and the same within every hall. The halls
are different but space is not different. This is the next stage. Then the next stage I go through is not only there
is one space inside all the halls, but there is space outside the halls also. Space
is not only within every hall, but the space
is outside, both inside and outside. Thereafter
the next stage is, space is not inside and outside the hall, that is not the
right expression, there is only one space, in
which all the halls are resting. So space is not in the hall; but it is the
reverse; halls are within spaces (you should
not say ‘spaces’). I will say that there is space within. Therefore space is
only one. Within one space, all the halls exist. So space is the stithi karanam of all the halls. And then the final
stage is; Space is not only the stithi karanam, (means the support for the
existence of all the hall), according to Shastra, Taittirya Upanishad, all
the things in the creation are even born out of space alone.  From the so
called empty space alone, everything is born, and in the space alone, all of
them survive and into that space alone, all of them resolve. See how many stages we have seen. First we said that
there is the hall and space. Then space is in every hall. Then space is the
same in every hall; thereafter space is not
only inside the hall but outside also. Then really speaking space is not
inside; all the halls are in the space; And finally what we said; Space is the
one which holds all the halls and space is the one from which all of them are
born and into all of them resolve. If you
understand this in space, you have to extend it to the consciousness. So space should
be equated to consciousness and hall should be equated to the body.

Thus, within the body there is consciousness.
Then what is the next stage? Consciousness is not only in my body but also in
every body. Then what is the next stage. Even though the bodies are many and
varied, consciousness behind all the bodies is one and the same. Then what is
the next stage. Consciousness is not only within the body, but consciousness is
outside the body also. Then what is the next stage? Really speaking, consciousness is not inside the body; then all the
bodies are resting in one consciousness. And then the final stage is not only
all the bodies are resting in that consciousness,
they are all born out of that consciousness; rest in that consciousness,
resolve in that consciousness and that consciousness I am. If you can tell this, you can say, Aham Brahma asmi. This
is the essence of this verse.

With Best Wishes,

Ram Ramaswamy

Shloka # 24:Through
meditation some realize the Self in (their) intellect with the help of the
internal organ; others through Sankhya-yoga, and others through Karma-yoga.

Continuing
his teachings Swamiji said, with the 23^rd shloka Sri Krishna has
completed the topic of Purusha and Prakriti. He discussed this topic from
shlokas 20-24. While concluding, he said this is a liberating knowledge.

A person who knows that the
body-mind complex is Prakrti and also knows that I am the Purusha,
that very wisdom releases him from the cycles of janma-maranam; because birth and deaths are only incidents
happening in the plane of Prakrti. The physical
body is Prakrti; the mind is also Prakrti, the mind and the body coming together is called birth and the mind and body
separating is death. So when an individual
dies, the mind, which was occupying the body, quits the physical body and the body becomes an evacuated
house as it were and therefore the
body perishes. The separated mind goes in search of another physical body and gets the body at the right time according to the
Karma and the association with the new body is called janma. So sharira-mana
samyogha janma; sharira-mana viyoga maranam.

Shariram
is also Prakrti, manas is also Prakrti and therefore their samyogaviyoga;
Samyogam means association, viyogam means dissociation, all
are happening at the level of Prakrti. And the Gyani is one who has recognized
the fact that I am the Purusha, in which there is neither samyoga
nor viyoga and therefore where is the question of even one birth itself? And
when one birth itself is not possible, where is the question of re-birth, the
second birth? And therefore Sri Krishna concluded he gets mukthi or freedom
from this cycle. And with this Sri Krishna has completed all the six topics
that Arjuna wanted to know: Kshetra, Kshetragnya,
Gyanam, Gneyam, Prakrti and Purusha.

And therefore Sri Krishna’s task
is over now. And he now wants to wind-up the discussion in the following shlokas
from 25 up to the 35.

In these 11 shlokas, 25 to 35, Sri
Krishna deals with Gyana sadhanani and Gyana
phalam. So what are the preparatory disciplines that will lead a person to self-knowledge and what are the benefits
that this person will enjoy?

First, Sri Krishna emphasis the
ultimate goal of all spiritual sadhanas
is self-knowledge alone. Let there not be any doubt in that.  Because the
all-pervading atma is
available within one’s own body-mind complex and therefore I need not identify
the atma elsewhere.
I have to discover the atma
in myself. Therefore, atmani
means within oneself.

 So the first atmani refers to the hrdaya akasham; the second atmanam refers to satchidananda
atmanam. Thus, a
seeker has to recognize the atma,
in his own hrdayam. And with what
instrument should a person gain the knowledge? The instrument of knowledge is atmana. So 3 atma’s are referred
to; atmani, atmanam, atmana; 7th case
atma, 2nd case atma, 3rd case atma. 7 th case atma means
within one’s own hrdayam; 2nd case atma means satchidananda atma and now we have to see the 3rd case atma, what is
the instrument? The instrument is one’s own buddhi. Atmana here means
buddhya. Because only through the instrument of buddhi is every knowledge is acquired. There is no other instrument, which can gain
knowledge. So body cannot get knowledge; Of course atma by itself
cannot get knowledge; any knowledge has to be through the instrumentality of
buddhi; But what type of buddhi? A refined buddhi; aided by, supported by guru-shastra-upadesha. Such a
refined buddhi has to gain the knowledge. Shankaracharya says: With
the help of the mind, which is supported by gurushastrupadesha. So with that mind, one has to gain atma-Gynam. And
if this atma Gyanam is
the culmination, the ultimate sadhana, the question
is how many preparatory
stages are there for reaching this climax?
So
what are the preparatory steps a person has to go through for the climax of
self-recognition through the
mind within oneself. And here five fold stages are presented. A person has to
go through five stages to reach this culmination. In each stage one gets rid of
one obstacle for self-knowledge. Each stage helps in
removing one, one obstacle. What are the five stages and what are the obstacles
removed? I have dealt with this in the 12^th chapter as well as in
some other context; I will remind you of those five stages.

1. The first stage is called Karma yoga stage, wherein the mental impurities are removed. In Sanskrit it is called mala-nivrithi. Malam means dirt; so,
what are the impurities? Raga,
dvesha, kama, krodha, lobha, moha, madha and matsaryam. Thus
Karma yoga helps in the
removal of malam and it refines the mind.

2. Second
stage: Then the next stage of sadhana is
called Upasana or
meditation upon saguna
Ishvara; the Lord with attributes or glories. And this upasana helps in
the removal of the next obstacle called Vikshepa; otherwise called bahirmukhatvam.
The restlessness of the mind, the extrovertedness
of the mind is the 2nd obstacle and upasana helps in the mind’s focusing capacity. It integrates
the mind. It harmonizes the
mind. It gives the focusing power; and thus the extrovertedness, the outgoing
mind, is withdrawn. So therefore the 2nd sadhana is
called upasana. What is the obstacle removed? Therefore Vikshepa nivrtti, means
removal.

3. Third
Stage: And the third stage is called Vedanta
Shravanam. Systematically
and consistently studying the
upanishadic or Vedantic scriptures
under the guidance of a competent Acharya, which is
called Shravanam, which will
help in the elimination of agyanam or self-ignorance. So the third obstacle is aGyanam, which is removed through shravanam.

4. Fourth Stage: Then the fourth stage
is called mananam. Asking myself whether I am convinced of the teaching given
by the teacher and the scriptures. Am I intellectually satisfied, because any
knowledge should convince the intellect? As long as there are doubts or
reservation, that doubt is an obstacle. A doubtful knowledge is as good as
ignorance and it needs to be cleared by raising all questions and finding out
the answer, either by my own enquiry or with the help of the Acharya. Therefore,
the 4th stage is mananam and its benefit is Samshaya
Nivrtti. It is converting knowledge into conviction. It is removal of the
intellectual obstacle.

5.
Fifth Stage: And then comes fifth
and final stage of sadhana called nidhidhyasanam, which is
meant to remove my habitual reaction; the removal of vasana, because of my
regular unhealthy responses in life, I have developed a habit. And habit is
developed in-time and habit can go, only in time. This is a deliberate

invocation
of the Vedanta so that I
can get rid of unvedantic reactions
in life. Every disturbing reaction is unvedantic
reaction. So anxiety, frustration, self-pity, sense of insecurity, fear,
attachment; all of them are unhealthy vasanas.
This vasana nivrtti or
viparitha bhavana nivrtti is
the fifth and final stage and is called nidhidhyasanam.

And
every body has to go through all the five stages. These are not optional
stages. They are compulsory for all. But suppose, a person has gone through the
first two or three stages in this life, and then without completing the journey
he dies. Each stage takes a long time. And if a person dies without the
completion, the advantage is in the next janma, the journey need not begin with
Karma yoga; and
therefore, depending upon a person’s spiritual evaluation, a person should
start either from karma yoga,
or from upasana or any
other one of the five stages.

And in the case of spiritual prodigy, he is one who has gone through the first four stages in the purva janma. So in this janma, the prodigy has to go through only the fifth stage. Even from early stage, they feel that they have gone through these stages.  But seeing those people I should not argue that I would start doing like them. Everybody is a spiritual prodigy.

In this context, Aithareya Upanishad talks about a Rshi Vamadeva, who declared, Aham Brahmasmi while still in his mother’s womb. How come the mother herself does not know Aham Brahmasmi? And in the mother’s womb itself; how can Vamadeva declare when he cannot do shravanam in the mother’s womb, how does it happen, if you ask, 95% of the job is over in purva janma.

Here,
what ever little was left out and the spiritual prodigy, gets it through nidhidyasanam. So, depending
upon my level, I have to take to five, four, three, two or one of the levels of
sadhana.

Shloka 13.25:

Others, again, who do not know thus, take to
thinking after hearing from others; they, too, who are devoted to hearing,
certainly overcome death.

So here Sri Krishna points out that Vedanta Shravanam need not necessarily have to be the study of
the original scriptures themselves. We do not insist that one
should study Upanishad only; Gita only;
Brahmasutra only; we do not insist upon the text; we insist upon the
teaching part only. Therefore if there is a guru who does not teach the Gita or Upanishad
or Brahma sutra or Panchadashi etc. but he takes the essence of all these
books and presents in a different language; without touching any of these books,
in his own language, maybe English, may be vernacular, may be Russian, may be
Chinese, Vedanta does not refer to the actual language, Vedanta
refers to the content of teaching. As Dayananda swami says, You are the Whole,
this teaching is Vedanta, whatever be the
language. You are the Whole.

Sri Krishna says there are some people who do not have access to the originals but still they gather the teaching from other people; from the Gurus, the Gurus themselves have the knowledge of the originals. Even if I do not know the original, it does not matter; I can gain moksha, even if I am taught in any language.

 So they go to some acharya, who has studied the original and who is capable of paraphrasing, arranging and systematically communicating, in any language that the student can grasp. That is why in India you can find that in every State, Vedantic wisdom is there in vernacular language.

Even in the folk songs there is Vedanta.
Whether you take Malayalam, one lady sang a lullaby, to put the baby to sleep
in some traditional song. And she sang those songs, in which the avastha thraya
sakshi,
etc. are described. And the lady also did not know what it was and of course
the baby also. And after attending the class, she says I never knew that even
in the songs to put the babies to sleep, there is Vedanta.
Similarly in Hindi and all other languages. Similarly take Abhangas
of Tukaram, Namadev, etc. and you will see Vedanta
is there. You gain the knowledge through any source. Source is not important, the content is important.

If a person knows the content without studying the Upanishad,
he is liberated; on the other hand, fill up the blanks. Another person, who has
gone through all the Upanishad, but does not know the content, he is not
liberated. Therefore, Sri Krishna says: Even those people who are not exposed
to the words of the scriptures; they do not know; but they are committed to the
words of the guru; means guru vakya
shravana parayanah. Here shruti
does not only mean Veda. Here shruti
means the Guru vakya Shravanam.

Such committed students also certainly cross Mortality; Finitude; otherwise called samsarah. That means that they will also attain moksha. And therefore even if in the olden days Veda was not accessible to all people. They kept some of the scriptures secret for some reasons but even though the originals were not accessible to all; the content of the scriptures were accessible to all people at all the times. Whether a person is Brahmana, Kshatriya, Vaishya, Shudra, Brahmachari, Grihastha, Vanaprastha, Sanyasi, male, female, Hindu, Christian, or Muslim, anyone, whether the originals were accessible or not; the contents in one form or the other was accessible. What liberates is not the veda, but the content-the teaching in the Veda. Even if one does not study Vedas, one can get liberation, Sri Krishna declares.

Shloka # 13.26:

O scion of the Bharata dynasty, whatever
object, moving or non-moving, comes into being, know that to be from the
association of the field and the Knower of the field!

In the previous two verses, Lord Krishna pointed out that
everybody has to go through all the stages of sadhana and
also he said all the sadhanas should culminate in atma
Gyanam.

The purification of the mind through karma yogah
can be accomplished through different types of activities; we have choice; may
be japa, may be puja, may be social service; one has a choice
here; but everybody ultimately

has to go through the door of Gyanam. That is why Swami Dayananda beautiful says, a temple might have four doors, but the grabha griham has got only one door; thus there is only one door to the Lord.

Similarly, for preparation many doors are there, but for moksha, there is only one door, Gyanam. This Sri Krishna mentioned in the previous two shlokas. Naturally we may raise a question, why do we insist on Gyanam. It looks as though we are adamant, as though we are fanatic; why are we so insistent? Sri Krishna says, it is not fanaticism or adamancy, but it happens to be the fact. If I say darkness can be removed only by light; it is not fanaticism; I do not to comprise or consider that you can remove darkness by broomstick; it is not possible; I cannot afford to accept many paths, not because I am narrow-minded, but the fact is that the darkness goes only by light. So if still you charge me with fanaticism, Dayananda Swamiji says: Better I be a fanatic rather than a lunatic.

And why do we say that it is a fact. Sri Krishna says, because samsara is caused by ignorance and error. What is the ignorance and what is the error? I am the Purusha, I am ignorant of this fact. Purusha, the one who is Chetana, nirguna, nirvikara, sathya, chetana tatvam, Purna Purusha Aham; this fact I am ignorant of. This is called the ignorance problem.

And this ignorance has led to an error; and what is that error?
Since I do not know I am the Purusha, I have chosen to
identify myself with Prakrti. When I do not know I am atma;
I mistake myself to be anatma. This is what is happening in dream also. When
I forget this body of mine during sleep, the ignorance of this body leads to my
identification with the svapna shariram.

Why do I identify with the dream body; Because, I am ignorant of
this body which is lying on the bed. And that is why the moment I wake up to
this physical body, automatically, I decide to dis-identify from the dream
body. And thus, Purusha Agyanam has lead to Prakrti abhimanam. Similarly,
KshetraGna
abhimanam has led to kshetra abhimana. Abhimana
means identification. Atma agyanam has led to anatma
abhimana. Or in English self-ignorance has led to body identification.

And therefore Sri Krishna says, because of this misidentification
we miss the original.

 I miss the Purusha
and take the Prakrti as myself.

Shankaracharya, in his famous introduction to Brahma Sutra, writes a bhashyam called adhyasa bhashyam that is just half a page long. But others have commented upon this Bhashyam extensively. The Bhashyam briefly sats that I, the Chetana tatvam, take myself to be the material body; I, the consciousness, take myself to be the matter. But we successfully manage; not only we manage, we successfully perpetuate also; I am the body; i am the body because of the deha abhimana. Thus, there are two problems; the first problem is: I, the immortal Purusha, mistake myself to be the mortal body. Therefore, mortality, I take to myself. Finitude I take to myself. And once finitude comes, I cannot withstand the limitations in life and therefore start the grabbing project. Bring to me, Bring to me, give me; I grab, so that I, the finite can become, the desire is to get rid of finitude. And therefore apurnathvam leads to kama; Kama leads to karma, karma leads to punya papam, punya papa leads to sukha dukha, and later to punar janma. In fact entire cycle of birth and death is due to deha abhimana.

And therefore Sri Krishna says, every living being is born; goes through the cycles of births and death; sthavarajangamam, whether it is a non-moving living being; like the trees;  the trees are called sthavara prani; and all the other animals humans are all called jangama satvam. So all these go through birth and death because of the fundamental mistake they make of identification with the body.

Arjuna you must understand that this body identification is a mistake and every mistake is born of ignorance. Every error is a product of ignorance. And therefore if an error has to be eliminated, you can never attack the error directly, you have to attack the cause of the error. And what is the cause? Sri Krishna says, it is Agyanam. If you have to destroy a tree, cutting the branches would not accomplish that; you need to cut the root out.

And that is what is indicated through Ravana vadham also. Rama destroys the heads of Ravana. The heads indicate the errors. And Rama keeps on cutting the heads, the head keeps coming back. And then Rama is frustrated. Then Sage Agasthya comes and gives the upadesha of Aditya Hrdayam, which is the essence of Vedanta. And the brahmastra is meant to strike the Hrdayam desham. Do not cut the head which is an error; but in the Hrdayam, ignorance is there; by tatvamasi brahmasmi, destroy the agyanam here. Then the heads will not come again and again. And therefore Gyanam destroys agyanam and agyananam destroys error or adhyasa. With that problems are solved.

And therefore Arjuna in all yogas Gyanam alone destroys Agyanam.Thus;
there is only one remedy, Gyanam.

Shloka
13. 27:

He sees who sees the supreme Lord as existing
eally in all beings, and as the Imperishable among the perishable.

So from this shloka onwards, Sri Krishna talks about the benefit
of this knowledge gyana phalam. There are several benefits and Sri Krishna enumerates
a few of them:

1. First benefit is Seeing one atma, seeing means not with the physical eye rather through the eye of wisdom or Gyana chakshu. Being aware of the changeless atma which is in and through all the changing anatma. Body changes; mind changes; thoughts change; all these change; but in and through all of them, the caitanya tatvam, the consciousness does not undergo a change. Just as there is one water permanent water; in and through the changing impermanent waves and bubbles; in and through the changing bodies and mind; there is the changeless atma; this, the wise person does not lose sight.

Therefore, he says: While the
body mind complex are innumerable. Just as waves are innumerable, there are
innumerable and different (physically, mentally,intellectually), thus there are
difference all through; and amidst the different innumerable perishable bodies,
 there is one imperishable thing. You
call it either Sat principle, the existence, or you call it Chit principle, the
consciousness, that Sat Chit atma is called parameshvara.
Here Sri Krishna says that parameshvaram is not somebody
sitting above

the clouds. If so, who is this parameshvaram; He is the very changeless atma, in everyone. The Wise person is one who does not loose sight of the Lord while transacting. So at the level of the conscious mind, I am aware of the impermanent and changing bodies and mind, but in the background, the wise person does not lose sight of the atma, the permanent one.

And if I am aware of the permanent one, I will not depend upon the impermanent for security. If I am aware of the permanent one, I will handle the impermanent but I will not depend on the impermanent one. One who does not lose sight of this atma; that is one who has got sama darshanam, advaita darshanam, abheda darshanam and he alone has got the right vision and he is called a seer.

A sage is
called a seer because he is one who sees that thing that is to be seen.

Take away:

Vedanta
Shravanam
need not necessarily have to be the study of the original scriptures
themselves. We do not insist that one should study Upanishad
only; Gita only; Brahmasutra only; we do not insist upon the text; we
insist upon the teaching part only. Source is not important, the content is
important.

What liberates is not the veda, but the
content-the teaching in the Veda. Even if one
does not study Vedas, one can get
liberation, Sri Krishna declares.

Being aware of the
changeless atma which is in and through all the changing anatma.
Body changes; mind changes; thoughts change; all these change; but in and
through all of them, the chaitanya tatvam, the consciousness does not undergo a
change.

With Best Wishes,

Ram Ramaswamy

Shloka # 22:

13.22 Since the soul is seated in Nature,
therefore it experiences the alities born of Nature. Contact with the alities
is the cause of its births in good and evil wombs.

Continuing his teachings
Swamiji said, Sri Krishna has come to last pair of topics, namely Purusha and
Prakriti. They are being discussed from shloka # 20-24. We saw both Purusha and
Prakriti are two basic principles that existed even before the world came into
being. This mixture of Prusha and Parkriti together is known as Ishwara. This mixture
or Ishwara has several common properties:

1. They are both
   Anadi, beginingless.
2. They are both the
   cause of the universe.

They have at least four
properties that are uncommon among them:

1. Pursuha is the conscious principle while Prakriti is
   the matter principle.
2. Purusha is changeless, while Prakriti changes all the
   time.
3. Pursuha is without attributes, while Prakriti has
   attributes.
4. Purusha is Satyam, while Parkriti is Mithya.

And then Sri Krishna pointed out that from
this mixture alone creation evolved and in the evolution of the creation, the
primary role is played by Prakrti alone, because Prakrti alone is capable of
evolution; Prakrti being basic matter and as a result of this Prakrti’s
evolution, otherwise called the manifestation, the pancha bhuthas have come,
all the fourteen lokas have come and
all the physical and subtle bodies also are born, which means my own
body-mind-complex is an evolute of Prakrti.

The
question then arises where is Pusrusha in all this? Body, mind and everything I
experience, all change. But where is Purusha? Sri Krishna says, that Pursuha is
the Experiencer in you; the Sakshi Chaitanyam; the “I”. I, the Subject, the Experiencer
is Purusha and whatever I experience is Prakriti. We should remember body, mind
complex belongs to Prakriti and it is the object of experience. Body and mind complex
is so intimately connected with me that it appears as if it belong to the “I”.
Citing an example: It is like the spectacle that I wear, it is an instrument,
but I include it as part of I, the perceiver. Very often we forget to include
the specs as an object. So, cause of mistake is that object used as an
instrument is used as an integral part of subject. Without a pen, can you be a
writer? Thus, the body mind complex is also mistaken as a subject; now for
transactional purposes we can do so, but be aware that body and mind are all a part
of Prakriti and “I” am different from Prakriti; I am the Sakshi Tatvam,
illuminating all of them.

The word bhunkte means witnesses; even though the literal meaning of the word bhunkte is experiences; the word experiences should be understood as witnesses or illumines whatever happens to the body as well as to the mind, And witnessing or illumining the body-mind complex is an activity of Purusha, but in the presence of Purusha, the body and mind gets illumined. Just like we say, the fire burns the fuel. We use the verb that fire is burning the fuel; but if you analyze; Shankaracharya analyzes, burning is not a willful action done by the fire; if burning is an action done by the fire; the action will have a beginning, and action will have an end. But really speaking, fire does not perform the action of burning; fire just exists. When you put your finger in the fire, at that time too, fire does not do any special job. Before putting my finger, fire was fire. After putting my finger also, fire is fire. No transformation; no will; no action on the part of the fire; fire exists, my finger gets burned; but I make a statement, fire burns the finger. Here is a verb, which does not have verbal meaning. When we say the Sun illumines the earth; it is the same thing; Sun does not will or plan and perform the action of illumining. The sun just exists; in the presence of the Sun, whatever objects fall within the range, those objects get illumined; before the objects arrive, Sun is the same, after the objects arrive, Sun is the same; but still we use a verb, Sun is illumining the earth.

So also Sakshi, it is like
fire, the sun, etc; it is just “is”. In its presence, body is illumined.

Sakshi experiences; experiences means changelessly witnesses; actionlessly witnesses; will-lessly without involving a will, Sakshi ‘experiences”, whatever happens in the body-mind-complex. And even when nothing happens in the body mind complex, and even when the mind is blank, the blank condition of the mind, is witnessed, experienced, known, awared by the Consciousness principle. That Consciousness am I.

Prakrti in shloka means shariram. In this context, Prakrti means products of Prakrti. Prakrti karyam is called Prakrti and what are the two products of Prakrti to be kept in mind; the body-mind-complex container is called Prakrti. Praktisthaha means enclosed within the body mind complex. I was telling you in the last class, the enclosed space is useful for living and that is why we build walls, because enclosed place is only vyavahara yogyam. Similarly, the all-pervading Consciousness, when it is enclosed within the body-mind-complex, it is called Praktisthaha Purushaha Sakshi chaitanyam.

And this I, bhunkte, experiences without action and without will. What does it experience? It experiences all the consequences, all the products of Prakrti in the form of varieties of thought, Prakrti jan gunaha means various thought modifications like pleasure thought; pain thought; raga thought; dvesha thought; kama thought; they are called Prakrti jan guna; certain types of thoughts are called Satvic thoughts, certain other types of thoughts are called Rajasic thoughts. Sukham is satvic vritti, dukham is rajasa vritti, moha or delusion is tamasic vritti, all those mental conditions, gunaha means condition, the Sakshi experiences; experiences means witnesses.

What are Sakshi’s
attributes?

I don’t have any
attributes. But when I illumine, I take on attribute of body, mind through a
process known as transference. Transference is like when we watch a movie, I
start without any attachments, but as I watch the movie I get attached,
unknowingly; thus problems of hero are transferred to observer.

Anonya Adhyasaha: We know we are involved for two three hours in a movie, then we are
able to detach ourselves from it. In life, attachment to body mind complex is
deep and continuous that it goes on into next Janma.

Yoni, sat and Asat: Sat yoni means good body; Asat yoni means inferior body or inferior
janma. Thus
punarapi jananam, punarapi maranam,
taking higher birth of devas, taking lower birth of animals, plants and asura,
in short the entire samsara
chakram.

For
this samsara chakram,
what is the cause? Sri Krishna says it is the attributes of the body mind
complex; that belong to the Prakrti, I get attached to.

Remember the movie, totally identifying with the hero, and when the heroine dies, this person also cries as though his wife has died. And his wife has to shake him and say and I am alive. So abhimana with Prakrti is samsara karanam, Purusha by itself does not have janma; just as nothing happens to space when the walls are pulled down.

Thus,
when walls are raised, akasha is the same;
when the walls are removed, akasha is the same. Similarly
I-the-Purusha, the Chaitanyam
am the same, whether the body, mind walls continue or whether the body, mind
walls, resolves. But instead of claiming this birthlessness of Purusha, I identify
with Prakrti and suffer.

Shloka # 23:

He who is the Witness, the Permitter, the
Sustainer, the Experiencer, the great Lord, and who is also spoken of as the
transcendental Self is the supreme Person in this body.

Here Sri Krishna is
training to dis-identify from the Prakriti enclosure and identity with Purusha.
He says, don’t search for Purusha anywhere; he is in our body -mind container
as Sakshi Chaitanyam; the I am. This Purusha’s nature is opposite of Prakriti. Sri
Krishna identifies its many features as follows:

1. Paraha:

Sri Krishna says this container, the content-consciousness, is not only within the body, it extends the beyond the container body. First I say the space is within the hall; because of which alone we are all accommodated; and later I say the space is not within the hall alone, the space is outside the hall also. And finally I have to say, really speaking the space is neither within the hall nor outside the hall, the hall is existing within space.

Similarly, I say consciousness is inside the body; and then finally I say consciousness is outside the body; then finally I say consciousness is inside or outside, all the bodies are inside the consciousness and therefore where is consciousness? The answer is; you should ask a counter-question, where is it not? Therefore it is called paraha. Paraha means free from all limitations.

• Upadrshta:

Means
the consciousness alone is the intimate witness of everything happening inside
you.

So
here Sri Krishna says Atma is a witness, not remaining far away; but upadrashta, intimately
pervading the body, mind complex, it illumines the body mind complex; just as
the light illumines the hand; by pervading the hand. Bulb is far away; but the
light, the prakasha is the
luminosity upon the hand; therefore it is a proximate illuminator. Proximate
illuminator means one who is near, pervading the hand is illumining. Similarly,
Purusha pervades
every cell of my body. This inert body of chemicals, which does not have
consciousness of its own; this inert bundle of

chemicals
is now sentient and alive, only because Purusha pervades and makes this body experience-able
to me. And therefore upadrashta. Close witness.

• Anumantha Cha:
  means that which blesses activities of Prakriti. It blesses the inert Body and
  mind. Like electricity blesses the fan and in its presence it is able to
  function according to its design. Similarly it is with a mike. So it is with
  every organ, they all perform their functions in presence of consciousness. It
  blesses all activities, good or bad, by its presence. Consciousness does not
  judge morality of actions.

• Bhartha:
  does not mean husband; here it means that which lends existence. Purusha is
  satya; Prakriti is Mithya.

• Bhokta :

Then the very same Purusha, I the Sakshi, is called bhokta, the experiencer, from the standpoint of an ignorant person; I am really only the Sakshi, and I am the illuminator of the pleasure, pain, envy and all that anger etc. in the minds. Anger belongs Prakrti, the mind; therefore what should I say:

I am the illuminator of the anger of the mind. But instead what do I say; I am angry. When you say I am angry, which is the attribute of the mind, I have transferred to Me, the illuminator. And with the transferred attributes, atma appears, as though it is a bhokta. bhokta means seeming bhokta, as though suffering from that attribute.

• Maheshvara: means Free One, free entity; body is bound as matter. So body alone
  is a bound entity because body being Prakrti, it is affected by the other
  Prakrti; we have seen earlier body is matter, world is matter, therefore body
  will be definitely be affected by the body. Nobody can stop. In summer body
  will sweat; In winter, if there is one, the body will shiver. And in old age,
  the body will collapse. It will lose all its faculties. Similarly, mind is also
  matter; the world is also matter; mind, too will be influenced by the matter.
  If you read about the earthquake, children are starving; however great you may
  be, the mind is going to empathize with that situation. Nobody can stop. And
  therefore, Prakrti, the world, binds body; the mind is also bound; but Purusha the maheshvara, can never
  be affected by the matter principle and therefore Purusha is maheshvara; means Swami. Svatantra.
  Master. That is why as body, you are never free. Not only the world will
  affect, even the planetary position affects you.
• Paramatma:
  I, jivatma, learn to separate from those attributes and identify with Pusursha.
  Attributes belong to Prakriti.

Thus:
Attributed I: is Jivatma

Attributeless
I: is Paramatma.                                              

This
shloka is considered a mahavakya as it deals with Jivatma paramatma aikyam.

Shloka # 24:He who
knows thus the Person and Nature along with the alities will not be born again,
in whatever way he may live.

And here Sri Krishna points out that the
clear knowledge about Prakrti and Purusha will give a person a great relief
from the burden of samsara.
A life which appeared a struggle till now; a life which is very big drag, which is full
of cares and worries, that life gets a very great relief, if I have made this
discriminative knowledge and I have learned to claim I am Purusha and that all
the attributes belong to Prakrti. This is called Purusha Prakrti
viveka. So the phalam is, suppose a person gains this knowledge; the first knowledge
itself is that I am a mixture of Prakrti and Purusha. I have told you the example, first
when you see the hand, you will only say there is a hand; I have to tell you,
it is not hand alone, there are two things here; and I have to tell you that the hand is
pervaded by a light principle; the light falls on the hand; it gets reflected and
according to the science, the reflected light travels and hits your retina; therefore it is
not one; there are two things. Similarly when I use the word I, there is a
Prakrti and there is Purushaha. This is my
first level of wisdom. Therefore Sri Krishna says suppose a person knows
clearly that Purusha
means Nirguna, Nirvikara, Satya, Chetana tatvam and
Prakrti is Saguna, Savikara, Mithya, Achetana tatvam; both
of them are distinctly known. The separation between the light and the hand, we
do not physically do, because light cannot be scraped out of the hand;  You need not separate from outside; the
separation is an internal affair. It is a cognitive separation; it is not an
external event. Similarly, body and atma, physically you need not separate and you cannot. It is
a cognitive separation. He also knows that there are many attributes, like fat,
lean, old, bald, haired, all are physical attributes. There are subtle attributes
like anger, envy, etc. They are all internal attributes, belonging to sukshma sharira, sthula sharira and karana sharira. So all the
attributes I should know belong to the shariram, which is Prakrti. Whereas Purusha does not have
sthula sharira attributes; body
is fat, I am not fat. What a relief. Otherwise everybody will ask: Why did no you
go for walking, being obese. That does not mean that tomorrow onwards, you should
stop your walking. Even though you are not fat, you can keep the body in good
condition and therefore you can walk; it does not require an abhimana; similarly, with
all the emotions too. Thus, the one who has understood the difference between
Prakrti and Purusha very clearly
and also one who has learned to train his mind to identify with Purusha; that training
is called nidhidhyasanam.
For all transactions, you have to identify with Prakrti. In any application
form, you should fill properly with correct dates. In all vyavahara-transactions,
we have to identify with Prakrti.  You
also put the vesham and go the green room once in a while. In the green room,
learn to say life is just a drama.  And once a
person knows the whole life is a drama, then what is the advantage, let him
play any role in his life or in her life because life is a series of role-playing.
You cannot avoid role-playing. The moment you are born, whether you like or
not, you are related to your parents, as a child; you are related to siblings,
as a brother or sister; and when your brother gets married, whether like it
not, you become a brother-in-law or sister-in-law. So life is a series of role-playing,
and it would not be a tragedy, if you were aware of the fact that it is a role-playing.
When the role becomes serious; as a beggar, and take yourself to be a beggar,
and after the drama is over, if you continue with the begging bowl, then there is
some problem. Therefore, Sri Krishna says: You need not change your role, if
you are a Brahmachari,
you can continue. If you are a Grihastha, you need not change your varna, you need not
change the ashrama, you do
not change your profession; no external change is required; only an inner transformation
is required. Once the transformation has taken place, even by taking on any
role, such a Gyani does not have a rebirth at all. I do not have a punarjanma.
And if somebody asks the question to a Gyani, Gyani, how do you know you do not
have punarjanma? Gyani gives a very big smile; where is the question of rebirth; I have
understood I am the atma, which does not have the first janma itself; janma is
what? What is the definition of janma? Sthula sukshma
sharira samyoga, janma. And
what is the definition of maranam? Sthula sukshma
sharira viyogaha is maranam. The mind is
there, the body is there; now the mind and body are together; At the time of death the mind
and body snap their connection; body is here, mind will go away, saying tata.
This mind-body separation is called maranam, and what is punar janmam, this travelling sukshma shariram, getting
associated with another sthula
shariram; body-mind;
new body association is called punarjanma. Is Mind Purusha or Prakrti?
Prakrti. Is Body Purusha
or Prakrti? Prakrti. Therefore Prakrti one and Prakrti two; Body is one type of
Prakrti and mind is one type of Prakrti; two forms of Prakrti, coming into
contact is punarjanma;
two forms of Prakrti getting separated is maranam. And who am I; which form of Prakrti
 am I? Am I Prakrti No.1 or Prakrti No.2?
I am neither Prakrti one nor Prakrti two. Why should I bother about how countless
bodies and mind, getting together and separated; I do not care, I am the Purusha, who does not
have the first janma itself; where is the question of punarjanma. This wisdom
is called mokshaha. Through this
wisdom, I do not get liberated. Through this wisdom I know or I claim that I
was liberated; I am liberated and I will ever be liberated. I am incapable of
getting bound; and after this knowledge, even if you want to become a samsari, you cannot
be a samsari.

With Best Wishes,

Ram Ramaswamy

Note: In this chapter
the numbering of shlokas can be different depending upon Gita book you are
reading. I am using Swamiji’s numbering.

Shloka 13.20:

Know both Nature and also the individual soul [Prakrti
is sometimes translated as matter, and purusa as spirit.-Tr.] to be verily
without beginning; know the modifications as also the alities(reality) as born
of Nature.

With the 19^th shloka of this chapter, Sri Krishna has completed four topics out of the 6 topics that Arjuna wanted to know. The four completed topics are Kshetram, Kshetragnya, Gyanam and Gneyam. And now from the shloka’s 20-24, Sri Krishna is going to deal with the final two topics, namely, Purusha and Prakrti. And since these two topics are closely connected, Sri Krishna is dealing with them parallely or simultaneously. And for all practical purposes, we can understand the word Purusha as Brahman and we can understand Prakrti as Maya and therefore the discussion is regarding Brahman and Maya of the Upanishad. These two words, purusha and prakrti, are generally used in Sankhya philosophy but, sometimes, in Vedanta too, we use the word purusha and prakrti for Brahman and Maya.

And
Sri Krishna begins the discussion here saying:

Arjuna may you understand purusha and prakrti as the two basic principles, which are beginningless-principles. Anadi, means without a beginning and it is in dual number which means purusha is also Anadi, prakrti is also Anadi. And this purusha prakrti mixture alone we call, Ishvara. Prakrti plus purusha is equal to Ishvara. Brahman plus Maya is equal to Ishvara. And Sri Krishna wants to point out that this Ishvara alone existed even before the origination of this universe. Since the universe has an origination; the world has a beginning, and since the Ishvara has no beginning, it is clear that even before the world originated, before the beginninged-world, there was the beginningless Ishvara, which means even before Srishti, Ishvara existed. And since Ishvara alone existed before Srishti, the Srishti must have come out of Ishvara only, because Ishvara alone was the beginningless principle. And this Ishvara consists purusha and prakrti and if youremember the 7th chapter, it was presented there as para prakrti and apara prakrti.The same idea you have to bring here.

Now,
from this shloka, we come to know that purusha and prakrti have got one common
feature; that both are beginningless.

Anaditvam is one common feature; and the second common feature is that both of them together are the cause of the universe. Therefore purusha is also cause, prakrti is also cause, together they enjoy causal status; say exactly like the father and mother. Father by himself cannot be the cause of a child, mother by herself can never be the cause of a child, father and mother alone, together, enjoy the causal status.

And
these two principles have got some uncommon features as well. Common features
are two, while uncommon features or differences are many and out of many
differences, four differences are very important for our study, which I had
discussed in the 7^th chapter as well; but we will refresh our memory
on them.

What is the first difference between purusha and prakrti? Purusha is chetana tatvam; it is consciousness-principle; whereas prakrti or Maya is achetana tatvam, it is the basic matter principle. Even if you like to call it energy, I do not mind. That is why they are inter-convertible, whereas Consciousness is neither matter nor energy. Consciousness is neither matter nor energy. Thus Purusha is consciousness principle Prakrti is basic matter; or energy principle; this is the first difference.

The second difference is the purusha is nirvikara tatvam; consciousness principle is not subject to modification or change. It is ever, the changeless principle, time cannot influence consciousness. Time cannot touch consciousness. Consciousness is not within the field of time. In fact, some scientists themselves are saying this.

Whereas, prakrti or matter principle is subject to time and therefore subject to modification; in Sanskrit savikara tatvam. So chetana tatvam-achetana tatvam is the first difference; nirvikara tatvam-savikara-tatvam is the second difference. And because of the influence of time alone, matter is violently undergoing change, even becoming energy is a form of change; thus, matter becomes energy. In fact in an atomic explosion matter is converted into tremendous energy. And therefore, matter is subject to change to energy form; energy is subject to change into matter form; and within matter itself, it violently undergoes change; the sun is changing violently, the planets are changing and even the minutest atom is undergoing change. Therefore savikara tatvam. And the other one, nirvikara tatvam.

Then
the third important difference or uncommon feature is that Purusha, the consciousness
principle, is free from all attributes. It is absolutely property-free.

Whether you enumerate the properties as satva rajas tamo guna, then we say, Consciousness is free from all these three; if you enumerate the properties as shabda, sparsha, rupa, rasa and gandha; shabda means sound, sparsha, means touch, rupa means form, rasa means taste, gandha means smell; then consciousness is free from all these five properties.

And if you are a chemistry student, then we say consciousness is free from all types of physical and chemical properties. In short, consciousness is property-less and attributeless or in Sanskrit, Nirguna tatvam; whereas, matter is endowed with all the properties. So from one angle, we say matter has got three gunas; three means satva, rajas, tamo gunas, we say; Or from another angle we say, matter has five gunas, shabda, sparsha, rupa, rasa, gandha; or from chemistry angle, matter has got many physical and chemical properties. And therefore matter is simply attributed.

And then comes the fourth and final property for our discussion. You can have several but only four for our discussion. This is technical thing, which is not directly relevant, but for future questions, this will be required. And what is that difference; chetana or the consciousness-principle has got an independent existence and therefore it is said to be satya tatvam. The existence of consciousness is intrinsic, it is independent, it is unborrowed; That is why we say, it is satya tatvam; whereas the matter principle does not have an independent existence; the existence of matter depends upon the consciousness principle. Even to prove that you are all sitting in the class, I should be conscious of you, what I am not conscious, I cannot talk of its existence at all. And therefore the existence of a thing, a material thing, depends upon the consciousness principle and therefore matter enjoys or suffers an dependent existence. In Sanskrit we call it mithya tatvam. Satyam and mithya. We will keep it aside, which we will deal later.

These are the four fundamental differences between Purusha and Prakrti. Such a purusha-prakrti mixture called God was there even before the origination of the world. And the most interesting thing is that when we say God alone existed before the creation, we cannot even answer the question, where was He located.

Where
was He located; even location of God we cannot talk about because, before
creation, even akasha was not
there.

Even
scientists point out that you cannot imagine space at the time of or before the
big bang. How they have reached Vedanta. They will say Vedanta has
borrowed from Science. But long before science came, this has been said.
Therefore you cannot conceive of even akasha, before Srishti (akasha means space).

So when I talk about God before the origination of space, how can I talk about the location of God, because the concept of location requires space. Therefore do not ask where was He. And such an unlocatable God, who is a mixture of Purusha and Prakrti, was there before Srishti.

Similarly,
here also, the student asks, then what happened?

Of
the mixture of two, Purusha and Prakrti, nothing will happen to purusha tattvam,
because purusha tatvam is not
conditioned by time and therefore Purusha, the chetana tatvam, will remain the
same. Before Srishti, during Srishti, after
pralayam, all the time, chaitanyam is Nirvikaram.

If
this Nirvikara purusha tatvam does
not undergo any change, then all the changes must happen to only Prakrti
tatvam, basic matter or energy principle. And therefore Sri Krishna says at the
time of creation, Out of the prakrti tatvam evolves this universe. The matter
evolves into the universe just as a seed evolves to become a sprout. Then as
time goes, again it evolves into a plant and finally it evolves into a full
fledged tree. Similarly, the universe also, from karana avastha to sukshma avastha to
sthula avastha,
this gradual evolution takes place and in this matter-evolution all the
products are born out of the basic prakrti, otherwise called Maya. That is why
we call the creation Mayikam.

And
what are the materials born out of prakrti? Initially, the five basic elements
are born; called the five bhuthani, akasha, vayu, agni, apah and prithvi; and later the five elements through
varieties of permutation and combination, they mix together, they produce all
the other things which we call bhauthika evolution. Bhutha evolution, then
bhauthika evolution. Elements evolved, then Elementals evolved. And what are
the elementals? All the 14 lokas; then the mountains, the stars, the planets, and not only
that, according to scriptures, our physical body is also evolved prakrti. What
is the proof? How do you prove that? The proof is: first of all the physical
body is matter; it consists of only chemicals. it consists of only elements;
elements, one can take two meanings; the shastric meaning, akasha, vayu, agni, apaha, prithivi;
and
if you are chemistry student, elements can mean: Aluminium, antimony, barium, carbon,
etc. so those elements. So all those elements alone have produced the body;
body is nothing but a chemical bundle. That is why we call it biochemistry. And
therefore body being matter, it is born out of prakrti. And the second and
important proof is body is subject to modification.

So this expansion and contraction of the body proves that it cannot be purusha tatvam, because purusha tatvam is Nirvikaram, body is savikaram; therefore body has to be a product of prakrti only.

Then what about mind? The mind is also material in nature. And that is why the changes in the chemistry of the body change your mind also. Enzyme changes, hormonal changes, etc. can cause tremendous mood disorders. All these are possible, because the mind is also matter and it is influenced and changed by material. And not only that, that the mind is also subject to change, need anyone tell us to understand that? Mind is subject to violent changes, that mind is an evolved version of prakrti. So world is prakrti’s evolute, body is prakrti’s evolute or product, mind is also the product of prakrti.

Now if body is a product of prakrti, mind is also a product of prakrti, both of them must be achetana tatvam; because we have said prakrti is achetana tatvam.

If
prakrti is achetana tatvam,
body and mind, which are its products, they also must be achetanam, achetanam means
insentient. But, mind seems to be sentient; not seems to be, if doubt, pinch
and see yourselves; you know it is sentient. So for that, the scriptures give
the answer that the body and mind are prakrti only but they are such a fine
version of prakrti, like refined clay. Body is refined clay, And sometime the brain
also is acting like a refined clay. So being a refined version of matter, they
are able to manifest consciousness; but it is not their own intrinsic
consciousness; it is only reflected or manifested consciousness.

Like, if my cloth is bright now, visible to you now, light from the cloth is hitting your Eyes; you are able to see and when light comes from the cloth, it is not the cloth’s own light, rather it is the light reflected on the cloth. It is not intrinsic but borrowed light.

Similarly,
body is prakrti with borrowed sentiency; mind is prakrti with borrowed sentiency.
Therefore all these are the creation of prakrti.

And therefore Sri Krishna says; Arjuna note it that products are
born out of prakrti. And not only all the objects are born out of prakrti; the
various properties of these objects; every object has its own property. It has
got a color, form, weight, and all these properties are born out of prakrti alone.
Because the rule is that the
properties of the cause will inhere in the effect also. Thus,
if Gold has certain combination of other elements; alloys, then the all the
ornaments also will have the same proportion of the other elements. And that is
why the children also will have the combination of properties or character
borrowed from the parents.

And that is the world also has got satva rajas tamo guna,
and the world also has got shabda, sparsha, rupa,
rasa, gandha.  And Shankaracharya
points out that the even the properties, like raga
dvesha
etc. do not belong to the Purusha, they all belong to
prakrti alone.

Shloka # 21:

13.21 With regard to the source of body and
organs, Nature is said to be the cause. The soul is the cause so far as
enjoyership of happiness and sorrow is concerned.

The first line is almost the repetition of the previous shloka. Everything in the creation is born out of prakrti, which includes the body, mind complex also. So karyam means the body. It is a technical meaning here; normally karyam means a product in general; but in this context, karyam means sthula shariram, the physical body. And similarly, the word karanam in this context means the mind or the subtle body in general.

In the creation of the physical and subtle bodies, not only the human beings, but all the living beings, in the origination of them Prakriti is the contributor that does a lot of work and is highly active; while Purusha is the laziest person; that is why, in home also, it so happens, reading only the newspapers. It has begun at the time of creation itself.  Because the original purusha does not do anything.  In the creation of the body and mind, prakrti is the hetu.

And
there is another meaning as well.

In
the creation of the world, which can be divided into karanam and karyam, Prakriti
alone does all work. In the creation of the body mind complex too, prakrti  alone does all work.

Now comes the basic question. If everything is a product of prakrti, where is this blessed Purusha!! Because, Ishvara is a mixture of two; of these two, one principle we find pervading everywhere, the pancha bhutas are prakrti and all the other combinations mountains, rivers, sun, and moon. In short the entire visible universe; experienced universe is prakrti; because everything I experience undergo a change; whether it is the minutest atom or the biggest galaxy. So, therefore, the experienced world is changing; and is therefore prakrti. Then what about the body; body is also experienced by me clearly, I am experiencing my body via pleasures pains hunger thirst etc; so, I am able to talk about. What I do not experience, I cannot talk about. And the physical body is also an experienced principle and Sri Krishna says that also is prakrti because it is subject to change. Therefore, experienced world is changing, hence prakrti. Experienced body is changing; therefore prakrti.

Then what about mind, mind is also experienced by me; In fact the mind is experienced by me alone; at least in the case of the body, I am experiencing, and you are also experiencing, whereas, mind is experienced by me because I am aware of emotions, my calmness, my anger, my knowledge, my ignorance, and even blankness of the mind too. The mind is also experienced and it is subject to change and therefore that is also prakrti. So experienced world is prakrti, experienced body is prakrti, experienced mind is prakrti; if everything experienced is prakrti, where is this blessed purusha?  He is not to be seen. Where is the Purusha hiding? Therefore we go on searching. Some people search outside. Whatever they search and find is an experienced, changing object; that is not going to be Purusha. Suppose I look within the physical body, I will see blood, marrow, etc; all within your experience of changing prakrti. If I look within the mind too I see varieties of emotions, all changing thoughts; outside also I experience prakrti, inside also I experience prakrti, everything experienced is prakrti; so, where is the blessed purusha?

Sri
Krishna says: Do not search for the purusha. because the purusha is The
Experiencer I; The basic subject of I, the basic conscious principle. Now there
is a big question. Is, I, the experiencer, am I, conscious or inert? An
experiencer has to be necessarily a conscious, sentient principle alone. Sri Krishna
says it is that experiencer, I, the subject witness of the world; the witness
of the body, the witness of the mind. How to look at that; do not ask; the moment
you see, it will become an object, and again it will be within body, mind, etc. That, which is ever the subject of
experience, and never the object of experience; that I am; the Purusha. Aham Brahma asmi.

Who
says this? Sri Krishna says this.

Purusha is not located anywhere as an object, the purusha, the chetana, nirvikara, nirguna, satya tatvam purusha, is I, the very subject, who is enclosed in the material body; who is enclosed in the material mind; the enclosure is prakrti and the enclosed consciousness is, I am Purusha.

And
thereforeSri Krishna says Purusha is bhokta; here bhokta means the witness the
sakshi chaitanyam, the subject experiencer principle; The experiencer of what?
If purusha isthe experiencer, he will be
experiencer of what? What is there other than purusha?

Prakrti. Therefore he is the experiencer of prakrti. Prakrti means the body mind complex, and not only the body mind complex prakrti, sukhadukhanam, as well as all the conditions of the body mind complex. Like favourable healthy condition; as well as the unfavourable unhealthy condition; all of them belong to the object prakrti, raga, dvesha, kama, krodha, lobha, moha, all are properties of observed prakrti; None of them is the property of the observer purusha.

So this is a very important law in Vedanta. All the observed properties can belong to only observed objects; no observed property can belong to the observer subject. I will repeat. All the observed properties can belong to the observed object alone. The observed properties can never belong to the observer-subject. Therefore the observer is always property-free. Therefore I am the experiencer of properties but I am without those properties. And therefore Sri Krishna says in the created world, prakrti is available as an object and purusha is available as the subject and the subject purusha is never objectifiable.

And
remember, I have given you the examples before. The eyes can see everything in
the world, but the eyes can never see themselves. Maximum, the eyes can see is its
own reflection in the mirror; even the reflected eye is objectifiable but the
original eye is never objectifiable, perceivable. What a tragedy.

You
cannot see your eyes, with your own eyes. Suppose a person asks: If the eyes
can never be seen, what is the proof that there are eyes. Even though, eyes are
never seen, you do not require proof for the eyes because every sight of every
object is the proof for the existence of the eye. Every perception pre-supposes
the existence of the perceiver, even though the perceiver is never perceived.
Every perception presupposed the perceiver. Even though camera is never
photographed, every photograph is the proof for the existence of camera.

Therefore the subject does not require proof. Subject does not require proof; because the very search for proof presupposes the existence of the subject. The prover need not be proved. Prover does not require a prover. And therefore where is purusha? It is like the tenth man story. Where is the purusha? I am the purusha. What a terrible discovery. What a wonderful discovery.

Shloka # 22:

13.22 Since the soul is seated in Nature,
therefore it experiences the alities born of Nature. Contact with the alities
is the cause of its births in good and evil wombs.

Originally,
before the creation evolves or the world evolves, the purusha was neither the
subject, nor the prakrti was object; there was no subject-object transaction at
all, before the creation evolved. Then when did the purusha get the
subject status?

When
the universe evolved, naturally the body was also created, the mind also was created;
and after the creation of the body and mind, the all-pervading purusha got enclosed
within the body-mind-enclosure. Previously the enclosures were not there;

Therefore, this consciousness was an all-pervading unenclosed consciousness; but after the creation of body-mind, we have got an enclosed consciousness. Just as we have got a enclosed space after the creation of wall. Before the creation of the wall, space was there, but it was unenclosed space. Once the walls are created, it become enclosed. By building the wall, what are you the accomplishing? The open space is converted into enclosed space. And once it becomes enclosed space, it is called a house. What is the definition of house, not the walls; walls do not make a house; then what is a house; enclosed space is a house, and once it is enclosed, it becomes a useful and transactable thing. In the same way, previously it was unenclosed consciousness. Now it is body mind enclosed consciousness; and that becomes the subject principle. And then the whole world become object.

Therefore
consciousness becomes a subject, when it is enclosed. An open space becomes a
house when it is enclosed. Therefore, you never build a house; you only build
the walls. What is a house, the enclosed space is a house, because that alone
is lending you the place for transaction. Wall is not useful. All your
movement, study, etc. is housed in the enclosed space. Thus, purusha becomes the
subject and prakrti becomes object.

Take away:

Consciousness
is neither matter nor energy.

Prakrti
plus purusha is equal to Ishvara.

Body is prakrti with borrowed sentiency; mind is prakrti with
borrowed sentiency. Therefore all these are the creation of prakrti.

That,
which is ever the subject of experience, and never the object of experience;
that I am; the Purusha.
Aham Brahma asmi.

Purusha is not located
anywhere as an object, the

purusha, the chetana, nirvikara, nirguna, satya tatvam
purusha, is I, the
very subject, who is enclosed in the material body; who is enclosed in the
material mind; the enclosure is prakrti and the enclosed consciousness is, I am
Purusha.

Purusha:
previously it was unenclosed consciousness. Now it is body mind enclosed
consciousness; and that becomes the subject principle; and then the whole world
becomes object.

With Best Wishes,

Ram Ramaswamy

Note: In this chapter
the numbering of shlokas can be different depending upon Gita book you are
reading. I am using Swamiji’s numbering.

Shloka # 17:

And the Knowable, though undivided, appears to
be existing as divided in all beings, and It is the sustainer of all beings as
also the devourer and originator.

In this 13th chapter, from shloka No.13 onwards, Sri Krishna has come to the topic of Gneyam, which is the fourth topic of the six topics that Arjuna wanted to know and Sri Krishna made it clear that this word Gneyam is nothing but Param Brahma of the Upanishad. He then started description of the Param Brahma as given in the Upanishads and as I said, this is the subtlest topic of the Upanishads, and the subtlest topic of the Bhagavat Gita as well. In fact, this is the main topic and the description of one who is inconceivable is: Param Brahma is nirgunam, it is free from all attributes and therefore available for any kind of sensory perception and while it is Nirgunam, it is all pervading; it exists everywhere; in fact, in the form of the very existence itself. Nirgunam Brahma is the very existence principle, which is everywhere, and not only that, it is only one; it is not plural; the objects in the creation are many; but the all-pervading, attribute-less existence is Ekam.

Even though this Existence seems like it is divided, it is really not so. As I gave the example, the light pervading the hall or pervading the fingers, cannot be divided; it is all over; but you see the light only on the fingers; in between the fingers, you do not see the light and therefore it creates a misconception that one light is on this finger, second light is on this finger, the third is on this; thus there are five fingers and it appears, as though there are five lights; and in between it appears as though there is no light. But the fact is that it is only a seemingly divided light, reality is that the light is continuously there, even in between the fingers. In a similar manner, existence is seemingly divided but it is really one indivisible Brahma. Thus Nirgunam, Sarvagatham, Ekam, Akhandam, Sadrupam, all these descriptions Sri Krishna gives.

It is almost impossible to conceive of such an Existence, which is why later Sri Krishna will point out that you have to train your mind to understand Brahman and one of the training suggested in the Shastra’s is meditating upon space. Here you are trying to understand or conceive the akasha tatvam. We use the word akasha loosely. When I say aksasha here, it is something I do not see, I do not touch, I do not smell, I do not taste, and even though it is not a perceptible yet I am able to talk about akasha.

When
I use the word empty space; what does it mean?

We
probably have never thought of the meaning of the word space. And if you think
of space, you will know, it is something, which is not perceptible or tangible
and which is all pervading, which is only one:

How
many spaces are there? There is only one indivisible space and it looks as
though space means emptiness. But remember, science has proved space is not emptiness
or void, but it is a positive substance. So by meditating upon akasha, as described
in Taittiriya Upanishad,
one sees Brahman. This meditation is known as akasha dhyanam.

Akasha dhyanam is
prescribed to make the intellect extremely subtle to understand Brahman, which
is subtler than even akasha. Similarly, the Brahman description creates
an impression, that it is a void or nothing. Sri Krishna says it is a positive
entity.

 (Can you see; No. Can you hear; No. Can you touch; No. Can you taste; No. Where is it? It is everywhere). So, then it appears that it is void. It is positive bhava padarthaha and therefore we have to make the mind subtler and subtler; ultimately grasping this is our aim. Let it take months, let it take years; let is take janmas; ultimately, knowing this Brahman, Gneyam or unconceivable Brahman is our ultimate goal. And, therefore, Sri Krishna struggles to describe and you should also struggle to understand. I will also struggle to explain.

Shloka # 13.18:

That is the Light even of the lights; It is
spoken of as beyond darkness. It is Knowledge, the Knowable, and the Known. It
exists specially [A variant reading is dhisthitam.-Tr.] in the hearts of all.

So here Sri Krishna says that Satrupam Brahma; that Brahman which is in the form of pure Existence; formless Existence; is the same as the Atma, which is the formless Consciousness principle. Sadrupam Brahma is the same as chidrupah Atma. And when I use the word consciousness you have to remember all those points: Consciousness is not a product, part or property of the body; Consciousness is an independent entity which pervades and enlivens the body; Consciousness is not limited by the boundaries of the body; Consciousness survives even after the fall of the body; the surviving Consciousness is not accessible to us, not because it is absent, but because there is no medium for its manifestation. And that consciousness is Existence- Brahma and Sri Krishna describe the Consciousness by a special word used in the Upanishad, jyotisham mapi jyoti. Sri Krishna borrows Upanishadic expressions throughout, because whenever the topic of Brahman comes, one has to turn to the Upanishads. Everybody has to come to that.

What is the meaning of this word?  Jyotisham
jyoti means the light of all lights, just like in Kenopanishad,
the eye of the eye, the ear of the ear, the mind of the mind, similarly, light
of all lights.

In Vedanta, the word light is used in a technical sense, I have told you before, I would like to remind you in Vedanta light means that in whose presence things are known or recognized. Light is defined as that in whose presence things are known and from that standpoint, all the luminaries in the sky such as Surya, Chandra, Nakshatrani and vidhyut are called light. It means the sun, moon, the stars, as well as the lightning; all of them are called lights because in their presence we are able to know things. During the daytime, because of the sunlight alone, I am able to know what is in front of me. In the night, I recognize things with moonlight. And if it is amavasya night, then I have to use a fire to know things.  All of them are called lights because in their presence things are known. If the electric current goes off now, you are all there, but I cannot know you.

Now
extending this principle, the Upanishad says that every sense organ can also
be called light. Every sense organ also
can be called light; because in the presence of sense organs, things are known;
in their absence, things are not known. A blind man cannot see anything even if
the sun, moon, and electricity are present.

Similarly,
the ears are called light, because in the presence of the ears, the sound is known,
in its absence, sound is not known. Similarly, nose is a light; in the presence
of the nose, smells are known; in their absence they are not known. Thus every pramanam,
every instrument of knowledge is a light. Even
logic is a form of light, because through reasoning, I come to know things.

And
then the Upanishad says there
is a special chapter, section in Brihadaranya dealing with this subject matter. It
is called svayam jyoti
brahmanam. The Upanishad says even
words can be called light.

And suppose, there is a visitor in your house, and when he enters the power goes off; And he does not know where is what, in your house, and you are worried and then you give a verbal light; turn to the right, turn to the left, etc. and now he comes to know of the things in front of him; he is not using the flash light, nor electric light, not any other light, he cannot even use his eyes because of the pitch darkness, and he can be guided by vacha agnina. Brihadaranya says: words are lights.

And
coming from this direction, the Upanishad says the ultimate light is nothing but the consciousness principle, because in
the presence of consciousness alone, you can know everything and if
consciousness is not there, an inert thing cannot know anything. And therefore
the ultimate light in whose presence you can know everything, in whose absence
you do not know anything, that light is consciousness.

And if that light of consciousness is not there, then even the sun, the moon, etc. become useless, even if the sense organs are there, they are useless, even a wonderful brain cannot answer. So therefore the greatest brain,
the sense organs, the sun, moon, all the lights become meaningful, only when the
consciousness principle is there, and therefore consciousness is called the
light of all lights, the light in whose presence alone, the other lights become
meaningful. And therefore Sri Krishna says jyotishamapi tajjyoti. It is the
light of all lights.

Furthermore Sri Krishna says, param tamasah uchyate.
And this light is a unique light, the light of consciousness, with which you
can illumine or know even darkness. This is a very interesting thing you have
to know. If you take local light, that light can illumine everything. So the
light can illumine the wall, all your bodies, your head, this mike, the book,
the letter; the light can illumine everything, but that light cannot illumine
one thing; it cannot illumine darkness. If you take a flashlight to see
darkness, what happens?

Citing a story, Swami Chinmayananda says: some people went and
told Surya Bhagavan it seems that there is a very beautiful girl,
if you want to marry; and that girl’s name is Miss Darkness or Miss Night,
because in Sanskrit night is feminine gender and known as nisha;
ratri, etc. We even have a prayer in Veda,
called ratri suktham. A suktham is a prayer dedicated to ratri.
So, if you want, you can marry her. Surya Bhagavan
wanted to go and see Miss Night. And somebody said, she is on the other part of
the earth. And therefore Sun started travelling to reach the other side; Surya
Bhagavan, started going round; and he is still continuing this journey. He
wants to meet Miss Night. That is how Sunrise and sunset started. So sunlight
however powerful it might be, it cannot illumine darkness; whereas the
consciousness is the only unique light, which is capable of illumining, making
you know, what is darkness.

In the night, in darkness, how do you see? You are not seeing the
darkness through your eyes. Eyes can never see darkness because eyes stop
functioning when there is no light; if so, how can that I ever illumine
darkness, but still we are able to know and experience darkness. So how do we
gain the knowledge of darkness? We gain this knowledge by a unique method. The
consciousness alone illumines darkness when all other lights are opposed to
darkness, because when light is there, darkness will go away,

Consciousness is the unique light, which can co-exist with darkness.
And therefore it is said to be tamasa paramuchyate. The
meaning of word Param is unopposed to. Unopposed to and therefore only
absolute, is the light of consciousness.

This sad chit Brahman alone is in the form of everything. Sarvam Brahma mayam jagat. This formless existence, consciousness alone appears as this formed universe. A formless existence consciousness alone appears as the formed universe. You may ask, how is it possible? Again you have to go back to science alone. Just as formless energy gets converted into formed and tangible
matter. Energy is intangible and when energy is converted into matter, it becomes
tangible. And when matter is converted to energy, again it becomes intangible. So if intangible energy can appear as
tangible matter, Vedanta says, the non-tangible Brahman is the ultimate cause of
this universe and that alone appears as the tangible universe. It is jagat
karanam. It is in the form of everything. And therefore Gyanam, Gneyam, that
Brahman alone is Gyanam, Gyanam means the means of knowledge. So that through
which we come to know that means of knowledge is also Brahman and Gneyam, the
object that you know is also Brahman. Thus,
the subject is Brahman, the object is Brahman; the instrument is Brahman, sarvam Brahma mayam
jagat.

So Gyannam, Gneyam, and Gyana gamyam. And through this knowledge, BrahmaGyanam, the destination that you want to reach that destination is also Brahman. The knower is Brahman, the knowing instrument is Brahman, the known object is Brahman, and the destination you want to reach ultimately is also Brahman. In short, sarvam Brahma mayam jagat.

And
where should you discover that Brahman. Even though Brahman is everywhere, you
have to discover that Brahman only in a particular place. Like the electricity
is there all over the cable. It runs, it passes through, but if you want to
find out whether there is power or not, you only need to look at the fan,
electricity is not in the fan alone; is all over the cable, but to recognize it,
you look at the fan; or you look at the light; and suppose there is neither the
fan nor the light, where there is a plug point, with a tester it can be tested.
And once I test electricity in the plug point, I know that electricity is not
only there, but it is also throughout.

In
the same way, sat chit atma
Brahman is everywhere but if you want to recognize it, you require a plug
point; that plug point  (power outlet) is
each one of us. Even though
consciousness is everywhere, you recognize it only in your mind.  I recognize consciousness in my mind, you
recognize consciousness in your mind; but, I cannot recognize consciousness in
you, That you are conscious people,I
cannot see, because when I see a body and a dead body, I do not see the consciousness
in you. I see only the material body I do not see Consciousness. When you nod
your head, I assume that you are conscious and that you areaware of the words, and somehow you are managing to understand and
you are nodding the head out of understanding and not of dozing, because in
dozing also, the head shakes. Anyhow, I have to be optimistic; that you are not
sleeping.

Remember
I have no way of recognizing the consciousness in your body; That is why,
scientists are struggling to recognize the consciousness in the brains of
people; how consciousness is happening, any amount of brain research, they are
not able to understand, because it is not visible. Therefore, how do I understand consciousness? Only in
one way; I am a conscious being; for that I hope you wont ask for proof.

That I am conscious being is self-evident fact. And I am consciousness in my own mind, in what way? Being conscious of all the thoughts that arise in my mind, I am Conciousness; of the words that are coming from outside, which form thoughts in my mind, I am conscious; whether the words I understand or not, I am conscious.

Because
you say that you understand; you also say that I do not understand. And when
all these thoughts are resolved, and the mind goes blank, that blankness of
mind also I am conscious of. What is the proof; I am using the word blank.

What I have not experienced, I cannot talk about. The very fact that I am talking about mental blankness or mental blackout, I am able to talk, because I am Conscious of it.

And that consciousness is the vritti bhava abhava sakshi; the witness of the presence or the absence of thought in the mind is the consciousness and it is this Consciousness, which is in everyone’s mind and it, is this consciousness, which is in between the living beings also. Thus we have to go a long way to appreciate it.

Therefore
Sri Krishna says sarvasya hrdi
visthitam. visthitam means
available, literally it means present, present being accessible, available, and
recognizable. And Arjuna this is Gneyam Brahma. So with this, the fourth topic
is also over.

And incidentally one point you should remember is: the topic of kshetraGneyaha which we discussed in the beginning and the topic of Gneyam which we have just completed, both of them, are ultimately one and the same principle alone. KshetraGneyaha is Gneyam Brahma, jivatma the kshetraGneyaha, is the paramatma the Gneyam Brahma. Then the question is if both of them are one and the same; why do you use two words and confuse us. Normally itself it is difficult to understand; when why you confuse by using different expressions also. We say that this is not new to Vedanta and even in our daily transactions we have got different words to indicate one and the same substance. In fact, in Vishnu sahasranama, thousand names are used to reveal one Vishnu. And if you look at a home, in it, the same member of family is addressed by different names by different people, one calls her mother, another calls sister, another calls wife, another calls granny; so one and same substance can have different names, when the point of reference is different.

From the reference point, from the standpoint of the child, the man is father. From the standpoint of the wife, the very same man is the husband. Not that the stomach is father, the head is the husband. The whole person is the father and the whole person is the husband, the whole person is the brother; so when the angle differs, the nama differs; suppose one person says this is Adyar. Another person says that this is Tamil Nadu. Another person says that this is India. Another person says this is Asia. Who is correct? All are correct. When you are talking from the standpoint of local area of Tamilnadu, you call it Adayar. In the context of various States of India, you call it Tamil Nadu. When you are talking from the standpoint of different countries, you call it India. When the topic is in the context of continents, you call it Asia. When the topic is planet, you call it Earth. When the topic is solar system, this is the solar system. When it is galaxy, our galaxy is what, milky way. Same way, even though consciousness is all pervading, when you look at consciousness from the standpoint of the individual, consciousness obtaining in the body, the individual, we call it kshetragnya, the jivatma, from microcosmic standpoint, whereas the very same consciousness as the all pervading principle, macrocosm, we call it paramatma or Gneyam Brahma. Thus, kshetragnyam is Gneyam Brahma alone.

Shloka # 13.19:

Thus has been spoken of in brief the field as
also Knowledge and the Knowable. By understanding this My devotee becomes
alified for My state.

In
this shloka Sri Krishna is consolidating all his teachings of the six topics.
He says, I have discussed four topics and two more are remaining. This kind of
summary is a method of teaching known as Simhavalokanam Nyaya.

The Lion does like that, it seems. Just goes forward and makes sure that there is no challenger at all; I am the king of the forest; and everybody has to accept me; and having gone forward it looks around as having made sure that the portion covered, I have proved myself; then it goes forward. Similarly, the teacher has to give an opportunity to the student to think what has been covered and then go forward. And therefore Sri Krishna here says; O Arjuna, I have discussed four topics; They are:

(1)
Kshetram and (2) you
have to supply Kshetragnya, which
is not stated in shloka, but which goes together; and (3) Gyanam, is the third
topic and (4) Gneyam, the fourth topic.  Choktam means, I have
taught you briefly.

If
you want to know more details go to the Upanishads that deal with this subject matter
alone. And therefore, this is just a preview of the topic.

Thus,
Sri Krishna says, every seeker who is my devotee will certainly know this and
one of the conditions is he should be my bhaktha from which Sri Krishna
indicates Bhakthi is an important qualification for gaining self -knowledge. So
a Vedantic student
should be necessarily a devotee. Vedanta
teacher should also be a religious person and that is why in all our
scriptures, philosophy, religion and theology are mixed together. Whereas in
other systems; especially western, philosophy and theology are separated. But
in Vedanta, we insist, if you want the philosophical knowledge, you should
start with devotion. The discussion may be of pure formless truth; even though
the discussion is the ultimate truth, we keep the photo of the Lord and start with
the Sahanabhavathu prayer and also end with prayer, because without devotion,
Gyanam does not take place. There is no secular Vedanta. Even if somehow knowledge takes place for a
non-devotee, it remains an academic knowledge; he will just be an expert in the
Upanishads, but there
will be no transformation in his personality.

And,
therefore, Sri Krishna insists that you should be necessarily a devotee. In
fact, at the end of the 18th chapter, Sri Krishna
even gives a warning to every Gita teacher not to teach Gita to a person who is a non-religious person.

Therefore Sri Krishna here says: mat bhaktha, means he must be My devotee, which further means Ishwara bhaktha.  Such a devotee will necessarily gain the knowledge even if he feels that it is too subtle for understanding, as his devotion will refine his intellect. The second time he listens; he will understand better.

That is why Vedanta has to be listened to, again and again. First time listening certain aspects you will understand; next time some other will be cleared, and so on.

A
special Brahma sutra is dedicated for this subject. So, keep on listening.

What is the benefit he will get? Sri Krishna says,  he will also attain the same nature as mine. Just as I am ever free, he will also discover the eternal freedom, which is his very nature. So mat bhava means Brahma bhava, Ishvara bhava, which means poornatvam. Previously he considered himself to be a finite individual, now he does not have that problem. He knows I am the all-pervading Brahman. There is no sense of isolation. There is no sense of rejection. These emotions increase as we grow older and older because when we are younger, we can forget this samsara by diversion. Go to beach, or go to a movie, or move with friends you can be busy and forget samsara, but as we grow old, we have no escapist route, lying on the bed without able to get up; therefore no fear of that. How wonderful it is. I never feel lonely. I never feel rejected, because all are existing in Me. This purnatvam is the benefit of this knowledge. Therefore, Sri Krishna says, he will become qualified.

Shloka 13.20:

Know both Nature and also the individual soul
[Prakrti is sometimes translated as matter, and purusa as spirit.-Tr.] to be
verily without beginning; know the modifications as also the alities(reality)
as born of Nature.

In 19th verse, Sri Krishna has consolidated and concluded four topics. He now wants to discuss the last two topics of purusha and prakrti. And these two, he wants to discuss them together, because they are closely interconnected principles, just as Kshetram and Kshetragnya are closely interconnected. Shlokas 20-24 deal with purusha and prakrti. And this purusha and prakrti are very much similar to Kshetram and Kshetragnya. We saw Kshetram represents the matter principle and kshetragnya represents the consciousness principle. Vedanta takes consciousness as an independent principle, because as we have seen, Vedanta does not look upon consciousness as part or product of matter; therefore it is enumerated as a separate entity. Remember the example, even though I see one fan functioning, in my understanding there are two principles, one is the visible fan and the invisible electricity, which is a separate principle, which continues even when the fan stops. Similarly, when I look at you, it is not one principle but a mixture of two; the visible-matter-principle and the invisible consciousness principle; And in the seventh chapter, Sri Krishna used the word para prakrti and apara prakrti, para prakrti being consciousness and apara prakrti being matter. Now the same ideas are discussed again in the name of purusha and prakrti; purusha means chaitanya tatvam, the independent-consciousness-principle and prakrti means the matter-principle.

The
fundamental basic invisible matter can even be compared to energy. Energy is the
invisible version of matter. And about these two topics Sri Krishna is going to
talk details of which we will see in the next class.

Take away:

Brahman:

(Can you see; No. Can you hear; No. Can you touch; No. Can you taste; No. Where is it? It is everywhere).

So,
then it appears that it is void. It is positive bhava padarthaha and therefore
we have to make the mind subtler and subtler; ultimately grasping this is our
aim. Let it take months, let it take years; let is take janmas; ultimately, knowing
this Brahman, Gneyam or
unconceivable Brahman is our ultimate goal.

Nirgunam Brahma is the
very existence principle, which is everywhere, and not only that, it is the only
one.

Akasha
dhyanam is prescribed to make the intellect extremely subtle to understand
Brahman, which is subtler than even akasha.

Ultimate
light is nothing but the consciousness principle, because in the presence of
consciousness alone, you can know everything and if consciousness is not there,
an inert thing cannot know anything. And therefore the ultimate light in whose
presence you can know everything, in whose absence you do not know anything,
that light is consciousness.

And,
that consciousness is the vritti bhava abhava sakshi; the witness of the presence or the absence
of thought in the mind.

So
if intangible energy can appear as tangible matter, Vedanta says, the
non-tangible Brahman is the ultimate cause of this universe and that alone
appears as the tangible universe.

Even
though consciousness is everywhere, you recognize it only in your mind. 

Sri
Krishna even gives a warning to every Gita teacher not to teach Gita to a person who
is a non-religious person or one without bhakti.

With Best Wishes,

Ram Ramaswamy

Note: In this chapter
the numbering of shlokas can be different depending upon Gita book you are
reading. I am using Swamiji’s numbering.

Shloka # 15: 

Shining through the functions of all the organs,
(yet) devoid of all the organs; unattached, and verily the supporter of all;
without ality, and the perceiver of alities;

Arjuna
in this 13^th Chapter had asked Sri Krishna for clarification on the
six technical terms used; they were: Kshetram, Kshetragna, Gyanam, Gneyam, Prakrti
and Purushah. Sri Krishna
is explaining them one by one. He has explained three of them beginning with
Kshetram; now he is explaining the meaning of the fourth topic that is known as
Gneyam. Gneyam means Param Brahman. Gneyam is used to convey the meaning that
it is the ultimate truth knowing which one gets liberated. Such a Brahman is
being explained in shlokas 15-19. Sri Krishna is revealing Brahman as pure
existence. Existence and Consciousness are two words that have very different
meanings. According to Vedanta, Existence is a unique thing and everything that
describes Consciousness extends to Existence as well. Consciousness is not a
part, product, or property of matter.

Consciousness is an independent entity, which pervades and enlivens matter. Consciousness goes beyond the dimensions of matter or the body. Then, I said, consciousness survives even when the body is destroyed. And fifthly and finally I said that the surviving consciousness is not recognizable, not because it is not there, but because there is no body-medium for manifesting it. Just as if you do not see light in this point, not because light is absent here; but it is because there is no manifesting medium. The moment I keep the hand here, the light which was not manifest before, becomes manifest through the hand. Therefore hand is not producer of light, but hand is the medium, which manifests the light. Similarly, the surviving consciousness cannot be recognized because the manifesting medium is not there.

All
these five principles regarding the consciousness must be extended to the existence
principle also. Existence is with capital E, because according to Vedanta, existence
is the same as consciousness. And therefore all the five principles applicable
to consciousness will have to extend to existence as well. What are the five
principles? If we enumerate the principles, assimilation will take lot of time.

The
five principles are:

1. Existence is not part, product or property of body or an object.
2. Existence is an independent entity. It is the ultimate substance that pervades the body, and makes the body existent. Existence pervades the body and makes the body existent.
3. This existence extends beyond my body and is not limited by boundary of body. This existence, which pervades the body, extends beyond the periphery or the dimensions of the body; just as the light that falls on my body is not on my body alone, the light extends beyond my body; similarly, existence is not limited by the boundaries of the body.
4. This existence survives even after death of body. Just as the light that falls on the body will survive even if remove my hand. That is why in space travel, when they go beyond our atmosphere, you will have eternal darkness. There is no day night division at all. We are able to have day upon the earth because the earth has an atmosphere, which is capable of reflecting the sunlight; that is why we see the blue canopy. Blue canopy is nothing but sunlight’s blue-color scattered by dust particle. It is dust particle, scattering the blue color of the sunlight. You go beyond the atmosphere where the dust particle is not there to reflect, what you will experience is eternal darkness. Even when you see the Sun, between the Sun and you, in space travel, there is no nothing, no atmosphere, only darkness. So Vedanta says the existence survives even after the fall of the body.
5. Surviving existence is not recognizable, as a manifesting media is not there.

That
existence consciousness is the Brahman and that Brahman, O Arjuna are you. Tat
Tvam Asi.

So
you have to travel a lot. First you have to conceive a pure existence. Then appreciate
it as pure consciousness. Then you should claim that the pure existence consciousness
is I, myself. This is tat tvam asi. It is not an easy topic. And therefore Sri Krishna
adopts a method, which is used in Vedanta. What is the method? Say, I want to
show you or teach you what is the light. But I am not able to show you the pure
light, because light without medium cannot be demonstrated. So, what should I
do? I put my hand here. What do I want to teach? Not about hand but about
light.

Therefore
I introduce my hand and ask what do you see? You will say only hand. Then I
have to tell you that that it is not the hand alone, there is something other
than the hand, and because of that alone you are able to see the hand, etc; if
I say so for half an hour, you will say that there are two things; hand and the
pervading light. There, afterwards, I have to tell you, please focus your
attention on the light and forget the hand; So I introduce the hand, through
the hand introduce the light, and thereafter quietly withdraw the hand and then
I tell you that, in that place, where the hand was, there continues the
formless light principle and what is that formless light principle; it is that
because of which the hand is recognized. So
introduce the hand, introduce the light; remove the hand and reveal the pure
light.

This method of
teaching is adhyaropa-apavada nyaya. Introducing the hand is called adhyaropa
and after revealing the light, removal of the hand is called apavada. In fact, this
we do all the time. Suppose I ask you, please get me some water, and then you went
and brought me a cup of water; and I get angry with you as guru; I have a privilege
to get angry. Therefore I tell: What did I ask? Water; I never asked you to bring
the cup. Why did you bring the cup? Then what will the Shishya think? I thought
Guru is sane; but he seems to have some problem. How can I bring water alone;
water requires a container to communicate/transfer. And therefore, for the sake
of communication/transaction/transference, we keep the container; so that
shishya brings water with the container, I also take the water with the
container, then when I drink, what do I do? The shishya knows, the guru knows, the cup is
only used for transferring the water; I take the water part and leave the
container. Similarly, pure existence can never be understood. So you introduce
an object and appreciate the object plus existence and having gathered the
knowledge of existence; what do you do, you remove the container and container
is the object, nama rupa. Mike IS;
Minus mike is, IS. Table IS. Minus table is what: IS. Therefore, understand
existence with the world, adhyaropa; and then
retaining the existence, remove/dismiss the world, it is called apavadha. And this
method Sri Krishna is using here. This existence is all the time appreciated by
you through all the sense organs. The existence is manifest and is recognized
through every sensory operation. Just as light is recognized, when I see the
clip.

At the same time, the existence or Brahman is free from all the sense organs or objects. It means that sense organs are not the intrinsic nature of Brahman. Light is Illuminating the hand; and because of the hand, light is visible to us. But you know that the hand is not an intrinsic part of the light. Light is not the intrinsic part of the hand as well. If hand were intrinsic part of light, what will happen? Wherever light is there, there will be hand.

Thus
you appreciate existence through the mike, but mike is not intrinsic part of Brahman.
Thus you appreciate existence through
the world but the world itself is not an intrinsic part of Brahman. Therefore
Brahman is world-free and free from all the sense organs.

This existence Brahman accommodates and supports everything. It is sarvadharam. How do you know that; because of that alone, everything is existent. Every object enjoys existence only because of Brahman, just as gold alone lends existence to all ornaments. Brahman alone is sarvadharam.

Brahman is free from all the objects of the World; that means those objects are not innate part of Brahman. Asaktam means like akasha. Akasha supports everything but nothing is an intrinsic part of it. So everytime you take water with the glass, it is adhyaropa, and when you leave the glass after drinking the water, it is apavada.

Then Gunabhoktr means it is associated with all the properties; how do you know; because you say, every property IS. That IS represents association. Green color IS. ISness is associated with the property.

 Now, the properties are not the intrinsic nature of Brahman. So the nearest example you can have is the screen and the movie. All the movie objects are associated with the screen, at the same time, screen is free from all those movie objects. If it is the movie Towering Inferno; the fire in the movie is associated with the screen, but the screen is not affected by the fire; that is why at the end of the movie, screen is still present; as far as screen is concerned, there is no fire; and suppose you see the movie Titanic; the ship sinking scene is throughout the movie, water you have seen on the screen; and at the end of every show, but you still have a dry screen. No, the wettest movie will not make the screen wet; the dry screen continues to be driest, even when you have water. Similarly, Brahman accommodates all, but from Brahman’s standpoint, they are not there, intrinsically. So nirgunam. That Brahman is said to be nirgunam

Shloka # 16:

Existing outside and inside all beings; moving
as well as non-moving, It is incomprehensible due to subtleness. So also, It is
far away, and yet near.

So the existence consciousness Brahman is not only in the Body, but it is outside it as well. It is both within and without. Remember the example, light is upon the hand also, light is beyond the hand as well. Then the question will come; how come I see the light only on the hand; what answer will you say. That is because of reflecting medium; upon the hand, light is manifest light; in Sanskrit, it is vyaktha prakasha, beyond the hand, the light exists, but in what form; in unmanifest form; In Sanskrit, Avyaktha prakasha. Wherever people are sitting, it is vyaktha prakasha. In this fan in vyatha prakasham, in that fan, vyaktha prakasham, in between the two fans, it is avyaktha prakasha. I am talking about the light, the prakasha is, but in what form; unmanifest, but if you put any object in between it will become vyaktham.

Similarly, the Upanishad says Consciousness is in this body; consciousness is in the other body. Between the two bodies too, consciousness IS. Similarly existence is  here, there and in between as well. In fact, even when you say, nothing is; Nothing ….. IS; there also you are talking about Is. You can never think of the absence of existence anywhere. Even when you talk about total blankness, what will you say, there is blankness; there also IS.

And because this concept is very subtle, instead of using the word sat, chit, etc. we use the word Rama, Krishna, Narayana etc. These we can conceive and appreciate because there is form. We do not question ourselves, if Narayana is with shanka, chakra, etc.

If Narayana has to be both inside and outside, he has to be formless existence alone. You can never think of an all-Pervading Narayana, unless you can think of pure existence. And, therefore, bahirantasca bhutanam. Bhutani means all living beings.

And
acaram carameva ca. It is
moving and it is non-moving. So it is moving and it is non-moving. How to
understand this? If it is moving, it cannot be nonmoving.

Both
are diagonally opposite. How do you say it is both? The answer is: It is really
non-moving; but it is seemingly moving when the medium moves and it is the
medium, which manifests. Let us take the example itself. The all-pervading
light does not move at all. Light is all over the hall. It does not move. It
cannot move as well. But what happens? When I keep the hand here, you are able
to see the light here and imagine I am moving the hand; the visible light has come
to this point now. Again I move to another place, the visible light has moved
to that point. As the medium, the reflecting medium moves, it appears as though
the light is also moving. This is an aberration; there is a seeming feeling of
movement, exactly like when we are coming to Madras, after a vacation by train;
what do you say: Madras has come. You are travelling by train; You have crossed
Bassein Bridge and when the Madras station comes, you jump to the platform and
say at last Madras has come. Does Madras come and go. It does not come. The
arrival of the train, the movement of the train is falsely transferred to the
place Madras. The movement of the earth is transferred to the Sun. Even in the
newspaper you see, Sunrise 6.15, sunset 6.45, etc. You know the Sun never rises
or sets. It is stationary.

What
is happening? The attribute of one thing is transferred to the other. Similarly
what do we do; the movement of the hand is falsely transferred to the light and
therefore the light appears to be moving. You would have seen the Lighthouse
from the beach. I always thought that there are three lights; powerful lights
are kept; spot light or something; thus we see three beams moving or rotating.
I thought that there are 3 lights that are moving. But, I read in a book, and
it says: three lights are not there; there is only light. And not only that,
that one light too, does not move. So there is one non-moving light; but what
is my experience. Ekam
is becoming anekam; achalam is
becoming chalam. So I read later that there is only one motionless powerful
light in the middle and there is a device around the light; and that device has
three holes; and that device is moving.

And therefore what do we do; the motion and the number belonging to the device we falsely transfer to the light. All these topics are very elaborately discussed in Vedanta. This is called dharma adhyasa. Property of one transferred to other. When we feel gloomy, we say today was a gloomy day. Day is the same. Something is bad with me, so I say the day is gloomy. Black day, etc. Day is neither black, nor white nor gloomy. Whatever I feel, I transfer and ascribe it to the day. Similarly the Upanishads say that the body travels; the mind travels, the jivarsis travel; but the consciousness, the Existence does not travel. But it seems to travel along with the medium. Therefore acharam means motionless and charam means seemingly moving, because of the transference of the property.

And
durastham chantike ca tat; second
line, last portion. That Brahman is far away. Durastham means far away. Then we will decide; we
have to start because it is far away and that too Vaikuntha, so much distance
is there; And not only they say it is far away, they say, if you take two steps
forward, Bhagavan will take
four steps towards you. All these they tell when they talk about Bhakthi and we
also enjoy it. Five feet we take and Karunamurthy takes ten feet and tears roll down
our eyes on the compassion of the Lord, etc. It is all OK, as long as, you do
not use your Buddhi. If Bhagavan
has to come near me by travelling, that Bhagavan cannot be all pervading. Daily we
would be saying also Ananthaya
Nama, Ananthaya Nama, etc. In one
place, one direction, we say that Bhagavan is all pervading; and at the same time,
we thoughtlessly say that Bhagavan will take 10 steps when you take two steps
towards him.

Therefore durastham, we have a wrong concept that Bhagavan is far away and therefore Sri Krishna says that antike ca tat. When you say Bhagavan is far away. how should you understand it? Whenever anyone says that Bhagavan is in Vaikuntha, what should you say is, Bhagavan is in vaikuntha also. Bhagavan is in Kailasa also. That also means what: he is in vaikuntha also, kailasam also, bhulokha also, Adayar also, Vidya Mandir also, the lecture hall also; and he is also in the mat in which I am sitting; which means that He is in your heart also. So durastham cantike ca tat. Brahman is far and near; in short Brahman is everywhere.

Shankaracharya gives another interpretation. For a wise person, Brahman is nearest, because he knows that Brahman is not away from me. For an ignorant person, Brahman is far away; because he continues his search; going on and on and on. So for an ignorant person, it is far away. For a wise person, Brahman is nearest, nearest is not the word; He is one with me.

Then
comes the final question. If Brahman is everywhere, how come I do not recognize
that Brahman?

 Sri Krishna answers: Sukshmatvat; Even though Brahman is everywhere it is of the subtlest nature, which means that it is free from attributes; attributes alone help me recognize things. When an object produces a sound, I can recognize through the ears; if the object has got a touch, I can recognize through the skin. If it has got form or color, I can recognize through the eyes. Attribute alone helps me recognize.

And Brahman is sukshmam; meaning one without attributes; and therefore, avijneyam, extremely difficult to comprehend. Lesser the attributes, more incomprehensible a thing becomes; More the attributes; the easier to understand. And that is why when you take the pancha bhutani; akasha, vayu, agni, jalam, prithvi, you will find that prithivi, the earth is the grossest thing you can recognize, because it can be recognized through shabda, sparsha, rupa, rasa and gandha. All the five are there; When you come to water, it has got only four attributes; shabda, sparsha, rupa, rasa. Water does not have smell.

So, water is Smell-less. Only four attributes; therefore it can be recognized only through four sense organs. Agni has three attributes: shabda, sparsha, rupa. Agni does not have taste. If you have doubt, taste it. You do not have to taste Agni; taste over heated coffee. You cannot taste anything for an hour later. Agni has got three elements and three attributes can be recognized through the sense organs.

Vayu has become
still subtler. It has got only shabda
and sparsha. That is
sound and touch; no form. If you want to teach what is air to a child, you will
have a tough time.

And
when you come to akasha, it does not have
rupa, rasa,
gandha, all these things; akasha is supposed
to have only shabda, means the
echoing capacity. And that is why akasha has only one property and therefore
it is very difficult understand.

Even
now science does not know what is space. They are coming up with various theories,
sometimes they had the theory of ether; sometimes that it is emptiness,

Now
they say it is a positive thing; particle just comes out of space that means it
is not an empty space. Space is a positive matter. Einstein says: space is a
curved elastic matter. We are not able to conceive of it at all. Because the
lesser the properties, the subtler the thing, and we say Brahman is subtler
than even akasha.

Therefore
comprehending Brahman is going to be the toughest job. And, therefore, Sri
Krishna says, if you do not understand, it is not your mistake; it is the mistake
of Brahman. Why should Brahman come like that? Can’t He have come and jump in
front of us. The problem is with Brahman.! Sukshmatvat tat avijneyam.

It
is difficult to comprehend. This is Gneyam.

Shloka # 17:

And the Knowable, though undivided, appears to
be existing as divided in all beings, and It is the sustainer of all beings as
also the devourer and originator.

So that Brahman is indivisible, like space which cannot be
divided; that Brahman, the pure existence-consciousness, is vibhaktam; na
vibhaktam; vibhaktam means division, it is indivisible. Therefore he says.  avibhaktam,
it is undivided and at the same time, bhutesu vibhaktham iva sthitham. It is
seemingly divided. It is really undivided but it is seemingly divided, Why is
it seemingly divided; Consciousness is all pervading, but we experience
consciousness only where the body-medium is available. So therefore, ‘here’ consciousness
can be recognized, in another living being consciousness can be recognized, but
in between them the consciousness is not recognizable. Therefore what will be
our conclusion; it will be, there is one consciousness here and there is
another consciousness there; And therefore how many consciousness’s are there;
So many;

Therefore there is a seeming division, but the fact is consciousness is in between as well, in an unrecognizable form, but wherever body is, it is recognized. You can see the light; here one, there one, but in between there is no light. We therefore might commit a mistake that the light is also two. But what is the real understanding?

Divisions belong to the fingers but the division does not belong
to the light. Here there is visible light; between the fingers, there is
invisible light. Therefore, light is continuously there; in pockets visible; in
pockets not visible.

And therefore, he says, it is seemingly divided. Again remember
the lighthouse example. There is only one light; but it seems to be three
lights.

And such a Brahman is Jagat Srishti laya karanam. Out of that pure Brahman alone, all names and forms of the universe have originated and they exist and they dissolve into that Brahman. Out of that Brahman alone all the nama rupa has come.

And
that Brahman is Jagat Srishti Sthiti Laya Karanam. Everything dissolves into
that Brahman. Brahman is sthiti karanam.

Take away:

So introduce the hand, introduce the light; remove the hand and reveal the pure light. This method of teaching is adhyaropa-apavada nyaya.

Thus
you appreciate existence through the world but the world itself is not an
intrinsic part of Brahman. Therefore Brahman is world-free and free from all
the sense organs.

With Best Wishes,

Ram Ramaswamy

Note: In this chapter
the numbering of shlokas can be different depending upon Gita book you are
reading. I am using Swamiji’s numbering.

Shloka # 13:

I shall speak of that which is to be known, by
realizing which one attains Immortality. The supreme Brahman is without any
beginning. That is called neither being nor non-being.

From
shloka # 13 onwards Sri Krishna is discussing the fourth topic of Gneyam.

Gneyam
means that which is to be known by everyone; the ultimate truth, without this
knowledge one can’t obtain immortality. So, every human being must have this
knowledge that is also known as Param Brahman. And every human being wants to
conquer mortality, and therefore every human being should necessarily gain this
knowledge. This Param Brahman is discussed in all Upanishads and that knowledge
is called Brahma Vidya. Now Sri Krishna wants to give us the essence of
Upanishads in shlokas # 13-19; it is the Upanishad Sara or Brahma vidya.

Shloka # 14:

That (Knowable), which has hands and feet
everwhere, which has eyes, heads and mouths everywhere, which has ears
everywhere, exists in creatures by pervading them all.

In
Upanishads, Brahman is revealed as ultimate substance out of which Universe is
made of.

It
is the ultimate content of universe. Science is also trying to find this
substance. Once they said 100 elements made up the universe; then they tried to
find out content of elements and found molecules; digging further they found molecules
were made of invisible atoms in motion. While atoms are invisible, together,
they create this tangible universe. Digging down further they found even atoms
were made of sub-atomic particles.

Then the particles also, they tried to divide further, and they said energy, the intangible energy is the ultimate stuff of the universe. Thus they are going deeper and deeper, and their aim is what, to find out, what is the basic, ultimate substance. And the interesting thing that we see is as you go deeper and deeper, the visible becomes the invisible. The tangible becomes the intangible. The concrete becomes the abstract. Therefore we come to know that the ultimate substance must be intangible, formless and abstract substance. And what is that final abstract substance, the scientists have not yet arrived at; they are still in the process of enquiry.

Vedanta has analyzed the same subject matter and Vedanta has arrived at the ultimate substance and Vedanta calls it Brahman. Brahman is the basic substance of this creation, and the being the ultimate substance, it is going to be abstract, it is going to be intangible; it is going to be invisible; it is ashabdam, asparsham, arupam, arasam and avyayam. And, therefore, understanding that Brahman is going to be a relatively tougher prospect. So we are going to analyze a substance, which is not available for seeing, hearing, smelling, touching and therefore this portion are going to be abstract. Therefore, it looks like a jumble of words because we try to concretely conceive of something, but we are not discussing a concrete and tangible thing. But still if you go on dwelling upon this teaching, slowly, the words will begin to make sense but it requires lot of intellectual acclimatization.

So to understand Brahman, it requires certain Acclimatization, therefore, for new students, this topic will look like a bunch of words, but do not be disappointed, but slowly if you dwell on, it will make sense.

How
should we approach this topic? Normally, we have seen a lot of substances in the
world. So when we see a person, you qualify him/her as tall, lean, fat, fair
etc.

We use a noun and an adjective. An adjective generally refers to a property like tall, short, fat, fair, round and in English, adjective, refers to properties of an object. And generally, the noun, like the tall tree, the fat man etc.; refer to substance. Adjectives reveal properties and attributes, while nouns reveal substances. This is where we have to begin. Adjectives reveal properties and nouns reveal substances; this is one thing we generally experience.

Now
there is another experience we have, which also we have to notice. When I say a
fat man, a tall tree, a round object, etc.; this is what I experience. Now I
will give you another set of words; I say there is a golden bangle; there is a
wooden chair. When I say Golden bangle, golden is adjective; and bangle is the
noun. And when I say wooden chair, wooden is adjective; chair is noun.

Now in this particular case, when I say golden bangle, the word golden does not refer to a property, even though the word is an adjective; here in this unique and peculiar case, the world golden refers to the very substance of the bangle. So, Golden refers to the substance gold and not a property. And when I say a wooden chair, the word wooden is an adjective, but it still is not referring to a property; the word wooden here means the substance is nothing but wood.

And therefore in this particular case, adjective reveals a substance and not a property. Whereas, when I say a tall person, adjective reveals a property, tallness. but when I say golden bangle, adjective reveals a substance. Therefore rule No.1, I want to convey is that: an Adjective can reveal either a property or a substance. Both possibilities are there.

Similarly, when I say golden bangle, the word bangle is a noun. But even though the word bangle is a noun, really speaking, it does not reveal a substance at all; because there is no substance called bangle, there is only the substance called gold; bangle is a noun, but still it does not reveal a substance. If bangle is not a substance, then what does it reveal? If you analyze, Gold when it is in a particular form or shape, that shape alone is called bangle. Similarly when you say golden ring, there is no substance called ring; ring is the name of a particular shape. Similarly when you say wooden chair, there is no substance called chair; chair is the name of a particular shape alone.

Here
the name of the substance is wood alone. Similarly, bangle is a form; chain is
a form, ring is a form.

So we have two examples, in example No.1, tall tree; adjective reveals property; Noun reveals substance. When I say golden bangle, adjective reveals the substance; the word bangle reveals not a substance but a particular form. That is why when form is changed, bangle is gone. Therefore the word bangle refers to the property. And therefore Vedanta says adjectives can reveal either a property of a substance. Similarly, nouns can also reveal either a property or a substance. Should I remind you of the four examples:

Adjective
reveals property such as Tall, fat etc.

Adjective
reveals the substance such as golden, wooden etc.

What
is the example for noun revealing the substance? Tree.

What
is the example for noun revealing the property? Bangle.

Now Vedanta comes to this world. All this is only example. Now only we are coming to the original. When I experience a world, I say here is a book, and here is a fan; and there is a wall; there is a man; there is a woman. So when I experience the world, I refer to everyone as there is a man; there is a woman, there is a table, there is a chair. What is common to all of them: It is, It is, It is, and the verb “IS” refers to the existence of the world. When I say there is a clock, it means clock is existent. When I say there is a planet, the planet is existent. Therefore, every object that I experience is existent such as: existent tree, existent man, existent woman. Whatever I experience is, existent, existent, existent. If anything is nonexistent, then I will not experience it. Therefore everything that you experience in the world is an existent object. Everything is existent.

In
Sanskrit they say: San ghataḥ;
san phata; sat patram; san purushaha; san or sat means,
existent-object.

Now
when I say an existent tree, an existent man, an existent woman, etc. what is the
noun and what is the adjective in this?

When
I say existent-man, existent-woman, table, chair, sun, moon, stars, etc. the
word existent is adjective; and man, woman, table, chair, sun, moon, etc. are
nouns. So the word existent is adjective and every object is a noun.

Now
Vedanta asks the
question, if the word existent is an adjective, and if the word man, woman,
sun, moon, etc. are nouns, tell me what type of adjective it is and what type
of noun is it? And why this question, because previously we saw, an adjective can
either reveal a property or it can reveal a substance.

Generally,
until we come to Vedanta, our general conclusion is world is the substance and
the word existent is an attribute or property; this will be our general
assumption.
 Vedanta,
however, says that is the handiwork of maya. Maya
makes you commit a very big blunder. It makes me think that the word “existent”,
an adjective, is revealing an attribute and the world is the substance. Vedanta says that
is not correct.

According
to Vedanta, the word
‘existent’ reveals the basic substance just as the word golden reveals the
substance. It reveals a substance and the substance is called existence.
According to Vedanta, it is also
called Sat Brahma. Chandoyga Upanishad begins its teaching with this topic. According to this
Upanishad, the basic
substance is existence and existence is not an attribute of an object, but it
is the fundamental absolute substance. And being the fundamental absolute
substance, it is invisible, it is intangible and it is the abstract principle.

And
therefore according to Vedanta, the whole
world is not a substance at all. Just as chair is not a substance, the desk is also
not a substance; thus when I am touching the desk, I am not touching the desk
at all, rather I am touching the wood alone.

There
is no substance called desk; no substance called table; no substance called chair.
Therefore Vedanta says world
is nama rupatmakam.

Brihadarnyaka Upanishad says, the whole world is different names, different forms and different functions; there is no substance called world. Bangle is a name, given to a particular form, to serve a particular function. If it is a bangle name and form, what is its function? To decorate the hand; If its name is chain and what is its function; decorating the neck; if it is a ring name and form, the function is decorating the finger; there is no substance called bangle, chain, ring, etc. and the substance is gold and how many gold’s are there; gold is ekam, one gold alone.

Applying
this principle, Vedanta says
existence is the only basic substance, and everything else is name, form and
functions.
So when you are experiencing a bangle, you are really experiencing gold alone,
which is the only substance. When you are experiencing the ring, you are
experiencing the gold alone, the fundamental substance. Similarly, when you are
experiencing the world, you are experiencing only one fundamental substance
which is inherent in all of them. That substance is IS, IS, IS, IS.

Shakaracharya
says all this, in a, one line shloka, when you are experiencing different
ornaments you are experiencing gold. Similarly, when you are experiencing
world, it is existence. That existence is Brahman. Therefore, we experience
Brahman everywhere.

In
this experience I have a small difficulty. I am experiencing existence with
different names and forms (tree, chair etc). Is-ness is not experienced in a
pure form. Through sense organs I experience nama rupa sat. Sense organs can
reveal only nama rupa.

So,
how can I experience pure existence? By filtering out nama rupa? Once you
filter out nama rupa, only pure existence should be there. But if I remove nama
rupa, sense organs can’t experience existence.

How
to do so? Close all sense organs to remove nama rupa and let only basic
substance or pure existence remain. How to experience pure existence?

Chandogya Upanishad’s 6th chapter is the most well known section of the entire Upanishadic literature, because it begins with pure existence and the student is now eager to know how to experience the pure existence. The teacher says: Oh Student, you can never experience the pure existence, because it is never an object of experience. Then the student raises his eyebrows; if I can never objectify the pure existence, how do I know it is there? Then the teacher gives the well-known statement of the Upanishad. Teacher answers, pure existence can’t be objectified. It is nothing but you the Witnessing Consciousness. It is you, the Seer. Hence the saying, Tat Tvam Asi or Aham Brahma Asmi. My nature is Existence Consciousness. This is essence of Vedanta.  You have to go on dwelling on this teaching that I am the ultimate substance; I am sat and I am chid; and the whole world is nama and rupa resting upon me.

When
this is said, it will be very difficult to swallow. And that is why scientists are
not able to find because they are looking for the substance; but they are not
going to come across the substance, why? They
are not able to come across the substance, because the searcher is the searched
for object. It is extremely difficult to swallow that I am the
substance.

And to help us accept this truth; the Upanishad gives a well-known example, and that example is our dream experience. When I am dreaming, and seeing varieties of objects giving me happiness, giving me sorrow, giving me fear, what does it mean?

Dream is capable of frightening you. And imagine you are in a dream and you are seeing terrible things and in the dream a dream guru comes and tells: you do not be frightened of all these things; you are the essence of this dream world, the dream has come out of you, the dream is resting on you, on waking up the dream will resolve; if he says this in the dream, it is unbelievable. It is so realistic. But on waking up, he knows there is no dream river, dream man, dream object; none of them exist separate from me-the-waker. Vedanta tells us that world is just another dream channel.

Now it is unbelievable; it is very difficult to accept that I am the substance, but the ultimate truth is I (not this body, because body is also part of this world only), I, the witness, sakshi chaitanyam; I am the substance of the dream world; Similarly, during the time of our ignorance, it is unbelievable, it is difficult to accept that I am the substance; but according to Vedanta, I am the salt of the earth. And that I is Brahman, that Brahman is existent and that existent Brahman alone appears as the world with different nama rupa. And when Brahman, the existence, the only substance, appears with different nama Rupa’s, it is called Vishva rupa Ishvara.  It is the name of Brahman, the existence, which is along with all the names and forms. Therefore, the one Brahman alone has become you, me, that and this, etc. This is the teaching here.

The
Shloka says: That existence pervades everything. As we used Is to describe an
object. It has eye, head, face; it is everywhere with ears, it pervades
surroundings, everything.

Shloka # 15: 

Shining through the functions of all the
organs, (yet) devoid of all the organs; unattached, and verily the supporter of
all; without ality, and the perceiver of alities;

All the sense organs are revealing that Brahman all the time; for example, the eyes can reveal only colors; they cannot reveal sound; ears reveal only sound; and when I experience sound, I do not experience colors; When I experience colors, I do not experience smell; Therefore Shabda, sparsha, etc. are mutually exclusive; shabda comes sparsha is not there, rupam comes, sparsha is not there; but all the sense organs experience one thing commonly. It is that sound IS: when you hear, sound IS: Similarly, when you use the eye, the form IS: therefore all sensory operations, uniformly reveal that Brahman alone, all sensory operations uniformly reveal that Brahman alone in the form of shabda san, sparsha san, rupam sat, etc. But the problem is you are attracted by nama rupa, and you lose sight of the inherent existence in all of them. Therefore, what should you do to experience Brahman? Sri Krishna says, you are experiencing Brahman alone every moment. When you say, shabda IS, sparsha IS, rupam IS. But because of mixture, because of mixing up of nama and rupa, we are absorbed in nama rupa and lose sight of this fundamental truth and therefore we require a sensitive and subtle intellect to appreciate that.

Take away:

As you go deeper and deeper, the visible becomes the invisible. The tangible becomes the intangible. The concrete becomes the abstract. Therefore we come to know that the ultimate substance must be intangible, formless and abstract substance.

Vedanta says
existence is the only basic substance, and everything else is name, form and
functions.

Scientists
are not able to come across the substance, because the searcher is the searched
for object.

During
the time of our ignorance, it is unbelievably difficult to accept that I am the
substance; but according to Vedanta, I am the
salt of the earth.

With Best Wishes,

Ram Ramaswamy

Greetings,

Gita, Class # 171, Ch. 13, 6/29/19

Note: In this chapter
the numbering of shlokas can be different depending upon Gita book you are
reading. I am using Swamiji’s numbering.

Shloka # 11:

And unwavering devotion to Me with
single-minded concentration; inclination to repair into a clean place; lack of
delight in a crowd of people;

Continuing his teaching
Swamiji said,
from
Shloka # 8-# 12, Sri Krishna is dealing with topic of Gyanam. Gyanam in the
shloka means all virtues of mind that are conducive to attainment of knowledge.
Any virtue that makes mind eligible to receive spiritual knowledge is Gyanam.
Now in Shloka # 11, Bhakti or devotion to Lord is being emphasized. Only with
Bhakti is Gyana yoga possible. Even Karma yoga requires bhakti, as does Upasana
yoga. Thus in Ch.12 each of these yogas were named Bahkti Yoga. Thus we have:

Karma
Yoga: is Bhakti Yoga stage 1

Upasana
Yoga: is Bhakti Yoga stage 2

Gyana
yoga: is Bhakti Yoga stage 3; because Gyana yoga

also requires the background of bhakti, therefore Sri Krishna says: mayi bhakti, devotion towards me. Here the word Mayi does not refer to Sri Krishna as a person, but it refers to the Lord who can be invoked in any form that you like.

When
Sri Krishna prescribes Bhakti as a necessary condition for Gyanam, what kind of
Bhakti is he prescribing? It can’t be Gyani bhakti, as only an Agyani has to
perform such a bhakti. Artha, artharthati bhaktas are also not seeking self-knowledge;
Artha Bhakta is one who is in crisis and and is seeking freedom from crisis. He
can’t even study Vedanta properly. Artharthi Bhakta is only into it for artha
alone. So, only Jignyasu bhakta is left. In Ch.7 we saw God can be used as a
means for worldly ends or he can be looked upon as an end, himself. So, in this
bhakti, God is an end in himself.

And
if I have to choose God as the end or destination, I should have the maturity
enough to understand that everything other than God is perishable and therefore
they annot give what I want. Thus, this bhakthi requires vairagyam towards the
world; and without vairagyam, this bhakthi is impossible. Therefore, viveka
janya, vairagya janya
bhakthi is devotion, in which I know God alone can give me poornatvam,
security, fulfillment, etc.

And
that Bhakthi, Sri Krishna calls avyabhicharini bhakti, a
devotion which is unswerving, unflinching and one pointed. And with undivided
attention, even when the worldly transactions are going, and even when the
worldly responsibilities are fulfilled, this devotee remembers that my goal is
something else. So now and then, he should be reminded, what is the purpose of
this life.

Often
people ask what is the purpose of this life. Poornatvam prapthi is the purpose of this life. I
have to keep on expanding enough to reach a stage beyond which I should not be
able to expand, i.e., possible only in infinitude and that poornatvam is the goal.
And reminding it off and on, is ananya yoga bhakthi and that is very important.

Viviktadeshasevitvam:

This
is also considered to be an important virtue that means resorting to a secluded
place, now and then.

Developing
the habit of going to a secluded place and, resorting to solitude, in which I
do not have anyone around. And I do not even carry a walkman.

And
here, I should find out whether I could confront myself. So more than facing
other people in the society, I should ask a question whether I could face
myself, whether I can accept myself, as these problems will surface, only when
I am alone. In fact, seclusion introduces me to myself. And in fact the
fundamental problem of samsara also we come to know only when we are alone,
otherwise we try to escape ourselves through various diversions. A
materialistic society is one, which provides maximum diversions as well. And
the more you take to diversion, the less you diagnose your problem, and if you
do not diagnose the problem, how will you work for a solution. Therefore,
solitude is to know more about myself, and my problems. And this solitude has
got another purpose as well; it is also an expression of Samsara. Samsara expresses in
different forms; in the form of anxiety, in the form of fear; in the form of
security; there are several versions of samsara, and one expression of samsara is the sense of loneliness. And this
problem of loneliness can attack any person at any time in life. And this can
happen in the middle age, when the children leaves the nest or when children go
out for either studies or they are married or as we grow old the people who around
us start leaving. Thus loneliness is a potential problem, which can attack any
human being at any time. And you have to learn to face it well ahead and not
when it comes.

And therefore
better learn to be alone; better learn to enjoy solitude. And what is the best
method; once in a while, just go for a walk, without walkman. Go for a walk,
sit on the beach; do not take any friend or anyone. And find out
how you feel. Old age will be wonderful if you have learned to tackle
loneliness. It is wonderful because, the loneliness can be made use of, for vedantic nidhidhyasanam.

So why can’t we go through the training rehearsal to gracefully grow old. The best rehearsal is learn to enjoy Solitude, not eternally, but once in a while, be alone and see what happens.

Does
it mean that one should not enjoy company? Sri Krishna says, don’t get addicted to people’s company. We are mentally
weak when we can’t spend time in solitude.

And
Shankaracharya in his
commentary notes that it is OK, if the association is with satpurushah because they
will guide you properly. Any other place, you should be careful.

Shloka # 12:

Steadfastness in the knowledge of the Self,
contemplation on the Goal of the knowledge of Reality-this is spoken of as
Knowledge. Ignorance is that which is other than this.

Tattvajnanarthadarshanam   

Then the next virtue; in the first line in the second word, tattvagyanarthadarshanam. All these virtues or values are prescribed for the sake of Gyana yogyatha prapthi. And by gaining the eligibility for knowledge one gets Gyanam itself. And if I have to have a value for Gyana yogyatha, then I should have a value for Gyanam as well.

The more value I have with regard to the end, and then I will have the value for the means as well. So the love of the means is directly proportional to the love of the end. And therefore, these virtues I will value, if I have a value for Gyanam. Then, when will I have value for Gyanam? That I will have, only if I know the benefit of Gyanam.

Tattva Gyana artha means Gyana phalam, I should know what will I get out of this knowledge. Otherwise I will wonder why should I study and know. And that is why, of and on, Sri Krishna mentions to us the benefit of this knowledge.

The main
benefit, given in the second chapter, is that I am comfortable with myself,
irrespective of external conditions.

Things
may be favorable or may not be favorable but since I have psychological immunity
and I am not vulnerable to mood disorders.  So, therefore, I am not vulnerable to external
conditions, I am ever balanced. And Gyanam is the one that gives me emotional immunity.
The more I appreciate this fact, the more I will have value for Gyanam. And the
more I have value for Gyanam, the more I will have value for Gyana yogyatha. So, from
Gyana yogyatha one goes
to Gyanam; and then on to Jivan mukthi. This route I should understand.
Therefore Sri Krishna tells us to remind you that Gyanam gives inner freedom; thus
the world cannot blackmail me anymore.

Adhyatma Gyana nithyatvam
is
the final and most important value of all.

It
is the systematic and consistent study of vedantic
scriptures for a length of time, under the guidance of a competent Acharya. Without
that, I will only get a stray idea here and there.

It
is like dumping bricks in a pile that do not result in anything; rather than
cementing them in an organized manner, to result in a house.

Thus,
when you study Vedanta in a classroom like situation, we are studying in an
organized manner and so this knowledge will be like building a house. Random
study and knowledge will just remain a heap of rubble. Therefore if the
knowledge is to be useful, Sri Krishna tells it should be systematically studied.
It is Sri Krishna’s advice, not mine.

Sravanam
automatically implies there is a Guru. In Shloka # 8, Sri Krishna talked about
Guru Upasana. Only an Acharya can teach Shastra effectively. So, this is Shastra
Vichara. All others prepare mind, while this produces knowledge. Shankarcharya
says it is like Pathyam (discipline) and Aushadham (medicine).

Pathyam
provides the condition and aushadham the cure. Virtue alone, without shastra,
will not result in Gyanam. If you follow all of them (virtues), knowledge will
occur. Hence the 20 Virtues including shastra study is called Gyanam.

Sri Krishna says anything opposite to that is agyanam. And how do you find the opposite? It is simple, you take every word, say amanitvam and it is the opposite of manitvam, adambitvam is the opposite dambitvam; ahimsa himsa, then kshanti, ashanti, you add ‘a’; the opposite of all these together is called agyanam, that means these negative virtues will solidify your ignorance. Ignorance will get more and more knotty and more and more difficult to remove. And that alone in the 16th chapter Sri Krishna calls Daivi sampath and Asuri sampath.

Shloka # 13:

I shall speak of that which is to be known, by
realizing which one attains Immortality. The supreme Brahman is without any
beginning. That is called neither being nor non-being.

With
previous shloka, topic of Gyanam is over. So Kshetram, Kshetragnya and Gyanam
topics are all over. Arjuna wanted to know about six topics and three are over.
The other three he requested were: Gneyam; Prakrti and Purushaha.

Gneyam:

Gneyam
is described from shloka 13 to # 19.

Gneyam
is same as Kshetrangya. Sri Krishna says, O Arjuna, I will now talk about a subject,
which every human being has to know while all other topics are optional. Why is
this topic unique? It is unique because knowing which, it solves a fundamental
problem of every human being, that is insecurity or fear of mortality that
exists from birth. It comes from childhood and every action of ours comes from
this feeling of insecurity. Our house, our job, children etc all of them
address our insecurity. It is a universal problem. It grows as we grow older.
When death comes, it is frightening. So every human being has to learn about this
to attain immortality or the freedom from insecurity.

And
therefore, Arjuna, listen to this carefully, as to what is that gneyam that is to
be known by all. Sri Krishna says: It is Param Brahma, that ultimate thing to
be known, called Brahman. The word Brahman means, the infinite one, Sathyam,
Gyanam, and Anantham.

Brahman
or Infinite means that which is free from threefold limitations; one limitation
is called space-wise limitation; another limitation is called

Time-wise
limitation; third limitation is called attribute-wise limitation. Space-wise
limitation is when I am here; unfortunately I cannot be elsewhere; you wish it
would have been fine; to be in the house and also be attending the class also;
but it is not possible.

Time-wise
limitation means I am limited by time, I

have
got a date of birth, and date of death as well. We just do not know when we
will die.

Attribute-wise
limitation; having certain attributes,

if you have a particular attribute, the very presence of that attribute excludes all the other attributes. So if there is particular color, all other colors are not there; if I am a human being, my very humanness excludes cowness and horseness and all the other nesses. That is called attribute-wise limitation. And Brahma means that which is free from all the three limitations. And that is therefore called Param Brahma, which is the absolute. And that Param Brahma is to be known by all, to cross over mortality.

I do not know if I have told you this story before or not; when this Brahmin was crossing the river in a boat, the Brahmin asked do you know vyakaranam, the boatman asked vyakaran se kya karna, and then the Pandit said one fourth of life is gone.

Then
the Brahmin asked; do you know tarka shastram. No. So two fourth of life or half is gone. Then do
you know mimamsa Shastra? I know
meen and mamsa. Then the
Pandit said that three fourth of the life is gone. As they were talking the
boat developed a leak and the water was gushing in and boatman tried to stop
that leak and he was not able to; then he asked, Oh Panditji do you know how to
swim. I do not know. Then your whole life is gone.

Now
Sri Krishna begins the description of Brahman. It is Anadi mat; that which does
not have aadhi. aadhi means beginning; means both spacial and timewise and
therefore it is anantham; the limitless one. In shloka, the word asat means
karanam. Any cause is called asat, and the sat in this context means any effect
or product or karyam. A cause is called asat because any cause is in potential
form; and any thing potential is not available for our utility. Oil in the seed
is potentially there; but I cannot use it. Butter in the milk is there; but I
cannot use it; therefore any cause is in potential form; therefore, I cannot
use it; therefore it is as though non-existent. Therefore the word used is
asat; seemingly nonexistent, which means potentially existent karanam. And an sat,
sat means karyam,

Karyam is as good
as existent, because it is available for our use. And what is Brahman? Sri Krishna
says Brahman is neither karanam nor Karyam. Brahman
is beyond the realm of cause and effect.

Now
it is becoming mind-blogging, because the
entire universe you experience is nothing but a flow of cause and effect.
Yesterday is the cause for today’s condition.

Today is the cause for tomorrow’s condition. The entire creation I experience is nothing but cause effect flow. And Sri Krishna says Brahman is beyond cause and effect. That means it is beyond time. Because, cause and effect, wherever they exist, there Time is also there. How do you know? Because the difference between cause and effect is determined by time. Yesterday’s cause is today’s effect. Yesterday’s Idli is today’s body, your blood. Therefore the difference between karanam and karyam is determined by kala alone. Therefore whatever is beyond karya karana, is kalathitham.

Therefore
Brahman has no form, no attribute and it has no time. And Swamiji, how will I
conceive it? It is not a concept to be conceived. And therefore Sri Krishna is
begining to describe the essence of the Upanishads. From Shloka #13 onwards, we get
Upanishad sara (essence).
Upanishad says:

Brahman does not have shabda, sparsha, rupa, rasa and gandha. So no form, color, taste or touch and therefore you cannot see it; hear it, smell it, taste it or touch it and you are supposed to know that Brahman. How to know? That Sri Krishna will tell you in the following shlokas in the next class.

Take away:

Loneliness:
And therefore better learn to be alone; better learn to enjoy solitude. And
what is the best method; once in a while, just go for a walk, without walkman.
Go for a walk, sit on the beach; do not take any friend or anyone.

Don’t
get addicted to people’s company. We are mentally weak when we can’t spend time
in solitude.

The
main benefit of Gyanam is that I am comfortable with myself, irrespective of
external conditions.

The entire universe you experience is nothing but a flow of cause and effect. Yesterday is the cause for today’s condition. Brahman, however, is beyond cause and effect.

With Best Wishes,

Ram Ramaswamy

Shloka # 8:

(Shloka # 7 in
some books)

Humility, unpretentiousness, non-injury,
for-bearance, sincerity, service of the teacher, cleanliness, steadiness,
control of body and organs;

Continuing his teaching Swamiji said, From the 8th verse of the 13th chapter, Sri Krishna has taken up the third topic for analysis. He has already dealt with two topics; Kshetram and kshetragna and now he is dealing with the third topic called Gyanam and we saw that in this context, the word Gyanam refers to a set of virtues, which will keep the mind a healthy one. Just as there are certain physical parameters, which indicate the physical health, such as the pressure, the level of cholesterol, the level of hemoglobin, etc. similarly there are certain parameters or virtues, which indicate mental health. And this mental health is useful for every human being to enjoy a peace of mind and this mental health is particularly required for a Vedantic seeker because only if the mind is healthy, the intellect will be freely available for higher pursuit. If the mind is not healthy, the intellect will be a hostage of a sick mind. You will not allowed to think properly because a disturbed mind will suppress your intellect and that is why when you are mentally disturbed, you can never read anything where intellectual application is required. You cannot hear a discourse where intellectual application is required; intellectual application is possible only when the mind is relaxed. Mind is relaxed only when the mind is healthy; mind is healthy only when these parameters are handled and maintained. And therefore Sri Krishna gives the list. We covered the 8th shloka in which some of them have been mentioned; amanitvam, adambhitvam, ahimsa, Kshanti, arjavam, acharyopasanam, shaucham, sthairyam, atmavinigraha; 9 virtues have been enumerated; now in the next shloka, we are going to get some more virtues.

Shloka # 9:

13.9 Non-attachment with regard to objects of
the senses, and also absence of egotism; seeing the evil in birth, death, old
age, diseases and miseries;

Indriyartheshu vairagyam: these two words together, refers to the next virtue, viz., mastering of the sense organs. Sense organs are a set of instruments gifted to us by the Lord and they are very important instruments, as we interact with the world through them alone. We have two sets of sense organs, one set is called Gyanendriyani, through which we receive the input from the world, and we have another set of sense organs called karmendriyani, through which we express ourselves, we respond to the external world.

Therefore,
sense organs are extremely important for interaction with the world and not
only for ordinary interactions but for all the spiritual sadhanas too, you
require these organs. And since they are a set of instruments given to us, we
have to make sure that they are under our control and we are not the slaves of
our sense organs.

Sri
Krishna calls this avoidance of slavery to the sense organs, indriya nigraha or
indriya jayaha or damaha or even prathyahara. And this requires a constant
alertness on our part, because the sense organs are generally in contact with
the sensory world; and the five sense organs namely shabda, sparsha, rupa, rasa, and gandha;
each of them functions in its own respective field. And when the sense organs comes in contact with any object on a regular
basis, unknowingly, the sense organs develop an attachment to the sense
objects. So every sense organ is prone to develop attachment to any particular
sense object; thus forming an addiction is the very nature of every sense
organ. So when you see an object or a person or a particular program in the
TV for a few days; initially, you say it is nice, it is wonderful, but gradually
the sense organs demand association with the sense object. And when they demand
it, it is for us to decide, whether we should fulfill the demand of the sense
organ. It is like bringing up a child.

A
child when you give some thing to him begins to demand more of it and the
mother gives in. Slowly the child’s demand becomes an addiction and when demand
is not met, it goes into tantrums and the mother continues to cave in. Then, a
time comes, when the child knows how to make the mother do what it wants. Every
sense object is like such a child. Initially you allow the sense organ to
function in a field; later the sense organs begin to demand; and once you
pamper the sense organs, you have become an addict or slave. And afterwards, when
you try to master, the sense organ has become powerful enough that it will know
how to throw tantrums. They will not allow you to master them.

Thus, if you are addicted to coffee, if you don’t get it on time; you are upset; some even get headaches. Pampered by me, the sense organs can become so powerful that they can even drag the mind to its field; and then the intellect tells, that it is not good; I should not pamper, I should not become a slave; because I want to attain Moksha from the whole creation. And being the slave of coffee, cigarette, liquor or something else, if I am not a master of even few small things, how can I become a master of, how can I get the freedom from, the whole creation? And therefore the intellect begins to feel the guilt and that is how the tug-of-war begins; intellect decides I want to get out of the habit and even after I give up the habit for a few days; thereafter he gets addicted. Mark Twain said: Who said giving up smoking is difficult. I have given up many times. Then begins the big tug of war as the intellect says that I am a Gita student, and I should be a master, I should not be a weakling, and its takes a wonderful decision; and for a few days it is implemented, and again it falls back in the same old rut, called relapse. And then once the intellect fails a few times, intellect does not know how to handle the guilt. Then intellect uses another method; because the guilt is really painful, at the same time, the intellect is not able to find a method of getting out of the addiction. So it decides that, if you cannot defeat your enemy, join it. And the joining is called, justification. So the intellect knows how to justify every addiction.

Like that person who wanted to show the harm of taking liquor and he did an experiment, he just put an insect inside the liquor and the insect died. In front were sitting a lot of liquor addicts. He showed the experiment and asked them what is the conclusion you arrive at? Because the insect died in the alcohol; one fellow got up and said: Whoever takes liquor will have a clean stomach without any germs, because, they will all be killed and I will have a clean stomach. So, any argument you give, the intellect knows how to manipulate. And therefore the best solution with regard to any addiction is: prevention is always better than trying to cure. And therefore alertness becomes important and that is why they say, once in a while, say No to anything that you regularly do. So all forms of tapas, vrthams that we practice are all meant for avoidance of sense-slavery. In yoga Shastra, it is called pratyahara; in Vedanta Shastra it is called damah; sadhana chashtutaya sampathi calls it sama, dama and uparathi. So indriyartheshu means vairagyam which, means dispassion, not hatred; you are allowed to enjoy legitimate pleasures without becoming a slave of that pleasure. While you can enjoy any pleasure, let not the sense organs decide what you should do. So it is an important virtue.

Anahankara: Ahankara
is self-conceit; Anahanakara is freedom from self-conceit. Amanitvam also means
freedom from self-conceit. Why dies Sri Krishna repeat the same quality, again?
In normal context both would mean the same thing. However, in this context
there is a difference:

Amanitvam: Is lack of
self-conceit at the thinking level.

Anahankara: is freedom from
self- conceit at the verbal level. I don’t use the word I at all times in all
my conversations, always using first person singular, I, mine etc. Any subject
you talk about, this person with self-conceit will convert into a subject
matter relating to him. You talk about an event in America; when I went to that
place, he will convert it into ‘I’. Any topic under the Sun, this fellow will
convert into ‘I’ topic, that is called self-propagation, self-proclamation, blowing
his own trumpet; that is ahankara.

Janma mrtyu jara vyadhi dukha doshanudarshanam.

It conveys the meaning, don’t
be body oriented. Life is not only in physical existence; you are something
else than this body. Body orientation will cause obstructions in spiritual
growth. What are problems caused by body orientation?

Vedanta does not recommend
neglecting your body. Body is required for both spiritual and material
pursuits. It is only a means; it is annamaya kosha, the very first sheath.

How to be detached from
body? By, constantly reminding ourselves of the various defects of Deha
abhimana will help us. Thus, body is subject to five problems:

1. Birth or Janma.
2. Jara; or old age,
   with its related problems. As I age, I will have no power to decide on
   functioning of the body. I will be helpless.
3. Vyadhi: disease.
4. Mrthyu: Death; or
   separation from everything I own or love.
5. Dukham: These are
   the problems or sorrows of life.

Constant remembrance of these five doshas will assist
one in not having Deha abhimana; a pre-requisite for atma gyanam.

Shloka # 10:

13.10 Non-attachment and absence of fondness
with regard to sons, wives, homes, etc., and constant eqanimity of the mind
with regard to the attainment of the desirable and the undesirable;

Ashakti: means mental detachment with respect to any object, situation or person. It is avoidance of mental slavery with regard to any external object, situation or person. Previously we talked about indriyartheshu vairagyam. Now we are talking about ashakti. Both mean detachment, but the difference is, previously it was detachment from the standpoint of sense organs; it was indriya nigrahah; here ashakti deals with mano nigraha, detachment at mental level. So previous one is damaha; the present one is Samaha. And why does Sri Krishna talk about both of them?

Mental detachment cannot be easily attained, because mind is a subtler instrument. Therefore taking the mind away from the object of attachment is extremely difficult; whereas sense organs are external instruments; they are grosser instruments and therefore, they can be controlled in a relatively easier manner. And how can you control the sense organs, by physically being away from the place. If a person has a
tendency to use an addiction causing object; he can be physically separated
from it. In all de-addiction centers, the object of addiction will not be
available.

The
problem is: even when the sense organs are physically separated from the sense
objects, the mind can continue to dwell on it. And as long as the mind dwells
on that, again re-addiction or relapse is possible. Therefore as long as the
person is physically away, he will have control.

So
initially you start from sense control; and even after sense control; mind continues
to have a vasana and
therefore we have to handle the mind also. To handle the mind it has to be
educated on the evils involved in the addiction, and once the mind is mastered;
thereafter, even if the object of addiction is in front, I remain aloof. I have
got out of habit of smoking or drinking. If the other person is using that
right in front, I can remain there without having a temptation. So this is a
higher stage of detachment born out of viveka shakti. And only when I say NO out
of discrimination; it becomes transcending. If I stop them, because of the
others’ pressure, it becomes suppression. Therefore, suppression should be
converted to transcendence. And that transcendence is inner detachment. After
inner detachment, I am not worried about temptation.

Once
the mind is mastered; let this person be in any field; he can never get
addicted to anything or temptations. Until that possibility is there, I have to
physically get away from the tempting situations and therefore ashakti; that is
detachment or dispassion at the mental level.

Putradaragrhadishuanabhishvangaha: To be read as putradararagrhadishu anabhishvangaha. Bhishvangaha means over attachment or intense attachment. Anabhishvangaha means absence of over attachment or absence of excessive attachment. Sri Krishna gives a list of important things one can get attached to. They are one’s child, spouse, own house and other such things. These are people with whom your life is closely intertwined.

And
with regard to them you can never avoid attachment. Sri Krishna admits that attachment
cannot be avoided with regards to a few things and beings with which you
regularly move.

And
therefore Sri Krishna says, I do not ask you to avoid attachment. I am only saying,
avoid over attachment.

This
applies mainly to Grihasthas and not Sanyasis.

Now
the next question is: How to differentiate between attachment and excessive attachment?

Saint Anandagiri, who writes a sub commentary on Shankaracharya’s commentary, gives a beautiful explanation on differentiating attachment and over attachment. He defines attachment as mamakara; claiming a thing or a person as mine; he belongs to me. I belong to you; you belong to me.

But when the attachment is excessive; then it is no more mamakara; my identification becomes so complete; that I become one with that object; and therefore I do not see any difference between that object or person and myself. That means whatever happens to that person I take as happening to myself. And naturally, when that person is dead, instead of saying that person is gone and I continue to survive; I feel that I myself am dead and gone; that means my life appears to be empty. If I think my life has no meaning, without another person; this is excessive attachment. If I think my life has no meaning without another person, it is excessive attachment, because the fact is, every life has got its own meaning, irrespective of other people being there or not; because we have all come to the earth for the particular purpose of spiritual evolution and every one of us has come independently; we are never born together.

We
are also never going to die together. As Swami Chinmayananda says: All alone is
Life. And therefore we have come here for our spiritual growth; and God has
connected a few people, so that our growth is helped. And the people will be
around as long as there is needed for my growth and once that purpose is
served; thereafter each Jeeva has to continue his own journey. It is like a train
journey. I have entered the compartment at a particular station and I have started
the journey. People come and go during journey but we all have our own
destination.  The whole earth is like a
compartment alone; we have all come together and we progress and thereafter, we
have to continue our journey in our own direction. If this is forgotten; I will
think my life is purposeless without another person; and once that thought
comes, it has become excessive attachment.

That
means I cannot imagine living without that person.

Sri
Krishna says you can cry, nothing wrong in it. Attachment will give grief; but
you should never forget; that everyone is an individual and we have to make our
own journey. And therefore not forgetting the fact that life is like a train
journey is the virtue.

Nityam samacittatvam
ca ishtanishtopapattishu: This gives
the essence of karma yoga.

Whether
situations that arrive are favorable or unfavorable, I have freedom from
elation or depression. All situations change. Learn to maintain equanimity in
all situations. Let it be a manageable disturbance. How to practice this? Sri
Krishna says, every human being must practice equanimity.; this indicates that
Sri Krishna accepts that every human being will face favorable and unfavorable
situations. Reading puranas one sees that every avatara faced ups and downs.
How can I, a small being, avoid it? Nalla, Rama, Yudhishtira all suffered; so
life is a mixture of both.

According
to God and shastra, spiritual growth requires suffering. Only in suffering
there is greater growth. Opposites will always arrive in our lives. Vedanta
teaches one to have equanimity in all situations.

How
to maintain equanimity? Vedanta gives us two methods.

Karma
yoga is considered a short-term response, like a first aid. Karma Yoga was
detailed in Shloka 2.48

Gyana
Yoga is more of a long-term response, the ultimate cure.

Karma
Yoga gives relative peace of mind while Gyana yoga gives permanent peace of mind.

In
karma yoga one has to accept every experience as Ishwara Prasadam. Equanimity
must be maintained throughout the waking state.

And why is it called prasadaha? The word prasadaha means tranquility of mind; and when you look upon anything as a gift from the Lord; it gives you tranquility of mind; and therefore the object is called prasadaha; So by implication vadai, kadalai, chundal; why are they prasadam; They are not prasadam; When you receive them, as a gift coming from the Lord, because of your devotion, you have got a sense of fulfilment; and that gives you tranquility and therefore I should have prasada bhavana; that it is coming from the Lord.

Prasada
Bahvana is possible only if I have devotion towards God; else there is no karma
yoga. Dayanada swamiji used to say that Karma yoga exists only due to Bhakti
yoga. It is one of the levels of Bhakti yoga. There is no secular karma yoga;
an atheist can’t be a karma yogi.

Karma
yoga presupposes
faith in God. And of course karma yogi does not know the ultimate nature of God.
If he knows, he will be a Gyani; so he has got his own concept of God, in any
form he likes an ishta devatha, as eka rupa Ishvara or aneka rupa Ishvara.

And
therefore Sri Krishna wants to say without
bhakthi, karma yoga is not possible. And therefore Arjuna, Mayi bhakthi is
the next important virtue. So Mayi means in Me. In Me means, in Ishvara; and what
type of devotion should it be?

Take away:

And
when the sense organs comes in contact with any object on a regular basis,
unknowingly, the sense organs develop an attachment to the sense objects. So
every sense organ is prone to develop attachment to any particular sense
object; thus forming an addiction is the
very nature of every sense organ.

The
best solution with regard to any addiction is: prevention is always better than
trying to cure.

So
all forms of tapas, vrthams that we practice are all meant for avoidance of
sense-slavery.

Constant remembrance of
these five doshas (birth, old age, disease, death and related sorrows)will
assist one in not having Deha abhimana; a pre-requisite for atma gyanam.

With Best Wishes,

Ram Ramaswamy