# 11: Bhagavad Gita Class by Swami Tadatmananda - Ch.2 Verses 18 - 22

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGUjFsS5W2E

[00:05] [Applause]
[00:13] [Applause]
[00:18] [Music]
[01:04] Welcome back to our weekly Bhagavad-Gita class.
[01:09] We continue on chapter 2 and we'll begin as we do each time, reciting the verses immediately before and after where we're studying in the text.
[01:20] We'll begin our recitation today with verse 16.
[01:23] And please glance at the meaning while I'm chanting so that you know what the meaning is as you chant.
[01:29] Repeat after me, verse 16.
[01:32] Yes.
[02:13] [Music]
[04:57] [Applause]
[05:26] [Music]
[06:05] good we'll stop there and pick up the thread.
[06:09] you notice the dramatic shift of meter and when the meter shifts our mode of chanting also shifts.
[06:16] uh we begin today with verse 18.
[06:27] it's just recited again just to get focused on the verse verse 18.
[06:30] antavanta
[07:19] just getting the words in my mind so we can understand them.
[07:24] uh clearly here um we actually have a little vocabulary that it would be worthwhile to make sure that we understand several words clearly that are used frequently in the bhagavad-gita and elsewhere.
[07:40] let me show them on the board.
[07:45] these words we've mostly we've used before but perhaps not so we find in this verse the word de ha deja.
[07:53] means body the usual etymological translation is that which is fit for burning after they're dead.
[08:08] another word we frequently use which is a synonym for for deja is sharira.
[08:21] which is a synonym means exactly the same.
[08:25] deha body shari body but when we talk about stullas physical body uh gross body and sukshma subtle body we're more likely to use the word sharira than they have.
[08:42] we could use sukhmadeja stula deja but the tradition is more to use the word sharira and as i just mentioned there are two different dejas or shadiras that we've discussed.
[08:53] we've discussed at some length the stuller or physical tangible physical body made of physical elements and then we've also discussed the subtle body.
[09:12] one distinction is where the stulla sharira is made of physical elements the sukshma sharira is made of.
[09:23] of sukshma bhutas non-physical elements.
[09:25] stula sharira is made of stulla bhutas.
[09:29] physical elements suksma sharira is made.
[09:36] same five elements within primordial forms we won't get into the details right now.
[09:42] some of you have studied panchi karana that's what i'm referring to.
[09:47] but i won't there's no need to explain that right here now.
[09:51] we want to make uh and by the way you remember our metaphor that this tulasharera is like your hardware.
[10:01] the metaphor we've been using is that of a computer.
[10:06] so computer has hardware and software.
[10:10] your physical body represents the physical portion of the computer the computer's hardware.
[10:17] but inside your computer is software.
[10:22] that software is non-physical right as
[10:25] we discussed at some length all the data in your heart in your computer doesn't weigh anything the programs don't weigh anything.
[10:34] programs and data are non-physical but they very much exist and they give your your per your computer the ability to work so the uh your stool is represented by your computer's hardware your suksma shader represented by your computer software but as we discussed the computer your computer won't work without a third element you can have hardware and software but if you have no electricity your computer doesn't do a thing.
[11:10] that electricity represents atma as we've discussed before the true self and here let me introduce the other set of words because the com the electricity when your computer is on the electricity
[11:28] dwells inside the computer.
[11:33] that which to that which dwells inside the computer is the electricity.
[11:37] here the words we're going to use for indweller de hin is that which dwells inside the deha and that which is that which possesses a body that which dwells in the body as de hin by the way it frequently becomes de he due to grammar when it becomes nominative in case and the same transformation takes place for the word sharira.
[12:15] is that which has a sharira that which dwells in a sharira.
[12:20] uh both of these words refer to atma.
[12:24] atma is the one who dwells in your physical body.
[12:28] Deha atma is the one who dwells in your sharira.
[12:33] Dwells within the stool of sharira and dwells within the sukshmashira.
[12:37] Of course within the sukshma is a little bit vague because the school of sharira doesn't have a particular form.
[12:47] But we can say that consciousness atma just to pick up our prior discussions.
[12:56] Atma in the most fundamental and simple sense is consciousness.
[13:00] The consciousness by which your mind and thoughts and emotions is no.
[13:07] Are known.
[13:07] Now look at that consciousness is behind your mind.
[13:12] Mind as you remember is part of your sukshma.
[13:15] So therefore that which is behind your mind is atma which is this de hin de he or shariran.
[13:30] shariri and we said that is atma the true self.
[13:37] and as i said in the most simple sense and just to conclude this introduction when we say atma's consciousness we're not referring to an idea or a concept.
[13:48] atma is that consciousness which is present in your experience right now allowing you to be aware of what's happening inside your mind and what's happening outside around you.
[14:05] so atma is not a concept.
[14:06] atma is you in a fundamental sense you as consciousness okay.
[14:22] that brief introduction will help okay that brief introduction will help us with this verse a lot because you see both the word charin in the second line and they ha in the first line those words.
[14:32] are used
[14:35] in plural here
[14:39] these bodies referring to both
[14:42] students and sukshma
[14:46] hardware and software so to speak both
[14:49] of these
[14:50] are antavanta
[14:54] they are limited
[14:59] that which has a limit that which has a boundary
[15:02] that which comes to an end
[15:03] so your computer won't last forever
[15:09] so uh your computer eventually actually what happens is it becomes out of date and you retire it it ends up being often ends up being recycled someplace
[15:13] in fact we'll come back to that recycling metaphor a little bit later so imei
[15:27] these physical bodies tulashireras
[15:35] and suksma subtle bodies.
[15:39] they are antavanta.
[15:42] they are limited time bound.
[15:45] mortal and they in the middle of the second line.
[15:50] you have to break the words apart yes.
[15:55] they are they are said to be.
[16:03] belonging to the.
[16:06] embodied being.
[16:15] they are said to be just looking for a simple translation here.
[16:19] they are said to belong to the shariri the indwelling being as we said before consciousness.
[16:29] atma which is here is a adjective to shariri.
[16:36] So these mor notice the difference.
[16:39] Between the bodies being mortal time bound but they are invested with an immortal conscious being.
[16:50] That immortal conscious being is Atma.
[16:53] That Atma here is called Shariran.
[16:57] So Sharira naha they these time-bound mortal bodies belong to and are inhab invested in physical bodies and superb uh shutters.
[17:18] And that which dwells within is eternal, unborn, uncreated, unchanging.
[17:28] You also remember our definition of Sat from a prior class.
[17:31] We said Sat or Satyam is that which
[17:36] exists with without change in all the three periods of time.
[17:41] past present and future so look at the difference between antavanta that which is limited and time-bound therefore assat by our definition compared to nithya referring to atma the indweller which is sat as in ananda we've gone over that before okay so these physical bodies these time-bound physical bodies belong to the belong to the conscious being which dwells within that conscious being which dwells within which is nithya in the second line and in the third line is anashi anashi.
[18:39] indestructible so these are words now describing that indwelling atma consciousness that consciousness is nitya eternal unchanging.
[18:53] that that consciousness is anashi in the third line um indestructible.
[19:01] and that consciousness is this word is problematic because it has several different meanings.
[19:12] apramea is sometimes translated as unknowable or unimaginable inconceivable.
[19:23] those translations are not helpful uh the translation here immeasurable.
[19:30] all of those words are meaningful you can translate words in many ways.
[19:34] if you look up any english word in a big dictionary you'll find many meanings.
[19:39] and if you look up pramayah in a sanskrit dictionary you'll find many meanings
[19:47] so for ah pramaya we'll find many meanings but we have to choose meanings that are helpful
[19:54] and here if we say that these are adjectives for atma
[19:58] if atma is said to be inconceivable and unknowable what's the point of all these vedantic teachings
[20:09] so the better translation here for apramaya is immeasurable which is actually a very literal translation you can't measure it
[20:21] in fact i think i joked with you before atma is a consciousness within you
[20:26] and i think i asked you before how tall is your consciousness
[20:30] how wide how much does it weigh right
[20:35] consciousness is not a physical entity
[20:38] it is in that sense immeasurable
[20:42] yet if you want to use this word on translation as unknowable is commonly used
[20:49] but then we have to qualify it atma is unknowable as an object
[20:55] generally we know objects we know things like the chair
[21:02] we know things like cloth
[21:04] but chair and cloth are objects
[21:08] atma exists but not as a knowable object
[21:11] in fact atma exists as you the knowing subject
[21:16] do you see the difference
[21:20] and they're very dramatic so there are objects known to you
[21:23] those objects are outside
[21:25] and then there is the knowing subject which is inside
[21:29] so atma is not knowable as an object
[21:32] atma is not measurable can't be seen heard tasted smell touched etc
[21:43] atma is consciousness your true self.
[21:47] So having established all this.
[21:54] Sri Krishna then concludes tasman.
[21:56] Therefore.
[21:58] Bharata.
[21:58] Bharatou descendant of king Bharat.
[22:01] O great Arjuna.
[22:02] Yudhya swah.
[22:06] Hindi may yudh karo.
[22:09] Go and go and fight and it has that just like yud karo has that uh injunctive sense you must do it.
[22:17] This uh Sanskrit term yudhya swah has exactly the same sense.
[22:22] It's a command Sri Krishna saying Arjuna.
[22:26] Get up and fight.
[22:26] Remember Arjuna has fallen to the seat of his chariot in the end of the first chapter.
[22:34] Having been overcome by his his emotions.
[22:37] What is the sense here of this command Arjuna get up and fight?
[22:43] remember arjuna doesn't want to fight
[22:47] because he doesn't want to kill bhishma
[22:50] and drona and all the people he loves
[22:53] but sri krishna has just made the point
[22:55] and that is
[22:56] the essence of bhisma and drona will
[23:00] not die on the battlefields
[23:03] now true their bodies will die without
[23:06] doubt bishma's body will
[23:08] fall dead on the battlefield drona's
[23:10] body will fall dead on the battlefield
[23:12] both of them killed
[23:14] eventually by by arjuna
[23:17] point is when arjuna
[23:20] loves bhishma androni doesn't love their
[23:23] bodies
[23:24] it's not the bodies that he's attached
[23:27] to so therefore the fact that their
[23:29] bodies will fall
[23:30] on the battlefield is not a reason not
[23:33] to fight
[23:34] similarly the sukshma sharira
[23:39] that is that dwells within bhisma and
[23:42] drona
[23:43] will travel after death now
[23:46] we haven't discussed that in much deep
[23:48] much detail
[23:49] but we understand according to the
[23:52] doctrine of karma
[23:53] and the teachings about incarnation and
[23:55] that is at the time of death
[23:57] the sukshma that which enlivens the
[24:01] physical body
[24:02] detaches itself from the physical body
[24:05] travels on according to the laws of
[24:08] karma
[24:08] and eventually acquires another body
[24:11] for other karmas to be discharged to be
[24:15] ex
[24:16] to be experienced these are two reasons
[24:22] for arjuna not to be excessively
[24:26] concerned
[24:28] about death and
[24:32] maybe it should be said here
[24:35] death is one of the hardest realities to
[24:39] deal with
[24:40] in life the death of our loved ones and
[24:43] our own eventual deaths
[24:47] many people would say that death is the
[24:50] the
[24:51] biggest challenge the most threatening
[24:54] challenge in life
[24:55] well look at the approach of the
[24:57] bhagavad-gita
[24:59] it addresses this biggest challenge of
[25:02] life this most
[25:03] threatening challenge of life it
[25:05] addresses it
[25:06] head on in this way shri krishna says
[25:10] argent
[25:10] says to arjuna arjuna there's no
[25:14] need to grieve remember how the
[25:16] teachings of the second chapter began
[25:19] ashochyanan in verse 11.
[25:22] arjuna you are grieving for those who
[25:25] don't deserve grave
[25:27] grief why do they not deserve grief
[25:30] well their bodies are inevitably going
[25:32] to fall on the battlefield
[25:35] and but their suksma sharira subtle
[25:37] bodies will travel on
[25:39] and further consciousness which is the
[25:43] essence of their beings the essence of
[25:46] bhishma's being confusing
[25:50] is consciousness atma the essence of
[25:52] drona's existence
[25:54] is consciousness atma and that
[25:57] consciousness as we'll see in more
[25:59] detail
[26:00] is utterly unaffected
[26:05] on that battlefield by any
[26:09] weapon in fact well i'm getting ahead
[26:12] we're going to see
[26:13] we may get to that first we may not
[26:16] anyway
[26:16] sri krishna is going to establish in the
[26:19] coming verses
[26:20] really vividly how atma
[26:23] is not subject to being affected in
[26:27] any way by the weapons employed on a
[26:30] battlefield
[26:31] so for all these reasons sri krishna
[26:35] says to
[26:36] to arjuna
[26:39] therefore arjuna get up and fight
[26:42] okay we'll continue
[26:49] [Music]
[27:17] this verse is a paraphrase
[27:21] of a very famous verse that occurs in
[27:23] the
[27:24] kata upanishad there are several places
[27:27] in chapters 2
[27:28] and chapter 3 where the kata upanishad
[27:32] is quoted by by sri krishna
[27:36] remember the upanishad came first sri
[27:39] krishna comes
[27:40] later in the in the story of the
[27:43] mahabharata
[27:44] so it's shri krishna quoting the
[27:48] not the other way around in fact the
[27:51] second half of this verse is an exact
[27:54] quote
[27:55] of the upanishad the next verse also is
[27:58] a paraphrase and partial quote of the
[28:00] upanishad we'll see that in a minute
[28:03] here
[28:06] sri krishna is talking about the
[28:09] confusion
[28:10] arjana and other people have with regard
[28:14] to
[28:15] death and dying and battle
[28:19] killing so sri krishna says
[28:22] yaha yaha one who
[28:25] by the way it comes as yah in the
[28:28] sanskrit
[28:29] when you break the words apart there's a
[28:31] vasarga which comes
[28:33] yaha one who they
[28:37] considers thinks knows one who thinks
[28:41] ainam this one
[28:44] this one referring to whom well
[28:49] this one referring to the de in
[28:52] to the shari ren to atma
[28:56] so this indwelling
[28:59] conscious being is what's being referred
[29:02] to
[29:04] enum this one is a han
[29:07] tatam is a killer so
[29:10] yahavi one person considers that
[29:14] atma is a killer
[29:17] atma doesn't do anything
[29:20] consciousness doesn't do anything your
[29:23] body's
[29:24] your body is engaged in action and your
[29:27] sukshma sharira
[29:28] enlivens your physical body to be
[29:31] engaged in action
[29:32] your sushma shadera also includes prana
[29:36] and a life force that includes
[29:38] carmendria's organs
[29:40] of action so absolutely
[29:43] your physical body and subtle body
[29:48] your suksma sharira and struda sharira
[29:52] are definitely involved in action
[29:55] but not your true
[29:59] self consciousness consciousness
[30:03] illumines the activities of your mind
[30:07] but it's your mind engaged in actions
[30:10] and your body is
[30:11] engaged engaged in actions so here shri
[30:14] krishna says
[30:17] one one person considers
[30:22] this indwelling conscious being is a
[30:25] huntaram is a killer and
[30:28] another person and there's another
[30:32] person
[30:33] who manyate who considers who thinks
[30:37] anam you have to break all those words
[30:39] apart
[30:43] so another person thinks a num this
[30:46] indwelling conscious being is
[30:49] hatam killed look at the contrast here
[30:53] one person thinks atma is a killer
[30:58] a second person thinks that atma is
[31:01] killed this is the contrast
[31:04] this verse sets up and then sri krishna
[31:08] concludes
[31:08] quoting the upanishad tau u bao
[31:12] both of them both the one who thinks
[31:15] atm is a killer and one who thinks
[31:18] atma is killed both of them
[31:24] don't know neither one of
[31:28] both of them don't know neither one of
[31:28] them
[31:28] understand correctly what do they
[31:32] not understand correctly that i am
[31:35] this one this one is what
[31:38] that they hin
[31:42] true consciousness i am
[31:46] this conscious being that dwells within
[31:50] na hunti cannot
[31:53] kill na hanyate
[31:56] nor can it be killed
[32:00] in english we use the word transcendent
[32:04] that which is beyond that which is
[32:07] beyond
[32:09] the world that which is beyond
[32:13] the mundane world is that which belongs
[32:17] to
[32:17] a different level of reality
[32:20] we often refer to this indwelling self
[32:23] as the
[32:24] inner divinity by calling
[32:28] it inner divinity we say
[32:31] that it doesn't belong to the mundane
[32:33] world
[32:34] it belongs to a higher reality
[32:38] a divine reality
[32:41] so that inner divinity
[32:44] that atma that conscious
[32:47] self which dwells within nahanti
[32:51] doesn't kill na hanyate nor
[32:56] is it subject to being killed
[33:02] so and then sri krishna continues to
[33:05] quote from the
[33:06] qatar upanishad with this verse
[33:10] this verse also changes to the longer
[33:12] meter
[33:13] for changes from the shorter meter of
[33:15] eight syllables to the longer meter of
[33:18] eleven syllables
[33:24] [Music]
[34:04] so continuing to talk about that atma
[34:07] the
[34:08] indwelling self and
[34:11] shri krishna says najayate it was
[34:14] never born your body has a birth date
[34:20] your sukshma sharira
[34:24] has existed from the beginning of time
[34:27] [Music]
[34:28] and then in associates
[34:33] with your physical body at the time of
[34:36] birth
[34:37] in that whole process what did atma do
[34:41] atma just continued to exist
[34:44] as all pervasive
[34:48] consciousness it's a little subtle
[34:51] let's go back to the
[34:55] computer metaphor
[34:58] your computer hardware is very
[35:02] much engaged in the work of the computer
[35:04] electricity is
[35:06] running through the wires the power
[35:08] supply is producing electricity
[35:11] inside each of the computer chips
[35:14] certain devices called gates the gates
[35:17] are turning on and off
[35:18] ones and zeros so all of this is
[35:21] physically happening
[35:23] in your computer similarly the software
[35:27] is is being
[35:30] the term that they use the program is
[35:33] being
[35:33] executed now excuse not in the sense of
[35:36] being killed
[35:37] executed in the sense of it is taking
[35:40] place
[35:41] the ins computer programs are
[35:44] instructions
[35:46] instructions for what the hardware
[35:48] should do
[35:49] the program is instructions for the
[35:51] hardware just as your mind
[35:53] gives instructions for what your body
[35:55] should do
[35:56] and should not do what you should say
[35:58] what you should not say
[36:00] those instructions are issued by your
[36:03] mind
[36:05] in the same way the program in your
[36:07] computer
[36:08] contains instructions for what the
[36:12] computer hardware should do
[36:15] what does electricity do in your
[36:18] computer
[36:21] now i don't want to get into the physics
[36:25] of it because the electrons actually
[36:27] physically move in wires but here
[36:31] could we not say that the activity
[36:35] of the hardware and software takes place
[36:40] because of electricity but the
[36:42] electricity
[36:43] itself doesn't do
[36:47] the work electricity makes the work
[36:51] possible electricity makes the
[36:54] work of the hardware and software
[36:56] possible but electricity just
[36:59] is in the same way
[37:02] consciousness just is
[37:05] consciousness makes the activity of your
[37:08] body and mind
[37:09] possible there's a beautiful beautiful
[37:12] metaphor that comes in a text called
[37:14] panchadashi by
[37:17] swami vidya ranya and the metaphor
[37:21] is he says consciousness is like the
[37:24] lamp on the stage in a
[37:28] theater in ancient times theaters were
[37:31] lit
[37:32] not by giant electric lights
[37:35] theaters were lit by lamps
[37:38] so he said think about that lamp on the
[37:41] stage of the theater
[37:44] because of the presence of that lamp
[37:47] all the actors are able to
[37:51] engage in their in their roles
[37:54] because of the light but the light
[37:58] itself doesn't do anything
[38:02] the actors are performing their roles
[38:04] they're engaged in activity
[38:06] but that lamp on the stage itself
[38:09] doesn't do anything this is a very
[38:12] lofty perspective of understanding
[38:16] your true nature is consciousness we
[38:19] just got done
[38:20] saying it's transcendent otherworldly
[38:24] beyond the world that which is in the
[38:27] world
[38:28] is engaged in activities that which is
[38:32] transcendent that which is divine
[38:35] is beyond worldly activities
[38:40] consciousness that consciousness najite
[38:44] is not born
[38:51] and at no time whatsoever
[38:55] will it die unborn and
[38:58] undying
[39:13] atma this true self bhutwa
[39:17] after having been born
[39:25] it is not that it will
[39:29] cease to exist in the future we've got
[39:32] double negatives
[39:34] here it is not the case
[39:37] that atma having been born
[39:40] will cease to exist in the future
[39:46] that which is in the world
[39:50] functions according to time
[39:54] that's why our bodies age even
[39:58] our sukshma we throughout our lives
[40:02] we gain wisdom we see changes
[40:05] developments
[40:06] not only in our physical bodies but
[40:08] subtle bodies as
[40:10] well all subject to change
[40:13] but not consciousness
[40:17] how old is consciousness consciousness
[40:20] existed before the birth of your
[40:22] physical body
[40:23] consciousness will exist unchanged
[40:26] after the death of your physical body
[40:29] consciousness is not something in
[40:33] the world subject to
[40:36] time and change being transcendent
[40:41] being beyond the world being divine
[40:45] it exists at a higher reality
[40:48] not in time beyond
[40:53] time timeless that's a nice expression
[40:56] so therefore na i am budwei it is not
[41:00] the case that this atma
[41:02] having been born na bhavita
[41:06] will cease to be at any time in the
[41:08] future
[41:09] and more adjectives to help us
[41:11] understand
[41:12] that which is divine that which is
[41:15] transcendent
[41:16] is a is a lofty topic so
[41:20] sri krishna gives lots of words to help
[41:23] us
[41:23] understand this consciousness is aha
[41:26] it is unborn it is
[41:31] now we translate nitya as eternal but
[41:34] the better translation i just gave
[41:36] timeless doesn't exist
[41:39] in time it is shashvata
[41:43] sashota is better translated as eternal
[41:46] everlasting it says you're fine
[41:48] and i am purana these all
[41:51] almost mean the same thing purana means
[41:54] really old
[41:56] really old means not not that it was
[41:58] born a long time ago
[42:00] it was a ja it had no birth
[42:04] eternal timeless all of his words
[42:07] meaning that
[42:09] therefore
[42:11] [Music]
[42:12] it does not die consciousness the true
[42:16] self and again that consciousness is not
[42:19] an idea or concept
[42:21] it's the essence of who you are
[42:24] the consciousness by which you know
[42:27] what's
[42:28] happening right now your
[42:31] fundamental essential nature
[42:35] does not get destroyed
[42:40] when the physical body gets destroyed
[42:43] so when bhishma and drono's bodies
[42:46] die on the battlefield what happens to
[42:50] consciousness
[42:53] timeless transcendent
[42:57] you get it okay
[43:07] [Music]
[43:10] then
[43:14] [Music]
[43:38] come
[43:40] yaha in the second line
[43:44] and then first line veda yaha
[43:48] veda one who knows
[43:51] a num this this what
[43:55] what are we talking about this day in
[43:59] this shari ren this indwelling conscious
[44:03] being
[44:04] atma your true self
[44:14] one who knows that true
[44:17] self the truth of who you are one who
[44:20] knows it as
[44:21] being first line anashinam
[44:26] avinashinam sorry one who knows it to be
[44:30] indestructible nasha or vinasha
[44:34] meaning the means destruction so
[44:37] avinashi nam that which is
[44:40] not subject to destruction not
[44:43] consciousness
[44:45] that consciousness which is nithyan as
[44:48] we said before
[44:49] not eternal in the sense of that which
[44:52] exists for a long time
[44:54] eternal in the sense of timeless
[44:57] that which doesn't exist in the world of
[45:01] time
[45:02] that which transcends the world of time
[45:07] veda the one who understands that
[45:09] consciousness to be
[45:11] a jam and second line unborn
[45:15] and of yayam imperishable is fine
[45:20] changeless that which undergoes
[45:23] no change what whatsoever that which
[45:27] doesn't
[45:28] decay that which is uh imperishable
[45:32] immutable is another word
[45:34] that's often often used so that
[45:37] consciousness
[45:38] your body undergoes lots of change as we
[45:42] know
[45:42] and even sukshma as we discussed before
[45:45] is constantly engaged in
[45:47] change and activity not
[45:50] consciousness just like that lamp
[45:53] shining on the
[45:55] on the stage in ancient times it doesn't
[45:58] do
[45:58] anything actions take place
[46:02] in the presence of that lamp
[46:06] similarly in a computer the computer
[46:09] hardware and software function in the
[46:12] presence of electricity
[46:16] similarly your physical and subtle
[46:19] bodies
[46:20] tulan sukshma they function they engage
[46:25] in action
[46:26] in the presence of consciousness
[46:30] that consciousness itself however is
[46:33] unchanging and not directly involved
[46:38] in those activities so that person
[46:42] who truly understands
[46:46] uh the nature of atma sa in the third
[46:48] line
[46:49] paratha or arjuna saha purusha
[46:53] that person
[46:56] that person
[46:58] [Music]
[47:01] how how will that person think
[47:06] arjuna
[47:09] how will that person think arjuna
[47:09] come gatayati
[47:14] hantikam
[47:17] if you really get it that consciousness
[47:22] atma
[47:26] is transcendent divine
[47:30] not of this world not
[47:33] engaged in worldly activities
[47:36] transcending worldly activities
[47:38] if you get it then come
[47:42] gather whom
[47:46] does that atma cause
[47:50] to kill the it's a little
[47:53] sanskrit is a little complex here it's
[47:55] called there's a causal
[47:58] uh
[48:03] atma causes someone
[48:07] to kill whom
[48:10] i know just just to make it a little bit
[48:13] simple atma causes
[48:15] causes that how can atma cause
[48:20] anyone to cause the death
[48:24] of someone atma is not
[48:29] gatayati is a causal verb it means to
[48:33] cause to kill and
[48:36] cause to kill come whom
[48:40] whom can be killed so cause to kill
[48:42] innocent
[48:43] thinking about on the battlefield a
[48:46] general may not
[48:49] immediately be involved especially in
[48:52] modern warfare
[48:53] you know this very well that the
[48:55] generals are not on the battlefield at
[48:57] all
[48:58] in modern warfare they're far away
[49:02] from the battlefield very safe and using
[49:05] all kinds of electronics they know
[49:07] what's happening on the battlefield but
[49:10] yet those
[49:11] generals cause all the activities on the
[49:15] battlefield
[49:16] you can say that those generals cause
[49:20] the death of soldiers and here sri
[49:23] krishna says
[49:25] cause the death of whom
[49:33] those generals caused the death
[49:36] of whom admira can't die
[49:40] hunti come or those who are physically
[49:44] engaged in in in battle hunti come
[49:48] they kill whom
[49:51] they are caused to die
[49:54] i'm sorry who is it that are caused to
[49:57] die
[49:58] who is it that is killed atma can't be
[50:01] caused
[50:02] to die atma can't be killed
[50:05] that's sri krishna's the language here
[50:08] is a little bit
[50:09] uh a little subtle but
[50:12] making the same point again and again
[50:15] and the point is
[50:17] that your true self
[50:25] of this succe reality everything in this
[50:28] worldly reality is subject to change
[50:31] subject to birth subject to destruction
[50:34] atma is a transcendent reality
[50:38] more real than anything in the world
[50:43] more real in the sense that clay
[50:48] is more real than the pot
[50:51] this is very fundamental vedantic
[50:55] teaching
[50:56] this clay is more real than the pot in
[50:58] what sense
[50:59] our definition of reality that which
[51:01] doesn't come and go
[51:03] the pot can come and go clay
[51:06] doesn't come and glow go clay is
[51:10] more real in the same way
[51:13] body and mind come and go atma
[51:16] consciousness doesn't come and go that
[51:19] atma is more real
[51:23] we'll see this very famous verse often
[51:26] quoted
[52:02] he
[52:10] most of you have heard this
[52:14] in the first line and then second line
[52:17] yet
[52:20] just as it comes but of
[52:23] undeclined form the the broken form
[52:26] is not a person
[52:30] just as a person the higher
[52:35] getting rid of casting off vasanthi
[52:39] vasa's clothes here's plural vasantsi
[52:42] clothing
[52:44] why would you get rid of clothes gernani
[52:46] they're
[52:47] old clothes just like a person gets rid
[52:50] of
[52:50] old clothes and in the second line
[52:54] grati grasps
[52:57] grabs takes on
[53:01] other clothes why would you take another
[53:03] clothes clothes at
[53:04] her navani new so
[53:08] just as a person casts off old clothes
[53:12] and takes on new clothes tata
[53:16] in the same right way a person the
[53:19] haya casting off sharirani
[53:23] bodies plural because we're talking
[53:25] about life after life
[53:28] many bodies you've had an infinite
[53:30] number
[53:31] of prior lives all of those prior bodies
[53:34] have been
[53:35] discarded why were they discarded
[53:38] gernani because they were old
[53:42] so you and person casts off old bodies
[53:46] and samyaki
[53:50] acquires takes on gets connected to
[53:54] anyani other bodies which
[53:57] are navani which are new
[54:01] and who does that well look at the last
[54:04] line
[54:04] last word de he de he meaning that
[54:08] in indwelling conscious being
[54:12] the true self atma
[54:15] so the whole verse just as a person
[54:19] casts off old clothes and takes on new
[54:22] clothes
[54:23] in the same way a person casts off old
[54:26] bodies
[54:28] takes on new bodies referring to the
[54:32] consciousness the consciousness
[54:34] that dwelt inside the old bodies
[54:38] is identical to the consciousness that
[54:41] dwells inside
[54:42] the new bodies when you replace your old
[54:46] computer
[54:47] and plug it in the electricity doesn't
[54:51] change the computer changes the
[54:53] electricity is the same in the same way
[54:57] at the time of death a body dies
[55:00] that body is is burnt
[55:04] the sukshma sharira subtle body detaches
[55:08] itself from the physical body travels on
[55:11] according to the laws of karma
[55:12] and acquires a new body by the way about
[55:16] the doctrine of karma
[55:19] one i've taught this uh bhagavad-gita in
[55:22] past years i've often taken this
[55:26] opportunity to
[55:27] thoroughly uh describe the doctrine of
[55:30] karma
[55:31] to teach the doctrine of karma and
[55:33] reincarnation
[55:34] in detail it actually takes two or three
[55:37] classes
[55:38] what i'd like to do here is we can avoid
[55:42] interrupting our study of the
[55:45] bhagavad-gita
[55:46] by giving you the opportunity to
[55:50] watch a series of three videos
[55:54] on the doctrine of karma i've produced a
[55:56] series of three videos
[55:58] so if you have any doubts or lack of
[56:00] clarity about how
[56:02] karma works about how
[56:06] karma causes the sukshma sharira to
[56:10] maintain its integrity at death travel
[56:13] on and acquire a new body
[56:15] if you have any doubts about that it's
[56:18] all part of the doctrine of karma
[56:20] very thoroughly explained in that series
[56:22] of three videos i've produced so instead
[56:25] of discussing it here
[56:26] why don't you watch those three videos
[56:29] and then
[56:30] we can continue here without without
[56:33] breaking our
[56:34] our continuity so
[56:39] the context of course is all of this
[56:43] is being told to arjuna to help him
[56:46] cope with death the death of bhisma
[56:50] drona and his loved ones
[56:54] death being as we said before perhaps
[56:56] the biggest
[56:57] challenge we face in life so this
[57:00] teaching about
[57:01] incarnation is meant to help arjuna
[57:05] deal with death and it's meant to help
[57:08] all of us
[57:09] deal with death death is not an
[57:12] end as many people have observed death
[57:16] is a transition
[57:17] from one life to whatever comes next
[57:22] we'll conclude here
[57:28] [Music]
[58:06] um
[58:09] [Music]
[58:32] you