Gita Satsangh Chapter 15 Verses 6 & 7

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Dandavat pranams to all!

 

Gita Satsangh Chapter 15 Verses 6 & 7

 

To listen to Swami Brahmanananda of the Chinmaya Mission

chanting this Chapter...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4HbuMyixulQ & feature=related

 

To listen to Meena Mahadevan of KailashMusic

chanting this Chapter...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AO-zznmflEk & feature=channel

 

Na tadbhaasayate sooryo na shashaangko na paavakah;

Yadgatwaa na nivartante taddhaama paramam mama.

6. Neither doth the sun illumine there, nor the moon, nor the fire; having gone

thither they return not; that is My supreme abode.

 

 

Sankara Bhashya

(Swami Gambiranda's Translation and Commentary)

 

 

6. Neither the sun nor the moon nor fire illumines That. That is My supreme

Abode, reaching which they do not return.

 

Na suryah, niether the sun-though possessed of the power of illumining

everything; so also, na sasankah, nor the moon; na pavakah, nor even fire;

bhasayate, illumines; tat, That [-this (word) refers to the remote word dhama

(Abode) at the end of the verse-], that Abode which is of the nature of light.

That abode, the State of Visnu, gatva, reaching, attaining; yat, which; they na,

do not; nivartante, return, and which the sun etc. do not illumine; tat, that;

is mama, My, Visnu's; paramam, supreme; dhama, Abode, State.

 

Objection: It has been said, 'reaching which they do not return'. Is it not

well known that all goings end, verily, in returning, and unions are followed by

separations? How is it said that there is no return for those who come to that

Abode?

 

Reply: As to that, listen to the reason: [see Verse 7 below]

 

 

Swami Chinmayananda's Translation and Commentary

 

6. Nor does the Sun shine there, nor the moon, nor fire; to which having gone

they return not; that is My Supreme Abode.

 

Consecutively, in the two previous stanzas, it was repeatedly asserted that the

goal sought in spiritual life is one, " HAVING ATTAINED WHICH THERE IS NO RETURN

EVER. " The very same idea, that Perfection gained is an irrevocable fact and

that there is no more any fear of return to the natural stupidities of a limited

ego-centric life, is being emphasised in this stanza also. Repetition is a

method of emphasis in all scriptural literature. No doubt, this method is not

used everywhere. Wherever logic is available, ideas are nailed in by logical

reasonings. but there are realms, into which the teacher alone has admission in

the beginning and not the student-class, and therefore, the Rishis had no other

go but to repeatedly assert for our acceptance, the nature and condition of the

unknown experience of the Infinite.

 

This glorious State-of-Perfection is the Goal which almost all stanzas in the

Geeta consistently indicate and though it is an Absolute State, here an honest

attempt is being made to describe It in terms of finite phenomena.

 

NEITHER SUN, NOR MOON, NOR FIRE ILLUMINES THAT --- Herein are enumerated almost

all the sources-of-light, blessed by which the physical eyes experience vision.

To see a thing is to know it; and in order that the organ-of-vision might use

its power of seeing, it is not only sufficient that objects are in front of the

sense-organ, but they must also be bathed in light. In the medium of light alone

can the eyes see forms and colours. Again, not only do the eyes perceive; but

the ears pick up sounds, the nose the smell, the tongue the tastes, and the skin

the touch. Each instrument perceives its objects. Even this is not all. We can

perceive our feelings and also our ideas. The 'light' in which we thus perceive

all our sense-objects, all our emotions, and all our thoughts, is the Light of

Consciousness by which alone we become AWARE of all our experiences.

 

This Light of Consciousness cannot be illumined by the gross sources of light

available in the world outside, such as the Sun, the Moon or the Fire. In fact

the very light of the Sun, or the Moon, or the Fire is an 'object' of our

Consciousness; we are constantly conscious of it. An OBJECT of perception cannot

illumine the SUBJECT that perceives it --- the SUBJECT and the OBJECT cannot be

at any time one and the same. The AWARENESS by which we come to experience all

our life's joys and sorrows is the Eternal Self, and to realise that

Consciousness is indicated as the Supreme Goal by the Geeta.

 

THAT IS MY SUPREME ABODE --- This State of Conscious-ness into which we can rise

on transcending the agitations of the mind and intellect is described here as

the Abode of the Divine, the Dwelling Place Supreme, wherein we can confidently

make an appointment with Truth and " meet " the Infinite!

 

Utilitarians as we are, certainly all seekers will doubt whether the experience

of Truth is worth having at such a tremendous effort. Is there not a risk of our

falling back into our present confusions and getting deluded by a finite

pain-ridden world of plurality? This fear is allayed and the seekers are

assured, for the third time continuously in this stanza, when Krishna qualifies,

" MY SUPREME ABODE " as one " TO WHICH HAVING GONE NONE RETURNS. "

 

It is an experienced fact that when one has mastered a knowledge, it is almost

impossible for one to make any more mistakes in it; to a great musician, to sing

deliberately out of tune, in disharmonious notes, is as difficult as it is for a

beginner to sing correctly. Having known a language, to talk ungrammatically is

as difficult as it is for the illiterate to talk correctly. If, in the imperfect

world of imperfect knowledge, a cultured man, educated and artistic, cannot

easily fall back to the levels of the uncivilised and the illiterate, how much

more must it be an impossible act for the Perfect to come back and fall into the

earlier confusions which are created by 'ignorance'!

 

This is one of the rarest stanzas in the religious literature of the world

which, in so simple a style, has indicated, so exhaustively, the

Unconditioned-Pure-Self, the Infinite-Reality. In Hinduism, it has always been

emphasised that there is a continuity of existence after death and an individual

continues his biography in a new embodiment under a new set of environments. The

individuality, thus undergoing experiences of birth and death repeatedly, is

called the Jiva, or the embodied-self. This Jiva is the Eternal Light of

Consciousness, playing upon, and SEEMINGLY conditioned by, the subtle-body,

constituted of the mind-intellect equipment.

 

In short, death is only a phenomenon, wherein a given subtle-body changes its

physical-equipment, seeking 'fresh fields and pastures new' for its expression

and expansion. This process is not the reaching of the Infinite; for, 'MY ABODE'

IS THAT 'WHEREIN HAVING GONE THERE IS NO RETURN.'

 

TO CLEAR THIS POSSIBLE DOUBT THE STRUCTURE AND THE NATURE OF THE EGO ( JIVA) IS

EXPLAINED IN THE FOLLOWING STANZAS:

 

Mamaivaamsho jeevaloke jeevabhootah sanaatanah;

Manah shashthaaneendriyaani prakritisthaani karshati.

7. An eternal portion of Myself having become a living soul in the world of

life, draws to (itself) the (five) senses with the mind for the sixth, abiding

in Nature.

 

 

Sankara Bhashya

(Swami Gambiranda's Translation and Commentary)

 

7. It is verily a part of Mine which, becoming the eternal individual soul in

the region of living beings, draws (to itself) the organs which have the mind as

their sixth, and which abide in Nature.

 

It is eva, verily amsah, a part, portion, limb, fragment-these are all

synonymous; mama, of mine, of the supreme Self; [Here Ast. adds 'narayanasya, of

Narayana':-Tr.] which, jiva-bhutah sanatanah, becoming the eternal individual

soul, will known as the enjoyer and agent; jiva-loke, in the region of living

beings, (i.e.) in the world-.

 

As the sun (reflected) in water is a part of the (actual) sun, and goes to the

sun itself and does not return when the water, the cause of the reflection, is

removed, so also even this part becomes similarly united with that very Self;

or, as space enclosed in a pot etc., delimited by such adjuncts as the pot etc.,

being a part of Space does not return after being united with Space when the

cause (of limitation), viz pot etc., is destroyed. This being so, it has been

rightly stated, 'by reaching which they do not return.'

 

Objection: How can the partless supreme Self have any limb, fragment or part?

If it has limbs, then there arises the contingency of Its becoming destroyed

through the dismemberment of the limbs!

 

Reply: This fault does not arise, since Its fragment, which is delimited by an

adjunct arising out of ignorance, is imagined to be a part, as it were. And this

idea has been fully explained in the chapter (13) dealing with the 'field'.

 

How that individual soul, imagined as a part of Mine, enters into the world and

leaves the body are being stated: Karsati, it draws to itself; indriyani, the

(sense-) organs-ear etc.; manah-sasthani, which have the mind as their sixth;

and prakrti-sthani, which abide in Nature, which are located in their respective

spheres such as the orifice of the ear etc.

 

Swami Chinmayananda's Translation and Commentary

 

 

7. An eternal portion of Myself, having become a living soul in the world of

life, and abiding in PRAKRITI, draws (to itself) the (five) senses, with mind

for the sixth.

 

A RAY OF MYSELF --- The Infinite has no parts. It can suffer no divisions within

Itself, and yet, just as with reference to the four walls of my room I consider

the 'room-space' as different from the 'outer-space,' so too, with reference to

a given mind-intellect vehicle, the Infinite Light of Consciousness playing upon

it is considered, by the ignorant, as limited by its vehicles. The

moon-in-the-bucket, will dance and break up into bits when the water in the

bucket trembles at the touch of a passing breeze. Even if a million such

reflected moons were to be broken and shattered, the immortal moon in the

heavens will not suffer any destruction. Similarly, the ego-centric personality

(Jiva), born out of the Consciousness playing upon a given subtle-body, suffers

not any sense of limitations. Even though the ego changes with its joys and

sorrows, with its knowledge and ignorance, with its peace and agitations, the

essential nature of the Infinite Consciousness that sparkles in our heart is

Eternal indeed, and hence the stanza qualifies the Self-in-man as: 'THE ETERNAL

JIVA IN THE WORLD OF JIVAS.'

 

ATTRACTS THE SENSES --- This Spark of Consciousness vibrates the entire body

with life, renders existence possible for a living creature, and maintains, by

its mere presence, the sense-faculties and the mental-capacities around Itself.

No doubt these are faculties that belong to matter, but at the same time, these

powers of seeing, hearing, etc. and also of feeling, thinking, etc., are not the

powers of the sense-organs, or even of the inner organs (Antah-karana). They are

the expressions of the Spirit when It functions through matter, and hence, it is

said that along with the mind and the five senses, 'ABIDING IN THE PRAKRITI,'

(Chapter XIII) It functions. That this conditioned-Self is experienced as the

limited ego, the mortal, because of our ignorance or error of judgement that It

is only a portion, as it were, an imaginary portion of the indivisible whole,

etc., --- have all been proved in the Geeta.

 

WHEN DOES THE INFINITE DRAW THESE FACULTIES AROUND IT?

 

to be continued...

 

 

 

Hare Krishna!!!

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Namaste:

 

The verse #6 beautifully explains the abstract state of " paramarthika - absolute

reality " forcing the seeker to go beyond the senses!

 

Swami Chinmayanandaji points out the importance of this verse in his detailed

commentary.

 

The message is quite subtle and message is quite powerful: " The sun shines not

there, nor the moon and the stars, these lightings shine not, where then could

this fire be? Everything shines only after that shining light. His shining

illumines all this world. "

 

Those interested should the following reproduced message by Sunderji

(advaitin list archive Message # 19269) for references:

 

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

" the best way would be to study the Shankara-bhashyas on this mantra, which

occurs in:

 

Katha upanishad 2:2:15

Mundaka u. 2:2:11

Shvetashvatara u. 6:14

 

Also in various forms in the Gita:

 

prabhaasmi shashisuuryayoH 7\-8..

 

tejashchaasmi vibhaavasau 7\-9..

 

divi suuryasahasrasya bhavedyugapadutthitaa .

yadi bhaaH sadR^ishii saa syaadbhaasastasya mahaatmanaH .. 11\-12..

 

lelihyase grasamaanaH samantaal.h\-

lokaansamagraanvadanairjvaladbhiH .

tejobhiraapuurya jagatsamagra.n

bhaasastavograaH pratapanti vishhNo .. 11\-30..

 

na tadbhaasayate suuryo na shashaaN^ko na paavakaH .

yadgatvaa na nivartante taddhaama paramaM mama .. 15\-6..

 

yadaadityagataM tejo jagadbhaasayate.akhilam.h .

yachchandramasi yachchaagnau tattejo viddhi maamakam.h .. 15\-12..

 

 

Goudapada Mandukya-karika 4:81 4:47, 49, 50 aabhaasa - Here AbhAsa =

appearance! "

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

 

advaitin , " Radhe " <shaantih wrote:

>

>

> Na tadbhaasayate sooryo na shashaangko na paavakah;

> Yadgatwaa na nivartante taddhaama paramam mama.

 

> 6. Neither doth the sun illumine there, nor the moon, nor the fire; having

gone thither they return not; that is My supreme abode.

>

 

With my warm regards,

 

Ram Chandran