HOLY GITA
CHAPTER TWO
SAMKHYA YOGA OR THE YOGA OF KNOWLEDGE
VERSE NUMBER 18:
Text in Transliteration:
antavanta ime dehaa nityasyo ‘ktaah sareeririnah
anaasino ‘prameyasya tasmaad yudhyasva bhaarata
Text in English:
These bodies of the
Indwelller, who is eternal, indestructible and immeasurable, are said to have
an end. Fight therefore, O Bharata.
COMMENTARY BY SWAMY CHIDBHAVANADA:
The ocean is ever itself. A portion of the water in it
changes place forming waves on the surface and currents below. Elsewhere it
freezes as icebergs. Changes of this kind take place in nature; but Atman does
not undergo any change whatsoever, It being eternal. All the water in a pond
evaporates and disappears. Even so, the body of an individual disintegrates and
disappears. But Atman is not exposed to this kind of destruction; it is
therefore indestructible. Body can be cognized and described; but Atman is
beyond the domain of the mind and speech; so it is immeasurable.
Because of delusion over earthly relationship and over
things earthly, Arjuna chooses to recoil from the righteous war. It ill-behoves
him to abandon his duty. So the Lord exhorts him, “Fight therefore, O Bharata.”
This exhortation can be found again and again, as the burden of the Gita.
COMMENTARY BY DR.S.RADHAKRISHNAN:
“sareeri” here refers to the self of the individual as in
the phrase “saareeraka mimaamsaa”, which is an enquiry into the nature of the
individual self. It is incomprehensible because it is not known by the ordinary
means of knowledge.
COMMENTARY BY SWAMY SIVANANDA:
Lord Krishna explains to Arjuna the nature of the
all-pervading, immortal Self in a variety of ways and thus induces him to fight
by removing his delusion, grief and despondency which are born of ignorance.
Comments by the blogger:
The embodied soul is eternal, immeasurable and
indestructible. But the bodies are subject to modifications, and destructible
and is indeed a limiting adjunct. The Self or Soul is eternal, because it is
not subject to Time. It exists outside Time. Therefore It is eternal. There can
be no increasing or decreasing in the atman or soul or self. It is indivisible and
extant and all pervading; so it is immeasurable too. These are the attributes
of the changeless soul. But the very essential nature of the body is change.
Because it exists in Time! The whole universe exists in time. Anything and
every little or big thing, every being and non-being existing or staying in
Time is subject to change. Death and destruction is a form of modifications.
Death is one of the essential attributes of the body. Here the question is
two-fold: Arjuna knows full well that the majority of the persons in the
opposite army are not good, but thoroughly bad, and they have written their own
death warrant and signed sealed it. But he hesitates because the bad ones are
his own kiths and kin. Lord Krishna reminds him of the essential nature of the
bodies he is going to slay. And also that, even if he wants to, he cannot slya
or destroy their atman or soul! When this kind of self knowledge dawns on
Arjuna, then, as he is a proven warrior of great mighty, the slaying of the
evil persons in the opposite army and thereby cleansing this world of the
wicked people when their number become sizable, becomes easier. And that is why
the lesson about the indestructibility of the atman and the essential
modification of the body!
Therefore fight o Barata is described as the burden of Gita
by swamy chidbhavananda. Barata is the appellation that relates to the kind of
pure blood that is coursing through Arjuna’s veins. And his despondency and
confusion is only temporary. Therefore fight is not just for Arjuna but to all
of us. Indeed even a person committing suicide is fighting against the
onslaught and pulls of the maya or illusion. Even animals fight to the end. We
ordinarily fight to the end. But we should not fight like a cornered animal.
Even a cornered bandicoot and cat can fight like a king cobra. That is the
basic instinct in all of us. At the same time we give ourselves unto the maya
or illusion we fight too. But, the point is to not fight like a cornered animal
which has no way of escape. Arjuna seeks an escape through the route of
sanyasa. He wants to renounce the world instead of having to fight against his
own kith and kin even if they are essentially wicked! This is not fighting.
This is escapism. But, the saving grace is, he is a Bharata of high pure and
caste blood of intensely intrinsic merit. Lord Krishna does not want him to
seek the route of renouncement. And at the same time, he does not want his
cheela or disciple to fight like a cornered animal. Instead, he should fight
with the right knowledge as to his true duty and knowledge about the
destructibility of the bodies and the eternity and indestructibility and immeasurableness
of the atman or soul or self. That would behove him as an able and good and
noble kshatria or warrior!
Thus we have to fight till the very end; not like a person
seeking the route of suicide or giving up oneself to habits like drinking. We should
fight with the knowledge of the indestructibility of the self and the
destructibility of the body. So, even the death in the family should not shake
us. Even the loss of the best of our friends should not shake us. Even the loss
of job, or the lifetime achievement in the form of wealth should not shake us.
We should continue from the scratch. We are empowered to fight alone, and never
to seek its fruits. But inaction will not do. Wrong action like addiction or
suicide also is a foul game. We should fight from where we are left off from
the onslaught of maya or fate, individual or familial.
Knowledge is strength. And self-knowledge or the knowledge
about the indestructibility of the self is the ultimate strength. Krishna
derides elsewhere, this world is not for the weakling. Then how could he get to
the swarga or attain moksha or salvation without strength! So we should always fight, no matter what,
with strength born of self-knowledge. This is the burden of Gita. And this
should become rule of our game, the life!
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