Panchajanyam Hrsheej kesah-chapter18

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chapter18-the means of attaining the knowledge and the nature of the knower-Adhyaya13 continued

 

Certain qualities necessary for attaining the knowledge of the Self are enmerated now.

They are:

amAnithvam,modesty especially towards the eminent.

adhambhihvam,absence of ostentation. dhambha is the flaunting of one's virtues and good deeds and adhambhithvam is the absence of it.This trait is subdidiary one to modesty.

ahimsA, non-violence in thought ,word and deed.

kshAnthi , patience even when provoked.

Arjavam, integrity of thought word and deed as mentioned in the sloka , 'yaTHA chittham thaTHA vAchaH , yaTHA vAchaH thaTHA kriyA;chitthE vachi kriyayam cha mahatham Ekaroopatha, for the great souls,the words correspond to thier thoughts and their actions correspond to their words and hence their thought word and deed are one pointed.'

AchArya upAsanam, service to the preceptor as envisaged in the sloka 'thadhviddhi praNipAthEna paripraSnEna sEvaya,'(BG.4-34)

Soucham , inner and outer cleanliness as specified by yama and niyama disciplines.

stTHairyam, unshakable faith in the sastras concerning the self.

AthmavinigrahaH, dispassion in all that is non-self.

IndhriyArTHEshu vairAgyam, absence of desire for sense objects.

anahamkAra, absence of egotism.

janmamrthyujarAvyAdhiduhkhadhOshAnudharsanam, perception of evil in birth, death, old age, disease and sorrow. That is, to view the cycle of birth and death as evil.

asakthiH, detachment.

anabhishvangaH puthradhAragrhAdhishu, absence of clinging to son, wife house etc.

nithyam cha samachitthathvam ishtAnishtaupapatthishu, even- mindedness in all desirable and undesirable events.

mayi cha ananya yOgEna bhakthiH avyabhichariNee, constant devotion directed to the Lord alone.

viviktha dhESasevithvam, resorting to solitude.

arathiH janasamsadhi, avoidance of crowds.

aDHyAthma jnAnanithyathvam,constant contemplation on the knowledge of the self.

thatthvajnAnarTHa dharSanam, reflection on the knowledge of the truth.

All these attributes contribute towards the attainment of the Self.

 

Now the nature of the khethrajna, the knower is elaborated.

 

jnEyam yatthath pravakshyAmi yathjnAthvA amrtham aSnuthE

anAdhimath param brahma na thath sath na asath uchyathE(13-12)

 

" I shall declare that which is to be known, knowing which one attains the immotality.It is the Supreme Brahman, beginningless, and is said to be neither being nor non-being."

 

In Bhagavatgita we always find the highest philosophical concept outlined here and there which may sound baffling to the ordinary intellect. Krishna was also aware of it and subsequently starts elucidating.

The Supreme Brahman is anadhi as declared by the upanishad, 'sadheva soumya idhamagra Aseeth EkamEva adhvitheeyam,(ch.6-6-1) that Being , meaning Brahman, alone existed in the beginning ,one only without a second.' Also it is said that by knowing that everything else becomes known.Again it is said in the upanishad 'asath vA idham agra Aseeth;,thathO vai sath ajAyatha,( Tait.2-7) in the beginning there was non-existence from which the being came into existence.' Then to say that the Supreme Brahman is neither sath nor asath seems to be contrary to the Upanishadic declarations, which themselves sound self contradictory.

 

This has to be examined in the light of the real nature of Brahman outlined in the Upanihads. It is said 'yathO vAcho nivarthanthe aprapya manasA saha, both speech and mind are returning without able to reach the Supreme reality.' That is, .Brahman cannot be limited by words or thought. This is the meaning of the phrase 'neither sath nor asath.' There is a term that describes Brahman 'sva abhAva aprthiyogi.' A thing is the prathiyogi , countercorrelate of its own non-existence.For instance a pot is the prathiyogi of its non-existence, ghatabhava. Now Brahman being the only on without a second, there can be no non-existence of it , that is , no sva abhAva of Brahman. So Brahman cannot be the prathiyogi of its own non-existence. Only an existent thing can be a prathiyogi of its nonexistence, . hence Brahman is neither existent nor non-existent.What it really means is that Brahman cannot be proved by any pramana as being existent as all the prmanas, means of valid existence, have limited scope and cannot determine something which is not limited by expression.Similarly it cannot be proved as non-existent since there can be nothing without it.

 

Krishna starts explaining the implications of the last sloka..

The supreme self is transcendent and imminent because,

sarvathah pANipAdhamthath sarvathO akshi Siromukham

sarvathaH SruthimAn lOke sarvam Avrthya thishTathi.(13.13)

 

Everywhere are His hands and feet, everywhere are His eyes, head and mouth; His ears are on all sides and He stands all-pervading.Even though this seems to be the description of the visvaroopa of the Lord, seen in the 11th chapter, this is actually a reflection of the words of the Upanishad 'apANipAdhO javanO grheethA paSyathachAkshuH SrnOthyakarNah, (Svet.3-19) without feet or hands He moves swiftly and seizes things;he sees without eyes, He hears without ears.'This speaks about the transcendence of Brahman.

The imminence is shown by 'bahiranthaScha bhoothAnAm acharam charamEva cha;sookshmathvAth thadhavijnEyam dhoorasTham chAnthike cha thath, He is within and without all beings; unmoving and yet moving; so subtle that none can comprehend, far away yet very near.'

Brahman is within all beings as their inner Self. He is without, because everything exists in Brahman.He is unmoving because He is everywhere yet moving as everything moves only because of Him. He is subtle being beyond sense apprehension and cannot therefore be comprehended. He is far away for those whose intellect is covered with ego born of ignorance but very near to the enlightened.

avibhaktham cha bhoothEshu vibhaktham iva cha sThitham

bhoothabhrth cha thath jnEyam grasishnu prabhavishnu cha(13.16)

 

This Self is undivided yet appears to be divided among beings; supports all beings, absorbing them and generating.

 

When seen as the transcendent and immnent reality the Self is undivided being one whole. But to the unenlightened and ignorant, the diversity of the world seems to be real and hence the Self is not seen as one. As one actually sees only the Self everywhere, knowingly or unknowingly it is said to be divided.The aspect of being the supporter, absorber and generator is the reflection of the upanihadic declaration 'yatho va imAni bhoothAni jAyanthE yEna jAthAni jeevanthi yasmin abhisamviSanthi thath vijnAsasva thath brahman, know that to be Brahman from whom all beings come , by whom they are supported and into which they merge back.' Brahman is the cause and the world is the effect.

The means of attainment and the real nature of the Self , that is the third and fourth topics are discussed above.

Thus the kshethra, knowledge and the object of knowledge all have been elucidated. Next the last two topics set out in the beginning of the chapter, namely the cause of the association of the Self with the nonself and the way of discrimating between the two are explained.