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Transcription

1 ÛIm] g]v]t]/ g]it]] Üàˆ]-Üàˆ]#] iv]bò}}]g] yçg]: Volume 3 ÉÏ péaéuééléñuéécé CSÇ véuïuç MüÉæliÉårÉ, Éå ÉÍqÉirÉÍpÉkÉÏrÉiÉå LiɱÉå uéåí É iéç méëéwòûè, Éå É É CÌiÉ iéì²sè 13-1 Éå É ÉÇ cééìmé qééç ÌuÉÌ, xéuéï Éå ÉåwÉÑ pééuié Éå É Éå É ÉrÉÉå ÉÉlÉïÇ, réiéç iéiéç ÉÉlÉÇ qéiéç qéqé 13-2 Briefly recalling what we saw last time in the first two verses of this chapter, which we just heard, Sri Krishna unfolds the extraordinary relationship that exists between Éå É and Éå É É - between véuïu - one's own physical body and the AÉiqÉÉ - the Self "I" in oneself. Calling Arjuna's attention, Sri Krishna says: MüÉæliÉårÉ - O! Arjuna, please listen CSÇ véuïuç, Éå ÉÍqÉirÉÍpÉkÉÏrÉiÉå - This physical body, one's own physical body, must be understood as Éå É - as an object of one's knowledge, and not as ONESELF itself, not as subject "I" Itself, not as AÉiqÉÉ - The Self in oneself. LiÉiÉç ûréèuéåí É iéç méëéwòûè, Éå É É CÌiÉ iéiéç ÌuÉSÈ - The one who knows this fact, That Knower, that subject I, The Self in oneself, That AÉiqÉÉ I, is called Éå É É by people who recognize the distinction between véuïu and The AÉiqÉÉ - one's own physical body (the object) and The Self "I" (the subject) in one's own physical body respectively. Identifying That Éå É É, The AÉiqÉÉ "I", péaéuééléç says Éå É ÉÇ qééç ÌuÉÌ - Please learn to understand and recognize (ÌuÉÌ ) That Éå É É - That Self I in one's own physical body is Myself The méuqéåµéuéu. Not only that Bhagvat Gita 16

2 xéuéï Éå ÉåwÉÑ Éå É ÉÇ qééç ÌuÉÌ - Please learn to understand and recognize that The Éå É É, The AÉiqÉÉ - The Self "I" in my véuïu - in my body, in your body, in all bodies, is Myself, the méuqéåµéuéu Itself. Thus, in effect, Sri Krishna says that I am not what I recognize myself as my body-self, but I am, in fact, méuqéåµéuéu Itself. I recognize myself every day that I am only a xéçxééëu, never absolutely free from the ups and downs of worldly life, but péaéuééléç says that I am, in fact, méuqéåµéuéu Itself, who is ever absolutely free from the ups and downs of worldly life. How is that possible? How can I understand Sri Krishna's statement that I am in fact méuqéåµéuéu Itself, absolutely free from all the transient experience of worldly life? That is the question with which we left ourselves last time to think about. When one thinks about this question, repeatedly, it turns out that this question is not, after all, a profound one. In fact, the answer to this question is evident from common experiences from daily life. For example, I may mistake a rope to be a snake. Immediately my mind superimposes on the rope all the attributes of the snake, and that gives rise to all kinds of fears and mental agitations. Such fears and mental agitations are real, in the sense, they last as long as my ignorance of rope-knowledge lasts. Once I realize that rope is only a rope, and not a snake, my ignorance of rope-knowledge disappears, and along with that, all the fears and mental agitations created by that ignorance also disappear. That is common experience. Similarly, in the darkness of the night, I may mistake a pillar to be a ghost, and experience all the associated fears and mental agitations, as long as my ignorance of pillar knowledge lasts. Once the place is lighted, I see the pillar as it is, and my ignorance of pillar knowledge goes away. Along with that, all the fears and mental agitations created by that ignorance also disappear. This is also common experience. One can cite any number of such examples to show that mistaken identity, born of ignorance can make one superimpose the attributes of a mistaken one on the real one, resulting in an infinite variety of transient experiences of worldly life. Therefore, if by ignorance, one superimposes the attributes of one object on another object, such superimposition has the capacity both to conceal and to create - conceal the true identity of the other object, and also create varied pleasant and unpleasant experiences in oneself. That is common knowledge. Ignorance is not a new phenomenon. We deal with it every day. Everybody is ignorant of many things - that is also common knowledge. There seems nothing extraordinary about such ignorance. Being so, all such ignorance of worldly matters can be designated as ordinary ignorance. But there is something extraordinary about the fact that most people Bhagvat Gita 17

3 do not know, that one can be ignorant of one's own self. Such ignorance is called Selfignorance. Self-ignorance is ignorance about the true nature of one's own self, and all forms of ordinary ignorance are only partial derivatives of Self-ignorance. The manifestations of Self-ignorance are infinite in scope and ever subject to change, and hence, the consequences of Self-ignorance are extraordinarily great. Vedanta calls such Selfignorance as AÌuÉ±É or A ÉÉlÉÇ, which may be understood as the "original ignorance", to distinguish it from ordinary ignorance, which is concerned only with ignorance of some form of object knowledge. In the language of Vedanta, ÌuɱÉ, oé¼ëìué±é, ÉÉlÉÇ, oéë¼ ÉÉlÉÇ, AÉiqÉ ÉÉlÉÇ, DµÉU ÉÉlÉÇ, all these words indicate Self knowledge - knowledge about the true nature of one's own self - The Self "I" in oneself. On the other hand, the words AÌuÉ±É and A ÉÉlÉÇ indicate that which is not Self-knowledge, which means that which is Self-ignorance. It is because of AÌuÉ±É or A ÉÉlÉÇ - Self-ignorance, one habitually superimposes the attributes of one's véuïu - one's physical body on oneself, on the Self "I" in oneself. Such superimposition has the power to conceal the true identity of oneself, and also create worldly experiences of various kinds with which one readily identifies oneself without any enquiry. Therefore, it is important for us to understand clearly the nature of one's véuïu - one's physical body, and the relationship between AÌuÉ±É - Selfignorance, and one's véuïu - physical body. Every individual person, like every one of us here, is a unique combination of véuïu and AÉiqÉÉ - the body and The Self. We have already heard about AÉiqÉÉ - The Self, extensively in all the earlier chapters of péaéuéiéç aéïiéé, and also in all the Upanishads DvÉ, MåülÉ, MüPû and iéæí ÉUÏrÉ, which we have seen already. As we may recall briefly, the AÉiqÉÉ - The Self is xéiéç ÍcÉiÉç AÉlÉlS xuéãmé oéë¼léç, xéuéïurééméï xéuéïpéôié AÉvÉrÉ ÍxjÉiÉ méuqéåµéu Itself. That AÉiqÉÉ is ever-existent, all-conscious, ever-conscious, pure awareness, all-inclusive and all-pervading, the ultimate cause and ultimate abode of all that exist in this creation, and being so, That AÉiqÉÉ - The Self, already exists in the hearts of all beings as méuqéåµéu Itself, recognizable by every person by one's own ÌuÉuÉåMü oéñì, even though AÉiqÉÉ is formless. More about AÉiqÉÉ we will see as we go along. Bhagvat Gita 18

4 Now about véuïu - one's physical body, which is unique to every individual person. One's véuïu is a product of qééréé - the inherent power of méuqéåµéu, manifesting itself as the three aéñhés - personal attributes, namely xéiué, UeÉxÉç and iéqéxéç aéñhés. Sri Krishna talks about these aéñhés in detail in the next chapter. Briefly, xéiué aéñhé manifests itself as one's ability to gain knowledge, any knowledge, both objective knowledge and selfknowledge. UeÉxÉç aéñhé manifests itself as one's ability to act, and iéqéxéç aéñhé manifests itself as one's ability to be ignorant, inert or insensitive. What we call véuïu - the physical body, is itself three-fold in nature, which means it is the integrated manifestation of three bodies in one. These three bodies are: xjéôsé véuïu - the gross physical body, which is perceptible both externally and internally xéô qé véuïu - the subtle body, which is imperceptible, and it fills the xjéôsé véuïu entirely, and MüÉUhÉ véuïu - the causal body, which is the cause for both the xéô qé véuïu and xjéôsé véuïu. The MüÉUhÉ véuïu is also imperceptible. The xjéôsé véuïu - this perceptible gross physical body, is constituted of the mégcéqéwûépéôiés, the five great elements AÉMüÉvÉ, uééréñ, AÎalÉ, AÉmÉÈ and mé jéuéï, after they have undergone mégcéïmüuhé - the process of grossification through mutual interactions. By itself, the xjéôsé véuïu - the gross physical body is inert, and it is just a shell, a housing for the occupation of the imperceptible xéô qé véuïu - the subtle body, which fills up the entire housing. The xéô qé véuïu - the subtle body is also constituted of the five great elements, before the process of grossification, and hence it is imperceptible. Thus the subtle body exists everywhere in one's gross physical body as an assemblage of differentiated organs, including the 5 ÉÉlÉåÎlSìrÉs - organs of perception the 5 MüqÉåïÎlSìrÉs - organs of action Bhagvat Gita 19

5 the 5 méëéhés - powers of physiological functions of méëéhé, AmÉÉlÉ, ESÉlÉ, xéqéélé and uréélé (the 5 digestive powers) and qéléè and oéñì - mind and the faculty of decision. The ÉÉlÉåÎlSìrÉs and MüqÉåïÎlSìrÉs in the xéô qé véuïu - the organs of perception and action in the subtle body are not the gross ones seen externally in the xjéôsé véuïu - in the perceptible physical body, but they are their imperceptible counterparts in the xéô qé véuïu - the subtle body. Thus, this entire gross physical body - the xjéôsé véuïu, is totally in keeping with the subtle body inside, in all details. It is this subtle body - the xéô qé véuïu, reflecting the power of AÉiqÉÉ already in itself, gives life to the gross physical body, activates it and operates it for doing MüqÉïs of various kinds to exhaust all of one's méëéuuké MüqÉïTüsÉs - all of one's already fructified fruits of past MüqÉïs, through worldly experiences of various kinds such as pleasure, pain, success, failure, etc. On exhausting all of one's méëéuuké MüqÉïTüsÉs, the function of the present subtle body is over, and hence it naturally leaves the gross physical body. It is then we say that the body is dead, Please note that only the gross physical body is dead. The subtle body is not dead. On leaving the gross physical body, the subtle body then assumes different gross physical bodies, one after the other, from time to time, each time in a form and name totally in accordance with réjéé MüqÉï, réjéé ÉÑiÉÇ, says MüPûÉåmÉÌlÉwÉiÉç (MüPûõ 5-7), each time in accordance with one's own past MüqÉïs, cultivated knowledge and mental disposition, resulting in successive births and deaths for the gross physical body, again and again. Now about MüÉUhÉ véuïu, Itself existing in an undifferentiated imperceptible form, the MüÉUhÉ véuïu - the causal body is the cause for both the xéô qé véuïu and xjéôsé véuïu - the subtle imperceptible body and the gross perceptible body. This causal body, this MüÉUhÉ véuïu, is indeed AÌuÉ±É or A ÉÉlÉÇ - Self-ignorance. Since only the one who is capable of gaining knowledge can be ignorant, the xjéôsé Bhagvat Gita 20

6 véuïu - the gross perceptible body cannot be ignorant. Only the xéô qé véuïu - the subtle imperceptible body can be ignorant. AÌuÉ±É - Self-ignorance is not precisely definable. It is a condition of the xéô qé véuïu - subtle body, in which the iéqéxéç aspect of qééréé aéñhé - the ignorance aspect of qééréé aéñhé prevails in its original state; we may recall this iéqéxéç as the original iéqéxéç, just to distinguish it from all the other forms of ignorance derived from it, which means that Selfignorance is not mere object ignorance. It is ignorance of the Self "I". As pointed out earlier, iéqéxéç - ignorance has the power both to conceal and to create. This original iéqéxéç - AÌuÉ±É has the power to conceal AÉiqÉÉ - The Self "I", from the organs of perception in the xéô qé véuïu - the subtle body. It also has the power to create a formidable obstruction for the oéñì in the xéô qé véuïu to recognize AÉiqÉÉ - The Self "I". Thus, we understand that AÌuÉ±É - Self-ignorance is the xuéãmé of MüÉUhÉ véuïu. It is the very nature of the causal body. AÌuÉ±É exists in an undifferentiated form in the differentiated components of the AliÉÈ MüUhÉ - inner organs of perception of xéô qé véuïu - the subtle body, and consequently, AÌuÉ±É has the power to sustain AWûÇMüÉU - the notion of ego, the notion that "I am the MüiÉÉï, pééå üé - the doer, the enjoyer, etc." in the mind and oéñì of the xéô qé véuïu - the subtle body, which in turn gives rise to MüqÉïs and MüqÉïTüsÉs, and the associated experiences of xéñzé SÒÈZÉ - pleasure, pain, sorrow, distress, etc., leading to repeated births involving different xéô qé véuïus and xjéôsé véuïus - subtle bodies and gross bodies. That is how AÌuÉ±É - Self-ignorance is related to one's véuïu - one's physical body. Having identified MüÉUhÉ véuïu - the causal body as AÌuÉ±É - Self-ignorance, we can now say that every individual person, indeed every individual living being, is a eéïué made up of a particular combination of xjéôsé véuïu, xéô qé véuïu, AÌuÉ±É and AÉiqÉÉ in the increasing order of subtlety in manifestation, where AÉiqÉÉ alone is xéiréç - Bhagvat Gita 21

7 Absolute reality, never subject to change, and the other three are only ÍqÉjrÉÉs - transient realities ever subject to change. That is the sé ÉhÉ - the distinguishing mark of every individual eéïué. With reference to any particular person as eéïué, let us be clear that since eéïué includes AÉiqÉÉ, which is xéiréç, ever existent, the eéïué is also ever existent, which means there is no death for eéïué. When the xjéôsé véuïu - the gross physical body dies, the eéïué does not die. The eéïué continues to exist as an unmanifest individual eéïué made up of xéô qé véuïu, AÌuÉ±É and AÉiqÉÉ, until such time it is ready to re-manifest itself in another xjéôsé véuïu appropriate to its pre-cultivated aéñhés, knowledge and mental disposition. Further, since there is only one AÉiqÉÉ, The AÉiqÉÉ in any one individual eéïué is also The AÉiqÉÉ in all other individual jæv]s, manifest or unmanifest, and That AÉiqÉÉ is also The AÉiqÉÉ of méuqéåµéu Itself. Therefore, with respect to all individual eéïués, we must understand that the AÉiqÉÉ in the eéïué - The eéïuééiqéé is méuqééiqéé, The méuqéåµéu Itself, which is exactly what the qéwûéuééyré of aéïiééåméìléwéiéç says, namely Éå É ÉÇ cééìmé qééç ÌuÉÌ, xéuéï Éå ÉåwÉÑ pééuié. Again, qééå É - liberation is only for the eéïué. Liberation for the eéïué means the xéô qé véuïu - the subtle body in the eéïué being able to recognize itself as AÉiqÉÉ, as méuqéåµéu. Itself. How is such recognition possible? It is possible because, that which stands between xéô qé véuïu and AÉiqÉÉ, is only AÌuÉ±É - Self-ignorance. When AÌuÉ±É is removed, AÉiqÉÉ becomes méëiré É ÉÉlÉÇ - AmÉUÉå É ÉÉlÉÇ- direct and immediate knowledge for the oéñì in the AliÉÈ MüUhÉ - in the inner instruments of perception of the xéô qé véuïu - the subtle body, and the eéïué now naturally recognizes Itself as AÉiqÉÉ, as méuqéåµéu Itself. Thus, when AÌuÉ±É - self-ignorance disappears, eéïué- oéë¼ LåYrÉÇ - the ONENESS of eéïué and AÉiqÉÉ, eéïué and oéë¼léç, eéïué and méuqéåµéu, becomes evident, spontaneously, Bhagvat Gita 22

8 even while the body is alive and active, and such a eéïué now becomes a ÉÉlÉÏ - an enlightened person existing as the very embodiment of méuqéåµéu. For such a ÉÉlÉÏ, in time, when all the p rõbd]äým]*s are exhausted, the xjéôsé véuïu - the gross physical body naturally falls, and since there are no more MüqÉïs to be done, or MüqÉïTüsÉs to be experienced, the xéô qé véuïu - the subtle body also disappears, and since AÌuÉ±É - Self-ignorance has already disappeared, the ÉÉlÉÏ, as a eéïué, now spontaneously becomes one with AÉiqÉÉ - the all-pervading Self Itself, the méuqéåµéu Itself. Such a eéïuééiqéé is méuqééiqéé - The Immortal méuqéåµéu itself. That is how it is possible for any person to uplift oneself, and recognize one's inherent Immortality and gain total liberation from all transient realities of worldly life through gaining AÉiqÉ ÉÉlÉÇ - Self-knowledge, by transcending AÌuÉ±É - Self-ignorance. How one can transcend AÌuÉ±É - Self-ignorance is indeed the subject matter of the entire péaéuéiéç aéïiéé and all the Upanishads. We will talk some more about AÌuÉ±É next time. Bhagvat Gita 23