God and His
Essence
In the next few verses Lord Krishna further explains His being the
essence of the Universe. He is the essential ingredient in water (which is
enjoyable by everybody, i.e. the taste of the vital nutrients). He is the
shining power of sun and the moon, He is the pranava or omkara which is told to be the essence
of all Vedas, He is that anahata
sound which pervades this entire universe, which bears the Omkara and which is audible only to the
Yogis and the saints. He is the indwelling spirit or
Purusha in all human
beings.
“I am the sweet and pure fragrance emanating from the earth (which
characterizes earth), I am the burning power of fire, the life of all beings and
the austerity of ascetics. I am that eternal seed from which all creatures
manifest, I am the intellect of the intelligent and wise and I am the bravery of
the brave. I am the strength of those strong who are devoid of all desires and
attachment. I am the desire for virtue in the virtuous souls,” – said the Lord.
In the tenth chapter of Gita the Lord has summarized the
various attributes by which He can be known. Here we have an indication of some
attributes. He is the best of everything; He is the real nature behind all,
devoid of which those things cannot exist.
The five elements are also represented by five sense objects. The earth
is characterized by smell while water is characterized by taste. The space is
characterized by sound. He is the essence of ascetic quality. He is the One for
whom all penances are performed and He is the penance Himself (or the strength
of performing it). He is the power or shakti which manifests itself when fire
burns. He is the eternal seed of creation. He is the motive force behind all
intellect which have been conceived to know Him, the principle behind
everything. He is the heroism which constitutes a hero, just as He is the
guiding force for Arjuna, the hero of
Mahabharata. He is the strength of
righteousness devoid of desire and attachment, not the strength to rule over the
weak. He is the epitome of virtue, the desire to do good and act according to
the principles of morality for the betterment of the world.
“The three states of Sattva or serenity, Rajas or activity and passion, tamas or inertia and ignorance,
essentially stem from Me. However, I am not established in them. All the objects
in this world are composed of these three Gunas or attributes. One who is deluded
(by the apparent nature) does not know Me as the Supreme, beyond the attributes.
My divine Maya which is composed of
these three attributes or Gunas, is
difficult to tide over. Only those who worship Me with all sincerity can cross
over the vast ocean of Maya.”
The apparent nature or Prakriti is modifiable, mutable. The
real nature is immutable, eternal and beyond the modifications. The three
attributes are the major modifiers as they impose their characteristics over
that of individuals. They are responsible for ignorance of individual about the
real nature of the Supreme Being. Sattvam, Rajas,
Tamas are the thieves which bind and rob individual souls of their
ability to comprehend the real nature and thus cross over the vast realm of
the divine bewitching force called Maya, the Sansara or the worldly life and its
temptations and tribulations. The devotees of the Lord find it easier to cross
over this delusion by Lord’s grace.
“However, the evil doers, the ignorant fools, the worst of all
mankind, do not follow Me, out of contempt or hatred. They are devoid of
righteousness and virtue and are of demonical quality. There are four classes of
My devotees, who are virtuous – one who seeks help and divine intervention, i.e.
the distressed one, one who seeks profit and material gain, i.e. the wealth and
prosperity seeker, one who seeks knowledge and wisdom i.e. spiritual minded, and
the one who is wise, the devotee who is established in the knowledge (of
Brahman). Of them the wise and the ardent devotee is special. He is My
most favorite as I am to him, being ever steadfast in his loyalty and devotion
to Me, and yearning only for Me. All these four categories of devotees are noble
hearted, but the wise (of divine knowledge - jnani) is My own self. He
is ever established in Me and has Me as his sole refuge. After many a lifetimes,
even jnanis becomes wise enough to make Me as their last refuge and to
see “Vasudeva”, the supreme soul, as
the essence of everything and every being. Such great souls are very rare to
come across (as such realization is rare among mortals).”
Lord Krishna has so far
described what the divine knowledge and wisdom is. He now explains the means of
attaining that knowledge. Only a devotee, who is also wise in divine knowledge,
a jnani, can cross over the realm of Maya through God’s grace. Who
disregard God, those who are sinful, and those who possess Asuri or the demoniac qualities, do not
receive that grace and remain perpetually in ignorance till they take refuge in
God. The Daivi or the divine and the
Asuri or the demoniac qualities are
discussed in detail in chapter 16.
The classification of the devotee
is a measure of progress that they have made on the spiritual path, along with
their predisposition or nature. A person who is ignorant of the true nature of
the Supreme Being, and yet, is good enough to look unto Him as the wish
fulfiller, would naturally ask for help when in distress. He is weak, and he is
unable to improve his condition all by himself. Desirous of material gains like
riches, name, fame, he longs for the grace of God to improve his condition. A
person seeking knowledge is a step ahead as he is not hankering for material
prosperity but is desirous of the bliss and joy from spiritual advancement. But
the best is the jnani who longs only for God and nothing else. He is
already established in the knowledge and realization of God and the worldly
things do not matter to him any more. Such persons are God’s very own, because
they consider Him as their sole refuge. When Supreme Knowledge is bestowed upon
them after striving for many births, they are able to see God in every being. Sri Krishna had already mentioned that
only a handful among millions is illuminated with such special knowledge about
the real nature. According to Sri
Ramakrishna this is the stage at which a jnani becomes a
vijnani, specially illuminated. A jnani knows that there is
God, but a vijnani enjoys God as a special privilege. Some have heard about milk
(ignorants) but have not seen it, some have seen it (jnanis) but not
tasted it, and some have drunk milk to their heart's content and become
nourished (vijnanis). Only after striving for many births a
jnani may become a vijnani.
The Lord
and His devotees are not truely different. They are part of His essence
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