विवेचन सारांश

Knowledge of Chetana can open the doors of Liberation

This science of Yoga had been handed down from generation to generation in continuous succession to Rajarshis or saintly kings. However, in the passage of time the world lost it.

Bhagavān says, that the very ancient science of relationship of Jeevātmā with the Supreme Being, the Paramātmā, through Karma Yoga is being imparted to Arjuna by HIM as he is HIS devotee and friend. HE adds that it is a mysterious, exceedingly complex and supreme knowledge and hence many may find it difficult to understand it.

When Śrī Krishna says that HE imparted this superior knowledge to the Sun God, HE is not talking from the level of the individual self; rather, HE speaks from a higher cosmic level. Śrī Krishna, seated in front of Arjuna in the chariot, represents HIS individual self, but when Śrī Paramātmā mentions giving the supreme knowledge to the Sun God, it refers to the manifestation of Paramātmā himself, the cosmic self of Śrī Paramātmā. Bhagavān is speaking not from the perspective of a minute drop but as the boundless ocean itself.

The Bhagavad gītā is interpreted differently by various people: some see it as a Vedantic text, others as a scripture of devotion, and still others as a guide to Karma Yoga. Bal Gangadhar Tilak saw it as a text about warfare, Mahātmā Gandhi viewed it as a text to propagate non-violence, Shankaracharya revered it as a Vedantic scripture, and Ramanuja saw it as a devotional text to Bhagavān Vishnu. Each perceives the Gītā based on their own beliefs and personalities.

The Sun that Śrī Paramātmā refers to is not about the physical Sun in our Solar System. Knowledge cannot be given to an inert object without eyes, ears, or intellect. The verse carries a deeper, more complex meaning. Surya or the Sun God refers to an evolved being, infused with the light of knowledge, which could be a manifestation of Sun God.

Apart from our visible world, there are other realms where beings at different stages of evolution exist. The world extends beyond what we perceive through our senses; there are subtler dimensions beyond our awareness.

One form of Śrī Krishna is seen as the individual Śrī Krishna, and then there is the divine Krishna, the cosmic self. In the Gītā, we witness both Śrī Krishnas: Śrī Krishna as the individual in some places and Śrī Krishna as the divine cosmic self in many others. These are the two forms of God described in the Bhagavad Gītā — the Manifested or Vyakta and the Unmanifested or Avyakta form.

Maya and Knowledge have coexisted since the beginning. Where there is darkness of ignorance, there is also the light of knowledge to dispel it. Darkness never exists independently; eventually, a wave of knowledge will arise even if no enlightened person remains, and it will awaken someone else. Thus, the power of knowledge ensures that the tradition of passing down wisdom from generation to generation continues.

Knowledge, being complete and independent, manifests in any individual's Antakarana or consciousness. In ancient times, knowledge was transmitted orally from teachers to disciples without written texts. Eventually, due to a shortage of capable disciples, sages began recording knowledge on tree barks and leaves. Thus, the Vedas were transcribed around 80,000 to 90,000 years ago.

We must understand that it is the cosmic Chetana or Consciousness of Krishna who is narrating the Bhagavad Gītā and not the mortal charioteer sitting in front of Arjuna.

In fact, we can say that it is the cosmic Chetana of Śrī Krishna that speaks at our Vivechan sessions of Geeta Pariwar. It is the Śrī Krishna Chetana of the commentator that explains the Shlokas to the Śrī Krishna Chetana of the Sadhaks listing to the Vivechan. These Vivechan sessions of Geeta Pariwar pierce the veil of ignorance in us and awaken the Śrī Krishna Chetana within us.

A story from Ramayana was narrated here. One morning at the Brahmā Muhurt, when Bhagavān Śrī Ram was meditating, Kala or the God of Time manifested himself and asked Ramji, to have a dialogue with him, Bhagavān Śrī Ram agreed and deputed Laxmana to ensure that they are not disturbed at the time of dialogue. During the dialogue, Kala informed Ramji that as per Time, HE had incarnated in human form on earth and did all that HE had come to do and fulfilled the aim of HIS human incarnation. Kala told Ramji that the life span of HIS human body was now ending. He asked Ramji to grant him permission and let him know when he could come and complete his task of taking away the mortal body of Ramji. Life and death of an ordinary person is lived unconsciously, in ignorance. But divine incarnations decide when they want to leave the body. This was being discussed between Kala and Bhagavān Śrī Ram. This story communicates that whatsoever has manifested, with the passage of time, will decline and its destruction is certain, be it Bhagavān Śrī Ram’s or Śrī Krishna’s. At the level of the mortal body, even Bhagavān’s incarnations have a determined longevity with birth and death.

Śrī Paramātmā tells Arjuna that he is today revealing to him, because Arjuna is his friend as well as devotee, who can understand this transcendental wisdom. HE is following the tradition of passing on the knowledge from generation to generation.

How do we repay the debt of knowledge? Firstly, by incorporating the knowledge and transforming one’s own life, and passing it on to other Antakarana or consciousness. Thus, all the enlightened masters are repaying their debts by passing on the knowledge to others. An enlightened master is like a rain cloud, heavily impregnated by moisture with no choice but to rain. Likewise, Bhagavān has to pass the the Supreme knowledge. 

There were many who were dear to Śrī Paramātmā, but when it came to passing on the knowledge Arjuna was fortunate enough to receive it. When Arjuna was in dilemma, he surrendered to Śrī Krishna, as a disciple and requested to alleviate his ignorance, Śrī Paramātmā opens the door of this eternal knowledge to him.

Arjuna is perplexed by Sri Krishna’s claim. The Sun god has been present for aeons, since the time of the creation, whereas Sri Krishna like himself was just recently born. How could it be possible for Sri Krishna to have given the knowledge to the Sun god? He seeks clarification about the same to Sri Krishna.

Bhagavān Sri Krishna replies that both of them have had several births, and although Arjuna doesn’t remember any of them, HE remembers every one of them. HE added that their relationship was not restricted to this birth alone, but to previous lifetimes too. They had incarnated as Nar and Narayan and also performed austerities together in the holy place of Badrinath. It is the nature of the body to perish with no exception whatsoever. This concept is perplexing to the intellect. 

In Yoga Vashista, Sri Ram ji asked Vashista muni about the delusion of the intellect by maya. Vashista muni explained that the maya works like a giant wheel in which birth occurs, and the mind gets gripped by ignorance. But whenever anyone implores for help wanting to escape from this ignorance, a guru will appear and guide him towards the light. Bhagavad Gītā is our guru guiding us towards knowledge. Further, he added that they had the same discussion in their previous birth too. Thus, this play of master and disciple has happened many times, and is being repeated in this lifetime as well. 

Sri Krishna continues to reveal about HIMSELF, as follows.

HE is unborn, deathless, indivisible, eternal, imperishable, unchangeable Atma and the Supreme Bhagavān of all living beings. Yet, HE manifests or appears in this world by virtue of HIS divine power of Maya. Sri Krishna’s manifest body is created through maya in the same way as the bodies of all beings. However, HE is aware of it, while we are unaware of the fact. 

Paramātmā explains as to when HE takes the manifested form, and what HE does on taking the manifested form. 

HE manifests millennium after millennium, every time there is destruction of Dharma. HE manifests in order to destroy the evil and protect the pious, and re-establish the dharma.

A question arises - did every person gain knowledge from Śrī Krishna whenever HE manifested HIMSELF?
The answer is "NO"!

Krishna Chetana can impart knowledge only to those seeking freedom from their sufferings or ignorance. Help and guidance is given only to the ones who ask for it, those who want to be liberated from the torture of ignorance and not to all and sundry. Arjuna requested for freedom from his problems and was thus imparted the knowledge. Same is true for Uddhava as well. No one else, be it Kunti, Draupadi or Vasudeva, could receive this knowledge from Śrī Krishna.

It is very important to understand the meaning of these shlokas, as even today there are many who believe that it is only when the Paramātmā will manifest that all the wicked will be destroyed and the pious ones will get liberated. Such misguided people keep waiting for HIM to manifest. Meanwhile, there are people who take the advantage of the ignorant people and claim to be avatars of Bhagavān.  

Manifestation is a transformation of the subtle unseen energy into a visible form. When the subtle manifests as gross, it is termed as Birth. When the gross reverts to its subtle existence, it is termed as Death. In principle, no one ever dies, but rather merges back to their respective counterpart in the nature. Once Buddha was asked, where would he go after death? His reply was "nowhere". Sant Kabir was asked the same question. He responded that nothing is every born and nothing ever dies. Birth and death are untrue. The truth on the other hand is inevitable, indestructible, and eternal. The entire creation is a game play of Maya - a mysterious creative force that intellect can never comprehend. Maya helps with the manifestation of creation through the formation of the Pancha Maha Bhutas or five basic elements that make our body: Earth, Water, Fire, Air, and Ether / Sky. The gross body is born into this world not once but many times.

Bhagavān said that HE manifests whenever there is a decline or destruction in Dharma. HE is not referring to the external state of decline in the society. If so, HE should manifest now as the decline in moral values is at its peak. Whenever there is war or disaster, devotees look up to the sky, waiting for their Bhagavān Śrī Krishna to appear and save them. However, the truth is that HE manifests or incarnates in our own antakarana (mind, intellect, chit and ego). The awakening of consciousness in one’s own antakarana is the manifestation of Paramātmā.   

Our reading Gita is in a way, manifestation of Sri Krishna within us. This awakened Chetana will eradicate our metal afflictions, and destroy the Tamo and Rajo guans present in our antakarana.

In this manner, HE imparts protection to the seekers and devotees. When the devotees evolve their individual consciousness and take it to great heights, their individual Chetana merges with the cosmic Chetana. That is the true incarnation of Paramātmā. HE does not necessarily take the manifested form every time. That is why it is advised that one should not look outwards to seek the incarnate form of Śrī Krishna, but should look within.  

It is equally true that whenever the Supreme Chetana manifests as an individual form, HE would work towards the spiritual upliftment of the entire mankind. Similarly, a person with awakened consciousness would also strive to protect the pious and destroy the evil. Thus, the incarnate Chaitanya works invariably towards the upliftment of mankind, immaterial of whether it manifests in our antakarana or incarnates as an individual form. Devotees of Śrī Krishna wait for Paramātmā to manifest in an external form, but the Yogi / Jnani closes his eyes and awaken the Śrī Krishna Chetana within his heart. When the "I" that identifies with the body and mind, gets established in the Soul / the Atma / the real Self, this very establishment is Śrī Krishna. In fact, the very meaning of Krishna is Chaitanya.  

Bhagavān continued to explain that one who knows the transcendental nature of HIS form and divine nature of HIS activities in principle, is freed from the cycle of birth and death, as he attains on to HIM. 

Who is Śrī Krishna?
HE is the divine, transcendental absolute truth, the absolute bliss, and the all-pervasive Supreme Sachidananda.

Śrī Krishna wishes that one know HIM, and also one’s own self. Identification with one's body, mind and intellect, amounts to ignorance caused by maya. First one needs to know who one is by piercing the veil of ignorance and going within. 

In the chapter 3, Bhagavān said: 

The senses are superior to the gross body, and superior to the senses is the mind. Beyond the mind is the intellect, and even beyond the intellect is the soul.

The body, mind, and intellect are not the person's true possessions and hence one needs to get rid of them and realize that he was, is and can be nothing but ParaBrahmā. But the issue is the delusion by maya. In order to uncover this veil of maya / ignorance one needs to seek Gītā or a Guru. 

Bhagavān’s statement that HE is divine does not imply that we are not divine. We too are equally divine. It is just that Śrī Krishna is aware of it whereas we are not aware of our divinity. Whoever comprehends and understands his own divine nature, such a realized person is not born again. One needs to keep in mind that in all shlokas of this chapter Sri Krishna is speaking from the level of all pervasive, eternal, Supreme ParaBrahmā. It is the Supreme Chaitanya expressing through the individual called Śrī Krishna. Getting a glimpse of Śrī Krishna is not about getting a glimpse of HIS body. Śrī Krishna abides in one's Chetana; realizing this however is going to be a journey of a drop seeking the ocean, because we have restricted our awareness to the level of our body. The drop is not part of the ocean, but rather the ocean is within the drop. Śrī Krishna is the ocean existing in us (the drop), HE is not somewhere out there. He is right within us.   

Several questions arise, like:

• At what point in the body does one cease and Śrī Krishna commences?
• Is it only Krishna that exists and one's existence is no more than a lie?
• If Śrī Krishna is within one, does it mean the person is bigger than Śrī Krishna? After all, can an ocean be accommodated in a cup?
• How can the ParaBrahmā Paramātmā reside within you?  
• Are there two entities (Jeev and the Bhagavan) that co-exist?
• How is Krishna Chetana and the Jeev's Chetana one?

The answer is obtained when one understands what is Chetana.
Chetana is consciousness. There is nothing bigger or smaller at the level of consciousness. Just as the fragrance dwells in the flower, likewise Paramātmā dwells within a Jeev. Can the fragrance be separated from the flower? No! But at the same time fragrance is distinctly different from the flower. 

Śrī Krishna is within us. It is exceedingly difficult to describe the infinite things in words. The complex knowledge has been simplified in our scriptures, so that our intellect can understand it. For a devotee of Gītā, it's all about an individual person called Śrī Krishna, proclaiming HIS Superior divine existence, and all beings should worship that form of Śrī Krishna. But in reality, by saying that HE is indestructible, birthless, and deathless, Śrī Krishna is telling Arjuna that he too is indestructible, birthless, deathless, and boundless; that his birth is divine, but due to influence of Maya he is not aware of this. The day one gets to know this truth, he will rejoice. Schopenhauer, a German Philosopher from 1788-1860 was the first westerner to have read the Gītā. He started reading it with pessimism, but when he finished reading it, he placed the text on his head and danced with joy exclaiming loudly about the amazing knowledge it delivered.  

Bhagavān is reiterating that one who attains HIS state of being is freed from the cycle of birth and death. HE said that many devotees in the past purified themselves by knowledge about HIM and achieved HIS state of being by: 

• Giving up attachments
• Giving up Fear
• Giving up Anger
• Being fully absorbed in HIM, and
• Taking refuge in HIM

The state of being free form attachment, anger and fear can be achieved by surrendering to Paramātmā, and getting purified by austerities and knowledge.

Paramātmā is clearly stating that one can attain HIS state of being, not attain HIM. There is a vast difference between attaining Śrī Krishna and attaining HIS state of being. The former reflects the concept of duality, with the jeeva (the individual self) being a different entity from the Paramātmā.

Even when one has become free of attachment, fear and anger, yet one would not attain anything, because he is void of sentiments like devotion, surrender and faith, and instead overrided by ego. it is crucially important for the presence of a Guru to hammer down one's ego. Until and unless one has surrendered to His Guru, he will not able to attain the state of Divinity. Hence, it is crucial that one surrenders to a Guru.

Although the Krishna state of Being is exceptionally outstanding and unique, it is nevertheless attainable, provided one follows the conditions of:

• Due diligence
• Rigorous practice, and
• Consistency

The session ended with a round of Questions and Answers.

Sunita Ji
Q: Is my understanding correct that we are not born as human beings once and we may get human life again, and we are not aware of our births?

A: Moksha is the last destination. Unless we attain that, our journey does not end. We keep taking births in some form or the other, and due to this, we may end up getting human form more than just once, and we are not aware of it. In the 5th shloka, Bhagavān has confirmed this.