YOGESHWARMUNI’SCOMMENTARY

ONTHEJNANESHWARICHAPTERFIFTEEN

THEYOGAOFTHESUPREMEBEINGSome of the great teachers of India, especially thosewhowould be called jnanis,mastersofknowledgeandhavethatorientation,havecalledthefifteenthchapteroftheBhagavadGitatheirfavorite.Itsetsouttoexplain,andIthinksuccessfully,howallthisexistencecameabout,howitisnow.It’saverydifficultaccomplishment.Keshavadas said there are 108 levels of understanding possible in scripture. I’minclined to agree with him. In any case, there are many levels. As your owncapacity, consciousness and experience increases, this chapterwill be comemoreandmoremeaningfultoyou.WhenIfirstreadit,Ikeptputtingthebookdownindisgust.“Whydoeshehavetousesuchridiculousanalogiesinordertoproceed?”Krishnasetsouttoexplainexistenceintermsofatreethatisgrowingupsidedown.Nowthat’saprettystrangescene.Jnaneshwarinhisexpansionhascontinuedwiththe same analogy and carried it to its completion. As my own sadhana hascontinued,Ihavereadandrereadthischapter.Ihavebeguntoappreciateitmoreandmore.Infact,itisincredible.The sign of a good sadhaka or sadhika in studying scripture is to persevere.SometimesIgetveryupsetwithscripture;andIthrowthebookdown.“Uhhh,whatidiotwrotethis!”ThenIrealizeshortlyafterward,thatmaybeI’mtheidiot.Ipickthebookupagain.Sometimesit’ssuchtoughgoingthatIhavetoreaditphrasebyphrase,ratherthansentenceby sentence.Then rereadandreread it, and reread it, and reread it, andreread it! I’mpretty smart;but still Ihave topersevere like that sometimes.Andthensuddenly,themeaningopensup;thenitgoeslikewildfire.Irecommendthatyouapproachscriptureinaverypersistentandpatientway.Ifitis accompanied by sadhana, being good to people, meditation, purification anddevotion,thedepthsofknowledgethatisencasedinscripturewillbecomeyours.ChapterFifteen,TheSupremeBeing,isaverythoroughjobofcommentary.Ithinkyou’llseewhyaswegoalong.

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1-5. Well,youmayhavetohavesomefamiliaritywithIndiaandIndiantraditionstobegintoappreciatewhatheisreallyexpressinghere—hislove,hisdevotionandhis surrender to his Guru. When a disciple is going to make any serious publicstatement,heorshealwaysgivesthisforewardwithregardtoGuru.6. …them,hisfeet.7-34. ItisthoughtinIndiathattobebornfeetfirstisauspicious.Evenifyouhavethesalvetoputonyoureyestotakeawaytheblindness, itwon’tworkunlessyouwerebornfeetfirst.Thishasaninnersymbolismthatyoushouldtrytograsp.35. So that after you study this, you will carry with you into your every dayendeavorswhathasbeentaught.Themindmustbepure.36-45.Dwarka is Krishna’s capital city. Krishna is going to explain the tree ofworldlyexistence:allofthissamsaraKrishnasays:46-47.Letmesaythatagainbecauseitisthekeytothiswholething.Theprimaryerroristothinkofthisasauniversethatgoesonandon.Hesaysyoushouldreallythink of it as a tree. This is when I threw the book down. “Come on!” Butneverthelesspersevere…48-50.Itwillfallwithallitsbranches.Thisanalogyofthetreeisthedelusionofearthlyexistence,51-52.…growingdownwards.Likethesun,it’sshootsgrowdown.53-57.AgainIthrewthebookdown.Isaid,“Oh,comeon!Ifyou’regoingtohavean analogy of a tree growing upside down, at least have all the roots growingupward.”Butwe have some of the roots growing downward. Nevertheless, after awhile Ipickedthebookupagain.

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58. Didyoueverseeabanyantree? Ithasrootsthatcomerightdownoutof thebranches and start growing into the earth. It has roots that grow up and growdown,aswellasgrowingoutoftheirbranches.59-60. Thebranchesnotonlygrowdownfromthetop,buttheyalsoturnaroundand grow up too. Remember this is an analogywhich hewillmake clearer. It isexplainingthisworldlyexistence.61-63.Hehasraisedthesequestions.64-65.ThosewhodelightintheknowledgeofGod,callittheAshvatthaTree.66-71.Agastyawasagreatrishiorsage.72.So,he’sansweringthefirstquestion,whatdoesupmean?UpmeansGod.Therestof the tree is referrenced fromthis. Therestwhich isbelow isbelowGodorbelowtheAbsoluteTruth.73-77. Insamadhi there isnoknower; there isnoobjectofknowledge. It ispureknowledge,thequintessenceofjoy.78.Wehavethesoil,sotospeak,whichisGod.Theupperpartofthisupsidedown-growingtreeisgoingtosproutinthisway.79.…itcouldbe.Theseshootsareillusion.Howwellput.Howdoyoudescribetheoffspringofabarrenwoman?That’swhatmayaislike.Abarrenwomanobviouslywouldn’thaveanyoffsprng,right? Forgetwe’retalkingaboutitanyway. ThereISnomayaandyetwe’retalkingaboutmaya.Howcanitpossiblybedescribed?Sincepeoplethinkthereisanoffspringofthisbarrenwoman,wehavetotrytodealwithit—sopeoplecanunderstandthatitdoesn’tactuallyexist. Meanwhile,wehavetotalkaboutit.80. Maya is THOUGHTof as eternal; it’s the thought of eternity thatmakes it beeternal.Butmayaitselfcannottoleratethought.Thereisnothoughtinmaya.

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81-83. If you try to follow this purely on logical grounds, you’ll throw the bookdownas Iwas trying todo. Instead, I began tounderstand thatwhatwasbeingpresented here was a communication, not a logical argument. There IS a Truthbeingcommuniciated.Ifyouwillnotputupthebarrieroflogic,intheend,youwillhavethemessagewithoutlogic.84-86. Ignorance, huh? Ignorance is not recognizingwhat has come frommaya.Youknowtheanswer.Wherehasmayacomefrom?IthascomefromGod.Krishnajustsaidsopreviously.Butifthat’sjustanideaandnotanexperienceofyours,thenyouarestilllaboringinignorance;andthatignoranceisthefirstrootofthetree.Ah,thisiswhereitallbegins,wherethisillusion,thismaya,thisworldlyexistence,thissamsaracomesfrom.IfyouwouldonlyrecognizethatallofthisISinfactGod,then ignorancewouldbedisspelled. There is noworldly existence. Illusion goesaway.AndthereisonlyGod.87-93.Nowwaitaminute.Krishna’sgoingtoexplainhowworldlyexistencecomesabout.Hestartsofffirstwithignorance.Thenit’sfollowedbyintellect.Thisisnotthestandardexplanationgiveninphysicsbooks.Indeed,it’snot!Physicsassumesthatthereisonlymatter.KrishnaassumesthereisonlyGod.Sohisexplanationisdifferent.Change your orientation about how the universe comes into being and take thisapproach for themoment. I found itdifficultbeing trained inscientific lore. Butafter awhile Ibegan tounderstandbecause I’doftenasked thequestion, “If all isGod,then,howdidallthiscomeabout?”First ignorance, second intellect. That’swhy the intellect can never give you theTruth.Becausenomatterhowyouanalyzesomethingthatdoesn’texist,intheend,youdon’tcomeupwithanyanswers.94. Anyway,fromthisintellect,atenderleafsproutsinconsciousness. Andfromthis leaf springsabranchwith three leaves (thegunas). We spent thewhole lastchapteronthis,right?Thesethreeleavesspringoutoftheintellect.95.Firstintellect,thereisnoexactwordinSanskritequivalenttotheEnglishword.Discrimination is sometimes used for the intellect. The power to know wouldprobablybe theclosest. Outof intellect, comesreason. This is true--thismustbetrue. Thus develops duality. There IS no other duality. This is the only dualitythereIS.Yousee,uptothispoint,therearenothingsexisting.There’snostuff.

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Allwe’vegot isGod, ignorance,andthepowertoknow. Thencomesreason,thethinkingprocesses.Andthus,wehavethemindcomingintoexistenceasabranch.96.Thatistheminditself,thestorehouse;theintellectortheprocesses;abilitytoknowandreasoningcapacity.Andthefourthone,theego,theideathat“Iam”and“Idothings”.Yousee,youcan“be”withouthavinganyideathatyouare.Butwehaveisthisoverlaywhichhascomeoutofignorancewhichis“Well,Iam.”97. I threw thebookdownagain indisgust at thispoint. Wheredo these thingscomefrom?Ishesayingthatearth,water,fire,airandspaceorethercomeoutofone’sownmindasinadream?Wheredoesthespaceofadreamcomefrom?Oneof the schools of psychology would say that space comes from a memory of thespace that a person has as experience in the waking state. That’s one possibleexplanation.Another possible explanation is that out of themind’s capacity to see somethingover there, comesspace. Certainly there isa space in themind. AndwheredoesTHATcomefrom?Well,yousay,“It’sjustanimageofaREALspace.”How is it that themind is able tomake an image of the real space? ItHAS thatcapacity.Itcanmakeanimageofspacewhichisspaceitself.Therefore,itmightbeanotherexplanation thatTHISspace inTHISroom isgenerated thesameway. Infact, Einstein’s universal theory says the same thing. Space is dependent on theviewerand,forthatmatter,timetoo.Finally, Western science is striving to catch upwith this saint, this GodHimself,Jnaneshwar,whofromthestateofsamadhiknewallthesethingsandisexplainingthemtous.Ipickedthebookbackupagain.98-99.Nowthis,accordingtomymorerecentexperiencesinmeditation,iscorrect.ThereISsoundandhearing.Thefacultyofhearingcomesfromreachingoutforthesound.Thisishow,then,thesenseorganitselfdeveloped,inthatorder.100-104.Substituteegoforthewordindividuality.105. Have you ever looked at an abalone shell? You see that if you hold it at acertainangle,itlookssilvery.Butitisnotmadeofsilver.Andsothewholeworld,althoughitlookslikeit’sthere,itis,infact,notthere.

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106-107.ItSEEMSrealinadream;butdoesitactuallyexist?Well,yesandno.Infact, the question, “Does something actually exist?” is a mistake because you’realwaysultimatelygoingtoendupwiththeanswer,‘well,yesandno.’108.Substituteintellectformahat.109-113.“A”meansnot.Sonottomorrow.114. Usebanyanforpipal. That’swhattheycall it inIndia—someplacesinIndia.TheBritishcallitthebanyantree.115-117.Eventhoughitistransitory,itappearsnottogoaway.It’schangingallthetime.It’sneversteady.118-120.Youcan’tseethewaterbeingdrawnoutoftheocean.Andyoucan’tseetheoceanbeingfilledbytherivers.Youcanseethatitishappeningbyreason,butit’simperceptibletothesensesortheSelf.121-124.ThemonthofAshadhaisthebeginningofthemonsoon—fromthemiddleofJunetothemiddleofJuly.125-127.Manuwasagreatteacher.Hecametoearthoverandoveragain.128.That’stheGoldenAgeortheFirstAge. Whereas,theKaliYugaistheFourthAge.AssoonastheKaliYugaisover,theKritaYugabeginsimmediately.OneAgejustreplacestheother.129-132.Becauseitalwaysseemstobehere.Itgoeson,andon,andon.Boy,doesitgoon!Andyetit’salwaysbeingdestroyedandcreatedanew.133-134.Here’ssomethingyoudidn’tknow.Ididn’teither.135-138.Andwe’reworriedaboutliving?

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139-142.WehavecoveredoneshlokaofChapterFifteenoftheBhagavadGita. SoyoucanseeJnaneshwar’sdoingathoroughjob.We’lltackle,now,thesecondshlokaandseehowfarweget.143. With luck you can turn the tree over as if thebrancheswere going straightdowntowardthegroundofGod.Butit’sreallytheotherwayaround.God’sgottobeup.144. The branches that grow down, looked at the other way around, could bethoughofasroots.145-148.Substituteahundredthousandforlakha.149.NowthesearegrowingupwardbacktowardsGod.Ah,thesearecreatures.150. Have you ever had a quivering body due to the burden of passion? Mostpeoplehave.151-152.Notonlyarethesebranchesgoingtobend,butthey’realsogoingtobendUP.Gunasandqualitiesarethesame.153-154.Whenthere’salotofpassion,there’realotofbabies,right?155-156.Peoplelive.Theylearnthingstodoandnottodo.157-159.Herehe’sgivingyouthereasonfordeath,exhaustedbypastexperiences.160-173. The inanimateworld is the last thing formed. I threw the book downagain.Inanycase,Ibegantogetmoreandmorecurious.SoIpickeditrightbackup.174-176.Gooddeedsgrowup;evildeedsgrowdown.

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177-178.Here’sthekeytotheexplanationofwhatrootsareandwhatbranchesare.Ifyoutakeahumanorientation,brancheswouldbethoughtofasgrowingup.Ifyoutakethepointofviewofwhatcausestheaction,thenrootscausebranchestogrowdown.Isaidit,there.Butyoumighthavetothinkaboutit.Thiscannotbedenied.179-181.ThefatherofallmenisBrahmã.That’sdifferentfromBrahma.182-184.ThesearegrowingUP.185-187. We’ve reversed the trend; andwehave a tendency to growup. Aswecontinue,we’ll findoutwhatfinallyhappens. Butyoumaybegintohavea feelingaboutwhatsamsaraisallabout.Ifyoukeepreflectingonthisandcomparingitwithyourmeditativeexperiences,youwillbeabletoturnthisworldaroundandseeitinitsproperperspective—whichisoneofthemajorprojectsinYoga.Weareinthemidstoftheupsidedowntreethathasbeengrowingdownward.ThetreeofexistencegrowsfromGoddown,fromtheimpersonalGoddown.KrishnahasbeentellingArjunaintheexquisitewordsofJnaneshwarsothatArjunacanunderstand that thisworld, thisexistence, this illusion,doesn’texist inandofitself.He’stryingtoexplainhowthiscanbe.Oncethisisestablished,hecanshowhimhowtotakeapartthatwhichdoesn’tevenexist.I’mgoingto‘backtrack’abit. 173.(It’s)NotthattheinanimateworldisTHERE;it’sthatthetreeisgrowing downandformstheinanimateworld. 174-175. Not only is the human form downward growing roots, but springingout of this human form is humanity growingupward. From this growingupward,humanityisthehopeoftheindividualhimself. 176.Thegoodonesgrowup;thebadones(activities)growdown. 177-183. …whichgrowupward.184-188.Finallywegettopeoplewhobegintoperformpenance.Notonlyhasthisgrowth gone downward, but it finally begins to develop some upward growingbranches.Andoutofthis,developspeoplewhodopenance.

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189-192. Ha! Therearealwaysnewreligions. Butyousee, thesearepartoftheupward growth, thesenew religions. They’re all part of it. They’re all part of thesameactivity.193-198.Weigheddown,thatisweighed(down)upwardbecausethesearetheupgrowingbranches.Sothey’rebeingbentupwardbytheirfruit.Therootsareatthetop.199-200.…downwhichisup.201-205.Humanityistherootofallthisinthebeginning. ItstartsasimpersonalGod. Now it’s Brahmã when you get back to it. It becomes personal. In thebeginning, it was not. This is an important point. Otherwise, why would we gothroughthiswholeroutineofhavingthistreeofexistence?206-207.Inthiscase,downrooted.But,sotospeak,uprooted.208.TheveryexistenceITSELFisgoingtobeuprooted?Thisisquiteastatement.He’sgoingtotellyouhowtodoit.209-212. No,onedoesnot. Youmight try tosave it from it’s fear;but there’snogoblin.There’snoEXISTENCE.Sowhytrytorunaroundtryingtosavesomebodyfromit?Igottelephonecalls,“Oh,I’mgoingtokillmyself.”Fromwhat?Fromwhere?Towhere?Andthenyoumightask,“Well,inthatcase,then,“WhatgoodisaGuru?”I’daskyouthesamequestion.213.Haresdon’thavehorns.Flowersdon’tgrowinthesky.214-219.It’llkeepgrowingforever.Howlongcanillusiongoon?Foraneternity.Itdoesn’thaveanyproblembecauseitdoesn’texistanyway.

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220-221. Youcan’t justwait itout. I’vealready tried;and the illusiongoesonaslong as necessary. No problem. There’s an end to the tree when yourdiscriminationcomesup.Andyousay,“Hey,I’vebeentryingtowaitoutsomethingthatisn’teventhere.”222-224.Thisiswhytheeffortsofpeopletotrytomakethingsrightintheworldneversucceed,eventhoughtheirheartsaresincere,theireffortsextensiveandtheirknowledge considerable. There’re making one essential error; they’re trying tocorrectsomethingthatdoesn’texist.Itseemslikeitexists,butitdoesn’t.225-226.THAT’Sadvicethat’sworththepriceofstudying.Nomatterhowyoutrytotanglewiththistree,yougetmoreensnared. Anditwillgrowonforever. ButwithSelf-knowledge,thattreeiscutoutattheroot.227-230.Somepeopledon’treallytrytobotherwiththeworld.Theysay,“Well,theheckwithit.Televisionishereandthat’sit.”Otherstryingtodotherightthing,thrashthemselvestodeath.Andothersthinkingofit,“Yes,itISillusion;butIhavetogetridofit. Theysay,“Ihavetodestroythisillusion,”andgetevenMOREfrustrated.231-233.You’renotgoingtohavetogiveupanythingthat’svaluabletoyou.Whenfinallytruedispassioncomestoyou,yougiveuptheworldlikeadogvomitingit’sfood.It’snothingthat’sblessingyou.Youjustfeelpoisonedbyit.234-240.AlloureffortstogetbacktoGodwiththeupwardgrowingbranchesandtrying to do the good and right action completely so that it will bear fruit, areillusion. It isALL illusionaswellas thedownwardgrowingmistakendesiresandevilactions.Thisiswhytheyogissay,“Giveupbothviceandvirtue;giveupALLaction.AndletyourdutybeunwoundbythehandofGodalone.”Any action that you do is useless. But this doesn’t mean to stop action. Makingyourselfdonothingisdoingsomething.241-242. Firstone is identifiedwithsomething,andhedoesn’tknow it. Thenhefeels,“I’mjustaspirit.Andthere’sallthisstuff.”

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In the end, there is conscious union inwhich one sees that there is nodifferencebetweenGodandHimself.243-251. Brahmã is the sourcepoint of creation. This is fromwhereALL thingscomeout.253-254.He’ssayingthatitallcomesoutofYOU.Youshouldsay,“ItallcomesoutofGod.”Butyouwouldbesayingthesamething.Thedangerofsayingthatitallcomesoutofyouisthatyouregowillbereinforced.Therefore,wesay,“ItallcomesfromGod.”Butintheend,thereisarealizationthatthereisnodifferencewhatsoever.255-257. That doesn’t mean that they stop action; but they cease their owndoership.258-259. Whenyouhavetheideathat it’syouandme,yoursandmine,mineandtheirs, all kinds of evils spring up. But the being who has reached the level ofseekingself-realization—andit’saveryhighlevel—hasgivenupeventhethoughtofseparateness.260-268.Thisisnotapsychologicaltrickthatyogisplayonthemselves.Itreallyistruethatdualityisanillusionandself-realizationreallyISlikewakingupfromabaddream. There’snodoubtabout it. Ifyouhaveanydoubt, thenyouwillholdbackand slowly let yourself get involved in the spiritual path. When that doubt isremoved,thenthereisnoresistence.Yousay,“Ofcourse.”Itisthedoubtthatwhattheyaresayingistrue.Whatcanbedonetodispelthat? Howcanyouknowit’sreallytruebeforeyougetthere? Youcan’t. Therefore, you go slowly. People often say, “Whydoes it take so long,myLord?Ireallywanttoseeyou.”Now you know the answer. It’s that doubt, that question. Yet who can blamesomeonebecausehedoesn’tknow? Those fewwhocanhavefaith inscripture, inGod,and/orinGuru,canspeedlikeasilverstreaktounionwithGod.HMMM?

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269-270.Theskydoesn’thaveaneed,doesit?Itdoesn’thavetosay,“Well,IthinkI’llgooverthereandtouchthesky.Ihavetogetthisdoneorthatdone.”TheSelfisyou,yourownTrueNature.Sowhatistobedone?271-273.Wearereadingshloka270againbecauseitanswerseverythingthatayogioryoginiwouldeverwant toknow. Thosewhoarenotyogisoryoginisneed theother information in this book, all the rest. A yogi or yogini onlyneeds thisONEshloka.Nothingelsedoesheorsheneedtoknow.274-277.Howisitthatyoucanbeconscious?Well,youputlightonit.Howisitthatwhenyouputlightonit,youcanbeconsciousofit?Thatbywhichitworksisthislighttowhichhe’sreferring.278-284Ifyouwereborninthemiddleofthenightwhenit’sdark,andthelightinthenightwas there, youwould swear that’s all therewas. Slowly in the east thedawn begins. The stars and all the planets in the night fade without resistence.Thenthere’sonlyonereality.Andthatistheday.Whenfirsttherewastheother,allthatexistedwastheworld.Thenlateron,therewasonlyGod. Itisn’tthatonefollowingthepathofYogagetsalittleglimpsenowandthen.Intheend,helivestotallyinthatstate.285.Therefore,wewouldthinkthatallsuchpeoplewouldgoaway;andwe’dneverseethemagain.Thatoftendoeshappen.ButKrishnaisnotsayingthattheydieandleavetheplanetorgototheHimalayasandhideoutincaves. Hemeansthatoncetheyget into that consciousnessofTruth, there isnocomingbackoutof it. Theymaybealiveandsitting in this room.Youwouldn’tknowthedifferenceone fromthe other because they are in this state of consciousness of Truth. They see andexperienceallthisasGod.286-289.Didyoueversitlisteningandwanttoaskaquestion?“Well,now,that’sverygood.Iwanttoaskthis.”290.Heasks,“Arethosewhoattainthisunionwithyou,anddonotreturn,separatefromyouoraretheyonewithyou? Inotherwords,theydon’treturn,dotheygooff?”

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291-295.It’sconsistenttosaythatthosewhowereseparatefromGodoriginally,donotreturn.Inotherwords,apersonwouldsay,“Well,ifyou’retellingmeI’mGod,thenwhat’stheproblem?WhyamIinthismess?”Howcanyouaccountforthissamequestion?Krishna COULDreply, “Well, that’s thepoint.” But thatwouldn’tdo. Arjunagoeson…296. WhoAREthesepeople? Howcantheybepeople? Howcould itbepossiblethattheyunitewithyou?Iftheywereneverseparate,howcouldtheybereunited.297.Verygood,Arjuna.298-304.Huh?Thesunisshiningeverywhere.Allaroundus,itshines.Wecansay,“There’sonlyonesun.”Orwecouldsay, “There’sall thisshining. But is thereanydifference?” Well,yesandno.Itdependsonhowyoulookatit.305-306.Theriverwillflowsteadily;butitshowsthatitisgoingthiswayandgoingthatway.Whichistherightway?Thereisnotarightwayorawrongway.It’sjustastreamflowingsteadily.Youcouldsaythatthereflectioninthewaterisnotthesun.Youcouldsaythat;andyouwouldberight.You could also ask, “Would there be any reflection in thewater if therewere nosun?”“Sincethereflectionwantstobetherewithoutthesun,isitdifferentthanthesun?”Well,yesandno.307-309. Doyouunderstandthat? Youtakesomegoldandmixsomealuminiumwithit.Nowit’scheaplousygold.Butthegoldpartisstilljustgold.Whenyougetinvolvedinthisillusion,youlooklikecheapdirtypeoplewithimpurities,anddesire,andslimylies.Butwhatareyoureally?Youarepuregold.Andthat’snoillusion.

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310.Soundslikehe’stalkingaboutyou.HowcouldKrishnabesogoodtous?Henotonlygivestheanswer,buthealsoexplainsitindetail.Andherepeatsitinmanywayssothatslowlyandslowlythedawnbeginstorise.311-316. There is all this illusion going through its thing. What does this do togold? Althoughitseemstobealloy,thegoldisstillpuregold. Rightnowwithoutonebitofliberationtakingplace,withoutdoingonething,rightNOW,youarethat.Ifyourealizethat,you’reallfinished.317-322.Thisisfunnybecausesomeofmyrenunciateswillcometomeandsay,“IdreamtIwasmarried;andIwasdoingit.”Therefore are theymade impure? If they thinkof themselves as thatBODY, or iftheythinkthattheythoughtthedream,ortheywerethedreamer,ortheywerethemind, thentheyhavebrokentheirvows. Butare theythedream? Haveyoueverdoneanythingwrong?Haveyoueverdoneanythingright?323-329.…mind,orattention…EventhoughtheSelfgetsentangled inall thisstuff throughthesenseorgans, is iteveractuallylessthanpuregold?No,itisnot.Goldisalwaysgoldeventhoughitisso mixed up in the alloy that you can’t tell it apart from the mix. That’s yourproblem.Youcan’ttellwhichpartisyouandwhichpartisit.ButthereISnoit.Soyoutrytoseparatethesewithgreatdifficulty.330-332.…inthemind.333-335.Ifyoucouldgetridofthemindandthefivesensesorfivesensefaculties,you get rid of the sense organs by the body death, you could reach liberation byblowingyourbrainsout.Andsuicidewouldbetherecommendedprocess.But alas, the sense faculties gowith youwhen you leave the body. Yes, they aremissingthesenseorgans.Butthesensefaculties:auditory,vision,capacitytotaste,tofeelandsmellallgowithyou,althoughyou’remissinganose.336-342.Inotherwords,hereIaminthebodylookingattheroom.Youcouldhaveadoginthebodylookingattheroom.Youcouldhaveanantinthebodylookingattheroom.YoucouldhaveaTVcamerainthebodylookingattheroom.DoesthatmeanthereisaSelf?

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343-344. Couldyousaythat? This iswhylookingdeeply intosomebody’seyes isnotgoingtobringenlightenmentonthenatureofanotherbecauseifthebodydies,doestheothercease?No.YOUjustcan’tfindthembecausethey’renotlookingthroughtheeyesanymore.People think that when the body dies, the soul leaves. The soul doesn’t goanywhere.Justliketheskydoesn’tmovefromoneplacetoanother.345-360.PeopletrytoreachGodwithoutdispassion.HesaysandIsaywithbitterexperiencethatGodcannotbereachedwithoutdispassion?361. Shallwe forget it and stop studying? It seems impossible. It can never beachieved.“IfIgiveupdesire,Ihavenoreasontolive.”Exactly.“Well,ifIgiveupthatdesire,there’snopointinallthis.”Exactly.Thereisn’tany.362.Thisisspeakingtothescientist.363-365.Ithinksomeofyouarestartingtounderstandthis.Ifyoureallybegintograspit,it’senoughtomakeyouwonder.Firstistounderstandit.Andsecondistostart to think seriously thatKrishnamightbe right. IfHe is really right, thenyouhavetotakeitseriously.Thenyouhavetobegintothink,“WhatamItodo?”There is onlyone thing you can reallydo. And that is, “Take refuge in theLord.Abandonalldharmas.Andgrievenot.”Ifwhathesaidistrue,whatgoodisstrugglingwiththistreeofillusiongoingtodo?“IfIcouldjustgetthesetwoleavesapart,Icouldseeclearly.”Hm?Thinkingthat,“IfIcouldjustpullthisaway,IwouldseetheTruth.”Thewholethingisjustwrestlingwiththerustlingoftheleaves.Thereisonlyonethingthatwillcutthisasunder,onlyone. Andthat istogiveupdesire.Yousay,“Ahhhh,mystomach,mygutshurtatthethoughtofgivingupdesire.ItryandIcan’tdoit.”YoutryandGodwilltakecareoftherestonHisown.WehavebeenreflectingonwhatLordKrishnahasbeenteachingusaboutthetreeofexistence.Thetreegrowsfromthetopdown.Hehasdevelopedthisthroughstages,

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andhasgivenusawholescripture.WearehonoredtolisteninonhisexplanationstoArjuna,theidealdisciple.Inthecoreofthetree,thelastpartofthischapterisdevotedtothedescriptionofthemanifestationofKrishnaHimself.We’regoingtohavetheprivilegeofKrishna’sdescriptiontoArjuna.Hesaid,“ListenwhileIexplaintoyouthismanifestationofMyself.366-369.Nomatterhowyouunderstandthis,itisKrishnaorGodwhichmakestherockshard,makesthewaterwet.370-371. You should rememberyogically speaking,whenHe talksabout sunandmoon,Heistalkingaboutthetwoenergychannelsontherightandleftsidesofthebody. The sameprinciple, though, is true of the universe as awhole. TheTruthspokenhereistruenomatteratwhatlevelyouinterpretit.372-375.…thedigestivefire.376.Isthatnottrue?377-379.ThisisGodspeaking.ThereisnothingelsebutGod.380.Someonewasaskingthisrecently.IfGodisGodandGodiseverywhere,thenhow can some people be miserable, depressed, sick and others be happy andhealthy?SomefullofGod.Howcouldthatbe?381-383. Ah, that’stheanswertothequestion. Healwaysgivesthebestanswerfirst.Accordingtohisowncapacity.Ifyou’reconcernedaboutthis,though,readon.384-386.Howmuchdoyouwateraplant?Itdependsontheplant.Whyaresometallandsomeshort?Somefatandsomeskinny?Hesaystheseedisdifferent.387. …and he’ ll be scared of it. It will give him an awful time, but one withknowledgewillknowthatthenecklaceisNOTasnake.

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388.TheignorantthinkthatGodismisery;thewiseknowGodtobejoy.He’ssaiditall. There’s nothingmore to say. Yetwe’re advised to listen to theTruthmanytimessothatitwillslowlysoakin.389.ParthaisanothernameforArjuna.Howareyouawareofyourindividuality?“Bywhatevermeansthatyoucanbeconsciousthatyouareyou,that’sGod,”saysJnaneshwarhereinthisSongSermonontheBhagavadGita.390-392. That is the Atman, through me, the Atman, the Self, the True Self.“Through Godwhich is the True Self, the individual sees that I am His own Self.Thenhe is forever happy. Is there anything but theAtman Itselfthat can give usthis?Thepoliteanswerisno.393. Howdoyouseethesun? Fromthe lightof thesun. HowdoyouseeGod?FromGodHimself.ItisGodthatknowsGod.ThatwhichisconsciousofGodisGod.Well,ifyou’reconsciousofGod,whateveritisthatisbeingconsciousofGod,isGod.Thereisnothingtoitatall.Whydowemakesuchabigmysteryofit?394-395.…aliberalshare,notjustalittlebit.396. Here he gives the most BEAUTIFUL explanation. From where does thisignorancecome? Hm? That’showhedoes it. Manawakeis thecauseofhisownsleep.Hegoestobed;hegoestosleep,andhedreams.397.Howwouldyouknowthatthecloudshavecomeanddarkenedtheskyexceptbydaylight?Itissunlightitselfthatmakesyouawareofit.398.Ifyoudidn’twakeup,howwouldyoueverknowthatyou’dbeenasleep?Sleepisastateofignorance.Butitisthestateofconsciousnessthatmakesyouknowofthe state of sleep. If you always stayed asleep, you’d never know that youwereasleep.Infact,wouldyouactuallybeasleep?399.TheVedasweresoundsandTruththatcamedirectlyfromGod.Andyetsomeofthesagesthathavespokenthem,didn’tevenknowwhattheyweresaying.Still,theTruthwasthere.Theyknewpartofwhatitmeant;buttheydidn’tknowallofit.Thisiswhathe’sreferringtohere.

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400. Ariverwhenitstartsoutdoesn’tknowitsgoingtoendupintheocean. Butsoonerorlateritgetsthere.401-402. In other words, when people can’t understand the true meaning ofscripture,GodHimselfcomestorevealtheTruth.Inthiscase,it’sintheformofSriKrishna.403-404.Sayyou’redreaming.It’sanordinarydream.Inthedream,areyouandthreeor fourotherpeople. You’re talkingwith thesepeople. Theywant toarguewith you. You argue back. Then you wake up. What happened to the people?Where’d they go? When youwere dreaming, youwere fully convinced youwerehavingthisconversation.Whenyouwokeup,youunderstood,“Oh,well,it’sjustmyown dream.” So youwere both taking part in the dream and yourself dreaming.Nowthatyouareawake,youareone.405-407. The knowledge itself that brought about this realization of Truth getsabsorbedinthehigheststate. Thenhowcanonesaywhetherthereisanythingorwhetherthereisnotanythinginthishigheststate?Infact,thewholeconceptof‘is-ness’ornot‘is-ness’meansnothing.408.…GodHimself.He’stheonlythiefwhocanstealtheuniverseandnotleaveanytrace. How could these yogis go on talking aboutGod as if they knewwhat theyweresaying?409-410.ArjunawasgettingthemessagefromhisGuru.Hegotitinhismind.411.LordVaikunthaisKrishna.412. Therearea fewofyouwhoarestartingtorealizethis. ThemoreyouknowaboutGod,themorejoycomesfromGod.413-414. Krishna has been talking all this time aboutHismanifest form. Arjunasays,“Whataboutthisformthatdoesn’thaveanyattributesatall?”

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415.Thisistrue.TheGuruhasalottoimpart.Butunlesssomeoneasks,thereisnoonetoexplainitto.IftheGuruisnotasked,thenwhoistheretolisten?Somebodymaycomeupandsay,“Tellmeeverythingyouknow.”Thatwon’tdo.Youmustbespecificinyourquestion.426-421. Why does hemention this? Why does he say there is such a beautifulcoordinationbetweenArjuna,thedisciple,andKrishna,theGuru?That’sforyoutothinkabout.422-424.…Krishnabackedoff.425.…saysKrishna.426.Hegotcarriedawayforamomentthere.427-429.Nowwaitaminute!KrishnaisgoingtoexplainaboutlimitationwhenhehasbeenaskedaboutthelimitlessnessofHisnature?Yes.430-434.IfyoufullyunderstandwhatthisapparentuniverseactuallyIS,itwilltellyouwhattheABSOLUTETRUTHis.Nevertheless,Krishnaisverygenerous.435.Inotherwords,shewillneversayanyoneelse’snameasherhusband’sname.She’s never supposed to mention her husband’s name. An Indian bride is notsupposedtoknowwhoherhusbandisgoingbe.Butsheknows.Sowhentheysay,“IsitHarry?”sheremainssilent.For everybody else she says, “No, no, no, no it’s not that. It’s not that.” Soeverybodyknowswhat theUltimateTruth is by the silence thatpervades. WheneverythingthatIShasbeendescribed,theUltimateUnmanifestTruth,ofcourse, isdescribedbythesilence.436.It’sverydifficulttodescribewhatCAN’Tbedescribed.SoHerightlydescribeswhatCOULDbe.

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437. There’sanewmoon. It’s justbarelyshowing. Youcan’tsee itbecause it ispartlydaylight. The fatherwill he get aroundby a tree and takehis kid and say,“Look,justbeyondthetipofthebranch,Aaahhh!Itappears.”Outoftheduskskywillbethenewmoon.Inthesameway,Krishna,beingourfather,pointsoutwhatisinvisibletousbyusingthetreebranchwhichexists.438-439.What’sthecapitalofthisworld?Thehead.Thebodyistheworld;andtheheadisthecapital.440-443. The cityofworldly existence, in the rest of theBhagavadGita, is calledHastinapura.Thisisapartofahugestory,thelongestepicpoemeverwritten,TheMahabharata.Hastinapuraistheworldlycapital.The capital of this worldly life is the head. And living there are these two, theperishableandtheimperishable.444-451.…rememberinpreviouschapters.452-453.ConsciousnessisineverythingHeissaying.454.InIndia,theyhavebigwallsthatareaboutfiftyfeetacross.Alionwillcomeupandlookdown. He’llseehisreflectioninthewater. Whatdoyouthinkhedoes?“Overcomewith fury and impelledbyhis anger, he leapsdown into thewell,” toattackthatotherlion.455.…originatedfromit,theskyitself,huh?Theskyreflectionbecausetheskyinwatercamefromthesky.Hereisthelion;andit’sonlyone.Helooksdownintothewellandseesanotherlion.Therereallyisn’tanotherlion.There’sonlyone.Buthegetsallupsetandfurious.He’sgoingtoattacktheotherlion.Thisishowweliveourlives.Thereareallthosethingsthathavetobefought.Thisisthelifeofduality.

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456.…cityofforms,thebody.457.Inthisdream,thespirithasdreamedthisbody.Then,hethinks,“Oh,I’mgoingtogetinthisbody.Thisismyplacetorest.”458-459.…thinkingallthesethings.460-463. You’d have to know Sanskrit. …Purusha means dweller of the city,dwellerINthecity.Thecityisthebody.Heisthedwellerofthecity.ButthereisaPurushawhichisdifferentfromtheperishableone.464. There is theperishableone. Then there’s the ImperishableOnewho thinksHe’sthebody.HethinksHecanperish;buthecan’t.465.Themoonappearstomove;andHeappearstodie.Butinfact,Hedoesnot.466.…thatisthemultiplereflections.467-469.Yogicallyspeaking,MountMeruisthespinalcord.Itstandsinthemiddle.470-471. No matter how correct your knowledge is, you cannot see theImperishable.SomepeoplethinkthisImperishableOneisdualordouble.472-475.TheImperishableOneisinbetween.476. This is a beautiful metaphor. You have all the phases of the moon, right?There’sa littlemoreof themoon, right? There’sa littlemoremoon,a littlemoremoon,alittlemore,littlemore,littlemore.Itgoesthroughallthesephases.Whenthefullmooncomes,whathappenedtothephases?They’regone.But,weretherereallyanyphasesatall?Yesandno,dependsonhowyoulookatit.There’sallthisperishablestuffthatcomesandgoes.ButtheImperishablemoonisstillthere.

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477-478. There is that which infuses everything; this is the Unmanifest. ThemanifestpartofGodisthebody.Andthere’stheUnmanifestwhichpervadesitall.479. Seed state is bija. In the seed, the core of the seed, the Imperishable Onedwells.Wethink,“Aha!IknowwhoIam.IamtheImperishableOne.”Atfirstpeoplethink,“Aha!IknowwhoIam.Iamthisbody,themanifest.”And then, “Aha! I knowwho I am. I am the ImperishableOne.” Letus seewhatKrishnasays.480-481. Thesoulorthespirit, theindividualspiritorsoul, isbroughtforthfromandistheImperishableOne.Also,theImperishableOne,isthatwhichcausesbothtopassaway,thatis,thecreateduniverseandtheindividualsoul.482-483. …Brahma or God. Some people think that deep sleepwhich is full ofignoranceisunionwithGod.TheymixuptrancewithunionwithGod.484-485.We’vestudiedthesewholechaptersaboutthefieldandtheknowerofthefieldtofindoutthatthey’realljustdeams.Figmentsoftheimagination.Yes.486. Remember that tree? The root from which that tree grew? That IS theImperishableOne.487-489.Thisisnotenough.Thisisthestateofdeepsleep.490-492.Thatis,thisdarkignorancewhichistheImperishableOneabsorbsbothwakefulnessanddreaminginthehigheryogicstates.493-494.Thisissayingthatthere’sadifferencebetweensabijaandnirbijasamadhi.Insabijasamadhithereisstilltheseedofdesire.ThisistheImperishablestate.Thereisasuperiorstatetothat.

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Beingabsorbed in ignorance, that iswhenyou“goout,” isnot fullsamadhi. A fullsamadhi isnirbija samadhiwhichKrishna is just now starting to talk about. Thispure consciousness remainswithoutanymeansof itbeingperceived. Samadhi isactually a fully conscious state. That is thehighest state. The thirdof the group,(rememberwesaidthereweretwo,buttherearereallythree)hewasgoingtotalkaboutlater.Nowthetimehascome.495-497.See,thesunisNOTtherays.Sothemirageiscausedbythesun’srays.498-499. Now he’s starting to describe the state of nirbija samadhi. This is thehigheststatetobeachieved.500.ThisisthestatethatmyGuru,SwamiKripalvanandaisnowgoinginto.Thereisnowakefulness.Thereisnosleep.Thereisnodream.Infact,thesedonotexistforhim.501.There’snosenseofseeinganything.502-503.Inthisworld,youcannothaveunionwithHim.WecallHimtheSupremeSpirit.504-508.There’snoawarenessevenoftheonenessofGod.Thatdoesn’tmeanthatyou’velostawareness.Itmeansthatinthisstatethatisn’tthere.509-516. Peopleoftenworry,“Whenwegettotheendofallthisbusiness,what’sgongtohappentome?AmIgoingtodisappearoramIgoingtobeboredorwhat?”Thisisthefinalstatethatheisdescribing.517-518.Theyjustseetheornament.519-527.Oh,theTruthofthat.ThewholeproblemisseeingGodasGodactuallyis.Oncethatexperiencecomes,everythingelsefallsaway.528-529.Sat-chit-ananda..

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530-531.WhocanreallyworshipGod?OnlysomeonewhoknowswhatGodreallyis.532-535.Whatisthevalueofworship?Whateveryouworhip,yoare.Youworshipmoney, you’remoney. Youworship bodies, you’re a body. If youworship theAbsoluteTruth,thenyou’reAbsoluteTruth. Soahigherstatementwouldbe: youarewhatyouworship.536-537.ThetenUpanishadsarethetenbasictextsofYoga.538.…theoriginalauthorhe’sexpandingonhere.539.Theseventeenthdigitofthemoonofblissisthefullmoon.540.Thisistrue.Ifyougetconfusedandlostsometimesstudyingandreflectingonwhat has been related here, it is because ultimately it can onlyThat is true. beunderstoodthroughKrishnaorGod.ButthenonehastoknowwhatthatIS.That’swhatwhatwisdomIS.541-549.Thatistrue.550-555.He’sthenarratoroftheGita.556.Dhritarashtrawastheblindking.557-565. This is Jnaneshwar, the author of this, speaking. He is speaking inMarathi.