Commentary on the Bhagavadgita : 5 - Swami Krishnananda
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Friday, November 26, 2021. 8:00.PM
Commentary on the Bhagavadgita :
Discourse 40
The Thirteenth Chapter Concludes – Understanding Purusha and Prakriti
POST-5.
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Puruṣaḥ prakṛtistho hi bhuṅkte prakṛtijān guṇān, kāraṇaṁ guṇasaṅgo’sya: The reason for this so-called enjoyment and suffering of the purusha is its contact with the gunas of prakriti—sattva, rajas, tamas. And, as I mentioned, the threefold contact brings about a threefold experience: pleasurable, unpleasurable or static. Because of repeated contact and getting habituated to this kind of contact with sattva, rajas and tamas, the purusha—as it were, indescribably though— forgets its original universality, and develops a tendency to get involved in the fulfilment of its own limited desires, the limitation being caused by the rajoguna prakriti with which it also comes in contact. Just as a lion cub that is lost may end up in a flock of sheep, and may bleat like a sheep though it is actually a lion, the universal Purusha bleats like an individual on account of its contact with the distracting qualities of rajas and tamas, and it is born in various species. Kāraṇaṁ guṇasaṅgo’sya sadasadyonijanmasu: It can be born as celestials in heaven, it can be born as gandharvas, yakshas, kinnaras, it can be born as human beings, and it can be born as animals or even as plants, trees and stone. But there is a Universal Witness behind all this drama that is taking place. What is thatm Witness?
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Gita : Chapter-13, Slokam-22.
"purushah prakriti-stho hi bhunkte prakriti-jan gunan
karanam guna-sango ’sya sad-asad-yoni-janmasu." (13.22):
"In spite of all this drama of involvement—the joy and sorrow of birth in various species of yonis—there is hope. Just as the witness in waking consciousness is unaffected even by the suffering and enjoyment in dream, there is a Supreme Witness who remains unaffected by our experiences in waking consciousness. We have all kinds of experiences in the dream world: birth and death, joy and sorrow, and every kind of thing conceivable in this world. Notwithstanding the fact of this drama that is taking place in the dream world, the consciousness of waking seems to be there as an upadraṣṭa—as a witnessthereof. Though it does not seem to be operative in the light of the mind’s involvement in the dream world, actually the fact that there is a witnessing consciousness transcending the dream world can be known when we wake up from dream and find ourselves totally unaffected by the events of thedream world. This will happen to us when we attain liberation in Paramatma—the Supreme Purusha, the transcendent witness of all these dream-like experiences of the struggle of life through the contact of the gunas of prakriti."
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Gita : Chapter-13, Slokam-23.
"upadrashtanumanta cha bharta bhokta maheshvarah
paramatmeti chapy ukto dehe ’smin purushah parah."
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Translation :
upadraṣhṭā—the Witness;
anumantā—the Permitter;
cha—and;
bhartā—the Supporter;
bhoktā—the Transcendental Enjoyer;
mahā-īśhvaraḥ—the ultimate Controller;
parama-ātmā—Superme Soul;
iti—that;
cha api—and also;
uktaḥ—is said;
dehe—within the body;
asmin—this;
puruṣhaḥ paraḥ—the Supreme Lord
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Translation of Slokam :
"Within the body also resides the Supreme Lord. He is said to be the Witness, the Permitter, the Supporter, Transcendental Enjoyer, the ultimate Controller, and the Paramātmā (Supreme Soul)."
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Commentary :
Shree Krishna has explained the status of the jīvātmā (individual soul) within the body. Now in this verse He explains the position of the Paramātmā (Supreme Soul), who also resides within the body. He previously mentioned the Paramātmā in verse 13.2 as well, when He stated that the individual soul is the knower of the individual body while the Supreme Soul is the knower of all the infinite bodies.
The Supreme Soul, who is located within everyone, also manifests in the personal form as Lord Vishnu. The Supreme Lord in His form as Vishnu is responsible for maintaining this creation. He resides in the Kṣhīr Sāgar (the ocean of milk), at the top of the universe in His personal form. He also expands Himself to reside in the hearts of all living beings as the Paramātmā. Seated within, He notes their actions, keeps an account of their karmas, and bestows the results at the proper time. He accompanies the jīvātmā (individual soul) to whatever body it receives in each lifetime. He does not hesitate in residing in the body of a snake, a pig, or insect.
The Muṇḍakopaniṣhad states:
dvā suparṇā sayujā sakhāyā
samānaṁ vṛikṣhaṁ pariṣhasvajāte
tayoranyaḥ pippalaṁ svādvattya-
naśhnannanyo abhichākaśhīti
samāne vṛikṣhe puruṣho nimagno-
’nīśhayā śhochati muhyamānaḥ
juṣhtaṁ yadā paśhyatyanyamīśha-
masya mahimānamiti vītaśhokaḥ (3.1.1-2)
“Two birds are seated in the nest (heart) of the tree (the body) of the living form. They are the jīvātmā (individual soul) and Paramātmā (Supreme Soul). The jīvātmā has its back toward the Paramātmā, and is busy enjoying the fruits of the tree (the results of the karmas it receives while residing in the body). When a sweet fruit comes, it becomes happy; when a bitter fruit comes, it becomes sad. The Paramātmā is a friend of the jīvātmā, but He does not interfere; He simply sits and watches. If the jīvātmā can only turn around to the Paramātmā, all its miseries will come to an end.” The jīvātmā has been bestowed with free will i.e. the freedom to turn away or toward God. By the improper use of that free will the jīvātmā is in bondage, and by learning its proper usage, it can attain the eternal service of God and experience infinite bliss.
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Swami Krishnananda comments :
Ya evaṁ vetti puruṣaṁ (13.23):
Whoever knows this Supreme Purusha in this manner as described in this chapter, together with the dramatic performances of prakriti, prakṛtiṁ ca guṇaiḥ saha: let him live in any manner he likes. He is aliberated person.
Sarvathā vartamāno’pi na sa bhūyo’bhijāyate:
Because of knowing this, that person will not be reborn. Again I have to emphasise, knowing does not mean reading the Gita and intellectually comprehending the linguistic meaning or the dictionary meaning of the word, but imbibing the spirit of the teaching, and making it part and parcel of our veryblood and veins. Such a person who has this knowledge which is identical with being can behave in any way—sarvathā vartamānopi—but there will be no rebirth, because no karma accrues to that person.
To be continued ....
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