THE HOLY GITA, CHAPTER 13, VERSE 20, KSHETRA KSHETRAJN VIBHAGA YOGA OR THE YOGA OF THE DISCRIMINATION OF THE KSHETRA AND THE KSHETRAJNA

THE HOLY GITA

CHAPTER NUMBER 13

VERSE NUMBER 20

KSHETRA KSHETRAJNA VIBHAGA YOGA OR THE YOGA OF THE DISCRIMINATION OF THE KSHETRA AND THE KSHETRAJNA:

TEXT IN TRANSLITERATION:

kaarya kaarana kartrrtve hetuh prakrrtir uchyate

purushah sukhaduhkhaanaam bhoktrrtve hetur uchyate

SANSKRIT WORDS AND PHRASES AND THEIR MEANING IN ENGLISH:

Kaarya kaarana kartrrtve = in the production of the body and the senses: hetuh = the cause: prakrrtih = Prakriti: uchyate = is said (to be): purushah = Purusha: sukha duhkhaanaam = of pleasure and pain: bhoktrrtve = in the experience: hetuh = the cause: uchyate = is said (to be).

TEXT IN ENGILISH:

In the production of the body and the senses, Prakriti is said to be the cause; in the experience of pleasure and pain, Purusha is said to be the cause.

COMMENTARY BY SRIMAT SWAMI CHIDBHAVANANDA:

It is the father who transforms himself into the son. Subsequently, some of the doings of the son delight the father while some other activities pain him. It is the Purusha that poses to become the Prakriti. Modifications of the Prakriti are known as the body and the senses. The senses in their turn get themselves classified as the senses of perception and those of action. Both the forms of the senses are serviceable to the Jivatman to have contact and communication with Prakriti. The relationship created in this way begets pleasure and pain. The experience of pleasure and pain is the foremost factor in moulding the character of the Jivatman and in educating him for the life supramundane. Prakriti is the foster-mother leading the Jivatman from the unreal to the real, from ignorance to enlightenment and from death to immortality.

SRIMAT SWAMI RAMAKRISHNA PARAMAHAMSA AS QUOTED BY SRIMAT SWAMI CHIDBHAVANANDA:

Plenitudes and blessings such as Brahma Jnana and the Bliss of Brahman come to us mortals because of the gracious mediation of Maha maya. But for Her intervention, none can have even a peep into the Beyond, what to speak of getting fixed into the Absolute! Experience of the transitory world also comes to man because of Her grace. The enjoyer and the enjoyment do not exist outside Her domain.

COMMENTARY BY DR.S.RADHAKRISHNAN:

For kaaryakaranakartrtve, there is another reading “kaaryakaaranakartrtve.” See Franklin Edgerton: Bhagavadgita, Vol. 1. Page 187 note.

The body and the senses are produced by Prakriti and the experience of pleasure and pain is by the Purusha subject to certain limitations. The blissful nature of the self is stained by joy and sorrow on account of its identification with the objects of nature.

COMMENTARY BY SRIMAT SWAMI SIVANANDA:

Pleasure and pain are the fruits of virtuous and vicious actions. The force of desire acts on the mind and the mind impels the senses to act to get the objects of desire. Good and evil actions proceed from Nature and lead to happiness or misery. Evil actions produce misery and sorrow. Virtuous actions cause happiness and joy. The soul is the enjoyer. The wife works and prepares nice palatable dishes; the husband silently enjoys the fruits of her labour. He sits quietly and eats them to his heart’s content. Even so Nature works and the soul experiences the fruits of Her labour, viz., pleasure and pain.

When harmony predominates, virtuous actions are performed. When there is a preponderance of Rajas, both virtuous and vicious actions are performed. When Tamas predominates, sinful, unlawful and unrighteous actions are done.

In the place of Kaarana which means ‘cause’, some read Karana which means ‘instrument’ such as the five organs of knowledge, five organs of action, mind, intellect and egoism (thirteen principles located in the body).

Karya: The effect, viz., the physical body. The five elements which form the body and the five senses and which form the sense-objects which are born of Nature come under the term ‘effect’. All qualities, such as pleasure and pain and delusion which are born of Nature come under the term ‘instruments’ because these qualities reside in the instruments, the senses.

In the production of the body, the senses and their sensations Nature is said to be the cause. Thus Nature is the cause of Samsara.

Sugarcane is the cause. Sugarcane juice, sugar and sugar candy are the effects or modifications of sugarcane. Milk is the cause. Curd, butter and ghee (melted butter) are the modifications of milk. Whatever is a modification of something is its effect, and that from which the modifications come is their cause. Nature is the source or cause of all modifications. She generates everything. The ten organs, mind and the five objects of the senses are the sixteen modifications or effects.

Mahat (intellect) is born of Mulaprakriti. From Mahat Ahamkara (egoism) is born. Mahat is the effect of Mulaprakriti and the cause of Ahamkara. Therefore Mahat is called Prakriti-Vikriti. Mahat, Ahamkara and the five Tanmatras (root-elements of matter) are the seven Prakriti-Vikritis. Each of these is a modification of its predecessor and is, in turn, the cause of its successor. The five root-elements generate the five gross elements. They are the subtle elements. These seven are both Nature and modification (Prakriti and Vikriti), cause and effect, and are included under the term ‘cause’.

The functions of the body, senses, life-force, mind and intellect are superimposed on the pure Self. So the ignorant man says: “I am black; I am fat; I am hungry; I am angry; I am deaf; I am blind; I am the son of so and so; I know; I am the doer; I am the enjoyer, etc.”

The intellect is very subtle. It is in close contact with the most subtle Self. The Consciousness of the Self is reflected in the intellect (Chidabhasa) and so the intellect which has the semblance of the Consciousness feels: “I am pure consciousness or Chaitanya. I experience pleasure and pain.” The attributes of the pure Self are superimposed on the intellect. There is mutual superimposition between the intellect and the Self, Nature and Spirit. This is the cause of Samsara.

Purusha, Jiva, Kshetrajna and Bhokta are all synonymous terms. Purusha here referred to is not the Supreme Self. He is the conditional souls, the soul subject to transmigration who experiences pleasure and pain. The Self or the Absolute is ever free from Samsara and is unchanging.

Prakriti and Purusha are the cause of Samsara. Nature generates the body, life-force, mind, intellect and the senses. The soul experiences pleasure and pain. Samsara is the experience of pleasure and pain. The soul is the Samsarin. He is the experience of pleasure and pain. (Cf. XV.9)

Comments by the blogger:

In the Absolute Brahman there never is action. Prakriti is full of action. And the individual Soul also is beyond action. But Jiva or kshetrajna identifies itself with this body and senses. The body and senses are the effects of the Prakriti. The Individual Soul is under delusion. It identifies itself with the body. Thereby egoism or I do this and that and this is how I am gets into action. Without egoism, there can be no action and karma in this world. The Self wrongly identifies itself with this body and senses and mind. And, as per the Saivism, Atman or Self cannot stand alone. In the beginning, prior to creation, we were actionless Atman. We were beyond action like the Absolute Brahman. But we were dependent on God or the Absolute Brahman. And when this Atman is tossed into a body and both are tossed into the Samsara of this World, Atman becomes subject to Ahamkara and this makes the Pure Atman to depend on Prakriti. According to Saivism, both Prakriti and individual Atmans or Souls are full of actions and come to this world embodied and work constantly for fruits of actions. The Atman forgets Its divine nature and gets confused and becomes egoistic and identifies Itself with Prakriti. That was how life in this world started. The part played by Prakriti is to delude the individual and instil the same into this action-oriented world.

Cause and effect are the basic law governing this world which is full of action. So Prakriti is the cause of this cause-and-effect world. Action is superimposed on the individual Soul. It forgets its divine nature and how, before creation, It was inhering in the proximity of the Absolute Brahman. The duty of the Prakriti is to get us yoked to ceaseless action on the plane of the earth and thus become the enjoyer of the fruits of action by the individual body. But the duty does not end here. Though Prakriti enslaves the individual Soul by its plenitude of things of enjoyment, that is not the real reason for the inhering of Prakriti.  It makes us indulge in ceaseless action throughout our earthly lives and through so many thousands of births and deaths, Prakriti makes us become independent of Prakriti itself and work out our Karma; thus, by degree, we slowly evolve in our Atman which process is marked by absence of attraction for the worldly things and enjoyment. By slowly practising non-attachment to things of the world, Prakriti guides us toward God. We spend much time of our lives then in pursuits of the culture of Atman. Prakriti sees us thus evolve and ultimately become so pure in mind that is ready for a life of renouncement and meditation. Then it would be just a matter of re-births through which we make our search for God or Absolute Brahman more and more effective spiritually speaking. And at one stage or birth, we become absolutely devoid of any desire for any of the teeming things of worldly pleasure. Then emancipation or Soul-realisation is just a matter of meditational years and this is how Prakriti helps us throughout our worldly sojourns.

Prakriti is the reason for our actions in this world. And the individual Soul is the enjoyer of worldly things. But it is Prakriti which, through our ceaseless actions, facilitates us to the divine life once again with the Absolute Brahman.  

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                

THE HOLY GITA, CHAPTER 13, VERSE 19, KSHETRA KSHETRAJNA VIBHAGA YOGA OR THE YOGA OF THE DISCRIMINATION OF THE KSHETRA AND THE KSHETRAJNA

THE HOLY GITA

CHAPTER NUMBER 13

VERSE NUMBER 19

KSHETRA KSHETRAJNA VIBHAGA YOGA OR THE YOGA OF THE DISCRIMINATION OF THE KSHETRA AND THE KSHETRAJNA:

TEXT IN TRANSLITERATION:

prakrrtim purusham chai ‘va viddhy anaadhee ubhaav api

vikaaraams cha gunaams chai ‘va viddhi prakrrtisambhavaan

SANSKRIT WORDS AND PHRASES AND THEIR MEANING IN ENGLISH:

Prakrrtim = Prakriti: purusham = Purusha: cha = and: eva = even: viddhi = know: anaadee = beginningless: ubhau = both: api = also: vikaaraan = modifications: cha = even: viddhi = know: prakrrti sambhavaan = born of Prakriti.

TEXT IN ENGLISH:

Know that Prakriti and Purusha are both without beginning, and know also that all modifications and Gunas are born of Prakriti.

COMMENTARY BY SRIMAT SWAMI CHIDBHAVANANDA:

Prakriti and Purusha are not essentially two different entities. The same Reality enjoys two suddha chaitanya or Pure Consciousness, It is ever Itself and there is no modification in It. This Changeless Reality puts on the appearance of changefulness and modifications. The former phase is Purusha and the latter phase, Prakriti.

Prakriti puts on the embodiment of time, space and causation. It is constituted of the three Gunas Sattva, Rajas, and Tamas. Because of its changeful nature, it is called Maya. This substance being an eternal verity, it is termed as having no beginning, and therefore, no end too.

COMMENTARY BY DR.S.RADHAKRISHNAN:

As the Supreme is eternal, so are His prakrtis.

Through the possession of the two prakrtis, nature and soul, Isvara causes the origin, preservation, and dissolution of the universe. The Purusha described in this section is not the multiple Purusha of the Saamkhya but the ksetranja who is one in all fields. The Gita does not look upon Prakriti and Purusha as two independent elements as the Saamkhya does but looks upon them as the inferior and the superior forms of one and the same Supreme.                                                                                                                                                                                           

COMMENTARY BY SRIMAT SWAMI SIVANANDA:

Steps are necessary to reach the top floor of a building. Even so, steps are necessary to reach the summit of the knowledge of the Self. That is the reason why Lord Krishna took Arjuna to the summit of knowledge step by step. He first taught Arjuna the nature of the field, then knowledge, ignorance or non-wisdom, and ultimately the knowable. When a child is to be fed the intelligent mother divides the food into small portions and feeds the child little by little. Even so, Lord Krishna fed His spiritual child Arjuna with the spiritual food little by little.

Lord Krishna says: “O Arjuna! I will give you the same teaching in another form by the description of the Spirit and Nature”

Till now the Lord expounded the knowledge of the field and the Self in accordance with the philosophy of the Upanishads. Now He explains the same knowledge in accordance with the Sankhya philosophy, but without accepting its dual nature in the form of discrimination between the Spirit and Nature.

Vikaras: Modifications from the Mahat-Tattva or intellect down to the physical body; the twenty-four principles of the Sankhyas. The Self within is changeless. All changes take place in Nature, Mulaprakriti (the Primordial Nature, the Unmanifested) becomes modified into Mahat, egoism, mind, the great elements and other minor modifications.

Just as coolness and ice, the day and the night, are inseparable, so also matter and Spirit are inseparable. The three qualities Sattva, Rajas, and Tamas are born of Nature (matter). All actions proceed from the mind, the life-force, the senses, and the physical body.

According to the Sankhya philosophy, Prakriti and Purusha are not only eternal and beginningless but also independent of each other and self-created. According to Vedanta philosophy, Prakriti or Maya originates from Brahman and is, therefore, neither self-created nor independent. Ishvara has Maya under His perfect control. Maya is His causal body. Maya is His illusory power.

Matter and Spirit are the Natures of Ishvara. Know that these two are beginningless. That which has no beginning is Anadi.  As Ishvara is eternal, His two Natures also should be eternal (This is according to the Sankhyas.)

Ishvara possesses these two Natures(superior and inferior) by which He causes the creation, preservation, and destruction of the universe. Therefore He has the Lordship and rules over the universe. The two Natures have no beginning. Therefore they are the cause of Samsara.

The inferior Nature (Apara Prakriti) which consists of the eightfold division of Nature referred to in chapter VII, verse 4, is the Prakriti of chapter XIII, verse 19. The superior Nature (Para Prakriti) referred to in chapter VII, verse 5,  is the Purusha of chapter XIII, verse 19.  Purusha here means ‘Jiva’ (the individual soul).

Even a child smiles and experiences exhilaration, grief, fear, anger, pleasure, and pain. Who taught it? The impressions of the virtuous and vicious actions of this birth cannot be the cause of these. The impressions of the previous birth alone are the cause of these. They (the impressions) must have support. From this we can clearly infer the existence of the individual soul in the previous birth and that the individual soul is beginningless. If you do not accept that the individual soul is beginningless, the two defects of Kritanasa (non-fruition of actions performed) and Akritabhyagama (causeless effect) will creep in. Pleasure and pain which are the fruits of virtuous and vicious actions done previously will pass away without being experienced. This is the defect of Kritanasa. So also, one will have to enjoy pleasure and pain, the fruits of good and bad actions which were not done by him previously. This is the defect of akritabhyagama. In order to get rid of these two defects, we will have to accept that the individual soul is beginningless. The scriptures also emphatically declare that the soul is beginningless.

Comments by the blogger:

Firstly, Sri Bhagavan states Prakriti or Nature and Purusha or Jivathman or individual Soul are without beginning. Srimat Swami Chidbhavananda says, when the Lord says that the Prakriti and Purusha are without beginning, we should take it that there is no end for the Prakriti and Purusha. So they are always there. And another tatva or thought, secondly, is that all modifications and Gunas are born of Prakriti. Sri Mathva says that during the Pralaya or the dissolution of this Universe a small part or portion of the Prakriti or Nature is left by Ishvara untouched. And such portion of the Prakriti or Nature is made up of the Trigunas or the three Gunas, namely, Sattva, Rajas, and Tamas. As for Purusha, all the human beings who share one Purusha or Atman (all the fields or Kshetra have but one knower of the field or Kshetrajna) enjoys this world through the mind and body. Thus at Pralaya the three Gunas are left in a state of equilibrium in Prakrity. Since there is perfect equilibrium among the three Gunas, in Brahma’s Night there is no Creation taking place in Prakrity.

The Lord of Gita says all the three Gunas are born in Prakrity. The three Gunas, Sattva, Rajas, and Tamas, are the reasons for all modifications. But there is no modification in Ishvara. Ishvara ever remains actionless. All the actions take place in the Prakrity alone because of the Three Gunas. Purusha merely enjoys the results of the actions, good or bad, taking place in the embodied through Its dependence on Nature. This is the result of Maya or illusion. Prakriti consists of the Three Gunas and is invested with Maya or Illusion. The dependence (through ignorance)  on Prakrity gives rise to trillions of actions in this world from each of us!

So, this is an action-oriented Universe. There are three Gunas in Prakrity. And when the individual Soul becomes embodied and comes to the earthly plane, Prakrity induces the embodied Purusha or Jivatma to indulge in action through the body and mind. Thus Ishvara is not the promoter of actions in this world and the individual Jivatmas cannot attain the State of Ishvara till Jivatmans are shorn of all actions and modifications! Because there is no action both in Ishvara and Purusha in individual Self.

Prakrity has a mission. Though It binds us to the fruits of our individual actions, good or bad, this is not the ultimate purpose of Prakriti or Nature. Nature fosters us like a human mother. And It makes us go through life by working out our Karma created by us in our former birth (s). We become enslaved to this earthly life through Maya or Illusion of Prakriti or Nature. But this is not the mission of Prakriti. Only when we give up ourselves to Prakriti's Maya or Illusion, we become bound to this earthly life. And we need to come back to this earthly plane repeatedly. But there is an interesting part played by Prakriti. The Purusha in all the human beings, owing to Its action mode, enjoys life on the plane of this earth. And when we, human beings, strive individually to become free of Prakriti, It subjects us to the Test by Fire. Prakriti tries with all Its illusory wealth and variety of sensual pleasures to make us stay entwined to this worldly life. We have to over-exert ourselves and strive and strive to not give way to the Illusory pulls of Prakriti. It is indeed a mighty attempt by Prakriti or Nature to enslave us to Her countless Charms. When we try to become free of Prakriti, Prakriti tries to trip us up and get focused on enjoying the worldly sensual pleasures. We are encouraged and tempted to continue with the earthly life after our innings on this plane of Earth. We have to guard ourselves against the pulls and pleasures of Prakriti. It is not Prakriti alone consisting of The Three Gunas. We are also having the Yoke of the Three Gunas. Through the three Gunas, by appealing to preponderating Guna, whether it is Sattva or Rajas or Tamas, we are encouraged and seduced by Prakriti to continue to have yearnings for the earthly things. Sattva Guna enslaves us to all the Sattvic Actions and the resultant Sattvic Pleasures of Prakriti. Sattva is Light. Rajas is action-oriented. And the Tamas is darkness and indolence. Each and every one of us are made of all the Three Gunas. But in every one of us, one Guna preponderates. If we are preponderatingly Sattvic, we indulge in noble activities and enjoy the Sattvic pleasures of Prakriti. If we are preponderatingly Rajas, we are continually in an activated action mode. We cannot remain without indulging in action even for a nanosecond. And if we are preponderatingly Tamas, then we take up karma or action disproportionate to our capacity and thus remain a failure throughout our sojourn in this worldly life. So, irrespective of what Guna preponderates in us, we continually indulge in action. And every action binds us to Prakriti and we have to come back to the earth repeatedly. But when we are very Sattvic and we exert ourselves to get free of the pulls and pleasures of the Prakriti, and when we become very resolute and indulge in actions without seeking the fruits thereof, then the Pulls of the Maya or Illusion of Prakriti starts to become less and less. And NOW PRAKRITI, HAVING PUT US TO THE TEST BY FIRE, COMES TO OUR SPIRITUAL HELP AND DOES EVERYTHING TO MAKE OUR SPIRITUAL PATH ROSE-STREWN AND FACILITATES AND ENCOURAGES US TO STAY TO THE PATH OF SPIRITUALITY. THOUGH EVERY SEEKER IS, AT FIRST, DISCOURAGED BY PRAKRITI AT THE START OF OUR MEDITATIONAL GOAL, WHEN WE STAY IN THE SPIRITUAL GOAL STEADFAST, THEN THE SAME PRAKRITI COMES TO OUR HELP AND MAKES US TO STAY IN THE SPIRITUAL PATH. THUS WE ARE GIVEN A PUSH TOWARD A LIFE PREPONDERATINGLY SPIRITUAL AND ALL OUR EFFORTS TO SEEK GOD-REALIZATION ARE RECOGNISED BY PRAKRITI. PRAKRITI NOW ENCOURAGES US AND FACILITATES OUR ENDEAVOUR  TO BECOME FREE OF PRAKRITI!                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                

THE HOLY GITA, CHAPTER 13, VERSE 18, KSHETRA KSHETRAJNA VIBHAGA YOGA OR THE YOGA OF THE DISCRIMINATION OF THE KSHETRA AND THE KSHETRAJNA

THE HOLY GITA

CHAPTER NUMBER 13

VERSE NUMBER 18

KSHETRA KSHETRAJNA VIBHAGA YOGA OR THE YOGA OF THE DISCRIMINATION OF THE KSHETRA AND THE KSHETRAJNA:

TEXT IN TRANSLITERATION:

iti kshetram tathaa jnaanam jneyam co ‘ktam samaasatah

madbhakta etad vijnaaya madbhaavaayo ‘papadyate

SANSKRIT WORDS AND PHRASES AND THEIR MEANING IN ENGLISH:

iti = thus: kshetram = the field: tathaa = as well as: jnaanam = knowledge: jneyam = the knowable: cha = and: uktam = have been stated: samaasatah = briefly: madbhaktah = my devotee: etat = this: vijnaaya = knowing: madbhaavaaya = to my being: upapadyate = enters.

TEXT IN ENGLISH:

Thus the Kshetra, knowledge and that which has to be known have been briefly described. My devotee, on knowing this, is fitted for My state.

COMMENTARY BY SRIMAT SWAMI CHIDBHAVANANDA:

On whatever object a man directs his entire attention, he is able to understand that object in its true state. He who is absorbed in devotion to Iswara is able to know Him. It is jnaana when man understands that God alone is revealing Himself as everything. This wisdom places him forever in the presence of Iswara. Soaked as he is in the thought and feeling of God he dwells with God.

SRIMAT SWAMI RAMAKRISHNA PARAMAHAMSA AS QUOTED BY SRIMAT SWAMI CHIDBHAVANANDA:

He alone is a Jnani who has realized Iswara. He becomes like a babe after God-realization. The baby has no individuality of its own. Therefore divinity beams through it.

COMMENTARY BY DR.S.RADHAKRISHNAN:

When the devotee sees the Eternal Indwelling Divine, he puts on the divine nature with the characteristics of freedom, love and equality. “He attains unto my state.”

COMMENTARY BY SRIMAT SWAMI SIVANANDA:

He who has controlled his mind and organs, who has the knowledge of the field and the knowable, and who fixes his mind on Me becomes one with Me.

Thus the field described above (beginning with the ‘great elements’ and ending with ‘firmness’, verses 5 and 6), knowledge described above (beginning with ‘humility’ and ending with ‘perception of the end of true knowledge’ in verses 7 to 11) and the knowable described in verses 12 to 17—these have briefly been stated.

He who has single-minded devotion unto Me, who takes Me (Vasudeva, the Supreme Lord, the omniscient, and the supreme Guru) as the Self of everything, he who thinks and  feels that all that he sees, hears and touches is nothing but the Lord and he who has the right knowledge described above enters into My Being or attains release from birth and death.

Comments by the blogger:

From verse 5 to 17 of this chapter, Sri Krishna has described briefly and succinctly three main tatvas or ideas to be known. First He describes what is meant by kshetra or this body. Next, He describes the Gnana which is indispensable for understanding the tatva or idea of Atman or Soul. Then, thirdly, the kshetrajna is described by the Lord of Gita. But who can understand exactly all these three ideas or tatvas? Only the unflinching Devotee of Sri Krishna can understand these.

In Ishopanishad there is a sloka or mantra or verse which is addressed by the Sadhaka or Practitioner to the Sun. In that verse, the author of the said Upanishad requests, at the culmination of his meditation, the Sun god to please constrict his blinding flashes of rays so that the author could see what is behind the shining Sun! So understanding God in His true state is not just a matter of proper meditation for the prescribed period, but His Grace must flow toward the Devotee and God must show Himself to the Sadhaka or the Practitioner!

In the present sloka or verse, that is, verse number 18, the Lord says, “My devotee, knowing this, is fitted for My state. What is the State of The Lord of Gita? He is completely free of the Samsara. We have already seen that Samsara means the obligation of our selves to repeatedly come to live on the plane of this earth after repeated death. The Lord is above this obligation. He does not have any notion of Time. He lives beyond Time. There is no beginning and no end to God. And those Devotees who have understood the three ideas or tatvas are fitted to this State of the Lord. 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      

THE HOLY GITA, CHAPTER 13, VERSE 17, KSHETRA KSHETRAJNA VIBHAGA YOGA OR THE YOGA OF THE DISCRIMINATION OF THE KSHETRA AND THE KSHETRAJNA

THE HOLY GITA

CHAPTER NUMBER 13

VERSE NUMBER 17

KSHETRA KSHETRAJNA VIBHAGA YOGA OR THE YOGA OF THE DISCRIMINATION OF THE KSHETRA AND THE KSHETRAJNA:

TEXT IN TRANSLITERATION:

jyotishaam api taj jyotis tamasah param uchyate

jnaanam jneyam jnaanagamyam hrrdi sarvasya vishtthitam

SANSKRIT WORDS AND PHRASES AND THEIR MEANING IN ENGLISH:

jyotishaam = of lights: api = even: tat = that: jyotih = light: tamasah = from darkness: param = beyond: uchyate = is said (to be): jnaanam = knowledge: jneyam = that which is to be known: jnaanagamyam = the goal of knowledge: hrrdi = in the heart: sarvasya = of all: vishtthitam = seated.

TEXT IN ENGLISH:

The Light of all lights, He is said to be beyond darkness; knowledge, the knowable, the goal of knowledge, seated in the hearts of all.

COMMENTARY BY SRIMAT SWAMI CHIDBHAVANANDA:

Though the sun and the stars are self-luminous, they lose their luminosity while in Pralaya. Buddhi acquires its power of understanding from the Atman, but it also loses that borrowed faculty; whereas the Atman never loses Its Light. The physical light and darkness, characteristic of the inert matter, do not have any effect on or access to Atman. In pitch darkness, one is not able to see one’s own body and clothing. But that darkness is no hindrance to the self-cognizing its own presence. This self-cognizance is not improved upon by the presence of sunlight. Self-awareness is self-evident. The sunlight and the darkness are perceived by the physical eye because of the light it has acquired from the Atman enshrined in the heart. The senses perceive the mind feels and the intellect cogitates because of the light they get from the Atman.

SRIMAT SWAMI RAMAKRISHNA PARAMAHAMSA AS QUOTED BY SRIMAT SWAMI CHIDBHAVANANDA:

He who realizes Iswara in his heart is able to realize Him outside too. He who has not known Him within himself, cannot cognize Him elsewhere. Therefore, he who sees God in his heart sees Him everywhere.

COMMENTARY BY DR.S.RADHAKRISHNAN:

The Light dwells in the heart of every being. Many of these passages are quotations from the Upanishads. See Svetaasvatara Upanishad., III.8 and 16; Isa Upanishad., 5; Mundaka Upanishad., XIII. 1, 7; Brhadaaranyaka Upanishad IV. 4, 16.

COMMENTARY BY SRIMAT SWAMI SIVANANDA:

The Supreme Self illumines the intellect, the mind, the sun, moon, stars, fire and lightning. It is self-luminous. “The sun does not shine there, nor do the moon and the stars,  nor do these flashes of lightning shine and much less this fire. When It shines, everything shines after It; all these shine by Its Light.” (Kathopanishad 5.15; also Svetasvataropnishad 6.14)

Knowledge: Such as humility. (Cf. XIII.7 to 11)

The knowable: As described in verses 12 to 17.

The goal of knowledge, i.e., capable of being understood by wisdom.

These three are installed in the heart (Buddhi) of every living being. Though the light of the sun shines in all objects, yet the sun’s light shines more brilliantly in all bright and clean objects such as a mirror. Even so, though Brahman is present in all objects, the intellect shines with special effulgence received from Brahman. (Cf. X.20; XIII. 3; XVIII. 61)    

Comments by the blogger

The Light of all lights:

Almost all religions describe the Turiya or the Nirguna Brahman as light!

And when we sit, in the beginning, in meditation we see flashes of light between the eyebrows.

Some 30 or 35 years ago, I read in an issue of Reader’s Digest, the monthly magazine, about the experience of those who were declared in various hospitals as clinically dead; many of them died. But some of them regained consciousness and miraculously cured. Such people who were literally at the  Death’s door and even entered the passage and experienced God had said to the writer of the article that they saw the Being of Light. In the course of the interview, they all said that in front of such Light the highlights of their individual life on earth were shown to them each! There was a great understanding between them and God; they each had said they could have lived a better life. In some cases, there was humour in God after the highlights were seen by both. The reason why I relate this experience of those lucky souls is that in some cases God said they could go back to the earth and live a better life and thus sent them back! And this was how they after proclaimed as clinically dead, regained consciousness! They all had seen and described God as a great Being of Light!

Light is the property of the sun, and in the Upanishad, God is said to have gone into a meditational mode when He wanted to create the world and created the sky and prana. The unmoving Sky and the Prana, He believed would create the Universe for Him. And thus the whole Universe came into being! And it is also said the outward form of the Prana is the sun. So the sun sends forth Prana to all beings on the earth.

The sun is the cause of Time. The earth, revolving on its axis, also goes round the Sun and this is how there is day and night. And the day and night are divided into twelve hours each. But for the sun, which is the external form of the Prana, there would be no Time.

And the light’s speed is mind-boggling! In a second light travels more than one lakh and eighty thousand kilometres, if I am right. The speed of light contains eternity. How? Albert Einstein proved that to beat the process of ageing one should travel at the speed of the light! Just imagine, if we could travel at the speed of light and one is put on this vehicle and one travels at the speed of light for a hundred human years and then the person lands on the earth safely thanks to that kind of technology, the person would have started to age the moment he landed on the earth! We have created rockets and travelled to the moon some 50 years ago. But to invent a vehicle that could travel at the speed of the light might become possible in some hundred years’ time. And then Man shall have invented eternity of life or immortality on the earth’s plane, having beaten the process of ageing.

And if we magnified an atom to the size of a circus tent, the nucleus of the atom, containing the protons and electrons and other particles, such as the elusive God particles, could be seen at the size of a muster seed! Then what about the rest of the place inside the circus tent? VOID! This is a wonderful thing. So the preponderant portion of an atom is void or the Sky, according to the Upanishad! And the atom’s nucleus could be seen as points of light or a streak of light! This is how the sky and prana have created this Universe for God!

God says that the Light of all lights is seated in the hearts of all.

This heart is not the human heart. The Upanishads call this spectacular HEART AS THE CAVE OF THE HEART. And the cave of the heart is situated just right of the human heart and in the centre of our chest. This cave of heart is full of space and light. Countless Rishis of the Upanishadic period experienced this cave of heart and explained it as equal to the outer Universe! In other words, whatever is there in the Universe is there in the cave which is named as Hrdaya Kuhiya. This cave of the heart is also the seat of Atman or Soul!

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      

THE HOLY GITA, CHAPTER 13, VERSE 16, KSHETRA KSHETRAJNA YOGA OR THE YOGA OF THE DISCRIMINATION OF THE KSHETRA AND THE KSHETRAJNA

THE HOLY GITA

CHAPTER NUMBER 13

VERSE NUMBER 16

KSHETRA KSHETRAJNA VIBHASGA YOGA OR THE YOGA OF THE DISCRIMINATION OF THE KSHETRA AND THE KSHETRAJNA:

TEXT IN TRANSLITERATION:

avibhaktam cha bhooteshu vibhaktam iva cha sthitam

bhoota bhartrr cha taj jneyam grasishnu prabhavishnu cha

SANSKRIT WORDS AND PHRASES AND THEIR MEANING IN ENGLISH:

avibhktam = undivided: cha = and: bhooteshu = in beings: vibhaktam = divided: iva = as if: cha = and: sthitam = exizting: bhoota bhartrr: the supporter of being: cha = and: tat = that: jneyam = to be known: grasishnu = devouring: prabhavishnu = generating: cha = and:

TEXT IN ENGLISH:

He is undivided and yet He seems to be divided in beings. He is to be known as the supporter of beings. He devours and He generates.

COMMENTARY BY SRIMAT SWAMI CHIDBHAVANANDA:

The aakaasa (the sky) is all pervading. Yet it appears as if divided into the innumerable forms. The fact is that it expands undivided while seeming as if divided. Even such is the case with the Paramatman. As aakaasa or the sky is the support to the remaining four elements, Paramatma the universal Consciousness is the support to the Jagat and the Jivatman. In Pralaya they merge into the Paramatman. In creation, they reappear in the Paramatman. They are not exterior to the Paramatman in creation, preservation and destruction. As the waves come up, stay and disappear in the sea, these manifest things and beings are either patent or latent in the Lord.

SRIMAT SWAMI RAMAKRISHNA PARAMAHAMSA AS QUOTED BY SRIMAT SWAMI CHIDBHAVANANDA:

A holy man once saw clouds appearing suddenly in the clear sky and disappearing again, blown by the wind. This sight threw him into raptures. He exclaimed: “Brahman is Contentless Consciousness like the clear sky. As clouds appear in the latter, the universe of beings appears in the former and then disappears too! Brahman remains ever Itself.”                    

COMMENTARY BY DR.S.RADHAKRISHNAN:

Cp. Dionysius: “Undivided in things divided.” All things derive from Him, are supported by Him and taken back into Him.

COMMENTARY BY SRIMAT SWAMI SIVANANDA:

Brahman must be regarded as That which supports, swallows up and also creates all beings, in the three forms of Brahma who creates the world of names and forms, Vishnu who preserves or sustains, and Rudra who destroys. It is undivided in the various bodies. It is like ether. It is indivisible and the One, but It seems to divide Itself in forms and appears as all the separate existing things and beings. It is essentially unbroken. Yet, It is, as it were, divided among all beings.

It devours this world during the cosmic dissolution. It generates it at the time of the origin of the next age. It supports all bodies. Just as the one space appears to be different through the limiting adjuncts (pot, house, etc.) so also the one indivisible Brahman appears to be different through the limiting adjuncts (the body, etc.). (Cf. XVIII.20)

An objector says: “The knowable Brahman, the Knower of the field, is all-pervading. It exists everywhere and yet It is not perceived. Therefore It must be of the nature of darkness or Tamas.”

The answer is: “No. It cannot be”

“What then?”  “It is the Light of lights.”                                 

Comments by the blogger:

All the beings, the flower and fauna, are filled pervasively by one Atman. We cannot even say one Atman. Because the Spirit or Nirguna Brahman is the Atman. And He has filled all the beings here on the earth’s plane. And those who can not conceptualise the One Atman as filling all beings here might say the Nirguna Brahman is divided. If that were true there must be as many Atman(s) as there are beings. And elsewhere in the Gita the Lord of Gita proclaims that He fills all the beings and non-beings here on the earth and the heavenly bodies in the sky! Then the ignorant ones will be forced to think that there are as many Atman(s) as there are beings and non-beings!

Nothing can be far from the Truth.

Truth is but one. And it seems to be having many faces.

All the humanity and the animals and all the heavenly bodies in this mighty Universe are filled by One Atman only. And that is called the Universal Soul. And there is no division between the Universal Soul and the Brahman! Both is one and the same. One comes into being as embodied, the Universal Soul. And the other ever remains without Name and Form. One is called the Saguna Brahman and the other is called the Nirguna Brahman. Though it appears to be divided, there indeed is no division in Brahman.

From Brahman issues forth all the Universe which includes all the beings and non-beings. And after the Creation of the Universe, the remainder is still FULL. Occupying this Universe pervasively, which seems to be divided and can only be thought of in terms of names and forms, the other Soul, which is nothing but the Spirit seems different from the One with the names and forms. Sri Shankarar says it is the case of the rope appearing as the serpent.

One Brahman which is pure Spirit also appears as the Universe and all the beings and non-beings.

So what should be understood by this?

All the beings share but one and Only Atman or Brahman! There can never be as many Atman(s) as there are beings. And even the animals are filled with the very same Atman! When this point is meditated upon by a Sadhaka or the Practitioner, there will be a great inner revolution in the way we look at the fellow human beings. All are our brothers and sisters. Just nobody, even the lowest of the low economically, socially and in spiritual culture, can be different from us. The horrendous rapists of Nirbhaya in Delhi share the same Atman as we do share with the teeming millions of beings in this wide world! The begger in Ethiopia or the abject sinner in some other country are our brothers and sisters! This Cosmic Culture must be thought and pondered over repeatedly so that this realisation sinks into the Sub-conscious. When this realisation enters the subconscious, we cannot afford to differentiate between us and other beings. So we are all one and the same inasmuch as we share One Atman universally and this realisation will surely alter the way we look upon not just our neighbours but all in this world. And that would be the starting point of the inner or spiritual culture.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            

THE HOLY GITA, CHAPTER 13, VERSE 15, KSHETRA KSHETRAJNA VIBHAGA YOGA OR THE YOGA OF THE DISCRIMINATION OF THE KSHETRA AND THE KSHETRAJNA

THE HOLY GITA

CHAPTER NUMBER 13

VERSE NUMBER 15

KSHETRA KSHETRAJNA VIBHAGA YOGA OR THE YOGA OF THE DISCRIMINATION OF THE KSHETRA ADN THE KSHETRJNA:

TEXT IN TRANSLITERATION:

bahir antas cha bhootaanaam acharam charam eva cha

sookshmatvaat tad avijneyam doorastham chaa ‘ntike cha tat

SANSKRIT WORDS AND PHRASES AND THEIR MEANING IN ENGLISH:

bahih = without: antah = within: cha = and: bhootaanam = of beings: acharam = the unmoving: charam = the moving: eva = also: cha = and: sookshmatvaat = because of its subtlety: tat = that: ajneyam = unknowable: doorastham = is far: cha = and: antike = near: cha = and: tat = that.

TEXT IN ENGLISH:

Without and within all beings; the unmoving and also the moving; because of His subtlety He is incomprehensible; He is far and near.

COMMENTARY BY SRIMAT SWAMI CHIDBHAVANANDA:

How the Cosmic Consciousness remains undivided has to be comprehended through a few similes. In a block of ice immersed in the sea, water is present within and without. Again aakaasa (the sky) remains undivided in and through all things with form or formless. Similarly Paramatman is all-pervading and undivided by the manifest forms. There is movement on the surface of the sea while it is all stillness at the bottom. There is movement in Paramtman modified as the Prakriti. As Nirguna Brahman, He is all stillness. The sea water transformed into vapour becomes subtle and invisible. Nirguna Brahman who is all Awareness and all Intelligence remains incomprehensible to those who have not purified the mind. To the ignorant one, God is far away somewhere in heaven. But to the knowing one, none is nearer than God, He being the innermost Self.

SRIMAT SWAMI RAMAKRISHNA PARAMAHAMSA AS QUOTED BY SRIMAT SWAMI CHIDBHAVANANDA

The symptoms of egoism are found in the one come down from Samadhi to wakefulness. Such an enlightened one sees himself, all the beings and the universe as the various manifestations of Iswara. When there is egoism in you, there is no alternative to your holding Iswara as with form. The Nirguna Brahman cannot be comprehended by the embodied one. Again the Saguna Brahman is not a fiction of the mind. The body, mind and the world may be viewed as mere projections. But Iswara or the Saguna Brahman is as real as the Nirguna Brahman.                                                                                                                                                                    

COMMENTARY BY SRIMAT SWAMI SIVANANDA:

Brahman is subtle like the ether. It is incomprehensible to the unillumined on account of Its extreme subtlety. It is unknowable to the man who is not endowed with the four means of salvation (see page 66). Brahaman is known or realised by the wise. It is realised by the first class aspirant who is equipped with these means. It is near to the wise man or the illumined because It is drowned in worldliness or sensual pleasures. It is not attainable by the ignorant or unenlightened even in millions of years.

Near and far away: This expression is found in the Isavasya Upanishad (5) and the Mundaka Upanishad (3.17)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  

Comments by the blogger:

Once again Brahman is defined in a roundabout method. It is not because Sri Krishna does not have the capacity to define and delineate Brahman, but the subtlety of Brahman, if defiend by the Lord of Gita, cannot be understood by the human beings. Secondly, human languages, even the revered Sanskrit, is not a perfect medium of expression of the inner experience which is the way to attain the state of Brahman. Something about Brahman must be explained. Something about Him must be elucidated. Something about Brahman must be strongly experienced. Strong intuitive power is a must for the sadhaka or the practitioner. Thus there is so much inbuilt inefficiency to all languages of human beings and other methods of expression like the fine arts. The Universe is full of amazing things besides beings and Man should try to form a vague idea as to the attributeless, formless and Nameless (Brahman is the Name given by the Vedic and Upanishadic Saints for the purpose of expression of the Turiya). We the human beings are so much given helplessly to view It through the medium of expressions, especially through the fine arts. But something of the spiritual field can definitely be experienced through all the classical music and dance forms of the world. But, howsoever elevated the music and songs and dance might be,  nothing can give full expression to Brahman. There are other fine arts like sculpting and painting. Some of the Art critics have said that the fine sculpting of certain sensitive sculptors is so very evocative that one could hear the ‘music’ emanate from the statutes. But, all said and done, from the viewpoint of the subtlety of Brahman, It is utterly incapable of expression.

Dr S. Radhakrishnan says that when a student asked his Master or Guru about Brahman, the Master would bid the sadhaka or practitioner to come and sit near him (the Guru) and the Guru whispered about Brahman in the ear of the disciple! Because of Its inexplicable nature, Brahman cannot be made a subject of a speech or powerpoint presentation! And, incidentally, the sitting near the feet of the Master on the part of the disciple means Upanishad. And in course of time, the word came to be associated to the Texts also.  

But to the one who has purified his mind  so much that not even a trace of worldliness or materialistic tendency is to be found in his mind and he has also shed all tendencies and proclivity to enjoy the sensual things of life, who lives like the pebbles of water on the surface of the lotus leaf, he can, if he takes to meditation as explained in the Gita, under the continual supervision of a spiritually accomplished Guru, attain the phenomenal experience of Brahman!

So Brahman could not be said as utterly unattainable for human beings. Indeed the very idea of re-incarnations as believed by Hindus and proclaimed in Hindu Scriptures is for this very purpose of purification of the minds through many a re-birth so as to become a sadhaka or practitioner in some incarnation out of thousands of the re-births, and experience Brahman here and now, on the earthly plane which is declared to be the sat chit ananda, or Brahman.