विवेचन सारांश

Remember Paramātmā at all times, to be united with HIM at the time of death

Arjuna asks:

• What is Brahmā 
• What is Adhyātma - individual soul \ Jīvātmā
• What is karma
• What is adhibhūtam - the material manifestation of God
• Who is called adhidaivaṁ - Master of celestial Gods

Addressing Sri Krishna as Madhusudana (slayer of demon Madhu), Arjuna continues his queries and asks:

• Who is Adhiyajna - Master of all sacrificial performances or yajnas (refers to Bhagavān Vishnu)
• How does HE dwell in the body?
• How is HE to be realized at time of death by those who have controlled their senses and have a steadfast mind?

Sri Krishna in the last shloka of 7th chapter had said that those who understand HIS different roles can attain the supreme. Those who realize HIM in adhidaiva, ādhibhūt, adhyātma with steadfast mind realize HIM at time of death. Arjuna is enquiring about the terminal state of yogi or jnani with yuktachetasa -one whose subconscious mind is in equilibrium. He wants to know what the process is when a man of knowledge is about to relinquish his body.

Death is such a mysterious process that nobody can understand or describe what the person on deathbed is experiencing, as he is lost in the vortex of his thoughts. A normal person with average intellect is fighting his own battles and is not ready for death because he is fiercely attached to the body. Even people who commit suicide are attached to their bodies but choose to give up their body in anger or frustration because they are not able to live the life according to their liking. Unhappy, discontented or frustrated with present circumstances they end their life in the hope that in the next birth they will see fulfilment of their unfulfilled desires. Such a person who spurns the divine gift of life and shows contempt to God, will not be rewarded and will have to exist without physical body for long time. These dissatisfied souls wander as ghosts and yearn for birth in a gross body. They plead for their liberation by mantra chanting, some yagna (austerity) or anything that will free them from their dreadful existence. 

It is indeed a tragedy that humans do not value human life and accord undue importance to objects and possessions. Suicide is becoming common in children as they are not able to deal with the parental, academic or peer pressure. The unique abilities of a child has to be recognized and nurtured by parents and teachers to prevent unnecessary pressure. We fail to see beyond amassing wealth and positions. The success or failure is defined by the size and quantity of possessions. We forget that attachment gives pain in life and inflicts pain even after death. We keep torturing ourselves with 'my' and 'mine' throughout life till the end of life. This obsession to attachment till the last breath leads to self-inflicted pain even after death of body. This thought gets carried to the next life and causes misery.

Sri Bhagavān replies to Arjuna's questions. HE says that

• The Supreme Indestructible is called Brahmā.
• One's own self- Jīvātmā is called Adhyātma. It has the same essence as Brahmā implying that attributes of our soul and Brahmā are same. That is why atmajnana is called as Brahmājnana. The path of spirituality is called Adhyātma and science of soul is also called Adhyātma. This science which unites Jīvātmā (fragment of Paramātmā) with Paramātmā is called Adhyātma. The soul is paraprakruti which is indestructible and our body which is destructible is aparaprakruti. The individual soul which is paraprakruti is mentioned as Adhyātma and is called a fragment of Paramātmā.
• The reactions to various upsurges in vibrations occurring in senses, mind or body and actions like yajna, tapa daana performed in accordance to scriptures is called karma.

There has to be a vibrational upsurge for karma to happen. For example, an upsurge of hunger pang in stomach propels vibration in the mind. As a consequence one gets up and makes arrangement to procure, prepare and eat food to satisfy the hunger. Similarly, a pain sensation in leg gets registered in the mind which leads to asking someone for medicine. This involves getting up, walking, speaking which is reflection of movement occurring in limbs and tongue. The upsurge to help arises in the mind of the recipient who hears the request and gets the medicine. The root cause of the entire chain of activity is a muscle cramp which moved the brain, and tongue. But one has to sacrifice something to get karma performed like time, energy or comfort. Thus, karma refers to all activities as a consequence of an upsurge of vibrations arising in the senses, body or mind.
 
The other definition of karma refers to activities done in accordance to that stated in scriptures like charity, yajna, serving the sages or serving the guru. Respecting parents or elders is also a form of karma. Bhagavān's action of creation the universe is the first karma from which the tradition of karma continues. Bhagavān sacrificed HIS loneliness (nirguna nirakara form) to create billions of living and non-living entities.

Karma is done by sacrificing something to achieve something. For example: We sacrifice our time, energy and above all our peace of mind to attain material pleasures. We take pride in attaining temporary material pleasures which in fact adds to our anxiety and leads to path of bondage and gets us entangled in cycle of birth and death.

With this knowledge of karma and Bhagavad Gītā, we should strive to rethink and reverse the direction of karma to sacrifice the material pleasure to attain eternal everlasting peace leading to ultimate salvation or moksha. Sri Krishna is showing us the path to salvation through Arjuna.

Addressing Arjuna as Dehabhrutam vara (best of embodied person), Sri Krishna further clarifies that:

• ādhibhūtam refers to all perishable objects. All material manifestations which can be seen like the universe, body, house, car, etc.  are subject to creation and destruction. This material manifestations are referred to as adhibhut
• Brahmā who created ādhibhūt is called Adhidaiva. 
• Paramātmā is the Adhiyajna.

Sri Krishna further explains that the entire material world is the manifestation of pancha mahabhuta ( five elements - water, fire, air, earth and space). This material manifestation comes into existence and is also subject to destruction. For example, a scarf which is visible and perceivable, in due course of time will wear out and will be discarded in trash. It may be burnt to ashes or gets mixed in soil, thus changing it's form. Thus, ādhibhūt changes form, but the formless does not change.

This tangible and visible body which was invisible before birth was present in the pancha mahabhutas. It was maintained in the food parents ate, the air they breathed, and the fire used for cooking. This invisible body then took a gross form which is now perceivable. But sooner or later the Prāṇa will leave the body and the body will be reduced to ashes. These ashes will be scattered on earth or immersed in water. Ultimately the body merges with those very elements it originated from. This is sansar-unceasing continuous change. Pancha mahabhutas is the invisible thread that connects all the individuals. To take this thought further, it can be said that the crops in the field or food that we eat is made of us. The crop is nurtured by sunlight, the rain, the wind and the ashes of the burnt body may be the fertilizer. Thus we are connected to the elements as well as the farmer who grows it, the retailer who stores it and grocer who sells it. As we do not know what the body goes through when it changes form, we are not only related to food that we eat and the body but are also related to sun, earth, water and clouds. Thus all creation in this universe is inter-connected. Adhibhūt encompasses all that is created and gets destroyed and change into another form.

Sri Krishna says that HE is Adhiyajna in our body. There is a process to know and recognize this Adhiyajna in our perishable body. HE cannot be comprehended by merely by reading about Brahmā or Adhiyajna, but has to be realized by following a stipulated process. Just as merely writing the word fire or water on paper cannot burn or drench it, HE has to be realized. To understand Sri Krishna as Adhiyajna, we too have to perform yajna. A traditional yajna involves a sacrificial fire into which various oblations (ahuti) are offered with the chanting of mantras. A yajna can also be performed with our body, mind and strong conviction and does not require gross oblations. This metaphorical yajna requires fuel of vairgya or dispassion and detachment. The fire of tempered, controlled senses is offered as oblation in the fuel of Vairāgya of internal yajna. To know the Adhiyajna in us, we have to withdraw the senses from sense organs and offer it in the sacrificial fire. This is done by sitting in vajra asana or siddh asana or padma asana to ignite fire of tempered senses fueled by Vairāgya. Once fire is ignited, pour in offering of pratyahara (withdrawal of senses from sense objects). The stilled mind and Prāṇa are the mantras needed for this yajna. Stilling the Prāṇa is awakening the dormant energy, taking Prāṇa through Prāṇayama from sushumna nadi and directing it upwards to the crown chakra on top of head.

Thus, the steps performing yajna are

Once the dormant energy is awakened by following these three processes, and Prāṇa is established in crown chakra and mind is stilled, then this smokeless incandescent fire of tattva jnana (knowledge of super essence, absolute truth) shines in all it's magnificent glory. Just as the fire of yajna cools down, so does the fire of internal yajna cools down after revealing the essence of Brahmā leaving only Brahmā. This Brahmā which remains is Adhiyajna.

In order to do internal yajna to attain Adhiyajna, we have to train body to sit properly, subjugate and restrain the senses and still the mind.

The yogi and his disciple:
There lived a yogi with many followers, in a village. A young fresher approached him to become his disciple and learn yoga. The fresher said that he had done some preparation and was ready to learn and perfect the techniques under his guidance. The yogi agreed to his request but asked him to complete a task before starting. The keen and eager fresher readily agreed to do any task. The yogi gave him a box and asked him to deliver it to his friend in the neighboring village. The only condition the yogi imposed was that he was to go directly without stopping anywhere. The fresher happily agreed, thinking it was a very easy task. He set out on his task. It was a hot summer afternoon and soon he got tired and decided to take rest under the shade of a huge tree. He was curious about the content of the box. He wanted to peek in to see the contents of box. Curiosity got the better of him and he opened the box. A rat trapped in the box sprang out and disappeared in the bushes. Scared, he hurriedly closed the empty box, delivered it and returned back to yogi. He said he completed the task and was ready to learn. The yogi said that he was aware that the disciple took rest on the way, which meant he had no control on his body. He had opened the box and let the rat flee, and delivered an empty box which indicated he had no control over mind and senses. The yogi concluded that with no control on body and no restrain on mind and senses, the aspirant did not have the prerequisites to learn yoga from him.

Learning yoga requires basic preparation and  we have to qualify ourselves to become yogi.

Sri Krishna says that if a person thinks of Paramātmā at the time of death, that is when departing from the body, he can attain Paramātmā without any doubt.

Antakala means death of physical body, but we also undergo daily death, by way of sleep, death of ignorance through knowledge, death of life stages through transition from childhood to adulthood to old age, and many such deaths. End of every stage of life is like a minor death and relinquishing body is major death.

One who remembers Bhagavān at time of each death can attain HIM. Since we undergo so many antakals in our lifetime, we should remember HIM all the time. Attaining Bhagavān is not as simple as remembering HIM only once at time of death. Bhagavān has created this huge interplay of universe with all attachments, desires and lust, with principle of karma based rewards, rebirth and purvasanskara which cannot be transcended by just remembering Him at end of life. So we have to remember Bhagavān at all times. Only a person who has abided in the remembrance of God all his life will be able to remember HIM at time of death. On the hand, one who has thought of only material possessions, family, pets, wealth throughout life will not be able to think of Bhagavān at time of death when he is in intense pain and struggle.

The stock trader on death bed:
There was a rich marvadi who used to day trade in stocks. He used to study the stock scripts and decide what shares to buy at support level and sell at resistance level. He made huge amounts of profit using these skills. This study took up a lot of his time and was constantly thinking of when to buy and when to sell the stocks. He spent his entire life studying the balance sheets of companies and their stocks.

When his end came around the age of 85, he was in a semi conscious state and surrounded by his sons and doctor. The doctor by his bedside was checking his vitals. While checking the  blood pressure the doctor was murmuring the reading as 180, 185, 190,195. Suddenly the marvadi woke up and blurted "sell it off if it goes above 200". In his subconscious mind, he was still thinking of stocks. After spending the entire lifetime thinking only of shares and their levels it is impossible to suddenly remember Bhagavān at time of death. 

No one knows the time of death and no one is interested in knowing how much time they have left on earth from astrologers. The dying person loses consciousness in the terminal agonal stage. As death nears, the unconscious stage deepens further and in this state of unconsciousness that Prāṇa leaves the body. When Prāṇa leaves body, it snaps all relations, possessions and all the wealth. All that remains with us is Bhagavān's name and the nishkama karma done for Bhagavān. This determines whether the path leads to HIM or not. A jnani who is purified from inside outside (antarbhahiya) whose breathing is purified by taking HIS name with every breath and subconscious mind filled with Bhagavān, thinks of HIM at time of death.  We have to train and educate the mind on path of spirituality throughout life to attain HIM at end of life. By making it a way of life we can attain Bhagavān and will be welcomed easily by HIM.

Since we do not know the exact time of death, we can try to live life with awareness. In adhyatmic literature it is said that a person who dies contemplating on wealth becomes a ghost after death, while who dies remembering children gets pig life, whereas one who breathes his last in divine remembrance of God attains supreme divinity. This chapter teaches us to live consciously and die consciously.

Sri Krishna tells Arjuna that whatever object, idea or state being remembered while leaving body, one will attain that state which was being contemplated upon when ending their life. HE has given us the choice to contemplate on what we want to attain.

There was an old lady who had a pet dog whom she treated as her son. She constantly worried what would happen to her dog after her, who feed her dog or take it to the vet. Such a person cannot attain God as one attains what they contemplate on. We live our lives based on the sanskaras that are influenced by the family heritage and upbringing. A child exposed to vices from young age picks these up easily. Inconsequential things like certain food, fruit, certain clothing or certain footwear can be given up easily. But deeper and significant changes is more difficult to bring about like giving up hatred\animosity to a person and changing it to love, or get detached from the person you are most attached to. Very few can achieve this. We have to live consciously to bring about a significant change to improve ourselves.

Sri Krishna tells Arjuna to remember HIM (mamanusmara yudhya ca), and to perform kartavya karma also. Arjuna's kartavya karma in the battlefield of Kurukshetra was to fight for dharma.  Sri Krishna also tells him to surrender his mind and intellect (mayyarpitamanobuddhih) and he will undoubtedly attain HIM.

This shloka is the essence of Bhagavad Gītā, teaching both bhakti yoga (mamanusmara) and karma yoga (Yudhya ca). Bhagavad Gītā does not advise us to devote time and energy to do actions only for God. There is equal emphasis to perform the prescribed duties also. We should perform the duties simultaneously while remembering God and this should become a continuous process in life. Bhagavān should be remembered while thinking, eating, sleeping, travelling, in happiness and in distress- that is at all times (tasmatsarvesu kalesu).

When performing prescribed duties, the mind and intellect has to be surrendered to HIM (mayyarpitamanobuddhih). While doing these duties we have to  keep Bhagavān as a witness by remembering HIM, then HE will show the further path. We should start by remembering HIM while doing prescribed duties. Slowly we should increase the time of God's remembrance and the nishkama karma done for God. Finally we will reach a stage when we can remember God at all times in our life. 

Mentally taking God's name should cause an oscillation (andolan) in our mind and every breath should be with HIS name. We should develop a feeling that God is in me, with me at the time and all karmas are being performed with HIS grace. This bhava should become our daily habit, and will take us to supreme paramount love for God in our mind and God's imprint and presence can be felt in our karma making it God-filled. A torch can illuminate a path for 15-20 feet. When we reach that point it illuminates further. Similarly, when we go near God by taking HIS name and doing karma for HIM, HE will show us the path to be followed further. Just as a toddler is supported by his mother when he stumbles, God also gives us a helping hand when we stumble while walking on His path. When attaining Paramātmā is the only objective in life, we should have deep faith and confidence that He will take care of us. Sri Krishna has promised that those who have deep faith and confidence can attain HIM easily.

The message given here is to do worldly duties with body but attach mind to God. Arjuna's duty as a warrior was to fight physically and to attach the mind to Sri Krishna, and be ensured that he did not accrue bad karma even though he killed many on the battlefield.

Some people neglect their worldly duties with the excuse that they have taken to spirituality, while others excuse themselves from spiritual practice on the pretext of worldly tasks. But Paramātmā says we should do both-perform duties as well as remember HIM. We should consider this as a golden rule to be followed in life. Just as Swamiji has said Gītā padhe, padaye aur jeevan me laye, this golden rule if implemented in life can change us forever.

When we follow the instructions given by Sri Krishna, the worldly duties will not suffer as body is actively involved in karma of material world. Since the mind is attached to God, these actions will not bind us in law of karma. This is illustrated by the following anecdote.

A person killed another and was produced in court. Upon asking he confessed that he had killed another person, but did not deserve punishment as he had no intention to kill. He was driving carefully, following all the rules and the other person came suddenly in front of his car. The dead man's lawyer could not establish his intention to kill so the person was let off without punishment. From this example we see that even in the world we are not culpable for actions performed without attachment.

This shloka, if followed in life, will lead us to moksha.

Sant Kabir says
sumiran ki sudhi yo karo, jyo gager paanihara
bolat dolat surati mein, kahe kabir vichari
Remember God just like the village woman remembers the water pot on her head. She speaks with other women while walking but her mind is there on the pot on her head.

Hence, we have to keep remembering God while performing actions.

Bhagavān is giving different secrets on how to attain HIM. HE says that when a person practices to constantly engage the mind in remembering HIM, the supreme divine power without deviating, that person will certainly attain HIM. 

This instruction to keep mind meditating on God has been given in Gītā in many places. For example, 
ananyacetah satatam, yo mam smarati nityasah |
tasyaham sulabhah pārtha, nityayuktasya yoginah | 8.14 |

tesam satayuktanam, bhajatam pritipurvakam |
dadami buddhiyogam tam, yena mamupayanti te | 10.14 |

mayyeva mana adhatsva, mayi buddhim nivesaya|
nivasisyasi mayyeva, ata urdhvam na samsaya | 12.8 |

The mind is like a drunken monkey, stung by a scorpion and possessed by a demon. Therefore it is very difficult to bring mind under control. We have to control the mind to go beyond conditioning of mind. This control can only be achieved by whole-hearted practice. To achieve the ultimate objective of God we have to practice path of spirituality however difficult it may seem in the beginning. After clearly defining the objective of attaining God, we can choose the path. The word abhyasa means practice, that is, doing the same thing over and over again. The training and conditioning of mind to meditate upon God should be done continuously along with daily activities of life. When mind is attached to God it will get purified even when performing worldly duties.

It is important to remember that thoughts decide our future. It is the mind that needs to be engaged in devotion and the mind has to be surrendered to God. The success, fame, property we get is due to grace of God, and hence, we should keep expressing utmost gratitude for that. We should consider God as our near dear one and have intimate love for HIM. The contemplation done with love is permanent, long-lasting and ever-increasing. When the training of mind in absorption of consciousness of God is complete, we will receive divine grace. With this grace we can attain liberation from material bondage of this world and get unlimited divine bliss, divine knowledge and divine love. Sri Krishna says that such a soul will be God-realized in the body itself. Upon leaving body such a soul will attain God.

Paramātmā who is minuter than minutest and subtler than subtlest is beyond the physical analysis performed by physicist or scientist. ParaBrahmā cannot be found by analyzing this gross material world. The exploration has to be inner. The eyes can perceive the gross objects like color an shape of flower but not the sentiment evoked when flower is presented by a loved one. Emotions are subtler than gross matter, so a subtle mind is needed to perceive it. Sublime ParaBrahmā cannot be known by gross intellect; so we need to sublimate, refine and purify the intellect.

Sri Krishna says that one who meditates on self-effulgent ParaBrahmā, gets filled with incandescent luminosity of sun, eradicating all the darkness. To advance on path of spirituality one has to give up ego, pride and ignorance and meditate on Śrī Krishna.

The priest with false pride:
A priest was travelling in a boat on river Ganga. The priest asked the boatman if he knew geography. When the boatman replied in the negative, the priest said that one fourth of his life was wasted in the river. After sometime, the priest asked the boatman if he knew history. Again the boatman replied in the negative. The priest said that half his life was as good as drowned in the river. By now the priest was proud of his superior knowledge and asked if the boatman knew Vishnusahasranamama. Again the boatman replied in the negative. The priest then said that three-fourth of his life was as good as drowned. The boatman kept calm and continued rowing. Suddenly there was an increase in flow of Ganga which took the form of a storm. The boatman warned everyone in the boat that the boat could sink. He then asked the priest if he could swim. The terrified priest said that he did not know swimming. The boatman said that his whole life was as good as drowned in the river. Soon the boat capsized. The boatman saved the drowning priest at great risk to his own life. 

Knowledge should not be used for debating or belittling others. Knowledge of scriptures should be used for solving the problems and not cause violence or for insults.

A tree laden with fruit has its branches bent. When knowledge comes to a humble person it is enhanced further. So one must strive to be "vidhya vinaya sampanne (5.18)". When one meditates on God and acquires knowledge he is free from the arrogance of knowledge.

Satyanarayan ji
Q: Is Arjuna referred to Purushottama? Why does Śrī Krishna love Arjuna though he made many mistakes?
A: Sri Krishna is referred to as Purushottama and not Arjuna.

Arjuna being human made mistakes. However, he was a devotee of Śrī Krishna with who he shared a special bond. In the 10th chapter Vibhuti Yoga, Śrī Krishna  says that HE is Arjuna among pāṇḍavas. In other words, we can say that Śrī Krishna is Arjuna's alter ego.

Sarma ji
Q: What is the reason for shifting from anushtup to trishtup chand?
A: Veda Vyas ji shifted from anuhtup to trishtup to indicate change of emotion.

Murali ji
Q: Why are there many ways to attain God?
A: In 12th chapter God has given 4 options in which HE says if one cannot offer mind and intellect, then follow the other path. The next option is to practice sama yoga and be equanimous in all situations. If this cannot be followed, then do karmas for Him. The next option is to do karma and offer karmaphalas to Him. Yet another simpler way is to do worldly duties remembering Him. This way karma does not become a bondage.

Q: What happens to a person who gets sudden death with no chance to think of God? 
A: The moment Prāṇa leaves body whatever is there in their mind is the antakal. That's why Śrī Krishna tells to think of HIM all the time with each breath. Even if death strikes, the breath will be taking HIS name. 

Pravin ji
Q: What is the difference between Adhibhuta which is described as that which can be created and destroyed, and the matter which according to physics, cannot be created or destroyed?
A: Adhibhuta changes form, like the body merges with panch mahabhuta.  So the principle of physics applies here also as adhibhuta changes form and is not destroyed.

Sheela ji
Q: What are good reference books to study gītā? 
A: Sadhak sanjeevani by Gītā press

Q: What is the difference between aksaraBrahmā and adhiyajna?
A: AksaraBrahmā is for cosmos level while adhiyajna is for body.

Q: What is the difference between adhidaiva and hiranya Puruṣa?
A: Both are the same.

Q: What is the difference between Jīvātmā and Adhyātma?
A: Jīvātmā is a part of Paramātmā whose objective is to attain God. But Jīvātmā gets more attached to body and forgets this objective. The journey of Jīvātmā to attain Paramātmā is called Adhyātma.