This is therefore a seemingly
endless play of the sentient Consciousness within
and the insentient universe of matter outside
through the medium of the BMI. This is the cit-jaDa-granthi
(the Knot between the sentient and the insentient)
that Ramana Maharishi talked about (Ref. Ch.4).
The sentient Consciousness within, which is nothing
but a spark of the parAshakti, is called PuruSha
or Self. Everything else, including the interaction
with other beings, is of course prakRRiti. This
interplay of Self and prakRRiti is what constitutes
our passage through life.
Now the Lord says: There are two Selves (PuruShas).
(Ref. 1) (XV – 16).
They are kshhara-puruSha (the perishable Self)
and akShara-puruSha (the imperishable Self).
The perishable one is the familiar JIva. It is
expressing itself through the BMI. But in so
expressing itself, it invariably makes the mistake
of thinking it is just BMI and nothing more.
In other words, the perishable one commits the
colossal error of identifying itself with the
BMI. This colossal error is called ‘anAdi
avidyA’ (Beginningless Ignorance). And
here starts all the problems of life. All the
pleasure and pain, ups and downs, light and darkness,
good and bad, that the BMI suffers through, are
mistakenly assumed by the perishable as its own
experiences. Not only this. All the actions of
the BMI are also appropriated by the perishable
Self. Thus arises the common expressions: ‘I
am the doer’ and ‘I am the experiencer’ .
The perishable Self is involved in the actions
of Nature. He reflects the varied workings of
the guNas of prakRRiti. He is saguNa, personal.
He associates himself with the doings of prakRRiti
and thinks he is the doer. He identifies himself
with the play of personality and clouds his self-knowledge
with the ego-sense in PrakRRiti so that he thinks
himself as the ego-doer of works. (Ref. 2) (III
- 27) :
Some
one pinches my body. It hurts. Who feels this
hurt? I feel the hurt. Who is this I that is
speaking? It is the perishable Self. Why does
the perishable Self feel the hurt? Because
it has identified itself with the BMI. Therefore
it becomes the ‘bhoktA’ the
experiencer.
Not
only do I feel the hurt, but I flare up at
the other person. Who is this I that is flaring
up now? It is again the perishable Self. Why
does the perishable Self flare up? Because
it has identified itself with the BMI. As a
consequence of this identification, it not
only experiences the hurt, but falls into the
trap of the gang of thirteen, particularly
anger and ego and flares back. So it becomes
the ‘kartA’ (doer).
What does the Lord say on this now? He says
there are two Selves – perishable and imperishable.
The imperishable is never hurt and can never
be hurt, says He .
“This cannot be cut into pieces; this cannot be burnt;
this cannot be tainted; this cannot be dried”. (Ref. 3)
(II – 24)
So He says: “My dear Arjuna, You (the
perishable Self / JIva) are wrongly identifying
yourself with this BMI. Don’t do this.
Identify yourself with
the imperishable Self within you. Then there
will be no hurt. Only Happiness.”
This is the bottom line. This is the essential
philosophical content of the entire teaching
of the Gita. This is the message of all spiritual
teaching. This is the grand recipe for Happiness.
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