Commentary on the Bhagavadgita : 27 - Swami Krishnananda.

 ==============================================================

=============================================================

Monday, March 28, 2022. 19:00.

Discourse 43: The Fifteenth Chapter Concludes – The Greatest Secret Revealed :

POST-27.

===============================================================

"Yad aditya-gatam tejo jagad bhasayate ’khilam

yach chandramasi yach chagnau tat tejo viddhi mamakam." ( BG-15-12 )

Translation : 

"Know that I am like the brilliance of the sun that illuminates the entire solar system. The radiance of the moon and the brightness of the fire also come from Me."

“Know that the light and the radiance that you are seeing in the sun above, the luminosity that you see in the moon, the brightness that you see in glowing fire—all this is an emanation from My great radiance. Whatever be the glorious brilliance of these mighty luminaries here in this world—sun, moon, stars, and fire—they appear bright due to the brightness that is reflected through them, and that brightness is Mine.”

As a mirror appears to be bright on account of the light that is cast on it, the mind appears to be intelligent on account of the reflection of the Atman consciousness through it. A mirror cannot shine of its own accord. It cannot shine in darkness; it shines only in light. Actually, it is the light that shines, and not the mirror. In the same way, the mind does not understand anything. It is the Atman that causes the apparent behaviour of the mind as if it is intelligent. All light comes from the Supreme Being.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Gam avishya cha bhutani dharayamy aham ojasa

pushnami chaushadhih sarvah somo bhutva rasatmakah." (BG 15.13)

Translation :

BG 15.13: "Permeating the earth, I nourish all living beings with My energy. Becoming the moon, I nourish all plants with the juice of life." 

“Entering this entire earth, I support all beings. There is a vitality in the earth, energy in this very planet, and whoever is inhabiting this world is made to be self-sufficient and happy, and made to feel that they are guarded, protected and provided for, because of My entry into the very substance of the earth.”

The earth is not a dead entity; it is full of life. We call this earth Bhudevi—a divinity which is the earth. 

Viṣņu-patni namastubhyaṁ, pada-sparshaṁ ksamasva me : 

“Please, Divine Mother Earth, excuse my placing my foot on you.” 

People sometimes utter this mantra when they wake up in the morning and put their foot down on the ground.

“Having entered all the plants and trees, I become the essence of medicines.” 

It is said that on amavasya, the day of the new moon, the entire energy of the moon is poured into the vegetable kingdom. According to Indian tradition, we should not pluck a leaf or cut a plant or fell a tree on amavasya day, because the full strength of the moon, which is the source of medicinal plants, is supposed to be pervading the entire plant kingdom in the world. Even a leaf of tulasi is not plucked on amavasya day, because it is all light. If the essence of the bark of a particular tree—or any tree, for that matter—is boiled and drunk on that day, it is considered to be a medicine for illnesses of various types.

Somo bhutva : 

God becomes the moon, which is responsible for the medicinal influence in all plants and trees. It is believed that there is a direct connection between the moon and the plant kingdom. The rays of the moon influence the plant kingdom in a particular way, so that the plants become medicines. Every plant can be considered to be a medicine for some purpose or other, and has a curative effect of some kind.

pushnami chaushadhih sarvah somo bhutva rasatmakah :

“I enter into these plants by becoming the very energy of the soma, or the moon, and sustain these plants with the vigour, the rasam.” 

This rasam may be called the protoplasm. The protoplasm in the plant is nothing but God Himself acting through the power of the moon presiding over the plant and all the trees.

*****

Next 

"Aham vaishvanaro bhutva praninam deham ashritah

pranapana-samayuktah pachamy annam chatur-vidham." BG 15.14: 

Translation

BG 15.14: It is I who take the form of the fire of digestion in the stomachs of all living beings, and combine with the incoming and outgoing breaths, to digest and assimilate the four kinds of foods.

To be continued ....

================================================================