THE HOLY GITA
CHAPTER NUMBER 09
RAJAVIDYA RAJAGUHYA YOGA OR THE YOGA OF SOVEREIGN SCIENCE AND SOVEREIGN SCERET:
VERSE NUMBER 09
Text in Transliteration:
na cha maam taani karmaani nibadhnanti dhanamjaya
udaasinavad aaseenam asaktam teshu karmasu
Text in English:
Nor do these acts, O Dhananjaya, bind Me who remain like one unconcerned, unattached to these acts.
COMMENTARY BY SWAMI CHIDBHAVANANDA:
The very presence of the school master induces the student to his studies. Likewise the very proximity of Iswara prevails on Prakriti to carry on her activities of creation, preservation and destruction. Theology designates Iswara as the male principle and Prakriti as the female principle, spoused to Him, karma pertains to Prakriti and not to Iswara. The power of execution comes to her from her Lord who is unconcerned and unattached to her activities. The sadhaka(practitioner) in his turn has to practise unconcern and non-attachment to the duty that he discharges. And this is the means for his self-emancipation.
SRI RAMAKRISHNA AS QUOTED BY SWAMI CHIDBHAVANANDA:
When egoism goes all miseries vanish along with it. When the devotee gets fixed in the conviction that whatever happens is by the will of the lord and that he is merely an instrument in His hand, mukti (emancipation) is ensured for him in this very birth.
COMMENTARY BY DR.S.RADHAKRISHNAN:
Though the Supreme controls creation and dissolution, as their spirit and guide, He is not involved in them for He is above the procession of cosmic event. As it is the work of the nature which belongs to God, He is to be regarded as immanent in it, and yet in His supracosmic side. He exceeds the cosmic series of things and events. God is thus unweariedly active in the play of the universe and yet above the universe and free from its laws. The Self is not bound by the cosmic wheel which it projects. Countless individuals are born, grow, strive and suffer, die and come to birth again but the Self is forever free. They reap the fruits of their actions and are bound by their past acts but He is ever free. This evolution proceeds at the cosmic dawn and is withdrawn at the cosmic night.
COMMENTARY BY SWAMI SIVANANDA:
These acts: Creation and dissolution of the universe. I am the only cause of dissolution of the universe. I am the only cause of Nature and its activities and yet, being indifferent to everything, I do nothing. Nor do I cause anything to be done.
I remain as one neutral or indifferent or unconcerned. I have no attachment for the fruits of those actions. Further I have not got the egoistic feeling of agency: “I do this, I know that the Self is actionless. Therefore the actions involved in creation and dissolution do not bind Me.
As in the case of Ishvara so in the case of others also: the absence of the egoistic feeling of agency and the absence of attachment to the fruits of action is the cause of freedom (from Dharma and Adharma, virtue and evil). The ignorant man who works with egoism and who expects rewards for his actions is bound by his own actions like the silk-worm in the cocoon.
Just as the neutral referee or umpire in a cricket or football match is not affected by the victory or defeat of the parties, so also the Lord is not affected by the creation and destruction of this world as He remains unconcerned or indifferent and as He is a silent and changeless witness. (Cf. IV. 14)
Comments of the blogger:
This verse or stanza must be read in conjunction with the verses 7 and 8. In those verses, Iswara’s activities are spoken about by the Lord.
In verse 7, it is stated by the Lord that all beings go into His Prakriti at the end of a Kalpa. He generates the beings again at the beginning of the next Kalpa. In verse 8, it is stated by the Lord that animating His Prakriti, He sends forth, again and again, all this multitude of beings helpless under the regime of Prakriti.
It is now said in verse 9 that the above-mentioned acts do not bind Him who remains like unconcerned, unattached to the acts.
A day of Brahma consists of 311,040,000,000,000 human years. The night also consists of a similar number of mind-boggling years. This is one day of the Creator, Brahma. We should add up these figures and multiply by 365 (365 days in a year) to get the figures for one year of Brahma. And that figure must be multiplied by 100 (100 years) for every Brahma has a hundred such years before he attains emancipation and the next Brahma takes over. Thus we can’t even think of the number of human years forming the full life-span of one Brahma.
Swami Chidbhavananda has said that some people consume several Brahmas' lifespans before getting emancipation! Thus even the rapists of Nirbhaya and ISI folks and historical figures like Hitler and Aurangzeb have, under the scheme of the Lord, the chance for emancipation.
Now the Big Bang might happen every time a new Brahma takes charge!
The Lord is just a witness to all these things like Swami Sivananda says. And Swami Chidbhavananda’s words that the proximity of the Lord makes the Prakriti go through all these acts make us understand the greatness of the Lord.
And the Lord is quite unconcerned and remains unattached to these acts. He leaves everything to the Prakriti.
And this is part of the scheme of the Universe. This is how everyone, good or bad and rank scoundrel gets the fruits of his or her action. If the Lord was to be seen as working out everyone’s karma and actually indulges in the above-said acts He assigned to the Prakriti then there could be no one atheist. Since the Lord is unmanifest in all beings and non-beings and Prakriti is assigned all the activities mentioned above, the people who talk against the Lord can survive. God wants us to see both the sides of the coin, see that even scoundrels flourish in this world economically speaking, and despite that wants us to understand Him and glorify Him. Only those who can glorify the Lord against this backdrop can ascend to His regime. while bad folks would stand subject to the regime of Prakriti birth after birth.
We see all sorts of scoundrels getting the fruits of their action. This is proof enough that the Lord does not actively involve himself in the acting out of the individuals’ karma. He remains unconcerned and unattached to the acts mentioned in verses 7 and 8.
This is the difference between the Hinduism and other two major Religions.
Prakriti is a school and sees us graduate and become fully emancipated seers quite unconcerned to the various charms of the Prakriti. Prakriti will not easily allow us to become emancipated souls. She has so many guiles and charms. The whole world and cosmos is the Prakriti. But Prakriti is not God. It is God’s instrument. The Lord is quite unconcerned and unattached to the acts mentioned in verses 7 and 8.
The Lord addresses Arjuna as “O Dhananjaya” in verse 9. Arjuna was a great winner of wealth. He went all over the world and brought riches held by various kings unused in their exchequers so that the riches could be used for the weal of the people.
The Lord also is that way. The worlds belong to Him. All the riches belong to Him. Even though He is the Lord Master of the Universe, He remains unattached to them and leaves everything to the regime of the Prakriti.
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