Chapter 2.2 Samkhya Yoga (Yoga of Knowledge) - Slokas 20-39
Lord Sri Krishna continues His teaching of Self Knowledge (Knowledge of Atman or Brahman) to Arjuna
Sloka 20
Na jaayate mriyate vaa kadachin naayam bhutva bhavita vaana bhuyaha
Ajo Nithyah sashvadho yam puranao na hanyate hanyamaane shareere
“He (Atman, the Self) is not born, nor does He ever die, after having been. He again ceases not to be:
Unborn, eternal, changeless and ancient, He is not killed when the body is killed “
This glorious sloka and subsequent verses glorify and explain what the Atman is. I recommend to everyone who reads this to memorize and chant it often. It is a meditative verse. It comes in Katopanishad also with a slight variation (In Katopanishad, Lord Yama explains the nature of Atman at the request of young Nachiketas, who is persistent to know what happens after death, in spite of Yama tempting him as an alternative with every pleasure that one can think of.)
Let us pray to Lord Sri Krishna to give us the persistence like Nachiketas to know the Self (Atman).
Now, let us analyze this verse.
The physical body goes through six modifications
1)Birth 2) existence 3) growth 4) decay 5) disease and 6) death
The Atman does not go through these changes and was present even before time. (Time was created by the Lord with His Maya Shakthi). The Atman is ever present as pure Existence. No modifications occur. It is not born. So, it does not die.
To explain this, Swami Chinmayaanandaji beautifully and concisely stated, “Every body dies but nobody dies”, meaning our physical body is prone to modifications and death but the Atman in us never dies. We can either identify with the body (which is impermanent) or with the Atman (which is eternal). The choice is ours.
In Sloka 22 again Lord Krishna emphasizes reincarnation. He says, “Just as a man changes his worn-out clothes into new ones, so also the Self (Atman) changes its worn out bodies and enters into new ones.”
“The snake and its skin are not one and the same. Even so the Atman and the body are different, one from the other.” – Sri Ramakrishna
Slokas 23,24 and 25 describe the characteristics of Atman, the Self.
In other words, The Atman cannot be destroyed by human made instruments or by any destructive elements like hurricanes, floods, forest fires and tornadoes. We read in Bhagavatha purana, the asura king Hiranyakashipu tried to kill his young son Prahalada, the great bhaktha of Lord Narayana, by multiple means. But, young Prahalada was unharmed, since he was constantly meditating on Lord Narayana. That made him invincible.
“What is Brahman (Atman) like? It is like explaining the ocean to one who has never seen it”- says Sri Ramakrishna. (meaning Atman is infinite, indescribable)
Slokas 26 ,27
Sri Krishna tells Arjuna not to worry since just as certain is death for the born, certain is birth for the dead.
In Sloka 29, Sri Krishna tells us that “one talks about This (Atman) as a wonder (aacharyam), another sees This as a wonder and another hears of This as a wonder, yet having heard, none understands This (Atman) at all.”
We should ponder as to why the Atman is difficult to comprehend and is a wonder. I will relate a story from Kenopanishad. Once Brahman won a victory for the Gods (Devas) over the demons. The Devas forgot who won it for them and thought the glory belonged to them. Brahman, knowing their vanity, appeared before them as an Adorable spirit. The Gods were curious to know. So, they first sent Agni (the fire God), to find out who The Adorable Spirit was. Brahman, in turn, asked Agni who he is. Agni boasted,” I am Agni, I can burn anything”. Brahman then placed a blade of grass in front of Agni and said to Agni, “Burn it”. Agni tried hard but could not burn it. Then Vayu (the wind God) was sent to find out who The Adorable spirit was. Vayu told Brahman proudly,” I can blow anything in this world”. Brahman again placed the blade of grass and told Vayu to “Blow it”. Vayu could do nothing to the blade of grass. Both of them returned without knowing who The Adorable spirit was. Finally, Indra (the king of devas) went to see who it was and The Adorable spirit disappeared. At that time Uma, (the daughter of snowy mountain Himavaan) came and told Indra it was Brahman. Then only Indra understood. Both Agni and Vayu, due to their arrogance and ignorance, could not recognize Brahman, who is the cause behind every power in the world.
Our scriptures tell us the Atman will reveal itself only to those who negates everything in life and meditates on It (Atman) and only It. If one wants to become a Nobel laureate, one has to dedicate all efforts towards that goal. The scriptures tell us to focus all our efforts to achieving the goal of realizing our true nature (Atman, the Self), while we carry out our daily responsibilities.
In Slokas 31-37, Sri Krishna tells Arjuna
Sloka 38
Sri Krishna tells Arjuna how to win and with what attitude
“Having made pleasure and pain, gain and loss, victory and defeat the same, you engage in battle for the sake of battle: thus you shall win and not incur sin”
In his poem “IF”, Rudyard Kipling says, “if you can meet with triumph and disaster, and treat those two imposters just the same”. This is stated in much more philosophical detail by Sri Krishna several thousand years ago. The Lord is telling us how to work in this world in a detached manner, which will give us the best chance of victory in any endeavor, whether it is preparing for regular exams or for the ultimate goal of Realizing the Self.
Sloka 39
Sri Krishna says “This, which has been taught to you, is wisdom concerning Samkhya. Now I will tell you about wisdom concerning Yoga. Once you know this, you will cast off the bonds of action”.
So far, the Lord taught Arjuna (and us) about the Knowledge of Atman, the Self. In the next several slokas, we will learn about how to get rid of the chains that bind us in our actions. (how to put this Self Knowledge into practice.)
Hari Om!
Dr.Shanmugam