Gita Satsangh Chapter 13 Verses 20 & 21

[Guest guest]

Dandavat pranams to all!Gita Satsangh Chapter 13 Verses 20 & 21To listen to Swami Brahmanananda of the Chinmaya Mission chanting this Chapter...

Prakritim purusham chaiva viddhyaanaadee ubhaavapi; Vikaaraamshcha gunaamshchaiva viddhi prakritisambhavaan. (20)20. Know thou that Nature and Spirit are beginningless; and know also that all modifications and qualities are born of Nature.

Sankara Bhashya (Swami Gambiranda's Translation and Commentary)

 

 

20. Know both Nature and also the individual soul [Prakrti is sometimes translated as matter, and purusa as spirit.-Tr.] to be verily without beginning; know the modifications as also the qualities as born of Nature.Viddhi, know; ubhau, both; prakrtim Nature; and also the purusam, individual soul;-these two; Nature and the soul. the aspects of God-to be api, verily; anadi, without beginning. Those two that have no beginning (adi), are anadi. Since the godhood of God is eternal, therefore it is logical that even His aspects also should have eternality. For God's god-hood consists verily in having the two aspects. Those two aspects through which God becomes the cause of creation, continuance and dissolution of the Universe, and which are beginningless, are the sources of mundane existence.

Some interpret the phrase anadi in the tatpurusa [Tatpurusa: Name of a class of compounds in which the first member determines the sense of the other members, or in which the last member is defined or qualified by the first, without losing its original independence.-V.S.A.] sense of na adi, not primeval (not cause). (According to them) thereby indeed is established the causality of God. Again, if Nature and soul themselves be eternal, the mundane existence would surely be their creation, and the causality of the mundane existence would not be God's.

That is wrong because, there being nothing to rule over before the emergence of Nature and soul, there will arise the contingency of God ceasing to be God! And if the mundane state be uncaused [uncaused, i.e. not caused by Nature and soul, but by God independently of those two aspects.] there arises the contingency of the absence of Liberation, [if God were. Himself the sole cause of mundane existence, independently of His two aspects, then it would be endless because there would be nothing to prevent liberated souls from being put under bondage again.] the scriptures becoming useless, and the absence of bondage and freedom. On the other hand, all these become justifiable if God and the two aspects be eternal.

How?

Viddhi, know; the vikaran, modifications that will be spoken of-the intellect etc., the body and the organs; ca eva, as also; gunan, the qualities (sattva etc.)-manifest in the form of the mental states of happiness, sorrow and attachment; as prakriti-sambhavan, born of Nature. Nature, Maya, is the power of God, which is the cause of the modifications and which consists of the three qualities. Those modifications and qualities, which have that Nature as their source,-know those modifications and qualities as 'born of Nature', as transformations of Nature.

Which again, are those modifications and qualities born of Nature?

 

Swami Chinmayananda's Translation and Commentary

 

20. Know you that Matter (PRAKRITI) and Spirit (PURUSHA) are both beginningless; and know you also that all modifications and qualities are born of PRAKRITI.

Earlier Krishna had described the World-of-Matter (Prakriti) as falling under two groups, the Higher and the Lower. Both these are explained in this chapter as the KNOWER and the FIELD. During the discussion of the Higher and the Lower Prakritis, it was said that they together constitute the source of Creation. Continuing the same thought in this chapter, in a fresh phraseology as the "Field" and its "Knower," it is repeated that they together constitute the womb-of-all-beings.

Matter (Prakriti) and Spirit (Purusha) are both beginningless. Matter and Spirit are the two aspects of Ishwara, the Lord. As the Lord is Eternal, it is but natural that His nature --- Matter and Spirit --- should also be Eternal, meaning beginningless. It is these two, in their inter-play, that project Creation, continue to preserve it, and dissolve the Universe created by them. Thus, the play of Matter and Spirit is the cause of samsara and the Substratum for both of them is the Lord, the Light of lights.

Subjectively, when the creative power in me, ordered by my vasanas (avidya), comes to play in the field of its expression, dynamised by its "Knower," it projects a world of experience, which I maintain and destroy according to the nature, the condition and qualities governing the Matter-Spirit factors in me.

All forms and qualities are born of Matter. All forms and emanations (vikaras) which have been explained (XIII-6 and 7) already and all qualities (gunas) such as those which express themselves as pleasure, pain, delusion and such other mental states, spring from Matter (Prakriti). In short, 'Matter' is that out of which all forms and qualities come into existence. All changes and modifications belong to the realm of 'Matter' and the Atman is the Changeless Substratum (Kutasthah), in the presence of which, all these changes take place.

WHAT THEN ARE THESE FORMS AND QUALITIES WHICH ARE DESCRIBED HERE AS BORN OF PRAKRITI?

Kaaryakaaranakartrutwe hetuh prakritiruchyate; Purushah sukhaduhkhaanaam bhoktritwe heturuchyate. (21)

21. In the production of the effect and the cause, Nature (matter) is said to be the cause; in the experience of pleasure and pain, the soul is said to be the cause.

Sankara Bhashya (Swami Gambiranda's Translation and Commentary)21. With regard to the source of body and organs, Nature is said to be the cause. The soul is the cause so far as enjoyership of happiness and sorrow is concerned.Karya-karana-kartrtve, with regard to the source of body and organs: Karya is the body, and karana are the thirteen [Five sense organs, five motor organs, mind, intellect and ego.] organs existing in it. Here, by the word karya are understood the aforesaid elements that produce the body as also the objects which are modifications born of Nature. And since the qualities-which are born of Nature and manifest themselves as happiness, sorrow and delusion-are dependent on the organs, (therefore) they are implied by the word karana, organs. The kartrtvam, (lit) agentship, with regard to these body and organs consists in being the source of the body and organs. With regard to this source of the body and organs, prakrtih, Nature; ucyate, is said to be; the hetuh, cause, in the sense of being the originator. Thus, by virtue of being the source of body and organs, Nature is the cause of mundane existence.Even if the reading be karya-karana-kartrtva, karya (effect, modification) will mean anything that is the transformation of something; and karana (cause) will be that which becomes transformed. So the meaning of the compund will be: 'with regard to the source of the effect and the cause'.Or, karya means the sixteen [The eleven organs (five sensory, five motor, and mind) and the five objects (sound etc.).] modificaitons, and karana means the seven [Mahat, egoism, and the five subtle elements.] transformations of Nature. They themselves are called effect and cuase. So far as the agentship with regard to these is concerned Nature is said to be the cause, because of the same reason of being their originator.As to how the soul can be the cause of mundane existence is being stated: Purusah, the soul, the empirical being, the knower of the field-all these are synonymous; is the hetuh, cause; bhoktrtve, so far as enjoyership, the fact of being the perceiver; sukha-duhkhanam, of happiness and sorrow-which are objects of experience, is concerned.How, again, is it asserted with respect to Nature and soul that, they are the causes of mundane existence by virtue of this fact of their (respectively) being the source of body and organs, and the perceiver of happiness and sorrow?As to this the answer is being stated: How can there be any mundane existence if there be no modification of Nature in the form of body and organs, happiness and sorrow, and cause and effect, and there be no soul, the conscious being, to experience them? On the other hand, there can be mundane existence when there is a contact, in the form of ignorance, between Nature-modified in the form of body and organs, and cause and effect as an object of experience and the soul opposed to it as the experiencer. Therefore it was reasonable to have said that, Nature and soul become the cause of mundane existence by (respectively) becoming the originators of the body and organs, and the perceiver of happiness and sorrow.What again is this that is called worldly existence? Worldly existence consists in the experience of happiness and sorrow; and the state of mundane existence of the soul consists in its being the experiencer of happiness and sorrow.It has been asserted that the state of mundane existence of the soul consists in its being the experiencer of happiness and sorrow. How does it come about? This is being answered:Swami Chinmayananda's Translation and Commentary

21. In the production of the effect and the cause, PRAKRITI is said to be the cause; in the experience of pleasure and pain, PURUSHA is said to be the cause. IN THE PRODUCTION OF CAUSE AND EFFECT --- The 'effects' mentioned here are thirteen in number and are constituted of the five great elements, the five senses, mind, intellect and ahamkara. The macrocosmic gross elements in their gunas are themselves represented in the microcosm as the five indriyas. We had discussed this in the description of the Cosmic-Form of the Lord (Chapter XI). These sense organs cannot bring their stimuli of the outer world to the individual personality unless there is the converging point of all the indriyas, called the mind.

In order to respond properly to the stimuli, there must be a coordinating and understanding, discriminating and reasoning principle that governs the mind; and that principle is the intellect. In the world-of-objects, constituted of the elements, in the realm of the mind and in the responses sent out by the intellect, there must be a constant sense of I-ness, born out of the individual's identification with all that is mentioned above. This is called the 'Ego.' All these thirteen items, together in their aggregate, represent the 'effect' (karya), mentioned in the stanza.

PRAKRITI IS SAID TO BE THE CAUSE --- All the above-mentioned together constitute the world-of-matter. The five elements in their combination become the entire world-of-objects including the body, the senses, sensation and the instrument-of-judgement. From the five Great Elements down to the Ego, all items enumerated together form the "world-of-objects" --- since all of them can be perceived.

AS EXPERIENCING PLEASURE AND PAIN --- That which perceives the entire world-of-objects and their reactions upon the ego which is the individual's direct reaction to the world, is the Self. The Light of Consciousness is that which illumines the world-of-objects outside and the instruments of perception, feeling and thought within.

PURUSHA IS SAID TO BE THE CAUSE --- Pleasure and pain are the reactions in our intellect. When desirable objects in a conducive pattern reach our life, the experience is called 'pleasure.' And the opposite sensation, produced by undesirable objects, is called 'pain.' Every experience, in its final analysis, is adjudged either as pain or as pleasure. The Awareness in us illumines these. It would be impossible to be conscious of the flow of experiences without the Grace of the Consciousness. Therefore, the Spirit (Purusha) is explained here as the cause for the experiences in life. In short, Purusha is the cause for samsara. The Spirit, functioning in a field as the "Knower" of it, suffers the sorrows of samsara. He who stands in the Sun suffers the heat; if he retires into the shade, he enjoys its coolness.

THUS, IT IS SAID IN THE ABOVE THAT THE "KNOWER-OF-THE-FIELD" (PURUSHA) IS THE ENJOYER OF THE PLEASURE AND PAIN --- SAMSARA. WHAT IS THIS SAMSARA DUE TO? --- THE LORD SAYS:

to be continued...Hare Krishna!!!