In the previous episode, we’ve commenced a detailed discussion on the “Deha-Atma-Viveka-Gnyaanam” wherein Bhagawan Krishna is explaining how the “Deham” and the “Atman” are two different entities, but coexist with each other. The “Deham” is something that is temporary in nature and the “Atman” is something that is permanent. The “Atman” can never be destroyed and it is the “Deham” that will be destroyed at the end of every birth. So, by conveying this fact, Bhagawan Krishna explains to Arjuna that by killing Bhishmachaarya and Co. in the war, he would only be destroying their physical bodies (“Deham”) and not their “Atman”. Thus, Bhagawan Krishna drives home the point that even though it might seem outwardly that Arjuna is destroying all these people, he is actually not. All these people can never be destroyed and this is what Arjuna has to learn here.
Bhagawan Krishna says thus,
“Nattve vaaham jaatunaasam nattvanneme janaadhipaaha!
Na chaiva na bhavishyaamaha sarvevayamatah param!!”
Bhagawan Krishna now explains a slightly complex philosophy here, which we shall try and understand. Bhagwan says thus, “Oh Arjuna! Whatever existed yesterday, still exists, and will continue to exist tomorrow as well. Whatever is destroyable, has been destroyed earlier, is being destroyed today and will be destroyed tomorrow! This applies for living beings too! Whoever lived yesterday, still lives today and will continue to live tomorrow as well!” Now we might get confused as to what Bhagawan Krishna is saying here! In fact, Bhagawan Krishna is someone who always likes to talk in the “riddle” form, wherein people wouldn’t be able to easily understand and decipher what He is trying to say! But by the time we try and decipher what He’s saying, He would go far beyond and talk something even more philosophical that we would need another 10 years or so to understand! It is for this same reason why this Bhagawad Gita is being researched worldwide by eminent scholars, and still nobody is able to understand 100% of what Bhagawan has said! We might be knowing that the Bhagawad Gita is around 5000 years old, and if people are still struggling to find a meaning out of it in its entire sense, we can see how Bhagawan Krishna has explained complicated things here!
Thus, if we’ve to literally decode what is there in the above shloka, it clearly says that whoever might have lived yesterday, it is not a guarantee that they would have died today. Whoever might be living today, it is not a guarantee that they would be destroyed in the future. Now what does this riddle mean? If for instance, there is a person sitting on a chair and we’ve to explain this, we can do it in two ways – Firstly, we can straightaway tell that he is sitting on this chair. However, this can also be told thus, “It is not a guarantee that this person might not be sitting in this chair!” What does this mean? It simply means that this person is sitting in this chair, isn’t it? 🙂 Similar is the riddle here – If Bhagawan says that it is not a guarantee that whoever might have lived yesterday would not be living today, it simply means that people who have lived yesterday are continuing to live today also. Similarly, Bhagawan says that people who are living today will continue to live tomorrow as well!
Thus, what can we understand here? Our “Atman” is permanent in nature and our “Atman” continues to live on and on since yesterday, today and tomorrow! Even if the associated “Deham” gets destroyed, the “Atman” will get into another new “Deham” at the beginning of the next birth and continue it’s life there. This is the philosophy that we need to understand here! So for today, let us try and make sense of what Bhagawan Krishna is saying here and we shall wait for the next episode to continue with this discussion further! Stay tuned! 🙂
The Indian Dharma 