BG-13; The Yoga of Discrimination of Kshetra and Keshetrajna

~ Sri_Krishna_Saras
converging at the same goal. Each 'path' is the fittest for the one who is walking it. No 'path' can be said to be nobler than the other. In a pharmacy there are different medicines; each one serves a definite type Of patient and the medicine prescribed for given disease is the fittest medicine for that patient as long as his ailment continues. The difference between the various seekers, is the difference in their mental equanimity and intellectual equipoise. The lesser 'paths' are mainly meant for purifying the inner equipments, and when the mind becomes steady and concentrated, when the intellect is reddemed from its wasteful habits Of wrong imaginations, then the equipments are ready for Higher flights through the "'Path- of-Medita tion. " BY MEDITATING SOME BEHOLD THE SELF MEDITATION CONSISTS IN "WITHDRAWING, BY CONCENTRATION, ALL THE SENSE ORGANS AWAY FROM THEIR RESPECTIVE SENSE-OBJECTS, INTO THE MIND, AND THEN WITHDRAWING THE MIND INTO THE INNER INTELLIGENCE, AND THEN CONTEMPLATING UPON THE HIGHEST."1t is a continuous and unbrokent thought-flow.. BY THE SELF IN THE SELF The subjective experience Of the very core Of our personality, is accomplished by the head in the pure heart. Shankara explains this portion: "by meditation. the Yogins behold the Self. the Pure consciousness. in the Self (Buddhi) by the Self by their own intelligence. that is. by Dhynnn. " OTHERS BY THE 'PATH' OF SANKYA YOGA In the case of those who have not the required amount Of steadiness in mind and intellect not because Of any lack Of aspiration but for want Of right understanding Of the Goal (vivekn) their sense of detachment (vniragyn) waxes and wanes. Naurally, sometimes they are good at meditation, and at other times, they experience a tremendous amount of resltessness and agitation. For such seekers, the only remedy is a more intelligent and enthusisatic study Of the Shnstras. The term 'Snnkyn' means " the sequence Of logical thought which we reach a definite philosophical conclusion. unassailable by any doubt anyomore. OTHERS AGAIN BY KARMA YOGA There is still another type of seekers for whom even study of the Shastrn and effective reflections upon it becomes almost impossible, because their inward personality is Of much poisoned by the existing host of sensuous vasanas. They are in a state of mental agitations in which no dynamic and effective meditation is possible. The instrument is not fit for it. and therefore. the selfless activity in a spirit of Ynjnn is precribed for them. When the "Path-of-Action" is pursued for a time, as contemplated in the Geeta (s0330), the existing vnsnnas exhaust themselves and more and more quietude and tranquility are experienced by the seeker. In short, seekers with noblest Snttwic qualities, need only practice meditation; seekers Of slight Sattwic temperament with a large share Of agitations, must develop the"creative stillness" in themselves through the "Path-of-Perfection"; 26-Sri Krishna Saras
suffering from the worst mental oscillations. created by the vasnna-disturbances, must through Karma Yoga, develop Sattwic traits, nurture and nourish them through reflection, and thus gain enough Sattwic dynamism and steady meditation. IN THAT CASE, WHAT 'PATH IS PRESCRIBED FOR THOSE WHO ARE COMPETELY STEEPED IN "TAMAS" MENTAL AND INTELLECTUAL INERTIA? THEY TOO ARE SERVED. LISTEN: not knowing I %FÄT—» from others having heard aq«ä.worship I aft on hearing 1 alfä-a&a-» transcend/cross Il Others however, mot knowing thus, take to worship by hearing from others(what they have heard as Supreme refuge); and they, too, who are thus intent on hearing, transcend death. ( if they would regard what they have heard as their Supreme Refuge)N 1325 HAVING HEARD FROM OTHERS There are some who are not capable of meditation. They have neither the intellectual capacity to follow the logical thoughts in any philosophy, nor the necessary inward equipoise to follow the "'Path-of- Action." Even such people can evolve though they are ignorant Of the 'paths', if only they worship the principle of Truth on the strength of what they have heard from others. THEY TOO GO BEYOND DEATH The term 'DEATH' here, should not be understood as meaning only the phenomenon of death that happens to a personality expressed in a body. The term is used. in its all-embracing singinificance. indicating in its expanse (a wide scope) of meaning, the total principle-of-change as experienced by any given human mind-and-intellect. As long as we identify with the body gross, subtle or causal the experiences can only be of the finite. To experience the Infinite, is to enter the status Of Immortality, beyond the thraldom/bondage Of death. This verse while explaining the efficacy (capacity or power to produce a desired effect) of prayer and worship, even when unscientifically performed, is not recommending that all the methods are equally efficient, but it is only emphasizing the idea that, in the practice Of worship, correct knowledge shall surely provide a better guarantee Of success. THROUGH THESE VARIOUS 'PATHS' AVAILABLE, WHAT EXACTLY IS THE ULTIMATE GOAL TO BE REALISED? LISTEN: 27-Sri Krishna Saras
*animate or inanimate -Ybeing N _1326: Wherever any being is born, the unmoving or the moving, know you, O best of the Bharatas! that it is from the union between the "Field" and the "Knower-of-the-Field." N 1326 All things in the world that are born both the world of inert matter (unmoving) and the world Of conscious being (moving) - - arise neither from the "Fields" (Prakriti) nor form the "Knower-of-the-Field" (Purusha). The source is from he marria e f Prnkriti and Purushn s com Ina on o In every super-imposition, a delusion is recognised upon a substratum: the ghost in the post. Not only the form and all attributes Of the ghost come to be projected upon the post, but the post also lends its existence to the non-existent ghost. As a result Of their mutual exchange, we find that the non-existent ghost, come to exist in our experience, while the existing post becomes a non-existent ghost with the illusion of physical limbs and ghostly behaviour. This process, which is a trick of the human mind, is called mutual super-imposition'. ('Anyonya Adhyasa: Mutual super-imposition---For more details read Shankara's exhaustive thesis upon this phenomenon which he gives in his introduction to Brahmasutra-Bhasya.) In the Pure Consciusness there is no Field-of-Matter. The Field-of-Matter has neither existence, nor sentiency. But the spirit plays in the '"Field" (Prakriti), and becomes the "Knower-0f-the-Field" (Purusha), and when this P urusha works in Prnkriti, the combination breeds the entire phnomenal universe constituted Of the moving and the unmoving. When, through careful discrimination, we successfully discover this play in ourselves, the vision Of plurality recedes and we understand that the ultimate Truth is the substratum on which both Prnkriti and Purushn play. To project matter and to identify with it, is to become the Purushn, and the Purushn, maintaining Itself in the Field-of-Matter so projected, becomes the source of the entire samsnrn. TO analyse closely with discrimination, to detach courageously with vitality, to carefully and heroically live as an observer of all that is happening within, not allowing ourselves to be misled by our own imaginations is the method of realising the Perfection in ourselves. THIS SELF, WHICH IS THE SUBSTRATUM OF A GIVEN 'PURUSHA' AND 'PRAKRITI' IS ITSELF THE ONE SELF EVERYWHERE AS INDICATED BELOW 1 28-Sri Krishna Saras
: 11 in perishable Il He sees, who sees the Supreme Lord, standing equally in all beings, the unperishable within perishable.N 1327 HE SEES, WHO SEES THE SUPREME LORD - The Supreme Lord (Paramcshwnra), on whom the "Field " and the "Knower-of-the-Field" play the game Of delusory identification and consequently suffer the endless sorrows Of snmsnrn, is the Eternal Principle Of Pure Existence. The one factor that binds all the waves of the ocean together. that EXISTS in all the waves and SUPPORTS the entire self- destroying and mutually procreating play of the waves, is the ocean. Similarly, the Substratum that supports all, is the Supreme Lord, "'remaining same in all beings." THE UNDYING IN THE DYING - This Changeless Consciousness, that supports all changes, is the undying Principle that illumines the ever-dying world- of-plurality. The gold in the ornaments is the constant factor, out of the same bar of gold various types of ornaments are made and destroyed to make other types of ornaments. The shape and size of the ornaments change, but the changeless factor in them all, is pure gold. He who is capable of recognising the Supreme Lord (Parameshwnrn), who revels everywhere as Pure Spirit, in all names and forms, who changes not, while the other equipment change; he alone is the one who sees what is really to be seen. In this stanza, the term 'seeing' is a phrase borrowed from our ordinary world-of- perceptions. but used in the sense of "spiritual Self-realisation." The Spiritual Substratum in the Universe Of beings and things can be apprehended only from the spiritual centre in ourselves. Just as the EYES cannot see THOUGHTS, so too the equipments of perceptions, feeling, thoughts cannot reecognise the Spirit that is subtler than them, and It lies transcending all of them. HE ALONE SEES WHO SEES THIS Therefore, here the Yogcshwnrn asserts that he who recognises this harmony of the one Truth. this thread of Reality. which holds all experiences together. which is one in all beings. experiences the Truth to be realised in the world. Others see, and yet do not see; he alone sees who realises this Supreme Lord, which is the Imperishable. TO EULOGISE THE RIGHT KNOWLEDGE BY INDICATING THE RESULT OF ITS POSSESSION, THE LORD CONTINUES: Il 29-Sri Krishna
dwelling by the self self not killing I Il In deed, seeing the same Lord dwelling equally in all, he does not kill his Self by self and thereby reaches the Supreme State.N 1328 Vedanta preaches not so much the negation Of the world, as the re-evaluation of things. beings and happenings constituting the world. Generally we perceive our own pet ideas and emotions, coloured by our unsteady understanding and changing emotions. To see the world, not through these equipments but with the clear eye-of- wisdom, is to recognise perfection and bliss, divinity and sanctity in the very drab (lacking in liveliness or charm or surprise) and dreary world Of today, amidst its very sorrows and ugliness. Erroneous perception Of the Reality, through maladjusted equipments, is the perception of the world, which, in turn is throttling the individual perceiving it. When the Pure Consciousness looks upon Itself through the refracting medium of matter envelopments, It perceives, as it were, a world-of- plurality. and the pluralistic world grins and dances. whistles. shrieks(sharp piercing cry) and howls ever ugly. stinking and sweating according to the maddening changes that take place in the very equipments (FIELDS) through which the the ego (KNOWER-OF-THE-FIELD) happens to gaze. To re-discover the spiritual Reality, the Supreme Lord, in and through this horrid welter (a confused multitude Of things) Of change and sorrow is to end all our agitations and unprofitable aims and exertion, "FOR HE SEES THE LORD DWELLING IN EVERY PLACE ALIKE." Such an individual, in his own experienced wisdom, no more suffers from the sorrow or fear. When the post is realised, the dread created by the ghost is ended. HE DESTROYS NOT THE SELF BY THE SELF - Earlier the Lord has explained, when exactly the self becomes the enemy Of the self (S0605 and 06). Whenever the lower ego-centric individuality is not available for sure guidance by the Higer-Principle-0f-Wisdom in ourselves, the lower becomes our enemy. When a vehicle is no more under our control, it will cease to be Of any service to us and becomes, as it were, and engine Of destruction. Similarly, when the lower in us is not available for the guidance of the Higher, the former turns Out to be an enemy Of the latter. And in an individual who recognises and experiences the one Parnmcshwnrn that revels everwhere, the lower cannot fight against or shadow any longer the glory Of the Higher. The state an individual gain when both these, non-appehension (ajnnna) and misapprehension (mithya-jnana) are ended, is tht Absolute expereince, the expereince of the Highest Goal, and therefore, "HE GOES TO THE HIGHEST." 1328 INDIVIDUALS ACT DIFFERENTLY, AND THEREFORE PARAMESHWARA, PLAYING BEHIND EACH INDIVIDUAL MUST THE BE A SEPARATE SELF. TO CONTADICT THIS CONCEPT OF PLURALITY IN THE SELF, IT IS SAID: 30-Sri Krishna Saras
aeu-s I I performed I He sees, who sees that all actions are performed by Prkriti alone and the self is actionless.N—29 PRAKRITI ALONE PERFORMS ALL ACTIONS ---Matter is the equipment that orders the types of action that would manifest. If the mind is bad, the life expressed through it will also be bad. All actions are according to the types of desires entertained by the intellect. Thus, in the presence Of Spirit, the "equipments" (Prnkriti) function, and the Self (Atman) functioning in the "Field", called as the "Knower-of-the-Field" (Purusha), acts in the world outside. The Knower Of the Filed minus the Field, there is no activity for the "'Field" nor is their any activity for the Self Itslef. WHILE EXPLAINING THE SELF, AS THE SOURCE OF ALL-BEINGS, THE LORD INDICATES THE STATE OF A MAN WHO CAN DECLARE THAT HE HAS HAD FULL EXPERIENCE OF THE INFINITE ONE: diversified existence of the being rooted in one I aa I •attains the status (of Brahman) Il N _1330: When he (man) sees the whole variety-of-beings, as resting in the One, and spreading forth from That (One) alone, he then becomes BRAHMAN. N 1330 A scientific investiga tion is complete only when the phenomenon intellectually analysed, is applied physically and brought within the limits of our observation. When one has understood that the atoms are the physical matter, one must also realise, at once, that these atoms in different combinations of numbers and pattern create the world Of Infinite forms and qualities. Similarly, to know that the Self is the Ultimate Truth behind the names and forms, is, in itself only a partial knowledge. The complete understanding of Life can arise only when we. at once. understand how from the Self the endless multiplicity of names and forms arise up and spread to become the Universse. 31-Sri Krishna Saras
Just as in our understanding we can comprehend all the the waves as inherent in the ocean, so too, a man of right understanding can recognise "THE SEPARATE EXISTENCE OF ALL BEINGS IN THE ONE." Once having understood the ocean, we do realise how the numberless waves rise from that one ocean; so too a man Of right understanding also realises "THE EXPANSION OF PLURALITY FROM THAT ONE ALONE." Such moments of complete understanding, wherein the Man-of-Wisdom expereinces the One Self within and without enveloping and embracing. penetrating and nourishing not only the depthless and the measureless Infinite. but also the superficial world Of pluralistic names and forms are the sacred moments when he has "BECOME BRAHMAN." The Self alone can recognise the Self. He who is recognising the one homogeneous Self, he who is experiencing that the Consciousness in him, is one with with the homogeneous-mass-Consciousness everywhere, and he who also understands how on his coming into the body. the world-of-plurality throws the mantle of its magic upon the fair face of the Infinite and makes It look ugly with all its perishable names and forms such a person is Of "True Wisdom" and "Right Perception." At that moment, he has himself transcended his own equipments and has come to identify himself with One-Consciousness- evcerywhere. IF THE ONESELF BE THE SELF IN ALL BODIES, THEN IT MUST BE NECESSARILY ACTING AND EARNING THE REACTIONS - - VASANAS. TO PROVE THE FALLACY OF SUCH A CONCLUSION IT IS SAID: I attributes/qualities I I fätqä.tainted/ contaminated Il O Kaunteya! Being without any beginning and without attributes (qualities), this imperishable Paramatma, though dwelling in the body, neither acts nor gets contaminated.N 1331 This Spirit, identifying Itself with "Field" (Prnkriti), becomes the "Knower-of- the-Field" (Purusha) and it is this "indivdualised ego" that acts and accomplishes. Here we are given some logical reasons why the Infinite Consciousness, "THOUGH DWELLING IN THE BODY, NEITHER ACTS, NOR IS TAINTED." When the local judge, Shri gopal Ra0, condemns a murderer to be hanged, the Judge is not considered as having committed a murder; the individuality in the Judge can gain no taint. Shri Gopal Rao in the chair acts as the Session Judge and it is the Judge who has passed the death sentence HAVING NO BEGINNING That which has a cause alone has a beginning. "NO beginning," means "no cause". Truth being "that from which everything comes," 32—Sri Krishna Sara S
it is the Uncaused Cause for all that has been created. That which owes it existence to a CAUSE becomes itself an EFFECT, and every EFFECT is nothing other than its CAUSE "which has undergone a change," All effects are thus changeable and things that are subject to change must necessarily perish. HAVING NO QUALITY ---That which has no change cannot have any quality since that which has qualities is a substance and all substances are perishable. The Imperishable Infinite, THE CAUSE for everything, Itself caused by nothing, must, therefore, be without any quality. THIS SUPREME SELF, IMPERISHABLE The Uncaused Cause for the entire world of phenomena, the Pnrnmntmnn, which is devoid of qualities must necessarily be, by its own logic, "Imperishable." The process-of-change. happening in the properties and to the qualities of a thing, is the phenomenon of its decay. That which is changeless cannot perish. This is one Of the subtle concepts in Vedanta which lesser intellects must find rather difficult to grasp. This is a well-recognised difficult portion in the Vcdnntic lierature. But a little effort Of reflection can clear the confusions and remove all difficulties= HERE THE LORD GIVES SOME PARALLEL EXAMPLES TO ILLUSTRATE THE ACTION-LESS-NESS OF THE SELF AND ALSO THE QUALITY-LESS-NESS OF THE SPIRIT, IN ESSENCE. IN SPITE OF THE DISCORDANT AND DEVLISH ACTIVITIES OF MATTER AROUND IT. «4-J-r-d I q+tTaswall pervading ähFqTQ•because of its subtlety not tainted 1 zq-fäcqä Il As all pervading ether is not contaminated due to its subtlety, so too seated everywhere in the body, the Self is not contaminated.N 1332 AS THE ALL PERVADING AKASHA (SPACE) IS NEVER SOILED space is an example we can take to indicate the relationship of Spirit with Matter. Akashn means "'that which gives accommodation to things." In short, it is the concept of pure Space. It is the subtlest of all gross elements, and since greater subtlety implies greater pervasiveness, Space pervades everything that is grosser than it. A subtler thing cannot be conditioned by a gross factor the stone walls, do not a prison make, nor iron bars a cage, for the thoughts Of the captive being subtler than stone walls and iron bars, can penetrate them, Aknshn is the subtlest of all. Space being subtle, it allows everything to remain in it, yet, nothing that it contains can contaminate it. The Supreme Self. which is the very cause for the Aknshn itself. and therefore, subtler than it, "IT PERVADES ALL: NOTHING PERVADES IT" 33-Sri Krishna Saras
It cannot be contaminated by anything that exists or happens in the world-of- plurality. The world of plurality being nothing but mig-apprehensions Of Reality arising Out Of the non-apprehension Of the Real. the realm-of-matter (Prnkriti) and its activities cannot contaminate and soil the Perfect and the Eternal. THE SELF, THOUGH IT PERMEATES AND PERVADES THE WHOLE BODY, IT IS NOT SOILED, JUST AS SPACE CANNOT BE DIRTIED BY ALL THE AMOUNT OF FILTH THAT IT MAY ACCOMODATE IN ITSELF. THEN WHAT EXACTLY THE SPIRIT'S FUNCTION IN THE BODY? LISTEN: whole 1 Lord of the filed (Paramatma) entire field Il O Bharata! Just as the Sun illumines this whole world, so the one Atma (Kshetri) illmines the whole field (Kshetra).N 1333 Just as the Sun illumines the entire Universe from a far (great distance), and at all times, so too the Consciousness merely illumines the world-of-objects, the body, the mind, and the intellect. Though generally in our everyday talks we attribute the ACTIVITY Of lighting up the world Of the Sun, we find on close examination that we cannot attribute any such ACTIVITY to the Sun. Similarly, Consciousness is the naure of awareness and Its presence everything becomes known illumined (gets awareness). In the world there is only one Sun and it illumines everything, good and bad, the vicious and virtuous, the ugly and the beautiful. And yet the Sun is not sullied/defamed by the ugly, the vicious and the bad, nor is it blessed by the good, the virtuous or the beautiful. So too, in our inner life, the Ever-perfect and Joyous Consciousness functions through the equipments and illumines them, but It never gets contaminated by the sins of the mind, by the perversion of the intellect, or by the crimes Of the physical body. It only illumines. This illumination Of the Self, playing upon our thoughts and emotions, gets splashed, to form the ever changing patterens of the multiple individuals, with their everchanging behaviours. THIS DOCTRINE OF THE "FIELD" AND THE "KNOWER OF THE FIELD," BOTH PLAYING IN THE SUPREME, DISCUSSED IN THIS CHAPTER IS CONCLUDED IN THE FOLLOWING STANZA. 34-Sri Krishna Saras
3Fave»differences, distinction I the liberation of being from Prakrti the eyes of knowledge q: N _1334: They who, with their eye-of-wisdom come to know the distinction between the "Field" and the "Knower-0f-the-Filed", and Of the liberation from the "PRAKRITI of the being," go to the Supreme. N 1334 After explaining that the Spirit is the Illuminator, and that, being the Illuminator, It cannot be tainted by the qualitites Of the illumined, here Lord Krishna directly advocates that man's life is fulfilled only when he, in his subtle discrimination, successfully meditates upon and realises the constitution, behaviour and relationship among the "Field", "the Knower-of-the-Field," and the "Supreme Self" in himself. This can be done only with a well integrated instrument. a combination Of a fully developed head-and-heart. which alone can apprehend the Invisible. Imperishable. One. The faculty comes to _this divine infinitude_is Often termed aq "inttlitinu_::;, and in the language Of the Hindu Shastra, it is called the Eye-of-Wisdom. zitauTTü S EZ4T•q: 11 Thus in the UPANISHAD of the glorious Bhagavad Geeta, in the science of the Eternal, in the scripture of YOGA, in the dialogue between Sri Krishna and Arjuna the thirteenth discourse ends entitled: 35—Sri Krishna Sara S

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