विवेचन सारांश

The Real nature of Ātmā & the Relation with the Divine

Śrī Krishna said to Arjuna that the wise men lament neither for the living (agata asūn) nor the dead (gata āsūn). He was lamenting yet feeling that he was speaking wisely.

HE is taunting Arjuna that he was talking like a Pandita. Pandita means Wise and Learned. They are not identified by their attire but by their knowledge. Definition of Pandita in sanskrit is – ‘Panda atma vishaya buddhih esham tehi panditah; the one who understands the knowledge of Atma’.

The origin of this word is PANDA, denoting intellect. Panda Buddhi means the knowledge of Atma. One having Panda Buddhi knows the distinction between Atma and Paramātmā, Pinda and Brahmānda, Sat and Asat, Kṣara

and Akṣara. Śrī Krishna told Arjuna, that he was talking like a wise man who really had understood these differences.

Bhagavān expresses the eternity of the existence. HE said that there was never a time when HE did not exist. There was also never a time when neither Arjuna nor all these kings did not exist. Likewise, there will be no time in future when all of them will cease to exist. We have to understand the meaning of the ‘existence’ that Śrī Krishna is speaking about.

HE is not talking about the eternal existence of the physical body, but about the subtle aspect of our existence. The physical body is subject to changes and is perishable. It cannot be eternal. HE is speaking of something that is existing within us in a very subtle form, and that which is imperishable and indestructible. The "I" we always refer to is thus not the physical body. We have to find out the real ‘I’.

The contact between the senses and the sense objects gives rise to experience of happiness and distress. These are non-permanent and come and go like the seasons. Śrī Krishna advises Arjuna to learn to tolerate these sensory experiences without being disturbed.

Let us first try and understand how these experiences come to us. When a sense organ meets a sense object, the mind reads it and interprets it as an experience. If the experience is to our liking it gives us pleasure; if it is not to our liking, it gives us displeasure.

For example, when our tongue comes in contact with rasagulla, the sweet taste is conveyed to our mind; our mind likes the experience, and the rasagulla taste is palatable to us. Similar is our experience of reading Bhagavad Gītā. Our ears listen to the Slokas; our mind likes it and we experience happiness. In winter, our skin experiences cold, and unless we protect our skin with warm garments our experience is not good. This experience may also vary from person to person.

Somebody taking a morning walk at sunrise will definitely like the early morning pleasant breeze and fragrance of flowers on the sidewalk, where as a person walking on the same road in the mid-day may have a negative experience due to the smell of rotten fish and vegetables sold on the roadside. Thus, no experience is permanent. Bhagavān emphasizes on the point that as no experience is permanent one need not feel sad or happy by these experiences. One should not get affected by these sensory experiences but should learn to tolerate these experiences as they are transitory in nature. They come and go. One need not get entangled.

Śrī Krishna has also spoken about another quality – titikṣhasva ‘tolerance without complaint’. We should not only develop qualities to tolerate any situation that come in our way, but we should also learn to tolerate without complaining. Through Arjuna, Śrī Krishna is teaching all of us. We all must remember these teachings of Bhagavad Gītā in any difficult situation of our life. Endurance without complaints is one of the keys to success.

Śrī Krishna said that a person who is not affected by happiness and distress, and remains steady in both, becomes eligible (kalpate) for liberation (amṛitatvāya).

In the earlier Sloka, Bhagavān advised us not to get carried away by the experiences experienced by the sense organs and to tolerate all situations. Here HE further elaborates that being equipoised in all circumstances is a prime requirement for Mokshya Prapti or liberation. There are always some basic requirements for getting anything we desire. One has to study engineering to become an engineer. To study engineering, one has to write the entrance test. That is the qualifying eligibility. Similarly for getting eternal happiness, one has to practice remaining steadfast, unwavering in all circumstances. Shri Krishna HIMSELF was always smiling and remained ever joyful. In HIS embodied form, HE had to endure many adverse situations, but HE always remained equipoised.

An incident from Mahabharata is worth mentioning. Once Śrī Krishna approached his aunt, Kunti Bua and requested her to ask for a boon from HIM. Kunti, who was a very pious and modest women requested Bhagavān to give more Dukha (sorrow) so that she can remember Bhagavān more often. This is the Amrutatva state in which one is neither happy nor sad. The same mental condition remains whether it is happiness or sorrow. There are also many other divine human beings like Sant Tukaramji, Swami Vivekananda ji and many other saints who were not affected by material distortions. They remained pristine and unaffected. Veer Saverkarji was so poised that he could write the best Marathi literature while being imprisoned!

In this sloka, the distinction between Sat and Asat is further elaborated by Bhagavān. Sat is that which is real, eternal and everlasting. Asat is that which is subject to changes, is transitory in nature, and hence unreal. The appearance of the words ‘Sat’ and ‘Asat’ several times in Bhagavad Gītā imply the prime importance Śrī Krishna has laid on these terms.

Sat means one which is permanent and cannot be altered or destroyed. On the other hand, Asat is subject to changes, and can be modified or destroyed. It is temporary in nature. All that we see around us is changeable, and perishable. Only the one who is observing/witnessing these changes is permanent. Who is that witnessing all these changes occurring in the phenomenal world? The one witnessing has to be different from the one witnessed object.

Let’s take the example of a baby born in this world. Parents take photos of this baby at its birth, and thereafter on every subsequent birthday. Looking at the photos taken over the years, the person finds that his physical form is changing continuously, from baby hood through childhood to adolescence and adulthood. As years pass, the same person becomes old and eventually perishes. Now what or who perishes? The physical body was changing and has perished. The one who was witnessing these changes did not change at all. The physical body is Asat and the one witnessing these changes is permanent, and hence Sat. It is imperative for us to realize that this witness which is Sat is only our ATMA.

Another easy way to understand this phenomenon is our dream state and awakening state. In a dream, I ate Ladoos and relished its sweet taste. I wanted to share these Ladoos with my friend, but suddenly was woken up. My dream is shattered. I realize that my dream Ladoos are all unreal. My mind had framed them in my sleep state. They were all Asat. Similarly in our waking state also, the material world we see around us is all unreal, temporary and will perish one day or the other.

It will be more meaningful for a human being to contemplate and realize the permanent being inside him, rather than chasing sense objects. Hence, it is imperative for us to find out “who am I?”. By repeating these words Sat- Asat, Kshara -Akshara, Prakriti-Purusha etc, Bhagavān is our focus to the everlasting subject, that is the imperishable Brahman. He is teaching us to awaken from our dream-like state and realize that our world as we see it is Asat. A person who has realized it is called tattvadarśi.

Sat Tatva is Avinashi (indestructible) and pervades everywhere. Science has established that total energy remains constant. It can neither be created nor destroyed. This is with respect to only visible energy. But there is a supreme energy which is beyond our comprehension. Bhagavān says this supreme consciousness pervades everywhere.

Śrī Krishna establishes the relationship between the body and the Atma, by saying that the Atma pervades the body.

The Atma pervades the body by spreading its consciousness everywhere in it.

When a person dies, we say "Dehanta Ho Gaya ", meaning the body or Deha has ended.

The one who is embodied can never be destroyed. The Soul is immortal and has no end. Only the material body gets destroyed. So, Śrī Krishna asks Arjuna to go ahead and fight, as in any case he cannot destroy their Souls.

The one who thinks the Soul can slay and the one who thinks the Soul can be slain, are equally ignorant. The Atma neither kills nor can it be killed. It cannot be slayed or destroyed. In these 2 shlokas, Śrī Krishna is stressing that the Soul is indestructible.

The Soul is neither born, nor does it ever die. It can never cease to exist. It is without birth and death. It is eternal, immortal, and ageless. It is unborn and therefore cannot be destroyed when the body is destroyed. Just like the water in the pond is not affected by the rise of a ripple that arises on its surface, the Soul remains unchanged.

Here again Bhagavan reiterates Atma or Soul is imperishable. HE further says that on destruction of the body, the soul takes on another body, just like how we change clothes.

The type of new body that it takes depends on the karmas performed during embodiment.

When we buy a new mobile phone, we change the SIM into the new handset and throw away the old handset. But the SIM remains the same. Similarly, the atma remains the same. As different types of handsets are available in the market, similarly different types of bodies like animal body, human body, centipedes, millipedes, winged bodies, and aqua bodies are available. Depending on our past Karma, we get a new form.

Thus far we have seen Śrī Krishna had explained at length to a simple query that was raised by Arjuna with respect to Dharma and Adharma. Had Śrī Krishna simply asked Arjuna, to get up and fight, Arjuna would have definitely obeyed HIS instructions. But Śrī Krishna choose to explain in detail. This is because of two reasons.

Firstly, Śrī Krishna was surprised with the type of confusion a learned man like Arjuna was nurturing in his mind and hence wanted to give him a wholesome clarification.

Secondly, Arjuna was very dear to Śrī Krishna, hence HE wanted to clarify all his doubts and hence gave an in-depth knowledge about Atma. In the process all of us are also blessed to have received this special explanation from Bhagavān indirectly.

Let us surrender ourselves at HIS lotus feet and assimilate this Atma Jnana into ourselves.

The session ended with prayers and recitation of Hanuman chalisa.