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.
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,
- 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.
