विवेचन सारांश

Saṃsāra is Aśhvatha - impermanent and ever changing

In the first 2 Shlokas of the chapter, Bhagavān explains the Saṃsāra Swarupa. HE compares it to the Aśhvattha (pipal) tree with its Mool or the root facing upwards and the branches down below. In ourselves too, our head is the main part, and it is above the other body parts.

The Shva in Aśhvattha signifies tomorrow or the next moment in time, and Aśhva means that which is constantly changing and will not be there tomorrow. Thus, Aśhvattha indicates that which is ever evolving, ever changing.  

Bhagavān here is comparing this material world with not just any tree, but with the Pīpala tree, the reason for this being Pīpala tree is very fickle and unpredictable. Its leaves are always shaking, even if there is no wind but HE also describes this world as ‘Avyayam’, meaning that which though ever changing remains indestructible or eternal.

Pratikshanani parivartamanepi na parivartati

thathaiva thisthati ata eva avyayam iti utchati ll

This defines the nature of entities as ever-changing in eternity. The branches and leaves of this tree spread all over symbolize samsara encompassing all Lokas, and formations of material beings.

The word Chandas in ‘Chandamsi yasyaparani ‘ has 3 meanings.  

• Poetry, the literary work written in Sanskrit in particular
• Jñāna the knowledge of the Divine 
• the Vedas. 

Here the meaning of Chandas considered is Jñāna or knowledge. The leaves on the branches facing downwards of this mystical tree represent knowledge.

Vedavit is one who has the Jñāna or knowledge of the Veda,. Here the knowledge is represented by the leaves, and Vedavit is the person who knows philosophy of how the  Saṃsāra or this material world is created and destroyed. Only a Vedavit can understand this Saṃsāra Vruksha represented by the inverted Ashvatha tree.

By Urdha or Upward, Bhagavān implies the Brahmā, the Supreme Divine is the Principal Being. HE is Supreme and Omnipresent.

HE brings in the theory of Karma here and explains that what Phala (fruits) we receive in our lives is governed by our Karma or the Action in our past lives. HE says, only Karma is our right but not the Phala from it.

The 47th Shloka of Chapter – 2 of Bhagavadgītā is very well known

karmaṇy-evādhikāras te mā phaleṣhu kadāchana

mā karma-phala-hetur bhūr mā te saṅgo ’stvakarmaṇi

It is often misinterpreted as doing one’s action but not pondering about the result thereof.  

This Shloka actually explains that we mortal human beings have the right to performing our Karma, the duties or actions prescribed to us but have no entitlement to the Phala (fruit) or the result of such actions.

Bhagavān compares this Ashvattha tree with that of human body. In human being the soul performs karmas based on three Gunas.

The branches of the tree denoting our Karma nurtured and nourished by the Trigunas – 

• Sattva refers to compassion, goodness, calmness, and harmony with all beings and nature
• Rajas means passion, activity, and movement
• Tamas indicates ignorance of prescribed duties, inertia, and laziness

Every human being has all the Gunas present in them in various proportions and it’s the ratio of their presence that decides the type of person one is. Whichever Guna is dominant in the soul governs the kind of karma one performs.

Sāttva Guna is considered to be the best and it leads to good deeds. We should always strive to increase the Sāto Guna as much as possible.

For example, in a day, if we spend time performing any activity related to the Supreme Paramātmā like meditation or performing Puja or chanting Slokas, we will be considered to have Sāto Guna and called a Satvik. Someone who is hyperactive and always so busy in accomplishing materialistic work, that he doesn’t even find time to pray or meditate is controlled by Rajo Guna and call a Rajasik. If we engage the day in sleeping, eating food, watching movies, gossiping, fighting with friends, then we will be considered to have Tamo Guna and called a Tamasic.

Based on the Karmas one has done in the past and present birth, the soul moves to higher or lower branches of this symbolic Ashvattha tree.

The sense objects generated by these Gunas are like buds on the tree (Vishaya Pravaalah), which sprout causing further growth. These buds sprout creating several aerial roots of material desires in a person. To satiate these desires, a living being performs karma. But these desires are unending and keep increasing, similar to the aerial roots, which provide nourishment to this metaphorical tree, causing its unlimited expansion. Eventually, the soul gets further entangled into this web of material consciousness.

As explained in Chapter 17, Śhraddhā Traya Vibhāga Yoga, these three Gunas not only affect our actions, but also the kind of food we prefer and consume.

All the material experiences we encounter in our daily lives and the consequent action we perform are due to what is perceived by our Indriyas (sense organs) under the directions given by our Gunas.

Hence, we can say, it is “I” or “Me” who actually and eventually is responsible for our Karmas and the control for our actions lie within ourselves too.

Bhagavān Śrī Krishna tells Arjuna not to get confused about attaining the good birth in a higher species. Based on our karmas, we are born into a higher or lower species.

In this context, one needs to understand the concept of Chaturdasha Bhuvanani, the 14 lokas or worlds, of which the first 8 bhuvans are considered superior to Manushya bhuvan, which is the 9th celestial bhuvan and where we human beings or precisely the two-legged beings exist.

The bhuvans after Manushya are:

• 10th bhuvana is meant for animals with four legs
• 11th bhuvana is for birds having two legs and two wings
• 12th bhuvana is of reptiles with no legs and no wings
• 13th bhuvana is populated with insects such as spiders, mosquitoes, etc having 6 legs
• 14th bhuvana or the last bhuvan is for trees and plant who can lead only sedentary life completely attached to a place.

 We also have the concept of the Chaturdasha Lokas or realms of existence.

There are six lokas which are superior the Manushya Loka, the realm where we human beings exist. In order, the key lokas are

• Satya loka
• Tapa loka
• Jala loka
• Mahar loka
• Swarga loka
• Prithvi loka

In order to attain lokas greater than Manushya loka , we need to do good karma and not get entangled in the material world.

Sattvik Karma under the influence of Sato Guna in our current life, will lead to rebirth in one of the superior lokas. Rajasik Karma governed by Rajo Guna will bring us back to the Prithvi loka and finally Tamasik Karma done under the influence of Tamo Guna will push us into one of the following inferior lokas as animals, birds, reptiles or plants depending on the intensity of the bad deed.

• Atal - loka
• Sutal -l oka
  
• Talatal - loka
  
• Mahatal - loka
  
• Patala - loka

All of us by and large know which action is noble and which one is dishonorable. Even a 5 year old child will be able to decipher between a good deed and a bad deed. However, the problem lies with the practical implementation of this knowledge in our daily lives. Now that we are earning and understanding Gītā, we should make every endeavor to see how we can implement its teachings in our lives and focus on doing good Karma so that we get a place in the higher lokas in our future births.

One must understand that while the example of the inverse tree was given by Bhagavān to make us understand the broad contour of Saṃsāra, in reality, it is totally different. It neither has any foundation, nor any resting surface. It has no top or bottom. There is no starting point or end point for this Saṃsāravṛkṣa. Its eternal.

Bhagavān explains that the downward facing branches attach and deeply entrenches one to the Saṃsāra. One must cut down this attachment with a strong axe of detachment (Asanga Shastra) with strong mind (Dṛḍhena Chittvā)  in one’s search of the Mool, the root of the tree, which is the Supreme Divine.

This concept can be best illustrated with a Puranic tale.  

Once Maharshi Sukhdev visited Janaka, the King of Mithila, seeking knowledge. That day happened to be very auspicious, and King Janaka was performing a holy ritual.

King Janaka handed Sukhdevji a pot filled to the brim with oil and asked him to do a Parikrama (circumambulation) of the city of Mithila with that pot of oil ensuring not a drop of oil was spilled from the pot.

Sukhdevji was totally focused on ensuring that not a drop of oil was spilled and successfully completed the seemingly difficult job. When he reached King Janaka and informed that he had successfully accomplished his assigned task, King Janaka asked him on how he found Mithila, and if he enjoyed the good view of the roads etc.

Sukhdevji was completely taken aback with these questions. He told King Janaka, that he was so focused and engrossed in performing the task at hand of carrying the pot of oil, that he did not manage to see any of the sights the King was alluding to.

King Janaka told Sukhdevji that with this activity, the learned Maharishi should have already got the answer to the question whose quest was the reason for his visit to Mithila.

The key here is ‘Detachment’. While Maharshi Sukhdev was actually seeing the town of Mithila during his Parikrama, he was totally unmindful of his surroundings and fully focused on accomplishing the task assigned to him.

Likewise, in our life we should perform our duties with diligence but shouldn’t get attached to any emotions or worldly objects. All of us are just like the actors playing their respective roles with commitment on stage but without getting attached to the roles assigned. This alone will then lead us to Absolute Detachment.

Having cut all the roots of attachments, Bhagavān proceeds to tell the course of action in the next Shloka.

Bhagavān says, after managing to cut the roots of attachment with the axe of detachment, one should seek to achieve the ultimate goal to unite with the Paramātmā, the primeval Puruṣottama and reach the Param Dhama. When one achieves this union with the Paramātmā, one is liberated from this Saṃsāra and freed from the endless cycle of birth and death.

Paramātmā also gives a description of HIMSELF in this Shloka. HE is the Being from whom this eternal Saṃsāra came into existence. There is no timestamp to the creation of the Saṃsāra. It is just mentioned since ‘Anadi’, which means that which has no beginning, is eternal.

• Nirmānamohā: Free from pride and delusion. The first step is to give up all pride, which is due to ignorance. The souls should give up the attitude of pride and develop an attitude of selfless service to the Paramātmā.
• Jitasaṅgadoṣā: Free from all attachments. Once the "I" and "mine" notion has been vanquished from our mind, we gain victory over attachments.
• Adhyātmanityā: Dwelling on the Self. Where the self is free from individual identity; This is not confined to just reading holy scriptures or visiting holy places, but a true sense of unity with the Almighty. Cultivating the feeling of oneness with the Paramātmā and I am of HIM and HE is of me gives one eternal happiness which can be inferred from certain Vedic utterances such as Akhanda Sachidananda, Chidananda etc.
• Vinivṛttakāmāḥ: where all the worldly desires are turned away. One who has won over all his desires. One has full control over desire, anger, greed, jealousy and pride by thinking himself as a part of HIM.
• Dvandvairvimuktāḥ: Free of all dual conflicts. Equally poised when facing pairs of opposites such as good and evil; loss and gain; sadness and joy; pleasure and pain; dharma and adharma, etc.
• Gacchantyamūḍhāḥ: reaching the state of an undeluded person.

Paramapada is a realm or place that is Swaprakasha or self-illuminating and it cannot be lit by any of the three principal sources of light such as the Sun, the Moon, and the Fire.

The Upanishads says, yat cakśuṣā na paśyati | yena cakṣūṁṣi paśyati

In fact, the Sun, Moon and Fire also receives its light and energy from this Supreme Entity, the Chetana Tattva.

na tatra sūryobhāti na candratārakaṁ nemā vidyuto bhānti kuto'yamagniḥ |
tameva bhāntamanubhāti sarvaṁ tasya bhāsā sarvamidaṁ vibhāti ||

Param Dhama is such where Sun or the moon cannot shine to give light, neither can any earthly fire. It is HIS brightness and by HIS shining that the Sun, Moon and the fire shines and provides light.

HE describes Param Dhama to be such a Supreme Abode reaching which one will not return to the mortal world. It is not a place but a metaphor to explain the union with the Param Brahma, the Supreme Being.

Bhagavān assures Arjuna that souls who attain HIM, reside eternally with HIM in his Supreme abode.

This is one of the most important and famous Shlokas of Gītā, through which the Yogeśvara says that all the creatures on this earth are the part and portion of HIM - Bhagavān.

In this Shloka, HE is referring HIMSELF as Sanatana as against Puratana. HE deliberately abstained from referring as Puratana since Puratana means ancient and hence alludes to a starting point in time, where Sanatana means where the point of origin is unknown, they always exist; they are eternal. This adjective is best suited to Paramātmā, since HE is eternal.

Paramātmā says that the embodied souls in this material world are his eternal fragmental parts. But bound by material nature, these souls are struggling with the six Indriyas, the five sense organs and the mind.

Because of the Indriyas or the sense objects, people in the Jeeva loka attract and perceive anything that comes their way as their own. It should be remembered that nothing is ours. Everything belongs to the Paramātmā.

There is contextual relevance between this Shoka and the 12th and 22nd Shloka of Chapter – 2.

In the 12th Shloka for Chapter - 2 Bhagavān says, that never was there a time when HE did not exist, nor us and in the future too shall any of us cease to be.

na tvevāhaṁ jātu nāsaṁ na tvaṁ neme janādhipāḥ

na chaiva na bhaviṣhyāmaḥ sarve vayamataḥ param

This is the Eternal being of the Paramātmā.

In the 22nd Shloka HE says, just as a person sheds worn-out garments and wears new ones, likewise, at the time of death, the soul casts off its worn-out body and enters into a new one. So, there is no death or birth but the passage of the eternal soul from one being to the other.

vāsānsi jīrṇāni yathā vihāya navāni gṛihṇāti naro ’parāṇi

tathā śharīrāṇi vihāya jīrṇānya nyāni sanyāti navāni dehī

In this Shloka, Bhagavān says that like the wind carries fragrance from a flower garden or bad odour from a garbage bin with it to a royal mansion or a poor man’s house without making any distinction, likewise the souls is not attached to any Karma-Phala (result of our action) or our Indriyas (sense organs). Like the winds onus is to carry the odour, whether good or bad from one place to another, in the same manner, the Jīvātman or the soul, while moving from one mortal body to another mortal body, carries with it the impressions and experience that it gathered in that life with its senses.

Just like the wind loses the odour after some time, the Jīvātman too doesn’t carry the impressions forever. At some point in time, the Jīvātman leaves them to their destiny. That means, the Jīvātman does not remain attached to Indriyas. As such, the Ātma is always free from any kind of attachments.

Taking the help of this concept, HE explains HIS presence from a macro to micro perceptive, which will be discussed in detail in the next session.

The session concluded with Hari Nama Sankirtana, followed by a Questions and Answers session and chanting of the Hanuman Chalisa.

Question and Answer

Rajendra Uppala ji
Q: Can you please elaborate on the three gunas?
A: Doing any good deeds related to worship of God like meditation is sattvic; being involved in result-oriented worldly activities is rajasic; doing no action due to lethargy and ignorance is tamasic.

Geeta ji
Q: On one hand, it is said that after death, atman goes to another body carrying the karma like the wind carrying the fragrance; on the other hand, atman is said to be indestructible. Can you please clear this contradiction?
A: The atman is nirguna and nirvikara, it is not attached to the karmas, it just goes along with the mana like the wind. The accumulated karmas will be carried along.

Jyothi Valluri ji
Q: Why are we given these relationships in life, if we are supposed to be relinquishing all attachments?
A: Whatever we get in this life is a result of our previous karmas. Our life in this human world is a chance to balance out our punya and paapa karmas. We should just do our role play like in a drama or cinema, without any strong attachments.

Vikas ji
Q: Did Ishwara create this world, and why?
A: In Upanishads, it is said that Paramātmā was alone in the beginning, and He created many entities for companionship. He became many forms through the panchamahabhutas. The purpose of our life is for moksha prapti, to become one with HIM.

Sunita ji
Q: How can I overcome the sorrow that envelops me when I see people doing wrong deeds like polluting the earth, etc?
A: Expectations are the cause of sorrow. So, we should stop expecting others to act according to our liking. Gītā advises us to be anapeksha - neutral to the external happenings.