THE HOLY GITA, CHAPTER NUMBER 07, JNANA VIJNANA YOGA OR THE YOGA OF KNOWLEDGE AND REALIZATION,VERSE NUMBER 13

THE HOLY GITA

CHAPTER NUMBER 07

JNANA VIJNANA YOGA OR THE YOGA OF KNOWLEDGE AND REALIZATION:

VERSE NUMBER 13

Text in Transliteration:

Tribhir gunamayair bhaavair ebhih sarvam idam jagat

Mohitam naa ‘bhijaanaati maam ebhyah param avyam

Text in English:

Deluded b these threefold dispositions of Prakriti—the Gunas, this world does not know Me, who am above them and immutable.

COMMENTARY BY SWAMI SIDBHAVANANDA:

Brahman is here designated as Param which means the One beyond the ken of the intellect and the senses. This Reality undergoes no modification and so It is immutable.

Those who see a cinema take no note of the screen on which it is projected. The phenomenal universe is made up of the three Gunas; likes and dislikes in all forms are also born of the three Gunas. People entangled in these three categories are immersed in their experiences of the phenomenal existence and they take no note of the Basis which is unaffected by all these modifications. The Chitakasa or Brahman the Pure Consciousness remains as the Substratum of the perceived universe. They who are bound by the Gunas are unable to cognize It.

SRI RAMAKRISHNA AS QUOTED BY SWAMI SIDBHAVANANDA:

Iswara plays at assuming the human form. He is a great magician. The universe and the beings in it are all His magic, created by His inscrutable power called Maya. The magician is real while his magic is a mere phantom.

COMMENTARY BY DR.S.RADHAKRISHNAN:

Shankara says that the Supreme expresses His regret that the world does not know Him, the Supreme Lord who is, by nature, eternal, pure, enlightened and free, the self of all beings, devoid of attributes; by knowing whom the seed of the evil of samsara is burnt up.

We see the changing forms and not the Eternal Being of which the forms are the manifestations. We see the shifting forms as Plato’s dwellers in the cave see the shadows in the wall. But we must see the Light from which the shadows emanate.

COMMENTARY BY SWAMI SIVANANDA:

Persons of this world are deluded by the three qualities of Nature or Maya. Affection, attachment and infatuated love are all modifications of these qualities. On account of delusion created by these three qualities they are not able to break the worldly ties and to turn the mind towards the Supreme Soul, the Lord of the three qualities.

Avyayam: Immutable or unchangeable or inexhaustible or imperishable. The Self is of one homogenous essence. It has not got the six changes or modifications (Shad Bhava Vikaras) which the body has, viz., existence, birth, growth, modification, decay and death. (Cf. VII. 25)

Comments by the blogger:

The beings are deluded by the threefold dispositions of Prakriti—the Gunas. Because of the three Gunas, this world does not know God, who is above them and is immutable.

The Lord of Gita here does not express any regrets.

Otherwise, He would not have said elsewhere that among a thousand seekers rarely one stays the course of Yoga and among such a thousand souls rarely one really tries to attain his soul’s realisation. Sri Krishna knows the nature of the people to succumb to the three Gunas and the likes and dislikes.

Another evidence as to why I say the Lord perfectly understands our problems is the fact that He has not allotted just one birth or one innings to play the game of worldly life and win. As a matter of fact, He has not allotted any number of limited reincarnations to attain Him. On the contrary, He has given the choice to us. We might choose to come here either as a beast or once again as a human being. And the number rebirths might get elongated endlessly, so to speak. We all are the tiny light of His expression. And Freedom from rebirth is our birth right. But how soon we reach Him individually is the question.

To win over the three Gunas, we have Bhakti Yoga or the Yoga of Devotion. We should pray to Him to free us from the likes and dislikes.

This will not take place and fructify over a day or two.

We must address the Lord to free us from needless and crippling likes and dislikes. We must try our level best to free ourselves from hatred to anyone.

We can do one thing which will prove effective even in a few days! That is, we must select the person we passionately hate or who hates us and devotedly pray for his/her good health and good life and unalloyed happiness. This kind of prayer, selfless in its very nature, will enhance our spiritual power.

Another thing is that we should try always to see God and God only in all beings. Let him/her be a nauseating beggar we must try our level best to see only God in him/her.

We must pray for whatever we want. And if we allot at least half of the duration to secretly pray for our staunch enemies our spiritual battery will get recharged and topped up every single day and every single sitting.

And we must not take this world absolutely seriously.

We must understand the Lord indulges in Sport. Then where is the room for his regrets?

He is the personification of compassion. That is why and how our spiritual powers get enhanced when we pray for our staunch and sworn enemies secretly without his/her knowledge.

Change is the truth and only truth about this world. And the Lord alone is immutable.