Text of the Bhagavagd Gita (Mother's Institute of Research) - Session 26: Chapter 7—Verses 19-30 (13 July 1999)

Chapter 7—Verses 19-30

bahūnāṁ janmanām ante jñānavān māṁ prapadyate |

“After many, many births, one attains to knowledge, and when he attains to knowledge, then I am realised, māṁ prapadyate.

vāsudevaḥ sarvam iti sa mahātmā sudurlabhaḥ ||7.19||

In his consciousness, vāsudevaḥ sarvam iti, there is a constant state of knowledge. All this is Brahman. “All this is Vasudeva”. This is the state of Moksha, when ‘all’ is recognises ‘one’, ‘one’ is recognises ‘all’. One as all, all as one and all in Me and one in all. When this complete identity and complete universality is recognised, that is the state of Moksha.

vāsudevaḥ sarvam iti sa mahātmā sudurlabhaḥ ||

“Such a great soul is extremely difficult to find.”

kāmais tais tair hṛtajñānāḥ prapadyante ’nyadevatāḥ |
“There are people who are full of desires and they turn to different gods.”

taṁ taṁ niyamam āsthāya prakṛtyā niyatāḥ svayā ||7.20||

“All of them are all restrained by so many rules and regulations, and by the Prakriti.”

yo yo yāṁ yāṁ tanuṁ bhaktaḥ śraddhayārcitum icchati |
tasya tasyācalāṁ śraddhāṁ tām eva vidadhāmy aham ||7.21||

“Whoever wants to worship whatever with faith in his case I, Myself support his faith and increases faith.”

sa tayā śraddhayā yuktas tasyārādhanam īhate |
labhate ca tataḥ kāmān mayaiva vihitān hi tān ||7.22||

“Endowed with that faith he endeavours to adore that form of divinity and he does obtain there, from that fulfilment of desires, but they are actually bestowed upon him by none but Myself.”

He may think that I have received this wealth from him, a god, or another god, or a third god, but actually I am the one who gives him the fruit of whatever he wants.

antavat tu phalaṁ teṣāṁ tad bhavaty alpamedhasām |

“But whatever they received is only for a short time, antavat. There is an end to whatever fruits they received.”

devān devayajo yānti madbhaktā yānti mām api ||7.23||

“Those who worship gods, they all go to gods. But one who worships Me, he come to Me.”

These are all methods of attainment of the Supreme. There are many who try to attain to the Supreme by worshipping this god or that god and Sri Krishna says that, “Even in their case, the real fruit is given by Me, the Shraddha is also increased by Me, but so long as they do not know Me, and do not turn to Me, they may attain any fruits, they may increases in their faiths, they will only go to their gods, but among them, if you want to reach Me, then you have to turn to Me.”

avyaktaṁ vyaktim āpannaṁ manyante mām abuddhayaḥ |

“They only think that I am only manifested, they are all alpa matis. They don’t know that I am not merely that which is manifested; I am much more.”

paraṁ bhāvam ajānanto mamāvyayam anuttamam ||7.24||

“They don’t know that I am so transcendental, I am not simply something, which is manifested here, I am much more.”

nāhaṁ prakāśaḥ sarvasya yogamāyāsamāvṛtaḥ |
mūḍho ’yaṁ nābhijānāti loko mām ajam avyayam ||7.25||

“These are dull people who do not understand Me, and I am no more a light to them because they are deluded by Maya. I am something which is avyayam; I am indivisible, I am inexhaustible.”

vedāhaṁ samatītāni vartamānāni cārjuna |
bhaviṣyāṇi ca bhūtāni māṁ tu veda na kaścana ||7.26||

“I am not merely that which is manifested now. I am eternal, I am indivisible, I am inexhaustible. I know what is the past, what is the present, what is the future. These people do not know any of these things.”

icchādveṣasamutthena dvandvamohena bhārata |
sarvabhūtāni saṁmohaṁ sarge yānti paraṁtapa ||7.27||

“These people are full of icchā and dveṣa.” This is the negative way of speaking, that so long as you have both icchā and dveṣa, the ‘desire’ and ‘envy’, till then I am not available, I am not the method by which…this is not the method by which I am attainable:

icchādveṣasamutthena dvandvamohena bhārata |

sarvabhūtāni saṁmohaṁ sarge yānti…They remain entirely fixed in this world, where they are, and therefore they are not able to go into the higher paths where I am available.

yeṣāṁ tv antagataṁ pāpaṁ janānāṁ puṇyakarmaṇāṁ |
te dvandvamohanirmuktā bhajante māṁ dṛḍhavratāḥ ||7.28||

“It is only when their sin is ended, when they are endowed with the right and good actions, when they are completely free from duality and when they really worship Me, they become resolute in their own pursuits.”

This is the method by which you can attain to Me. That is to say: puṇyakarma, do the right actions, become free from dvandva and moha; and then turn to Me with real worship; this is the right method by which I am available.

Now the last two, I am not going to read just now because I am leaving it for the next time; because these two verses are connected. They are very difficult verses. In fact, just as 4th and 5th verses were very difficult, similarly these two verses are extremely difficult. New words are given, because you have to remember that Sri Krishna has promised Arjuna: “I shall give you knowledge with detailed knowledge and having known which nothing more will remain to be known”. So, we are all the time being given new articles of knowledge; and the first striking knowledge which was given was when Sri Krishna says: “I have got two natures”. And then He shows how the two natures are united in what way ‘I am present in all of them’.

Now, in these two last verses, He gives so many words, which are all difficult words. Just see the words which are used:

jarā-maraṇa-mokṣāya mām āśritya yatanti ye |
te brahma tad viduḥ kṛtsnam adhyātmaṁ karma cākhilam ||7.29||

The words which have to be noted now without understanding the meanings: brahma, first of all He describes brahma; adhyātmaṁ, and karma, these three words. Then He says:

sādhibhūtādhidaivaṁ māṁ sādhiyajñaṁ ca ye viduḥ |
prayāṇa-kāle ’pi ca māṁ te vidur yukta-cetasaḥ ||7.30||

So, there are two more words: adhibhūtā, adhidaiva, and adhiyajña. What is the meaning of adhiyajña, adhidaiva, and adhibhūtā? All these are description of the supreme Divine. And what are the specific meanings of these words? This will require quite a lot of time to understand. And in fact Sri Krishna Himself answers this question but so briefly as usual that in that brevity so much is contained, so much packed. So, next time we shall take up this. We shall do perhaps the 7th and 8th chapters next time. All right?

Question: Then ‘you raise your self by the higher self’ so now it is the continuation of the nature of the higher self.

That’s right; that is the Jiva, which is the product of higher nature while ‘that’ Jiva, the lower nature, which is contained in our egoism, that lower thing is to be raised by higher nature of which Jiva is a product.

Question: So, now Sri Krishna is elaborating on that.

He is elaborating, correct.

Question: Can we say that there are three things to be done in the last verse that you read and one has to become sinless, what is the method?

Three things have to be done, I said, is it?

Question: But the method is that one has to become free from delusion and free from sin?

Three things are given, no? If you do the right actions, puṇyakarma, if you do, you become free. If you worship the Divine you become free; and if you turn to the Divine for the sake of knowledge, then also you become free, free from the sin: the three methods by which you can do it.

Question: Do all these three come from aspiration?

All the three are aspirations. In fact “aspiration” is the link between Apara Prakriti and Para Prakriti.

Comment: Aspiration is the link.

…is the link. When we are in Apara Prakriti, this is an aspiration which is the bridge. To arrive at a stage of aspiration itself is a grace; it is not easy to reach the stage of aspiration.

Revision; Verse 29

Let us revise a little so that we once again enter into the field.

We have said that the Bhagavad Gita has three main divisions: chapter 1 to chapter 6 is one division; chapter 7 to chapter 12, and chapter 13 to chapter 18. In the first 6 chapters, we have the synthesis of Karma and Jnana. In chapter 7 to 12 there is the synthesis of Karma, Jnana and Bhakti. Chapter 13 to chapter 18 takes us to deeper understanding of this triple Yoga, the climax of it. In chapter 7 to chapter 12 there is a great emphasis upon knowledge; there is the synthesis of knowledge and bhakti but there is a tremendous emphasis upon knowledge and this knowledge is not merely intellectual knowledge, but spiritual knowledge.

There is a difference between intellectual knowledge and spiritual knowledge: intellectual knowledge gives you information about phenomena, about events, about developments, about things. Spiritual knowledge gives you information, but about “being”, not phenomena but about “being”, of phenomena also but as manifestations of the being. Whenever we talk of spiritual knowledge, this element of the knowledge of being is at the base. Now, chapter 7 to 12 therefore, is fundamentally you might say information about being, and also about ‘becoming’ which issues from ‘being’. Now, the word information is also not a very correct word. Information is normally, regarding something that is not ‘yourself’. When it concerns yourself, you don’t have ‘information’, but you have ‘identity’ with it. Your knowledge is by experience and by identity. In the act of information we are revealed about things and events, about becomings so that we become aware of many things which are happening around us by the help of which we become more efficient in dealing with things.

In regard with the ‘spiritual knowledge’, we ‘grow into being’; it is not a question of being informed about being but we grow into being; that which we are, we become more, we become intenser, we become more possessed, we experience it in greater depths, greater widths, profundity, greater height. From the point of view of statement of spiritual knowledge, it can be stated within a short formula: for example one of the greatest statements of Knowledge in the Upanishad is:

tat tvam asi (Chand. Upn. VI, 8,7)

Thou art That.

Now from the point of view of information it is a very short sentence: “Thou art That”. It only informs you that what you think to be yourself is really ‘That’ and by ‘That’ is meant ‘all that is universal’, and ‘all that goes beyond universe’. So, “you are one with the universal and the transcendental”. Now, even here, the word ‘universal’ is a short word, ‘transcendental is also a short word. Perhaps if you want to describe gold, which is a ‘becoming’ not a ‘being’, but gold is a becoming: it’s an event, it’s a thing, it’s a phenomenon. You can write 5 or 6 pages about gold: where it comes from, what is the quality, what are its attributes, how it is sold, where it is available etc., a lot of things can be written. But about “Thou art That”, you can’t write much; it is not a matter to be written about. It is something about which one grows; one grows into one’s own being and when you possess the whole universal in you, you are not required to describe the whole universe. The universe can be possessed by you, by a mere act of identity with the whole universe. You don’t even need to universalise yourself step by step, saying: “I universalise myself first embracing this much, then I embrace little more, then I embrace more”, it is not even that kind of movement. When you really become ‘imbued with your Self’, when you really ‘touch your inner being’, you find your Self to be universal. It is at once universal; it doesn’t grow little by little, except in a very initial stage. And when you know transcendental, it goes even beyond this.

Question: Is it not that amsha, is it also that?

Yes, because you are a part, a portion of the Divine; you can grow into the Divine; you can be one with the Divine. And this being is the mark of true spiritual knowledge. So, the basic distinction between intellectual knowledge and spiritual knowledge is that whereas intellectual knowledge concerns itself with phenomena, events and things, spiritual knowledge concerns itself with ‘being’. And even when there is a knowledge of phenomena and becomings in spirituality, it is a knowledge which is basically rooted in being.

Now, chapter 7 to chapter 12, wherever the word Jnana (jñāna) occurs, it is concerning with the ‘knowledge of the being’; when the word vijnana (vijñāna) occurs, it is the knowledge of events and phenomena, which are rooted in the being, viśeṣam jñānam, (that is Vijnana), the knowledge which is wide. Being when manifesting into becomings, and knowing being at the root of becoming, that is vijnana: to know the being in all its wideness universality, in all the teeming millions, but knowledge of the being in teeming millions: that is Vijnana. When vijnana is a knowledge of becomings, without the knowledge of being, it is called ‘ignorance’, ajñāna: ajñāna is the knowledge of phenomena, of events, when the root of phenomena is not yet known to be rooted in the being.

Now, the main subject of chapter 7 to 12, as Sri Krishna says: “I will tell you everything essentially, I will tell you everything in detail, in wideness, and I will tell you without remainder, aviśeṣena, I will tell you everything”. So, you might say that chapter 7 to 12 gives you the knowledge of everything: it tells you about the ‘being’, it tells you the knowledge of all the becomings rooted in knowledge, rooted in being and this knowledge gives you a complete account of everything that is in the world. That is why in chapter 7, we had the title ‘Jnana Vijnana Yoga’, that is the title of the 7th chapter: Jnana Vijana Yoga. In fact, what is given in the 7th chapter is elucidated in the remaining chapters up to 12. Already what is to be told is told.

For example, in the 7th chapter you are told that the Supreme Lord is ‘the Being’, the fundamental Being, and this supreme Being has got 2 natures: in other words, all the becomings that we see in the world are either reducible to the ‘lower nature’, or reducible to the ‘higher nature’; and further, that even that which is reducible to lower nature, is ultimately reducible to higher nature. This is the most important element that we get in the 7th chapter. So, 7th chapter is the basic chapter. The other chapters are only elucidations. We had seen in the chapter 7, at the end, there are 2 verses which I had deliberately left out; and I had said that since this chapter, 7th chapter ends with these 2 verses, which are again repeated in the 8th chapter, we shall do them when we come to the 8th chapter.

So, let us see those 2 verses of the 7th chapter where Sri Krishna after explaining what is ‘the being’ and how that being manifests in the higher nature, and how this higher nature is connected with the lower nature…at the end, if you open chapter 7 last 2 verses, where Sri Krishna says:

jarāmaraṇamokṣāya māmāśritya yatanti ye |
te brahma tadviduḥ kṛtsnam adhyātmaṁ karma cākhilam ||7.29||

The most important thing that is told is that you should know the Brahman. But this knowledge is to be combined with devotion: mām-āśritya, by taking resort to Myself. So you combine knowledge and devotion: when you know the Divine fully, you cannot but love Him. To know the Divine and not love Him is impossible. So if you know the Divine fully, then you become bhakta automatically. Or other way round: if you love the Divine, which you cannot do unless you know Him fully, but still, if you are in the process of bhakti, little by little, then ultimately that bhakti will take you to the full knowledge of the Divine. He Himself will take you to the fullness of the Divine knowledge. So, Sri Krishna says that: “Those who are making an effort, jarā-maraṇa-mokṣāya, to get liberated from jarā, from the old age, and from maraṇa, from death. How do they make an effort? mām-āśritya, taking resort to Me…” All those who are making an effort to come out of the bondage of old age and death by taking resort on to Me, what happens to them? te brahma tad viduḥ, “…they then come to realise Brahma; kṛtsnam adhyātmaṁ karma cākhilam, not only will they come to know the being, but they also come to know adhyātmaṁ.”

adhyātma is a very difficult word in Sanskrit literature, we shall speak about it later on, but at the moment it simply says: when the Brahman is to be found in the becoming, it is adhyātma. In that becoming you will find Karma, (becoming basically means movement; and movement means Karma). When you know ‘the being’, then you will come to know ‘the being in the becoming’, and you will know the karma, ākhilam, all the secret of action then you will come to know: this is the key. ‘To know the being’ is the key to the knowledge of becoming, but ‘knowing the being in the becoming’, adhyātmaṁ; not being and becoming, but ‘being in the becoming’: that is adhyātmaṁ; and when you know adhyātmaṁ, then you come to know what is karma and ākhilam, the entire to your karma.

You will remember in one of the earlier chapters Sri Krishna said that, “Even the learned do not know what is Karma, what is Akarma and what is Vikarma”. Even the learned do not know; learned means: those who are still pursuing intellectual knowledge. By intellectual pursuit, he will come to know a great deal, but still, “he will falter”. It is only when you know Brahma, the Being, and when you know ‘the being in the becoming’, then only you know the complete mystery of action: what is real action in the world then you will come to know.

And then in the last verse some very important words are told as if in a very easy manner but extremely difficult words, and He says: “what do you come to know when you know being in the becoming and when you know the full Karma then the following is known.” As I said Sri Krishna has promised Arjuna: “I will tell you the knowledge, I will tell you the fullness of knowledge, and I will the fullness of knowledge without remainder.” Now, “without remainder”, is now in this one: the knowledge is “Being”; the full knowledge is “the becoming in Being”; and “without remainder” is all this:

sādhibhūtādhidaivaṁ māṁ sādhiyajñaṁ ca ye viduḥ |
prayāṇakāle ’pi ca māṁ te viduryuktacetasaḥ ||7.30||

sādhibhūtādhidaivaṁ, there are two words which are used: adhibhūtā, adhidaivaṁ; he will come to know adhibhūtā, he will come to know adhidaiva; sādhiyajñaṁ: he will come to know adhiyajña.

Now if you read the last line of the previous verse and the first line of this verse you will get 6 important words:

brahma, adhyatma, karma, adhibhūtā, adhidaiva, and adhiyajña.

Six important words are told in which ‘knowledge’ is given, ‘full knowledge’ is given, and ‘knowledge without remainder’ is given: these six words. If you know these 6 words fully well, all that has to be known is known. So, Sri Krishna says that, “when you have this knowledge, then: prayāṇa-kāle ’pi ca māṁ te vidur yukta-cetasaḥ, “Those who are really settle in this knowledge even at the time of death, they remain fixed in this knowledge”.

And Sri Krishna tells us now in the next chapter that what happens to you at the end, in the last moment of your life is extremely important. But do not have the illusion that only at the last moment you should come to know them; like very often we say that at the time of going now you take the name of Rama; for Sri Krishna will explain to us that all this can happen only throughout your life you have done tapasyā: in all your actions, in all your movements, with a tremendous effort, you have been constantly engaged in the Supreme, then only prayāṇakāle, then only at the time of departure all this will happen to you, you will remember the supreme Divine in the right way; and once you know this you will meet him.

Now, the important question is these six words: brahma, adhyatma, karma, adhibhūtā, adhidaiva, and adhiyajña: these are the 6 words. As I said Sri Krishna tells them as if…very casually, easily, all the six words at one stroke.

But Arjuna now arrests Him. Therefore the 7th, 8th chapter begins with the question from Arjuna and his very question is this very one (8.1):

kiṁ tad brahma, what is that Brahma? kim adhyātmam, what is this adhyātma? kiṁ karma puruṣottama, O Purushottama, kiṁ karma, what is action? adhibhūtaṁ ca kiṁ, what is adhibhūta? proktam adhidaivaṁ, what is adhidaiva? What is proktam? What is called adhidaivaṁ? kim ucyate, what is all this called?

And then next verse: adhiyajñaḥ kathaṁ ko ’tra, and what is this adhiyajña? kathaṁ ko ’tra dehe ’smin madhusūdana, and who is this adhiyajña in this body?

prayāṇakāle ca kathaṁ jñeyo ’si niyatātmabhiḥ || (8.2)

“How is this to be known at the time of departure from this body? And what is the great importance of it? Why is it to be known?”

So, in 2 verses Arjuna asks all the questions which are to be asked in the world. We shall repeat once again:

kiṁ tad brahma kim adhyātmam kiṁ karma puruṣottama |
adhibhūtaṁ ca kiṁ proktam adhidaivaṁ kim ucyate ||8.1||

adhiyajñaḥ kathaṁ ko ’tra dehe ’sminmadhusūdana |
prayāṇakāle ca kathaṁ jñeyo ’si niyatātmabhiḥ ||8.2||

Now, Sri Krishna is a master of knowledge, so He answers also in 2 lines, the most important knowledge of the Bhagavad Gita. If you ask anybody what is the greatest knowledge contained in the Bhagavad Gita: it is only these 6 terms. And Sri Krishna answers in 2 lines. Sri Krishna is interested in taking Arjuna to the realisation of all this, not giving lectures, expositions. Bhagavad Gita’s interest is: what is to be really known, and how it is to be known, how in your life it is so imbued in you that even at the time of your departure from the body you can be fixed in that knowledge. Therefore the important time is given by Sri Krishna to that process, to the yogic process, to the methods of yoga, and the definition of these, He just gives.

Now let us see the definition He gives in one single stroke as it were. It is like a master who know things so well, and He just says: akṣaraṁ brahma paramaṁ; brahma is akṣara; svabhāvo ’dhyātmam ucyate, what is adhyātma? svabhāva is adhyātma.

bhūtabhāvodbhavakaro visargaḥ karmasaṁjñitaḥ ||8.3||

What is Karma? bhūtabhāva, all that is becoming, that is udbhavakaro, that which is the cause of all movement; udbhava, all that is production; visargaḥ, all that is moving, that which flows…sarjati, to flow; sargaḥ visargaḥ, all that flows is Karma.

adhibhūtaṁ kṣaro bhāvaḥ, “All that is connected with kṣara, the mobile, becomes the creatures…”, adhibhūtaṁ; puruṣaś cādhidaivatam, “you want to know what is adhidaiva?” The answer is ‘Purusha’.

adhiyajño ’ham evā, what is adhiyajña? It is Myself.

adhiyajño ’ham evātra dehe dehabhṛtāṁ vara || (8.4)

vara means: ‘O, my most beloved’, one who is most favoured; vara means: one who is most favoured. “O, My most favoured friend”, your question is answered very simply, in 2 lines; akṣaraṁ brahma paramaṁ: “What which is immobile is Brahma”. All that is Swabhava is adhyātma; all that is a movement which produces all that flows is Karma. All that becomes out of the flow, adhibhūtaṁ, bhūtaṁ means: ‘That which becomes’; that which becomes is adhibhūta; adhidaivatam is Purusha; and adhiyajña is Myself.

More than this Sri Krishna does not explain in the whole of the Gita. This is the most important element of knowledge in the Gita and these are His answers. But each answer that is given is almost like giving a synonym: it is like in a dictionary. You open a dictionary and you find synonyms of these words. So, it is as if Sri Krishna gives synonyms and Arjuna has to understand only out of synonyms.

We shall come back to this, at present let us note that the most important part of knowledge, fullness of knowledge, and knowledge that is without remainder is explained by Sri Krishna in two lines, and these are the very words. What are these words which are extremely important? But now Sri Krishna is in a great hurry, He says: “All right, I will explain to you, now I shall tell you how to attain to it, how to keep to this knowledge, what is to be done.”

Now, in a similar manner, I want to make a rapid survey of the chapters 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12. So, I am also running fast, only punctuating those important points which are to be return to. We shall return to them with a greater concentration. At present I only wanted to note that these are extremely important words which have to be understood, and without understanding this, there is no “Jnana-Vijnana Yoga”, and these chapters 7 to 12 is a blank page if you don’t understand this.

So, in the 8th chapter you have this most important…just in the 7th chapter, the declaration of Sri Krishna that “I have two natures” is a very surprising statement made by Sri Krishna: “I have not one nature, but I have two natures”. That was the most important statement in chapter 7. Similarly, in chapter 8, if there is something important, it is these 2 verses: what is brahma? What is adhyātma? What is karma? What is adhibhūta? What is adhidaiva? And what is adhiyajña?

Similarly, when you come to chapter 9…chapter 9 is called: “rājavidyārājaguhya-yoga”, it is a long-long term; rājavidyā, that is to say: ‘gives you the royal knowledge’. The knowledge which is complete, without remainder, is already given. Now in this 9th chapter that same knowledge is given in the form of a royal knowledge: rājavidyā rājaguhya, as if it is the ‘supreme secret knowledge’. The formulation is once again extremely important. The reason why the Bhagavad Gita is such a tremendous book is because of this reason that in every chapter from 7 to 12, there is some surprising statement which requires a very difficult process of understanding. The supreme secret, rājaguhya yoga; guhya means: ‘secret’; and rājaguhya yoga. It is a royal secret as it were. It is the royal knowledge and with a royal secret that is what is given here.

And then if you open IX, 2…as I told you I am only going rapidly over the verses, we shall come back to all this. Chapter 9, verse 2, where Sri Krishna says:

rājavidyā rājaguhyaṁ pavitramidamuttamam |
pratyakṣāvagamaṁ dharmyaṁ susukhaṁ kartumavyayam ||9.2||

This is the kind of knowledge which is now going to be expounded:

rāja-vidyā rāja-guhyaṁ, it is a royal knowledge and a royal secret; pavitram idam uttamam, it is so sacred and it is the supreme, uttamam; pratyakṣāvagamaṁ dharmyaṁ, once you realise it, su-sukhaṁ kartum avyayam, it is inextinguishable. Once you are seated in it, there is no sukha in the world which can be compared with it; pratyakṣāvagamaṁ dharmyaṁ, it makes you do the right thing; dharmyaṁ, whatever is the right will follow from it; su-sukhaṁ, not only sukhaṁ, but su-sukhaṁ kartum avyayam, you will be able to do that which is full of happiness.

And He says that those who don’t attain to this:

aśraddadhānāḥ puruṣā dharmasyāsya parantapa |
aprāpya māṁ nivartante mṛtyusaṁsāravartmani ||9.3||

Those who are aśradda, that is those who do not have faith; aprāpya māṁ, they can never reach Me, and they therefore return back again; mṛtyu-saṁsāra-vartmani, in the path of this saṁsāra, they return back again in this world which removed from the being.

Now here, in the 9th chapter, what is that rājaguhyaṁ? What is the capital royal knowledge? It is also given in two lines. That is Sri Krishna’s method of giving the supreme knowledge in two lines.

So here, 9th chapter, verse 4:

mayā tatam idaṁ sarvaṁ jagad avyaktamūrtinā |
sarvaṁ jagad, the whole world; idaṁ, this whole world is tatam: woven, brought out, spun out. This whole world is spun out; mayā, by Me; avyakta-mūrtinā, My form which is ineffable; avyakta, invisible. Now, comes the real royal knowledge:

matsthāni sarvabhūtāni na cāhaṁ teṣv avasthitaḥ ||9.4||

All the creatures, mat-sthāni, are located in Me, but na cāhaṁ teṣv avasthitaḥ, but I am not in them: “They are all located in Me, but I am not in them”: ‘this’ is the royal knowledge. We shall come back to this again when we try to understand it better. But at present we only know this sentence which is extremely difficult from the start: “They all are in Me, but I am not in them.” This is the rājaguhyayoga. This is the supreme knowledge, the royal knowledge: “They are in Me, but I am not in them.”

Question: Does it not look like a contradiction?

‘That’ is true, there is no contradiction. But the important point is that Sri Krishna expresses Himself as a great teacher: a great teacher startles you. He gives you words which are surprising, mysterious, secret, which are baffling. There is no contradiction; we shall see there is no contradiction in it.

Comment: That is what I would like to understand.

There is no contradiction, but I am now reserving it for latter days because I am only collecting now all articles of knowledge which are to be found from chapter 7 to chapter 12; and they are very simple statements, very little but full of meaning and on which we shall have to spend quite a good deal of time.

So, this is one of those sentences which have to be noted.

Then we go to chapter 10. As I told each chapter has got something surprising. And chapter 10 starts with what?

śribhagavānuvāca, the Lord says:

bhūya eva mahābāho śṛṇu me paramaṁ vacaḥ |

He has already given the rājavidyā; the rājaguhya is given, supreme secret. Now Sri Krishna says: bhūya eva mahā-bāho śṛṇu me paramaṁ vacaḥ: “Once again you hear the supreme word”, bhūya eva: “I have told you the highest thing, but lest you have forgot, I would like to summarise it again”. But even while saying it, He will again add something into it, so that the knowledge will become more complex.

So He says:

bhūya eva mahābāho śṛṇu me paramaṁ vacaḥ |
yatte ’haṁ priyamāṇāya vakṣyāmi hitakāmyayā ||10.1||

‘Why am I telling you this again? And that to paramaṁ vacaḥ, secret of secrets, supreme word, why again?’ yat te ’haṁ priyamāṇāya vakṣyāmi, “You have become very dear to Me, you are yourself feeling delight in Me”. The essence of bhakti is to feel delight in the Divine: Bhakti is not dancing and all that emotionalism. Bhakti is to feel delight in the Divine; priyamāṇāya, the moment you begin to feel happy to hear the word “God”, that is bhakti.

Those who are asuric, rakshasic, they feel nothing when they hear about God. But those who are really on the way to the Truth, even hearing that the Divine is at the door, your whole being flies out of you to receive the Divine. What for? For nothing, there is nothing to be gained: not for kingdom sake, not for this wealth sake, nothing at all: it is a pure delight in the presence of the Divine.

So, Sri Krishna says that as you are now beginning to feel the delight in Me, therefore I am telling you: bhūya eva mahābāho śṛṇu me paramaṁ vacaḥ, now you hear again.

Now, He repeats it and says:

na me viduḥ suragaṇāḥ prabhavaṁ na maharṣayaḥ |
ahamādirhi devānāṁ maharṣīṇāṁ ca sarvaśaḥ ||10.2||

It is a repetition but worth repeating; bhūya eva, again and again; paramaṁ vacaḥ, ‘I have no origin; everything else has an origin, but I have no origin; even gods and Maharshis have tried to find the origin of Me, they can’t find the origin because I have no origin’.

yo māmajamanādiṁ ca vetti lokamaheśvaram |
asaṁmūḍhaḥ sa martyeṣu sarvapāpaiḥ pramucyate ||10.3||

“One who knows Me, aja, unborn; anādiṁ, one who has no origin; ca vetti loka-maheśvaram, and one who knows Me as the Lord of the whole universe, he is asaṁmūḍhaḥ, he is awaken; even among the mortals, martyeṣu asaṁmūḍhaḥ sarva-pāpaiḥ pramucyate, and he is liberated from all the sins.” What is to be done? Only one word: He is anādiṁ, and He is aja, He has no origin, only this word: “I am without origin”.

And then in verse 6, He explains further. We had said jnana consists in the ‘Jnana of Being’; vijnana consists in the ‘knowledge of becoming which is rooted in the Being’. Now, that becoming which is rooted in the being’ has a certain movement. …

… priyamānāya, that is very important.

Question: Becoming is phenomenon?

Yes, becoming is a phenomenon.

Now, this becoming has a certain rhythm. What is that rhythm?

maharṣayaḥ sapta pūrve catvāro manavastathā |
madbhāvā mānasā jātā yeṣāṁ loka imāḥ prajāḥ ||10.6||

So, what is new in this chapter which revealed is this:

maharṣayaḥ sapta pūrve catvāro manavas-tathā

“From Me have arisen seven Rishis, and from Me have arisen four Manus…”; ‘seven Rishis have arisen out of Me’, this is the secret of the manifestation, secret of becoming. “Now, I have no origin, but the world has origin in Me, and when the origin takes place from Me, then what comes out of Me?”:

maharṣayaḥ sapta pūrve: first of all seven Rishis come out of Me. And then, catvāro manava: four Manus come out of Me; madbhāvā, they all come out of Me; mānasā jātā, they are born out of my mind; yeṣāṁ loka imāḥ prajāḥ, and all the rest are simply prajāḥ, are all creatures of these. So, one secret is given: first, sapta ṛṣi, seven Rishis and four Manus. Now, you will find that Sri Krishna does not explain who are the seven Rishis; who are these four Manus: these are master teachers. So you have to understand: in every chapter he gives a kind of a key, and He gives you a new knowledge and then leaves you to your own resources so that you may really learn with a great tapasya.

Comment: He says it is not a one time process that happens. It is an ongoing process.

Yes that also, but you might say that given the process of the present stage, present evolution has reached a certain stage; so there can be a history of evolution; there is something like recurrence, but there is also something that has happened and occurred.

Question: The two are going on simultaneously.

Simultaneously.

Comment: These sapta ṛṣi could stars also, the names are there of sapta ṛṣi.

That is true, that is a mythological explanation. But we shall go to the essence. We shall go to study all this, because the 7th chapter to the 12th chapter, these 6 chapters are important because such treasures of knowledge are given in these 6 chapters. I am at present only noting down those words rapidly so that we know we look forward to understanding of this.

Then in this chapter 10, the important point is that even with this prajāḥ which are born, there is a method of this manifestation, and that method is ‘vibhūti’: sapta ṛṣi, four Manus, and Vibhuti. These are the three important words in chapter 10.

Chapter 11 is the most important chapter because now the knowledge is given with open eyes. Up till now the knowledge given in terms which are mysterious, difficult to penetrate and now Arjuna becomes quite impatient: lot of knowledge is given. So now he says that, “Now I am quite all right, all that you have said is all right, now You show me Your Self”. So now the knowledge is as it were given ‘physically’, with your own eyes, patrākṣa. It is now no more in words which are mysterious and difficult to penetrate. So in chapter 11 we are told what is the true knowledge; unless we have this knowledge we should ‘be able’ to see God face to face and you ‘can’ see God face to face. Even those who believe that God is nirākāra, for them it is a startling statement, that God is both nirākāra and yet He is an ākāra. And what is an ākāra, one of the supreme forms of the Divine? Even that is given and expounded in clear terms.

That is also a startling statement that God can be seen, God has a form: it is not a mythology to say that ‘one sees God’; there are experiences. Of course Sri Krishna says that “This cannot be seen by physical eyes”. Sri Krishna explains that ‘This’ is not to be seen by physical eyes, therefore “I shall give you divya cakṣu, I will give you the divine eyes”, but one can have divine eyes, that is an important fact of knowledge; it is to be known that divine eyes is not mythology; it is not a myth; it is not a story; it is not a novel: it is a fact that one can have a subtle inner vision and that you can have this vision that Sri Krishna gives.

And then the most important element in this knowledge is Sri Krishna says that this Divine who is without origin, whose movement is of sapta ṛṣi and four Manus, and whose manifestation is in the Vibhuti, the whole world movement is actually ‘He’: “Even though they are in Me but I am not in them and yet all this world is nothing but Myself and all that is now happening is actually happening now, in Me”, this is the new knowledge. “Don’t think that this Mahabharata that you are seeing before you, and I am staying apart from it, not at all, this entire armies which are arrayed now before you, you look at Me; see this viṣaya dṛṣṭi and you will find all this contained in Me, and all that is being fought now in Me. Your idea that, ‘if I fight they will be killed, if I don’t fight I will go away from my duty’, all these questions are arising in you because you think, you do not know that there is somebody else who is acting: it is all being done by Me. Once you know that all this is done by Me, where do your questions remain? ‘if I kill’ , who are you to kill? All this is done in Me, and by Me, and once you know it, you just have to look at Me and you have to do what you have to do, it is inescapable”.

Comment: Divine eyes, divya cakṣū could be with God’s grace.

Quite true, that without the grace…that is why Krishna says: you are priyamāṇa you are now taking delight in Me, therefore I am telling you, and then I am giving to you these divine eyes. That entire vision is regarded as the climax of the Bhagavad Gita; the highest vision of the Supreme, which you can see that patrākṣa, not by anumāna, not by inference, but ākṣa, patrākṣa, before your very eyes.

So now, what more remains to be known? So now ‘without remainder’ everything is told. This is why Sri Krishna fulfils His promise: “I will tell you jñāna vijñāna vistareṇa aviśeṣeṇa, I will tell you without remainder”, and once you read this in the twelfth chapter, Sri Krishna says that when you attain to it, you combine in yourself Works, Knowledge, Devotion. And there is the crowning, and what is the crowning of your experience? Crowning of your experience is that mama bhaktaḥ priyaḥ. The crowning experience is that ‘you are my devotee who is beloved of Me’. This is the knowledge. Apart from your being Bhakta you should know also that: what is the supreme condition of your being that you can have on this earth. You may know brahma, you may know adhyātma, you may know karma, you may know everything: all the six terms you may know. But the most important thing still remains for you and that is to become mama bhaktaḥ priyaḥ. When you reach this condition, when you become My beloved bhakta, devotee: that is the climax. In that, all that has to be done, all that has to be accomplished, and which is explained in the last 6 chapters, the highest accomplishment when you become bhaktaḥ priyaḥ, then what is to be accomplished, that is explained in the last 6 chapters, that we shall come to later on. Our present purpose was to go rapidly over the 6 chapters so that we know what it is that we are dealing with. Unless we mark out all this very often, people who read very quickly feel that the same thing is told again and again.

Now, let us go back to chapter 8.

It starts with the question of Arjuna on these 6 terms which are very difficult terms:

kiṁ tad brahma kim adhyātmam kiṁ karma puruṣottama |
adhibhūtaṁ ca kiṁ proktam adhidaivaṁ kim ucyate ||8.1||

adhiyajñaḥ kathaṁ ko ’tra dehe ’sminmadhusūdana |
prayāṇakāle ca kathaṁ jñeyo ’si niyatātmabhiḥ ||8.2||

He says: “O Purushottama, kiṁ tad brahma, what is that brahma? kim adhyātmam, what is this Adhyatma? kiṁ karma, what is this Karma? adhibhūtaṁ ca kiṁ, what is adhibhūta? adhidaivaṁ proktam kim ucyate, what is this adhidaiva? And adhiyajñaḥ kathaṁ, and how is this adhiyajñaḥ? ko ’tra, who is adhiyajñaḥ, dehe ’smi, who is adhiyajñaḥ in this very body of madhusūdana? prayāṇakāle ca kathaṁ jñeyo ’si, how to know you at the time of the departure from the body? How is He known, niyatātmabhiḥ, those who are doing Yoga all the time and those who have controlled themselves, how do they come to know You at the time of the departure?”

Now, Sri Krishna as I told you rapidly answers, giving only synonyms, and He says (8.3): akṣaraṁ brahma paramaṁ, the immobile is parama brahma; svabhāvo ’dhyātmam ucyate: svabhāva and adhyātma is the same; bhūta-bhāvodbhava-karo visargaḥ karma-saṁjñitaḥ; karma saṁjñitaḥ, karma is signified, by what? visargaḥ, by flow, flow, which? udbhavakaro, which produces bhūta bhāva. All the products which you see, which are created, which ultimately result in bhūta bhāva, all the productions result from visarga, from the flow: that visarga is Karma. (8.4) adhibhūtaṁ kṣaro bhāvaḥ, ultimately the products which are the creatures, they are all kṣaro bhāvaḥ; ādhidaivatam puruṣaḥ, Purusha is called adhidaivata, and Me, Myself is adhiyajñaḥ.

adhiyajño ’ham evātra dehe dehabhṛtāṁ vara ||

“O my beloved, one who is in the body seated, who is adhiyajña, is Myself.”

Now let us try to understand each and every word.

What is called ‘being’ is being by virtue of that which remains, ‘being’: that which does not change. If you remember, in the very 2nd chapter Sri Krishna makes a distinction between “that which is” and “that which is not”.

nāsato vidyate bhāvo nābhāvo vidyate sataḥ | (2.16)

“That which is “is”; that which is not “is not” and can never be”. Reality is real because it cannot be rubbed out. Reality is that which you knock into.

If there is a dark room, you do not know what is there in it, it may be an empty room. What is the proof that something exists there? Something exists because you knock into it: it is there, therefore you knock into it. You come across, you stumble over it because ‘that which is’, that is the mark of it. You cannot rub it out; you cannot think it away; you cannot say that now when I go into the room it will be empty because I think it will be empty. The mark of existence is that you cannot rub it out; you cannot think it away, you cannot wish it away. That which is real is that you are obliged to see: it is that which is independent of your seeing; whether you see or not it exists in itself. It is the real objective reality, uncreated by you; that which is uncreated by you: that which is, it remains what it is.

So, Sri Krishna says akṣaram; akṣaram, means: that is never rubbed out, unchanging. So, first of all you have to see that all knowledge is basically based upon this fundamental point. As long as you have not come to know the ‘immobile’, unchanging, you have not ‘known’. As long as you come to know the mobile, that which is moving, that which was, which will not be, which is now but which is aloof, which will allude you afterwards, as long as you are in that condition you are not in the state of knowledge: ‘Knowledge is always of that which exists’. This is another definition of knowledge: knowledge is always of that which exists. You cannot know that which does not exist. That which does not exist can never become the object of knowledge. Only that can be known that which exists; and that which really exists, not that which comes into being and does not exist afterwards. That which exists ‘exists’. As Sri Krishna says: nāsato vidyate bhāvo nābhāvo vidyate sataḥ. That which exists ‘exists’.

That was the first knowledge that Sri Krishna gives to Arjuna, when He says that all those who are wise, they do not talk of ‘killing’ and ‘being killed’: na hanyate nāyaṁ hanti (2.19). Those who are really seated in knowledge, they are seated in the knowledge of that which is immortal, that which is eternal. So, that which is eternal, that which is immortal is akṣara: it does not change, unchanging, unchangeable. That is akṣaram brahma paramam. Your starting point of knowledge is akṣaram brahma. Now, it is out of this akṣara, svabhāva moves, (svabhāva: bhāva means becoming, sva means oneself). The being which is akṣara, although he is unchanging, he is not incapable of movement; he is immobile but not incapable of mobility. That which is mobile is actually to be seen as svabhāva, there is no movement in the world which is not the becoming of ‘that’ immobile; so, the second term is svabhāva.

Now, why is it called adhyātmam ucyate, svabhāvo ’dhyātmamucyate? This is because there is the word sva: sva means that which is Reality in itself. This is my own, Reality’s own: all movement is actually reality’s own movement. So, one who is in movement…sva is ātman, myself, so the word adhyātma means “the Self in movement”. So, either you use the word sva-bhāva, or you use the word adhyātma, it will mean the same thing: adhy-ātma, adhyātma, consists of two words adhy and ātman; ātman is sva; adhy is that which is supervising. The word adhy always means that which supervises; that which is above. That is how we have brought the word adhyakṣa: adhyakṣa,is the chairman, the one who presides, the president is called adhyakṣa. Whenever the word adhy comes, it refers to that which is above; ātma that is above the movement, ātman myself who is in movement, but above the movement, what is exhausted in the movement, not eaten away by the movement, that is adhyātma.

Now, this has something to do with what He has already told us in the 7th chapter. In the 7th chapter Sri Krishna has told us that He has two natures, two Prakritis: He has got two natures. One is Apara Prakriti the lower nature; the other is Para Prakriti the higher nature. Higher nature is His own nature. Apara Prakriti is a further remoter, it is something that is derived from Para Prakriti; you might say even distorted, it is ignorant. But that which is Para Prakriti is not ignorant, it is full of luminosity because it is sva prakriti, ‘My’ own nature: ‘That Para Prakriti which is My own nature is svabhāva’ (svabhāva is actually Para Prakriti).

So, there is the immobile, and then there is the mobile; that mobile, which is His mobile, His mobility is svabhāva. But when He is in svabhāva, sva is not lost, He is adhy, He presides over the movement. So, svabhāva is the same thing than adhyātma, He is My self; ātman in the higher nature, ātman that presides over the higher nature is adhyātma, which is the same thing as svabhāva, so it is a synonym He has given very correctly: svabhāvo ’dhyātmamucyate; svabhāva is adhyātma but this will not be clear until we are connected with the 7th chapter, which He has already explained; because He has explained already, here He does not stop to explain further. He is expecting that we are such clever students that we shall be able to understand very quickly.

Question: adhyātma.. Does it mean the knowledge of the Apara Prakriti as well?

That is subordinate. Basically adhyātma…when you say adhyātma vidyā, it is the knowledge of the Self in the higher nature, it is called adhyātma vidyā. Mere knowledge akṣaram brahma is not adhyātma knowledge; it is deeper than adhyātma, but adhyātma proper is the knowledge of the self in the higher nature. What is svabhāva, what is the self in higher nature and there again if you go back to the 7th chapter, there is a very important word that Sri Krishna has given and that is para prakritiḥ jivabhūta. You cannot know what is the nature of Para Prakriti, unless you have the knowledge of Jiva: the individual self, the immobile is the impersonal immobile unchanging Reality. svabhāva is a mobile reality coming out of sva, therefore svabhāva; it is Para Prakriti itself; adhyātma means the Self in the higher nature. The self in the higher nature is not fully understood unless you have further knowledge, that “para prakritiḥ jivabhūta” it is the individual. Therefore adhyātma vidyā is also the knowledge of your real true being, what you are: self-knowledge. But self-knowledge not as we normally understand ourselves to be, our self-knowledge is egoistic knowledge, I am at present an egoistic consciousness, that is not adhyātma vidyā: adhyātma vidyā is the knowledge of the Jiva, what am I ‘truly’, who am I ‘truly’, as Jiva, not as ego, not as ahaṁbhāva: ahaṁbhāva is a part of Apara Prakriti. That Sri Krishna has already explained to us in the 7th chapter: aṣṭadhā aparā prakṛti, eightfold is My Apara Prakriti; and we had noted there what is aṣṭadhā aparā prakṛti: buddhi, manaḥ, ahaṁbhāva: intellect, mind and ego, plus ākāśa, vāyu, agni, jala, pṛthvī, these five. These five and those three put together, aṣṭadhā: that is Apara Prakriti. adhyātma is not the knowledge of Apara Prakriti: adhyātma is the knowledge of svabhāva, that which moves from the supreme Self Himself, therefore the knowledge of Para Prakriti. And Para Prakriti’s knowledge is not complete unless you know Jiva. What is Jiva? (Jiva not as ego, that is Apara Prakriti). Jiva is an individual in the higher nature. Therefore the knowledge of your Jiva, of your true being in the higher nature is adhyātma vidyā. So, whether you know svabhāva, or whether you know adhyātma, it is the same thing; this is how the question is made: svabhāvo ’dhyātmamucyate.

Now we go further.

bhūta-bhāvodbhava-karo visargaḥ karma-saṁjñitaḥ || (8.3)

What is Karma? What is called Karma has its origin in svabhāva; there is a logical connection: first is the immobile; then is the mobile, the svabhāva; from the mobile comes karma. There is a distinction between svabhāva and karma. Karma is a subordinate movement; svabhāva is the original movement: the first movement is svabhāva. All the essential movement is svabhāva.

The essential movement is to be distinguished from many subordinate movements. You may have essential movements of wisdom: that is svabhāva. Wisdom is the very nature of the supreme Reality, svabhāva. But of that wisdom there may have many other movements, subordinate movements. All movements of knowledge which come from wisdom are all karma, they are subordinate movements. Power is a svabhāva of the Divine. But all movements of power, there are hundreds, and thousands and millions of them: they are all Karma. Love is the essential principle. Love is the fundamental movement svabhāva of the Divine. Divine Love is an essential principle. But of Love there are thousands of tongues from which you can lick it: all that is Karma. All work basically, all service, all the skills are svabhāva, but all kinds of subordinate skills…I may be an archer, and a skilled archer, but to be a skilled archer I must have hundreds of other capacities and expertises. Even to hold the bow in your hand is a skill. So, although archery by itself is a complete skill, every other movement of skill is also a Karma. So, every subordinate movement is Karma.

Question: Can we say that svabhāva is complete and Karma is incomplete?

You may say so, provided that we know that Karma is not fully understood except ‘in reference’ to svabhāva: it is incomplete, but becomes complete when you know it as a part and movement of svabhāva. In svabhāva there is perfection, in Karma there may be imperfection, but that imperfection can become fulfilled when svabhāva begins to flow into it.

Question: When we talk of Karma that means ‘Karma which binds’ and ‘which does not bind’, both are included in Karma?

That karma which is a movement of svabhāva, does not bind you: it is visargaḥ, it is a flow. The bondage comes in when that same karma begins to flow in Apara Prakriti. As long as it moves in Para Prakriti, karma does not bind you: na karma lipyate nare( īśa Upn. 2), the karma does not bind you when that karma is simply visargaḥ, of svabhāva. Karma is called a movement of svabhāva, when it results in a specific bhūta, or article, or product, bhūtabhāva, Sri Krishna explains it: bhūtabhāvodbhavakaro visargaḥ karma: karma is that subordinate movement of svabhāva which ultimately produces and results in bhūta, it becomes an object. Karma is that which takes you to the result; karma is that which takes you to the fruit. Therefore karma and phala are closely connected; every karma has a phala; karma is that which leads you to phala, automatically, you cannot avoid it. Every karma has a phala, it is bhūtabhāva automatically it results in a form, it will take a shape.

Sri Krishna Himself says: “I am the doer of actions, but nothing touches Me, I am still akartā.” In Para Prakriti there is all svabhāva, and all movement of Karma, all results, all fruits come out, and yet all of them proceed from akṣaraṁ brahma paramaṁ; they all proceed from akṣara. Therefore in akṣara, they completely become devoid of any kind of attachment: na karma lipyate nare, nothing attaches you, it is like jalakamalavat; it is an outflow, visargaḥ, but inwardly it remains completely dry, akṣaraṁ, it is immobile.

Now, let us continue further, although I am taking more time today but I will finish the sentence: (8.4)

adhibhūtaṁ kṣaro bhāvaḥ…now karma is that which leads you to bhūta, to the products; products themselves kṣaro bhāva. All the creatures, all the objects, these particular pieces are all bhūta, they are all results of karma; karma of a shaping, karma according to the form. But ultimately all karma ultimately leads you to adhibhūtaṁ.

We can see the logical order: from Immobile comes svabhāva, which is adhyātma. From adhyātma, from svabhāva comes karma; karma leads to the results and fruits; fruits are called adhibhūtaṁ kṣaro bhāvaḥ; they are all in mobility. Characteristic of all bhūta(s) is that they are all mobile, the exact opposite of immobile. brahma is akṣaraṁ, but all bhūtas are kṣaro bhāvaḥ, they are all kṣara. In that you will not be able to find any akṣara that is constantly moving. But what you see as results is preceded by something that is invisible; these are all visible objects, bhūta(s), ultimate results, ultimate fruits.

But before that arrives there is an intermediate stage: adhibhūta is the ‘objective reality’, that which is before our eyes, that which we can see as shaped objects. But all the shaped objects are shaped. And who shapes? karma is the visarga, is the movement; adhibhūta is the shape; but who shapes? There is adhidaivatam. That which shapes are the cosmic energies; they are called gods in the language of the Veda. They are cosmic energies and these cosmic energies begin to act in the form of will, in the form of intelligence, in the form of sense.

I can see this object with my eyes. Why? Because I have a sense of seeing. Suppose today we have no senses at all, then this whole world will be devoid of experience; we would never experience the world because the whole world as it is, is seen by the senses. Supposing there is a man who is blind and deaf and dumb and insensitive, and incapable of taste; supposing such a human being is there. What will be his experience of the world? Will the world exist at all for him? For us also the world exists because they are the results of the senses. All the shapes are to us shapes because of our senses. And what are the senses? manas is the real sense, all the sense organs are only the instruments; the real sense is manas, that is why in Indian psychology, manas is called the 6th sense. The five senses are the 5 outlets, instruments, but behind the 5 senses is the manas, that is why you can sense nothing in the world unless the mind is associated with the sense organs. When you are asleep, when the sense organs are not associated with the mind, then your sense organs do not sense anything. Even if somebody shouts since the mind is not present, the hearing is present, you cannot hear; so mind association is very necessary.

So, behind the sense is the mind, and behind the mind is the will; if there is no will, then even the mind will not function. These powers of the will, of the mind, of intelligence, and of the senses are the cosmic powers, and all these cosmic powers give the shape. It is by shaping…they are all shaped by cosmic powers which are called Devas. But who is it, that adhidaiva who is above these gods: it is puruṣaḥ, it is the Purusha who enjoys all this. You take out the Purusha, there is no enjoyment, there is no perception, there is no will…

……………………most difficult verses because it is so easily spoken of, because it is the master who speaks about that… akṣara is visible to Him, svabhāva is visible, adhyatma is visible, karma is visible, bhūta(s) are visible, Devas are visible. So, Purusha because all those things are enjoyed and experienced by Purusha unless you take Purusha into account, you do not understand the world at all. The world here is for experience, the world here is of Prakriti which is a movement for the sake of Purusha. Prakriti works in this world, so as to build the experience of Purusha; adhidaivatam is Purusha, one who is above all these cosmic energies, one for whom all these cosmic energies are one word? He is the one who is the real enjoyer and experiencer, and that is Purusha. What is exactly the nature of Purusha? It is a very important question and Sri Krishna answers only in the 15th chapter. But we shall come to that only, because you have raised this question. It is only in the 15th chapter that Sri Krishna answers to what is Purusha. In fact chapter 13 to chapter 18 is largely devoted to the analysis of Prakriti and Prakriti cannot be understood without Purusha, therefore the relationship between Purusha and Prakriti is in detail given in those last 6 chapters. So at the present moment there is only one word which is given, but it has a great important bearing; and without the knowledge of Purusha our entire life remains unexplained. If you want to understand what is this life, what is this world, why do you need to seek the Divine, what is the fulfilment of the world through the Divine: the secret — Purusha. So, we shall come to it again later on.

adhiyajño ’hamevātra dehe dehabhṛṭāṁ vara || (8.4)

“O my most beloved, my friend, adhiyajño ’hameva, above all this: akṣara, svabhāva, karma, adhibhūta, adhidaiva, above all this,words?, I am Supreme; all this is nothing but a huge sacrifice. And who is the receiver of the sacrifice? I am the receiver of the sacrifice. Know Me therefore as adhiyajña, I am presiding over the sacrifice and therefore whenever you do any action as a sacrifice, you believe and you know that ‘I am the receiver’. When you throw something to Me, then you are blessed because when you throw thing to Me, I will be obliged to stretch my arms towards you, and when I stretch my hands towards you, all words from it, you are blessed: adhiyajño ’hamevātra dehe dehabhṛṭāṁ all that is born, suffered, experienced by the body, in that body, if there is somebody who receive all this sacrifice, it is Myself. The beginning of the world is Myself, the end of the world is sacrifice, at the end of the sacrifice I am the receiver. This is my knowledge of the being and of the becoming, and of the being in the becoming, in all its details without remainder”. This is the meaning of these two verses the third and the fourth. All right, we shall continue next time.