The Spiritual Import of the Mahabharata
and the Bhagavadgita

by Swami Krishnananda

So here is the central theme of the twelfth chapter before us, after which the characteristics of a real devotee are described. A real devotee is one who hates not or loves not anything in this world in an exclusive manner, but is compassionate, merciful and equanimous in his attitude towards all things; principally one who shrinks not from anything and one who does not conduct oneself in such a way as to be shrunk away from by others. Yasman nodvijate loko lokn nodvijate ca yah:One who does not regard oneself as a proprietor of anything. You have no propriety right over anything—aniketah sthira-matir. Aniketah is one who has no habitat. Even the house you live in is not your house. You are a trustee, as it were, a caretaker of the so-called property which appears to be invested upon you but of which you are not the owner in any manner whatsoever. Who can say that we are the owners of anything in this world? We are not the owners of even this body. Hence, performing one’s duty with this dedicated spirit, not regarding anything as one’s property or belonging, thus severing oneself from attachments of every type, one lives a godly life. This is the sum and substance of the twelfth chapter.

When we move to the thirteenth chapter, we are entering a more philosophical theme. As a matter of fact, from the thirteenth chapter onwards, we are entering into deeper and deeper philosophical discussions, which are placed before us as methods of implementing the doctrine of the whole of the Gita delineated in the earlier chapters, right from the first to the eleventh. The whole world of experience consists of the dual action of purusha and prakriti, consciousness and matter, ksetrajnah and ksetra—thus the thirteenth chapter begins. Ksetrajnam cpi mam viddhi sarva-ksetresu is a very important passage at the very commencement of the chapter. The ksetrajnah mentioned here in the thirteenth chapter, the consciousness, the Atman, the kutastha, the soul inside us, is not merely the individual light that shines in the heart of a particular person. It is the light that is the light in all beings, sarva-ksetresu, and not only in one ksetra. It is not my self or your self or someone’s self—it is the Soul of all beings.

Thus, the presence of God in an individual implies, at the same time, the omnipresence of God, and this omnipresent Being is the source of this creation. Along the lines of the Samkhya cosmology, the thirteenth chapter mentions the process of the evolution of the various elements in the cosmos. The Supreme Being is God Himself who condenses Himself into the creative will, known in the Samkhya language as mahat, mentioned here as buddhi in the thirteenth chapter, which becomes possible on account of the presence of avyakta. Samkhya calles it mula prakriti; Vedanta calls it maya shakti, and so on. The self-delimitation of God in the form of a Creator is explained as an act which is beyond the intelligence of the human being. This unintelligibility of the manner in which God descends, as it were, into the creative purpose is described as prakriti in Samkhya, maya in Vedanta, and avyakta here in the thirteenth chapter.

Through avyakta God reveals Himself as buddhi or mahat and stratifies Himself further down as the cosmic ego, ahamkara. In later Vedantic doctrines, these stages are described as ishwara, hiranyagarbha, and virat. The terminology of the Bhagavadgita is different, but it means almost the same thing. Right from the supreme will of the Creator to the manifestation of cosmic ahamkara, there is only paradise reigning in the universe. There is only a garden of Eden, only heaven, and supreme felicity of cosmic perception everywhere. There is no egoism, no hatred, not even an individual consciousness. But then starts the sorrow of the individual. There is the manifestation of the grossened elements, mahabhutani—earth, water, fire, air and ether—which look like objects of sense to individuals who are cut off from the outside world. These individuals are again constituted of the five layers—annamaya, pranamaya, manomaya, vijnaamaya and anandamaya koshas—the physical, vital, mental, intellectual and causal layers, which appear to be outside the universe. Then what happens: Iccha dvesah sukham duhkham sanghatas cetana dhrtih. Well, all trouble arises at once, like the cyclone that blows as soon as the sun is beclouded by a darkened screen in the monsoon season. Desires and hatreds of various types take possession of the individual ego as soon as it is severed from the cosmic fold. This much is the short description, an outline given in the thirteenth chapter of the Gita of the kshetra or the field of action, the universe in its material form.

Now, the description goes further down to the nature of the percipient, the subject who aspires for God or the attainment of liberation. What are the characteristics of such a person? What is jnana? What is the knowledge that is required of us in order to understand this kshetra,and what is the knowable or the supreme object of knowledge? Amanitvam adambhitvam, etc. are the various verses, beautiful indeed, which portray not only the ethical characteristics that are required of a seeker, but also the philosophical attitude that we have to maintain and the spiritual qualifications that are required of us. The gradual ascent of aspiration until tattva-jnanartha-darsanam takes place is mentioned in these verses, culminating in the beautiful concept of knowledge of Truth as it is. This comes to us by the service of the Guru, study of the scriptures, self-investigation, humility, unpretentiousness and such other qualities that are mentioned in these verses, beginning with amanitvam, etc. This is knowledge, and everything else is ignorance—etaj jnanam iti porktam ajnanam yad ato’nyatha.

With this knowledge of our true relationship to the creation of God, with this preparedness of spirit, what are we supposed to know? What is the object of attainment? What is knowable reality? Here is a very grand description of the supreme Brahman, which comes only once in the whole of the Gita, and that occurs in the thirteenth chapter. Jneyam yat tat pravaksyami yaj jnatvamrtam asnut: Knowing which you shall attain immortality. What is that, by knowing which, you shall attain immortality? Sarvatah pani-padam tat sarvato’ksi-siro-mukham, sarvatah srutimal loke sarvam avrtya tisthati. There is something that is invisible to the eyes but which exists everywhere, with hands and feet and eyes and heads everywhere, as it were, pervading all things inwardly and outwardly; deepest and nearest, inside us and yet most remote and unreachable by any effort of man. Sarvendriya- gunabhasam sarvendriya-vivarjitam, asaktam: It is free from the limitations of the senses. The Supreme Being does not perceive with eyes and ears as we do, yet It is the illuminator of all the senses. It is not conditioned by the sense organs, but without It the sense organs cannot function.

Avibhaktam ca bhutesu vibhaktam iva ca sthitam, bhuta-bhartr ca tat jneyam grasisnu prabhavisnu ca. Jyotisam api taj jyotis tamasah param uchyate, jnanam jneyam jnana-gamyam hrdi sarvasya vis°hitam. This grand description goes with the declaration that this great Reality is indivisible—it cannot be separated into parts. It cannot be partitioned in any manner, yet it appears as if it is divided among the objects of sense, which are different one from the other. Avibhaktam ca bhutesu: Like space which is undivided everywhere and yet it may appear to be divided by the various vessels or pots, glasses, etc. which carry little spaces within themselves, though the space is unaffected by these so-called delimitations thereof by the presence of walls and vessels and the like, so is God’s Being unaffected by the divisions which we see through the perceptions of the senses. This great Being is within us and not far from us. It is rooted in the deepest recesses of the heart of everyone. It is the Light of all lights—even the sun cannot shine there. Mystics have said that the light of the sun is the shadow of God. Such is the brightness that we can expect in the vision of the Absolute. All these are figurative descriptions to entertain us with the majesty of God’s Being. Otherwise, who can explain what this light is? It is superior to anything that we can think of, understand, imagine, perceive or cognise. The philosophical background of the thirteenth chapter of the Bhagavadgita is concluded here, and further ethical and practical implications of it will follow further on.