विवेचन सारांश

As a person sheds worn-out garments and wears new ones, likewise, at the time of death, the soul relinquishes its worn-out body and enters a new one

Let's understand from shloka 11 from where Bhagavān starts to impart the divine knowledge of Gītā. 
Bhagavān replies to Arjuna's lamentation in the above shloka by saying that although Arjuna feels that he is speaking words of wisdom, he is actually speaking and acting out of ignorance. Bhagavān says that the learned ones or the wise never lament, neither for the living nor for the dead. Hence the grief visualized by Arjuna in slaying his kinsman is illusory, and proves that he is not a wise one or a Pundit. 

In current times, one is of the opinion that by understanding or reading from the internet or social media, one has acquired knowledge. However, gathering data from the internet, social media or any other channel is information, whereas experiencing or realizing this information is knowledge. Once, there was a factory to be established and the materials were imported from Germany. The businessman who wanted to set up the factory reached out to his friend's son to take charge to construct the factory as the young man was an architect by profession. The young architect initiated the construction, and the plant was imported from Germany to install within the factory building. However, when the plant reached the destined location in India, the architect was gripped by anxiety and tension. The plant had to be pulled by a crane and then had to be put down slowly on a huge crater or hole.

However, the architect had not planned the construction of the building to accommodate a crane to lift the huge plant. The architect was tensed with the idea that the building had to be demolished to fit in the plant and it would have a negative impact on his career as this was his first assignment as an architect. He consulted many architect consultants across the globe by spending a lumpsum of money and every consultant was of the opinion that the building had to be demolished for the plant to fit in. When he was lamenting in a corner, an old villager who was employed as a laborer for the construction of the building approached him and offered to present an idea to fit in the plant without the building being demolished. The architect was taken aback as the old man seemed to be an illiterate. However, the old man insisted that the architect need not pay him until the plant is installed and his additional payment for presenting the idea can be cleared once the plant has been installed.

The architect agreed and asked the old man to present his idea. The old man enquired if the plant is water-proof and upon seeing the manual, the architect concluded that the mechanical parts would not be impacted by water. The old man then said that the huge hole can be filled with ice cubes and the plant can be placed on the ice. As the ice melts, the water can be removed and the plant would eventually settle down in the huge hole. The architect was astonished and amazed on the idea of the old man which prevented the demolition of the building. The villager responded by saying that the crane dint exist in previous era and this method was adopted to install huge plants or equipment in huge pits. From this example, one can understand that although the architect was qualified, he had theoretical knowledge and could not translate the same practically, whereas the villager had the required practical knowledge with experience. 

In shloka 11, Bhagavān uses the word Pundit to describe a wise one or a learned one. HE tells Arjuna that the wise lament neither for the living nor for the dead. HE continues to explain in the forthcoming shloka. 


In shloka 12, Bhagavān speaks about the past, present and future and mentions that never was there a time when HE did not exist, nor Arjuna, nor all the kings around. HE also mentions that even in the future, HIM, Arjuna and the kings around would not cease to exist. 

Once, a lady approached Bhagavān Buddha in his ashram by holding the mortal remains of her eight-year-old son. She pleaded to Bhagavān Buddha to bring back her dead son to life again and she was not ready to hear out to any spiritual reasons from his disciples. Bhagavān Buddha allowed her to lament and heard with compassion. HE then told the lady that he will bring back her dead son to life if she could satisfy one condition. The lady agreed to meet the condition. Bhagavān Buddha then told her to get a fistful of rice from five homes which had never witnessed death. The lady went around every humble abode around the ashram and then realized that every family had witnessed death. The lady returned to the ashram and mentioned that she now understood the actual reason behind HIS condition that death is certain to one and all. 

The following bhajan from Saint Kabir Das will help elucidate the concept. 


Kabir Das Ji explains in the above bhajan that when a man dies, his mother laments all her life as she outlived her son. His siblings lament for few months and then recover from the grief. His wife laments for 13 days and then tries to stay strong for the sake of her children. While one is alive, one takes utmost care in maintaining the physical body and giving prominence to the material assets. However, when one dies, whether it is a rich man owning a fleet of expensive cars or a poor man who was striving to make both ends meet, the mortal remains are carried on a wooden stretcher and cremated on the funeral pyre. The physical body burns similar to the grass that burns in fire. Bhagavān explains this concept further in the next shloka. 

In shloka 13, Bhagavān explains the journey of the current life and how the soul moves from one to another body from lifetime to lifetime. In one lifetime, the physical body undergoes changes and passes through the phases of childhood, adulthood, old age and finally undergoes the process of death. After the physical body undergoes the process of death, the soul leaves the mortal body and adorns a new body in the next lifetime. The cycle of childhood, adulthood, old age, death and rebirth is continuous until one attains liberation from this cycle of birth and death. 

However, the embodied soul identifies itself with the physical body and fails to realize that one is the soul and not the physical body and is gripped by the illusions of the material realm. Consider the example where one is travelling from Delhi to Mumbai via a train. The train would transit across various stations (say Bhopal) and would then reach the final destination which is Mumbai. The traveller would say that he has boarded the train in Delhi, he has reached Bhopal and he has finally reached Mumbai. The traveler would not say that he is Delhi, or Bhopal or Mumbai (i.e., he does not identify himself as the location). Similarly, one is the soul and not the physical body or the four phases of transition of the physical body (i.e., childhood, adulthood, old age and death). 

Death is not a full stop, but a comma. Like how a phrase pauses after a comma and then the next phrase begins, the soul relinquishes the physical body at the time of death in the current lifetime and adorns a new one in the next lifetime. This process is a continuous cycle. In every lifetime, the physical body undergoes the phases of childhood, adulthood, old age and death. As Bhagavān Shankaracharya says:


Undergoing the pangs of birth again and again, passing through the throes of death again and again, lying in the mother's womb over and over again, this process of Samsara is hard to cross over. Save me from it soon, Oh, Merciful Lord!


Bhagavān explains in the above shloka that the contact between the senses and the sense objects gives rise to fleeting perceptions of happiness and distress. These are non-permanent and come and go like the winter and summer seasons. One might contemplate on how all the senses experience contact and feel the sense objects. When one gazes at the sun, the eyes tend to hurt; if one hears a loud sound for a prolonged time, the earbuds are strained and if one inhales a strong fragrance, one might develop allergies. Hence, the senses experience the material objects. Consider the example of salt. If the quantity of salt used is more or very less, it hampers the taste. Only when salt or sugar is used in prescribed quantities, it enhances the taste. If the temperature is 25 degrees Celsius, one feels that the weather is pleasant. However, if the temperature drops drastically to zero, one tends to shiver in cold and if the temperature increases beyond 30 degrees, one tends to feel the heat. 

In Nainital, the unprivileged people who cannot afford woolen clothes light up a fire with few sticks of wood. They withstand the intense cold with an approach of exposing the body to the cold and then wearing the clothes when the toleration limit of the body tends to give up. Upon wearing the clothes after the toleration limit, the body is now able to withstand the intense cold.

Likewise the Lamas reside in the environment of minus 12 degrees. They have a tradition where a newborn infant is cleaned with ice cold water. If the newborn infant succumbs due to the cold water, the Lamas believe that the infant when grown up would not be capable of withstanding the intense cold temperature and hence they do not lament over its death. Those infants that survive the ice cold water bath continue to live and as an adult, they manage to survive with just a thin piece of shawl in minus 12 degrees. 

Every person has his/her own upper or lower limit of happiness and misery. If the divine is ready to bestow wealth, one person might ask for few thousand rupees while another might ask for hundreds of crores. Happiness and misery or pleasant and unpleasant situations are temporary and not permanent. Life oscillates between pleasant and unpleasant situations at every stage. One who understands this will not be affected by pleasant and unpleasant situations of life. 

In the tales of Mulla Nasrudin, the pivotal character Mulla encounters two men quarrelling. Upon enquiring, he understands that one man wanted to give up his life and the other man was trying to stop him from taking the extreme step. The depressed man had lost few essential items worth Rupees 400 and had only items worth Rupees 100 in his possession. Hence, he wanted to give up his life as he was depressed about losing the items worth Rupees 400.  Mulla tells the man who was trying to protect his friend from self-harm that he could make the depressed man laugh. The man was surprised and then got into a bet with Mulla that if he is able to make the depressed man laugh, he would owe him Rupees 200. Mulla then snatched the bag from the depressed man (which had items worth Rupees 100) and ran as fast as he could. The two men followed Mulla and they ended up running for a kilometer. Mulla then dropped the bag and hid himself from the view of the two men. The depressed man found his lost bag and started to laugh with happiness. Mulla then appeared in front of them and the man who had got into a bet with him enquired on how he made the depressed man laugh. Mulla then replied by saying that he changed the perception of the depressed man. The man was depressed as he perceived the loss of Rupees 400. When the bag was stolen, the depressed man then perceived that he lost even the remaining Rupees 100, but upon finding the lost bag, the man was gripped by relief and happiness that he now has the items worth Rupees 100. Hence, happiness and misery is based on one's perception towards the dualities of life. 

As the below shloka states:
Vidyarthi – Vidya means knowledge and arthi means one who desires knowledge. All students should possess panch lakshnam Or 5 qualities as follows:

1. Kaka Chesta (The efforts of a Crow)
2. Bako dhyanam (The focus of a Crane)
3. Shwan Nidra (The alertness of a Dog)
4. Alpahaari ( Inputs we give to our senses - say consuming less food )
5. Gruha Tyagi (Leave the home i.e. comfort zone).

The famous sportsman are rich and opulent. However, they practice and play the sport even in intense heat. If the coach asks the sportsman to take 15 rounds, they do it to maintain the fitness level and do not delegate the task to the home-staff. If the drinks break is after an hour, the sportsman tolerates the heat and thirst without any complaints and remains neutral towards the external situation. Similarly, the one with an elevated consciousness develops equanimity towards the dualities of life (happiness and misery; honor and dishonor; pleasure and pain; victory and defeat, etc.,). However, the one with lower states of consciousness get perturbed when the situation is unpleasant and swell with happiness when the situation is pleasant. However, the reality is that every situation, whether pleasant or unpleasant is temporary and not constant. If one practices this perception and experiences dualities of life with equanimity, one would not be affected by miseries and sadness. 

For those who aspire to become a sage, they are tested if they are able to remain neutral during pleasant and unpleasant situations and then initiated as a sage if they are able to withstand with equanimity. The tendancy of the common man is to find faults and complain for every unpleasant situation encountered.

Bhagavān Shankaracharya says that there are four prescribed steps for wisdom (the Four Pillars of Knowledge). These practices build upon one another in order to cultivate the spiritual insight is required for this path:

1. Viveka (discernment, discrimination) — a deliberate, intellectual effort to distinguish between the real and the unreal.
2. Vairagya (dispassion, detachment) — cultivating non-attachment toward worldly possessions and the ego-mind.
3. Shatsampat (six virtues) — six mental practices to stabilise the mind and emotions.
4. Mumukshutva (longing, yearning) — an intense and passionate desire for achieving liberation from suffering.

The six virtues or the Shatsampat are:

• Shama, or the ability to be calm and keep a peace of mind
• Dama, or the ability to control the senses and, therefore, reactions to external stimuli
• Uparati, or renouncing anything that doesn't fit your dharma (duty)
• Titiksha, or persevering through suffering
• Shraddha, or trusting and having faith in the path of Jnana yoga
• Samadhana, or total concentration and focus of the mind

After successfully practicing these four pillars, a practitioner is considered ready to begin the three core practices of Jnana Yoga…

1. Sravana — hearing or experiencing Vedantic philosophy through a guru or spiritual teacher, thereby achieving a deep understanding of the concepts.
2. Manana — thinking and reflecting on the teachings in an attempt to understand their subtleties.
3. Nididhyasana — constant and profound meditation on the inner self in order to experience absolute Truth.

As Tulsidas Ji says -  - Live the way the divine wants you to live;  
Everything transpires as per the divine will and hence one does not need to lament. 

In this shloka, Bhagavān explains that those persons who are not affected by happiness and distress, and who remains steady in both, become eligible for liberation.  The happiness which one experiences from the contact of the senses with their material objects is temporary or finite. Thus, the material happiness that one perceives through the physical body can never bring eternal happiness to the soul. Hence, one must practice tolerating the perception of material happiness and material distress. One who perceives both happiness and distress by being equipoised will rise above these dualities and will no longer be bound by the material energy. 

In this shloka, Bhagavān explains that the physical body is subjected to change and undergoes changes during the lifetime. HE says that it is the soul within the body that is not subjected to change and remains the same from the time of birth until the time of death. The soul is imperishable, and hence it is sat (eternal). However, the body will cease to exist one day, and hence it is asat (temporary). The supreme divine is everlasting and hence HE is sat (eternally existing). All objects or entities in this material realm will be destroyed with time. Thus, they can all be termed as asat, or temporary.

As they say - Death is a change of name, dress and address. The soul discards the physical body at the time of death and moves into a new body in the next birth. One who understands this truth is tattva jnani. 

In this shloka, Bhagavān explains that it is the soul which pervades over the physical body. The physical body without the soul is devoid of consciousness and the soul provides consciousness to the entire body. Hence, the soul pervades the body. Bhagavān says that the soul is indestructible or eternal and no one can cause the destruction of the imperishable soul.