Gita teaches Atamvidya

Let’s ponder over these lines from Chapter 10:

  na mE viduH suragaNAH praBavaM na maharShayaH |

  ahamadihiM dEvAnAM maharShiNAM ca sarvaSaH || (2)

  AdityAnAmahaM viShNurjyOtiShAM raviraMShumAn |

  marIchirmarutAmasmi nakShatrANAmahaM shashI || (21)

  vRuShNInAM vAsudEvO’smi pAMDavAnAM dhanaMjayaH |

  munInAmyahaM vyAsaH kavInAmuSanA kaviH ||(36)

  mRutyuH sarvaharashca ahaM udBavashca BaviShyatAm |  (34)

   These are only a few examples cited in order to bring out how the Lord makes it very clear as to “Who He Is”. He says, “Not even Gods and the Learned Sages, jnani and Rishis know ‘ME’!”

   Further, He says, “Whosoever knows ‘Me’ as the Unborn, Formless, Deathless, Eternal and Immortal only knows ‘Me’ right.”

   Also, He, the Lord, also makes it very clear as to ‘Who we, the Jivatma are’, and ‘Who, He the Paramatman is’ in many unmistakable terms. He says, “I only exist in all- as their  ‘Self’,  Life-force (prANa), Consciousness (pradnya), and their vital-airs (life-breath). It is I who “as Vaishvanara I digest the four types of food in all jiva.”

       ya EvaM vEtti puruShaM prakRutiM ca guNaiH saha |

       sarvathA vartamAnO’pi na sa BUyO’BijAyatE || (13. 23)

“He who knows the purusha and prakRuiti of the Sankhya will not be born again, in whatever way he may live.” The Sankhyans are jnani who have realized the Truth, the Self.  However, it is reiterated here that the supreme Lord is mahApuruSa and transcends the principle of ‘purusha-prakruti duality’; one has to transcend all dualities in order to reach Him. Ultimately, He, It, ‘tat’ is ‘ekam’ (‘tadekam’) only.

  aByAsayogayuktEna cEtasA nAnyagAminA |

  paramaM puruShaM divyaM yAti pArthAnuciMtayan || (8. 7)

  mAmupEtya punarjanma duHkhAlayaM ashAshvatam |

   nApnuvaMti mahAtmAnaH saMsiddhiM paramaM gatAH ||8. 15)

   mAmupEtya tu kouMtEya punarjanma na vidyatE || (8. 16)

 This is the secret of liberation (muktiyogarahasya) as revealed by none else than the Blessed Lord.

   “This supreme science of the ‘bhagavad-gItA’ is periodically retrieved as and when lost during the great upheavals, pralaya, and restored to pious people and their scriptures as also revealed Himself. He having manifested as an avatara purusha at the beginning of every epoch manvantara as the ‘manu’ and again taking forms and restoring the veda, dharma, order and righteousness whenever these are subverted by unscrupulous people. “He, eternally manifests again and again as Manu, along with the trinity- a Brahma, Vishnu and Maheshvara, Seven Rishis, Devatas, Yakshas, Gandharvas, Kinnaras, Siddhas and Sadhyas, and other paraphernalia” (see Vishnu Purana). A cycle of fourteen Yugas pass in a day’s life of the Supreme Creator Brahma and everything disappear (enters into him) with the onset of his night. With the dawn, another cycle starts! This is involution and evolution of the Universe. It is symbolically presented as the blooming of a Lotus with the dawn and closing of the petals at night. The creator is depicted as one seated on the Lotus.

    This is actually the “Descent of Consciousness” from the toes of Sriman Narayana to Earth and its further ‘ascent’ in all the five elements, their tanmatra, and the jiva made of them. Further, these are explicitly stated as ‘evolution’ and ‘dissolution’ here. The chronology of six ‘evolutions’ with a very time is given in Glossory. Brahma, the Creator is presented symbolically as a four-faced Deity seated on a lotus (also see Mahabharata, Santi-parva, CCCXLIX). The Story of Evolution is also given in Appendix for better understanding of the gItA.

Who are these Govinda, Narayana, Vasudeva, Shree Krishna, Vishnu, Rudra,  Shankara, Soma, Surya, Aditya, etc. anyway?

    There is no need to ask this question since the Chapters 9 and 10 make it clear as in verses cited below:

 ahaM AtmA guDAkEsha sarvaBUtAshayasthitaH | (10)

 AdityAnAmahaM viShNurjyOtiShAM raviraMShumAn | (11)

 rudrANAMSankarAScAsmi . . .      | (13)

  vRuShNInAM vAsudevO’smi pAMDavAnAM dhanaMjaya |

  munInAmavyahaM vyAsaH . . .      || (37)

  avAjAnaMti mAM mUDhA mAnuShIM tanumAshritam |

  paraM BAvamajAnaMtO mama BUtamahESvaram || (9.11)

  Here, it may come as a shock to some readers if it is pointed out that there is no Shree Krishna, Arjuna, Vyasa, Shankara, or Rudra, Soma, or Surya, Bhagavan since all are different names of one ‘universal Consciousness’ called Narayana only. As per the Vedic statement: eko dEva narAyaNa, vipra bahudhA vadaMti |

   And, that supreme Lord is the “One only, and there is none second to Him”, ekaM advitIyam | Always remember that Shree Krishna is Paramatma Narayana Devata, as also, Arjuna (see Ch. 10. vibhuutiyoga). Lord Shree Krishna says, He is dhananjaya, vedavyAsa, and suurya and soma, too. There is no end to his manifestations! Hence, Vyasa Deva who is dictating the epic is none else but Shree Krishna only. He only writes as gaNapati, too. There are references in Rk Veda regarding Narayana, Vasudeva, Shree Krishna, etc. The nameless one is called a thousand names! nArAyaNa is paramAtma devata in the gAyatri mantra. Shree Krishna fought against Indra (Rk Veda 8. 96. 13-15). Angirasa Shree Krishna mentioned as a Rishi is alo not just a Saint in human form. Angirasa is the essence, sattva, potency of ‘citi’, Agni or Fire. ‘citi’ is derived from ‘cit’ the derivative of ‘sat’, the innate nature of saguna Brahmn. Angirases are sparks of fire and the soul of the humans! Also, it must be remembered that the Veda is apourusheya, not a literature written by anybody. It is the Knowledge of the Self, Atmajnyan. So also, the Bhagavad-gItA, revealed as anahata dhvani (the inner voice, heard as one’s own inner voice of the Sellf, the Atman; and, who ever knows this is an Atmavidu. Since Atma eva brahma, a knower of brahmn, the Atmavidu is also a brahmavidu (See “Decoding the Veda- Rk Veda Samhita” by the same author)

    The names, forms, and functions in bhagavad-gItA do not convey any meaning since the supreme omnipotent Lord may assume any form He likes. He may appear and disappear whenever and wherever He wants! He is sovereign, omniscient, and omnipresent; nobody can question His authority. One need not attach any importance to the names of characters of epics since they have come later in the form of mythologic literature for common people. Bhagavad-gItA is the “Science of Transcendental Consciousness” (atindriya-pradnya Shastra), a spiritual science of practical importance. However, the names of Gods are better explained in the Veda as a single autonomous (svayambhu) power (Sakti) that assumes different forms such as Light, Energy, Force, Life (praNa), Knowledge (dnyan), etc. ekO dEva viprA vadaMti bahudhA | meaning, the one God called by many names by the learned ones (vipra).

      Hence, these are very significant terms used to denote the eternality of pure Consciousness and its flow, its pervasive nature, its ascent and descent. Vishnu is that which pervades, ‘vish’ meaning ‘to pervade’. Shree Krishna is that immutable, eternal, pure Consciousness that does not decrease, diminish or perish with time and distance. The term Narayana also stands for Shree Krishna, the eternal flow of Consciousness. All these powers have in course of time acquired the status of deities, gods, forces, or Shakti. There are deities and lesser deities, powers who have been gifted with delegated powers of these higher powers. These are akin to step downof electric power down the line from the generating stations to our towns and homes.

    The gitopadeSha has been transmitted from time to time to keep the principle of ‘Dharma’- the Light, the power of sustenance, Energy, and Force alive through the Millennia. It is given to Brahma and he in turn passes it ion to his off-springs, brain-children like Atharvan, Narada, legendary figures having no physical traits including the body of flesh and bones. They are ‘div’ (Light) like stars. Light has a significant place in the Veda. Light is Veda, Knowledge. Light is Consciousness and Consciousness is everything. Light is one thing that has bewildered scientists, but not the sages and saints since the latter are light by themselves!