Bhagavat Gita Chapter 4, verses 20 to 30: Discriminating Attributes of Self and Non-Self

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Bhagavat Gita Chapter 4, verses 20 to 30: Discriminating Attributes of Self and

Non-Self

 

Bhagwan Sri Krishna explains Arjuna that why he shouldn't grieve over the death

of friends and relatives. Fundamentally, Gita separates the live human being

into two separate entities - Non-Self which includes Body, mind and intellect

and Self which is the Soul.

 

Bhagwan defines Self as follows: (Soul and Self can be interchanged in the

entire discussion).

 

Self is nether born nor does Self die at any time. Self is unborn, eternal,

permanent and primeval. Self is not slain when the body is slain. According to

Katha Upanishad (II, 18) na vadhenAsya hanyate - It is everlasting as a Divine

form and derives its existence from God.

 

Those who are aware that Self is indestructible and eternal can't slay or cause

anyone to slay. The embodied soul cast off worn-out bodies and take on others

that are new. It is common practice for snakes to shred of old skin on a

regular basis. According to Deepak Chopra (it is a well known biological fact)

that more 95% of human body is refurbished within ninety days.

 

Self is untouchable by weapons, fire, water or wind. Self can't be burnt by

fire, wetted by water and dried by the wind. Self is all-pervading, unchanging

and immovable. Self remains the same for ever.

 

After these explanations, Sri Krishna tells Arjuna that he has misplaced his

grief because Self can't be slain. Bhagwan fully understood what is in Arjuna's

mind and He determine to explain Arjuna that his grief is misplaced even if he

believes otherwise. Reasoning and persuasion are quite essential for any

teacher to clear the doubts of his students. Human being in the form of a coin

has two sides - Self and Non-Self and reasoning will be incomplete without

understanding both sides. Human beings are endowed with many believes and each

one's belief become responsible for his/her actions and inactions. When we fail

to understand the distinction, between Self and Non-self, there is greater

likelihood for mix-ups and consequently we face unnecessary fear, pain and

sufferings. Arjuna is exactly in that situation and Sri Krishna continues his

persuasive approach forcefully.

 

Lord Krishna explains why Arjuna shouldn't Grieve over what is Perishable.

Suppose Self is perpetually born and perpetually dies, even then Grieving

doesn't make any sense. Krishna's logical reasoning is similar to the

mathematical logic known as - reductio ad absurdum (disproof of a proposition by

showing the absurdity of its inevitable conclusion). If we agree that the one

that is born, death is ceratin then certain is birth for the one that has died.

Suddenly, Gita injects this scientific fact of cycle of birth and death of

everything in the nature. Both birth and death are inevitable and they are

parts of the nature and nothing is permanent and everything is perishable. The

beings are unmanifest in their beginnings, manifest in the middles and

unmanifest again at the ends.

 

The question, "Can we define the nature of Self?" is beautifully answered in

Verse 29. There are many speculations about the nature of the Self: No marvelous

descriptions using the sense organs can fully comprehend the Self. Self is

unknown and no one whatsoever knows the Self!

 

In the final conclusion, what we can safely say is that the human being consists

of two parts: the unknown immortal Self and the known mortal body. Every human

being knowingly (in appearance) or unknowingly preserves the Self. In reality,

it is the Self that preserves the Self!

The question, "Who Am I?" is being speculated and the rest of the Gita will

attempt to describe the answer using the subtler language. Swami Dayanandaji

points out that the entire Gita is about comprehending the Mahavakya - tat tvam

asi. The chapters 1 to 6 describe the ‘tvam,' chapters 7 to 12 describe ‘tat'

and the rest of the Gita describes why tat = tvam.

 

regards,

 

Ram Chandran