BG5.16

Today's[ 7th December, 2007] lecture is from the temple of Sri Kattazhagar, near Srivilliputhur. During the Thiruvadipooram festival in Srivilliputhur, Sri Kattazhagar Sri Sundararaja Perumal along with four Lords of other temples bless the devotees from Garuda vahanam. Other Four Lords are the Lord at Thiruvannamalai [near Srivilliputhur], Utsavar in Sri Vatapathrasayi temple, the Lord of Thiruthangal and Sri Rangamannar. All the Five Lords are seated on their Garuda vahanam and it is a rare sight. Now we will see the 16th sloka. In the last sloka, Sri Krishna told that atman can not cause sorrow or happiness in others. Atman can not remove the sins of the close kith and kin nor the happiness of enemies could be prevented. Because these are all body related and the atman changes residence in every birth. So atman is not the doer or atman is akartha. Akartrutva anusandhanam has to be understood properly. If a person's child scores very little marks in the exam, he is affected and naturally he admonishes the child so that the child realizes and makes greater effort to score good marks in the next time. This person now travels in a train and seated in front of him is another family and he understands that their child has scored very badly in the exam. During the travel this family makes friendship with the person. This friendship will cease after the parties get down at their destination and so the friendship may last a day or two only. Yet, the person never advises the child of this family for the low marks he obtained in the exam. Because, this person thinks he is with them for maximum a day or two only and so does not want to participate in their happiness or sorrow. But with his own child and other family members, the person thinks he will be with them for , may be 60 years, and so he thinks he has to participate in their welfare and difficulties and help them. So this 'my' feeling with our own kith and kin and an indifferent attitude with others are clearly experienced. Reason being that the kith and kin are with us for longer time like 60 years, while others are transient and may be for a few days only. But if we impartially see and extrapolate the transient friendship, we can understand that after all the 60 years association with our kin is very small in the total existence of this soul, which could be millions and millioms of years and out of which in this birth these are our kin for 60 years or so. In fact in the last birth, the present kin might not have been related and they could have been totally different from us. So present relatives are not related to atman but to this body only. If we consider the atman's various births as a travel, then in this part of the journey, these are presently related, just as we had friendship with a few in our train travel. Whether I get another train journey or the present train friends are going to alight down now, will enable me to have new friends and travel goes on. Therefore, how can atman be connected with the relatives or with the karma we do with this body? Just as we did not take any effort for the train friend's child to procure higher marks, because we thought that was not our concern. Similarly, in our action also we should be detached from the results. Does it mean that we need not take any responsibility for our kith and kin and keep aloof? Does it mean that we renounce all our duties and be away from all? We have to note very carefully that only this thought that our atman is not connected with the kin or the karma, should be there. The thought that 'I-am-doing' has to be only discarded. But we have to continue with our duties and responsibilities as a family member or a member of the society and country. We should always remember that the basic advise in Gita is to do our duties and not run away from them. Arjuna was prevented from running away from the battlefield. In every family all have to work as a team. But we have to perform our duties without the feeling that 'I-am-doing'. We think that we are doing the karma and that is the reason all papa/ punya affect us. By the 16th sloka Sri Krishna tells how one could get out of this thought. In Sri Vishnu Purana, sage Parashara, explains that there are three powers controlling our actions. One is the Power of Sri Vishnu, the Almighty. Second is the power of the atman and the third is the power of avidya or karma. With the power of Sri Vishnu shakti [power], this atman should reach the Lotus feet of the Lord in Vaikuntam. But this is prevented by the pressure of avidya. Avidya is the papa-punya collected by in the infinite births. Atman shakti is prevented from making any effort to realize its power and join Sri Vishnu shakti, by the avidya shakti. If only this avidya cover is cleared, atman gradually flourishes and reaches Sri Vishnu shakti. Now the 16th sloka:

jnanena tu tad ajnanam
yesham nasitam atmanah
tesham aditya-vaj jnanam
prakasayati tat param

"When, however, one is enlightened with the knowledge by which nescience is destroyed, then his knowledge reveals everything, as the sun lights up everything in the daytime."

Yesham = those atman or creatures, atmana jnanena = knowledge about atman or soul, nasitam = destroys, ajnanam = the beginningless papa/punya. These papa/ punya only prevent our atman in flourishing. The gyana about the atman destroys this avidya. In the entire Fourth Chapter, Sri Krishna has been telling the need to properly understand the atman. The need to understand that atman is not body and atman is not the doer -akartrutva anusandhanam. We have to do our duties without the feeling that we-are-doing, and this way the Karma yoga is practiced and it destroys the papa/punya like a fire. Tesham = such persons [who have got the papa/punya destroyed], aditya vaj = like the Sun, prakasayati = understands clearly all or the atman is in its original brilliance like the Sun. Our atman is surrounded by karma. Only because this karma is there the atman gets a body and could enjoy or suffer the results of punya or papa. This makes the atman to remain in samsaram. Here only Sri Krishna told that by using the Gyana as a boat atman crosses the samsaram ocean or with Gyana as fire the papa is reduced to ashes. Just like the Sun having the inherent brightness, atman has the inherent knowledge to see all in their true forms, but like the cloud blocking the Sun rays, avidya has been covering atman and so atman could not have that knowledge. Karma yoga like the wind blowing off the clouds and the Sun's full brilliance is realized, drives away the avidya and atman has the Gyana restored. This gyana is param or supreme says the Lord. Atman is not the body, but now residing in the present body. Assigned duties have to be performed with the atman gyana. Arjuna forgot his kshatriya dharma of protecting his subjects, but thouhght he is going to kill Bheeshma and Drona and so this advice from Sri Krishna became necessary. Because it is so difficult to bring to practice the atman and body relationship , Sri Krishna is repeatedly advising Arjuna from various angles.