Category Archives: visrijaami

Bhagavad Gita Verse 8, Chapter 9

03 Friday Aug 2012

Posted by in 9.8, avasham, avashtabhya, bhootagraam, chapter 9 verse 8, imam, kritsnam, prakritehe, prakritim, punaha, svaam, vashaat, visrijaami

≈ Comments Off on Bhagavad Gita Verse 8, Chapter 9

prakritim svaamavashtabhya visrijaami punaha punaha |
bhootagraamimam kritsnamavasham prakritervashaat || 8 ||
 
Commanding my Prakriti, I repeatedly project this entire world of beings, which is helpless under the control of Prakriti.
 
prakritim : Prakriti
svaam : my
avashtabhya : commanding
visrijaami : I project
punaha : repeatedly
bhootagraam : world of beings
imam : this
kritsnam : entire
avasham : helplessly
prakritehe : of Prakriti
vashaat : controlled by
 
Shri Krishna describes the workings of Prakriti in this shloka. Prakriti is Ishvara’s projector. It projects an entire universe of names and forms at the beginning of a cycle, withdraws them at the end of the cycle, only to start it all over again. We saw this in the previous shlokas. Here, we investigate the relationship between Prakriti, Ishvara and the individual.
 
Let’s first look at the relationship between Ishvara and Prakriti. Shri Krishna says that Ishvara fully controls Prakriti. He is the commander of Prakriti. Prakriti cannot do anything without the command of Ishvara. However, Ishvara is not a micro-manager. He does not tell Prakriti how to do its job. He just sets the rules in motion. Prakriti is a system that follows the rules, just like a computer program or the autopilot in an aircraft.
 
How does this work? We know that Prakriti, which is a synonym for maaya, comprises the three gunaas or modes. Each guna will deliver results based on its inherent property. For example, if our personality is predominantly comprised of rajas, we will always be in an agitated state, which will result in haphazard work. But if our personality is saatvic, it will result in perfect work. Notice that there is no need for Ishvara to “do” anything since Prakriti is an automatic system.
 
Next, let us look at the nature of Prakriti and the individual. Shri Krishna says that the individual is under the complete control of Prakriti. He helplessly goes through infinite cycles of birth and death due to the influence of Prakriti. In our own lives, we know so many people that are hale and hearty one moment, and are killed by an accident in the next moment. They have no say in the matter whatsoever. The only way one can get out of Prakriti’s influence is to put forth effort towards achieving liberation.
 
Now, we know that Ishvara commands Prakriti to perform creation, sustenance and dissolution. In the chapter on karma yoga, we have seen that actions have a tendency to bind us, to make us get attached to them. Does Ishvara get attached to the actions of creation, sustenance and dissolution? We shall see in the next shloka.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 7, Chapter 9

02 Thursday Aug 2012

Posted by in 9.7, aham, chapter 9 verse 7, kalpaadau, kalpakshaye, kaunteya, maamikaam, prakritim, punaha, sarvabhootaani, taani, visrijaami, yaanti

≈ Comments Off on Bhagavad Gita Verse 7, Chapter 9

sarvabhootaani kaunteya prakritim yaanti maamikaam |
kalpakshaye punastaani kalpaadau visrijaamyaham || 7 ||
 
All beings attain my Prakriti when an age ends, O Kaunteya. I project them again when (another) age begins.
 
sarvabhootaani : all beings
kaunteya : O Kaunteya
prakritim : Prakriti
yaanti : attain
maamikaam : my
kalpakshaye : end of an age
punaha : again
taani : them
kalpaadau : beginning of an age
visrijaami: project
aham : I
 
Previously, Shri Krishna compared wind in space to the multitude of beings in Ishvara. Here, he asserts that all those beings go to Ishvara’s Prakriti at the end of a “kalpa” or age. They then come back into existence when the kalpa starts all over again.
 
In the last chapter, Shri Krishna had explained the process of creation and dissolution. He spoke about the day and night of Lord Brahma. Here, he adds more detail by revealing the orchestrator of creation and dissolution. It is Prakriti. In an earlier context, this word was translated as nature. In this context, we will keep the original word since the meaning is a little different.
 
Prakriti is a system that tracks the karmas or actions of each and every being in the universe. When every being’s karma is exhausted, Shri Krishna, through the medium of Prakriti, begins the process of dissolution, just like we go to sleep when we exhaust all our actions for the day. When the time is right for the next set of actions to begin manifesting, Prakriti “wakes” up everyone and begins the process of creation.
 
Now, we notice that Shri Krishna does not use the word “create” here. Instead, he uses the word “project”. Prakriti is similar to a movie projector in that it does not create anything new, but projects names and forms on the screen, just like waves and foam in the ocean. As we saw earlier, creation and dissolution is a matter of perspective. A child only sees waves and foam. The adult, seeing the very same waves and foam, knows that it is ultimately water.
 
Similarly, creation and dissolution on a cosmic scale is “real” only if we get stuck at the level of names and forms. The jnyaani or the wise seeker sees the names and forms come and go, but knows that everything, ultimately, is only Ishvara. The difference between the jnyaani and everyone else is that the wise seeker’s perspective that comes from having the knowledge of Ishvara. This knowledge is paramount.
 
So then, what is the relationship between Ishvara, Prakriti and us? This is explained in the next shloka.