Readers are requested to see my earlier postings on the Gita.
Chapter 2: Verse 13
dehino 'smin yatha dehe kaumaram yauvanam jara
tatha dehantara-praptir dhiras tatra na muhyati
As the embodied soul continuously passes, in this body, from boyhood to youth to old age, the soul similarly passes into another body at death. A self-realized soul is not bewildered by such a change.
Commentary:
As we have seen Arjuna is totally emotionally drained at the prospect of having to kill his own friends and relatives in the battle. He operates within the emotional framework and guided purely by emotion he decides not to fight. But thankfully he has a spark of intellect and he asks the Lord to accept him as his disciple and tell him what he should do. In most of our lives, when we take a major decision in our lives, we may not even be aware that our decision is being taken in an emotional framework. We may assume that our decision is guided by our intellect. However it is very much possible that the intellect was a prisoner in the hands of emotion and whatever decision was taken was totally within the reasoning of the emotion. Such decisions can lead to bad actions with disastrous results. The unfortunate part is that we are not even aware that we have acted in the emotional space and when things go wrong, we blame everybody, call God cruel, become suicidal etc. However here Arjuna luckily asks Shri Krisha for advise and when the Lord starts talking, it is the beginning of the most wonderful principal of life elucidated with such simplicity and practicality that it is stunning.
The Lord says to Arjuna that he should not grieve over the prospect of killing his enemies since in reality he is not killing anyone. It is only the body that will fall and not the spirit of life which is immortal.
Let us try to examine the concept of the soul and the transmigration of the soul. As indicated in an earlier post, when we analyze ourselves, we are nothing but the supreme consciousness. But we are so enmeshed in the body/mind/intellect complex that we think we are the body/mind/intellect and not the consciousness. The element of consciousness that is inherent in everyone is called Atman and the supreme consciousness is called as Brahman. Well, the immediate question is are they different? Different schools of thought have different views on this. But I would prefer to go with Adi Shankaracharya's concept.
Let's imagine space which is everywhere. Now let us create several containers of mud, say a mud pot, a mud jug, a mud vase etc. Now within each of these mud creations, there is space. Is this space any different from the space outside the mud creations? Did we have to do anything to put space in the mud pot? Similarly consciousness referred to as Brahman is everywhere and the space inside the mud pot is also the same space, but is referred to as Atman. Let us take another example of the ocean and the waves. What is common between the big wave, the small wave and the ocean? Let's think whether this is a valid question at all. Is the wave different from the ocean? Whether a big wave or a small wave, both are nothing but salt water and the ocean is nothing but salt water. Just as we are differentiating a wave and the ocean, though both are exactly the same, we differentiate the larger consciousness(Brahman) and the individual consciousness or the soul(Atman).
Now let us add a twist to our mud creations. If the space in the mud pot looks at the space in the mud cup and says you are so puny or if the space in the mud vase turns its head in pride and says, I am so beautiful, does it make sense? It sure does not. But what has happened is that the space has identified itself with its covering or sheath and sees itself as separate not only from "other space" in other mud creations, but also forgets that it is the same space as the outside space. This is exactly what happens with us. The individual soul in us though pure and absolutely same as brahman gets affected "as though" by the body/mind/intellect covering it and thinks it is separate "as though" from other souls and from Brahman. The phrase " as though" is important because the soul in reality has not forgotten anything. It is only the reflection of ignorance that gives a feeling that the soul is ignorant. Just as under a red light, a white sheet of paper appears red, under the influence of ignorance, the soul appears ignorant.
Now that we have an understanding of the soul, let's look deeper into what the Lord's message is. We go through multiple stages in our life. We are conceived, born, grow, change, decay and die. But in each of these stages, how do we know we are the same? Without something being fixed, there is no way change can be perceived. If a railway platform moves at same speed of a train, how would we know the train is moving? Similarly within us, there should be something that is constant and unchanging to observe that something(body, mind) is changing. That unchanging thing in us is....you guessed it right, the soul. The soul is a silent witness. It knows everything. It is what gives the body/mind/intellect the ability to act, but the soul does nothing and cannot be blamed for anything the body/mind/intellect does. Just as petrol in a car gives the ability to the car to go either to a temple or to a bar and the petrol itself cannot be blamed for the car's destination, similarly the soul is the entity that gives ability for the body/mind/intellect to act, but cannot be blamed for the actions.
A child is born and grows to be a young child. The young child grows to be a young boy and onto an adult and an old man. When the baby became a young child, the "babydom" died and the young child came. Similarly when the child became a adult, the "child" died and the adult came. At every stage, did the essential nature of the individual die? Whether it was the child, boy, adult or old man, its essential nature remained though once a stage of life was reached, the previous stage "died". So, when after old age, the body dies, why should it be so hard to believe that the essential nature remained even though "old-hood" died. The earthly people have the ability to see the transition of each stage till old age. But just because they cannot see the transition through physical death to another stage, it does in no way mean that the next stage is not there.
That is the Lord's message to Arjuna. He tells Arjuna not to grieve over the potential killing of his kith and kin because in reality they are not dying at all. Their essential nature will always remain as it is. But they will transition to a different stage of existence based on their actions/desires and there is no reason to grieve over this fact of death.
As readers may be aware, 3 of my books on spirituality are available on Amazon.com.
I invite readers of my blog to try any of the books and give me feedback so that I can make changes in the next edition.
1. My Humble Understanding Of Spirituality
My Humble Understanding Of Spirituality
2. Attain Infinite Bliss
Attain Infinite Bliss - A Spiritual Guide
3. The Spirit Of Spirituality
The Spirit Of Spirituality
Chapter 2: Verse 13
dehino 'smin yatha dehe kaumaram yauvanam jara
tatha dehantara-praptir dhiras tatra na muhyati
As the embodied soul continuously passes, in this body, from boyhood to youth to old age, the soul similarly passes into another body at death. A self-realized soul is not bewildered by such a change.
Commentary:
As we have seen Arjuna is totally emotionally drained at the prospect of having to kill his own friends and relatives in the battle. He operates within the emotional framework and guided purely by emotion he decides not to fight. But thankfully he has a spark of intellect and he asks the Lord to accept him as his disciple and tell him what he should do. In most of our lives, when we take a major decision in our lives, we may not even be aware that our decision is being taken in an emotional framework. We may assume that our decision is guided by our intellect. However it is very much possible that the intellect was a prisoner in the hands of emotion and whatever decision was taken was totally within the reasoning of the emotion. Such decisions can lead to bad actions with disastrous results. The unfortunate part is that we are not even aware that we have acted in the emotional space and when things go wrong, we blame everybody, call God cruel, become suicidal etc. However here Arjuna luckily asks Shri Krisha for advise and when the Lord starts talking, it is the beginning of the most wonderful principal of life elucidated with such simplicity and practicality that it is stunning.
The Lord says to Arjuna that he should not grieve over the prospect of killing his enemies since in reality he is not killing anyone. It is only the body that will fall and not the spirit of life which is immortal.
Let us try to examine the concept of the soul and the transmigration of the soul. As indicated in an earlier post, when we analyze ourselves, we are nothing but the supreme consciousness. But we are so enmeshed in the body/mind/intellect complex that we think we are the body/mind/intellect and not the consciousness. The element of consciousness that is inherent in everyone is called Atman and the supreme consciousness is called as Brahman. Well, the immediate question is are they different? Different schools of thought have different views on this. But I would prefer to go with Adi Shankaracharya's concept.
Let's imagine space which is everywhere. Now let us create several containers of mud, say a mud pot, a mud jug, a mud vase etc. Now within each of these mud creations, there is space. Is this space any different from the space outside the mud creations? Did we have to do anything to put space in the mud pot? Similarly consciousness referred to as Brahman is everywhere and the space inside the mud pot is also the same space, but is referred to as Atman. Let us take another example of the ocean and the waves. What is common between the big wave, the small wave and the ocean? Let's think whether this is a valid question at all. Is the wave different from the ocean? Whether a big wave or a small wave, both are nothing but salt water and the ocean is nothing but salt water. Just as we are differentiating a wave and the ocean, though both are exactly the same, we differentiate the larger consciousness(Brahman) and the individual consciousness or the soul(Atman).
Now let us add a twist to our mud creations. If the space in the mud pot looks at the space in the mud cup and says you are so puny or if the space in the mud vase turns its head in pride and says, I am so beautiful, does it make sense? It sure does not. But what has happened is that the space has identified itself with its covering or sheath and sees itself as separate not only from "other space" in other mud creations, but also forgets that it is the same space as the outside space. This is exactly what happens with us. The individual soul in us though pure and absolutely same as brahman gets affected "as though" by the body/mind/intellect covering it and thinks it is separate "as though" from other souls and from Brahman. The phrase " as though" is important because the soul in reality has not forgotten anything. It is only the reflection of ignorance that gives a feeling that the soul is ignorant. Just as under a red light, a white sheet of paper appears red, under the influence of ignorance, the soul appears ignorant.
Now that we have an understanding of the soul, let's look deeper into what the Lord's message is. We go through multiple stages in our life. We are conceived, born, grow, change, decay and die. But in each of these stages, how do we know we are the same? Without something being fixed, there is no way change can be perceived. If a railway platform moves at same speed of a train, how would we know the train is moving? Similarly within us, there should be something that is constant and unchanging to observe that something(body, mind) is changing. That unchanging thing in us is....you guessed it right, the soul. The soul is a silent witness. It knows everything. It is what gives the body/mind/intellect the ability to act, but the soul does nothing and cannot be blamed for anything the body/mind/intellect does. Just as petrol in a car gives the ability to the car to go either to a temple or to a bar and the petrol itself cannot be blamed for the car's destination, similarly the soul is the entity that gives ability for the body/mind/intellect to act, but cannot be blamed for the actions.
A child is born and grows to be a young child. The young child grows to be a young boy and onto an adult and an old man. When the baby became a young child, the "babydom" died and the young child came. Similarly when the child became a adult, the "child" died and the adult came. At every stage, did the essential nature of the individual die? Whether it was the child, boy, adult or old man, its essential nature remained though once a stage of life was reached, the previous stage "died". So, when after old age, the body dies, why should it be so hard to believe that the essential nature remained even though "old-hood" died. The earthly people have the ability to see the transition of each stage till old age. But just because they cannot see the transition through physical death to another stage, it does in no way mean that the next stage is not there.
That is the Lord's message to Arjuna. He tells Arjuna not to grieve over the potential killing of his kith and kin because in reality they are not dying at all. Their essential nature will always remain as it is. But they will transition to a different stage of existence based on their actions/desires and there is no reason to grieve over this fact of death.
As readers may be aware, 3 of my books on spirituality are available on Amazon.com.
I invite readers of my blog to try any of the books and give me feedback so that I can make changes in the next edition.
1. My Humble Understanding Of Spirituality
My Humble Understanding Of Spirituality
2. Attain Infinite Bliss
Attain Infinite Bliss - A Spiritual Guide
3. The Spirit Of Spirituality
The Spirit Of Spirituality
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