Bhagavad Gita - Daily One Verse Brief Explanation - II 2:23 II

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|| Shree Hari ||

Ram Ram

 

II 2:23 II

 

nainam chindanti shastrani, nainam dahati pavakah

na cainam kledayanty apo, na sosayati marutah

 

" Weapons cannot cut the Atman, nor fire burn It, water cannot drench

It, nor can wind make It dry. "

 

The earth, water, fire, wind, space, mind, intellect and the ego

constitute the lower Prakriti (lower nature or inert matter) and the

Jivatma ( consciousness), the upper nature. (Ref: Gita 7/4-5). The

lower nature cannot access higher nature. How can the inert matter

reach consciousness? How can darkness access sun? Therefore, the

inert matter cannot cause any modification to the consciousness.

 

From Gita Prabodhani in Hindi pg. 33 by Swami Ramsukhdasji

 

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Chapter 2, Verse 23 is as follows;

 

Na = not

Enam = This (the Self, the Aatman)

Chhindanti = cut

ShastraaNi = weapons

Na = not

Enam = This (the Self, the Aatman)

Dahati = burns

PaavakaH = fire

Na = not

Cha = and

Enam = This (the Self, the Aatman)

Kledayanti = wet

AapaH = water

Na = not

ShoShayati = dries

MaarutaH = wind

 

English translation:-

 

Weapons do not cleave the Atman and Fire does not burn It. Water

does not moisten It and Wind does not dry It up.

 

There are five basic elements responsible for the creation of the

entire Universe. There is a nice illustration of the same in the

verse 4 of chapter 7 in Shreemad Bhagawad Geeta, wherein Lord

Krishna declares, " Earth, water, fire, air, space, mind, intellect

and self-sense or ego – this is the eight fold division of my

Prakruti i.e. lower Nature, which is identified as `Maayaa Shaktee'

as the basis of the objective world. "

 

These five elements are responsible for offering specific knowledge

to a human being by the five sensory organs.

 

1. The grossest of all is the Earth. Earth offers sense of smell.

Lord Krishna has said, " PuNyaH GandhaH Pruthivyaam " i.e. I offer the

sweet smell to Earth.

 

2. The next subtler than Earth is Water. Water offers sense of taste

or flavour. Lord Krishna has said, " RasaH Aham Apsu " i.e. I offer

the sapidity to water. Water acts as base of all tastes. Water

itself has no taste; however, without water there can be no taste.

 

3. The next subtler than Water is Fire. Fire offers sense of vision.

Lord Krishna has said, " TejaH Asmi Vibhavasu " i.e. I am the

brilliance in the Fire.

 

4. The next subtler than Fire is Air / Wind. Air offers sense of

Touch. Lord Krishna has said, " PavanaH Pavataam Asmi' i.e. I am the

wind of purifiers. A well ventilated room with a breeze of fresh air

is always conducive for good health and spirit.

 

5. The next subtler than Air is Space. Space offers sense of hearing

or rather grasping the electro-magnetic vibrations. Lord Krishna has

said, " ShabdaH Khe " i.e. I offer the sense of grasping electro-

magnetic vibrations represented by `Omkaara' that pervade throughout

the entire Universe. Please note that the literal translation of

word `ShabdaH' means sound. But sound needs a medium to travel

through. Therefore, the finer meaning that needs to be grasped is

about electro-magnetic radiations that can travel even in the vacuum

in the entire Universe.

 

We have known about some chemical elements such as gold, silver and

copper from antiquity, as these can all be discovered in nature in

native form and are relatively simple to mine with primitive tools.

However, the notion that there were a limited number of elements

from which everything was composed originated with the Greek

philosopher Empedocles. During 450 B.C., Empedocles proposed that

everything is made up of a mixture of one or more of four `roots',

later renamed as `elements' by the famous Greek philosopher Plato.

The four elements were earth, water, air, and fire. Please note that

there was no mention of the Space as the fifth element by Plato.

While the concept of four basic elements was thus introduced,

Empedocles' and Plato's ideas did not advance the understanding of

the chemical elements in the Mother Nature, till 19th century A.D.

 

In modern science, we typically consider the basic elements as those

listed in the Periodic table of chemical elements. The periodic

table that was first published in 1869, reflects the growth in the

basic understanding of chemical properties by the Russian chemist

Dmitri Ivanovich Mendeleev. While Mendeleev built upon earlier

discoveries by Antoine-Laurent de Lavoisier, the Russian scientist

is generally given sole credit for development of the actual

periodic table itself. The Periodic table is a visual representation

of the periodic law, which states that certain properties of

elements repeat periodically when arranged by their atomic number.

The table arranges elements into vertical columns (Groups) and

horizontal rows (Periods) to display these commonalities. There are

many more elements which are not listed in the Periodic table, as

they are unstable and appear for an immeasurably tiny fraction of

time in cosmic rays, which belong to a type of electro-magnetic

radiations. This is just to illustrate the point that, what we know

so far is still a tiny fraction of the superset that pervades the

entire Universe.

 

Coming back to the verse 23 in chapter 2, you will notice that there

is no mention of the fifth element called as `Aakaasha' i.e. the

Space due to its actionless - ness. The actions of the Earth, water,

fire and air do not affect the Space. Similarly, the actions of the

Earth, water, fire and air do not affect the Aatman which is subtler

than the Space.

 

Weapons are made of various chemical elements found in the Earth,

but they cannot hurt the Aatman, the Supreme Self that resides in

every being and everything. Water cannot moisten It. Fire cannot

burn It. Wind cannot dry It. The Self is the core of every living

being, which enlivens the material layers of physical body, mind and

intellect. These layers are made up of the five gross elements

namely Space, Air, Fire, Water and Earth. The Self is subtler than

all these five elements. It transcends all these five elements.

Being the most subtle, all these five elements cannot destroy the

Self. The basic principle is that no instrument can destroy an

element subtler that the instrument itself.

 

This verse may be considered as the best definition of `Energy' in

the Vedanta philosophy. The Energy cannot be destroyed. One can

convert Energy in one form to another form, while maintaining the

sum total of the Energy in the Universe to be a constant. This is

indeed the law of Conservation of Energy.

 

" The Aatman remains unaffected by mundane things. Pleasure and Pain,

Virtue and Vice etc. such dual states do not have any sway on the

Aatman. However, these dual states certainly affect a person

identified with a physical body, mind and intellect. As an example,

smoke generated while cooking daily food, tarnishes the walls and

the ceiling of the kitchen, but not the Space within the kitchen

room. " - Swami Ramakrishna.

 

In the obituary section of every newspaper, this verse is often

repeated. This is just to remind all of us, the remaining living

human beings that this is not the end of all and be of all. On the

contrary, it is just the beginning of a new form of life. In the

verse 34 of chapter 10, Lord Krishna has said, " I am the all-

devouring death and the birth of all future beings. " Therefore, in a

sense it is a `Bon Voyage' to the departed soul from all of us.

 

Thanks & Best Regards,

 

Shrikant Joshi.

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

Dear Mike and GT Moderators,

 

Thank you for raising the question, " How Bhagawan Krishna can study

Vedas etc? "

 

Please note that Rama and Krishna were the personifications of the

Supreme being in the form of extra-ordinary human beings.They lead a

life as any other human being would have normally lead.

 

Lord Rama went to the Gurukul of Vasishtha and Krishna went to the

Gurukul of Sandipani. If they had known all the knowledge in this

Universe then they had no reason to attend the best contemporay

Universities in ancient India. In those Universities, they did study

Vedas, Upanishads etc.under the guidance of their respective Gurus.

 

Lord Rama excelled in marshal arts and sciences, while Lord Krishna

excelled in diplomacy and modern management techniques. Lord Krishna

did fight wars, but they were limited to killing maternal uncle Kamsa

and cousin Shishupal etc. As the Aatman does not physically

participate in any day to day activities but induces a living being

to initiate good or bad action; similarly Lord Krishna did not

participate in the royal epic battle of Mahaabhaarata but he inspired

Arjuna to fight.

 

Long after the royal battle of Mahaabhaarata was successfully won,

one fine evening Arjuna requested Lord Krishna to repeat and recite

in toto the Shreemad Bhagawad Geeta once again and Lord Krishna

expressed his inability to do so. He had answered to Arjuna, that he

was unable to enter that Supreme Transcendental State once again. In

that sense, he had limitations of space, time and causations.

 

I hope it illustrates the point that Lord Krishna spent those 13

years in perfecting his knowledge of ancient scriptures and came up

with his unique blend of interpretations of them, much beyond the

original scriptures, some of which are listed below;

 

1. " ManaH ShashthaaNi IndriyaaNi " i.e. the mind is the sixth sense

organ.

 

2. " VayuH Gandhaan Eva Aashayaat " i.e. as if wind takes away the

scents from the sources.

 

3. " Yantraarudhaani Maayayaa' i.e. as if driven by a machine.

 

Thanks & Best Regards,

Shrikant Joshi

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

 

OTHER SADHAKS

 

-Shree Hari-

 

As Shri Krishna was fully aware of all his previous incarnations.

Also refering to B.G. 11:

There in the body of the God

Of gods the son of Pandu saw

The universe resting in One

With its manifold divisions. (13)

 

I have trouble equating the pasted statement with the above:

 

'...On the contrary, Lord Krishna studied in

details all the Vedas and Upanishads and formulated the

impeccable, immaculate theoretical basis for the eventual epic

battle.....'

 

I just picked out verse 13 for its simply magnificence, the whole of

Chapter 11 is totally inspiring.

 

Also refer to chapter 10:

 

I am the Self abiding in

The heart of all beings; I am

The beginning, the middle, and

Also the end of all beings. (20)

 

I am Vishnu of Adityas;

The Sun among luminaries;

I am Marichi of Maruts;

Among the stars I am the Moon. (21)

 

Of Vedas, the Sama Veda;

I am Indra among the gods;

Of the senses I am the mind;

Intelligence in all beings. (22) .

 

Why would Bhagwan study?

 

With Respect and Divine Love,

 

Mike (Keenor).

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

Dear Sadhak,

I agree with Sadhak Mikeji, Lord Krishna, the Knower of ALL, would

not spend His 13 years just reading scriptures . Infact all Knowlege

imerged from Him, He is the Source,He completed His formal

education and grasped all kalaye in just 64 days.

Love,

Sadhna Karigar

Ram Ram

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|| 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