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Verse
19
This verse has echoes of the Katho Upanishad. The Lord addresses Arjuna from the
highest standpoint, that of the Self-Atma. When Arjuna is distraught at the
idea of being the killer of his kith and kin, the Lord removes his
delusion by describing the real Self as being immutable and
imperishable. It is hence
beyond the body and the ego.
It is only the body that perishes. The Self remains eternal. It does not participate in
anything. It is a witness-Sakshi, like a theater lamp, which
illuminates everything without participating in anything. Arjuna’s sorrow, and by extension
our sorrows, arise because we identify ourselves with the body-mind
complex. When the Lord describes the nature of Self to Arjuna he is
teaching Arjuna to separate the Self-Atma, the eternal, from the
non-Self-unatma, which is
impermanent. This is a
Arjuna’s and our wake up call. Verse
20
This stanza also has echoes of the Katho Upanishad. It explains the immutability of
the Atma. The Lord describes the nature of
Atma as unborn- Ajaha, eternal-Nithyah, changeless-Shashavatha, and ancient- Puranah or beyond
time. Unlike the mortal body that undergoes changes-vikaras such as birth, existence,
growth, decay and disease, the Self is not born-ajaha and therefore it does not
die-Na Mriyate. What is birth? Birth is that which comes into
existence, which did not exist before. Since it has come into existence
it will go though changes-vikara and ultimately experience
death because everything that has a beginning also has an end. However there is something that
witnesses the non-existence, existence, changes, death and posterior
non-existence. This is Atma. There is never a time that there
was no Atma. By describing the Atma as Puranah, the Lord describes it as
being beyond time. Therefore
the Atma is unborn, eternal,
changeless and beyond time. A
question then arises that if Atma is described as above then is
it Zero-Shunyam? The answer is “NO” as the Atma is the witness-Sakshi to all changes. It is
Consciousness; it is the Chaitanya
Swaroop and THAT IS ME. Verse
21
This paragraph summarizes the Dharma of the Self as the eternal,
immutable reality. Explaining
to Arjuna from the highest standpoint, the Lord says, when an individual
is the knower of the Self and has identified himself with the Self as
being indestructible, eternal, unborn and inexhaustible, he cannot incur
the sin of killing his kith and kin.
The Self is neither an agent that performs action nor the object of
action. Verse
22
This stanza explains with an example the
indestructible nature of the Self and emphasizes the doctrine of
rebirth. Just as an individual discards old clothes and
puts on new ones, the Atma also
discards an old body and takes up a new one. The new body the Atma takes on depends on its past
experiences-vasanas. Changing of the clothes is usually
a painless experience unless the clothes are tight; then removing them
maybe difficult. Also, when
one identifies with the clothes, then discarding them is very
painful. Likewise, when we
are identified with this body it is hard and painful for the Atma to leave the body. The concept of rebirth is also introduced
here. Who decides that it is
time for rebirth? It is the
ego; the soul alone that decides that it is time for rebirth. When it
feels that the present body has served its purpose and cannot facilitate
its further evolution; whatever karmas it had to exhaust have been
exhausted, then the current body has served its purpose at that time the
soul gives up its body. From our limited perspective
we find life unfair when we see children and young people die in their
bloom, not living a full life. But, from the standpoint of the
evolutionary necessity the body has served its purpose and is now
useless. When is the time to
leave this body? The Atma, the
wearer of this body alone makes this decision. Evolution and change are all for
the mind and intellect and not for the Self as the Self is perfect and
changeless. Verse
23
Why is the Self-changeless? In this verse Lord Krishna conveys the attributes
of the Self as being changeless and immutable. Weapons cannot cleave the Self,
fire cannot burn it, water cannot wet it and wind cannot dry
it. These attributes of the Self are described with
respect to the objects in the world that come to be annihilated through
the instruments of death.
However, the Self being the subtlest of all cannot be hit or
destroyed by an instrument.
Fire can burn almost anything. It consumes all things in
space. However, space is
never consumed by fire and therefore the Self, which is the cause of
space, cannot be consumed by fire.
Objects are all made up of matter. Water can wet matter, drown it or
corrode it but not the Atma.
Finally, wind cannot dry it, as Self contains nothing other than itself
and therefore destroying Self by dehydration is not possible.
Thus fire, wind, water or any instruments have no
power of their own except that which is allowed to them by the “Eternal
Absolute” and hence the Self is changeless and
immutable.
Verse
24 This verse describes the various attributes of the
Self by which it can be recognized as being eternal. Since the Atma cannot be cleaved, burnt, wet
or dried, it is everlasting.
The Atma is pure-Nithya, all pervading-Sarvagatah, stable-Sthanuh, firm-Achalah and ancient or
beyond time-Sanatanah. Atma is pure-Nithya because time, space or
objects cannot condition it. It is all pervading-Sarvagatah. It has only itself all around, at
all places and at all times.
Since the Self is all pervading, it is stable and firm like the
base of a tree. The Self is
also ancient-Sanatanah, that
which is beyond time. It is
not born out of something therefore it is not the effect, but is the cause
of everything. The Atma has no modifications hence,
it is Avikari. Another way to explain these qualities of Atma is
with respect to karmas or actions. Actions are divided into 4
groups. ·
Utpadhyam:
that which is created or produced. Since Atma is the cause of all creation
it is eternal-Nithya and
therefore it is not Utpadhyam. ·
Apayam:
that which is bought or obtained. Since Atma is all pervading-Sarvagathaha and it is ancient- Sanathan it is not Apayam. ·
Sanskaryam:
that which needs purification. Atma
being the Absolute Truth, it is free from all impurities and hence it does
not need any Sanskaryam. ·
Vikaryam:
that which needs modification. Since Atma is all-complete, all pure it
does not need any modifications.
It is Avikari. Verse
25
In this verse the Lord continues to give more
qualities of Atma as
Un-manifest, Unthinkable and Unchangeable. Lord Krishna continues to clear Arjuna’s guilt of
perceiving himself as the slayer of his kith and kin in the war. The Lord explains that the Atma is un-manifest because it cannot be
perceived by any of the sense organs. The five great elements become
subtler as we go from the gross-the earth then water, fire, air and
finally space which is the subtlest.
The availability to sense perception decreases as we go from the
gross to the subtle. The Self
cannot be perceived by any of the sense organs. The Self is the subject, the very
cause because of which the sense organs can perceive.
Lord Krishna continues that the Atma or Self is Unthinkable, in the sense
that it is
incomprehensible to the mind and the intellect. The Self-being the subject
and not the object it is difficult for the mind or the intellect to
comprehend or rationalize this Infinitude. The Self-being the very life that
energizes this mind and intellect, which by themselves are inert and
insentient, it is beyond any mental comprehension, it is thus
unthinkable.
Finally the Atma is indicated as being
formless-Unchangeable. Anything that has a form is
restricted to a shape and form and therefore it is finite, subject to
changes and modifications.
The Self-Atma is thus
immutable, un-manifest, unthinkable and unchangeable. The Lord asks Arjuna, and hence we
all, to know Atma in this way
and as his own true Self. Verse 26 In the verses 24 and 25, Bhagawan concludes the
qualities of the Atma from the
highest standpoint, Atma being
Nithya, Sarvagatha, Sthanu, Achala,
Sanathan etc. In the next
two verses Bhagawan gives the benefit of the doubt to the materialistic
thinking of those who believe that the Self is not everlasting and that it
is constantly born and it constantly dies leaving no trace of it here or
hereafter. People with such
school of thought accept life as a constant influx of infinite births and
infinite deaths. Having given
consideration to this point of view also, Lord Krishna asks Arjuna to
fight the war and not grieve for those who would die in the
war. Verse 27 Continuing the materialistic school of thought
Lord explains to Arjuna that death is certain of that which is born and
birth is certain of that which has died. Embodiments are taken up by
individual egos as per one’s past experiences, except for those who have
attained Self Realization.
This Self Realized man knows that the Self has no birth and has no
death. Lord Krishna explains
to Arjuna that it is unintelligent for a man to moan and grieve over the
very nature of life – the inevitable cycle of birth and death of this
physical body. Verse 28 From this stanza onwards the Lord addresses
Arjuna’s reluctance to fight in the war from the standpoint of the
“man-of-the-world”.
Bhagawan explains that this creation is nothing
but a material world of objects that follows the law of causation. The world of effects rises from
the world of causes. The
effects are manifest and the causes are un-manifest. A creation of a thing is a
projection from un-manifest to manifest. Beings or Bhutas are made from the five
great elements, space, air, fire, water and earth. These beings are experienced as
un-manifest in the beginning, are seen to be manifest in the middle state
and become un-manifest again in the end. The manifest world of today was in un-manifest
condition before creation and will fade away into un-manifestation. For
example, a bubble in water was not there before, has appeared now and will
disappear again. Therefore,
the Lord asks Arjuna, why moan for the present that came from unknown and
shall return back to the unknown?
Verse 29 The Self /Atman that is spoken of is difficult to
comprehend and realize. Bhagawan explains why this difficulty and talks
about the emotion of Wonder. Bhagawan explains that the mortal man because of
his ignorance thinks that he is the body with a soul. To the ego the existence of the
subtler Self beyond the body-mind-intellect is an idea that cannot be
conceived of. Through the
techniques of Self-perfection when this mortal man comes to recognize him
to be the Self, he is struck with wonder. The Lord says such a soul is a
wonder. This man when he
talks about the Self that is a wonder. People listening to it are a
wonder. Those who understand
the Self are a wonder. The
teacher is a wonder the teaching is a wonder. The student is a wonder. The Self is a wonder. This Self is “I” the Brahman and how “I”-the ego-aham is able to miss it all along
is a wonder. All of the above
is so rare and that is a wonder. Verse 30 In this verse Bhagawan advises Arjuna to fight and
not grieve, because the spirit dwelling in every creature is Eternal and
Indestructible and that it is only the physical body that is finite and
perishable. With this verse The Lord concludes the topic that
was introduced in the verse 11.
To recap…Bhagwan has given two reasons why individuals have grief
and delusion in their lives.
First, from the supreme standpoint- Paramarthik Drishiti, Bhagawan has
described the true nature of the Self-Atman since we are unaware of what
our true nature is. From the next stanza Bhagawan explains from the
standpoint of Dharma. What is the duty of an individual? Bhagawan will now address this
second reason of our grief and delusion. Verse 31 In the 7th verse Arjuna had asked
Bhagawan to explain to him what is considered to be the Supreme/Absolute
Good- Shreyah? What is the Supreme duty-Param Dharma or what is the duty
of an individual-
Swadharma? Bhagawan
answers these questions in this verse explaining Swa means his own and dharma means duty. A performance of an individual’s
own duty is the Supreme good- Param
Dharma. This is Shreyah. The Lord tells Arjuna, that being
born a Kshatriya, it is his
duty to fight a righteous war, just as the duty of all doctors is to treat
and take care of their patients.
Verse 32 Elaborating further on the above verse Bhagawan
gives another reason why the battle should be fought. The Lord tells Arjuna that being born as a Kshatriya he should consider
himself fortunate for having the opportunity to fight in a righteous war
and serve his country.
Such battlefields are wide-open gates to heaven. This is his dharma. This is the Supreme
good. From the Supreme point of view to the point of
view of the average worldly man, Bhagawan gives logical reasons why the
war must be fought. |