Commentary on the Bhagavadgita

by Swami Krishnananda

The Thirteenth Chapter is very, very important. Just as the Third Chapter sums up the principles of karma yoga, the Sixth Chapter sums up the principles of raja yoga, and the Eleventh Chapter sums up the principles of bhakti yoga, the Thirteenth Chapter sums up the principles of jnana yoga. Hence, we must read at least these four chapters. To know what karma yoga is, we should read the Third Chapter; to know what bhakti yoga is, we should read the Eleventh Chapter; to know what raja yoga is, we should read the Sixth Chapter; and to know what jnana yoga is, we should read the Thirteenth Chapter.

Whoever understands this teaching given in the Thirteenth Chapter will not return to this world. Kshetra-kshetrajnayor evam antaram jnana-chakshusha, bhuta-prakriti-moksham cha ye vidur yanti te param (13.34): Those who are able to distinguish between kshetrajna and kshetra, between purusha and prakriti, between the Self and its object, and between consciousness and matter shall attain the Supreme Abode. If this distinction is clear before us, we will be totally unattached to everything in this world, and we shall not be reborn into this world of prakriti, this world of the three gunas. We will attain the Supreme Abode – param. With this we conclude the great, glorious Thirteenth Chapter.

Lord Krishna is never tired of speaking. He goes on even without being questioned by Arjuna. “Now, listen again! I shall tell you something more.” They must have had a good breakfast that morning to go on speaking like this when there was a terrible situation in front! Anyway, Sri Bhagavan now speaks: “I shall now tell you something which is a great secret.” He has already told two or three secrets, and now he is telling a fourth secret. Param bhuyah pravakshyami jnananam jnanam uttamam, yaj jnatva munayah sarve param siddhim ito gatah (14.1): “I shall tell you that secret of wisdom, by knowing which, ancient sages and saints have attained perfection.”

What is this great knowledge? Idam jnanam upasritya mama sadharmyam agatah (14.2): “People have become almost Me; they have attained My form; they have attained My permanent Eternal Abode; they have practically become Me. How? Because of the knowledge which I am going to describe to you now, they shall not be born at the time of creation: sarge’pi nopajayante. People who know this secret will not be born in the beginning of creation, and they will not be dissolved into prakriti at the time of cosmic dissolution: sarge’pi nopajayante pralaye na vyathanti cha.”

When the cosmic pralaya or dissolution takes place, all of us are helplessly driven into the bosom of prakriti’s three gunas. In the process of creation and activity as we see before our eyes, the three gunas are in a state of disturbance. The qualities of sattva, rajas and tamas – the properties of prakriti – are not in equal proportion and are not equally distributed. Because of the preponderance of one at the cost of another, we see varieties of things and manifold objects in front of us. At the time of dissolution, the three gunas lie in a state of equilibrium. There is no activity at that time, and even sattva does not operate. It is complete darkness, as it were. There is neither the solar system, nor is there anything else. All the galaxies get dissolved into it. The jivas who have not been liberated at the time of dissolution are thrown into this vast cosmic sea of prakriti, and they remain sleeping – like seeds which have not yet found the opportunity to germinate. They sleep there for as many years as Brahma sleeps when his hundred years of life are over. When a hundred years of Brahma’s night are over, Brahma’s day dawns. Then gradually, one by one, all those sleeping jivas manifest themselves – as sleeping seeds inside the earth begin to germinate and become tendrils and plants when there is rainfall. But one who knows this truth, this secret wisdom, is not dissolved and is not reborn when creation again begins.

Once again, Lord Krishna emphasises this fact. “I am the source of all things. “The entire universe is originating from Me. I am the abode, the source, the very womb of all things.” It is Mahat-brahma. It is called Brahma because it is all-pervading – universal in its nature. It is equal to what is called Hiranyagarbha, wherein all the seeds of creation are potentially lying. In Sankhya parlance, mahat is a condition where the potency for future creation lies in a latent form as very subtle possibilities, not actualised. “The entire Mahat-brahma – that great universal Brahma, through which I generate the entire variety of creation – is my womb, as it were, wherein I place the very seed of manifestation in all its variety through this potential Mahat-tattava, Hiranyagarbha-tattava.” Sambhavah sarva-bhutanam tato bhavati bharata (14.3): All beings originate from this seed of all creation.

Sarva-yonishu kaunteya murtayah sambhavanti yah, tasam brahma mahad yonir aham bija-pradah pita (14.4): “Mahat-brahma is the field in which I sow the seed of creation; and I am the father who sows this seed into the Mahat-brahma.” That is to say, the field is mulaprakriti itself, which is all-pervading in its nature. Because of the disturbance of the three gunas – sattva, rajas and tamas – it has the potency to manifest itself into variety. But it cannot act of its own accord. It cannot move, it cannot divide itself into three qualities, unless there is a spirit pushing it forward. That spirit is Supreme Consciousness, which is referred to here by Lord Krishna. Here God is referring to Himself when He says, “I am the Supreme Father that causes the germinating of the seeds of all the jivas through this Mahat-brahma.

There are three gunas. It has been mentioned many a time that there are three gunas, that prakriti has three properties – sattva, rajas and tamas. What are these? Sattvam rajas tama iti gunah prakriti-sambhavah (14.5): These properties are the very constituent elements of prakriti. They are not qualities like the whiteness of a cloth which is different from the cloth, and the blueness of a flower which is different from the flower. That is not the way in which we have to understand the qualities of prakriti. The gunas are qualities of prakriti in the same way as the three strands of a rope are qualities of the rope. We cannot say that the strands are qualities; they are the very substance of the rope. These qualities, these properties, are the very substance, the very stuff, of prakriti; and they cause bondage to the individual – nibadhnanti. Dehe dihinam avyayam nibadhnanti: They bind us.

Rajas cuts one part away from another part. It segments the one universal existence into bits of individualities, and prevents every part from knowing that it has any connection with other parts. The vehemence of rajas is twofold. Firstly, it divides the one universal existence into little bits of individuality, in all the species of creation. Then, secondly, it compels the individual to be conscious only of that location, that little part, and does not permit it to be aware of its having any connection with other individuals. Thus, it gives a double blow when it acts – firstly, it cosmically distinguishes one thing from the other, then it compels the individual to be conscious only of this body and this personality located in one place only. We always feel that we are only in one place, and not in two places. That is because rajas prevents us from knowing that we can also be in other places, by our internal connection with other bodies. It binds us in this manner. Sattvam rajas tama iti gunah prakriti-sambhavah; nibadhnanti maha-baho dehe dehinam avyayam.

Tatra sattvam nirmalatvat prakasakam anamayam, sukha-sangena badhnati jnana-sangena chanagha (14.6): If, by chance, sattva guna preponderates in a person and, by chance, the qualities of rajas and tamas are subjugated and suppressed, then what happens? Because of the purity, the transparency and the perspicuity of sattva guna, it shines like a mirror; immediately, we feel happy. Whenever we are happy, for any reason whatsoever, it is because at that moment rajas has been suppressed by the rise of sattva. But we cannot be happy always, because then rajas immediately rises up into action and suppresses sattva, and after a mood of happiness and elation, we are once again in a mood of anxiety, worry, responsibility and sleeplessness. When we are tired and fatigued of this activity, tamas comes in and makes us go to sleep. Where sattva is predominant, joy, happiness is experienced – sukha-sangena badhnati – and we are full of brilliance, sharpness of understanding, and clarity of perception, which are all qualities of sattva guna.

Rajo ragatmakam viddhi trshna-sanga-samudbhavam (14.7): Desire is the character of rajas. Illumination, knowledge, rationality, perspicuity and happiness are the characteristics of sattva; and desire, distraction, passion and attachment are the qualities of rajas. Sattva makes us calm and quiet, and satisfied with ourselves. Rajas makes us dissatisfied with ourselves, so we run about here and there and purchase appurtenances to make us happy. Trishna is the word for insatiable desire, and it compels us to toil from morning to evening: karma sangena badhnati. People say they have so much work, and they are never in peace.

What is tamas? Tamas tv ajnana-jam viddhi mohanam sarva-dehinam (14.8): Tamas is total ignorance, idiocy, lethargy, fatigue, and a desire to not do anything. It deludes the intellect so that we always confuse one thing with another thing. “Oh! I forgot it. Oh! I did not know it!” is the kind of attitude we develop. An illusion is spread before the mind by tamoguna, and it is deluding in its character as far as the individual is concerned. It causes us to blunder and make mistakes. We make mistakes everywhere, and we cannot even speak a good sentence; everywhere there is some confusion. Also, we are fatigued immediately – alasya nidra pramada. These are some of the results that follow from the preponderance of tamas.

Thus, Lord Krishna describes to Arjuna the specialties of sattvaguna, rajoguna, and tamoguna.