He sees without the eye, He hears without the ear."
(Svet. Up. 3-19).— there, the sruti implies that the Knowable has the power to accommodate itself to the varying fuctions of all the senses which are Its upadhis, but not that It actually possesses swift motion and such other activities. The verse should be interpreted * like the passsage "The blind one saw the gem. (Taitt. Aranyaka, i. 11). Because It is devoid of the senses therefore It is unattached, devoid of all attachments. Brahman, the basic Reality in all illusory phenomena.
Though It is so, yet It supports all. Indeed, everything is based on the ' sat,' the Existent; for everywhere the idea of ' sat ' is present. Not even the mirage and the like exist without a basis. Hence it is said that It supports all. Brahman, the perceiver of the Gunas There is this yet another gate to a knowledge of the existence of the Knowable: Though devoid of the gunas, — Sattva, Rajas, and Tamas — yet, the Knowable is the enjoyer * That is to say, the arthava&a passage should not be understood in Its literal sense; it must be so interpreted as not to contradict the main subject of the section — (A).
14— "153 MATTER AND SPIRIT. 351 the perceiver, of the gurcas which, assuming the forms of sound and other (objects of the senses), transform themselves into pleasure, pain and delusion.
Brahman is all. Moreover, 15. Without and within (all) beings; the unmoving as also the moving. Because subtle, That is incomprehensible; and near and far away is That, Without: What lies outside the body which is inclusive of the skin and which is regarded through ignorance as one's own self. And ' within ' refers to the Inner Self, Pratyagat- man, lying inside the body. — The statement that It is ' without and within ' may imply Its absence in the middle.* To prevent this implication, the Lord says that It is ' the unmoving as also the moving.' It is Brahman, the Knowabje, that appears as the bodies, moving and unmoving, just as a rope appears as a snake.
Brahman is comprehended only by the wise.
(Objection); — If all things we perceive, the moving and the unmoving, were the Knowable, then how is it that Brah* man is not directly comprehended by everybody, as * This It is'?
(Answer): — True, It manifests Itself as everything; hut It is subtle t like the aka*a. Wherefore, on account of Its subtlety, It is incomprehensible to the unenlightened, though * i.e., in the body which intervenes between the Fratyagatman and external objects.
t Beyond the reach of the senses.
352 THE BHAGAVAD-GITA. [DlS. XIII.
knowable in Itself. It is, however, always known to the enlightened, as revealed in the following texts: ' All this is the Self and the Self alone ' (Bri. Up. 2-4-6.). * All this is Brahman and Brahman alone.' (Ibid. 2-5-1.)
It is far away when unknown; for It is unattainable by the unenlightened even in millions of years. And to the enlightened It is very near, because It is their own Self.
Brahman is the one Self in all.
Moreover, 16. And undivided, yet remaining divided as it were in beings; supporter of beings, too is That, the Knowable; devouring, yet generating.
It is undivided in the different bodies, It is one like the akasa. Still, it appears to be different in all the different bodies, inasmuch as It manifests Itself only in the bodies.
Brahman is the Cause of the Universe.
The Knowabk supports beings during sthiti, the period of sustenance of the Universe; and It devours them at jpralaya, i.en at the time of dissolution. It generates them at the time of utpatti, the origin.of the Universe, just as a rope gives rise to ah illusory snake* Brahman is the Illuminator of all.
(Objection): — If the Knowable, though existing every- where, is not perceived, then It is but darkness fTamas). (Answer);— -No, — What then? — 15—17] MATTER AND SPIRIT. 353 Moreover: 17. The Light even of lights, That is said to be beyond darkness. Knowledge, the Knowable, the Goal of knowledge, (It) is implanted in the heart of every one.
That, the Knowable, is the Light even of lights * such as the sun. Indeed these latter shine only when illumined by the light of the consciousness of the Self. The Chants say: 1 That Light by which illumined the sun shines ' — (Taitt. Br. 3-12-9.)
' By Its light all this shines *— (#vet. Up. 6-14). So says the smnti also here (in the Bhagavad-Gita xv. 12) It is said to be uncontam mated by Tamas, by aj«ana, by nescience.
The Light is in the heart of every one.
NoWf with a view to cheer up Arjuna who seemed dejected at the thought of the knowledge (of Brahman) being very difficult of attainment, the Lord says: Knowledge, such as humility (xiii, 7-11); the Knowable, as described in xiii. 12-17; and the same thing, w*., the Knowable, which, when known, forms the fruit of knowledge and is therefore said to- be the Goal of "knowhdge, and which as a thing to be known forms the Knowable: these three (Knowledge, the Knowable, and the Goal of knowledge) are implanted pre-eminently in the heart (buddhi) of every living being; it is indeed there- that the three are distinctly manifested.
* The existence of Brahman, the Knowable, can be recognised as. the Light illumining the surf, etc' and reason (buddhi), etc»— (A).
354 THE BHAGAVAD-GITA. [DlS. XIII.
Seek the Light through devotion.
Here follows the verse which concludes the the subject treated of: 18. Thus the Kshetra, as well as knowledge and the Knowable, have been briefly set forth. My devotee, on knowing this, is fitted for My state.
Thus the Kthetra, described above (xiii. 5-6), beginning with the ' Great elements' and ending with * firmness;' knowledge, comprising the attributes which have been enu- merated, beginning with ' humility * and ending with * percep- tion of the end of the knowledge of truth ' (xiii. 7-11); and the Knowable, described in xiii- 12-17; — these have been set forth in brief.
Such, indeed, is the whole doctrine, the doctrine of the Vedas and the doctrine of the Gita, taught in brief.
(Question): — Who is fit to attain this right knowledge?
(Answer): — He who is devoted to Me, who regards Me — Vasudeva, the Supreme Lord, the Omniscient, the Supreme Guru*— as the Self (Soul, Essence) of everything, i,e>3 he who is possessed (as it were) with the idea' that all that he sees or hears or touches is nothing but the Lord, Vasudeva. Thus devoted to Me, and having attained the right knowledge described above, he is fit to attain to My state, £e., he attains moksha.
Prakriti and Purusha are eternal.
In the. seventh discourse were described two Prakritis, the superior and the inferior, corresponding to Kshetra and 18—19] MATTER AND SPIRIT. 355 Kshetrajna; and it was said that they are the womb of all creatures (vii. 6). — It may now be asked, how can it be said that the two Prakritis, Kshetra and Kshetrajna, are the womb of all beings? — This question will now be answered: 19. Know thou that Praknti as well as Purusha are both beginningless; and know thou also that all forms and qualities are born of Praknti.
Praknti and Purusha, Matter and Spirit, are the two Prakritis of the Isvara, the Lord. These two, Praknti and Purusha — you should know — have no beginning. As the Isvara is the eternal Lord, it is but right that His Prakritis also should be eternal. The Lordship of the Isvara consists indeed in His possession of the two Prakritis by which He causes the origin, preservation and dissolution of the universe. The two Prakritis are beginningless, and they are therefore the cause of samsara.
Some construe the passage so as to mean that the two Prakritis are not primeval. It is by such an interpretation, they hold, that the causality of the I* vara can be established* If, on the other hand, Prakriti and Purusha were eternal, it would follow that they are the cause of the universe, and that the I* vara is not the creator of the universe- It is wrong to say so; for the Isvara would then be no Isvara, inasmuch as there would be nothing for Him to rule over prior to the birth of Prakriti and Purusha. Moreover,, if samsara had no cause (other than Isvara), there could ba 356 THE BHAGAVAD-GITA. [DlS. XIII.
no cessation * thereof; and thus the sastra (the scripture) would have not purpose to serve. Likewise, there could be neither bondage nor salvation-t Prakriti and Purusha as the Cause of samsara.
If, on the other hand, the Prakritis of the Isvara be eternal, all this can be explained. — How? — Know thou that all forms, all emanations (vikaras) from buddhi down to the- physical body, and all qualities (gu«as) such as those which manifest themselves as pleasure, pain, delusion and other mental states to be described hereafter, spring from Prakriti, Maya, composed of the three gu»as, that Energy of the Isvara which constitutes the cause of (all) emanations. Know thou that they are all modifications of Prakriti.J What then are these forms and qualities which are said to be born of Praknti? — Says the Lord: 20. As the producer of the effect and the instruments §» Prakriti is said to be the cause; as * If the Isvara were the sole cause of the universe, quite indepen- dently of the two Prakritis, the samsara would be endless, inasmuch as there is nothing to prevent even the emancipated souls from being hurled into sawsara, so long as there is Isvara, as the sole cause of samsara. — (A).
t Before the birth of the two Prakntis, there could be no bondage and consequently no moksha. If at any time there were neither bondage nor moksha, there could bo no cause which would ever bring them into existence. — (A), X Prakriti is that out of which all forms and qualities come into existence. Since Prakriti is thus eternal and is the source of all forms <vikaras) and qualities (gu«as). Atman remains ever changeless and without qualities. — (A).
§ Or, (according to another interpretation), the effect and the cause.
19—20] MATTER AND SPIRIT. 357 experiencing pleasure and pain, Purusha is said to be the cause.
The effect (karya) is the physical body, and the instru- ments (kararaas) are the thirteen # located in the body. The five elements (bhutas) which buildup tha body, aad the five sense-objects which are the emanations of Prakriti as men- tioned above, are included under the term * effect;' and all qualities, such as pleasure, pain and delusion, which are born of Prakriti, are included under the term ' instruments,' since those qualities are seated in the instruments, the senses. In the production of the physical body, of the senses and their sensations, Prakriti is said to be the cause, for, it generates them all. Thus, as producing the physical body and the senses, Prakriti is the cause of sa*»sara.
In the place of ' karawa ' which means instrument, some read ' karawa ' which means cause — Whatever is a modifica- tion of another is the effect or emanation (vikara) of that other; and that from which it emanates is the cause (k&rawa) Prakriti is the source of the cause and the effect, which comprise the same things (that were denoted by the terms 'the effect and the instruments*). Or, it may be that the sixteen wkarasf or emanations are here spoken of as the effect; and the seven X which are at once Prakriti and viknti, cause and effect, and which are therefore called Prakriti-Vikrritis, are spoken of as the cause. In the production of these, the cause is Prakriti, as generating them all.
# Five organs of sensation, five of activity, Manas, Buddhi, and Ahawkara.
f The ten sense-organs, Manas and the five sense-objects. — (A.) • t viz, Mahat, Ahawkara, and the five Tanmatras or rudimental elements. Each of these is an emanation from its predecessor and is in turn the cause, of its successor. As producing all these, the Mulaprakrit % is their cause, their basis. —(A).
358 THE BHAGAVAD-GITA. [DlS. XIIL And now will be shown how Purusha is the cause of samsara. * Purusha.* ' JivaJ ' Kshetrajna* t Bhoaktri (Enjo- ye r* * are all synonymous terms. Purusha is said to be the- cause, as perceiving pleasure, pain, and other objects of experience- (Objection): — Why should Prakriti and Purusha be regarded as the cause of samsara by way of generating causes and effects and experiencing pleasure and pain?
(Answer):■— How could there be sawsara at all without Prakriti transforming itself as causes and effects, as the body and the senses, as pleasure and pain, and without the conscious Purusha experiencing them? t When, on the other hand there is a conjunction — in the form of avidya or nescience — of Purusha, the experiences with Prakriti, the opposite, the object of experience, in all its transformations as the body and the senses, as pleasure and pain, as causes and effects, then only is sawsara possible. Wherefore it is but right to say that Praknriti and Purusha are the case of sawsara; the one generating the body and the Senses, the other experiencing pleasures and pains.
(Objection): — What* then, is this sawsara? J (Answer): — Sahara is the experience of pleasure and pain; and Purusha is the samsarin, as the experiencer of pleasure and pain.§ * The three last terms are respectively intended to show that Purusha here referred to is not the Paramatman or the Highest Self, is an intelligent (chetana) principle, is a conditioned being. — (A) f For, the Atman who is ever free (nitya-mukta) from sarasara, cannot of Himself be subject to sawsara-— (A).
X The objector means: IfAtman be immutable (avikriya), not subject to changes of state, then it is not proper to say that He is ever subject to samsara.— (A).
§ That is to say: while experiencing pleasure or pain, the Self, the experiencer remains quite unchanged. It is this experience (bhoga) "which constitutes His samsara? and which makes Him a samsarin, — (AjL 20—21] MATTER AND SPIRIT. 359 Avidya and Kama are the cause of rebirths.
It has been said that Purusha is the sarasarin as experi" encing pleasure and pain. What is the (experiencing of pleasure and pain) due to? — The Lord says: 21. Purusha, when seated in Prakriti, expe- riences the qualities born of Prakfiti. Attachment to the qualities is the cause of his birth in good and evil wombs.
Because Purusha, the experiences is seated in Prakfirti, in avidya or nescience, — that is to say, because he identifies himself with the body and the senses which are emanations of Praknti, — he experiences the qualities born of Praknti, mani- festing themselves as pleasure, pain and delusion; he thinks, " I am happy, I am miserable, I am deluded, I am wise. "Over and above avidya (the cause of birth), His attachment to (ue,, identification of Himself with) what He experiences, — namely, the qualities of pleasure, pain and delusion, — forms the main cause of Purusha's birth. The sruti says: '* As is his desire, so is his will." (Bri.Uj). 4-4"5.) Accordingly the Lord says here: — The experienced attach* ment for qualities leads him to births in good and evil wombs.
Or the second half of the verse may be construed, by supplying the word ' samsara,* so as to mean: Attachment for qualities is the cause of His sawsara through births in good and evil wombs.
Good wombs are those of Devas and the like; evil wombs are those of lower animals. We may also add, as implied here — being opposed to no teaching, — the wombs of men which are (partly) good and (partly) evil.
360 THE BHAGAVAD-GITA. [DlS. XIII.
The sense of the passage may be explained as follows: Avidya, — spoken of as (Purusha's) being l seated in Praknti,* —•and Kama or attachment for qualities, together constitute the cause of Samsara.* Self -Knowledge removes the cause of Samsara.
The twofold cause has been taught here for avoidance, (* e., in order that we may try to remove it). The means of bringing about the removal of the (twofold) cause are Jnana and Vairagya, i.e., knowledge and indifference conjoined with samnyasa or renunciation t as has been clearly taught in the Gita-sastra. This knowledge, the knowledge of Kshetra and Kshetrajna, has been imparted in the beginning of this discourse. And it has also been imparted in xiii. 12, et. seq.t both by eliminating foreign elements (xiii. 12) and by attri- buting alien properties (xiii. 13, et, seq.)
Now again the Lord proceeds to teach directly what that knowledge is: 22. Spectator and Permittee Supporter, En- joyer, the Great Lord, and also spoken of as the Supreme Self, (is) the Purusha Supreme in this body.
Spectator (Upadrash/ri): a bystander and a witness, Himself not acting. When priests and the sacrificer are engaged in a sacrificial act, there is another, an expert in sacrificial matters, sitting by their side, not taking part in the *Avidya being the upadana or material cause and kama the nimitta or efficient cause-— A, t Vairagya leads to samnyasa; and knowledge coupled with sam- nyasa brings about the cessation of avidya and kama- —A.
act, and discerning what is good and what is bad in the acts of the sacrificer and of the priests; just so, not taking part in the activities of the body and the senses, the Self is distinct from them, a near witness of the body and the senses and all their acts. — Or, it may be also explained thus: The body, the sense of sight, Manas, Buddhi, and the Self are the seers. Of these, the body is the most external seer; and viewed from the body inwards, the Self is the innermost and nearest seer, and beyond Him there is no seer in the interior- Thus5 being the nearest seer, He is spoken of as * Upadrasftfri.' Or, the Self is UpadrasWri because, like the UpadrashM in the sacrificial rite, He watches all. He is also the Permitter (Anuman^ri,) expressing approbation or satisfaction concerning the acts of those who are engaged in action — Or, though Himself not engaged in action while the body and senses are active, He seems to, be active in co-operation with them.— Or, being their mere witness, He never stands in the way of those that are engaged in their respective activities. Supporter (Bhartri): The Self is called the Supporter, because the body, the senses, Manas and Buddhi — which aggregate together to serve the purposes of some one else, viz., the Intelligent Self, and which are, or which convey, mere reflections of the Intelligence — are what they are, only as made by that Intelligent Self- Enjoyer (Bhoktn): The Self is the en j oyer because by the Self who is ' nitya-chaitanya- svarupa ', i>e., whose inherent nature is eternal intelligence, just as heat is the inherent nature of fire, are clearly pejrceived, in their mutual relations, all states of mind (buddhe/t- pratyaya&z, constituted of pleasure, pain and delusion, which, as they come into being, are permeated as it were by the intelligent Self. The Great Lord: As one with the whole universe and independent of all, He is the Great One as well as the Lord.
362 THE BHAGAVAD GITA. [DlS. XIII.
The Supreme Self (Paramatman): the Self who has been defined as the Spectator, etc, is Supreme, because He is superior to all those things— from the physical body up to the Avyakta — which are through ignorance mistaken for the Inner Self. Whence He is spoken of as ' Paramatman ' in the sruti also, — Where is He P — Purusha, who transcends the Avyakta, as will be described hereafter in xv. 17, is here in this body.
The Self treated of in xiii. 2 has been described at lengthy and the subject has been concluded. As to him who knows the Self thus described: 23. He who thus knows Purusha and Praknti together with qualities, whatever his conduct, he is not born again.
He who knows Purusha in the manner mentioned above,* i.e., he who directly perceives Him as his very Self, * This I am,* he who knows Praknti or Avidya described above t with all its modifications, i\e»» he who knows the Praknti as resolved into nothing (abhava) by vidya or knowledge, — whatever life he may lead, (ie-, whether he is engaged in the prescribed duties or forbidden acts), he is not born again; that is, he will not have to put on another body on the death of this, i.e » at the end of the birth in which he has attained wisdom. How much more so the wise man who stands firm in the path of duty I {Objection): — What acts are neutralised by knowledge? — Absence of rebirth subsequent to the attainment of knowledge * As the basic Reality underlying all manifestations such as Jiva* Isvara, and so on. — A. t As beginningless, as indefinable (anirvachya), as the source of all evil- — A.
22—23] MATTER AND SPIRIT. 363 has indeed been taught here. But, inasmuch as it is not right (to. suppose) the annihilation, before producing their respective effects, of those acts which were done (in the present birth) before the attainment of knowledge or of those acts which may be done thereafter, or of those which had been done in the many past birhs, there should be at least three (more) births; for it is not right to suppose the annihi- lation of these acts any more than to suppose the annihi- lation of the deeds whose fruits are being reaped in the present birth. And we see no distinction between (those two groups of) acts*. Accordingly, the three classes of acts will give rise to a single birth. Otherwise, the possibility of annihilation of what has been done would lead to uncertainty everywhere, and the sastra (all scriptural injunctions^ would become useless. Wherefore it is not right to say that * he is not born again,' (Answer):— No, (it is right), as the following passages of the sruti show.* 1 His deeds perish.'— (Muwd. Up. 2*2-8.)
' He who knows Brahman, becomes Brahman Itself.' — (Ibid., 3-2-9).
' For him there is only delay so long as he is not deliver- ed from the present body).— (Chhand. Up. 6-14-2).
' As the soft fibres of the ishika reed are burnt in the fire, so all his actions are burnt,, — (Ibid., 5-24-3). Consumption of all acts has been taught here also in* i v. 37 * As all acts alike result from ajwana, they must all alike be neutralised by knowledge, so that there is no force in the possible argu- ment that the acts which can be neutralised by knowledge are those which have not yet begun their effects, not those which have already begun their effects by way of generating the present body.— A.
364 THE BHAGAVAD-GITA. [DlS. XIII.
and will be taught also hereafter.* And this also stands to reason; for, only those acts which spring from avidya (nescience), from desire (kama) and such other affections, which are the seeds t of all evil, can cause future births; and it has also been stated by the Lord here and there in the Gita that those actions which are accompanied with egotism and desire — but not other action — are productive of results. It is also said elsewhere, " As the fire-burnt seeds do not sprout again, so the body cannot be formed again, by wisdom-burnt affections."
(Objection): — Granted that knowledge consumes acts done subsequently to the attainment of knowledge, inasmuch as they are accompanied with knowledge; but it is not possi- ble to explain how it can consume acts done in this life before the attainment of knowledge, and those done in the several past births.
(Answer):— Do not say so, because of the qualification 'all acts' (iv. 37) (Objection); — It may mean all those acts only which are done subsequently to the attainment of knowledge.
(Answer): — No, for, there is no reason for the limitation.
Now as regards the contention that just as the actions which have begun their effects by way of bringing about the * In xviii. 66. the Lord teaches Arjuna to abandon all-Dharmas, thus showing that knowledge consumes all actions — At These seeds of evil, termed klesas are avidya, asmita, raga, dvesha, and abhinivesa. Only those ants of dharma and adharma which are occasioned by these Mesas can bring about incarnate existence, But as to the acts of a wise man, their seeds have been fried in knowledge: those acts are said to exist only in so far as they present themselves to his consciousness, pratiiimatradehah- Being karm#bbasas, mere semb* lances of karma, they are not effective causes and cannot bring about births; a burnt cloth ( for instance, cannot serve the purposes of a cloth, "—A.
23—24] MATTER AND SPIRIT.
365 present birth do not perish in spite of knowledge, so also even those acts which have not yet begun to produce their effects cannot perish, (we say) it is wrong.-— How P— For, the former have, like an arrow discharged, begun their effects. Just as an arrow once discharged from a bow at an aim does not, even after piercing through the aim, cease to act till it drops down on the exhaustion of the whole force with which it was propelled, * so also, though the purpose of the bodily existence has been gained, the effects of actions which have produced the body continue as before till the exhaustion of their inherent energy. (On the other hand), just as the same arrow when not yet propelled with the energy which is the cause of its activity, i.e., when not discharged, can be withdrawn, though already fixed in the bow, so also, the acts which have not yet begun their effects, which only abide in their own seat,t can be neutralised by the knowledge of truth. Thus it is but right to say that when the body of a wise man perishes ' he is not born again * The four paths to Self-knowledge.
Now, there are several paths to Self-knowledge, and they are mentioned here as follows: * i.e, provided its action is not checked by some overpowering obstacle in the way. And Self-knowledge is no such obstacle in the way of the karma which has brought about the present birth; for, even while that knowledge arises, it arises with its power checked by that karma, as the latter has already begun to operate. Accordingly, the effects of the prarabdha-karma should be worked out in full-— A.
f Svtfsraya, sarbbaEsa-antak-karawa, i-e„ the inner sense or Manas containing the reflection of Spiritual Intelligence.— A.
366 THE BHAGAVAD-GITA. [DlS. XIII.
24. By meditation some behold the Self in the self by the self others by Sankhya Yoga, and others by Karma- Yoga.
Meditation fDhyana) consists in withdrawing by con- centration hearing and other senses into the Manas away from sound and other sense-objects, then withdrawing Manas into the Inner Intelligencei and then contemplating (that inner Intelligence). Hence the comparison, " the crane meditates as it were; the earth meditates as it were the mountains meditate as it were " fChha, Up- 7-6-1). Dhyana is a continu- ous and unbroken thought like a line of flowing oil. By meditation the Yogins behold* the Self, the Inner Intelli- gence, in the self (Buddhi) by the self, by their own intelli- gence, *.&, by the anta^-karawa refined by Dhyana. — Sankhya consists in thinking thus: 'these, Sattva, Rajas arid Tamas, are Guwas,' Atman is the witness of their acts, eternal, and distinct from the Gunas.' By Sankhya Yoga t some$ behold the Self in the self by the self. — Karma is Yoga §, i.e.t that Karma or action which is performed in the service of the Lord (Isvara). Such a course of action is Toga — only by a figure of speech — inasmuch as it leads to Yoga. Some % behold the Self by this Yoga of action, which, causing purity of the mind (sattva), gives rise to knowledge.
* These Yogins, who are of the highest class of aspirants (uttama- dhikarins) behold the Self, by meditation, to be identical with the Paramatman. — A.
f Sffnkhya is knowledge got through intellectual investigation (vichara). As leading to Yoga, it is spoken of as Yoga itself.-~A, } These are the aspirants of the middling class (madhyama dhikarins) —A.