Bhagwad Gita - Post 19

Verse 12

Na twevaaham jaatu naasam

na twam neme janaadhipaah;

Na chaiva na bhavishyaamah

sarve vayam atah param.

Nor at any time indeed was I not,

nor these rulers of men,

nor verily shall we ever cease to be hereafter.

In the Katha Upanishad, Lord of death, Yama, teaches nachiketa, thus:-

“This Self is never born, nor does It die. It did not spring from anything, nor did anything spring from It. This Ancient One is unborn, eternal, everlasting. It is not slain even though the body is slain. 

If the slayer thinks that he slays, or if the slain thinks that he is slain, both of these know not. For It neither slays nor is It slain.”

In the Skanda Purana it is stated:

"There is no possibility of any destruction of the absolute Consciousness of the Supreme Lord the same, similarly it also applies to the individual consciousness of all living entities. 

The One who so desiring manifests as the many. The connection and disconnection from the physical body is known as birth and death. Such is this reality for all living entities; but for the eternal and transcendental Supreme Lord this reality has no relevance and is in no way applicable."

Thus, Krishna says that neither He Himself nor Arjuna nor the great kings of the age that have assembled in both the armies, are mere accidental happenings. 

They do not come from nowhere and, at their death, do not become mere non-existent. 

Dear all,

How to understand the essence of this verse in an easier manner?

We are clear from the pure canvass pour that the pure canvass = God or Brahman who / that existed even before time space, 5 elements emerged. 

And, in the same pour, we also learnt that while we are born, we occupy a part of the pure canvass and if we erase our body that has occupied the part of the pure canvass, then we are nothing else but the (part) in the pure canvass itself.

For a quick recap, please go through this pure canvass post link from an earlier blog theme post. 

Thus, are we not clear now that the pure canvass (Krishna referring to Himself in this verse) and we (the rulers referred in the verse) are never born and shall never cease to exist?

There are two things in the world, the soul which is real and the body which is unreal. Both of these are not to be grieved for because the soul never ceases to be, and the body is ever perishable. 

Thus, Sri Krishna speaks here of the immortality of the Self or the soul. The Self exists in the three periods of time - past, present and future.

He declares that the embodied soul in everyone identifies itself with varied forms temporarily to gain preordained experiences. 

Neither Krishna himself nor Arjuna nor the other kings who have assembled in the battlefield are mere accidental happenings nor shall they cease to exist in future. It is not that they came from nowhere nor at their death they become nothing or non-existent. The soul remaining the same, it gets apparently conditioned by different body equipments and comes to live through its self-ordained environments.

The essence of this verse, "the eternal existence of SELF" has been explained with so many illustrations in Atma Bodha theme posts such as,

- Pot Space (Where the Body is like pot which may exist or which may get broken (die) whereas the space inside is neither born, bore dies). 

- Gold and Ornament (The ornament is like various bodies whose shape, color, appearance etc may vary whereas the essence, the Gold (SELF) is the same).

In fact, the Atma bodha verses theme posts are more than sufficient for reading and contemplating in one's entire life, on the IMPERISHABLE SELF, which is the essence of today's post verse.

Lord Krishna informs Arjuna that due to fraternal feelings he was neglecting his own nature not to fulfill his duty according to righteousness. Is it because of the fear of losing his life or is it because of ignorance that he (Arjuna) and all others are but Pure consciousness?

The physical body is in all respects subject to destruction so there is no purpose in being frightened, nor should there be any concern over the possibility of destruction of the individual consciousness because its nature is also eternal.

Love.