Bhagavad-gita As It Is - Macmillan 1972 Edition -- Prabhupada Books (56 page)

TRANSLATION

Besides this inferior nature, O mighty-armed Arjuna, there is a superior energy of Mine, which are all living entities who are struggling with material nature and are sustaining the universe.

PURPORT

Here it is clearly mentioned that living entities belong to the superior nature (or energy) of the Supreme Lord. The inferior energy is matter manifested in different elements, namely earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intelligence and false ego. Both forms of material nature, namely gross (earth, etc.) and subtle (mind, etc.), are products of the inferior energy. The living entities, who are exploiting these inferior energies for different purposes, are the superior energy of the Supreme Lord, and it is due to this energy that the entire material world functions. The cosmic manifestation has no power to act unless it is moved by the superior energy, the living entity. Energies are always controlled by the energetic, and therefore living entities are always controlled by the Lord-they have no independant existence. They are never equally powerful, as unintelligent men think. The distinction between the living entities and the Lord is described in
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
as follows (10.87.30):

aparimitā dhruvās tanubhṛto yadi sarva-gatās
tarhiṁ na śāsyateti niyamo dhruva netarathā
ajani ca yanmayaṁ tad avimucya niyantṛ
bhavet samam anujānatāṁ yad-amataṁ mata-duṣṭatayā

"O Supreme Eternal! If the embodied living entities were eternal and all-pervading like You, then they would not be under Your control. But if the living entities are accepted as minute energies of Your Lordship, then they are at once subject to Your supreme control. Therefore real liberation entails surrender by the living entities to Your control, and that surrender will make them happy. In that constitutional position only can they be controllers. Therefore, men with limited knowledge who advocate the monistic theory that God and the living entities are equal in all respects are actually misleading themselves and others."

The Supreme Lord Kṛṣṇa is the only controller, and all living entities are controlled by Him. These living entities are His superior energy because the quality of their existence is one and the same with the Supreme, but they are never equal to the Lord in quantity of power. While exploiting the gross and subtle inferior energy (matter), the superior energy (the living entity) forgets his real spiritual mind and intelligence. This forgetfulness is due to the influence of matter upon the living entity. But when the living entity becomes free from the influence of the illusory material energy, he attains the stage called
mukti,
or liberation. The false ego, under the influence of material illusion, thinks, "I am matter, and material acquisitions are mine." His actual position is realized when he is liberated from all material ideas, including the conception of his becoming one in all respects with God. Therefore one may conclude that the
Gītā
confirms the living entity to be only one of the multi-energies of Kṛṣṇa; and when this energy is freed from material contamination, it becomes fully Kṛṣṇa conscious, or liberated.

Bg 7.6

TEXT 6

TEXT

etad-yonīni bhūtāni

sarvāṇīty upadhāraya

ahaṁ kṛtsnasya jagataḥ

prabhavaḥ pralayas tathā

SYNONYMS

etat-
these two natures;
yonīni-
source of birth;
bhūtāni-
everything created;
sarvāṇi
-all;
iti-
thus;
upadhāraya-
know;
aham-
I;
kṛtsnasya-
all-inclusive;
jagataḥ-
of the world;
prabhavaḥ-
source of manifestation;
pralayaḥ-
annihilation;
tathā-
as well as.

TRANSLATION

Of all that is material and all that is spiritual in this world, know for certain that I am both its origin and dissolution.

PURPORT

Everything that exists is a product of matter and spirit. Spirit is the basic field of creation, and matter is created by spirit. Spirit is not created at a certain stage of material development. Rather, this material world is manifested only on the basis of spiritual energy. This material body is developed because spirit is present within matter; a child grows gradually to boyhood and then to manhood because of that superior energy, spirit soul, being present. Similarly, the entire cosmic manifestation of the gigantic universe is developed because of the presence of the Supersoul, Viṣṇu. Therefore spirit and matter, which combine together to manifest this gigantic universal form, are originally two energies of the Lord, and consequently the Lord is the original cause of everything. A fragmental part and parcel of the Lord, namely, the living entity, may by manipulation of material energy construct a skyscraper, factory or city, but he cannot create matter out of nothing, and he certainly cannot construct a planet or a universe. The cause of the universe is the Supersoul, Kṛṣṇa, the supreme creator of all individual souls and the original cause of all causes, as the
Kaṭha Upaniṣad
confirms:
nityo nityānāṁ cetanaś cetanānām.

Bg 7.7

TEXT 7

TEXT

mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyat

kiñcid asti dhanañjaya

mayi sarvam idaṁ protaṁ

sūtre maṇi-gaṇā iva

SYNONYMS

mattaḥ-
beyond Myself;
parataram
-superior;
na
-not;
anyat
-anything else;
kiñcit-
something;
asti
-there is;
dhanañjaya-
O conquerer of wealth;
mayi
-in Me;
sarvam
-all that be;
idam-
which we see;
protam-
strung;
sūtre-
on a thread;
maṇi-gaṇāḥ-
pearls;
iva-
likened.

TRANSLATION

O conquerer of wealth [Arjuna], there is no Truth superior to Me. Everything rests upon Me, as pearls are strung on a thread.

PURPORT

There is a common controversy over whether the Supreme Absolute Truth is personal or impersonal. As far as
Bhagavad-gītā
is concerned, the Absolute Truth is the Personality of Godhead Śrī Kṛṣṇa, and this is confirmed in every step. In this verse, in particular, it is stressed that the Absolute Truth is a person. That the Personality of Godhead is the Supreme Absolute Truth is also the affirmation of the
Brahma-saṁhitā: īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ;
that is, the Supreme Absolute Truth Personality of Godhead is Lord Kṛṣṇa, who is the primeval Lord, the reservoir of all pleasure, Govinda, and the eternal form of complete bliss and knowledge. These authorities leave no doubt that the Absolute Truth is the Supreme Person, the cause of all causes. The impersonalist, however, argues on the strength of the Vedic version given in the
Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad: tato yad uttarataraṁ tad arūpam anāmayaṁ ya etad vidur amṛtās te bhavanti athetare duḥkham evāpi yanti.
"In the material world Brahmā, the primeval living entity within the universe, is understood to be the supreme amongst the demigods, human beings and lower animals. But beyond Brahmā there is the Transcendence who has no material form and is free from all material contaminations. Anyone who can know Him also becomes transcendental, but those who do not know Him suffer the miseries of the material world."

The impersonalist puts more stress on the word
arūpam.
But this
arūpam
is not impersonal. It indicates the transcendental form of eternity, bliss and knowledge as described in the
Brahma-saṁhitā
quoted above. Other verses in the
Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad
substantiate this as follows:

vedāham etaṁ puruṣaṁ mahāntam āditya-varṇaṁ tamasaḥ parastāt
tam eva vidvān amṛta iha bhavati nānyaḥ panthā vidyate ayanāya
yasmāt paraṁ nāparam asti kiñcid yasmānnāṇīyo na jyāyo 'sti kiñcit

"I know that Supreme Personality of Godhead who is transcendental to all material conceptions of darkness. Only he who knows Him can transcend the bonds of birth and death. There is no way for liberation other than this knowledge of that Supreme Person.

"There is no truth superior to that Supreme Person because He is the supermost. He is smaller than the smallest, and He is greater than the greatest. He is situated as a silent tree, and He illumines the transcendental sky, and as a tree spreads its roots, He spreads His extensive energies."

From these verses one concludes that the Supreme Absolute Truth is the Supreme Personality of Godhead who is all-pervading by His multi-energies, both material and spiritual.

Bg 7.8

TEXT 8

TEXT

raso 'ham apsu kaunteya

prabhāsmi śaśi-sūryayoḥ

praṇavaḥ sarva-vedeṣu

śabdaḥ khe pauruṣaṁ nṛṣu

SYNONYMS

rasaḥ-
taste;
aham-
I;
apsu-
in water;
kaunteya
-O son of Kuntī;
prabhā asmi-
I am the light;
śaśi-sūryayoḥ-
in the sun and the moon;
praṇavaḥ-
the three letters A.U.M.;
sarva-
in all;
vedeṣu-
in the
Vedas; śabdaḥ-
sound vibration;
khe-
in the ether;
pauruṣam-
ability;
nṛṣu-
in man.

TRANSLATION

O son of Kuntī [Arjuna], I am the taste of water, the light of the sun and the moon, the syllable om in the Vedic mantras; I am the sound in ether and ability in man.

PURPORT

This verse explains how the Lord is all-pervasive by His diverse material and spiritual energies. The Supreme Lord can be preliminarily perceived by His different energies, and in this way He is realized impersonally. As the demigod in the sun is a person and is perceived by his all-pervading energy, the sunshine, similarly, the Lord, although in His eternal abode, is perceived by His all-pervading, diffusive energies. The taste of water is the active principle of water. No one likes to drink sea water because the pure taste of water is mixed with salt. Attraction for water depends on the purity of the taste, and this pure taste is one of the energies of the Lord. The impersonalist perceives the presence of the Lord in water by its taste, and the personalist also glorifies the Lord for His kindly supplying water to quench man's thirst. That is the way of perceiving the Supreme. Practically speaking, there is no conflict between personalism and impersonalism. One who knows God knows that the impersonal conception and personal conception are simultaneously present in everything and that there is no contradiction. Therefore Lord Caitanya established His sublime doctrine:
acintya-bheda
and
abheda-tattvam-
simultaneously one and different.

The light of the sun and the moon is also originally emanating from the
brahmajyoti,
which is the impersonal effulgence of the Lord. Similarly
praṇava
or the
omkāra
transcendental sound used in the beginning of every Vedic hymn to address the Supreme Lord also emanates from Him. Because the impersonalists are very much afraid of addressing the Supreme Lord Kṛṣṇa by His innumerable names, they prefer to vibrate the transcendental sound
omkāra.
But they do not realize that
omkāra
is the sound representation of Kṛṣṇa. The jurisdiction of Kṛṣṇa consciousness extends everywhere, and one who knows Kṛṣṇa consciousness is blessed. Those who do not know Kṛṣṇa are in illusion, and so knowledge of Kṛṣṇa is liberation, and ignorance of Him is bondage.

Bg 7.9

TEXT 9

TEXT

puṇyo gandhaḥ pṛthivyāṁ ca

tejaś cāsmi vibhāvasau

jīvanaṁ sarva-bhūteṣu

tapaś cāsmi tapasviṣu

SYNONYMS

puṇyaḥ-
original;
gandhaḥ-
fragrance;
pṛthivyām-
in the earth;
ca-
also;
tejaḥ-
temperature;
ca-
also;
asmi-
I am;
vibhāvasau-
in the fire;
jīvanam-
life;
sarva-
all;
bhūteṣu-
living entities;
tapaḥ-
penance;
ca-
also;
asmi-
I am;
tapasviṣu-
in those who practice penance.

TRANSLATION

I am the original fragrance of the earth, and I am the heat in fire. I am the life of all that lives, and I am the penances of all ascetics.

PURPORT

Puṇya
means that which is not decomposed;
puṇya
is original. Everything in the material world has a certain flavor or fragrance, as the flavor and fragrance in a flower, or in the earth, in water, in fire, in air, etc. The uncontaminated flavor, the original flavor, which permeates everything, is Kṛṣṇa. Similarly, everything has a particular original taste, and this taste can be changed by the mixture of chemicals. So everything original has some smell, some fragrance, and some taste.
Vibhāva
means fire. Without fire we cannot run factories, we cannot cook, etc., and that fire is Kṛṣṇa. The heat in the fire is Kṛṣṇa. According to Vedic medicine, indigestion is due to a low temperature in the belly. So even for digestion fire is needed. In Kṛṣṇa consciousness we become aware that earth, water, fire, air and every active principle, all chemicals and all material elements are due to Kṛṣṇa. The duration of man's life is also due to Kṛṣṇa. Therefore by the grace of Kṛṣṇa, man can prolong his life or diminish it. So Kṛṣṇa consciousness is active in every sphere.

Bg 7.10

TEXT 10

TEXT

bījaṁ māṁ sarva-bhūtānāṁ

viddhi pārtha sanātanam

buddhir buddhimatām asmi