Verses 15.17–15.20🔗

Kṛṣṇa says that beyond these two aspects of puruṣa, the perishable body-mind energy and the imperishable spirit energy, there lies another level of energy that is the Supreme puruṣa. He goes on to say that He is that Supreme puruṣa, Puruṣottama. Puruṣa is the energy that pervades us. Puruṣottama is the energy that pervades the entire Universe. Puruṣottama in that sense is no different from Parāśakti, the cosmic energy. It is only a play of words to separate Puruṣa as male and śakti as female, while describing the ultimate Cosmic Consciousness. All-pervading Energy Behind Life The Universe is imperishable. The energy behind the Universe is imperishable. Kṛṣṇa says that He is that energy, the Puruṣottama, that drives the Universe eternally—prathitaḥ puruṣottamaḥ (15.18).

Modern astrophysicists speak about many universes, not just one. They say there are millions of galaxies in each universe, millions of stars and planets in each galaxy. Even with the aid of advanced equipment, we cannot determine where the universe starts and where it ends. It will never be possible with material aids. The energy behind the Universe is spiritual. It is intangible, invisible and immeasurable. Kṛṣṇa says, ‘Beyond perishable and imperishable, I am Puruṣottama.’ He is not talking about the Yādava king Kṛṣṇa, Vāsudeva Kṛṣṇa, son of Vāsudeva and Devaki. He is talking about Parabrahma Kṛṣṇa, the Īśvara. He is saguṇa, the universal form and nirguṇa, the formless energy.

He is that Brahman into whom both the soul, the individual imperishable Self and the perishable body-mind, merge. He is the Brahman into whom the six-billion humans and countless billion living beings on Earth as well as countless trillions od entities in all the Universes merge. He is Puruṣa, the energy, and Prakṛti, the matter. Without Him, nothing moves. We see Puruṣottama in different ways, depending upon our upbringing and capabilities. We see Him as the six-headed, twelve-handed Kārtikeya or Murugā, or the two-handed Rāma or the two-handed, peacock-feather-adorned, flute-playing Kṛṣṇa. We see Him in a way that is comfortable for us to see Him, so that we can reach Him.

What difference does it make whether we call Kṛṣṇa ‘Brahman, Puruṣottama, Parabrahma, Prakṛti,’ or any other name? By whatever name He is called, He is the supreme energy who causes us to move. It is the unbounded authority of Kṛṣṇa, with which He declares Himself as Puruṣottama, that makes Gītā a scriptural authority. It is not the wisdom nor the eternal truths in it, but the courage of that one person, who declared Himself to be the Transcendental Being, that defines this work as an eternal scriptural truth. May that Puruṣottama, that Parabrahma Kṛṣṇa, bless us all! Puruṣottama Yogaḥ No Questions, Only Doubts 1123 Know Me as the Supreme and Know Everything Now, Kṛṣṇa presents the great truths about His true representation as the collective consciousness, the Supreme Self.

This may surprise you or it may be something you already know. Irrespective of whether this concept is new or old, analyze this Truth for the sake of internalizing, until your logic fails. The first Truth: All our minds are not individually separated pieces of the Universe. They are all one and the same. All our minds are interlinked. Not only interlinked, they directly affect each other. This is what I call collective consciousness. Anything we think affects people around us. Not only are those near us touched by our thoughts, so is everyone living on planet Earth. Listen. We are not individual islands, separated from each other and uninfluenced by each other.

Only one truth called collective consciousness links all of us. The next Truth: Not only at the mental level, even at the deeper level of consciousness, the deeper we go, the deeper we are connected. In Existence, there is no such thing as a separate individual identity. Once we know this truth, we will go beyond pain, suffering, depression and disease. Understand that as long as we hold onto the concept of individual consciousness, we will be continuously suffering, physically or mentally or on the being level. Why do we continuously resist Nature? Whatever Nature offers, we resist. When the weather is cold, we resist. We think we are different from Existence.

I never thought that I was different from the atmosphere, never had the feeling of separation from Nature. It is only when we think that we are different from the atmosphere, from the air around us that we resist it. You see, we are a part of the Whole. If we fall in tune with the Whole, the Whole behaves as a friend. The moment we think, discriminate or behave with the Whole in the opposite way, it acts like an enemy. Be very clear, the Whole is not here to kill or destroy us. An example is what happens when a person dies of drowning. The dead body floats.

The dead body is heavier than water. Yet, it floats. But, a living body that is lighter than water, does not float. It drowns. Why is this so? As long as we are living, we are unable to relate with water. Our ego prevents that. Our mind prevents that. In the dead body, there is no mind and no ego. It is the mind and ego that causes our heaviness. When we are in completion with the collective consciousness, when we become a part of collective consciousness, Nature is our friend and Nature protects us. When we think that we are different from Nature, as long as we think that we are an individual consciousness, Nature protests against us.

If we disappear into the collective consciousness, we are protected and taken care of. We attain complete success, not only socially and economically, but we experience it as well. It will be a feeling of fulfillment, an experience of complete completion. A small story: Once there were two ants sitting on the rim of a cup that contained amṛta, the nectar of immortality. As they were talking, one of the ants lost his balance and was about to fall into the cup. He somehow managed to get back on the rim. The other ant asked him, ‘Why don’t you want to fall into the cup? Even if you drown in this, you will become only immortal.’

The first ant replied, ‘But I don’t want to drown!’ We don’t realize that merging with the collective consciousness will liberate us in totality. We resist and hold on to ourselves. As long as we do not disappear into the collective consciousness, we continuously create Puruṣottama Yogaḥ No Questions, Only Doubts 1125 hell for ourselves and for others. The third Truth: At the ultimate level, at the spiritual level, the moment we understand that we are deeply connected, totally connected to the whole group, to the whole Universe, not only do we experience bliss, but we really live, opening many dimensions of our being. Right now we are stressed out and disturbed continuously.

With our separate body-mind, we need to think too much, we need to try too hard to enjoy life. If we disappear into collective consciousness, we open many dimensions, many possibilities. See, now with only this one body we have, we can enjoy so much. Imagine what we can do when we have many bodies! If the multitudes of bodies increase, so does the joy, the bliss. This is our experience when we realize we are a part of the collective consciousness. When we experience that we are boundariless consciousness, we experience the infinity. It is difficult to imagine. When we experience the feeling of non-duality, Advaita or collective consciousness, when we experience the bliss of collective consciousness, we forget differences of name, wealth, social status and prestige; whatever we think of ourselves disappears.

The truth of who we are is revealed. Life is not restricted to inanimate forms. Life is happening in everything; may be in a frequency where it is not realized, recognized by you. But, everything has life. Learn to complete with everything! I tell you, the state of completion is the best way to prepare yourself for life; and completion is the best way to prepare for death. For anything, just the completion! When we complete with everything, animate and inanimate, we experience the space of non-duality, Advaita, where each one is infinitely powerful and infinitely intelligent. Completion should be carried till we become enlightened. Understand, till we feel we are one with the space of Nithyānando’ham (I am Nithyānanda, Eternal Bliss); till we experience the space of Nityānando’ham.

Kṛṣṇa declares, ‘whoever knows Me as the Supreme, Puruṣottama, without a doubt, is to be understood as the knower of everything, and worships Me with all his being.’ yo mām evam asammūḍho jānāti puruṣottamam I sa sarva-vid bhajati māṁ sarva-bhāvena bhārata II 15.19 The difference between the puruṣa, self and the Puruṣottama, Self, the difference between the perishable and the imperishable, are for the ‘deluded’ and ‘confused’ as Kṛṣṇa says. Once one has the awareness of collective consciousness, he becomes the knower of everything. Everyone merges into the collective consciousness, the space of oneness, Advaita. The wave thinks that it is separate from the ocean. It does not realize that it comes from the ocean and goes back to the ocean, that it is the ocean.

Just as the wave is part of the ocean, we are part of Existence. How can we attain or reach Puruṣottama, when we are already a part of Him? We can only gain awareness that we are a part of Him. This is the profound secret teaching of Kṛṣṇa. In this chapter, Kṛṣṇa becomes the ultimate Master. Arjuna is completely in silence, the best way to imbibe the Master. What is the difference between a Master and a teacher? A teacher knows intellectually; a Master knows experientially. A Master has experienced what he is speaking, the truth. If Indian kings wanted to learn archery, they went to a master. You may wonder what enlightened persons know about agriculture, archery or business.

Every art and science has a technique. In the gurukul, the Vedic education system, everyone was happy because they were properly guided by Enlightened Masters to live the life best suited to them. A teacher teaches through verbal language; a Master teaches through his body language. It is known now that ninety percent of our communication is through non-verbal communication, through the body language. The direct touch and presence of a Master transforms and Puruṣottama Yogaḥ No Questions, Only Doubts 1127 awakens a person by creating such a space. We don’t have to become something new; we need to wake up and realize what we already are. The Master never allows us to stop at any step before the full flowering.

Again and again, he inspires and takes us to higher levels of conscious experience, until we realize we are that eternal consciousness; our true potentiality. Masters use these techniques only with those who feel completely connected with them. They operate on disciples who have devotion for them. This is the ultimate technique that is used in the most loving, caring way. To the outsider, it may look harsh; however, the disciple understands the love and care behind it when the Master uses it on him and is eternally grateful for such surgery. The Master never allows anyone to get stuck with ordinary experiences. Even though we call it a spiritual experience, it is only when we stop experiencing anything that we enter into a real spiritual experience.

Only in such an experience, the Experiencer, the Experienced and the Experience, disappear into one; all three merge into the experience. Only ‘we’ remain, even the word ‘we’ can’t be used since there is no other, all boundaries are lost! Unless that experience of ‘Tat Tvam Asi, That Are Thou,’ happens, unless the experience of ‘Nithyānandoham, I Am Nīthyananda,’ happens, the Master never rests. The Master is the ultimate Master surgeon who removes the ego at all levels, the ordinary or the spiritual. People have spiritual ego when they have a ‘holier than thou’ attitude. The Master will never allow us to be stuck in that area. He pushes us forward until we experience the Ultimate.

The more we allow His surgery, the more we realize the Truth. A few people run away from the operating table during surgery; that’s dangerous. Before surrendering, do all the checking, verifying, window-shopping. But once you surrender, allow Him to work on you. Let us pray to Puruṣottama Kṛṣṇa, the Ultimate Energy, the Universal Consciousness, the Cosmic intelligence, to give us the experience of Eternal Consciousness; to make us beings with jñāna cakṣu, eyes of knowledge, and establish us in Nityānanda, eternal bliss. Thank you! Thus ends the fifteenth chapter named Puruṣottama Yogaḥ, ‘The Yoga of the Supreme Being,’ of the Bhagavad Gītā Upaniṣad, Brahmavidyā Yogaśāstra, the scripture of yoga dealing with the science of the Absolute in the form of Śrī Kṛṣṇārjuna saṃvād, dialogue between Śrī Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna.

You And Me Human Beings are born with innate Divine nature; they are not sinners! Whether we act Divine (daivic) or demonic (asura), our inner space is Divine. How do we awaken the space of Divinity within us again? Krsna reveals! c h a p t e r ... Daivāsura Sampad Vibhāga Yogaḥ This chapter is traditionally called Daivāsura Sampad Vibhāga Yogaḥ, or the Yoga of divine and demonic nature. Here Kṛṣṇa explains the concept of saṁskāras (root thought patterns) from an even deeper level. In the 14th chapter, Guṇatraya Vibhāga Yoga, He spoke on satva, rajas and tamas, the three attributes of nature in which all living beings exist.

He also explains the three layers of the body-mind system: prāṇa śarīra, manaḥ śarīra and sūkṣma śarīra, which are the physical, mental and subtle bodies, respectively. In the 15th chapter, Kṛṣṇa speaks extensively about deeper body-mind layer, the causal body. That chapter is called the Puruṣottama Yogaḥ or the Yoga of the perfected being. Kṛṣṇa points out how the body-mind system is like a unique tree, with its roots in the physical world, and the branches in the causal world. Here, in the 16th chapter, He moves into the deeper energy layers of the body-mind system and takes us to the Cosmic layer. Kṛṣṇa speaks about the qualities of the divine, daiva and the demonic, asura.

The beauty is that both these words have the same root. Of course, it is not accidental; both qualities are rooted in the same energy. It is just a simple decision. When you choose the word ‘you’, you become divine, and when you choose the word ‘me’, you become a demon. That’s all. Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa Paramahamsa speaks beautifully of the same energy. No energy can be destroyed; your love can never be destroyed. It can only be converted. He says that as long as the calf says, ‘ahaṁ, ahaṁ’ (‘me, me’) it must work, suffer, get beaten and tortured. Once it is killed, musical instruments are made out of its skin; then when we beat the instrument, it says, ‘tumi, tumi’ or ‘tum’ (‘you, you’).

As long as it says, ‘ahaṁ, ahaṁ’ it suffers, when it says, ‘tuṁ, tuṁ,’ it starts being used for wonderful pur- You And Me Daivāsura Sampad Vibhāga Yogaḥ You And Me 1131 poses like singing the glory of the divine! The moment the cognitive shift happens in us, that is when the ‘tumi, tumi’ (‘you, you’) happens, we will be a blessing for ourselves and for others. All the root thought patterns or bio-memories, saṁskāras, are stored in the causal layer. They operate without our control. Decisions are made without our knowledge. However, at the deeper level, in the cosmic layer, we decide consciously: you or me, divine or demon, daiva or asura.

When we make the decision of ‘You,’ we radiate divine qualities. When we make the decision of ‘me,’ we radiate demonic qualities. The decision about ‘You’ or ‘me’ is made in the Cosmic layer. If we decide with the attitude of ‘you,’ the whole thing becomes divine; if we decidewiththeattitudeof‘me,’thewholethingbecomesdemonic.Themind or citta, the inner space is neither negative nor positive. None of these, including the guṇa (attributes) are negative or positive. Even tāmasic qualities, such as laziness, are neither negative nor positive. Many Enlightened Masters seem passive, not doing anything at all. We cannot differentiate between their attitude and laziness. For instance, Bhagavān Ramaṇa Mahaṛṣi sat throughout his life in one little town, Tiruvannamalai.

He never moved out of there. He was mostly in silence. Yet we cannot say he was in tamas since he never made any decision out of ‘me.’ The whole process was happening with ‘you’ as a center, not ‘me.’ We cannot call the citta, the mind or samskāra, the root pattern good or bad. In the superficial layers, they are neither. However, the decisions we make in the cosmic layer, in the deeper layer, determine whether they are good or bad. The energy behind passion and compassion is really one and the same. When we decide based on ‘me’, it is passion; when we decide based on ‘You’, it is compassion.

We need to understand one important thing. If we feel passion strongly in our being, but our compassion has only a little intensity, then our compassion is just a pseudo-expression, perhaps for the sake of name and fame, not for anything else. If we are not integrated to compassion as intensely as our passion, all our activities are based on ego. Even this Gītā discourse can become food for the ego, if the decision is taken out of ‘I’ and ‘me’. When the decision happens out of ‘You,’ even ordinary daily activities can become divine, not just Gītā discourses. We need not work on the ‘doing’; we need to work on the ‘being’.

Doing can never lead us to anything. As long as we believe that doing can lead us to the Ultimate, we have karma. This is called Pūrva Mimāṁsi (those who interpret the Vedic rituals literally). Only when we understand that only being can lead us to the Ultimate, we are called Uttara Mimāṁsi (those who interpret the Vedic scriptures according to vedānta-based non-duality). According to the Vedas, there are two major types of people: People who believe in doing and people who believe in being. People who believe in transforming the ‘Being’ are Vedāntins, people who believe that the transformation to the Ultimate can be achieved by ‘doing’ are karmakāndis.

Of course, the Ultimate can be achieved only by working on the being, not by working on the doing. If we work on the doing, we either suppress or express. We continuously fight with ourselves; nothing else is achieved. Only a man who transforms his being can achieve the Ultimate. Whether to be a demon or divine, we decide at that one point. When we receive the data through our senses, process it and deliver the result or command, how is the command delivered? If the command comes out with the thinking, ‘What is there for me?’ then whatever we do, including meditation, will be only ego satisfying, not enriching.

Many people ask, ‘Swamiji, at some point, I felt such deep ecstasy in meditation, such beautiful bliss. But suddenly, within two hours it disappeared, it never came back! Why is this so? How can we get it back?’ Please understand that bliss is choicelessness. When we are absent, when our identity disappears, we experience bliss. The moment we want the bliss back, we have already chosen. We have made the choice! The Daivāsura Sampad Vibhāga Yogaḥ You And Me 1133 moment we choose, we will always choose suffering. All choices are suffering, because choice is based on the mind. It is based on duality. Bliss is choicelessness. It is beyond duality, it is Advaita, therefore there is nothing to choose ‘between’.

The moment the space of ‘me’ or ‘mine’ appears and decides, it destroys the bliss. We can no longer be Divine. When we are blissful, we have said, ‘No’ to ‘me’; we are relaxed in the ‘You’ idea. The moment we want to possess bliss, we have said, ‘Yes’ to ‘me’. ‘You’ and ‘me’ Listen. We need to understand ‘You’ and ‘me’ properly. The word ‘me’ means ego; the word ‘You’ means the whole of Existence. When our identity evaporates, when our ego dissolves, whatever is left is Existence; it is Divine, daivic. We create the demon by bringing in the idea of ‘me’. The moment we bring in the idea of ‘me,’ whatever is there, is demonic.

The moment the ‘me’ idea is removed, whatever there is, is Divine. With the ‘me’ idea, whatever we do, be it meditation, rituals, learning, or knowledge, it will only strengthen the ego. Anything done to strengthen the idea of ‘me’, naturally leads to more ignorance and suffering. Anything done with the attitude of ‘You,’ whatever it is, naturally becomes Divine and leads to Bliss. In Saṁskṛit, we have two words: nivṛitti and pravṛitti. Nivṛitti— looking inwards or liberation or completion—is centered on the idea of ‘You’. Pravṛitti—looking outwards or bondage or incompletion—is centered on the idea of ‘me’. Whatever is done out of ‘You’, leads to liberation; whatever we do out of the idea of ‘me’, leads to bondage.

As long as we are centered in ourselves, we are in the bondage of attraction and aversion, greed and fear. Most people are centered in their mūlādhāra cakra, the energy center in our body associated with the emotion of greed, or in the svādiṣṭhāna cakra, the energy center in our body associated with fears and insecurity. The mūlādhāra is all about ‘me’—our possessions: ‘What is in it for me? Where do I go from here?’ The svādiṣṭhāna is about ‘I’, our identity, insecurity and fear arising from our need to protect the bodymind system. Both these bind us, block us, and keep us firmly locked in the material world. As our higher centers of energy get energized and unblocked, and our energy rises from the mūlādhāra and svādiṣṭhāna, to anāhata (heart center) and beyond, we look beyond ourselves.

The ‘me’ starts dropping. When the ājñā cakra (energy center between the eyebrows) becomes energized, the ego, the identity, the ‘I’ and ‘me’, disappear and the ‘you’ takes over. The demon becomes the Divine. When we shed our ego, we become boundary-less. We are no longer limited by selfish thoughts about ‘me’ and ‘mine’, our kith and kin. The whole world is ours to care for. Kṛṣṇa refers to this as Vasudaiva Kuṭuṁbakaṁ, ‘the whole world is one family’. As long as we feel that our body-mind is our boundary, that we are separate from the rest of the Universe, we will continuously fight with Existence, with the nature, with the Whole.

Understand, the part can never succeed when it fights with the Whole. Whatever we think, speak or do based upon the idea ‘me’, it leads to more and incompletions, more and more suffering. This whole Universe is God’s will and so are we. However, God has willed that we use our free will. That is why He has given us consciousness, so that we are aware of what we do. If we truly believed in God’s will, we would do our very best and leave the result to Him. This is what Kṛṣṇa declared earlier—karmaṇy evādhikāraste mā phaleṣu kadācana (2.47). Do what you have to do without bothering about the results.

When we move into the space of ‘You’, we move into the attitude Kṛṣṇa speaks about. When we are no longer worried about ourselves and we think of everyone else’s needs as our own, results lose meaning. There is no selfish pressure. There is no identity that directs us towards success instead of failure, based upon how we imagine success looks. Success and failure lose their meaning. Daivāsura Sampad Vibhāga Yogaḥ You And Me 1135 Whether we act demonic or Divine, the inner space in all of us is Divine. The inner space is pure; it is uncontaminated. Whether we are tuned inwards towards that purity or tuned outwards towards gratification is the choice we make through our free will.

A Rāvaṇa had the choice of being a Rāma, and a Duryodhana had the choice of being an Arjuna. Through their own free will, they did not exercise that choice. Here, Kṛṣṇa beautifully explains the demonic and Divine natures. Now in the 15th and 16th chapters, only Kṛṣṇa speaks, Arjuna is practically silent; he is in the space of pure listening, Upaniṣad. All the questions have disappeared and only small doubts are left, which are a means to enrich others. He is asking for clarifications on this sacred science from his Master. Qualifications Of Divinity