Re:Gita Satsangh: Chapter 9 - Verses 16 to 19 - Seven revelations in Sloka 18, first half.

[Guest guest]

Namaste.

 

Thank you Ram Chandranji, for bringing Swami Dayananda

Saraswati’s commentaries on the significant words in these

verses. I shall continue in the same strain.

 

We said earlier that these four slokas capsule the essence that

is God, described in His own divine words. Even within these

four slokas, the sloka No.18 is a central sloka.

 

Digression: Incidentally, this is chapter 9 sloka No.18. The

number ‘18’ is what is indicated by the Sanskrit word ‘jaya’

(in what is known as the ka-Ta-pa-ya notation, used in all

astronomy, mathematics and astrology and in all scriptures

wherever they had to indicate numbers). The same Sanskrit word

‘jaya’ means also ‘victory’. The number ‘18’ therefore is a

very auspicious number in all Hindu scriptural literature. And

it can be seen recurring in all sorts of contexts. Gita has 18

chapters. The Mahabharata War was fought for 18 days. In the

Ramayana of Valmiki the 18th chapter of every kANDa has

something significant to say and an event happens there that is

a turning point in the story. Of course any multiple of 9, like

18 or 27, etc. has the interesting arithmetical properties like

the digit-addition always resulting in 9. But the importance of

9 in Hindu ethos and culture is because of the ‘jaya’

connotation for 18. Digression over.

 

Now let us see why Sloka 18 in chapter 9 is a central sloka. The

centrality is because of the first line of the sloka. The first

line says:

gatir-bhartA-prabhus-sAkshI-nivAsaH-sharaNaM-suhR^it /

There are seven words here to each of which the Lord has already

(in Slokas 16 and 17) added the words ‘I am’, by implication and

context. Thus it reads: ‘I am gatiH’, ‘I am bhartA’ and so on.

These are the seven pearls of revelation. First let us recall

the different meanings of these seven words once more (Ram

chandranji’s post #15300 has been very useful here)

‘gatiH’ : goal; finale; destination; end; target; that which is

worth attaining;

‘bhartA’: supporter; bearer; husband; load-bearing base;

sustainer; protector;

‘prabhuH’: overlord; master; chief; controller; ruler;

‘sAkShI’ : witness; observer; onlooker; spectator;

‘nivAsaH’ : abode; residence; locus; dwelling-place;

‘sharaNaM’: refuge; resort;asylumn; anchorage; retreat;

‘suhR^it’ : friend; well-wisher; confidante; mate; buddy.

 

Now let us put the words together and construct it as a dialogue

between teacher (T) and pupil (P).

T: He is your ultimate goal and destination, - "gatiH" .

P: In fact Nairji (post # 15295) explained why it must be so. I

see that now. But that means I am left to myself to fend for

myself. Isn’t it so?

T: No, you don’t have to fend for yourself. He it is that

supports you, bears all your burden and protects you. He is the

"bhartA".

P: Does it mean that he takes my suffering and suffers along

with me?

T: No, he has no suffering. He is actually your master and

ruler. He controls everything of yours. He is your "prabhu".

P: In that case then I am a slave to him. I have only to obey

orders. And he will interfere in everything that I do as if I

am doing something wrong.

T: No, he will not interfere at all. He is only an onlooker who

just watches. He is just a "sAkShI".

P: That makes it worse. He will then be totally indifferent to

me (udAsInavad-AsInaM – sitting unconcerned -- is his own word:

Gita 9 – 9)

T: No. Not in that sense. Because he is your abode. Whatever is

happening to you is happening in his locus, jurisdiction. So he

is aware of everything that is happening to you. He is your

"nivAsaH". ‘nivAsa-vR^ikShas-sAdhUnAM’ said Vali of Rama. ‘He is

the tower of strength for the noble ones’. ( For this part of

the logic, the inspiration is a talk I heard several years ago

from Professor Prema Pandurang to whom a reference on this list

was made by me in Post #14867 -- profvk).

P: In that case then why does he not come to my rescue?

T: Certainly he will. Provided you take him as your refuge, as

your only resort. You have to willingly take him as your

sharaNaM. He is the "sharaNaM".

P: That means I have no way but to run back to him. But what is

the guarantee that he will do only good to me?

T: The guarantee is there, in the next word. He is your friend,

well-wisher, your buddy. He will never harm you. He is your

motiveless benefactor (as Dayanan Saraswati Swamiji says). You

will overcome your miseries, because he is your "suhR^it"".

 

Thus it becomes clear that the first line of Sloka 18 is a

fundamental characterization of the nature of the Lord vis-à-vis

the entire humanity. In fact the same line adapts itself to a

further scrutiny from a different perspective. Recall the four

Grand Pronouncements (mahA-vAkyas) of the Upanishads:

‘Consciousness is brahman’ from Rig Veda;

‘I am brahman’ from Yajur veda;

‘That Thou art’ from Sama veda; and

‘This Atman is brahman’ from atharvana veda.

Now go back to Sloka 18 first line.

 

He is the ultimate destination (gatiH); you have finally to go

to Him alone; because that is where you came from; in fact, in

essence, you are not different from Him; in other words, You are

That – tat tvam asi ! (the third mahA-vAkya)

He is your master and ruler (prabhuH) ; He is your inner

controller; He controls you from within; (Recall Gita 18 -61:

The Lord dwells in the hearts of all beings, cusing all beings,

by his illusive power, to revolve as if mounted on a machine);

without Him living in the body, you cannot be what you are; to

say it briefly, the spirit within is that supreme; this Atman is

Brahman! (the fourth mahA-vAkya).

He is the silent Witness and spectator (sAkShI); he knows

everything that we do, including our innermost thoughts; it is

because he provides the thinking faculty in us; he resides in us

as our consciousness; it is because of that Consciousness we are

aware of our very existence; He exists in us as our

Consciousness; this Consciousness is the supreme; Consciousness

is Brahman ! (the first mahA-vAkya).

He is for us the very abode or dwelling place (nivAsaH); we

dwell in him; we are nothing, a non-entity, outside of his

focus; every inch of us is He; the ‘I’ that we talk of is

nothing but His spark; in fact, it is He; ‘I am brahman’! (the

second mahA-vAkya) .

 

He is my supporter and sustainer (bhartA); he is more

comprehensive than anything by which I am sustained; he sustains

not only me but the entire world; he transcends everything and

stands as a colossus; This is His TRANSCENDENCE.

 

He is my ultimate refuge and anchorage (sharaNaM); to appeal to

Him for help I don’t have to go anywhere else; he is sitting

inside as my Higher Self, as my real Self; it is to this Higher

Self I have to surrender even my will; thus he is immanent in me

as my Self; this is His IMMANENCE.

 

He is my friend and motiveless benefactor (suhR^it); his

compassion towards me has no motives (cf. avyAja-karuNA-mUrti);

this compassion and benefaction are indicators of his

perfection; he is perfect, not only in this Grace of His but

in every respect; this is His PERFECTION.

 

Transcendence (T), Immanence (I), and Perfection (P) constitute

only the TIP of the iceberg, that is God, because the concept

of God is far more than that. But these by themselves help us,

in a sense, to comprehend the incomprehensible.

 

Thus the seven pearls of revelation that are built into the

first line of Sloka 8 have not only an internal sequential

logic in them, but they also indicate together the four

mahAvAkyas of Vedanta and the three pillars of godliness,

namely, Transcendence, Immanence and Perfection.

 

praNAms to all advaitins

profvk

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

=====

Prof. V. Krishnamurthy

My website on Science and Spirituality is http://www.geocities.com/profvk/

You can access my book on Gems from the Ocean of Hindu Thought Vision and

Practice, and my father R. Visvanatha Sastri's manuscripts from the site.

 

 

 

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[Guest guest]

Namaste.

 

Reference Prof. Krishnamurthy-Ji's brilliant exposition (Post #

15302).

 

There is no need to fend, Sir, because feeling a need to fend

involves the danger of fendership!

 

Although several references in the Gita tend to suggest that

Consciousness is the creator of creation, the advaitic concept that

clearly emerges from the entire book is that creation takes place

without any creatorship on the part of Consciousness. The entire

cosmic drama is taking place without any active creator. But, even

then Consciousness permeates everything although It is not in

anything. This is the paradox of all paradoxes that only an Advaitin

can appreciate. I would call this karmayoga by Consciousness! Why?

 

Doership that comes with the ego deludes and brings miseries. The

best way, therefore, to undo the ego is to emulate Consciousness,

i.e. perform actions without performership and permeate each bit of

action (i.e. know that each bit is you yourself - Consciousness). By

thus peforming non-binding actions, we are spontaneously in tune with

Consciousness or we are verily Consciousness. Microcosm

metamorphoses into macrocosm by emulation. The very feeling that

there was a microcosm as distinct from the microcosm simply vanishes.

Then there is no doing in the ordinary sense. It is non-action in

action, our default mode (karmayoga). This karmayoga at a so-called

individual level then spontaneously metamorphoses into karmayoga by

Consciousness.

 

Such a person has nowhere to go, nothing to seek. His yogakshema

starts working by default without any need for deliberate fending on

his part!

 

Isn't this the entire message of the Gita? The rest is methodology.

Very strange that a seemingly simple verse that talks about a

sacrifice has such depth!

 

Pranams.

 

Madathil Nair

_____________________________

 

advaitin, "V. Krishnamurthy" <profvk> wrote:

> Now let us put the words together and construct it as a dialogue

> between teacher (T) and pupil (P).

> T: He is your ultimate goal and destination, - "gatiH" .

> P: In fact Nairji (post # 15295) explained why it must be so. I

> see that now. But that means I am left to myself to fend for

> myself. Isn't it so?

> T: No, you don't have to fend for yourself. He it is that

> supports you, bears all your burden and protects you. He is the

> "bhartA".