Commentary on the Bhagavadgita

by Swami Krishnananda

It is the intention of God to see that His creation is in a state of harmony and well being. I ask you to remember that the universe is made in the same way as our bodies are made, so the universe works in the same way as our bodies work. As the anatomical and physiological functions protect this body in a requisite manner, there is a cosmic anatomy and physiology in the light of which the balance in the cosmos is maintained, and for the sake of which there is the avatara, which is the coming of God for the sake of protecting dharma – that is, to establish the power of unity as against the destroying and disturbing elements that go out of the centre . “Then I incarnate Myself.”

Whenever we feel some pain in the body, even in a finger or a toe, it means the whole body is sick, and immediately the healing forces start working. At once the centre of the universe acts, just as the centre of our personality acts when we start sneezing or we have a headache or we have a wound in the foot, etc. In order to illustrate the similarity of the cosmic structure to the human structure, the Vedas, the Upanishads and the Bhagavadgita tell us that the universe is one person. Just as we are one person, the whole universe also is one person. He is called Maha Purusha, Supreme Purusha, Purushottama. How many people are there in this world? There is only one person. Sahasrasirsha purushah sahasrakshah sahasrapat (Purusha Sukta 1): Million-headed, million-eyed and million-eared is that single purusha. And where are those million heads and million eyes? They are here. Your head and my head, your eyes and my eyes, your legs and my legs are actually His heads and His eyes, through which He is speaking and working. But the ego of the individual that is a part thereof asserts its individuality and cuts itself off from the healing forces that come from the cosmos.

God never breaks his promise. We may break our promises, but not God. Once God decides, it is decided forever. Like an eternally conscious invigilator, God-consciousness operates in this cosmos. God knows what we are speaking, what we are thinking, what we are feeling, what we are doing; even the movement of a mouse in a corner of a house is known to that Centre of the cosmos. There is no such thing as private action in this universe. It has been beautifully said that we cannot touch a flower in the garden without disturbing the stars in heaven. Such is the organic connection. There seems to be a vast distance between the stars and the little flower in our garden, but the connection is such that the stars will know that flower is being interfered with.

There is no such thing in this world as individual, private activity. In the same way, there is no such thing as individual activity in our body. Whether we see with the eyes or hear with the ears, speak with the tongue or walk with the feet, etc., it is not individual action taking place. It is one total action manifesting itself through the different limbs. Similarly, all this world activity, the great mystery of mankind – the coming and going of things, the destroying of empires and the rising of empires, and so on – all the drama that is being played in the form of this creation – is a single action taking place. The whole world is doing only one thing; it does not do many things. In the same way, our physical personality does one thing in the form of seeing, hearing, touching, digesting, speaking, walking, etc. Though they appear as diverse functions, they are really not diversified functions; it is Mr. So-and-So acting.

God acts; and when God acts, dharma rules the world. Whenever there is a treating of dharma’s force in the wrong direction by an extreme step that is taken by individuals, a cloud of darkness hovers around the heads of mankind and we become insecure. We do not know what will happen to us tomorrow. The thoughts of people are also supposed to determine the fate of everybody. If one man thinks, it is a very feeble thought; but if the whole of humanity thinks a single thought, it draws the attention of the centre of the cosmos just as when the whole nation cries for something, the central government will open its eyes and take steps while if one man cries, they may not bother much.

Christ is called the son of Man. Everybody is a son of man, so why should Christ be called the son of Man? It is son of Man with capital ‘M’. It is the descent of a divine force as a response to the call of the whole of humanity that cried for God. This is my own interpretation of the biblical statement because otherwise, a person cannot be called a son of Man, as everybody is a son of man. Christ is also called the son of God. The bible refers to Christ as the son of Man, and as the son of God.

Our thoughts and actions contribute to a large extent to the welfare or the suffering of mankind; and if they are very intense, they disturb the other layers of the cosmos such as Bhuvarloka, Suvarloka, etc. Just as when the Rakshasas were harassing the Devas, the Devas went to Rudra and Brahma and finally they beseeched Narayana to take some action, the fourteen worlds will cry for a redeeming power to act. Then the centre of the cosmos will work immediately – in a positive manner or a negative manner. The avataras of God are described in great detail in the Srimad Bhagavata Mahapurana. It is said that Narayana had twenty-four avataras, but that is only in a manner of speaking; there can be twenty-four million avataras. How many rays has the sun? We can say the sun has only one ray that, like a huge beam, inundates the entire earth in heat; or we may say that there are millions of rays – sahasrakirana. Surya is called sahasrakirana because thousands of rays emanate from it. If we close our eyes and look at the sun, sometimes we feel radiance emanating in a million-fold ways.

God may cast a single action or cast a manifold action, as the case may be. Fortunately or unfortunately, this doctrine of avataras, which is so important and so dear to the heart of man because it brings God to the very earth, is very briefly stated in the Fourth Chapter of the Gita in only two verses, and afterwards it goes into some other subject – though this is well compensated from the Seventh Chapter onwards where God’s glory is abundantly described.

The society of people has to work in a state of harmony in order that it may survive; and the harmony that is expected in human society is of two kinds – a horizontal harmony and a vertical harmony. The horizontal harmony is called varna dharma, and the vertical harmony is called ashrama dharma. The social integration brought about by a cooperative action of people through the works that they perform from their own stations is a horizontal way of the working of dharma for the purpose of integrating the quantity of humanity. But the quality of the individual also has to be enhanced; it is not enough that we merely protect the quantity of people. That qualitative ascent of the individual already protected by the quantitative forces – this vertical ascent, as I called it – is ashrama dharma which consists of brahmacharya, grihasta, vanaprastha and sannyasa, where we reach the apex of social solidarity and spiritual integration.

This also is conditioned by God. Catur-varnyam maya sristam guna-karma-vibhagasah, tasya kartaram api mam vidhy akartaram avyayam (4.13). Everything taking place historically or taking place only from the point of view of human individuals may be said to be God’s work; and yet, God does not do anything, just as the sun is the cause of every activity in the world but is not regarded as doing anything at all. We cannot lift a finger if the sun is not shining, and yet the sun is not responsible for our lifting a finger. Nadatte kasyacit papam na chaiva sukritam vibhuh (5.15): Neither is God responsible for the good that we do, nor is He responsible for the bad that we do. We are automatically rewarded or punished by a ‘computer system’ which He has set up in the form of these cosmic forces; and as the law automatically acts, our actions automatically act in the form of pleasure and pain. Therefore, the social setup – individual as well as collective – cannot be regarded as God’s work, and yet it is in a way God’s work because it is a tendency towards the growth of humanity towards God’s integrating realisation. Nothing that we do can be called God’s work – it is our work – yet without His sanction, nothing can take place. Thus, in a way God has created the whole world and does everything, but in another way He has not created the world and He does nothing.

I went into great detail concerning the avataras of God because it is something very dear to the heart of man. That God comes to our house and rescues us from moment to moment – is this not a good and happy message?