By citing the lineage of instructors Sri Krishna had meant to conclude his message. But as it happened earlier, his words raised a very pertinent question in Arjuna’s mind, which led to an extension of the dialogue. In the fourth chapter thus, Krishna makes some statements, which are startling and reassuring alike. In fact, such revealing assurances shine distinctly in our sastras, consoling the tormented minds and instilling confidence in the pious hearts. The place and importance of these revelations are thus supreme and have to be regarded as inevitable in the context of spiritual expositions. Arjuna’s doubt was:
कथमेतद्विजानीयां त्वमादौ प्रोक्तवानिति ।।
“Your birth is a subsequent one, and Vivasvan’s a far earlier one. How shall I understand then that you had first instructed Vivasvan?” Is it not contradictory?
The question apparently is quite simple and straightforward. But in reality seekers will have to spend enough time to understand and relate the import of what is said.
Spiritual instruction has the one constant aim of driving home the immortal nature of man, the Soul, and the mortal nature of his body. To distinguish the two, the Soul that enlivens the body and the body that is enlivened, is the first and last note of spiritual pursuit. But somehow this basic discrimination goes on eluding the seeker, even in advanced stages. No wonder Arjuna confirms this plight. Forgetting or not grasping fully what Krishna emphasized right from the twelfth verse of the second chapter, Arjuna raises his question, which is, of course, based upon the body of Krishna, not on the true identity. How confused can a listener or seeker be! One has to marvel at the deluding power of creation, of existence itself!
“Your birth, O Krishna” points out Arjuna, “is from Devaki. You were fostered by Yashoda. People, as well as I, know you only as such. There was no Krishna earlier to this birth. Vivasvan, the Sun, was there even before our earth was born. Is it ever possible then that the Krishna I see in front and who speaks to me now, could instruct the ancient Sun?”
In understanding the spiritual evaluations and propositions, which clearly reign far above the material observations, Arjuna still brings in physical and bodily considerations only to get hindered in the process. It is pitiable, no doubt, but is in a way natural, perhaps inevitable too. Sensory dependence is so much rooted in our perceptions and understanding that it becomes difficult for any one to rise above them! Can the body ever be, even for a moment, except as a manifestation of the Soul? As for the Soul, where does the question of any specific birth for it arise at all? How can any reference like the subsequent and precedent be applied to the singular eternal Soul?
Arjuna is thoroughly confused. In a way it was better that Krishna came out with such a reference to our ancient tradition. This has given Arjuna an opportunity to express his ignorance and confusion, and for Krishna to deal with it, as part of his basic message on the Soul.
Thus Krishna points out to Arjuna how he should proceed to evaluate spiritual propositions and get over the bodily superimpositions and perceptions:
Many births have been for me, and so too for you, O Arjuna. All those I know well, but, O Scorcher of foes, alas, you are not able to.
This is a very significant verse in Bhagavadgita. People mostly like and adore it, but apparently only for the eulogistic note and assertion it conveys, and not for the Absoluteness of the Truth it discloses.
Bodies get born and also die. It is a purely physical sequence and process. This continuous process has nothing to do in affecting the presence and potential of the Soul. In fact, it is because of the unborn and immortal Soul that the bodies come to be ceaselessly there. The two – the Soul and the body – are entirely distinct from each other. The relationship, if at all, between the two is one of ‘revelation’. The body, by its presence and constant changefulness, gives us repeatedly the clue to the changeless Soul. It is not a contradiction, but a beautiful complement. Unless the seeker is able to understand this basic note, he will not make any progress in his Self-realization.
What does Krishna verily imply by his words? People tend to give fanciful interpretations to construe his words as specially edifying his birth. In that case the universality of the truth about the Self will be contradicted, invalidated. How can that be? We must always adhere to the true exposition of the Self, the sole purport of Vedas and Upanishads.
Krishna says that many births have gone by for him. He instantly adds that it is equally true for Arjuna also. His body is as much pancabhautika (five-elemental) as Arjuna’s or any one else’s. The soul that he is, is also the same as the soul that any one else (including Arjuna) is. That is why he adds, “for you also, Arjuna, many births have gone by”.
In verse twelve of the second chapter, he had said: “Na tvevaham jatu nasam na tvam neme janadhipah – never was a time when I was not, nor again you, nor also these kings who stand around you”. Did not Krishna there liken himself to Arjuna as well as the others around? This means that whatever he speaks about the Soul in him is equally true of Arjuna and the rest. The same idea he reconfirms here too.
The striking difference between Krishna and others is actually in the knowledge they possess. Arjuna lacks the knowledge, which Krishna has. It is the knowledge of one’s true identity that lifts one from the mundane. Is not Krishna making it amply clear when he says, “I know about the many births I have had, whereas Arjuna, you do not know about them at all”? The question is thus merely whether one is able to know the truth of the Self well enough.
In interpreting the truth about the Self, do not make any difference between any two individuals. How to understand then the proposition that a person has had many births? Any one here is not just present for the first time. He has had so many similar births. The present is one in such a ceaseless succession!
Look at the sea. It is one endless stretch of water. While the sea is just one – deep, vast, unchanging – there are countless waves incessantly manifesting on its surface. Every new wave adds to the total. As the number of waves increases, so do their disappearances. While fresh waves emerge and travel to the shore, the earlier ones will be rolling back and subsiding.
Think more closely about the whole phenomenon. Has any wave really any independent existence or status, to be considered as an individual entity, separate from the single sea? Or, what takes place is only a waviness in the vastness of the sea itself? Such waviness is but a mere expression or character of the Sea itself.
Will not the wave, if it has a true comprehensive vision, a realized identity with the sea, say: “I am nothing but water and as such I do not have any identity separate from or additional to the sea. I have neither any birth or emergence as such, nor any death or subsidence thereafter. My emergence and subsidence are only apparent. In reality, neither do I rise nor do I set. I always was the Sea and also will ever be. For me, the Sea, to rise and set in the form of waves is natural. How many waves have already emerged and subsided! How many will again be! Instead of my being a wave, the truth is that I have ceaseless waves, rising and setting in me”.
Krishna is in fact exposing this Truth. Existence as such, when properly perceived and realized, is unbroken, indivisible and One. Self is this existence absolute. In the second chapter Krishna had made it clear: “Sat has no abhava at all (nabhavo vidyate satah)” are his doubtless words. The Soul, the Reality, can never go out of expression.
But the seekers do not reflect deeply upon what they are, what their true nature is, and thereby they miss the truth. Rarely does one reflect and realize the truth. Krishna is one who has realized the truth. He is also urging Arjuna to realize the same truth. Arjuna is receiving the exposure; but not having realized the truth yet, his doubt and enquiry still prevail.
Throughout the dialogue, Krishna emphasizes that his instructions are quite general and can be followed by any and all. He also adds that by following this path, many have become like him, attained his state (verse 10, ch. 4). He has already quoted Janaka and the rest as models for Arjuna in the matter of spiritual wisdom and the excellence it brings about (verse 20, ch. 3).
This general nature, Universality, of instructions is something that we should not forget or neglect. Only when the dimension of the Teacher is grasped in full comprehension, his teaching can be imbibed likewise. To look at Krishna only as a Godly incarnation – a dimension unattainable by human beings – will be a great disservice to him as well as his instructions. In spiritual discussion, Krishna’s place and status are solely those of a Knower and an excellent instructor. In fact, we have so many instances of spiritual instructions, wherein the instructor assumes the position of the Supreme Reality while speaking to the listener or disciple. Both the Supreme Reality as well as its exponent come to clearer light by doing so.
Some instructions are predominantly religious in character, while some are philosophical. That is the only difference. The dialogue between Sage Ashtavakra and King Janaka is quite illustrious of the second kind. Both the Teacher and student speak almost with the same absolute identity – the same universal dimension and depth of perception, resting upon their own Self.
In fact, Krishna appears in Mahabharata and also in Bhagavatam, the later creation. Mahabharata deals with the history of the Kuru dynasty, its decline and fall. The dynasty Vyasadeva discusses in the epic had its fateful links with himself, the author of the epic. Thus everything dealt with in Mahabharata is basically human-related. Krishna’s role also is human. Bhagavadgita forms a unique part of Mahabharata. Naturally its human character and relevance should not be set aside or replaced by anything else.
Finding Krishna unique and exemplary in many ways, and his life to be a rare model for mankind of any time, later thinkers and writers wished to present Krishna with many supernatural notes, so that the vast majority of the land’s simple folk would find appeal and admiration for him. This is necessary to help their growth as in the case of children. But the authors of all these later texts made sure that in the course of their narrations, the spiritual, philosophical and human dimensions of Krishna were also equally emphasized. In fact, they have highlighted these in their own inimitable ways.
In Srimad Bhagavatam, you can find that together with the devotional and supernatural descriptions of Krishna’s birth and exploits, his human qualities and excellences are also clearly set forth. Suffice it to say for our purpose here, that Krishna was a human, with a human birth, human growth and human attainments, all of which have their wholesome relevance and applicability to mankind of all times.
As Valmiki’s narrations depict Sri Rama as princely and human everywhere, so does Vyasadeva’s description present Krishna as humanly excellent and creative. This fundamental point should not be forgotten at any time in trying to understand Bhagavadgita.
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(From Essential Concepts in Bhagavad Gita - Volume 2)