The Essence of Dharma: 6. Swami Krishnananda.

 

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Wednesday 05, February 2025, 09:20.
Article
Srimad Bhagavad Gita,
The Essence of Dharma: 6.
Swami Krishnananda
(Spoken on February 11th, 1973)

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We cannot know what dharma is because we cannot know what the universe is. We cannot know what the universe is because it is a blend of spirit and matter in a transcendent fashion in the Absolute. Therefore, the advice given to us is to follow the path of the great ones. Do not try to solve the mystery of dharma for ourselves. The secret of dharma is hidden within the cave, which means to say it is unknowable, very secret. The right path for us would be the one which has been trodden by the great masters of yore. It is, “The footprints on the sands of time,” as the poet tells us of great ones. This is the supreme mystery of the cosmos.

Now, is the cosmos a place or a person or a spirit or a condition? What is the universe? The Bhagavadgita gives us four definitions. Sometimes the universe is regarded as a place. When Bhagavan Sri Krishna speaks of the Ultimate Reality as a kind of place, he calls it dhama.  Going where, going whither, people do not return; that is My abode. From this, we may sometimes be given to understand that the Ultimate Reality is a kind of place. But sometimes he says, “ I am everywhere,” as if he is a person. Sometimes Reality is spoken of as a place or a destination to be reached as dhama, as gati, sometimes as a person, Purusha.

When Bhagavan Sri Krishna uses the words Ishvara, Purusha, Aham, it looks as if the Ultimate Reality is a person, but sometimes he speaks of it as an immanent spirit. The Atman is defined as an immanent spirit, indestructible, present in everything. But sometimes Sri Krishna depicts it as a transcendent spirit, as Brahma, as Parampada, and so on.

Fourthly, reality is defined as a state, a condition. It is not a person, it is not a place, it is not even a spirit as we think of it in an anthropomorphic manner. It is only a state. This is brought out by such terms as tithi. Tithi means a condition. This is a condition of Brahman. It is not a place of Brahman. It is a condition of Brahman. Tithi is a peculiar term.

All four aspects or definitions we will find in the Bhagavadgita: as a destination to be reached, as if it is a place; as a person to be loved, adored with bhakti; as a spirit to be contemplated; or as a condition to be realised. All these wonders we have in the Bhagavadgita gospel.

The universe, therefore, is everything. We can regard it as a person; it will speak to us as a person. We can regard it as a condition of consciousness. We can regard it as a place. Or we can regard it as a spirit. It is everything. I am everythingEverything is that only. I am death and immortality both, day and night combined. Immortality and death are both shadows of this Supreme Being. Even immortality is regarded as a shadow only. It is not Ultimate Reality. Immortality and death are both shadows, as it were, cast by the Supreme Being. What is it?  not existence, not non-existence. Existence and non-existence – both it is, and beyond that also.

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Continued

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