Gita Satsangh Chapter 9, #4-8 - Sri Satchidanandendra Saraswathi's commentary

[Guest guest]

Namaste,

 

I was originally going to skip this talk as I had already given the

gist of verses 4-6 earlier, but on reading this I was thoroughly

impressed by the lucidity of his explanation. It is most subtle,

yet, it is extremely appealing. I know atleast a few people will

enjoy this, hence I went thru' the translation process. Again,

please excuse my simple language, and some untranslated sAnskrit.

 

Sri gurubhyo namaH,

 

Swamiji has gone into great lengths to discuss the difference

between jnAna and vijnAna. jnAna is the knowledge of the shAstras,

vijnAna is the experience of the shastraic knowledge. To explain the

difference, he gives us the instance of a very brilliant blind

sAnskrit scholar with whom he conversed on a few occasions. He was

very well versed in PaNiNi's ashTAdhyAyi, and could literally play

with sAnskrit. He could instantly come up with the prakR^iti,

pratyaya, Agama, Adesha, which sUtra it came from etc. etc., for any

word in sAnskrit. But, alas! he also had the bad habit of twisting

the meaning of words and bringing out concocted meanings of words -

for eg., kaamayate iti kanyA - lady - one who is capable of

deluding, hInAn dunoti iti hinduH - one who causes suffering to the

downtrodden is a hindu, etc. Now all his talk was devoid of any

relevant experience, were not agreeable intellectually and were only

to show off his knowledge. This is not the kind of knowledge we want

about Atma, we want verifyable knowledge and real experience.

 

In the afore mentioned verses, the topic of shR^iShTi - sthiti-

pralaya is also discussed. The world is created in paramAtma, exists

in Him and subsides in Him. How exactly do we reconcile this in our

experience ? Man has a short life span and can certainly not be

alive until pralaya. Still, BhagavAn has bestowed upon us enough

accessory in the form of jAgrat-swapna-sushupti (avasthAtraya) to

enable us to understand this concept. Each one of us can relate to

the world rising from, sustaining in, and subsiding back to our own

Atma. We project this world of name and forms when we wake up from

our sleep, it recedes back into us when we go back to sleep. This

sAdhana of understanding and extending the example of avasthAtraya

to shR^ishTi-sthiti-pralaya, and verifying it against our daily

experience is form of manana and nidhidhyAsana.

 

Next, Swamiji gives a detailed description of "matsthAni

sarvabhUtAni". He goes into great depths to explain avasthAtraya.

All beings - all time, all locations, and all name forms of the

waking universe are contained in Me. All time belongs to the waking

universe, because time is a special experience due to the movement

of the Sun or the moon. Though you may dream of a Sun or moon, they

are not the same Sun or moon of the waking universe. Your experience

of several hours or days in the dream will only be a couple of hours

in the waking clock. Hence the Sun and Moon of the dream state are

different from the Sun or moon of waking state. The same applies to

waking and dream space or location. Even when you are in bed, you

can experience a dream of being in a far off land. The waking

universe is bound to the waking state and the dream universe with

its objects, time and location is tied to the dream state. The

universe I am experiencing now is bound to my waking state only. So,

the way we normally think of existence, He does not exist in this

world. We have to read "universe, all beings" as "the waking

universe and all beings of the waking universe". This is the meaning

of "matsthAni sarvabhUtAni, na chAham teshvavashitaH".

Waking - is a state where the sense organs (indriyas) transact with

the world. The sense organs and the objects cannot be apart from

one another. When there are no sense organs, there are no

transactions. When we go from the waking to the sleep state, we

verily drag the senses and their objects along with us. The senses

and their objects in the deep sleep state are not the same as the

ones from the waking state. Thus "Na cha matsthAni bhUtAni" - I

exist in dream, the waking universe and its objects/beings don't

exist there. The I and you that exist here will verily remain here.

It is only the vaisvAnara swarUpa that goes to the dream state. At

that time, the waking universe is no where! Similarly, when we wake

up the dream objects and the dream world exist no where. If seen

from this perspective, the waking and dream states don't really

exist in us.

 

"swapnAntam jAgaritAntam cha ubhau yenAnupashyati !

mahAntam vibhumAtmAnam matvA dhIro na shochati ! "

from the shruti says the same thing. "The Atma that is witnessing

the waking and the dream states is beyond the states, bigger than

both the states, pervades both the states. Who ever realizes this

goes beyond all sorrow". The states and their universes are mutually

exclusive, and when they exist they do so in our very own Atma. He

who retains all dream objects in the dream state, and the waking

objects in the waking state, hiding them both in Him, and releasing

and withdrawing them at His own free will - He is our Atma, He is

paramAtma.

 

Savithri