Commentary on the Bhagavadgita

by Swami Krishnananda

Ahimsa, non-violence, is something well known to us. All beings should feel fearlessness towards us. Abhayam sarva bhutebhyah mattah sarvam pravartate: “May all be fearless towards me” is the pratijna, or the vow, that we take. “Let nothing, let no one, be afraid of me.” Kshantih is forgiveness. If somebody does something wrong to us, we should not do the same to them. We forgive them because, after all, everybody is susceptible to making some mistake or the other. Here is a short poem: “There is so much bad in the best of us, and so much good in the worst of us, that it ill-behoves any of us to find fault with the rest of us.” So, be forgiving. Arjava: We should be honest and straightforward, and not hide anything. We should not think one thing, say another thing, and do something else. Kayena vacha manasa: There should be harmony; otherwise, there will be non-alignment of personality. Acharyopasanam: We should always be humble and worshipful before our teacher, who imparts knowledge to us. We should not show our greatness or our ego before the teacher or the Guru. Let him be worshipped as the veritable manifestation of God Himself. Saucham means physical purity, both inwardly as well as outwardly. Sthairyam is the decision that we have taken to achieve God-realisation in this birth, and not in a future birth. Atma-vinigrahah is self-restraint, the control of the senses and the mind.

Indriyartheshu vairagyam is distaste for the objects of sense. Neither do we want to hear anything, nor do we want to taste anything, nor do we want anything at all that the senses usually consider as very delighting. There is nothing in this world which can delight us. Therefore, we should be rid of longing for the objects of sense. Anahankara: We should not project our ego in any way whatsoever, nor go on thinking how we were born into this world, how we have grown up, how we will become old and leave this body one day. Is this world – where everything decays, decomposes, and turns to dust – a haven of pleasure and joy? How can anyone pat himself on the back and say that he is well off in this world?

Therefore, janma-mrtyu-jara-vyadhi-duhkha-doshanudarsanam. We should think of the way in which we were born into this world – a very, very unpleasant way indeed in which we were born. The process of dying, the going from this world, is also very unpleasant indeed. Old age is unpleasant, sickness is unpleasant, all kinds of sorrow which we have to encounter daily, and the defects of sense objects – these are to be contemplated upon every day. These truths of life – janma-mrtyu-jara-vyadhi-duhkha-dosha – should be brooded upon every day.

There is defect in every sense object. It looks honey-coated and tasty, but inside there is a poison which will kill us. Na visham vishamityuktam visham vishayachintanam: Ordinary poison cannot be considered as dangerous as the poison of sense objects, because ordinary poison – scorpion or even snake venom – will destroy us only once; but the vishaya chintana, the contemplation of sense objects, will kill us in several births. Therefore, these kinds of sorrows should be borne in mind, and we should not be entangled in them.

Asaktir: Therefore, we should be detached from things, and live an individual life. We should be alone to ourselves and not mix socially, as these people are not necessary for us. Anabhishvangah: We should not seek contact with anybody. We should not look for people to chat with. There should be no contact. We do not need friends. Putra-dara-grhadishu: Also, we should not be attached to our family members – such as son/daughter, husband/wife, property/house. If we are householders, we have some duty to perform as a trustee of an institution, not attaching oneself to anything, but doing one’s duty very, very meticulously. We may live at home, but we should detach ourselves, knowing well that one day or the other we will leave this, and also knowing that one day or the other they will leave us. Hence, attachment is unfounded and unwarranted.

Asaktir anabhishvangah putra-dara-grhadishu, nityam cha sama-chittatvam ishtanishtopapattishu: Whether pleasant things or unpleasant things come – whether good news comes that makes us feel happy, or there is something which makes us very unhappy – we should keep our mind in a state of balance and not be tilted either to this side or that.  

Mayi chananya yogena bhaktir avyabhicharini: Finally, we should resort to God only. Avyabhicharini bhakti is ekabhakti, which means wanting only one, and not wanting anything else. If we want another thing simultaneously, it is vyabhicharini bhakti. Here is avyabhicharini bhakti, where we do not want anything else except that one thing. “May that devotion be fixed on Me.” And what kind of fixing is it? Ananyogena: “With an undivided assiduity of concentration, may you be devoted to Me with a devotion that has no second.”

Mayi chananya yogena bhaktir avyabhicharini, vivikta desa sevitvam: We should always try to live ekantam – alone – and not in a thoroughfare or a city, where there is a lot of noise and dust. As far as possible, we should try to live in ekantavas, have ekantavas, and be satisfied in ourselves and not require anybody else with us. Vivikta-desa-sevitvam aratir jana-samsadi is dislike for crowds of people. If there is a crowd of people, we should leave that place and go somewhere else – sit under a tree. We should not have any kind of taste for organisations, crowds, and the noise of human society. We should be alone to ourselves.

Adhyatma-jnana nityatvam: Our daily routine should be working for the acquisition of adhyatma jnana, the knowledge of the Self. We should work for it day and night. Tattva-jnanartha-darsanam: We should aspire for the vision of Truth, and ask for nothing else. Etat jnanam iti proktam: If we have these qualities, we have knowledge. Ajnanam yadato’nyatha: If we do not have these qualities, we are ignorant. It is said that we should aspire for knowledge of Truth: tattva-jnanartha-darsanam. What is Truth? Jneyam yat tat pravakshyami yaj jnatvamrtam asnute, anadimat param brahma na sat tan nasad uchyate (13.12): “I shall now tell you what Truth is. That Supreme Brahman is the Ultimate Truth, after knowing which there is attainment of immortality.” Anadimat param brahma: It has no beginning and no end. It cannot be designated either as existing or not existing. It cannot be called existing because whenever we think of any existing thing, we want to see it with our eyes or consider it as some object of some sense organ. As it is not the object of any sense organ, we do not consider it to be existing; but neither is it not non-existing – because, ultimately, it is the only existence. Na sat tan nasad uchyate: Therefore, it cannot be regarded as sat, and it cannot be regarded as asat either.

Sarvatah pani-padam (13.13): It is spreading itself everywhere. Everywhere we can find the hands and feet of that Being. Sarvato’kshi-siro-mukham: Everywhere are the eyes of that Being, everywhere are the heads of that Being, and everywhere are the faces of that Being. Sarvatah srutimal loke: Everywhere are the ears of that Being. Sarvam avrtya tishthati: It envelops all things.

Sarvendriya-gunabhasam sarvendriya-vivarjitam (13.14): That which we cognise through the sense organs as objects of sense is also a manifestation of this Brahman, conditioned by the sense organs. But it is free from all sense organs. It can be cast into the mould of sensory perception in the form of objects, but It is not an object because It has no relationship with any sense organ. Asaktam: It has no relation to anything in the world. Transcendent is the Reality. Sarva-bhrc caiva: Though It is transcendent, It supports everything by also being immanent at the same time. Nirgunam guna-bhoktr cha: It has no quality by itself, because to say that a thing has quality would be to compare it to something else. It is blue, It is red, It is tall, It is short – we cannot say anything about It because all these definitions, all these descriptions, require a comparison of It with something else; and because something else external to It does not exist, It cannot be regarded as having any quality at all. Therefore, It is called nirgunam. Guna-bhoktr cha: But all qualities reside in It. Though It has no quality by Itself, whatever beauty we see, whatever colour we see, whatever sound we hear, whatever sensations we have, everything is on account of Its existence. Every kind of statue can be found inside a block of stone, but actually there is no statue at all inside a block of stone.

Bahir antas cha bhutanam (13.15): It is everywhere – outside us, as well as inside us, like a pot that is sunk in the ocean has water outside it as well as inside it. This Brahman is flooding us: inwardly as the Atman, and outwardly as Brahman. Bahir antas cha bhutanam: Everywhere It is, outside and inside. Acharam: It does not shake or move; and it does not fluctuate like the world of the three gunas. Charam eva cha: It moves, and nobody can move faster than it; and yet it is totally immovable. These are the tremendous contradictory qualities of God. Nobody can be faster than He, nobody can be quicker in action than He, and yet He does nothing; He is stable, remaining in His own abode. Sukshmatvat tad avijneyam: Because of Its subtlety, because It is subtler than even the mind, subtler than even the intellect, it is impossible to know It through these instruments of mind and intellect. Durastham: It is very far. It looks as if It is infinitely far away from us – beyond the stars – because we cannot see It anywhere. We always imagine that the Supreme Being is very far away – many, many, millions of light years away – yet It is very near, in our throat itself. Durastham chantike cha tat: Nothing can be farther than That, because of Its vastness and infinitude; and nothing can be nearer than That, because it is the Selfhood of all beings.

Avibhaktam cha bhuteshu (13.16): It cannot be divided into parts – some atman here, some atman there. It is one indivisible sea of Selfhood, yet It appears to be divided into little atmans – my atman, your atman, this self, that self, etc. Vibhaktamiva cha sthitam: It looks as if It is cut into pieces of atman across many living beings, while actually It is indivisible – like space appearing to be cut into parts when there are vessels containing little spaces. Little spaces are not parts of the universal space. There is only one universal space, though it appears as if they are all divided into many vessels in which we cognise this vast space. Bhuta-bhartr cha: It is the protector, the supporter, and the benefactor of all living beings. Taj jneyam: Know that it is this character of the Supreme Being. Grasishnu: It absorbs everything into Itself. Prabhavishnu: It releases everything from Itself.

Jyotishamapi taj jyotih (13.17): It is the Light of all lights. Na tatra suryo bhati: thousands of suns cannot stand before it. The light of the sun is like darkness before It. Tamasah param: Beyond the darkness of the world shines that supreme radiance of the Absolute. Jnanam jneyam jnana-gamyam: It is knowledge, It is the object of knowledge, and It is also the knower. All three clubbed together is that Eternity which is Brahman, the Absolute. Hrdi sarvasya vishthitam: It is in our own heart. We should not be afraid that this tremendous description is of something that is very, very far away. It is in the heart of all.

Iti ksetram tatha janam jneyam coktum samasath (13.18): “So I have briefly told you, Arjuna, what is the field as well as what is the knower of the field, cosmically as well as individually.”