Bhagavad Gita: Pure - A Comprehensive Study without Sectarian Contamination

Bhagavad Gita - Pure

A Comprehensive Study without Sectarian Contamination

By Swami Saurabhnath

Copyright 2014, Swami Saurabhnath, all rights reserved.

Smashwords Edition

Table of Contents

Preface

Why Should we study Bhagavad Gītā

Understanding Important Terms of Gītā

Invocation

Chapter 01-The Despair of Arjuna

Chapter 02- The Method of Knowledge

Chapter 03- The Method of Action

Chapter 04- Renunciation of Action in Awareness

Chapter 05- The Method of Renunciation

Chapter 06- The Method of Meditation

Chapter 07- The Method of Knowing the Manifestation

Chapter 08- The Imperishable God

Chapter 09- The Method of Supreme Path to Supreme Secret

Chapter 10- Manifestations of God

Chapter 11- Revelation of the Universal Form

Chapter 12- The Method of Devotion

Chapter 13- The Division of the Body and the Knower

Chapter 14- The Division of the Threefold Nature

Chapter 15- The Supreme Consciousness

Chapter 16- The Classification of the Divine & Evil qualities

Chapter 17- Threefold Faith

Chapter 18- The Last Step - Renunciation of Liberation

Bhagavad Gītā in brief

About Swāmī Saurabhnāth

Contact Swāmī Saurabhnāth

Preface

Namaste,

We are going to study Srīmad Bhagavad Gītā,which is the Song of Peace, a discourse given by Lord Krushna to his favourite disciple Arjuna, and strangely it was delivered on the battlefield of Kurukshetra when the famous war of Māhābhārata was about to begin. After the discourse of peace was over, Arjuna faught the war and won it. Only difference was before discourse he was agitated and after discourse he won the war with tranquil mind. So when I say Srīmad Bhagavad Gītā is a song of peace, I mean it teaches how to maintain the serene state of mind even when there is chaos all around us. I do not mean it teached us to maintain peace all around us at any cost, rather it says that sometimes when the order in society is destroyed by restless people then for the welfare of society, serene people have to interfere and establish the order again, even with the help of violence. Important factor is though engaged in any situation, we learn to remain tranquil and take just decisions; Srīmad Bhagavad Gītā teaches us the art of serenity in chaotic and stressful situations of life. Srīmad Bhagavad Gītā is a message given to Arjuna and all of us to become peaceful and still it teaches to fulfil our duties also, then no matter the duty might be of a fighter or a soldier who helps to maintain the society by punishing the evil doers, Srīmad Bhagavad Gītā does not teach to abandon the duty and remain inactive. It teaches us to be peacefully dynamic, the method of Karma Yoga.

Srīmad Bhagavad Gītā is included in Bhīshma Parva, a part of epic Māhābhārata, by sage Vyāsa. Māhābhārata is known for its famous war that took place on Kurukshetra. Lord Krushna tried his best by negotiating between Pāndavas and Kauravas to avoid the war but He could not succeed. Two armies came face to face of each other for war. At that moment, Arjuna asked Krushna, who was helping Arjuna by becoming his charioteer, to take his chariot between the two armies so that he could observe with whom he had to fight. Here begins the Bhagavad Gītā when Arjuna got depressed by seeing all his relatives standing there to fight with each other, and he declared to Krushna that he was not going to fight the war.However, before the declaration, he surrendered to Lord Krushna, accepted Him as his Guru, and asked His advice. This move of Arjuna was very important because if he had simply rejected to fight the war and went out of battlefield then today we would not be studying Bhagavad Gītā because Gītā is the discourse that Lord Krushna gave to Arjuna to free him from delusion and help him to attain peace.

Sanjaya, who was charioteer of King Dhrutarāshtra, had heard this discussion between Krushna and Arjuna from a vast distance because he had got the power of clairvoyance and clairaudio from sage Vyāsa. In the beginning, sage Vyāsa offered this power to Dhrutarāshtra but he denied it and asked to give this power to Sanjaya.

Theme of Bhagavad Gītā is Arjuna’s depression and discourse from Lord Krushna to him about how to get out of depression. However, while helping Arjuna, Lord Krushna tells him many methods to attain peace and synthesizes three different schools,karma, dnyāna and bhakti. Ultimately, Lord tells Arjuna His own favorite method that is surrendering to God. In Bhagavad Gītā, we can briefly hear about many philosophies through Krushna and Krushna’s own opinion about the best philosophy that can take us to salvation or peace. On some occasions, Lord Krushna has given clear explanation about what is the exact meaning of salvation or liberation.

While doing this study, I will try my best to define the words of Lord Krushna as He might have intended. Many great philosophers and teachers of different schools of Hinduism have already tried to explain Bhagavad Gītā according to their viewpoints. Some of them have tried to explain Gītā in terms of different philosophies of Vedanta like Dvaita, Achintya Bhedābheda, and Advaita etc. Proponents of renunciation or Sanyāsa have tried to explain Bhagavad Gītā in terms of renounced order of life. Ādi Śankarāchārya has explained Bhagavad Gītā in terms of renounced order of life. Why he did so? For answer we will have to look at the society in the days of Ādi Śankarāchārya. In the days of Ādi Śankarāchārya most of the Indian society was attracted towards the monks of Buddhism and Jainism, people were impressed by those monks. Ādi Śankarāchārya had no way but to accept this compulsion and explain the Bhagavad Gītā in terms of renunciation so that at least people study the right knowledge in the beginning, once they understand the message of Gītā then it would be comparatively easy to promote them towards the karma yoga. Therefore,Ādi Śankarāchārya created his own sangha of Vaidik monks to face the monks of Buddhism and Jainism.

Proponents of karma or work have tried to explain it in terms of working continuously. Schools of Dvaita and Achintya Bhedābheda try to present sectarian picture of Gītā and the person ‘Krushna’ as only God. I have no problem in worshipping Krushna but they suggest worshipping Krushna to attain his service and stay in GolokaVrundāvana eternally as his servants. Some of these people go to the extent that they suggest merging in God or Brahman is not advisable,because Brahman is bliss and we should remain as a person to enjoy that bliss, if we merge with Brahman then we would not be able to enjoy that bliss, therefore we should remain as a person in higher planes or loka or spiritual sky and live there with God forever. I think this is the worst type of exploitation of God, and if that is the reason why they want to remain as servants of God to exploit Him and enjoy His bliss then I think it is wrong, I am not in favor of such thinking. I think we should leave it to God, if He thinks we are useful as His servants then He will keep our personalities and when He thinks that it is time to merge our personalities with Him then He will dissolve our personalities.

In this book, I will try to explain Gītā in terms of attaining peace because I think only peace is in the mind of Lord Krushna at the time of giving this whole discourse of Gītā to Arjuna. Lord Krushna Himself mentions this clearly on few occasions in Gītā. He clearly indicates towards the peace in the verse 6.15, verse 9.31, and says one attains supreme peace in liberation. He does not say that one attains some heavenly world like Vaikuntha or GolokaVrundāvana. Also in the verse 18.62, Lord Krushna says one attains Supreme Peace as blessings ofGod dwelling in everyone’s heart. In my opinion, Vaikuntha(the world of Lord Vishnu) exists but it is also like our world, which manifests and again merges into supreme Brahman. Therefore, only pure silence (Brahman) can be said as the destination of all of us. While interpreting the words,at the places where I got confused about meaning then I have taken help from the commentary of Ādi Śankarāchārya because he is accepted as supreme authority on the subject of Indian philosophy.

When I first studied Bhagavad Gītā, I could not understand it completely. Later I studied Dnyāneśwari, the famous commentary on Bhagavad Gītā written by saint Dnyāneśwara. Though, it is in poetic form but I could understand it more than the previously studied version of Gītā. I found there is a very big gap between the two viewpoints of Saint Dnyāneśwara and the commentator whom I studied first. Dnyāneśwara is proponent of Advaita and other was not. In the course of time, I met My Guruji who was a disciple of Nath Sect. He guided me in meditation but just around in a year, He left this world. I continued my Sādhana and study of scriptures. With the grace of God and blessings of my Guruji, I again met a Zen Master who guided me on the path of spirituality. Today with the grace of God, my Master and my own experiences of pure Consciousness in meditation, I have perfect criteria to find the real meaning of Bhagavad Gītā. When I read Bhagavad Gītā again, I found Lord Krushna is in favor of Advaita and attaining peace by surrendering to Supreme Lord.

However, few things have to be understood about Advaita also. General conception about Advaita is that it teaches about only impersonal Brahman that is like sky, without any emotions, which cannot create this world by its own will because it does not have any will. To justify the presence of world, concept of Māyā is used which creates the world. Jivas or souls are said to be caught in ignorance from eternity in past. Schools of duality also say that Jivas have turned opposite from God from the eternity in past and when they turn back towards God, they will become liberated. Schools of Advaita also say that when the beginning less ignorance is destroyed the individual soul is liberated.

In my opinion there is some misunderstanding in this view mentioned above. The Brahman of Advaita is not impersonal or emotionless rather it contains both personal and impersonal aspects. From the view point of Advaita, each and everything is Brahman including personal and impersonal God. Advaita does not accept any creation because anything which is created has to end one day, and since everything is Brahman, it cannot end. So in absence of creation we have to accept that there is no God who created the world but it does not mean there is no God, there is God but He is not creator of the world. The appearance of Universe in Brahman is accepted as Mithyā, means Universe does not have its own existence rather it depends upon Brahman for its existence therefore there is no question of creation of something which has no existence.

In such a situation, how can we reconcile the Advaita with the following statements of Lord Krushna where He mentions Himself as the Supreme Lord and creator of all?

1. In verse 4.06-07-08, Lord clearly mentions that He manifests using His own divine power to help the pious and destroy evil doers.

2. In verse 4.13-14, Lord says He is the doer but He does not have any desire for the results of His actions. Therefore, actions do not bind Him.

3. In verse 7.12 Lord says everything is born from Him, but still He is not in anything and nothing is in Him.

4. In verse 7.14 Lord says this appearance of world, which is a play of three qualities of nature, is His divine Māyā. Which means God is controller of Māyā. Māyā does not do anything without the will of God.

5. In verse 8.09 Lord describes the Brahman as omniscient, ancient, maintainer of all.

6. In verse 8.16 Lord says that souls have to reincarnate even from the world of Lord Brahma but once attaining Him (Lord Krushna) no one has to reincarnate again. This clearly shows that Lord Krushna is speaking as Brahman, because only after attaining the Brahman, liberation from cycle of involuntary births and deaths happens.

7. In verse 9.04-05, Lord clearly states that He is or God is the sustainer of all beings but He remains aloof from them.

8. In verse 9.07-08-09 Lord says He creates all beings from nature but He is not attached in this action therefore He is not bound by karma.

9. In verse 9.10 Lord clearly says that nature manifests all beings under the guidance of God, which indicate towards the doership of God. Though, manifestation happens in nature or Māyā but still, it is God, who provides the will for it. If there is no will to manifest then nothing can manifest.

10. In verse 9.17 Lord says that He is the mother, father, and even grandfather of this world. It clearly shows that God is not emotionless like matter but alive like all living beings. This analogy of mother and father shows the love for all beings.

11. In verse 9.22 Lord says He completely takes care of his devotees.

Thus on many occasions Lord has said that He is the doer. To reconcile these statements with the pure Advaita philosophy we have to understand that these statements are made from standpoint of Relative reality (Vyāvahārika Sattā) and not from the Absolute Reality (Pāramārthika Sattā), we shall discuss about it later when we discuss about Brahman.

The nature of Brahman or God is Supreme Peace and only peace should be considered as final destination of each one of us. That peace or silence is Supreme Lord from whom all apparent manifestation comes forth and again dissolves back into that peace. That peace or silence is Brahman. As mentioned in Bhagavad Gītā verse 18.54-55, when we give up all our individual desires and become one with the will of God, then we reach to this Supreme Peace. Because when we give up all our individual desires then we merge with the personality of God or with Cosmic Order and there is not any conflict left that can become hurdle to become calm, which is our real nature. After reaching to this state, we can continue our work as the Cosmic Order wants.

I have taken all care before doing translation and tried to come out with the most suitable meaning of all words, because many Sanskrit words can be interpreted in different ways. As I mentioned before when there was any confusion about the meaning of any word I have taken help from Śankarācharya. In the end I want to say that this book can be useful for all people irrespective of religion and sects, because we all human beings want to live life with peace and happiness, and in this book, everybody will find precious suggestions from Lord Krushna to attain Supreme Peace. Just because Lord Krushna is a Hindu God does not mean His suggestions are not useful for those people who are not Hindus. This book can provide benefit even to atheists.

Thanking you,

-Saurabh

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Why Should we study Bhagavad Gītā

In our day-to-day life, we have to face many difficult situations when we do not understand what should we do? Bhagavad Gītā can help us to come out of such situation. As mentioned before, the goal of Bhagavad Gītā is to free Arjuna from his depression. We all are on the seat of Arjuna at many points in life. Situations might be different from Arjuna but we are caught in same mindset repeatedly. Bhagavad Gītā can certainly help us to become tranquil in distress because Bhagavad Gītā gives us a completely different view about the world we are living in. When Lord Krushna says soul changes different bodies as we change clothes then it is like a shock. We usually look at life as only one opportunity and try to accumulate as many things and people as possible so that we can enjoy them in our short lifetime. Even the thought that the soul is immortal can make changes in our life then no matter we accept this thought or not.

There are people who want to know the reality of life. The people who get some time in life to think about the things like, whether soul exists or not? God exists or not? Why this world exists and why it is as it is today? In fact, these questions make us humans superior to animals. Animals do not have enough time to think about such topics because their bodies are not appropriate for them to live easily as humans on this planet earth, only we human beings have bodies that make us superior to all other species. Most of the people cannot go beyond the sensual level and live like animals. Some people are stuck on mental level but the people who are interested in more than sensual and mental life, can find Bhagavad Gītā of very much help. By reading Bhagavad Gītā, if one becomes sure that God exists then such a person can surrender to God and attain supreme peace before leaving this human body.

In this book, I have tried to provide necessary logic behind Lord Krushna’s statements. Lord Krushna has told Arjuna about the conclusions about Soul and Supreme Consciousness but He has not told the whole thought procedure behind it because He did not have enough time and Arjuna had accepted Him as Guru so Arjuna also accepted His statements without much discussion. To help the intellectual people, in this book, I have mentioned the original thought behind the conclusions of Lord Krushna in the beginning while discussing about the nature of Brahman and Purusha, which leads us to the conclusion of immortality of Consciousness. So if anybody just reads this book and uses it as a reference to overcome any confusion about spirituality then that person does not need to study more, with the grace of Lord Krushna and the logic that is provided in this book, one can achieve the Supreme Peace, there is no doubt about it.

About Bhagavad Gītā

We are going to study Srimad Bhagavad Gītā,someone may ask, why Bhagavad Gītā in particular? There are other Gītās also, then why not study them, below we should try to find the answer.

Srimad Bhagavad Gītā & other Gītās

As mentioned above in Indian spiritual literature, there are plenty of Gītās available to us. Besides the Bhagavad Gītā in Mahābhārata alone, there are more than a dozen Gītās. Other than Mahābhārata, there are many Gītās like Īśvara Gītā (Kūrma Purāna), Vyāsa Gītā (Kurma Purāna), Ganeśa Gītā (Ganeśa Purāna), Śiva Gītā, Devi Gītā (Devi Bhāgavata), Kapila Gītā (Srimad Bhāgavata), Ashtāvakra Gītā, Avadhuta Gītā of Dattātryaya, Yama Gītā (Vishnu Purāna), Hansa Gītā ( Bhāgavata), and important like Bhagavad Gītā - Brahma Gītā (Yoga Vasishthā) etc. If there are many Gītās available then why should we study only Bhagavad Gītā, why not others? We should think about it in step by step now.

First, we see why all these books are called as Gītās. The meaning of the word ‘Gītā’ is ‘that which is sung or chanted.’ Another meaning of the word ‘Gītā’ can be ‘song of the particular deity’. For example Śiva Gītā is song of Śiva, Rāma Gītā is song of Rāma, Devi Gītā is song of Goddess, etc. In the same way, Bhagavad Gītā is Song of the Supreme Lord it is not song of any particular deity but it is the song of Supreme Lord without any sectarian contamination. Here the word song means the discourse delivered by respective deity in poetic form to the person who asked the questions. Another important point to remember is that most of the Gītās preach the worship of the deity who is delivering the discourse. For example in Bhagavad Gītā itself, Lord Krushna promises to liberate His devotees from all sins. If we look at verse 18.66 of Bhagavad Gītā superficially then we can feel that Lord Krushna is preaching some sectarian worship. The Vaishnava sects of Hinduism have used the Bhagavad Gītā to promote their own cults but the sublime thoughts expressed in Bhagavad Gītā had understood by mystics like Śankarāchārya and they tried to promote the uncompromising non-dualism using the same Bhagavad Gītā.

These kinds of sublime thoughts are not available in other Gītās. Most of the Gītās are sectarian and they clearly preach the worship of particular God or Goddess, with few exceptions like Avadhūta Gītā. If we want to understand the essence of Indian philosophy then only option which we can use as a clear guide is Srimad Bhagavad Gītā.

As I mentioned in preface Srimad Bhagavad Gītā is part of Mahābhārata. Most of the Indians believe that Mahābhārata war actually took place around 5000 years ago. Lord Krushna, Arjuna and other characters of Mahābhārata are real and not parts of any epic story, Mahābhārata is history of ancient India. However, some researchers of history deny Mahābhārata as a historical event and according to the view of such historians, since Mahābhārata is just a mythology; the Bhagavad Gītā is also a story and nothing more than that. Some intellectuals argue that how can Gītā be told on battlefield in such a short time? Some say that Gītā in past was short but later other people have added more verses into it and made it as it is today. In any case, some people try to deny the authenticity of Bhagavad Gītā and its importance.

We should look at all these points one by one. First, we should think about Mahābhārata. Did it really happen or is it just a mythology? Today there are proofs available about the historical places mentioned in Mahābhārata. Major of them is Dvarika, the ancient city of Krushna, which has been discovered under the sea near the coast of Gujarat. In Mahābhārata itself, it has mentioned that after departure of Lord Krushna from this mortal world, the sea reclaimed its land that had been used to build Dvarika. It means that Dvarika had drawn in sea and now we have discovered it again. There are other proofs also but so-called intellectual people deny these proofs referring them as contradictory.

Another argument is; how such a long discourse could have been delivered on battlefield in such a short time? Here we have to understand that Lord Krushna had spoken it with Arjuna and it will not take much time if two people verbally discuss about this topic, Bhagavad Gītā looks bigger because of the explanations provided by commentators otherwise it is not so big that it cannot be discussed within a short period of time. In days of Mahābhārata, people used to fight wars with strict rules; it was not like today when terrorists or armies attack each other at any time and at any condition. This discussion between Arjuna and Lord Krushna took place before the war started. Both of them were standing in the middle of two armies. Therefore, it is very much possible that side of Kauravas, which was guided by Bhishma, waited until the discussion between Lord Krushna and Arjuna was over; they both went back to their side and formally started the war. Therefore, the argument that how such long discussion could take place on battlefield is useless.

Another argument ‘Bhagavad Gītā is corrupted by people in the course of time’, looks impressive However, this is also not possible in reality because it was not possible to make same change in all over India at the same time The whole Gītā is same all over India. In past it was not possible to make changes in all versions of Gītā simultaneously. And in ancient times the scriptures like Gītā were not printed, they were recited and verbally transferred to next generations of Vedic scholars. Therefore, argument that Gītā is corrupted by people does not stand.

All saints, all mystics, and all schools of Hinduism accept Srimad Bhagavad Gītā as authentic guide to liberation. There are few differences about the meaning of Bhagavad Gītā but no one denies the importance of Gītā. In fact, if we want to look spiritual value of Gītā then we should look at the saints and mystics, not at the historians. If we look spiritually then Bhagavad Gītā stands as the greatest guide on the path of spirituality, then it is useless to ask to people like historians, social activists or actors and material scientists who do not have any understanding about the spiritual matters. When all mystics of India accept Gītā as authentic guide on the path of spirituality then we should accept it despite of all objections (most of them are useless and are made through misunderstanding) mentioned above.

I think in our discussion until now we have established the spiritual authenticity of Bhagavad Gītā. Therefore, we should study Bhagavad Gītā with commitment and without any doubt in mind.

Goal of Bhagavad Gītā

Some people think that Krushna gives discourse of Gītā to encourage Arjuna to fight war, but this is not the case. Arjuna’s main problem was his depression and confusion about right and wrong. Therefore, Lord Krushna helped him to understand how to be on the right side always and in all situations so that he could not get caught in such confusion again. Lord Krushna does not say that fighting war is right and not fighting is wrong, rather He explains how we should do every work, not just war, in a manner that we can always be on the right side. The war of Mahābhārata was just an occasional incident before this discourse of Krushna; main objective was to make Arjuna peaceful and serene. Lord Krushna was not in favor of war, because if so then he would not have tried to avoid war before the war started.

When we read Bhagavad Gītā then we should first understand the condition of Arjuna, we all have to face issues that Arjuna faced at some point in our life. When we see death of someone, for a moment we think, what next? What might have happened with the person who was alive, has he finished completely or he may come back to life in future? This question of death is the fundamental question that humanity is facing from immemorable time. Some say that something goes on living after death and some say nothing remains after death and we are finished completely. Nowadays there are materialist scientists who deny any life after death. Bhagavad Gītā deals with this fundamental question that what happens after death. Lord Krushna tells Arjuna that as we change clothes when they become old and useless similarly the soul or consciousness changes body. Lord says something that exists can never become extinct completely.

However, we have to understand that Lord Krushna has only told conclusions and methods to reach those conclusions by having first person experience. Lord Krushna does not give any logic or any experiment by which these conclusions can be verified as a third person. Science today only acknowledges third person observations as authentic so if any materialist scientist reads Bhagavad Gītā then he is obviously going to refuse the statements made in Bhagavad Gītā about the everlasting Consciousness. Similarly, if someone has blind belief in science then he is also going to reject the statements of Gītā.

In reality, we cannot use third person observation method about consciousness because it is not born by any material process. We can easily look at this fact even in science; despite of efforts of many mainstream scientists all around the world for more than fifty years and after spending billions of dollars on various experiments, no scientist has ever been able to produce life or consciousness out of chemicals. They have reached to amino acids, which are building blocks of life but not life. Life is born only through life; living beings are born from living beings, not from dead bodies. We do not need to do any critical study of space and time or mind and matter, it is a simple and common sense conclusion that Consciousness is not product of matter, but many scientists lack this common sense.

Therefore, if someone wants to understand Bhagavad Gītā then he or she will have to become free from all prejudices that are prevailing in society. I have tried in this book to provide logic behind the claims of Lord Krushna. This dialogue between Lord Krushna and Arjuna had took place on battlefield and Arjuna had surrendered to Lord Krushna therefore Lord Krushna has told Arjuna only the conclusions of analytical study, and Arjuna accepted it without much doubt. Lord Krushna did not provide any intellectual arguments in favor of Consciousness. However, in verse 13.04 Lord has indirectly advised to study Brahma sutras for removing doubts about consciousness.

Therefore, when we study Bhagavad Gītā we have to understand that goal of Lord Krushna is to lead us towards peace and take us beyond doubts about the existence after death.

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Understanding Important Terms of Gītā

Before entering into Bhagavad Gītā we should try to understand about few important terms that are frequently used in Bhagavad Gītā so that we can have clear understanding of these words when we read them in different verses. These words are important because Lord Krushna has used them on many occasions in Gītā and there can be confusion about their meaning. Here I will try to make these concepts clear in the minds of readers and while doing so I will try to provide some logic for the statements of Lord Krushna.

This is very important concept not only in Bhagavad Gītā but also in the entire Indian philosophy. Literally Brahman means, something that is spread everywhere, in all directions, or something which is sustaining everything. Lord Krushna first mentions this word directly in verse 2.72 when He explains about the condition of a person with stable mind. Before that, Lord Krushna indirectly mentions Brahman in verse 2.46 when He talks about the knower of Brahman. Lord Krushna mentions Brahman as the goal of all beings in many places of Gītā. Therefore, we must understand clear meaning of this word. In verse 8.01, Arjuna asks Lord Krushna what is the meaning of Brahman. In answer to this question of Arjuna, Lord says in verse 8.03 that Brahman is Aksharam, which means something that is Imperishable, Immutable, and Eternal, which cannot be destroyed by the time. In verse 8.20, 8.21, 8.22 Lord further says, unmanifested, eternal and all-pervading Consciousness can only be attained through devotion. In these verses, Lord uses words like Avyaktah (Unmanifested or Invisible), Aksharah (Imperishable), and all-pervading Purushah (Consciousness) to describe the Brahman. In verse 13.12 Lord describes Brahman as beyond the definitions of truth and false. In verse 13.13 Lord says that Brahman has hands, feet, eyes, mouths everywhere because it is all pervading. In verse 13.14 it is said that Brahman is the knower of all senses and operates through senses but senses cannot know it. Brahman itself is devoid of three qualities (satva, raja and tama) of nature but it experiences these qualities. In verse 13.16 Lord says that Brahman is the creator, sustainer and destroyer of all, though it is undivided but it seems divided in all beings. In verse 13.17 Lord says that Brahman dwells in the hearts of all beings and can be known only through awareness born out of devotion (in the words of Dnyāneśwara "svasamvedya" which means can be known only through Itself).

In Bhagavad Gītā, we get ample information about Brahman or God or Supreme Consciousness through Lord Krushna. However, to have clear definition of this term we should look into another reliable source that is Taittiriya Upanishad. This Upanishad has clearly defined Brahman as "SatyamDnyānamAnantamBrahma | yoveda nihītam guhāyām parame vyoman | so aśnute sarvān kāmānsah |brahmanā vipaschiteti ||. (One who knows Brahman which is Existence, Consciousness and Infinity, hidden in the cave of supreme sky of the heart—he, becomes one with the omniscient Brahman, and fulfills all desires). There are three words used to give hint about Brahman or God. First word is Satyam it means Existence that is beyond limits of time. Second word is Dnyānam, means Consciousness/Awareness and third word is Anantam" which means infinite. This, I think, is the most suitable definition of God. In reality, God or Brahman is beyond limits of language but ‘Satyam Dnyānam Anantam’ these three words define God in best possible way that man can describe.

First word in this definition is Satyam, which means Existence that is beyond the rule of time. This term resembles with the definition that Lord Krushna gives in verse 8.03, Aksharam. God cannot be limited in time; God cannot be born in some time because if God is born in time then time becomes greater to God and one day He will be destroyed by time. Then God would also be an ordinary soul like all of us. Moreover, before the time of birth, God would have been non-existent. In such a situation God can never be born because nothing can born from nothing but God exists beyond limits of time therefore He can sustain all beings inside Him. When all beings or entire manifestation ends then also it remains in seed form inside God. As waves rise and fall into ocean, similarly all manifestation arises and falls into God. But a question might arise why should we assume any presence of God beyond time? Why not we think that there is no God but only time. However existence of only time is not possible because time has to have some substratum on which it can rely upon, in our day to day life space is that substratum. The existence of space and world inside that space is sufficient to prove that something exists, and the nature of that something is the main question which has to be solved. At this point I only mention that the something which exists (something exists because we experience world, we canot say that nothing exists because that would be self contradictory statement which would unltimately negate even our own existence) is God.

Second word is Dnyānam, which means Consciousness or Pure Awareness. Brahman or God is pure Consciousness. Unconsciousness does not exist in Brahman, all unconsciousness that we experience in material nature is like clouds coming and going in the sky. As sky remains untouched by clouds, similarly God remains untouched by unconsciousness of material nature. Even if for the sake of the argument, we assume that God is not Consciousness then we cannot explain how Consciousness can emerge in world. It is not possible for inanimate matter to produce any kind of consciousness because it does not have any free will to give birth to phenomenal world but on the other hand, Consciousness can produce inanimate matter and play with it.

Third term in above definition is Anantam, which means infinite. God or Brahman is not and cannot be limited by space because if so then space will be the limit of God and anything limited by space is also limited by time. In such a situation again world cannot sustain and the cycle of manifestation and dissolution cannot take place. Since there is manifestation and dissolution happening all around us we have to accept that the reason behind it is infinite God or Brahman.

If we assume that God has limitations of space then we have to accept that something else also exists that is not God. Then question would be what is it? How is its nature? Something that is not God would be complete unconsciousness because God is pure Consciousness, as mentioned in the above discussion the nature of God or truth that exists beyond the limits of time is Consciousness, then something that is not conscious cannot be beyond the limits of time because it is not the ultimate truth. So once, it is destroyed by time then it cannot manifest itself again and it will be or it might have been already destroyed