Category Archives: paramaatmaa

Bhagavad Gita Verse 31, Chapter 13

01 Friday Feb 2013

Posted by in 13.31, anaaditvaat, avyayaha, ayam, chapter 13 verse 31, karoti, kaunteya, lipyate, nirgunatvaat, paramaatmaa, shareerasthaha

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anaaditvaannirgunatvaatparamaatmaayamavyayaha |
shareerasthopi kaunteya na karoti na lipyate || 31 ||
 
Without beginning, without qualities, this supreme self is indestructible. Though residing in the body, O Kaunteya, it neither acts nor is tainted.
 
anaaditvaat : without beginning
nirgunatvaat : without qualities
paramaatmaa : supreme self
ayam : this
avyayaha : indestructible
shareerasthaha : residing in the body
api : even though
kaunteya : O Kaunteya
na : not
karoti: act
na : not
lipyate : tainted
 
As this chapter slowly comes to a close, Shri Krishna begins to describe the nature of the supreme self. Since this chapter gives prominence to logic, more so than any other chapter in the Gita, he wants to clear any doubts or misconceptions that we may harbour about the supreme self. The first doubt we may have is as follows. If Prakriti is without beginning, and the supreme self is also without beginning, what makes them different?
 
Shri Krishna says that the difference is cause by whether or not they have gunaas or qualities. So far, we have seen that Prakriti is nothing but the three gunaas of sattva, rajas and tamas. But the supreme self is “nirguna”, it has no association or association with any quality whatsoever. This is what makes it different than Prakriti. Also, Prakriti is constantly changing and perishing whereas the supreme self is imperishable. When something has association with qualities, like the human body has strength, it is bound to perish or decay. Since the supreme self has no qualities at all, it is imperishable. Prakriti, on the other hand, is every changing and perishable.
 
Another doubt is as follows. Does the supreme self get affected by the actions and reactions of Prakriti? Shri Krishna asserts that it does not. We have seen that the supreme self, due to ignorance, identifies itself with a body, a product of Prakriti. This is what is referred to in this shloka – it “resides” in the body. We have also repeatedly heard that the supreme self has nothing to do with Prakriti. It can never become the doer or the enjoyer of any actions. But due to the apparent identification with the body, the supreme self assumes that it is a doer and enjoyer. Since the identification is fake, not real, the supreme self can never get affected by the actions and reactions by Prakriti.
 
We may have understood the non-doership and non-enjoyership of the supreme self in theory, but it is still a little fuzzy. We need to clearly understand how the supreme self, in its real nature neither acts, nor experiences the results of its actions. To better explain this, Shri Krishna provides an illustration in the next shloka.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 22, Chapter 13

23 Wednesday Jan 2013

Posted by in 13.22, anumantaa, api, asmin, bhartaa, bhoktaa, chapter 13 verse 22, dehe, iti, maheshvaraha, paraha, paramaatmaa, purushaha, uktaha, upadrashtaa

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upadrashtaanumantaa cha bhartaa bhoktaa maheshvaraha |
paramaatmeti chaapyukto dehesmin purushaha paraha || 22 ||
 
He who is the witness, the permitter, the nourisher, the experiencer, the master and who is also spoken of as the supreme self, is the supreme Purusha in this body.
 
upadrashtaa : witness
anumantaa : permitter
cha : and
bhartaa : nourisher
bhoktaa : experiencer
maheshvaraha : master
paramaatmaa : supreme self
iti : in this manner
cha : and
api : also
uktaha : spoken
dehe : body
asmin : this
purushaha : Purusha
paraha : supreme
 
Imagine that your grandfather comes to stay in your apartment for a short vacation. Seeing a new senior citizen in the building, the apartment complex association invites him to one of their cultural programs. Your grandfather thoroughly enjoys it. Next, the association asks him permission to host their next weekly meeting in your apartment, which he readily agrees to. He is so excited about the meeting that he prepares tea and snacks for them. By the next weekly meeting, he has become so involved in the association meetings that he feels the need to vote on issues that he strongly feels about. He gets so involved that it is just a matter of time before he is elected president of the apartment complex association.
 
Your grandfather, who had nothing whatsoever to do with the building, started out as a pure witness, then become the permitter, nourisher, experiencer and subsequently the master of the building association. Similarly, Shri Krishna says that the eternal essence that has nothing whatsoever to do with Prakriti, develops a strong identification with a body. By taking various upaadhis or conditionings such as the body, the mind, the vital forces, the intellect and so on, it becomes the permitter, the nourisher, the experiencer and the master of this body, just like your grandfather took on various roles as a member of the apartment complex association.
 
Practically speaking, we don’t need to worry too much about this. All that we need to know that we don’t have to go out into the world hunting for Ishvara. Ishvara is resident in our body as the permitter, nourisher, experiencer and so on. He is the paramaatmaa, the supreme self resident as the “I” in all beings. This is how we have to understand what Purusha means. The more we pay attention to the Ishvara aspect in us, the less importance we give to the upaadhis, especially the ego. People who have reached the pinnacle of their spiritual journey eventually lose their individuality and themselves become the universal witness, the upadrashtaa, remaining unaffected by the goings on of Prakriti.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 7, Chapter 6

09 Monday Apr 2012

Posted by in 6.7, apamaanayoho, chapter 6 verse 7, dukheshu, jitaatmanaha, maana, paramaatmaa, prashaantasya, samaahitaha, sheeta, sukha, tathaa, ushna

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jitaatmanaha prashaantasya paramaatmaa samaahitaha |
sheetoshnasukhadukheshu tathaa maanaapamaanayoho || 7 ||

One who has conquered himself, that serene person is steadfast in the supreme self, in cold and heat, in joy and sorrow, in praise and insult.

jitaatmanaha : one who has conquered himself
prashaantasya : serene person
paramaatmaa : supreme self
samaahitaha : steadfast
sheeta : cold
ushna : heat
sukha : joy
dukheshu : in sorrow
tathaa : and
maana : praise
apamaanayoho : in insult

In the following three shlokas, Shri Krishna paints a picture of one who has realized the eternal essence through meditation, specifically with his outlook towards situations, objects and people. In this shloka, Shri Krishna tackles the meditator’s outlook towards situations. He says that the meditator who has won over his senses and mind, won over his lower nature, his mind remains well established in the eternal essence all the time. No matter what situation he finds himself in, his mind remains even calm and peaceful – “prashaantaha”.

Now, what does it mean to remain same in all situations? Let us take each aspect of the shloka one by one. Remaining same in cold and heat refers to pleasant and unpleasant situations experienced at the physical body level. Joy and sorrow and experienced as emotions at the mind level. Praise and insult are experienced either as boosters or blows to the ego. They are experienced at the intellect level. The body, mind and intellect are part of nature or prakriti. They react to situational changes, which also happen in prakriti.

We have been conditioned to respond to some situations favourably and some situations unfavourably. Our normal response to an unfavourable situation is to impose our will upon it, to change it. But in most cases, it never works. It is like the story of the king wanting to put a carpet on top of his entire kingdom’s land, rather than wear a pair of slippers.

Moreover, two people respond to the same situation differently. A child may not take a scolding from his parents as an insult, because his ego is not fully developed yet. But a teenager will, because his ego is especially sensitive towards insults from his parents.

So therefore, one who knows that situations can only impact the body, mind and intellect, but not his self, he remains peaceful in all situations. If something good or bad happens to a person whom we have no connection with, do we feel any joy or sorrow? We do not. That is the kind of understanding a realized meditator has towards his own body, mind and intellect. He does not feel the need to enter the realm of prakriti to change anything. He remains a witness of all these changes.