Bhagavatgita a detailed studychapter8- Imperishable Brahman

May 4, 2009

16. aabrahmabhuvanaallokaaH punaraavarthino arjuna

maam upethya thu kountheya punarjanma na vidhyathe

Till the region of Brahma all worlds cause rebirth only, Arjuna. But on attaining Me there is no rebirth, Oh son of Kunthi.

There are 14 lokas listed in the puranas, seven above earth and seven below. The Brahmaloka is the highest limit because all beings are created by Brahma, the creator. Actually these lokas are not places of residence but only realms of consciousness. Till brahmaloka the "I" consciousness exists and hence these realms of consciousness are not eternal but causes rebirth once the merit acquired to reach these lokas is exhausted. In the second chapter Krishna said `rasavarjam raso pi asya param dhrshtvaa nivearthathe.' The impressions or vasanas that cause rebirth are not destroyed but lie dormant until the realization of Brahman, denoted by paramdhrshtvaa.

Hence worlds upto and including Brahmaloka are subjected to return and "only on reaching Me," says Krishna, " there is no return." That is, the souls reaching these places have rebirth. The reason for this is indicated in the next sloka.

17. saharayugaparyantham ahahaH yath brhamaNo vidhuH

rAthrim yugasaharaanthaam thE ahOrAthravidho janAh.

The wise who know (conception of ) the day and night know that the day of Brahma lasts for 1000 yugas. Thousand yugas form the night.

Even the world of Brahma is finite in time. Those who have the knowledge of time say that the day of Brahma lasts for 1000 chathuryugas and the nights are of the same duration.

The yuga here means the devayuga which is the total of 4 yugas of mortals. Thousand such yugas make one day for Brahma. The kaliyuga for men lasts for 4,32,000 human years. Dhvaparayuga for 8,64,000 human years, that is double of kaliyuga. Thretha yuga lasts for 12,96,000 human years, that is 3 times kaliyuga. Sathyayuga is for 17.28,000 human years or four times kaliyuga. The total years for the four yugas is thus 43,20,000 human years, which is equal to one devayuga. Thousand times deva yuga makes one day for Brahma and another thousand make the night. Mind boggling!

Those who know this are the wise who has the knowledge that, all the worlds including that of brahma are not permanent, however long is their duration compared to that of the earth.

18. avyakthaath vyakthayaH sarvaah prabhavanthi aharagame

raathryaagame praleeyanthe thathraiva avyakthasanjhake

All become manifest from the unmanifest at the daybreak (of Brahma). At the nightfall they merge in there into the unmanifest

19. bhoothagraamaH sa evaayam bhoothvaa bhotthvaa

praleeyathe

raathryaagame avasaH paarTha prabhavanthi aharaagame

The aggregate of beings thus again and again appear from and merge into (the unmanifest) at the night (of Brahma) which is not in their control

When it is night for Brahma all beings are dissolved in the unmanifest and are born again when the day dawns for Brahma. All beings exist in the unmanifest state and again become manifest at the day break. when Brahma starts the creation. The karma of beings which determine the nature of their creation is in subtle state and becomes gross when they are born again. Thus the dissolution at the end of 1000yugas serves as a temporary rest for all creatures, like a long sleep.

In Ninth chapter Krishna mentions about the mahaapralaya when even Brahma ceases to exist and the Lord starts the creation including that of Brahma. But here at the night of Brahma it is avaanthara pralaya after which Brahma starts his creation again.

May 9, 2009

Nice explanation. Law of conservation also says matter/mass and energy are neither created nor destroyed- only transformed. That is the beauty of Sanskrit word sRSHTi for creation which means pouring forth or outpouring. Thus it is expansion and transformation (neither creation nor destruction).

KST

sarojram18 <sarojram18

Fri, 8 May 2009 10:48 am

Bhagavatgita a detailed studychapter8- Imperishable Brahman

20. parah thasmaath thu bhaavaH anyaH avyaktho avyakthaH

sanaathanaH

yaH sa sarveshu bhootheshu naSyathsu na vinasyathi

When it is the night of Brahma all beings sentient and insentient are said to exist in unmanifest state. This is the avyaktha which is jada, known as prakrthi, or primordial nature. The Supreme Purusha who is the first existence mentioned as sath in the upanishats, which existed one only without a second, is the Unmanifest other than and higher than, paraH anyaH avyakthaH, the unmanifest, avyakthaath, mentioned earlier. This is the ancient Brahman ever existent who does not perish when all else perishes, being the eternal and primal cause.

In simple words, all beings become unmanifest at pralaya but are not destroyed. When the pot is destroyed it exists in the form of potsherds and when they also are powdered they merge into the mud from where they came. Hence according to Ramanuja nothing is unreal and when destroyed it exists in another form. When the whole world is destroyed it means that the form in which they were perceivable are destroyed but they do exist in an unperceivable form which is called unmanifest . During the time of deluge the elements themselves are absorbed into the primordial nature but they should exist in an unmanifest form in order to come back in creation. This is the unmanifest mentioned in avanthara pralaya and mahapralaya.

But the primordial nature itself which is unmanifest must have a substratum to emerge again as it cannot evaporate into nothingness. This is the supreme Unmanifest called akshara which is ever existing and changeless, otherwise known as Brahman or sath, synonymous with Lord Narayana of Visishtadvaita.

21. avyaktho akshara ithyukthaH tham aahuH paramaam

gathim

yam praapya na nivarthanthe thadDhaama paramam mama

This imperishable Unmanifest being is the highest goal to be reached. Attaining that there is no return to the world again and this is the supreme abode of Me.

The highest goal of life is moksha or salvation which means freedom from embodiment. Hence Krishna terms it as paramaam gathi, the supreme goal. This is possible only when the individual soul realises its true identity as a part and parcel of the infinite Brahman, who is Unmanifest, avyakthaH and imperishable, akshara. Reaching that state of realization, yam praapya, there is no more birth, that is no more return to embodied state, na nivarthanthe. That is the abode of Me, says, Krishna, speaking as the Supreme Purusha.

22. purushaH sa paraH paarTha bhakthyaa labhyaH thu

ananyayaa

yasya anthasThaani bhoothaani yena sarvam idham

thatham

That Supreme Purusha could not be attained except through devotion. He is the one in whom all beings exist and who pervades all.

Who is this purusha? He is the one in whom all beings dwell and by whom all this is pervaded.' That is, Brahman. He is the supreme and unexcelled. Within Him dwells all beings because He is the cause of all and the effects must be necessarily be pervaded by the cause as pots are by the mud. Thus He is all-pervading like the akasa in which everything exists and which exists in everything. Attaining Him alone is the guarantee for no return.

How to attain Him? Only through devotion, ,says Krishna. From the rise of desire for moksha till one attains it the grace of the Lord is required at each and every step as in the amrthamaThana, where the Lord gave the idea , helped to lift the mountain, supported it on His back, churned the ocean along with them, entered into them to give them strength and finally helped to get it for the devas from asuras, who grabbed it at the last moment. AmrthamaThana signifies the spiritual progress and the brahmajnana which secures immortality is the amrtha. The upanishat says . `yamaivesha vrNuthe thena labhyathe,' It is only the one whom He chooses attains brahmajnana. But how to make sure that he will choose us. By having steadfast devotion we can be sure of His grace as when a devotee takes one step towards Him the Lord takes ten.

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