BG7.5

The Lord tries so many efforts to guide us in the right path. As Swami Bhattar says, whenever a good person is found Sri Saranayaki Thayar approves the creation of the Lord. The Lord also creates to please Her. If Her merciful and divine eyes do not see this world, it will be reduced to a desert. But with Her glance on us, the world is as fresh as a flower. Today's [ 13th March 2008] lecture is from the sannidhi of Sri Saranayaki Thayar. Entire auspiciousness of the Universe and the Motherly affection are aplenty, as we worship Her. It is our great fortune to visit and worship Thayar here. The Lord is waiting for Her approval to bless anyone. An Unique feature of this Kshetram is that the Lord appears with Five Consorts. Sri Krishna, in the last sloka, mentioned that it is rarest among rares to find a true Bhaktha of Him. Out of millions of people, only very few understand what Vedas, Puranas, Ithihasa and Shastras say and try to follow. In such a category of persons only one in a thousand, try to reach till the end. One in thousand among them truly understand Sri Krishna. Normally people go to temple for some gratification. While it might be justified once in a way, we can not pray only for such material benefits. It is, therefore, very rare to see a person praying only for the pleasure of being with the Lord. The Lord can grant anything in bountiful, and so people mostly come to Him for material requirements. Some come for atman sakshatkaram or Kaivalyam. But it is very rare for persons to seek Him alone. We should aspire for Him and that also through prayer to Him. He alone can grant Him and we also should not seek some others to get Him. We should practice Bhakti by praying Him to grant Him. He is the upayam or means and He is the destination. There are atheists and agnostics. Believers in God is the second stage. Believing that God can grant anything is the third stage. Trusting He can grant Himself is the next stage. Finally, firmly believing that He alone has to be approached to grant Himself, is the last stage and therefore, the Lord says it is rare to see such persons. Now we have to see the 4th sloka. THIS REQUIRES RAPT ATTENTION AS THE LORD IS GOING TO TELL VERY IMPORTANT CONCEPTS. From the 4th sloka to 12th sloka, Sri Krishna is going to tell all His greatness. Considering His greatness we, even Brahma, are like pebbles before Himalayas; like a pond before an Ocean. To understand this difference the Lord says Chit and Achit are His properties. In the sloka 4, He says all Achit entities are His. By 5th sloka, He claims that all Chit are His. Entire Universe is His property. In the beginning itself it was told that there are three tatvas. Tatva means entity or the real matter. They are Bhokta, Bhogyam and Preritha according to Upanishads. Whatever we see or feel are all Achit, having no knowledge. They could be flower, earth or body. We, that is our atman in a body, experience all Achits. Compared to Achit, Chit is superior as Chit has gyana or knowledge. Atman by smelling with the nose of the body it is residing, enjoys the flower. By eating with the mouth of the resident body, atman enjoys a dish. Chit only experiences the happiness or sorrow, cold or heat. Iswara or God is the third tatvam, and possesses both Chit and Achit. For God both Chit and Achit are properties and so Iswara is the Proprietor. Chit and Achit are ruled and Iswara is the Ruler. He is the Master and Chit and Achit are slaves. Keeping this in mind we will see sloka 4:

bhumir apo ’nalo vayuh
kham mano buddhir eva ca
ahankara itiyam me
bhinna prakritir astadha

"Earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intelligence and false ego—all together these eight constitute My separated material energies."

Bhinna prakriti astadha = prakruti is expanded in eight ways. God creates, with the divine approval of Thayar. It is like the peacock dancing with the feathers fully spread at the sight of the pea-hen. The Lord is the Peacock and Thayar is Pea-hen and spreading feathers is the Creation. Like a seed sown germinating and a sprouting up, which becomes a small plant with leaves and later grows into a tree with branches, leaves and fruits. This seed for creation is called Moolaprakruti. It is a body of Sriman Narayana. He transforms this Moolaprakruti into various aspects and later after Maha pralayam, all are taken back into His body. First Prakruti transforms into Mahaan. It is something like the germination seen on a seed. Mahaan nourishes our gyana. Mahaan expands into Ahankaram, which is our ego, pride and give the feeling of 'I-am-atman'. Ahankaram branches into three - Saatvika ahankaram, Raajasa ahankaram and Tamasa ahankaram. What these three are, will make us to understand the sloka. We will see it next day.