yathaa sarvagatam saukshmyaadaakaasham nopalipyate |
sarvatraavasthito dehe tathaatmaa nopalipyate || 32 ||
Just as all-pervading space, being subtle, is not tainted, so is the self, situated everywhere in any body, not tainted.
yathaa : just as
sarvagatam : all pervading
saukshmyaat : being subtle
aakaasham : space
na : not
upalipyate : tainted
sarvatra : everywhere
avasthitaha : situated
dehe : body
tathaa : so
aatmaa : self
na : not
upalipyate : tainted
Many scriptures, including the Srimad Bhagavatam, describe the creation of the five great elements. Space was created first, followed by air, fire, water and then earth, each more tangible and visible than the one preceding it. Space, therefore, is the subtlest of elements. Its main property is indivisibility. We may put up walls and differentiate "my room" from "your room", but the wall does not actually divide space at all. The wall is an upaadhi, something that mentally limits space, but cannot ever limit space in reality.
Another property of space that it is unaffected by whatever it contains. You can throw dust, water, glue, perfume, odour, anything at all into space, yet it remains unaffected. The air in a room may get affected by perfume or odour, not space. But more fundamentally, space provides existence to everything. Without space, no object can ever exist.
Shri Krishna says that the self is similar to space in these aspects. Like space is as though divided into rooms, the self is one but appears as though residing differently in different bodies. Like space never gets tainted by whatever is thrown at it, the self never gets impacted by the results, reactions, experiences and consequences of any action. All actions and reactions stay in the realm of Prakriti. And when we say statements like "this pot is round", we should note that we cannot use the word "is" without realizing that the "is" is the "sat" or existence aspect of the self.
How should we bring this teaching into our life? Ultimately, all of us are craving for independence of one form or the other. For instance, the incessant drive to earn more wealth is towards gaining financial independence. Shri Krishna says that once we know that the self in us, the "I" in us is totally unaffected by any reaction or experience of the world, we will gain the highest and utmost level of independence, which is moksha or liberation. We just have to work at removing the ignorance of our true nature, which can only happen if we disassociate from Prakriti and associate with Ishvara.
Showing posts with label avasthitaha. Show all posts
Showing posts with label avasthitaha. Show all posts
Saturday, February 2, 2013
Monday, July 30, 2012
Bhagavad Gita Verse 4, Chapter 9
mayaa tatamidam sarvam jagadavyaktamoortinaa |
matsthaani sarva bhootaani na chaaham teshvavasthitaha || 4 ||
This entire universe is pervaded by my unmanifest state. All beings are based in me, I am not based in them.
mayaa : my
tatam : pervaded
idam : this
sarvam : entire
jagat : universe
avyakta : unmanifest
moortinaa : state
matsthaani : based in me
sarva : all
bhootaani : beings
na : not
cha : and
aham : I
teshu : in them
avasthitaha : based
This shloka and the next are the crux of the teaching in this chapter. Shri Krishna makes three core points: that the entire universe is pervaded by his unmanifest state, that all beings are based in him, and that he is not based in them. Let us first take a step back to understand the context of this teaching before we delve into these three points.
The eighth chapter described meditative techniques that we had to follow throughout our lives in order to attain Ishvara, so that we can be liberated from the cycle of creation and dissolution. Now, Shri Krishna reveals a secret that will enable us to immediately gain access to Ishvara 24/7. And unlike other techniques described so far, we do not have to do any action. We just have to know.
What is this secret knowledge? Let us start with the first point. Shri Krishna says that Ishvara is present in every living and non-living being within this universe. If that’s the case, then we do not need to put in any extra effort. Once we train ourselves to view Ishvara in everything, we will gain access to him 24/7. We will not need to do any extra physical or mental activity to make that happen. But if it were that simple, why cannot we put it into practice immediately? It is because we have been preconditioned since time immemorial to see everything but Ishvara. Removing this preconditioning is the topic of the Gita.
The second point made by Shri Krishna is that all beings are based in him. Let us bring up the example of the ocean and the waves to understand this point. A five year old girl sitting on the beach will look at the waves, the foam and the ripples and conclude that they are independent things. But her mother knows that all of those shapes are created because of the ocean. Also, the girl who has to inquire about where these shapes come from. The mother does not have to do anything. She just knows that everything is nothing but water in the ocean. So the mother will tell her, “that’s just the ocean”.
Now, let’s say the girl sees a ripple in a lake instead of the ocean. She points to it and says “that’s the ocean”. The mother will now enhance her statement slightly by saying “that is not the ocean, that is a ripple. It is just a shape taken by water, which is in the ocean and in the lake”. Water is an abstract concept which a child slowly learns by example.
Similarly, we may begin to think that Ishvara is resident in an idol, or a saint, or a holy place. Like the ripple, they are names and forms. Even Arjuna would have found it hard to believe that Shri Krishna, who is in front of him, can pervade the entire universe. So therefore, Shri Krishna says that no visible entity can ever contain Ishvara who is beyond name and form. The true nature of Ishvara is formless. This is the third point in this shloka.
Still, a question remains. Just like we still see waves in the ocean even after knowing that they are water, we still come across thousands of names and forms everyday. Many of those names and forms are people that we interact with, speak with, work with and so on. Aren’t those people “real”? How do we reconcile this? Shri Krishna addresses this confusion in the next shloka.
matsthaani sarva bhootaani na chaaham teshvavasthitaha || 4 ||
This entire universe is pervaded by my unmanifest state. All beings are based in me, I am not based in them.
mayaa : my
tatam : pervaded
idam : this
sarvam : entire
jagat : universe
avyakta : unmanifest
moortinaa : state
matsthaani : based in me
sarva : all
bhootaani : beings
na : not
cha : and
aham : I
teshu : in them
avasthitaha : based
This shloka and the next are the crux of the teaching in this chapter. Shri Krishna makes three core points: that the entire universe is pervaded by his unmanifest state, that all beings are based in him, and that he is not based in them. Let us first take a step back to understand the context of this teaching before we delve into these three points.
The eighth chapter described meditative techniques that we had to follow throughout our lives in order to attain Ishvara, so that we can be liberated from the cycle of creation and dissolution. Now, Shri Krishna reveals a secret that will enable us to immediately gain access to Ishvara 24/7. And unlike other techniques described so far, we do not have to do any action. We just have to know.
What is this secret knowledge? Let us start with the first point. Shri Krishna says that Ishvara is present in every living and non-living being within this universe. If that’s the case, then we do not need to put in any extra effort. Once we train ourselves to view Ishvara in everything, we will gain access to him 24/7. We will not need to do any extra physical or mental activity to make that happen. But if it were that simple, why cannot we put it into practice immediately? It is because we have been preconditioned since time immemorial to see everything but Ishvara. Removing this preconditioning is the topic of the Gita.
The second point made by Shri Krishna is that all beings are based in him. Let us bring up the example of the ocean and the waves to understand this point. A five year old girl sitting on the beach will look at the waves, the foam and the ripples and conclude that they are independent things. But her mother knows that all of those shapes are created because of the ocean. Also, the girl who has to inquire about where these shapes come from. The mother does not have to do anything. She just knows that everything is nothing but water in the ocean. So the mother will tell her, “that’s just the ocean”.
Now, let’s say the girl sees a ripple in a lake instead of the ocean. She points to it and says “that’s the ocean”. The mother will now enhance her statement slightly by saying “that is not the ocean, that is a ripple. It is just a shape taken by water, which is in the ocean and in the lake”. Water is an abstract concept which a child slowly learns by example.
Similarly, we may begin to think that Ishvara is resident in an idol, or a saint, or a holy place. Like the ripple, they are names and forms. Even Arjuna would have found it hard to believe that Shri Krishna, who is in front of him, can pervade the entire universe. So therefore, Shri Krishna says that no visible entity can ever contain Ishvara who is beyond name and form. The true nature of Ishvara is formless. This is the third point in this shloka.
Still, a question remains. Just like we still see waves in the ocean even after knowing that they are water, we still come across thousands of names and forms everyday. Many of those names and forms are people that we interact with, speak with, work with and so on. Aren’t those people “real”? How do we reconcile this? Shri Krishna addresses this confusion in the next shloka.
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