Sampoorna Mahabharata • సంపూర్ణ శ్రీమహాభారతము • Episode 703

Episode 703: BG Chap 7

Yasmin vijnāte sarvamidam vijnātam bhavati- that on knowing which everything is known is Jnana.

Devatas impart knowledge based on a plan. One such plan was devised by Shiva-Parvati-Ganapati and Kumaraswamy.

Shiva and Parvati wanted to decide which son should get married first & obtain lordship of the troops (ganas). Being the eldest, Ganesha was entitled. Yet Kumaraswamy was adamant about obtaining them first. Hence Shiva and Parvati fixed a competition. The son who circumambulated the world thrice and returned first would be the winner.

At once Kumaraswamy mounted his peacock & and flew. Ganesha was not keen to go on his mouse vehicle. He thought- When the Vedas declare that the universe rests in his parents, why should he go on a pilgrimage? With devotion, he seated his parents, worshipped their feet, circumambulated them thrice & said, ‘I have circumambulated the world thrice’.

Here, Kumaraswamy who had sped off on his peacock noticed that at every place, his brother was travelling ahead of him. Shiva and Parvati declared Ganesha as the winner.

Thus Ganesha & Kumaraswamy have taught us that liberation exists subtly. Just as all worlds exist in Shiva-Parvati, all knowledges exist in Self-knowledge. Just as circumambulating Shiva-Parvati bestows the benefit of circumabulating the universe, by obtaining Jnana nothing else is left to be known.

Vāgvaikharī śabdajhari śāstravyākhyāna kauśalam
Vaiduṣyam viduṣām tadvat bhuktayē natu muktayē

The oratory skills, excellent flow of words, & expertise in offering commentaries on the Shastras in scholars are solely for their sustenance & do not for liberation.

Bhagavadpadacharya has said:
Śabdajālam mahāraṇyam chittabhramaṇa kāraṇam
Ataḥprayatnāt jnātavyam tattvajnāt tattvamātmanaḥ

Shastras are many. The web of words is a dense forest. Barring deluding the mind, they do nothing. Hence, with effort, one must try to obtain Jnana from a Jnani.
Hence one must strive for vignana. Once Jnana is obtained, everything else is known.

manuṣyāṇāṁ sahasreṣu kaśchidyatatisiddhaye
yatatāmapisiddhānāṁ kaścinmāṁvetti tattvataḥǁ3ǁ

Among thousands of humans, one strives for liberation. Among those who strive for liberation, only one understands Me.

This birth emerged purely to end the series of births. Only with attempts towards this, birth turns fruitful, not otherwise.

Yēṣām navidyā natapō nadānam
Jnānam naśīlam naguṇō nadharmaḥ
Tē mŗtyulōkē bhuvibhārabhūtā
Manuṣya rūpēṇamŗgāścaranti

Those who lack worldly knowledge, penance, charitable nature, Jnana, good character, virtues, & righteous conduct are animals in the human body & a burden to earth says Bhartrhari.

Jnana is the ultimate among those to be obtained on earth. This alone differentiates humans from animals.

Saying that in thousands only one knows Me, Krishna attracts Arjuna’s attention towards himself and then continues,

bhūmirāponalo vāyuḥ khaṁmano buddhirevaca
ahankāra itīyaṁme bhinnāprakṛtiraṣṭadhāǁ4ǁ

My Prakriti is eight-fold viz., earth, water, fire, wind, space, mind, intellect and egoism.

We are not referring to the 5 gross elements, but to the subtle elements as Bhagavan says ‘My prakriti’ is divided into eight. So it is – subtle earth, subtle water, subtle fire, subtle wind and subtle space.

The 5 subtle elements, mind, intellect, and ego are His 8 prakrtis. It means, His illusion has 8 divisions.

The word manas stands for ahamkara (I-ness) which is its causative factor. Buddhi stands for Mahat-tattva which is the cause for ahamkara. Ahamkara stands for the Moola-prakriti coupled with avidya or avyakta (unmanifest). Simply put, if Moola-prakriti is the tree branch, Mahat-tattva is its stalk, ahamkara is the fruit on that stalk.

Food becomes poison when poison is mixed. Likewise, Bhagavan calls unmanifest (avyakta) (the primordial cause mixed with ahamkara and subtle impressions (vasanas)) as ahamkara. Because avyakta induces ahamkara to act. Ahamkara (I) becomes the seed that propels action in every being.
apareya mitastvanyāṁ prakṛtiṁ viddhi meparām
jīvabhūtāṁ mahābāho yayedaṁ dhāryate jagatǁ5ǁ

Arjuna! This apara-prakriti is my inferior energy. That which is totally different from it, which supports the entire universe, & which is filled with Self-consciousness (jeeva roopa) is my Parā-prakriti or My superior energy.