Sankhya Yoga 2.17

 

Verse 2.17

Self is all-pervading (atma sarva gatha:) the non-self is limited by space. 

अविनाशि तु तद्विद्धि येन सर्वमिदं ततम् |

विनाशमव्ययस्यास्य न कश्चित्कर्तुमर्हति || 17||

avināśhi tu tad viddhi yena sarvam idaṁ tatam

vināśham avyayasyāsya na kaśhchit kartum arhati

avināśhi—indestructible; tu—indeed; tat—that; viddhi—know; yena—by whom; sarvam—entire,everything; idam—this; tatam—pervaded; vināśham—destruction; avyayasya—of the unchangeable; asya—of it; na kaśhchit—no one; kartum—to cause; arhati—is able

That which pervades everything here, know it to be indestructible. No one has the ability to cause destruction to the imperishable.

Self is all pervading (atma sarva gatha:) the non self is limited by space.

The relation between sat and asat.

The word tat in this verse indicates the self, which was understood as the reality by the jnanis, has no abhava: (non-existence). The self pervades anything and everything in this universe, hence it is avinashi, indestructible. But this universe is prone to transformation and destruction and therefore it is asat or mitya. Sat is not dependent on asat but asat or mitya is dependent on sat for its existence. A pot is dependent on clay for its existence. We cannot have a pot existing independently of clay, assuming all pots are made of clay. If we remove clay from the pot, there will be no pot.

Self is unchangeable (atma avyaya:)

The word avyaya means that which has no deterioration. Krishna says no one has the ability to cause destruction, vinasham to this atma. He presents a reason for this statement as well. He states that everything in this universe and the universe itself is pervaded by atma and hence atma does not have a secondary identity apart from it to cause its destruction. Chandogya Upanishad says yekamevat advidteeyam, the self is only one. Though it pervades all beings, actions, objects and situations, it still remains a non dual entity.

Shankara in his commentary states that even the almighty Ishwara cannot destroy the sat-chit-ananda atma, since Ishwara himself is atma.   

Atma = Brahman; Ishwara = Brahman; hence atma = Ishwara. Everything is created by Ishwara, everything except atma. There is no creator-creation relationship (kartru-karana sambandha) between atma and Ishwara. But for a devotee, the lord-devotee relationship exists because the devotee, though he himself is atma, worships Ishwara with his mind, body and senses and receives the fruits of his devotion from the lord himself. Even here atma does not receive anything. Only the body, mind and senses are the receptors of either lord’s punishment or blessings.

Is it possible for atma to destroy itself like one kills himself by committing suicide? No. Because atma has no limbs, niravayavatvam. By stating it is a single identity that pervades everything it is mentioned it has no limbs to destroy itself.

Clouds of various sizes crowd the sky or space, but they never add anything to or subtract anything from the space by their appearance. Likewise, atma is called chidakasam, meaning a space which is consciousness. In the space of consciousness, the whole universe appears and vanishes. But this appearance or disappearance never adds anything to or subtract anything from atma.

Sankhya Yoga 2.16

 Verse 2.16

Self is of the nature of existence. The non self is an illusion. Atma satyam; (anatma mitya) 

नासतो विद्यते भावो नाभावो विद्यते सत: |

उभयोरपि दृष्टोऽन्तस्त्वनयोस्तत्त्वदर्शिभि: || 16||

nāsato vidyate bhāvo nābhāvo vidyate sataḥ

ubhayorapi dṛiṣhṭo ’nta stvanayos tattva-darśhibhiḥ

na—no; asataḥ—of the transient; vidyate—there is; bhāvaḥ—is (existence); na—no; abhāvaḥ—cessation; vidyate—is; sataḥ—of the eternal; ubhayoḥ—of the two; api—also; dṛiṣhṭaḥ—observed; antaḥ—conclusion; tu—verily; anayoḥ—of these; tattva—of the truth; darśhibhiḥ—by the seers

Of the transient there is no existence, and of the eternal there is no cessation. This has verily been observed as finality by the seers of the truth, after studying the nature of both.

Asat

The word asat can be crudely translated as non existent. But with the vision of vedanta asat can be divided into two categories.

1.  Atyanta asat  - that which is non existent at all times. Eg. hare’s horn, void or nothingness.

2.  Mitya - That which is available only for experience but becomes non existent once pursued via enquiry.  Eg. The appearance of a snake on a rope in dim light.

Mitya is an entity  that lies between sat and asat. Generally we categorise things that are available for experience as sat and those things that are not available for experience as asat. But this is a wrong approach. Baghvan says the classification needs to be done based on intellectual enquiry and not by experiential conclusion.

The definition of sat and asat

Sat - That which is present in all three times (present, past and future) and that which exists independently of anything is called sat.

Asat - That which exists only in the present and that which is dependent on something else for its existence is called asat.

Eg: the appearance of a snake on a rope in dim light. In this example (drishtantham) the rope is sat. It exists in all three times. It exists independently. The appeared snake is asat. It only exists at a certain period of time. Its existence is dependent on the existence of rope. If the rope is long, the snake will appear a lengthy snake. Other examples of sat and asat are the appearance of a mirage, the relationship between a pot and clay etc.

Though there is a slight difference between mitya and asat, mitya is taken only as asat because an appearance is only as good as non-existence .

Atma sat 

With the use of avasthatrya vivekam we will be able to establish that the self is sat.

Avastha Traya - the three avastas - the three experiential states - jagrat (waking state), svapna (dream state), sushupti (deep sleep state). In the waking state, all three, the body, mind and the knower of these two, are present. In the dream state, the body ceases to exist, but the mind and the knower are present. In the deep sleep state both body and mind cease to exist but the knower is still present. 

In all three experiences or states, the sense I is present. On this I the subtle and gross bodies come and go. I identify myself with the physical body but it ceases to exist in my dream state. Also the physical body I had in my childhood is not the same as the one I have in my youth or in old age. It undergoes many changes from birth until death. Since the physical body is in a particular form and for a particular period it is considered mitya or asat.

Moreover, my physical body functions only because of my existence. It is I who give the physical body its existence. During dream or sleep states it becomes inert due to the non identification. Therefore the physical body is parathanthram, it is dependent on something else for its existence. Hence it is considered mithya.

In the dream state or even in the deep sleep state, atma is not dependent on anything and shines on its own. Hence atma is satyam.

Anatma asat 

Anatma appears only momentarily, hence it does not have an existence of its own. It is mitya. It is always changing. The one that is always changing will appear to the common eye as unchanging. For example, a stream is constantly moving but looks static to the naked eye. Since the one that is changing is not present in all three times, it is mitya. One thinks that he sees a snake on a rope in the dim light. In the same way, we assume this world is real while it is only a superimposition on the sat atma.

Adi Shankara makes an inquiry into this verse in eight steps. 

1. Firstly, he makes a declaration (pratinja ) that this universe that gives us the experiences such as heat, cold etc, the physical body that gives us the experience of pleasure and pain and the one which is cause of both the universe and the body (maya) are all mitya.

2. The reason (hetu) for this declaration is the property of transformation (vikaratvam). All including maya tend to undergo transformation, hence they all are mitya.

3. The third step is a question from the purva paksha (The followers of advaita vedanta are called siddhantins and the opponents are called the purvapakshins.) He asks if everything is mitya, then what remains is only nothingness (Shunya). Then how is it possible to establish that there is a real substance, sat?

4. The answer is given here. In every cognition of an object there are two aspects. There is the cognition of the object itself, its name and form. This is called asat buddhi. And then there is the cognition of the very existence of the object itself. This is called the sat buddhi. Book + is-ness = the book is; tree+is-ness = the tree is. So in every cognition the objects and their name and form will constantly change but the only unchangeable entity is the is-ness. This is the substratum of the existence of all objects. This is-ness is called sat or Brahman. The objects will undergo transformation and eventually destruction but the is-ness will never face destruction.

5. Another question: If a pot is destroyed, then will not the is-ness of the pot also go?  No, even if the pot is broken, the is-ness continues in the other objects such as tree, book, branch etc. Hence the is-ness does not undergo destruction. Here only the asat buddhi of the name and form of the pot is destroyed. Not the is-ness.

6. Question (purva paksha): Even if one pot is destroyed, when we see another pot, the is-ness of the pot continues to be there. Here the cognition of the pot with its name and form also remains. Hence can we conclude that both the name and form of the pot and the is-ness of the pot are sat? No. There is only one satyam. Even if the is-ness and the object cognition are perceived in another pot, the moment we perceive other objects we will be able to appreciate the presence of is-ness in all of them.The objects come and go and hence are transitory (anityam). But that which never changes (nityam) in all cognition is satyam. 

7. Question (purva paksha): I am not able to appreciate the is-ness even after the pot is destroyed. It is cognized while the pot was there but not after its destruction. How can one argue that the is-ness continues to exist even after the destruction of the pot? In order to experience sat we need name and form. The attributeless existence (nirvishesha sat) will not be cognized without name and form. We will never be able to experience, for it is attributeless. We can only experience it in a reflective medium which is name and form. For instance, our eyes cannot see light directly, but can only see its reflection. Even light will express itself only when there is an object. In the dark if we try to point a flashlight we would not see light.We will have to point the flashlight towards an object such as a tree in order to experience the existence of the light through the reflection. 

Question (purva paksha): How can sat and asat be together in one place, since one is diametrically opposite to each other? Correct. Sat and atyanta asat both cannot exist together. Atyanta asat is one that does not exist in all three times. But mitya and sat can exist together. Because mitya is an entity that exists on the substratum of sat. We see a snake in dim light on the rope. If there is no rope, there is no snake. Hence they can, and should exist together. Another example is a mirage that appears on a dry land. Here the dry land can be considered sat and the mirage, asat.

Sankhya Yoga 2.15

 Verse 2.15

यं हि न व्यथयन्त्येते पुरुषं पुरुषर्षभ |

समदु:खसुखं धीरं सोऽमृतत्वाय कल्पते || 15||

yaṁ hi na vyathayantyete puruṣhaṁ puruṣharṣhabha

sama-duḥkha-sukhaṁ dhīraṁ so ’mṛitatvāya kalpate

yam—whom; hi—verily; na—not; vyathayanti—distressed; ete—these; puruṣham—person; puruṣha-ṛiṣhabha—the noblest amongst men, Arjuna; sama—equipoised; duḥkha—distress; sukham—happiness; dhīram—steady; saḥ—that person; amṛitatvāya—for liberation; kalpate—becomes eligible

O Arjuna, noblest amongst men, that person who is not affected by happiness nor distress, and remains steady in both, becomes eligible for liberation.

Sri Krishna talks titiksha as the primary eligibility for liberation. He says Only that person who is not shaken by the dualities becomes eligible for liberation. He puts titiksha as the single most important quality that one should possess. The one who has the mind with the ability of discrimination will not be shaken by pleasure or pain and is in a mental state of equanimity at all times. He knows clearly well about the fleeting and transient nature of duality and remains unaffected. He is referred to here as dheera. This same person is referred to as pandita in verse 2.11. Since he is not affected by the dual nature of things and has fixed his mind on his own self, he is said to be qualified to moksham or amritatvam.(Moksham means liberation and amritatvam means immortality.)

The best way to live this life is to apply our discriminatory power in all our experiences, realize the real nature of duality and raise ourselves to the state of dheera. This quality will take us to liberation.

Sankhya Yoga 2.14

 Verse 2.14

मात्रास्पर्शास्तु कौन्तेय शीतोष्णसुखदु: खदा: |

आगमापायिनोऽनित्यास्तांस्तितिक्षस्व भारत || 14||

mātrā-sparśhās tu kaunteya śhītoṣhṇa-sukha-duḥkha-dāḥ

āgamāpāyino ’nityās tans-titikṣhasva bhārata

mātrā-sparśhāḥ—contact of the senses with the sense objects; tu—indeed; kaunteya—Arjuna, the son of Kunti; śhīta—winter; uṣhṇa—summer; sukha—happiness; duḥkha—distress; dāḥ—give; āgama—come; apāyinaḥ—go; anityāḥ—non-permanent; tān—them; titikṣhasva—tolerate; bhārata—descendant of the Bharat

O son of Kunti, the contact between the senses and the sense objects gives rise to fleeting perceptions of happiness and distress. These are non-permanent, and come and go like the winter and summer seasons. O descendent of Bharata, one must learn to tolerate them without being disturbed.

Titiksha (Tolerance)

Sri Krishna here gives an important piece of advice to a spiritual aspirant. When the senses come into contact with the sense objects they undergo various experiences such as hot, cold, pleasure, pain etc. The unacceptance of these experiences leads to distress. These experiences will come and go and they are transient. When the senses perceive sense objects the experiences come, when they don’t, the experiences go, meaning they do not materialize. The undesirable experience given by this material world to the body which is made of the same material is unavoidable. One can enjoy the summer while the winter could give him pain. He may want the summer to last for the entire year. But the laws of nature cannot be changed. The person who loves heat during winter runs away from it during summer. The same thing creates two diametrically opposite reactions in the experiencer due to the difference in situation. In matters that cannot be willfully changed one needs to practice titiksha.

What one has to do about these experiences is to bear them without complaint. Krishna does not say one should not do anything about removing undesirable situations. If one has a headache, one needs to do something about it in order to get relief from pain, such as taking a tablet. But the pain will not go away immediately after taking the medicine. One needs to allow some time before the medicine could take effect and cure the illness. This intermediate period is when one needs to practice titiksha (tolerance). Notice that Sri Krishna also asks us to tolerate sukha (pleasure), which in our opinion needs no tolerating. But for a spiritual aspirant pleasure is as much an obstacle as the pain itself. It puts obstacles subtly in the path of a spiritual aspirant. As spiritual seekers we are trying to go beyond duality. Hence we need to practice tolerance against both pleasure and pain. Titiksha is one of the qualities mentioned in the sadhana chatushtaya sampatti (the four fold qualifications of a sadhaka, the spiritual aspirant.)

Sankhya Yoga 2.13

 Verse 2.13 Atma is changless (atma nirvikara:) anatma is ever changing (savikara:)

देहिनोऽस्मिन्यथा देहे कौमारं यौवनं जरा |

तथा देहान्तरप्राप्तिर्धीरस्तत्र न मुह्यति || 13||

dehino ’smin yathā dehe kaumāraṁ yauvanaṁ jarā

tathā dehāntara-prāptir dhīras tatra na muhyati

dehinaḥ—of the embodied (atma); asmin—in this; yathā—as; dehe—in the body; kaumāram—childhood; yauvanam—youth; jarā—old age; tathā—similarly; deha-antara—another body; prāptiḥ—achieves; dhīraḥ—the wise; tatra—thereupon; na muhyati—are not deluded

 Just as the embodied atma continuously passes from childhood to youth to old age, similarly, at the time of death, atma passes into another body. The wise are not deluded by this.

The definition of Jeeva:

Atma that contains mind, body and senses is called Jeeva: 

Jeeva: can be understood to have made up of the following.

Jeeva: = the self + the mind + chitabhasam

Chit means consciousness. Atma is of the nature of consciousness. Aabasam means similar to.

Chitabhasam means abasa of chit. Reflection of consciousness. Hence chitabhasam is called the reflected consciousness. Due to the relationship with the self, the mind borrows the consciousness aspect and acquires the quality of knowing. During death, the mind, along with the chitabhasam leaves the body. The mind coupled with the chitabhasam is called the soul. (Again, soul is not a proper translation here. But still this word comes real close to the tamil word uyir. Also in western theology and even in some of the eastern philosophies the soul is considered immortal and upon death it is believed either to reach heaven or hell based on its actions during its lifetime in the physical body. According to advaita vedanta soul is different from atma and it is not immortal. Though at a fundamental level of discussion it is agreed that the soul reaches either heaven or hell after death, vedanta will emphatically reject the existence of heaven or hell in the course of its teaching about the true nature of the self.) Atma is all pervading. Hence it need not move anywhere. Chitabhasam is the one which gives the feeling of existence and awareness to both the mind and the body. 

The wise are not deluded

Baghvan here mentions the three transformations that the physical body undergoes. Each transformation is different from one another. The physical modifications such as growing up and acquiring strength and vitality to become a youth from childhood or weakening of limbs and losing the ability to perform one’s daytoday functions at old age do not affect the self. It is not agreeable to argue that the person who was a child is not the same as the person who is now a youth or who will eventually be an old person. If that is the case, the person will not be able to identify himself with his childhood or youth and remember things that happened to him in the past. In every single experience of one’s life, atma is the only thing that is present as eternal substance.

The self is unaffected when an old body is dropped and a new body is acquired in the same way it was unaffected during the transformations of childhood, youth and old age in the same body. Here Baghvan states that the physical body is acquired through past karmas and when the karmas are exhausted the body drops and the jeeva takes on a new body based on his fructified karmas. A man cannot remember the first three years of his life. In the same manner, jeeva in his new body will not be able to remember his past life. Which serves well for us, because if we have the ability to remember our past lives, then we would have to hold a grudge on many people who harmed us in our past lives. Acquisition of a new physical body presents the jeeva with a fresh start. If he had not made use of his human body and achieved what could be the highest achievement by the body, he could try to do the same with a new body in his next birth. The highest achievement that a jeeva in a human body can accomplish is attaining self realization.

Atma is eternal. The jnani knows that the transformation of the physical body or the cessation of it will not affect atma that is beyond time and hence he is not deluded. The value that we should learn from this verse is that the self is eternal and the physical body is perishable. If we identify the I sense with the atma, we will not be deluded.

Sankhya Yoga 2.12

 From slokas 2.12 to 2.25 the teaching of self knowledge is given. Slokas 2.14 and 2.15 describe the anatma (non self).

Before entering the next sloka, we will see some points of atma and anatma as an introduction.

Anatma ( the non self)

The non self is the known. Drishyam. 

It consists of three main bodies (Sharira)

Sharira - sthula sharira + suskshma sharira + karna sharira

Sthula sharira (the gross body) - this is the physical body. All bodies are made of five elements (pancha boothas) namely air, fire, earth, water and space.

Sukshma sharira (the subtle body) - the subtle body is made up of the following.

Jnanendriyas (5) - the powers of eyes, tongue, nose, ears and skin. ( sense of vision, of taste, of smell, of sound and of touch.)

Karmendriyas (5) - the senses that perform action. ( hands, legs, speech, anus, etc.)

Pranas (5) - prana, apana, vyana, samana and udana.

Sukshma Sharira = jnanendriyas (5) + karmendriyas (5) + pranas (5) + mana:(mind) sankalpa vikalpathmakam mana: mind is of the nature of resolution and wavering + buddhi (intellect) + chitta (faculty of memory) + ahankara (ego).

We can say the sukshma sharira is made of the above nineteen principles. But this division is only for convenience. In other areas, Shastra may divide the constituents into a different number. We must understand that all the above principles too are considered as a sharira, and hence as the non self.

Atma (The Self)

Atma is the one who knows all the three shariras. It is called drk.

Atma is of the nature of pure consciousness. It is also called chit or chaitanyam. It is of the nature of knowledge.

Sri Krishna asks Arjuna the following questions.

1) Are you suffering about the atma of Bhishma and Drona?

2) Are you suffering because of the anatma of Bhisma and Drona?

3) Are you suffering because of the uncertainty that what you are about to do is adharma?

Krishna’s teaching is aimed at answering these questions.

Verse  2.12 Atma is eternal therefore imperishable.(Hence anatma is transient and therefore destructible)

न त्वेवाहं जातु नासं न त्वं नेमे जनाधिपा |

न चैव न भविष्याम: सर्वे वयमत: परम् || 12||

na tvevāhaṁ jātu nāsaṁ na tvaṁ neme janādhipāḥ

na chaiva na bhaviṣhyāmaḥ sarve vayamataḥ param

na—never; tu—however; eva—certainly; aham—I; jātu—at any time; na—nor; āsam—exist; na—nor; tvam—you; na—nor; ime—these; jana-adhipāḥ—kings; na—never; cha—also; eva—indeed; na bhaviṣhyāmaḥ—shall not exist; sarve vayam—all of us; ataḥ—from now; param—after

Never was there a time when I did not exist, nor you, nor all these kings; nor in the future shall any of us cease to be.

Krishna gives three important points here. The self is eternal; there is only one self and the physical body is only an appearance (upadi).

The self is eternal (atma is nityam)

Absence of any object in this world is experienced before its birth and after its destruction. Hence nothing in this world is eternal. Any object comes into being at one point of time and ceases to be at another. The physical body is of this kind. But we superimpose the self (the real owner of the feeling of I) on this body and celebrate birthdays for this body. But in reality what is born is only a name and a form. We do not know this. We superimpose the changes like ageing that happen to the body on the self and grieve about the change. Krishna here removes the wrong notion by providing double negatives. He says there was never a time when he, Krishna, did not exist, not only he, for Arjuna may think since he is the lord he is capable of existing at all times, nor did Arjuna himself, nor all these kings. The self is never born. So for the self there was, will  never be a time that it did not exist. Because atma is nityam (the self is eternal).

There is only one self (atma is aekam)

When Krishna says that there will never be a time where himself, Arjuna or kings cease to be, he does not say this based on their physical bodies. The bodies are only an appearance on the self. The bodies of Krishna, Arjuna and other kings are limited by time, form and attributes and are transient. Atma is not limited by any of the above and is eternal. Just as pots come and go while pot space remains, physical bodies come and go while the self remains unaffected. The pot space inside every pot is the same. In fact the same space pervades the inside and outside of a pot. The space is not inside the pot but the pots are in space. Likewise the self is the same in every physical body. In fact the self is not in the body; all bodies are in the self which pervades anything and everything. Which brings to the second conclusion. There is only one self (atma aekam)

The physical body is only an adjunct or an appearance (upadi)

उप समीपे स्थित्वा स्वीयं धर्मं रूपम् अन्यत्र अादधाति इति उपाधि:

(Upa sameepe sthithva sveeyam dharmyam rupam anyathra aadadhathi ithi upadi:)

That which lends its attributes to another which is closer to it is called upadi. I would like to roughly translate this word as adjunct or appearance.

As you can see, appearance is not a proper translation for the word upadi, hence the definition is given. When a glass prism is placed near a red rose, the glass prism borrows the red color from the flower and appears a red prism. The color red is not the inherent quality of the prism, but only an attribute lent by the flower. The flower is the upadi here. The physical body lends its attributes such as being born, growing, deteriorating, dyeing etc to the self. Hence the physical body is called the upadi. If one takes oneself as good as the body, then one thinks one is born, grows, ages and dies. Like even the glass prism only appears red and is not red in color in actuality, the self only appears to have a physical body while in reality it neither has a body nor is it dependent on it. With deeper understanding of the difference between the self and Upadi, we will be able to appreciate the meaning of this verse much better.