Ātmā, the Self, was the focus of Krishna’s exposition right from the beginning. He began with the pregnant words that the enlightened people (paṇḍitāḥ) would not grieve either about the dead or the living. Life force is present in any living body only for a period. The tenure of life is limited. Embodiment is but ephemeral. So, those with the eye of wisdom are not deluded.
The enlightened are imbued with sama-darśana, equal vision, grounded on the Immortal Spirit that animates the body.
Pursuit through purity and discrimination
In any living body, what one should obviously sense is the Soul. Our body is the only expression of the Soul, which enables us to infer and feel the Soul’s presence in it. “There was no time when I was not. This is true of you and also of all those around (na tveva-aham jātu nāsam na tvam neme janādhipāḥ – 2.12)”, adding, “equally so, there will not be any time when we shall cease to be (na caiva na bhaviṣyāmaḥ)”.
The key and clue to the Supreme is one’s own living body. But alas, despite all the power of observation and understanding, every one invariably fails to grasp the immortal presence in it and its glory shining everywhere.
Krishna calls this common inability as sheer delusion. Those deluded alone (vimūḍhāḥ) miss this great perception (na-anupaśyanti). And those who have acquired the eye of discrimination and wisdom (jñānacakṣuṣaḥ), certainly succeed in discovering and realizing the Supreme.
Krishna pinpoints again that the only place where this great spiritual perception can be gained, the locus of this great Realization, is within oneself:
Striving seekers do perceive the supreme Reality in themselves. Those lacking purity and discrimination fail to realize it.
Yatantaḥ yoginaḥ, meaning ‘striving seekers’, spiritual sādhakas, see the Infinitude of the Soul right in their own being. The emphasis he makes is on striving, meaning the sādhanā, consistent spiritual effort, of the seeker. Such effort is first of all to get exposed to the Self as the supreme Presence in the body. Self is not something to be perceived by the senses.
Senses can only perceive external objects, ranging from earth to space. The Self, neither an object nor reigning outside, does not come within their range. Its locus is within the body, hence inaccessible to the senses. The striving, Krishna speaks about, is thus beyond sensory level. The seeker has to delve into his mind, intelligence and ego, to unearth the Self and gain Its perception.
Perception normally commences from the senses and ends with their objects. Whenever you want to perceive a colourful object with the eye, the thought and persuasion first arise in the mind, which then employs the eyes and gains an imprint of the object.
Though eyes effect the seeing, the process is willed and instituted by the inner instruments of consciousness. It becomes complete when the inner consciousness takes in it an impression of the object sensed. Selfperception is not anything akin. Yet it is perception, no doubt.
When the genesis of perception itself is gone into, explored and discovered in fullness, the Self-perception or Self-realization will also, in truth, take place.
Spiritual striving is fully an inner process. In the whole of spiritual pursuit, śravaṇa, manana and nididhyāsana (hearing, reflection and meditation) alone matter. Whatever helps this process, is welcome as an aid. śravaṇa, hearing, exposes the seeker to the existence, nature, greatness and magnitude of the Self. To facilitate śravaṇa (hearing), we have the scriptural compositions. They are to be handled by exponents who have the requisite authority of realization of the scriptural Truths.
When heard from the right Teacher, hearing becomes fully effective. The words conveying wisdom inspire and involve the mind of the seeker. They institute the process of manana (reflective thinking). When manana deepens, it leads to nididhyāsana, the last phase of meditation and realization.
Krishna by explaining the points consistently to Arjuna, provided powerful exposure, śravaṇa. Arjuna grasped what was exposed and introspected. This resulted in clearing his delusion and providing the clarity, strength and persuasion he was thirsting for.
So the words yatanto yoginaḥ are very significant in the context of spiritual sādhanā, its rightful fruition. Viewed from any angle, Krishna’s words have but one focus – the inner Self. Here too he emphasizes that the striving yogins perceive the supreme Presence in themselves, within their body.
Though many enquirers or seekers pursue some sādhanā or other, they do not succeed in their effort. Krishna is concerned with this general plight and he explains its cause quite precisely. He also pinpoints the negative traits the seeker should avoid or do away with. Herein lies the effectiveness of Krishna’s gospel.
Yatanto-api-akṛtātmāno nainam paśyanti acetasaḥ. Failure in comprehending the Truth is solely due to two reasons: i) Lack of necessary cultural purity and sublimity (akṛtātmānaḥ) in the seeker, and ii) lack of the requisite viveka, discrimination (acetasaḥ).
It is viveka that empowers our buddhi (intelligence) to distinguish the Soul from the body, discern the supreme Presence in and through the manifold existence around. Viveka is a kind of sharpness, astuteness, subtlety and rarity, which equips the intelligence to probe into one’s own within, as it would into any external existence. Purity is the sublimity adorning one’s inner being (antaḥkaraṇa), whereby it becomes free of worldly blemishes and taints like untruthfulness, infidelity, greed and possessiveness.
The sole purpose of all religious and spiritual efforts is to make the mind and intelligence pure. Such purity will instantly reflect, nay radiate the glory of the Immortal Spirit within. Otherwise, like muddy water, the mind and intelligence will only remain opaque and spread gloom.
Power that creates external visibles
After emphasizing that spiritual search and seeking is truly inner and the resulting discovery is also inner, Krishna speaks about the inner presence, its vast and manifold magnitude and splendour. This elaboration is very important. It is not that the seeker comprehends the spiritual splendour only within himself. He can and should visualize it all around:
Know the brilliance of the sun that illumines the world, that (brilliance) which is in the moon and the fire, to be of the same Supreme.
The brilliance of the sun, providing heat and light to the whole earth is due to the supreme splendour of the inner Soul. The same is the truth about the moon, fire and similar luminaries also. In other words, one should not think that the Soul is only an inner spiritual magnificence, having no bearing upon the world of matter and energy. Every speck of material existence as well as the flow of energy, no matter where it occurs or is evident, is an emanation from the Self, the Soul, and none else.
Krishna also explains how the life-promoting functions of Nature are equally the Soul’s own:
Permeating earth, the Supreme alone sustains beings with its splendour. Becoming the lunar lustre, It preserves the sapidity of all herbs and vegetables.
Of the countless planets and heavenly bodies, the earth hosts our life, movement and varied activities. How many forms of life are there on earth! To enable all these to sustain their life, what an enormous variety of food and nourishment is available! How many seeds, minerals and salts, water, countless physical, chemical and biological processes and transmutations are there! Myriad are the contents and characteristics the earth possesses to bring about, promote and sustain life. Krishna says that all these emerge from the same spiritual Soul. Though there is surprising plurality in manifestation, in causality it is the singular Soul.
Sun is hot, whereas the moon is cool. In the growth, flowering and fruition of plants and vegetables, moon has a distinct role to play. Krishna describes the moon as rasātmakaḥ. Moon holds the power to instill sapidity into the seeds, sprouts, plants and creepers thereby making them healthy and vibrant. There are flowers that blossom with the touch of the cool beams of the moon.
Earlier, he has linked yajña with rainfall that results in production of food grains, which alone provides sustenance for living beings. Here he goes a step further to say that like the hot sun the cool moon also has a close link with the health and resourcefulness of the plant kingdom. It is a traditional practice among farmers to expose seeds to moonlight for a few days. By this, the seeds are expected to imbibe some special vigour to germinate healthily. Does this not give a clue for further scientific investigation?
Discovering the Supreme as the Inner Presence
The idea is that the magnitude and splendour of the Soul is not just subtle, hidden within the body. It is infinite, extensive and manifest in the smallest as well as biggest forms of existence and expression. Going up to the sun, transiting to the moon, then descending to the earth and coursing through plants and vegetables, Krishna leads the seeker to be lodged in himself and feel closer:
Manifesting as life-fire in the bodies of creatures and uniting prāṇa and apāna, the supreme Reality digests the four-fold food.
Krishna says that in the matter of eating and providing nourishment to the body, to empower its ceaseless activity like breathing, circulating blood, stimulating signals to different parts, etc., the potential and powers of the supreme Reality alone are manifest. In particular, he says that the supreme Reality resides in the bodies of beings as Vaiśvānara, the enlivening fire. Linked with prāṇa and apāna (the upward and downward breath), Vaiśvānara digests the four kinds of food.
Bhakṣya, bhojya, coṣya and lehya are the four different types of food the humans take. Bhakṣya refers to those items to be chewed or masticated before gulping in. Bhojya consists of semisolid items, which can be taken in without chewing. Pāyasam (a kind of sweet) and such other items fall in this group. All that can be sipped in are called coṣya. They need not touch the teeth at all. Lehya is to be licked in.
Human system is meant to assimilate all these four kinds uniformly. Vaiśvānara helps this process. How intimate is then the presence and function of the Supreme in our life!
In the 10th chapter Krishna has referred to the vibhūtis of the Supreme. He has explained how the Supreme, otherwise imperceptible and omnipresent, remains incomprehensible, though manifest in the whole creation. In order to facilitate a full comprehension of the Supreme, Krishna lists a variety of objects and qualities. The references include letters, words, mountains, war-weapons, fame, patience, will, memory, spirituality and the rest. Finally he declares that all put together, the entire visible glory around us is merely one small fraction of the Supreme (10.42).
Compared to that, how closely Krishna brings one’s day to day life to the manifest glory of the Supreme! He now goes on to describe it as present within the body, even in the sphere of the mind and intelligence:
Supreme is embedded in all hearts, giving rise to memory, wisdom and forgetfulness. Four Vedas speak of the Supreme alone. The author as well as the Knower of Vedanta is again the Supreme.
The Supreme is closest to everyone, whether we admit it or not. It is present in everyone’s heart. To trace it functionally, Krishna lists memory (smṛti), knowledge (jñānam), and forgetfulness (apohanam), stating that all these emerge only from this indwelling Presence. These are conscious functions, reigning above the range of matter and energy.
He does not specify the memory as good, benign or virtuous. Memory is always the recollection of things transpired. Actions and events take place in the march of time. As they occur, so they pass off and what they leave is their memory. This survives only because of the Supreme presence in one.
Knowledge of any kind is also due to the Supreme. Forgetfulness too. Forgetfulness or its possibility is the ground on which memory rests. It is like friction to movement.
All the Vedas speak about and reveal one supreme Reality. Vedic hymns may be numerous, but the import of them all is but one, contained in their mahāvākyas – Prajñānam Brahma of Rgveda, Aham Brahmāsmi of Yajurveda, Tat-tvam-asi of Sāmaveda and Ayamātmā Brahma of Atharvaveda. All these describe Brahman alone. The first denoting its nature as ‘knowledge’, the second describing its locus as the ‘I’ in all, the third specifying the instruction to the seeker as “you are That”, and the fourth confirming that the inner Self alone is the supreme Reality.
All the Vedas, in the form of Knowledge, are but creations of this Supreme itself. The Knower of Vedas also is the Supreme. In other words, every individual identity is a reference to the Supreme. The entire knowledge is but its own display.
The Knower of Truth is the distinct expression of the Supreme. He alone, like Krishna, will be able to think, speak and act on Its behalf. The same idea Krishna has set forth earlier also: jñānī tu ātmaiva me matam (7.18). The supreme Reality is a spiritual concept. It is illustrated and explained by man alone. Other than the Knower, the supreme Reality has no representation at all.
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(From Essential Concepts in Bhagavad Gita - Volume 5)
