Bhagwad Gita - Post 191

Verse 19

He who, undeluded, knows Me thus as the highest Purusha, he, knowing all, worships Me with his whole being (heart), O Arjuna!

Undeluded means, one who has totally detached oneself from one's wrong identifications with body, mind, and intellect, and therefore, also from the world of perceptions, feelings, and thoughts, which these vehicles provide.

Thus Knows me --- To 'know' here is not a mere intellectual comprehension, but a deep subjective spiritual apprehension. That the undeluded one thus experiences in himself that he is the Purushottama-Principle Itself, seems to be the suggestion here.

Dear All,

While it seems difficult to understand that there is something even beyond Purusha and Prakriti, it is enough to understand one single point here.

All teachings of Upanishads, all descriptions of Brahman, are somehow with respect to the creation.

Let us recapitulate what Chinmaya wrote,

“If two trains are both moving at the same speed no movement is recognized by perceivers in both the trains…….”

Let us take one train in this example to be this Creation which we can perceive.

Since we are able to perceive Creation, there has to be a cause for this creation, who is the Supreme Creator, Brahman. Let us assume this to be the second train.

So, when we are keeping one train non-moved, we are able to comprehend or know or think about the second train.

That is, we can either think of Creation or about the Creator, at one point of time and when we think of one of them, the other one is not thought of (one train moves and another does not move).

Now, what would be the situation when we neither think of Creation nor about Creator, but transcend both of them??

That is, we transcend all the description of Brahman in Vedanta and exist as beyond all those descriptions as Pure Existence, without any awareness that we are existing thus.!!

This is what is described as Purushottama or Para Brahman.

In simpler words, let us be clear. The same Purusha, described in Vedanta with respect to the creation, when we transcend all reference of Purusha with respect to Creation, then the same Purusha now is Purushottama, in our transcendental state/ experience. 

Since we are all very clear about the Pure canvass analogy, let us be clear that as long as the thought of  subsequent processes-stiffening of canvass, outline, emerging of drawing, all these things somehow are there when we contemplate on the canvass, then the canvass is Purusha (as per Sankhya also).

But in the height of contemplation, when all the thoughts of further processes are gone and even the faintest thought of the pure canvass is also gone and we exist verily as the Pure canvass itself, then the same Purusha referred in Vedanta now exists as PURUSHOTTAMA.

Purushottama, in author’s humble thoughts, cannot be explained in a more easy way. Even Upanishads/ Gita has not explained in the manner explained above because, Upanishad is silent on the description of “Purushottama” as it is not a subject of description but it is the state to be experienced. 

Somehow, when the author sat and started writing on this verse, it flows from within as an intuition that the verse, along with the previous two verses, have to be explained further and this intuition and the flow of expressions, both flow at the same time.

Verse 20

Thus, this most secret science has been taught by Me, O sinless one! On knowing this, a man becomes wise, and all his duties are accomplished, O Arjuna!

This is a secret. This Fifteenth Chapter is a great secret—the most secret, not an ordinary secret. 

“It is not an ordinary secret, it is not a great secret, but it is the greatest secret that I have told you. Really you will be wise after having known the import of this teaching; and you have done what you wanted to do, you have known what is to be known, and you have obtained what is to be obtained. You become what is called kritakritya, jnatajneya and praptaprapya, which are the signs of perfection. 

You know whatever is to be known, you have done what is to be done, and you have obtained what is to be obtained. That state of affairs is called kritakritya. 

O Arjuna! You will attain to that state and you will know all things, if you have grasped the essential import of this teaching that I have given to you here in this Fifteenth Chapter of the Bhagavad Gita, which is known as Purushottama Yoga.”

Love.