Category Archives: 9.19

Bhagavad Gita Verse 19, Chapter 9

14 Tuesday Aug 2012

Posted by in 9.19, aham, amritam, arjuna, asat, cha, chapter 9 verse 19, eva, mrityuhi, nigruhnaami, sat, tapaami, utsrijaami, varsham

≈ Comments Off on Bhagavad Gita Verse 19, Chapter 9

tapaamyahamaham varsham nigruhnaamyutsrijaami cha |
amritam chaiva mrityushcha sadasachchaahamarjuna || 19 ||
 
I provide heat, I hold back and send forth the rain. I am immortality and also death, I am real and also unreal, O Arjuna.
 
tapaami : provide heat
aham : I
varsham : rain
nigruhnaami : hold back
utsrijaami : send forth
cha : and
amritam : immortality
cha : and
eva : also
mrityuhi : death
sat : real
asat : unreal
aham : I am
arjuna : O Arjuna
 
A recurring theme of this chapter is that we should see Ishvara everywhere, instead of looking only in things and places that our senses find pleasurable. In that regard, since we deal with the weather everyday, it can become a great pointer to access Ishvara. However, anytime the climate becomes too hot, or there is excessive rain or drought, our body feels uncomfortable, and therefore we do not even think of Ishvara when those things happen.
 
Shri Krishna says in the shloka that it is Ishvara that is providing the heat as the sun. So when it gets extremely hot, we should recognize that it is Ishvara that is providing the energy for the sun. And even though we may feel uncomfortable, we should realize that Ishvara has the welfare of the entire earth in mind. When it gets hot, the water on earth rises to form clouds, and is eventually sent back as rain. If the sun were never to give enough heat, we would never get any rain on earth.
 
Shri Krishna also says that Ishvara is found in immortality as well as in death. Symbolically, what is meant here is that knowing Ishvara as an infinite entity is real immortality, and knowing Ishvara as finite is death. When we see only waves and foam in the ocean, we will eventually see them “die”. But when we only see the ocean, there is no death whatsoever.
 
How do we develop such a vision? By knowing what is “sat” or real and what is “asat” or not real. Just because something is perceived by our senses, it does not automatically become real. Optical illusions are a great example. This echoes the lessons of the second chapter where Shri Krishna encourages us to develop “tattva drishti” or the vision of the essence, not of names and forms.
 
With this shloka, Shri Krishna concludes the topic on pointers of Ishvara. A new topic, forms of devotion, is taken up next.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 10, Chapter 9

05 Sunday Aug 2012

Posted by in 9.19, adhyakshena, anena, chapter 9 verse 10, hetu, jagat, kaunteya, mayaa, prakritihi, sacharaacharam, sooyate, viparivartate

≈ Comments Off on Bhagavad Gita Verse 10, Chapter 9

mayaadhyakshena prakritihi sooyate sacharaacharam |
hetunaanena kaunteya jagadviparivartate || 10 ||
 
Under my supervision, Prakriti generates this universe of moving and motionless (beings). With that purpose, O Kaunteya, the universe revolves.
 
mayaa : my
adhyakshena : supervision
prakritihi : Prakriti
sooyate : generates
sacharaacharam : moving and motionless universe
hetu : purpose
anena : in this manner
kaunteya : O Kaunteya
jagat : universe
viparivartate : revolves
 
Shri Krishna concludes the topic of Prakriti and its mechanisms by re-asserting that Prakriti is subservient to Ishvara. He describes Ishvara as the supervisor, the “adhyaksha”. He says that Ishvara does not physically have to “do” anything in order to create, sustain and dissolve the universe. Ishvara’s mere presence enables Prakriti to function, just like electricity enables a television to function. Without his presence, Prakriti remains inert and is incapable of doing anything whatsoever.
 
From Ishvara’s standpoint, there is no notion of “doing work” or “obtaining the result”; he knows that ultimately it is Prakriti that runs the show, and therefore he remains detached. He is like the owner of a theatre that has employed a magician to perform a show. The owner is unconcerned whether the magician cuts a woman in half with a saw, or pulls a rabbit out of a hat.
 
Let us now look at the practical implication this shloka. If we substitute the word Ishvara in the previous statement with the word “jeeva” or individual, we come to the same conclusion from the previous chapters on karma yoga. Only through disassociation with the notion that “I am the doer” and “I obtain the result” can we truly be liberated from the cycle of creation and dissolution.
 
The key question is : who controls whom? If we let Prakriti control us, if we let our lower nature drag us towards sense pleasure, we can never be liberated. We should re-assert our control of our lower self through our higher self.
 
Furthermore, Shri Krishna also gives us a technique to deal with life’s ups and downs with this shloka. Whenever we encounter a sorrowful or hurtful situation, all we need to do is to know that (a) we have obtained this situation through our own actions and (b) it is yet another name and form that Prakriti has created.
 
Once we know that something is a name and form, we will immediately know that it is Prakriti’s handiwork, just like we know that something is an April fool’s joke or a magician’s trick. This will enable us to pierce through Prakriti’s pranks and to know that Ishvara the supervisor is behind everything.
 
So then, Shri Krishna has explained to us “how the universe revolves”, in other words, how the magic trick works. This is how we should develop our vision of the world. However, instead of trying to see Ishvara behind everything, many people still try to box Ishvara into a finite concept. More on this is taken up in the next shloka.