CH 2, Verse 69

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Chapter 2

Verse 69

 

Yaa nishaa sarva-bhuutaanaaM tasyaa.n jaagarti

sa.nyamee /

yasyaa.njaagrati bhuutaani saanishaa pashyato muneH //

 

 

In that which is night to all beings, the Self

controlled man is awake. That in which all beings

wake, is night for the silent sage (Muni) who sees the

Self

 

LESSONS FROM BHAGAVAD GITA – 13

As taught by Parama Pujya Sri Swamiji

Compiled by: Swami Dattananda

Bhakti Mala, April 1993

 

“In that which is night to all beings, the Self

controlled man is awake. That in which all beings

wake, is night for the silent sage (Muni) who sees the

Self” (Chapter 2, Verse 69).

 

A child plays with its doll. It considers itself as

the mother of the doll and with great care fondles it

and loves it. The doll is lively to the child and the

child plays the game seriously. To the child the game

appears real and it is fully awake in the game. It is

just daylight to it. So, when in the course of the

game, the hands of the doll get broken, the child

cries aloud and complains to the mother, “Mother, the

hands of my child are broken, please restore them.”

 

The child cries in agonies looking at the doll’s

helpless condition. But the mother looks at the doll

and smiles. She is not at all moved. It is all night

to her and she sleeps in it. The idea is she has no

interest in it. She knows that her child was living

in an unreal world while playing with its pet doll,

considering itself as the mother of the doll.

 

Like this child, the ordinary man is immersed in

worldly life. He goes for a job or does some

business, amasses wealth, builds a home, marries,

begets children and worries about their future. The

whole world appears real to him and he is fully awake

in it. It is just daylight to him.

 

But this day of the worldly man is night to the wise

man who has realized the Self. So in it the wise man

sleeps, which meant the wise man does not have any

interest in worldly life, as he knows its unreality

and so it is all night to him. That is the idea in

saying “that in which all beings wake is night for the

sage who sees the Self.”

 

To the Self-realized man, the sense world has lost its

charm. He is fully wakeful in his experience of the

Self. This experience of the Self or the Supreme

Reality is like night to the worldly-minded people.

They are ignorant of the Supreme Reality. It is

absolutely dark to them, as dark as the darkness of

the night. Here the ignorance of the Self is compared

to the darkness of the night. So the experience of

the Self is like night to the worldly minded man, but

to the wise man it is like day and he fully lives in

it. This is the idea in saying, “In that which is

night to all beings, the Self controlled man is

awake.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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