Gita Satsangh Chapter 13 Verses 15 & 16

February 22, 2009

Dandavat pranams to all!Gita Satsangh Chapter 13 Verses 15 & 16To listen to Swami Brahmanananda of the Chinmaya Mission chanting this Chapter...

Sarvendriyagunaabhaasam sarvendriyavivarjitam; Asaktam sarvabhricchaiva nirgunam gunabhoktru cha. (15)Sankara Bhashya (Swami Gambiranda's Translation and Commentary)

Since the Knowable (Brahman) is not an object of the word or thought of 'being', there arises the apprehension of Its nonexistence. Hence, for dispelling that apprehension by establishing Its existence with the help of the adjuncts in the form of the organs of all creatures, the Lord says:

With this purpose is view, that as a result of the superimposition of the organs like hands, feet, etc., which are adjuncts, there may not be the misconception that the Knowable is possessed of them (adjuncts), the (next) verse is begun:

15. Shining through the functions of all the organs, (yet) devoid of all the organs; unattached, and verily the supporter of all; without quality, and the perceiver of qualities;

Sarvendriya-guna-abhasam, shining through the functions of all the organs: By the use of the words all the organs are understood ears etc., known as the sense-organs and motor-organs, as also the internal organs-the intellect and the mind, for they are equally the limiting adjuncts of the Knowable. Besides, the organs of hearing etc. become the limiting adjuncts from the very fact of the internal organ becoming so. Hence, the Knowable gets expressed through determination, thinking, hearing, speaking, etc. that are the functions of all the organs, internal and external, which are the limiting adjuncts. In this way, It is manifest through the functions of all the organs. The idea is that, that Knowable appears to be as though active owing to the functions of all the organs, as it is said in the Upanisadic text, 'It thinks, as it were, and shakes, as it were' (Br. 4.3.7).

For that reason, again, is It not perceived as being actually active? In answer the Lord says: It is sarva-indriya-varitam, devoid of all the organs, i.e. bereft of all the instruments of action. Hence the Knowable is not active through the functioning of the instruments of action. As for the Upanisadic verse, 'Without hands and feet He moves swiftly and grasps; without eyes He sees, without ears He hears' (Sv. 3.19), etc.-that is meant for showing that that Knowable has the power of adapting Itself to the functions of all the organs which are Its limiting adjuncts; but it is not meant to show that It really has such activity as moving fast etc. The meaning of that verse is like that of the Vedic text, 'The blind one discoverd a gem' (Tai, Ar. 1.11). [This is an artha-veda (see note on p.530), which is not to be taken literally but interpreted in accordance with the context.]

Since the Knowable is devoid of all the instruments of actions, therefore It is asaktam, unattached, devoid of all associations. Although It is of this kind, yet it is ca eva, also verily; the sarva-bhrt, supporter of all. Indeed, everything has existence as its basis, because the idea of 'existence' is present everywhere. Verily, even mirage etc. do not occur without some basis. Therefore, It is sarva-bhrt, the supporter of all-It upholds everything.

There can be this other organs as well for the realization of the existence of the Knowable: Nirgunam, without quality-the qualities are sattva, rajas and tamas; that Knowable is free from them; and yet It is the guna-bhoktr, perceiver of qualities; i.e., that Knowable is the enjoyer and experiencer of the qualities, sattva, rajas and tamas, which, assuming the forms of sound etc., transform them-selves into happiness, sorrow, delusion, etc.

Swami Chinmayananda's Translation and Commentary

CONTINUING THE DESCRIPTION OF THE ETERNAL TRUTH THE LORD SAYS:

15. Shining by the functions of all the senses, yet without the senses; unattached, yet supporting all; devoid of qualities, yet their experiencer. . .

One of the ways of defining the indefinable Supreme, the subject in the seeker himself, is to indicate It in a language of contradiction, which, without confusing the intellect, tickles it to a special kind of activity, thereby facilitating the realisation of the Eternal. The language of contradiction is the characteristic feature of all scriptural text-books. Hasty readers of the Scriptures quote these lines to justify their scepticism, or atheistic tendencies. This stanza is met with in the Upanishads also.

SEEMING TO POSSESS THE FUNCTIONS OF ALL SENSES YET DEVOID OF ALL SENSES --- The Self in us, while functioning through the equipment, the sense organs, and conditioned by them, looks as though It has all the sense organs. But when we analyse, we have to admit that the sense organs are material and that they decay and perish, while the Consciousness --- functioning in and through them and providing each of them with its own individual faculty, is Itself Eternal, and Changeless. The Truth, while functioning through the sense organs, looks AS THOUGH It possesses them. But in fact, It has Itself none of these faculties.

Electricity is not the light in the bulb, nor the heat in the heater; yet while functioning through the bulb, or the heater, and conditioned by them, the same Electricity looks AS THOUGH it is light or fire.

DETACHED, YET UPHOLDING ALL --- This relationship of "detached support" is not too easy for the initiate to understand. But it is generally brought within our comprehension by the great teachers of our country through analogies. No wave is all the ocean; all the waves put together are also not the entire ocean. We cannot say the ocean is attached to the waves since the ocean is the very nature of the waves and, though detached, all the waves are always supported by none other than the ocean itself. Cotton is in all cloth; cloth is not cotton. And yet, it is the cotton in the cloth that "supports" the cloth.

Similarly, the world of plurality is not Consciousness. Yet Consciousness supports it. Between the ghost and the post, no attachment is ever possible and yet, the post alone is the "support" of the ghost --- as the waking mind alone can support the "dreams."

WITHOUT GUNAS, YET ENJOYING ALL GUNAS --- The moods in which, and influences under which, human minds come to play and experience themselves are called "gunas." These are influences that govern the mind and yet they are the objects of realisation or perception for the Conscious Self. A live mind alone can experience these influences. Consciousness conditioned by the mind is the Ego (Jiva), and is the experiencer (Bhoktri) of the guna. Unconditioned by the mind, in Its own nature, It is the Absolute.

Thus, in the stanza, the Self, as the Absolute, is described as beyond the sense organs, mind and intellect and detached from everything and without any relation to the various gunas.

But the same Self, conditioned by the sense organs, looks AS THOUGH possessing them all, and proves AS THOUGH It is the sustainer of them all, and expresses Itself AS THOUGH It is the experiencer of all the gunas.

NOT ONLY THIS, BUT THE SELF, FUNCTIONING IN AN INDIVIDUAL, IS THE ONE SELF IN ALL:

Bahirantashcha bhootaanaam acharam charameva cha; Sookshmatwaat tadavijneyam doorastham chaantike cha tat. (16)

Sankara Bhashya (Swami Gambiranda's Translation and Commentary)

16. Existing outside and inside all beings; moving as well as non-moving, It is incomprehensible due to subtleness. So also, It is far away, and yet near.

Existing, bahih, outside- the word bahih is used with reference to the body including the skin, which is misconceived through ignorance to be the Self, and which is itself taken as the boundary. Similarly, the word antah, inside, is used with reference to the indwelling Self, making the body itself as the boundary. When 'outside' and 'inside' are used, there may arise the contingency of the nonexistence of That in the middle. Hence this is said: acaram caram eva ca, moving as well as not moving-even that which appears as the body, moving or not moving, is nothing but the Knowable, in the same way as the appearance of a snake on a rope (is nothing but the rope).

In all empirical things, moving as also non-moving, be the Knowable, why should It not be known by all as such? In answer it is said: It is true that It shines through everything; still it is subtle like space. Therefore, although It is the Knowable, tat, It; is avijneyam, incomprehensible to the ignorant people; suksmatvat, due to Its intrinsic subtleness. But to the enlightened It is ever known from the valid means of knowledge such as (the texts), 'All this is verily the Self' (Ch. 7.25.2), 'Brahman alone is all this' (Nr. Ut.7), etc. It is durastham, far away, since, to the unenlightened, It is unattainable even in millions of years. And tat, That; is antike, near, since It is the Self of the enlightened.

Swami Chinmayananda's Translation and Commentary

16. Without and within (all) beings, the 'unmoving' and also the 'moving' ; because of its subtlety unknowable; and near and far away --- is That.

The all-pervasiveness of the Principle of Consciousness is indicated here in the inimitable style borrowed from the Upanishads.

WITHOUT AND WITHIN ALL THINGS --- The Conscious Principle that bursts Itself into activity through the various individualised equipments is all-pervading and is, therefore, in an unmanifest condition. It is present even where no special equipment is available. Even though we can listen to our national radio broadcasts only through available receiving sets, we cannot say that there are no electrical sound-waves in places where there are no receiving sets. Where there is a body, mind and intellect ready to function, there, no doubt, is the expression of Consciousness. But Consciousness is All-pervading not only within the equipment but even outside it.

The phrase quoted can also be interpreted as 'WITHOUT THE BEINGS AND YET WITHIN THEM ALSO.' Something like this: the ocean is without the waves and is something other than the waves and, yet, the very mass of each wave is nothing but the ocean itself.

MOVING AND UNMOVING --- All that moves of its own volition is "alive" and that which has no motion falls under the category of the "inert". This phrase is sometimes explained as "UNMOVING AND YET MOVING," wherein the Truth, in Its Absolute nature is motionless --- there is no place where It can move since It is All --- yet, conditioned by the things moving, IT LOOKS AS THOUGH it has movement. SITTING in a bus you can TRAVEL a long distance; yourself only sitting! Thus the bus travels, and therefore, in yourself though there is no motion, yet you, conditioned by (meaning, carried by) the bus, are the traveller.

Thus there is an Eternal, All-perfect Principle, revelling as the very core in our personality, which is not only within but which is everywhere --- without which no activity is ever possible, and so, which is in every activity. It is manifested everywhere. Then how is it that we are not able to perceive It, or feel It, or intellectually comprehend It? --- "BECAUSE OF ITS INCOMPREHENSIBLE SUBTLETY."

The grosser the thing, the more perceptible it is. Earth can be smelt, can be tasted, can be seen, can be heard. Water cannot be smelt. Fire cannot be tasted. Air cannot be seen. Space has only sound as its property.

Cause is always subtler than effect. Space itself being a gross product, it must have a cause. That which is the cause for Akasha is the Eternal Substratum, from which all the Elements have arisen. Consciousness being thus the "subtlest of the subtle," pervading even Akasha, It is incomprehensible to the gross equipments of thought, feeling and perception.

IT IS FAR AND NEAR --- Limited and conditioned things can be defined by their location in space as "here" or "there." And with reference to their distance from the observer, we can say they are near or far. But that which is All-pervading must be at once "here" and "there." And therefore, it is NEAR AND FAR. This phrase also has been sometimes interpreted as "FAR AND YET NEAR.FAR": in its Transcendental Absolute nature the Truth is FAR AWAY from all the hallucinations of names and forms, which, in their aggregate, constitute the Universe, but at the same time as Existence, Truth exists in every name and form: "NEAR."

In short, this verse, in its staggering beauty arising out of its deliberate language of contradiction, shakes the reader from his intellectual complacency and whips him up to reflect and to realise that the Absolute Reality is at once transcendent and immanent.

--Hare Krishna!!!