विवेचन सारांश
The Intricate Nature of the Eternal Soul
The second chapter of Śrīmad Bhagavad Gītā is Sānkhya Yoga - The Yoga of Analytical Knowledge, which gives us a deep insight into the nature of the ātma.
The session started with Deep-prajwalan and prayers to Ma Sharada, Sri Krishna and our Guru, Param Pujya Swami Shri Govind Dev Giri Ji Maharaj. With Divine Grace, we have had the chance to learn the holy Gītā. When we started the Gītā, we were not sure whether we would be able to learn the shlokas or even comprehend the very essence of this sacred text. However, here we are, already in the fourth level, progressively advancing in our spiritual journey.
Often the question arises as to why we do not proceed sequentially in the learning of the chapters of Gītā. The explanation is simple. If we start with the first chapter, we will have to consecutively continue with the second chapter, the nuances and concepts of which are rather difficult for beginners. This is the reason why we start with Bhakti Yog and Purushottama Yog at the first level.
In the previous session, we completed the tenth shloka. We have seen in the first chapter how Arjuna has been crying about having been given the onerous task of fighting his own kith and kin in the battlefield of Kurukshetra. At the beginning of the second chapter, Arjuna continues with his lamentation and wonders how he would ever be able to kill his beloved Bhishma Pitamāh and his Guru Dronacharya. We have also seen how Sri Krishna, instead of empathizing with Arjuna, chides him regarding the stubborn stand that the latter has taken on shirking from the war. HE makes it clear to Arjuna that he has no choice but to face his adversaries irrespective of their familial relationships. Running away from his duty is certainly not an option.
It is a belief by many scholars that strictly speaking, Gītā starts from the 11th shloka of chapter 2, as it is from this shloka onwards that Paramātmā starts giving HIS discourse. Adi Shankaracharya ji too has mentioned in his own treatise on the Gitā, popularly known as Shankara-bhashya, that the true essence of the Gitā can be found from the eleventh shloka onwards.
However, Parameshwar imparts HIS golden words of wisdom only after Arjuna surrenders to HIM completely as mentioned in the shloka given below:
कार्पण्यदोषोपहतस्वभाव:
पृच्छामि त्वां धर्मसम्मूढचेता: |
यच्छ्रेय: स्यान्निश्चितं ब्रूहि तन्मे
शिष्यस्तेऽहं शाधि मां त्वां प्रपन्नम् || 7||
(I am confused about my duty, and am besieged with anxiety and faintheartedness. I am Your disciple, and am surrendered to You. Please tell me for certain what is best for me.)
It should be noted that contrary to his earlier plea to be granted the choice of deciding how his future course of action would take shape, Arjuna now asks Sri Krishna to advise him on what would be best for him and his welfare.
Yogeshwar knows that Arjuna is perceiving his predicament in a highly exaggerated light. Hence HE alleviates the issue by presenting HIS own views on how to deal with the situation.
2.11
śrībhagavānuvāca
aśocyānanvaśocastvaṃ(m), prajñāvādāṃśca bhāṣase,
gatāsūnagatāsūṃśca, nānuśocanti paṇḍitāḥ. 2.11
In this shloka, Sri Krishna conveys to Arjuna in no uncertain terms that while the latter mourns for that which is not worthy of grief, yet he professes to speak words of wisdom! This would be a contradiction as sagacity is incompatible with dull-wittedness.
HE points out in HIS own indirect and circuitous way, that Arjuna’s logic is tainted with irrational arguments that border on sheer stupidity. Now that Arjuna is stationed at the battlefield, he cannot run away. Such words indicating reluctance in carrying out one’s duty should not be uttered by anyone. No doubt Arjuna is full of grief and giving one futile argument after another; yet he is trying to prove that he is clever and astute by giving so-called intellectual postulations that are unfounded and baseless. In the next shloka HE says that it is unwise to grieve for anything that is perishable.
na tvevāhaṃ(ñ) jātu nāsaṃ(n), na tvaṃ(n) neme janādhipāḥ,
na caiva na bhaviṣyāmaḥ(s), sarve vayamataḥ(ph) param. 2.12
Sri Krishna tells Arjuna that never was there a time when HE did not exist, nor has there ever been a time when Arjuna or the other kings ever ceased to exist. They will not ever be subject to demise as they have always been here. In the 12th chapter HE mentions in the fourth shloka:
सन्नियम्येन्द्रियग्रामं सर्वत्र समबुद्धय:
The word ‘sarvatra’ means everywhere. All that exists is denoted by the word ‘is’. When we say this is a mouse and this is a laptop, the word ‘is’ implies existence and all existence ultimately leads to Paramatmā.
That is why we should remember our true identity, denoted by the following terms
अहम् ब्रह्मास्मि
तत् त्वम् असि
(I am Brahmā; You are ‘that’)
We all build houses. In the distant future the houses may be destroyed, but the land remains forever. In the same way, the body may be destroyed but the soul within remains imperishable. Ishwar emphasizes to Arjuna that in the past we all were here, at present we are still here and in the future, we will continue to be here. Hence, the wise people never grieve for that which will never die. After all, we are not the body but the ātman.
dehino'sminyathā dehe, kaumāraṃ(y̐) yauvanaṃ(ñ) jarā,
tathā dehāntaraprāptiḥ(r), dhīrastatra na muhyati.2.13
Yogeshwar says that the soul in this body passes through the various stages of life. From childhood or kaumāraṃ, it transitions into youth that is yauvanaṃ, and finally it culminates into jarā or old age. However, the journey of the soul does not end with the death of the current physical frame as it passes into another body. Having taken a new body, the same process of transformation and decay is repeated in all the subsequent cycles of birth and demise. Hence, what is the point of grieving for that which is eternal?
Of course, this seems easy to explain but extremely hard to apply in real life. It is indeed difficult for us to accept and come to terms with the passing away of a beloved family member. However, we have to realize that our grief stems from the fact that we tend to give importance to our relationship with the bodies of our dear ones, failing to relate to their soul.
Once we understand the immortality of the soul, we can decrease the intensity of our pain and sorrow when we face such grievous losses.
mātrāsparśāstu kaunteya, śītoṣṇasukhaduḥkhadāḥ,
āgamāpāyino'nityāḥ(s), tāṃstitikṣasva bhārata. 2.14
We are all endowed with five sense-objects and five senses. It is the contact of the senses with the sense-object that causes the sensations of cold, heat, pleasure and pain. The word mātrāsparśā means ‘contact of the senses with the sense-objects’. The sense organs allow us to experience the shabd, sparsh, rasa, roopa and gandha, or sound, touch, taste, vision and smell respectively. Nonetheless, it is the nature of the material realm that whatever has started will ultimately end, as denoted by the term āgamāpāyino'nityāḥ. This is the reason why Sri Krishna says repeatedly that HE is ‘ajah’ or unborn, since HE is not subject to this law of impermanence.
HE tells Arjuna that everything being so fleeting in nature, he should learn to tolerate the sensations of pleasure and pain. Paramātmā can see that Arjuna is feeling the pain in anticipation of losing his loved ones. Hence HE points out to Arjuna that if he is wise, he should not feel the distress which has been created by the sense organs. Whoever he is seeing in the battlefield has to inevitably die one day; hence, why mourn for them? HE advises Arjuna to detach himself from the sense-objects. In the eleventh chapter, Sri Krishna shows HIS Vishvaroopa to Arjuna when HE sees that the latter is still in confusion about his responsibilities, and reiterates that Arjuna is just the medium of HIS will. His opponents will anyway be killed irrespective of whether Arjuna fights them or spares them.
yaṃ(m) hi na vyathayantyete, puruṣaṃ(m) puruṣarṣabha,
ṣamaduḥkhasukhaṃ(n) dhīraṃ(m), so'mṛtatvāya kalpate. 2.15
Addressing Arjuna as Puruṣarṣabha or the ‘noblest amongst men’, Ishwar says that a person who is not affected by happiness and distress, remaining steady in both the conditions, becomes eligible for amṛtatvāya or liberation. These are the people whose souls are free from worldly circumstances. On the other hand, most of us cannot withstand even a few hours of discomfort. For example, if there is a power outage for even a couple of minutes, we waste no time in contacting the electricity department as we cannot bear facing the heat for even an hour.
To free ourselves from this dependence on comforts, we should try to keep away and abstain from these material comforts for at least an hour daily, even if they are easily accessible to us.
In the 12th chapter Sri Krishna says in the 15th Shloka:
यस्मान्नोद्विजते लोको लोकान्नोद्विजते च य: |
हर्षामर्षभयोद्वेगैर्मुक्तो य: स च मे प्रिय: || 15||
(Those who are not a source of annoyance to anyone and who in turn are not agitated by anyone, who are equal in pleasure and pain, and free from fear and anxiety, such devotees of Mine are very dear to Me.)
We should learn to be happy in all our circumstances. Profits in business should not make us overly elevated in spirit; and losses should not make us plunge into bouts of despondency. Attributing the twists and turns of events in our lives to fate, and not pining for too many material acquisitions, we should learn to be content with what we have. Only if we practice equanimity in the face of adversity can we become eligible for immortality.
Pursuing relentlessly our spiritual journey offered by the Gītā, we would be able to gradually reduce the intensity of our feelings of discomfort from 80%, to as low as 5%. Our tolerance for pleasure and pain would qualify us for a place in HIS abode, which has been described thus in the 15th chapter:
न तद्भासयते सूर्यो न शशाङ्को न पावकः ।
यद्गत्वा न निर्वतन्ते तद्धाम परमं मम॥6॥
(Neither the sun nor the moon, nor fire can illumine that Supreme Abode of Mine. Having gone There, one does not return to this material world again.)
If we wish to attain Mukti and enjoy a place in HIS abode, then we should not get affected by worldly circumstances; we should learn to reduce the intensity of the feelings that arise out of sense-objects and gradually clear ourselves of the various vikaras that afflict us.
nāsato vidyate bhāvo, nābhāvo vidyate sataḥ,
ubhayorapi dṛṣṭo'ntaḥ(s), tvanayostattvadarśibhiḥ. 2.16
avināśi tu tadviddhi, yena sarvamidaṃ(n) tatam,
vināśamavyayasyāsya, na kaścitkartumarhati. 2.17
Through this shloka we come to know that which is avināśi or indestructible. This world and everything here is pervaded by that which is imperishable, as denoted by the term yena sarvamidaṃ. We cannot destroy this imperishable avyaya element, referred to as the soul. One cannot see this soul but only sense it and feel its presence. The logic behind this statement is simple: if one cannot touch the intangible soul or even hold it, then how can one destroy it? After all, we can only annihilate something which has a concrete form and which has attributes.
If we understand Sanskrit, we would find it very easy to grasp these concepts.
antavanta ime dehā, nityasyoktāḥ(ś) śarīriṇaḥ,
anāśino'prameyasya, tasmādyudhyasva bhārata. 2.18
These bodies ultimately face an end as implied by the term antavanta ime dehā.
However, we are a part of the everlasting soul. Yogeshwar says that these bodies have an end; nonetheless, we are not the bodies but souls which are indestructible. We are part of that Paramātma who is nitya, and anāśino'prameyasya or eternal, indestructible and immeasurable.
Therefore, how can one possibly kill those that are not the bodies? Undoubtedly, the bodies will cease to exist one day, but the souls within the bodies will continue to live. Guru Dronacharya and Bhīṣma Pitāmāh will continue to exist even when their bodies perish. Here Sri Krishna is explaining the nature of the soul to Arjuna. Emphasizing that it is only the material body that perishes and that the soul within is everlasting, HE urges Arjuna to fight without any remorse of having killed his near and dear ones.
ya enaṃ(v̐) vetti hantāraṃ,(y̐) yaścainaṃ(m) manyate hatam
ubhau tau na vijānīto, nāyaṃ(m) hanti na hanyate.2.19
One who believes that the soul slays or that it can be slain, is certainly not situated in unerring knowledge.
For truly, the soul neither kills, nor can it be killed.
The word Vetti means ‘knows', and enaṃ or ‘this’ refers to the soul.
The shloka states that those who consider this body as the killer of beings or as the victim of slaughter, do not really know the actuality. Arjuna too, like most people, is under the mistaken impression that he is going to become a killer.
That the ‘self’ or the soul cannot be ever killed is the irrefutable truth. It must be remembered that the ātman does not have any physical attributes or the gunas to kill or be killed. The self or the soul within us is nirguna and nirakara, existing without any qualities and devoid of any form.
na jāyate mriyate vā kadācin,
nāyaṃ(m) bhūtvā bhavitā vā na bhūyaḥ,
ajo nityaḥ(ś) śāśvato'yaṃ(m) purāṇo,
na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre. 2.20
This shloka shows how the ‘self’ within the body is immortal. We have heard endless times in the course of our studies that the self is immortal, as depicted by the words na jāyate mriyate vā kadācin. There are some shlokas of the holy Gītā that have been etched in our minds since our childhood. For example, it is highly unlikely that one would not have heard the famous shloka of Chapter 4:
यदा यदा हि धर्मस्य ग्लानिर्भवति भारत ।
अभ्युत्थानमधर्मस्य तदात्मानं सृजाम्यहम् ॥7॥
(Whenever there is a decline in righteousness and an increase in unrighteousness, O Arjun, at that time I manifest Myself on earth.)
The 47th shloka of the second chapter is equally notable:
कर्मण्येवाधिकारस्ते मा फलेषु कदाचन |
मा कर्मफलहेतुर्भूर्मा ते सङ्गोऽस्त्वकर्मणि || 47 ||
(You have a right to perform your prescribed duties, but you are not entitled to the fruits of your actions. Never consider yourself to be the cause of the results of your activities, nor be attached to inaction.)
The 20th shloka is also extremely significant in its implications as Sri Krishna iterates that the soul is never born and is therefore never dead. It does not ‘come into existence’ as it has always been present.
In the previous shloka Paramātmā has tried to relieve Arjuna of his apprehension by stating that if Arjuna thinks that he is killing or may get killed, then he is under a misconception as the self is nirguna and nirakara.
We say that ‘a child has been born’ or that ‘we have a son’. Pause and think of the erroneous notion we have, and the blurred distinction we make between the body and the soul. The body of a child may have just about come into physical existence, but the soul within, which has decided to accept the body, has existed eternally. The soul, beyond everything, is unborn, eternal, unchanging and ancient as indicated by the following words:
अजो, नित्यः, शाश्वतः, पुराण.
No one knows the origin or the starting point of the soul. The word Purāna, as stated before, means ancient. This is the reason why our vast genre of ancient Indian Literature has been referred to as Purānas. The Vedas, to go a step further, are timeless and their authorship cannot be attributed to any mortal person but to that of Paramātmā. In the same way, the soul too is eternal and changeless, merely residing in the temporary body, but bearing no resemblance to this mortal frame in terms of its gunas or qualities. And since this is indeed an established fact, then how can the self or the soul ever get killed?
vedāvināśinaṃ(n) nityaṃ(y̐), ya enamajamavyayam,
kathaṃ(m) sa puruṣaḥ(ph) pārtha, kaṃ(ṅ) ghātayati hanti kam.2.21
Addressing Arjuna as Pārtha or the son of Pritha, Yogeshwar further explains the attributes of the soul. This ‘self’ residing within the body is avināśinaṃ, nityaṃ, ajama and avyayam or imperishable, eternal, unborn and unchanging. As the soul has never been born, it cannot have an end.
Hence, how would it be possible for one who knows the everlasting nature of the soul and its exemption from the human condition of birth and decay, to kill or be killed?
vāsāṃsi jīrṇāni yathā vihāya,
navāni gṛhṇāti naro'parāṇi,
tathā śarīrāṇi vihāya jīrṇā-
nyanyāni saṃyāti navāni dehī. 2.22
This shloka describes the ‘lakshana’ or the mark of the soul. The words vāsāṃsi, jīrṇāni and vihāya mean 'garments', 'worn out' and 'shedding or leaving' respectively.
Just like we discard our old clothes when they become worn-out and torn-settling for new garments, similarly the soul too casts away the old body to take up a new physical form. In a lighter vein, we can imagine the soul seeing us wearing new clothes and deciding to get a new frame for itself!
Usually we keep our clothes for five to ten years. At the most, we can maintain an expensive sari for 25 years. However, after a span of time, we do go for a new wardrobe, do we not? The soul too, having resided in a body for seventy, eighty or even ninety years, would want to dispense with the old body and enter into a fresh form! We can well picture the soul saying in exasperation, ‘Now this is too much! Too long have I stayed in this old body! It is time for a change!’
When we buy new outfits, we feel happy and get into a celebratory mood. The soul too takes on navāni dehī or a new body, and its birth is marked with festivities.
The 23rd shloka, which will be explained in the next session, expands further on the features of the soul. The nature of the ‘self’ or the soul has been dealt in great elaboration by Sri Krishna for the sake of Arjuna who is convinced that he is going to be killing his family members. Parameshwar convinces Arjuna through these beautiful shlokas that at no point can he be called a killer.
A soldier standing at the borders of our country would have to eliminate the enemies in case they pose a threat to our great nation. Would one call the soldier a killer? This question itself is rhetorical as the soldier would be lauded and praised for performing his kartavya karma. Just like our soldiers who guard our country, Arjuna too has been reminded that he has a duty to perform. Yogeshwar tells Arjuna that even if he shirks from killing the enemy, they will be killed anyway as preordained by HIM. However, it is only their bodies that will die and not their souls.
The discourse ended with Hari Sankirtana, and was followed by the Question-Answer session.
Q & A
Satyanarayan ji
Q. Please explain the prayers that you offer during the sessions, especially the meaning of 'Yogesham Sachidanandan'.
Ans: The chapters of the Gitā are suffixed with the word ‘Yog’, and Paramātmā is the Lord of Yog. Hence the word Yogesham is used in the prayer to refer to HIM. Sachidananad is the ultimate existence and happiness while the word Vrajapriyam has two meanings. One meaning can be that the people of Brajbhoomi used to deeply revere Sri Krishna and they too were very dear to HIM. Vraja is also a kind of weapon which HE is very fond of.
Shrikant ji
Q. I am trying to compare shlokas 20 and 22. In the 20th shloka, the attributes of souls are mentioned as nitya, eternal and shashwat while in the 22nd shloka we say the soul changes the body- does it not mean that the soul is in fact, changing and is not immutable? Also, who controls the soul?
Ans: No, the soul does not change. It is the system comprising Maya and Prakrati that causes the changes to take place in the various bodies that the soul takes on. Take the example of a vessel. If we pour the water into different vessels, it would not change the characteristics of the water, would it?
As for the second part of the question, it is the jeevatma that is under the control of maya. However, the soul, which is a part of Paramātmā, is not under the control of Maya. If we realize that we are a part of ‘that’ (Aham Brahmāsmi), then we will be able to control Maya.
Amit ji
Q. Sri Krishna says that we get distracted due to our relationships and that we should only concentrate on HIM. How can this be possible and practical in real life? I have my parents or my sister. How can I break my attachment to them?
Ans: We should reorganize our perception by thinking that my sister has been given by Sri Krishna, or that my parents have been given to me by HIM. I love them because Sri Krishna has given them to me. You must carry on with your responsibility towards your family, but without the feeling of doership and without the egoistic belief that YOU are doing the work. Remember, detachment does not mean that you renounce the world and go to the Himalayas. It just means that one should do one’s duties without any sense of ego.
The evening concluded with a rendition of the Hanuman Chalisa.
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