March 26 – Bhagavadgita Chapter 4; Verses 4.4-4.6 (Day 86) Karma Yoga
March 26 – Day 86
Verse 4.04-4.06
अर्जुन उवाच ।
अपरं भवतो जन्म
परं जन्म विवस्वतः ।
कथमेतद्विजानीयां त्वमादौ प्रोक्तवानिति ॥ ४-४॥
Arjuna uvācha
aparaṁ bhavato
janma paraṁ janma vivaswataḥ
katham etad vijānīyāṁ
twam ādau proktavān iti (4.04)
அர்ஜுன உவாச1 |
அப1ரம் ப4வதோ1 ஜன்ம ப1ரம் ஜன்ம விவஸ்வத1: |
க1த2மேத1த்3விஜானீயாம் த்1வமாதௌ3 ப்1ரோக்1த1வானிதி1 ||4.04||
Arjuna said:
4. Later on was Thy birth, and prior to it was the birth of Vivasvan (the Sun); how am I to understand that Thou taught this Yoga in the beginning?
Commentary: Thy birth took place later in the house of Vasudeva; Vivasvan or Vivasvat (the Sun) was born earlier in the beginning of evolution. How am I to believe that Thou taught this Yoga in the beginning to Vivasvan, and that Thou, the self-same person, has now taught it to me? I am not able to reconcile this. Be kind enough to enlighten me, O my Lord!
The Purpose of Avatars
श्रीभगवानुवाच
।
बहूनि मे
व्यतीतानि जन्मानि तव चार्जुन ।
तान्यहं वेद सर्वाणि न त्वं वेत्थ परन्तप ॥ ४-५॥
Śhrī Bhagavān uvācha
bahūni me vyatītāni janmāni tava chārjuna
tānyahaṁ veda sarvāṇi na twaṁ vettha parantapa (4.05)
ஶ்ரீப4க3வானுவாச1 |
ப3ஹூனி மே வ்யதீ1தா1னி ஜன்மானி த1வ சா1ர்ஜுன |
தா1ன்யஹம் வேத3 ஸர்வாணி ந த்1வம் வேத்1த2 ப1ரந்த1ப1 ||4.05||
The
Blessed Lord said:
5. Many births of Mine have passed, as well as of
thine, O Arjuna! I know them all but thou knowest not, O Parantapa! (scorcher
of foes).
Commentary: You have no intuitional knowledge.
The eye of wisdom has not been opened in you on account of your past
actions. So your power of vision is
limited and therefore you do not know your previous births. But I know them because I am omniscient.
अजोऽपि
सन्नव्ययात्मा भूतानामीश्वरोऽपि सन् ।
प्रकृतिं स्वामधिष्ठाय सम्भवाम्यात्ममायया ॥ ४-६॥
ajo ’pi sannavyayātmā bhūtānām īśhvaro ’pi
san
prakṛitiṁ swām adhiṣhṭhāya sambhavāmyātma-māyayā
அஜோபி1 ஸன்னவ்யயாத்1மா பூ4தா1னாமீஶ்வரோபி1 ஸன் |
ப்1ரக்1ருதி1ம் ஸ்வாமதி4ஷ்டா2ய ஸம்ப4வாம்யாத்1மமாயயா ||6||
6. Though I am unborn and of imperishable nature, and though I am the Lord of all beings, yet, ruling over My own Nature, I am born by My own Maya.
Commentary: Man is bound by Karma. So he takes birth. He is under the clutches of Nature. He is deluded by the three qualities of Nature whereas the Lord has Maya under His perfect control. He rules over Nature, and so He is not under the thralldom of the qualities of Nature. He appears to be born and embodied through His own Maya or illusory power, but is not so in reality. His embodiment is, as a matter of fact, apparent. It cannot affect in the least His true divine nature. (Cf.IX.8)
Commentary by Swami Venkatesananda:
Verses 4.04-4.-06
God is omnipresent and omnipotent. He is
like the umpire in a football match: he lets the two teams (the divine and the undivine)
play on; he himself remains unnoticed till the need arises and then he suddenly
reveals his presence. The word ‘avatāra’ or ‘descent’ is only symbolic. God,
who is omnipresent, bursts into manifestation, even as electricity, which is
subtle and ‘does not seem to exist at all’, reveals itself through a light-bulb
or where there is a short-circuit.
You and I have had countless births. God
has also manifested himself countless times. You and I are also manifestations
or incarnations of the omnipresent God! So were Rāma, Kṛṣṇa, Buddha,
Zarathustra, Moses, Jesus, Mohammed, etc. There is this little (?!) difference:
two people go into the sea; the fool is drowning and the life-saver jumps in to
save him. We are drowning in ignorance and evil. God (as the saviours and
prophets) comes to save us. We are bound by ignorance and māyā. He play-acts as
if bound, in order to liberate us.
It is blasphemy to say that this cannot happen. It is a rash denial of the omnipotence of God. True, the special manifestation does not cancel his omnipresence. When there is a great white cloud above us it does not mean there is no water-vapour anywhere else. God is ever omnipresent, even while he is with us as an avatāra.
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