Bhagavatgita adetailed study chapter 15 The Supreme Purusha

[Guest guest]

4.

thathaH padham thath parimargithavyam

 

yasmin gathaa na nivarthanthi bhooyaH

 

thamevachaadhyam purusham prapadhye

 

yathaH pravrtthiH prasrthaapuraaNee

 

Then one should seek the goal reaching which one

does not return to samsara again. One should say " I resort to the primal Purusha only who is the source of all

from whom the creation flowed from time immemorial."

 

Then, after cutting the tree with detachment, the Supreme reality, attaining which there is

no more return to samsara, is to be sought after. That supreme reality is the

Supreme purusha from whom this beginningless activity has sprung forth

because both purusha, the individual

soul and prakrthi, the primordial nature, have come form Him only.

 

After saying that the bondage due to karma which is

the cause of samsara, figuratively described as the asvattha tree, should be

cut asunder with detachment as with an axe, Krishna

proceeds to describe the next step. We are aware of only the life experienced

through the body, mind and intellect and of the world experienced through the

sense contact. If all this is to be dismissed by detachment we would feel that

we are rootless. Hence Krishna says that it is

not the end but only the beginning.

 

In fact detachment from something should be followed

by attachment to something higher. Hence Krishna

advises the aspirant to seek the Supreme Purusha. When you climb up a ladder or

scale the peaks, you can leave the lower

step only by climbing to one higher.

.Similarly

giving up the worldly desires and attachments will be effected only by

attaching to the Lord, referred to here as the Supreme Purusha, from whom everything

originated and attaining whom there is no more reversion to samsara.

 

This can be achieved only by the will of the Lord as

the upanishad says, yamevaisha vrNuthe thena labhyaH, (Kato. 1.2.23), for

which the aspirant is advised to entreat the Lord Himself for attaining Him, by

the words thamevachaadhyam purusham

prapadhye, I resort to the primal

Purusha."

 

When does one become eligible to reach the Supreme

Purusha? The answer is given in the next sloka and then Krishna

describes the nature of the param padham, the highest goal.

 

 

5.nirmaanamohaa

jithasangadhoshaaH

 

aDhyaathmavidhyaa vinivrttha kaamaaH

 

dhvandhvaiH vimukthaaH sukhaduhkhasamjnaiH

 

gacchanthyamooDaaH padham avyayam thath

 

 

 

Devoid of egoism and delusion, overcoming the flaws

of attachment, firmly established in the knowledge of the self, free from

desires, released from the dualities like pleasure and pain, the wise reach

the imperishable state.

 

Armed with aDhyAtmavidyA, knowledge of the Self, the

wise do not identify themselves with their body, mind and intellect and hence

devoid of ego. Knowing that everything is the interaction between the gunas and

the sense objects they have no attachment because they are free from desires.

As a result of their equanimity they are not moved either by sorrow or joy and therefore they have risen above the

dualities. This is the state described

as `EshA brAhmee sthithih,' in the second adhyaya, in

which one attains brahmanirvaNa.

 

 

 

6.

na thath bhaasayathe sooryaH na SaSaanko na paavakaH

 

Yath gathvaa na nivarthanathe thath Dhaama

parmam mama

 

Where the Sun does not shine, nor the moon nor fire.

that is the supreme abode of Me reaching which there is no return.

This state is further described as the one reaching

which there is no more lapsing back into samsara. Krishna

says that neither the Sun nor the moon shines there! This may make one wonder

whether the state of Brahmanirvana is one of total darkness! Definitely not!

 

The paramapadha

is self illumined and its brilliance eclipses that of the Sun and the Moon and

hence they do not shine there. Any other luminous body is like a glow worm in

sunlight.

 

The Upanishad

says

`thameva bhAntham anubhAthi sarvam thasya bhAsA

sarvamidham vibhAthi,' meaning that all shine because of the light of the

Supreme purusha as He is the giver of lustre to all.

 

Krishna then proceeds to

describe the Supreme purusha in detail.