Bhagwad Gita - Post 86

Dear All,

In the upcoming posts, we will deal with few important verses from chapter 7.

Verse 4

Bhoomiraapo’nalo vaayuh

Kham mano buddhireva cha;

Ahamkaara iteeyam me

Bhinnaa prakritirashtadhaa.

Earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intellect and egoism — thus is My Nature divided eightfold.

Lord Krishna says, “My prakriti, the material out of which I have created this cosmos, can be classified under eight principles.” Earth, water, fire, air, and ether are five well-known physical elements; they are known as bhūmir āpo’nalo vāyuḥ khaṁ. 

These are the gross manifestations of the subtle substances behind them, which are known as tanmatras: sabda, sparsa, rupa, rasa and gandha. These five elements are the principal building bricks of the cosmos. 

Then there is the mind, which is the subtle, rarefied matter which reflects consciousness through it as a mirror reflects one’s face. Then there is buddhi which understands, decides, and logically concludes, and ahamkara which is self-conscious. So, earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intellect and egoism are the eight categories out of which the whole cosmos has been manufactured, as it were, by God.

In the blog, there is a specific theme -  “Manas,Buddhi, Chiitta and Ahankara”. Out of these 4, 3 are covered above. Chitta is a part of Ahankara in the context of this verse.

Verse 5

Apareyamitastwanyaam

Prakritim viddhi me paraam;

Jeevabhootaam mahaabaaho

Yayedam dhaaryate jagat.

This is the inferior Prakriti, O mighty-armed (Arjuna)! Know thou as different from it My higher Prakriti (Nature), the very life-element by which this world is upheld.

Sri Krishna proceeds further and says, “What I have mentioned to you up to this time as the eightfold constituents of the cosmos are lower categories; but there is something which is higher — through which, by which, I sustain the cosmos.” 

It is not enough if we have only these categories, just as building material does not make the building. It has to be synthesized, organized, given a living touch by a mason or an architect; only then the building material becomes a house to live in. 

 

So, all these that have been mentioned as the eight constituents are the building bricks of the cosmos. They are the material. 

But who will build the house? 

“I myself build it by entering into it as the mason, as it were, and giving life to it.” 

Unless there is a cohesive force, there cannot be the coming together of the discrete items which are prakriti’s constituents. 

Jīvabhūtāṁ mahābāho yayedaṁ dhāryate jagat: “I become the cosmic jiva. I, as the jiva tattva of the cosmos, the vitality of the cosmos, keep all these elements in unison so that you see a universe rather than chaos.” 

Love.