Bhagavad-gita As It Is - Macmillan 1972 Edition -- Prabhupada Books (99 page)

TEXT 34

TEXT

yathā prakāśayaty ekaḥ

kṛtsnaṁ lokam imaṁ raviḥ

kṣetraṁ kṣetrī tathā kṛtsnaṁ

prakāśayati bhārata

SYNONYMS

yathā-
as;
prakāśayati-
illuminates;
ekaḥ-
one;
kṛtsnam-
the whole;
lokam-
universe;
imam-
this;
raviḥ-
the sun,
kṣetram-
this body;
kṣetrī-
the soul;
tathā-
similarly;
kṛtsnam-
all;
prakāśayati-
illuminates;
bhārata-
O son of Bharata.

TRANSLATION

O son of Bharata, as the sun alone illuminates all this universe, so does the living entity, one within the body, illuminate the entire body by consciousness.

PURPORT

There are various theories regarding consciousness. Here in
Bhagavad-gītā
the example of the sun and the sunshine is given. As the sun is situated in one place, but is illuminating the whole universe, so a small particle of spirit soul, although situated in the heart of this body, is illuminating the whole body by consciousness. Thus consciousness is the proof of the presence of the soul, as sunshine or light is the proof of the presence of the sun.

When the soul is present in the body, there is consciousness all over the body, and as soon as the soul has passed from the body, there is no more consciousness. This can be easily understood by any intelligent man. Therefore consciousness is not a production of the combinations of matter. It is the symptom of the living entity. The consciousness of the living entity, although qualitatively one with the supreme consciousness, is not supreme because the consciousness of one particular body does not share that of another body. But the Supersoul, which is situated in all bodies as the friend of the individual soul, is conscious of all bodies. That is the difference between supreme consciousness and individual consciousness.

Bg 13.35

TEXT 35

TEXT

kṣetra-kṣetrajñayor evam

antaraṁ jñāna-cakṣuṣā

bhūta-prakṛti-mokṣaṁ ca

ye vidur yānti te param

SYNONYMS

kṣetra
-body;
kṣetrajñayoḥ-
of the proprietor of the body;
evam
-that;
antaram-
difference;
jñāna-cakṣuṣā
-by vision of knowledge;
bhūta-
living entity;
prakṛti-
material nature;
mokṣam-
liberation;
ca-
also;
ye
-one who;
viduḥ
-knows;
yānti-
approaches;
te-
they;
param-
Supreme.

TRANSLATION

One who knowingly sees this difference between the body and the owner of the body and can understand the process of liberation from this bondage, also attains to the supreme goal.

PURPORT

The purport of this Thirteenth Chapter is that one should know the distinction between the body, the owner of the body, and the Supersoul. A faithful person should at first have some good association to hear of God and thus gradually become enlightened. If one accepts a spiritual master, he can learn to distinguish between matter and spirit, and that becomes the steppingstone for further spiritual realization. A spiritual master teaches his students to get free from the material concept of life by various instructions. For instance, in
Bhagavad-gītā
we find Kṛṣṇa instructing Arjuna to free him from materialistic considerations.

One can understand that this body is matter; it can be analyzed with its twenty-four elements. That is the gross manifestation. And the subtle manifestation is the mind and psychological effects. And the symptoms of life are the interaction of these features. But over and above this, there is the soul, and there is also the Supersoul. The soul and the Supersoul are two. This material world is working by the conjunction of the soul and the twenty-four material elements. One who can see the constitution of the whole material manifestation as this combination of the soul and material elements and also can see the situation of the Supreme Soul becomes eligible for transfer to the spiritual world. These things are meant for contemplation and for realization, and one should have a complete understanding of this chapter with the help of the spiritual master.

Thus end the Bhaktivedanta Purports to the Thirteenth Chapter of the
Śrīmad-Bhagavad-gītā
in the matter of Nature, the Enjoyer, and Consciousness.

Bg 14: The Three Modes of Material Nature

14. The Three Modes of Material Nature

Bg 14.1

TEXT 1

TEXT

śrī-bhagavān uvāca

paraṁ bhūyaḥ pravakṣyāmi

jñānānāṁ jñānam uttamam

yaj jñātvā munayaḥ sarve

parāṁ siddhim ito gatāḥ

SYNONYMS

śrī bhagavān uvāca-
the Supreme Personality of Godhead said;
param-
transcendental;
bhūyaḥ-
again;
pravakṣyāmi
-I shall speak;
jñānānām-
of all knowledge;
jñānam-
knowledge;
uttamam-
the supreme;
yat-
which;
jñātvā-
knowing;
munayaḥ-
the sages;
sarve-
all;
parām-
transcendental;
siddhim-
perfection;
itaḥ-
from this world;
gatāḥ-
attain.

TRANSLATION

The Blessed Lord said: Again I shall declare to you this supreme wisdom, the best of all knowledge, knowing which all the sages have attained to supreme perfection.

PURPORT

From the Seventh Chapter to the end of the Twelfth Chapter, Śrī Kṛṣṇa in detail reveals the Absolute Truth, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Now, the Lord Himself is further enlightening Arjuna. If one understands this chapter through the process of philosophical speculation, he will come to an understanding of devotional service. In the Thirteenth Chapter, it was clearly explained that by humbly developing knowledge one may possibly be freed from material entanglement. It has also been explained that it is due to association with the modes of nature that the living entity is entangled in this material world. Now, in this chapter, the Supreme Personality explains what those modes of nature are, how they act, how they bind and how they give liberation. The knowledge explained in this chapter is proclaimed by the Supreme Lord to be superior to the knowledge given so far in other chapters. By understanding this knowledge, various great sages attain perfection and transfer to the spiritual world. The Lord now explains the same knowledge in a better way. This knowledge is far, far superior to all other processes of knowledge thus far explained, and knowing this many attain perfection. Thus it is expected that one who understands this Fourteenth Chapter will attain perfection.

Bg 14.2

TEXT 2

TEXT

idaṁ jñānam upāśritya

mama sādharmyam āgatāḥ

sarge 'pi nopajāyante

pralaye na vyathanti ca

SYNONYMS

idam
-this;
jñānam
-knowledge;
upāśritya
-taking shelter of;
mama
-My;
sādharmyam
-nature;
āgatāḥ
-attain;
sarge api
-even in the creation;
na
-never;
upajāyante
-comes in;
pralaye
-in the annihilation;
na
-nor;
vyathanti
-disturbed;
ca
-also.

TRANSLATION

By becoming fixed in this knowledge, one can attain to the transcendental nature, which is like My own nature. Thus established, one is not born at the time of creation nor disturbed at the time of dissolution.

PURPORT

After acquiring perfect transcendental knowledge, one acquires qualitative equality with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, becoming free from the repetition of birth and death. One does not, however, lose his identity as an individual soul. It is understood from Vedic literature that the liberated souls who have reached the transcendental planets of the spiritual sky always look to the lotus feet of the Supreme Lord, being engaged in His transcendental loving service. So, even after liberation, the devotees do not lose their individual identities.

Generally, in the material world, whatever knowledge we get is contaminated by the three modes of material nature. But knowledge which is not contaminated by the three modes of nature is called transcendental knowledge. As soon as one is situated in that transcendental knowledge, he is on the same platform as that of the Supreme Person. Those who have no knowledge of the spiritual sky hold that after being freed from the material activities of the material form, this spiritual identity becomes formless, without any variegatedness. However, just as there is material variegatedness in this world, so, in the spiritual world, there is also variegatedness. Those in ignorance of this think that spiritual existence is opposed to material variety. But actually, in the spiritual sky, one attains spiritual form. There are spiritual activities, and the spiritual situation is called devotional life. That atmosphere is said to be uncontaminated, and there one is equal in quality with the Supreme Lord. To obtain such knowledge, one must develop all the spiritual qualities. One who thus develops the spiritual qualities is not affected either by the creation or the destruction of the material world.

Bg 14.3

TEXT 3

TEXT

mama yonir mahad brahma

tasmin garbhaṁ dadhāmy aham

sambhavaḥ sarva-bhūtānāṁ

tato bhavati bhārata

SYNONYMS

mama-
My;
yoniḥ-
source of birth;
mahat-
the total material existence;
brahma-
supreme;
tasmin-
in that;
garbham-
pregnancy;
dadhāmi-
create;
aham-
I;
sambhavaḥ-
possibility;
sarva-bhūtānām-
of all living entities;
tataḥ-
thereafter;
bhavati-
becomes;
bhārata
-O son of Bharata.

TRANSLATION

The total material substance, called Brahman, is the source of birth, and it is that Brahman that I impregnate, making possible the births of all living beings, O son of Bharata.

PURPORT

This is an explanation of the world: everything that takes place is due to the combination of
kṣetra
and
kṣetrajña,
the body and the spirit soul. This combination of material nature and the living entity is made possible by the Supreme God Himself. The
mahat-tattva
is the total cause of the total cosmic manifestation, and because in the total substance of the material cause there are three modes of nature, it is sometimes called Brahman. The Supreme Personality impregnates that total substance, and thus innumerable universes become possible. This total material substance, the
mahat-tattva,
is described as Brahman in the Vedic literature:
tasmād etad brahma nāma-rūpam annaṁ ca jāyate.
Into that Brahman the seeds of the living entities are impregnated by the Supreme Person. The twenty-four elements, beginning from earth, water, fire and air, are all material energy, called
Mahā-brahman,
or the great Brahman, the material nature. As is explained in the Seventh Chapter, beyond this there is another, superior nature-the living entity. In material nature the superior nature is mixed by the will of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and thereafter all living entities are born of this material nature.

The scorpion lays its eggs in piles of rice, and sometimes it is said that the scorpion is born out of rice. But the rice is not the cause of the scorpion. Actually, the eggs were laid by the mother. Similarly, material nature is not the cause of the birth of the living entities. The seed is given by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and they only seem to come out as products of material nature. Thus every living entity, according to his past activities, has a different body, created by this material nature, and the entity can enjoy or suffer according to his past deeds. The Lord is the cause of all the manifestations of living entities in this material world.

Bg 14.4

TEXT 4

TEXT

sarva-yoniṣu kaunteya

mūrtayaḥ sambhavanti yāḥ

tāsāṁ brahma mahad yonir

ahaṁ bīja-pradaḥ pitā

SYNONYMS

sarva-yoniṣu-
in all species of life;
kaunteya
-O son of Kuntī;
mūrtayaḥ
-forms;
sambhavanti-
as they appear;
yāḥ
-which;
tāsām-
all of them;
brahma-
supreme;
mahat yoniḥ-
the source of birth in the material substance;
aham-
Myself;
bīja-pradaḥ-
seed-giving;
pitā
-father.

TRANSLATION

It should be understood that all species of life, O son of Kuntī, are made possible by birth in this material nature, and that I am the seed-giving father.

PURPORT

In this verse it is clearly explained that the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, is the original father of all living entities. The living entities are combinations of the material nature and the spiritual nature. Such living entities are seen not only on this planet, but in every planet, even in the highest where Brahmā is situated. Everywhere there are living entities; within the earth there are living entities, even within water and within fire. All these appearances are due to the mother, material nature, and Kṛṣṇa's seed-giving process. The purport is that the living entities, being impregnated in the material world, come out and form at the time of creation according to their past deeds.