Bhagavad Gita - Daily One Verse Brief Explanation - II 2:20 II

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|| Shree Hari ||

Ram Ram

 

II 2:20 II

 

na jaayate mriyate va kadaachin, nayam bhutvaa bhavitaa va na bhuyah

ajo nityah saasvato 'yam puraano, na hanyate hanyamaane sarire

 

" The Atman is never born nor does It ever die, or having once come

into being and ceasing to be, do not take place in It. It is Unborn,

eternal, constant and ancient. Even though the body is killed, It

(the soul) is not slain.

 

Comment:

 

To be born, seen as having existence, changing, growing big,

reducing and getting banished – these six modifications happen in

the shareer (body) only and not in shariri (Atman). In Atman, these

modifications never happen, will not happen, can never happen.

Main modifications are only two, being born and dying. In this

verse, it is two times, these modifications are negated -`na jayate

mriyate' (neither It is born nor It dies), and `ajo nityah' (Not

born, stays for ever).

 

From Gita Prabodhani in Hindi pg. 31 by Swami Ramsukhdasji

 

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Chapter 2, Verse 20 is as follows;

 

Na = not

Jaayate = is born

Mriyate = dies

Vaa = or

Kadaachit = at any time

Na =not

Ayam = this (the Self, the Aatman)

Bhootvaa = having been

Bhavitaa = will be

Vaa = or

Na = not

BhooyaH = any more

AjaH = unborn

NityaH = eternal

ShaashvataH = changeless

Ayam = this

PuraaNaH = ancient

Na = not

Hanyate = is killed

Hanyamaane = being killed

Shareere = in body

 

English translation:-

 

The Aatman is neither born nor does It die. Coming into being and

ceasing to exist, does not take place in It. It is unborn, eternal,

constant and ancient. It is not killed when the body is slain.

 

To be born, to exist, to be nourished by parents and Mother Nature,

to grow, to undergo change, to flourish, to decay and finally to

perish – these are various modifications undergone by every physical

body of a living being. But the Aatman is unaffected by such changes

at all times.

 

This verse has a one to one correspondence with the verse 18,

section 2 in chapter 1 of Kathopanishada, during the dialogue

between `Yama' i.e. the God of death and `Nachiketa' i.e. a great

Yogi belonging to Rakshasa GaNa i.e. demons. Yama was explaining,

what happens after death, to Nachiketa.

 

" DehaH Jaayate Asti Vardhate VipariNamate Apaksheeyate Vinashyati "

i.e. the following six stages of mutations, a physical body of every

living being is subjected to;

 

[1] Jaayate: A living being is born and a distinct and finite

physical body appears.

 

[2] Asti: The state of existence of every physical body over a

finite period of time.

 

[3] Vardhate: Every physical body is nourished by the parents and

Mother Nature.

 

[4] VipariNamate: Every physical body becomes ripe after having

passed the states of childhood, adulthood and old age.

 

[5] Apaksheeyate: Every physical body decays. Even every

radioactive element found in nature decays. The radioactive decay of

carbon-14 is exponential with a half-life of 5,730 years. If you

have a quantity of carbon-14, half of it (on average) will have

decayed after 5730 years, regardless of how big or small the

original quantity was. If you wait another 5730 years, one-quarter

of the original will remain. This method helps us to determine

life of a fossil found in the Earth.

 

[6] Vinashyati: Every physical body ceases to function. It dies.

Whenever the enlivening principle i.e. the Aatman departs a physical

body, we term it as the terminal stage i.e. death of a living being.

 

The Aatman does not have those six stages of mutations that a

physical body of every living being is subjected to. Therefore the

following enumerations;

 

[1] Na Jaayate: The Aatman is never born.

 

[2] Na Bhootvaa: It was never dwelling only in the past.

 

[3] Na Bhavitaa: It will never dwell only in the future.

 

[4] AjayaH NityaH ShaashvataH Ayam PuraaNaH: The Aatman is unborn,

eternal, immutable and yet ever green.

 

[5] Na Hanyate Hanyamaane Shareere: Even though the physical body

disappears, the Aatman does not vanish. It is present in all periods

of time.

 

[6] Na Mriyate: It does not meet with death under any circumstances

It is not bound by the limitations of space, time and causations.

 

A human body is prone to changes namely birth, existence, growth,

decay, disease and death and these changes are the sources of

sorrows in every embodiment. These changes are common womb of all

pains in every living being on the planet Earth. However, the Self

is never subjected to these symptoms of mutability.

 

Unlike a physical body of a living being, the Self is not born.

Being Eternal in nature, It exists at all times. Waves are born and

they die away when they disappear. But the ocean is not born with

the waves nor does it die away when waves disappear.

 

Unlike a physical body, the Aatman does not have a birth or a death.

Evolution and change are the attributes of a trio of physical body,

the mind and the intellect; but not of the Self as It is always in

the perfect status and therefore does not need any change or process

of evolution.

 

While indicating that the Aatman is beyond the limitations of words

in any language, Lord Krishna offers the first lesson in `Adhyaatma'

to Arjuna and asks a counter question, " What is left to grieve over? "

 

In Dynaneshwaree, Santa Dnyaaneshwara has very nicely illustrated

this verse, which is as follows;

 

" Whatever that you experience in a dream is true and valid as long

as the dream continues. The moment the dream is over, all that you

have been experiencing is suddenly interrupted. There is no carry

forward phenomenon. This is an illusion and do not become a victim

to such plays of `Prakruti' i.e. ever changing nature. If you strike

a weapon to a shadow of a human being, will it ever hurt him? There

is a reflection of sunrays in a pot full of water, but the

reflection suddenly vanishes as soon as the pot is emptied. Does it

mean along with the reflection, the Sun has been destroyed?

 

In the same manner, even though there is a decay and demise of a

physical body, the ever green enlivening principle, the Aatman is

indestructible, immutable.

 

Having understood the true attributes of the Aatman and in turn the

Brahman, O Arjuna, please stop grieving first. "

 

Lord Krishna is trying to convince Arjuna that the attributes as

illustrated in the following Shloka are not applicable to the Aatman;

 

" Punarapi Jananam Punarapi MaraNam, Punarapi Jananee Jathare

Shayanam " i.e. there is once again assuming the status of a fetus in

a mother's womb, once again a birth and once again an eventual

death. "

 

Thanks & Best Regards,

Shrikant Joshi

===============================================================

OTHER SADHAKS

 

Dear Sir,

 

I am YOGA student and I desire to learn BHAGWAT GEETA and also to

memorise entire gita as a whole. In this regard, I need your

assistance and guidance.

 

Dr Mohan

-----------------------------

Shree Hari Ram Ram

ALL SADHAKS, If you are aware of good suggestions of Dr. Mohanji,

please email us. Dr. Mohanji, we will compile and send responses in

one posting.

Ram Ram

------------------------------

|| Shree Hari ||

Ram Ram

 

All Sadhaks can and should contribute as well. Discussion /

clarification is encouraged

 

OTHER REQUESTS FROM SADHAKS -

 

Please feel free to take the lead in any of these areas so that all

sadhaks may benefit.

 

- Introduction to Chapters (GT MODERATOR FROM SADHAK SANJIVANI)

- Chapter Summary - Principles and Laws emanating from it.(N.B. VYAS)

- Summary of Chapter from Sadhak Sanjivani " AS IS "

- Yes, Epilogue / Important Facts in each verse good to bring out.

- Any subtle thoughts / interpretation (MIKE)

- In-depth explanation of " Om Tat Saditi Srimadbhagavadgitaasu,

Upanishadsu..... " is a very good idea. (GT MODERATOR FROM SADHAK

SANJIVANI)

 

From Gita Talk Moderators

Ram Ram

-----------------------------

 

Shree Hari

Ram Ram

We deeply thank Shri Shrikantji Joshi for taking the initiative to

support this divine work of daily one verse Bhagavad Gita

explanation and Shri Madan Kauraji for the Gita Prabodhani

translation Chapter 1 and 2 and to Mrs. K Asani for requesting shloka

explanation on a daily basis.

From Gita Talk Moderators

Ram Ram