Gita essays 22
Arjuna wanted to know from
Lord Krishna about six technical terms of Vedanta. Lord explained about three terms, Kshetram,
Kshetrajna and Jnanam in verses 1 to 12 of Chapter 13 of Gita.
From verse 13, Lord started explaining about Jneyam. Jneyam means
that which is to be known. In verse 13
Lord Krishna says “It is the supreme Brahman which is beginningless”.
That means Jneyam stands for Paramathma, and Lord has defined
earlier Kshetrajna as Paramathma which means that Jeyam is
synonymous with Kshetrajna and both refer to Supreme Brahman. As Brahma Jnanam is same as Ikya
Jnanam, one with Brahma Jnanam realizes the identity of his Real
Self with Brahman and no longer feels he is a mortal self essentially. Therefore
Lord adds that knowing that which is to be known, one attains immortality. Further Brahman is the topic of
Upanishads which are referred to as Brahma Vidya. So as explanation for Jneyam, Lord is
giving the condensed essence of Upanishads in verses 13 to 19. Let me also refer to Jneyam as Brahman
hereafter.
In verse 13, Lord describes Brahman
as beginningless and beyond Sat and Asat. Brahman being beyond Time is beginningless.
Brahman is the all-pervading Pure Consciousness and It is the only subject and
everything else is object. Being subject only and also the pervading principle,
it cannot be perceived and so it cannot be said to be Sat. Because it alone lends sentiency to all beings
and makes them sentient, it cannot said to be Asat also. Being neither Sat
nor Asat, it is beyond both. As one perceiving principle behind all
perceptions of all living beings It is described in the next verse 14 as “With
hands and feet everywhere, with eyes, heads and mouths everywhere, with ears
everywhere It exists in the world, enveloping all.” Then Lord proceeds to
describe the indescribable Brahman in paradoxes following the method adopted in
Upanishads.
In verse 15, Lord describes “Shining by the functions of all the sense
organs, yet without the sense organs; unattached, yet supporting all; devoid of
qualities, yet their experiencer”. The Pure
Consciousness as the Real Self in us functioning through the sense organs looks
as though It possesses all sense organs. But the sense organs decay and perish
while the Pure Consciousness which functions through them and which provides
each of them with its own individual faculty is eternal and changeless, just as
electricity is not the light in the bulb or sound in the radio and yet when it
functions through the bulb it looks as if it were light, and when it functions
through the radio it looks as if it were sound. Further the world of plurality
is not the Consciousness but it is the Consciousness that supports the world of
multiplicities just as cotton in the cloth.
Cotton is in the cloth but cloth is not the cotton. And it is the cotton
in the cloth that supports the cloth.
Again Consciousness conditioned by the mind is the Jiva which is
the experiencer of the Gunas and Pure Consciousness by itself as ‘the
Absolute' is free of Gunas and their effects.
In verse 16 Lord
elaborates on the all-pervasive nature of Brahman. Brahman is described as being “outside
and inside living beings, unmoving and moving.
far and near. Unknowable being subtle.”
Pure Consciousness is all-pervading, formless and manifests through
mediums only. So inside living beings it is in manifest condition and outside
it stays unmanifest. As It is all
pervasive it cannot move and so unmoving.
It is all encompassing and so in moving objects it looks as if it is
moving. As Absolute, it looks far away for the ignorant; but being one’s own Self
it is near for the wise. Being the
intelligence of intelligence, it is not knowable to the intelligence.
In verse 17 Lord describes
Brahman as “undivided, appearing as if divided in beings and also the
creator, the destroyer, and the sustainer of all beings.” Although space is one entity it looks divided as room
space, pot space etc. Same way Brahman
manifesting in various mediums appear to be divided in them. Waves rise from Ocean, stay and play on the
surface of the ocean and finally go back into the ocean. Ocean can be said to be the creator, sustainer
and destroyer of waves. Same way Brahman
being the substratum for the entire cosmos, to an Ajnani, It appears
to be the creator, sustainer and destroyer of this world of plurality with all
its beings.
In verse 18, Lord describing Brahman states
“It is the
light of all lights and is beyond darkness. As Knowledge, the object of
knowledge, the goal of knowledge, It is seated in the hearts of all.” We perceive the outer world through
sense-organs, made sentient by Brahman, the Pure Consciousness. So Brahman is compared to light
here. It is the light of all lights
because without Consciousness none of the lights including Sun could be
perceived. Consciousness is light Absolute;
so there can be no darkness there, as darkness is only the absence of
light. So It is beyond darkness. It is the
Consciousness that makes all our experiences possible and illumines our life
and It is also our Real Self. To gain
knowledge of this Self is the ultimate goal of all spiritual sadhanas. Though
Consciousness pervades all over the body, it is considered as manifested in the
spiritual heart from where all noble thoughts emanate, for the purpose of
meditation. So It is said to dwell in the hearts of all. In verse 19 Lord Krishna while talking about Kshetram,
Kshetrajna, Jnanam and Jneyam, glorifies this knowledge as the
only one which leads the seeker to Him.
The description of Brahman
by the Lord in the above verses is composed of Upanishadic statements only can
be seen from a few Mantras from the Upanishads quoted below:
It (Brahman) moves and moves not; It is far and
likewise near. It is inside all this and It is outside all this (Isavasya
Upanishad, 5)
That Brahman shines forth, vast, self-luminous,
inconceivable, and subtler than the subtle. He is far beyond what is far and
yet is here very near at hand. Verily, He is seen here, dwelling in the cave of
the heart of conscious beings. (Mundakopanishad, 3-1-7)
His(Brahman’s) hands and feet are everywhere; His
eyes, heads, and faces are everywhere; His ears are everywhere; He exists
encompassing all. (Swetasvatara Upanishad, 3-16)
The sun does not shine there, nor the moon and the stars,
nor the lightning, not to speak of this fire. When He shines, everything shines
after Him; by His light everything is lighted. (Mundakopanishad, 2-2-10)
“---luminous, like the sun, and beyond darkness ---“ (Swetasvatara
Upanishad, 3-8)
“---light of lights ---“(Brihadaranyaka Upanishad,4-4-16).
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