Bangalore, India
(Below is a continuation of the post Walk The Path of Truth)
The entire creation is composed of two types of Prakruti: Para-prakruti and Apara-prakruti. Apara-prakruti is of eight types but there is only one Para-prakruti which upholds everything in this creation.
That from which everything in creation takes birth, and into which everything ultimately dissolves is God.
In the sixth verse, Lord Krishna says, ‘Etad-yonini bhutani sarvanitya upadharaya. Aham krtsnasya jagatah prabhavah pralayas thata’. (Ch. 7.6)
So, Lord Krishna says, ‘This entire creation is made up of both, the Apara-prakruti and Para-prakruti, and both of these are born out of Me. I am the cause of their creation and I am the cause of their dissolution, and all of it resides in Me. This is what you should know’.
That from which everything is created is God.
Now you might ask, ‘Then where does God come from?’
If He came from some source, then He is not God. Then it is the source from which He came from that is God.
Often people ask, ‘Who gave birth to God?’
How can one who takes birth be God? That from which everything in creation takes birth, and into which everything ultimately dissolves is God.
Hearing this you might think that God is something or someone who is very far away from you; someone from whom this entire creation has come out of. No, he is not far away. That is why Lord Krishna says, ‘Know Me and Me alone (as the one source from which all is born, and into which everything dissolves).’
This ‘I’ or ‘Me’ that is present within each person, is the Chaitanya (Self or consciousness). And it is from this consciousness that everything has been born, and into which everything will ultimately merge into. The consciousness is the basis of life.
The body is alive because of the presence of consciousness. When consciousness leaves the body, life comes to an end.
So Lord Krishna says, ‘Know Me as the Chetna (consciousness) present in every Jiva (living creature) which is the basis of everything and which sustains everything in creation. I am the primary cause of everything’.
So, consciousness is the basis of everything. There is consciousness present even in a baby who is in the mother’s womb, because of which it grows. If it is not there, the child is said to be stillborn or dead.
Lord Krishna says, ‘Anything that is alive and growing in creation is because of Me manifest everywhere as the Chaitanya Shakti (consciousness)’.
It is because of the presence of this consciousness that the trees grow new leaves and bear fruits. Plants and trees are alive because there is consciousness present within them, else it will not grow.
The ‘I’ or ‘Me’ that is present within each person, is the Chaitanya (Self or consciousness). And it is from this consciousness that everything has been born, and into which everything will ultimately merge into. The consciousness is the basis of life.
Now we might think that there is no life in a stone, but it is not so. There is consciousness even within a stone. It is said that this entire creation is ‘organic’ (meaning it is alive and growing). There is nothing devoid of life in the whole creation. Everything is alive.
Do you think that Nature, or the Earth is dead when she has given birth to and sustained billions of creatures since the ages? Not at all! This Earth is so alive, which is why we call her as our mother, or as Bhu Devi. She is given this title because there is life in her. Mother Nature too is alive.
So the Earth itself is an organism. Billions of living creatures and micro-organisms are present within her. There is life in every atom and every cell of creation.
When you see creation from this perspective, you will understand that nothing here is dead, everything is alive.
If you see, some things in creation are stationary, while some appear to be moving. But in reality, everything is in motion. The sun too is moving.
So Lord Krishna says, ‘I am all that is alive in this whole creation. It exists because of Me’.
He then explains further in the next verse, ‘Mattah parataram nanyat kincid asti Dhananjaya. Mayi sarvam idam protam sutre mani-gana iva’. (Ch. 7.7)
He says, ‘O Arjuna! Know that there is nothing that is devoid of Me in this creation. It is me only that is in everything. There is nothing beyond me in this creation. The whole creation is woven into me, just like pearls strung into a string’.
Yesterday I said that this entire creation is full of energy which is called Dark Matter or Dark Energy. A simple example of this is air. See, you are surrounded by air and it is also present inside you. If all the air is removed from your body, it would simply shrink. The body is filled with air just like a tyre. If the air is removed, then the body can be compressed just like a rubber tyre and fit into a bag. It will shrink to such a small size. Just like a balloon shrinks and becomes so small when all its air is taken out.
In the same way, the air element is present inside our body and also all around it. Our body cannot survive without the air element. So also, nothing in this world can survive without the power of consciousness.
So He says, ‘Just like many pearls are strung and held together by one string, in the same way many worlds in this creation are all present in Me. I am the centre of everything’.
The next verse, ‘Raso 'ham apsu Kaunteya prabhasmi sasi-suryayoh. Pranavah sarva-vedesu sabdah khe paurusam nrsu’. (Ch. 7.8)
Now comes the interesting part. Lord Krishna says, ‘I am the wetness of the water, the taste of all the liquid substances; I am the rays of light that emerge from the sun and the moon. Of all the Vedas, I am the Pranava (Om, the primordial sound of creation)’.
Om is our true name. The name that we carry is the one given to us by our parents, and it is limited to our existence in this lifetime only.
Even if someone is given a good name, still people are called by pet names like Mintu, Pintu or Jimmy, etc. A girl’s name may be Padma (meaning the lotus) which is a very nice name, but still people will say Pammi for a pet name (laughter).
So people today call each other by any type of name. This name is not our true name. Our true name is Om. It was our name before our birth and it will be our name after we die. One day we will all dissolve into Om.
Do you think that Nature, or the Earth is dead when she has given birth to and sustained billions of creatures since the ages? Not at all! This Earth is so alive, which is why we call her as our mother, or as Bhu Devi
In Sikhism, there is a prayer by Guru Nanakdevji, ‘Ek Onkar (God is One), Satnam (His name is True), Karta-Purakh (He is the Creator)’.
It means, Om is the one and only true name, and the cause of all existence.
But there are some ignorant people who say, ‘We do not believe in Om, we believe in Omkar’. What is difference between the two? There is no difference.
‘Om is the essence of all the Vedas and that is what I am’, this is what Lord Krishna says to Arjuna.
There can be no progress of knowledge without Om. The chanting of the Vedas begins with Om, and ends with Om also. The Vedas are the very expansion of Om. Om is the essence of the entire creation.
Sound is a quality associated with the Space element. So in this verse, Lord Krishna says, ‘I am the sound in space of all that is spoken and conveyed. I am also the capability a man is endowed with. Just as a woman is characterized by her softness and a motherly nature, know Me to be the manfulness (characterised by strength, skill or effort) in a man’.
In the next verse, He says: ‘Punyo gandhah prthivyam cha tejas chasmi vibhavasau. Jivanam sarva-bhutesu tapas chasmi tapasvisu’. (Ch. 7, V.9)
Smell is the quality associated with the Earth element.
We think that we are able to experience fragrances because of the Air element, but that is not so. Just as sweetness is the quality of sugar, wetness is the quality of water, heat is the quality of fire, in the same way fragrance is the quality of the Earth element.
So Lord Krishna says, ‘I am the fragrance of the Earth element; I am the heat of the Fire element, and I am the life force present in all creatures. Whether a good person or bad person, whether a lion, a cat, a rat or a donkey, wherever you find life, I am the root cause of that life. It is all me. I am the tapa (penance) of the wise sages. I am the compassion and willpower in all ascetics and wise sages’.
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(Note: The discourse was given in Hindi. Above is a translation of the orginal talk.)
