Verse 19 :
य एनं वेत्ति हन्तारं यश्चैनं मन्यते हतम्।
उभौ तौ न विजानीतो नायं हन्ति न हन्यते॥19॥
Transliteration :
ya yenaṁ vetti hantāraṁ yashcainaṁ manyate hatam |
ubhau tau na vijānīto nāyaṁ hanti na hanyate || 19 ||
Meaning :
He who thinks that Atma slays, or he who thinks that Atma is Slain, neither of them know the Truth. Atma does not slay, nor is slain.
Verse 18:
अन्तवन्त इमे
देहा नित्यस्योक्ता: शरीरिण: |
अनाशिनोऽप्रमेयस्य तस्माद्युध्यस्व भारत || 18||
Transliteration:
Antavanta ime dehA nityasyoktAH
sharIriNaha.
anAshino.aprameyasya
tasmAdyudhyasva bhArata..18..
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Word-by-word Meaning:
अन्त-वन्त –
that which has end; इमे – these; देहा – these bodies; नित्यस्य - (of the ) imperishable; उक्ताः
– it is told; शरीरिणः – those which
possess the bodies; अनाशिनः – indestructible; अप्रमेयस्य – immeasurable; तस्मात् –
therefore; युध्यस्व – engage in the war;भारत – O descendant of Bharata.
Meaning:
O descendant of
Bharata, it is told that only these bodies are destructible, the imperishable,
immeasurable soul is indestructible. Therefore, engage in the war.
Significance:
The usage of the
word ‘tasmAt’ indicates that Lord Krishna is now trying to summarise His words.
Lord Krishna has already told that bodies are perishable, soul is all-pervading,
soul is indestructible. That which has a beginning and end is unreal and that
which has no beginning and end is real. The soul is immeasurable, and the destruction
of the body will never affect the soul. Having told all these, Lord also told
that lamenting for the destruction of body is not worthy and for the
destruction of soul is unwanted (as it is eternal). Lord, in this verse thus
instructs Arjuna to engage in the war which is just doing his duty as a Kshatriya.
Verse 17
अविनाशि तु
तद्विद्धि येन सर्वमिदं ततम् ।
विनाशमव्ययस्यास्य
न कश्चित्कर्तुमर्हति ॥ १७॥
Transliteration:
avinAshi tu tadviddhi
yena sarvamidaM tatam
vinAshamavyayasyAsya
na kashcitkartumarhati..17..
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Word-by-word meaning:
अविनाशि –
indestructible; तु – indeed; तत् –
that; विद्धि – know; येन – by which; सर्वं – everything; इदं – thus; ततम् – pervades; विनाशम् – destruction अव्ययस्य – of the indestructible; अस्य – of
this; न – not; कश्चित् – any; कर्तुम् – to do; अर्हसि – fit;
Meaning:
Indeed, know that that
which pervades everything, is indestructible. No one can destruct this which is
imperishable.
Significance:
The soul is
indestructible, imperishable, all pervading. There may arise a question on where
the soul resides in the body ? Again , if it resides in a particular place how
it is called all-pervading ? For the first question – our Upanishads gives the answer.
The soul resides in the heart . In Chandogya Upanishad we have the statement - sa
vā eṣha
ātmā hṛidi Also in
Bhagavad Gita Lord Krishna says He resides in the heart of every being. Coming
to the next question, if Soul resides at one place in the body who can it be
all pervading, it can be explained with an example. A flower is in a branch of
a plant in a garden. But its fragrance pervades all through the garden. Thus,
the soul pervades the body by pervading its consciousness.
Verse 16
नासतो विद्यते
भावो नाभावो विद्यते सत: |
उभयोरपि दृष्टोऽन्तस्त्वनयोस्तत्त्वदर्शिभि: ||
16||
Transliteration
nAsato vidyate bhAvo
nAbhAvo vidyate sataH.
ubhayorapi drishtontastvanayostattvadarshibhiH..
16 ..
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Word by word meaning:
न –
not; असतः – (of the) temporary; विद्यते –
there is ; न – not; अभावः – absence; भावः – existence; विद्यते – there is; सतः – (of the) permanent; उभयोः – (of
the)two; अपि – also; दृष्टः –
observed; अन्तः – difference; तु –
indeed; अनयोः – of these; तत्त्व –
essence; दर्शिभिः – (by the) seers;
Meaning:
The temporary does
not existence, the permanent has no non-existence ; The seers of the essence observed
the difference between these two.
Significance:
This is one of the
most important verse in Bhagavad Gita. The words ‘sat’ and ‘asat’ are decoded
in Indian philosphies according to the path their principles. Here we decode
the word ‘sat’- as eternal and ‘asat’ – as temporary. The soul is sat and the
body is asat. The soul is imperishable, the body is perishable. The word ‘asat’
should not be confused with ‘mitya’, which means unreal. This is termed as the basic
knowledge requirement to proceed into the enquiry of Brahman.
Verse 15:
यं हि न
व्यथयन्त्येते पुरुषं पुरुषर्षभ |
समदु:खसुखं धीरं सोऽमृतत्वाय कल्पते || 15||
Transliteration:
Yam hi na
vyathayantyete puruShaM puruSharShabha.
samadhuHkhasukhaM
dhIraM so.amrutatvAya kalpate..15..
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Word by word meaning:
यं –
who; हि – indeed; न
– do not; व्यथयन्ति – disturbed एते – (by) these; पुरुषं – person;
पुरुषर्षभ - best among men; सम- equal;
दु:ख-सुखं – sorrow and
happiness; धीरं – wise person; स:
- he; अमृतत्वाय
- (for)liberation;
कल्पते – fit;
Meaning:
O Best among men,
that wise person who is indeed not disturbed, who remains the same in happiness
and sorrow, he is eligible for liberation.
Significance:
The word ‘Purusha’
is used here to address the inner self. That inner self, which even when is
inside a body with sense organs, with those sense organs getting driven by
sense objects, with the body experiencing pain / pleasure, remains equipoise in
all situations. This state is not the liberated state, but this is the process
to attain mukti. Those who are not overpowered by senses are eligible for
travelling in the path to attain mukti. We must learn to tolerate the feelings
risen by the contact of the sense organs with the objects and win over them by
determination.
Verse
– 14
मात्रास्पर्शास्तु
कौन्तेय शीतोष्णसुखदु: खदा: |
आगमापायिनोऽनित्यास्तांस्तितिक्षस्व भारत ||
14||
Transliteration:
mAtrAsparshAstu
kauteya shItoShNasukhaduHkhadAH .
AgamApAyino.anityAstAMstitikShasva
bhArata..14
Click here to listen to the verse
Word – by word meaning:
मात्रास्पर्शा:-
contact of the senses; स्तु – indeed;
कौन्तेय – son of Kunti; शीतोष्ण –
cold/heat; सुख-दु:खदा: - gives
happiness or sadness; आगम – Agama; अपायिनः – go; अनित्या: -
non-permanent; तांस्तितिक्षस्व – endure
them; भारत – Descendant of Bharatha.
Meaning:
O Son of Kunti, the
contact of senses with the objects gives us the feel of heat / cold, happiness/
sorrow. These are not permanent, they come and go, so endure them , O
descendant of Bharatha !
Significance:
mAtrAsparsha – is the
contact of the sense organs – eyes, ears, skin, nose, tongue, with their
respective objects. When this contact occurs, we experience heat / cold /
happiness / sorrow. Lord Krishna says this experience is not permanent, an
object which gives pleasure to us in one situation can give us sorrow in
another. The same object becomes the reason for happiness and sorrow for the
same individual. For example: Taking bath in cold water in summer season gives
us pleasure, while the same does not give pleasure in winter season. Thus,
these experiences that we get by the contact of sense organs with objects are
not permanent. Lord Krishna says that one should learn to tolerate these with discrimination, fortitude and patience and be
neutral in all situations. These situations will soon pass by themselves as they are non-permanent.
Verse 13
देहिनोऽस्मिन्यथा देहे
कौमारं यौवनं जरा |
तथा
देहान्तरप्राप्तिर्धीरस्तत्र न मुह्यति || 13||
Transliteration
DehinosminyathA dehe
kaumAraM yauvanaM jarA.
tathA dehAntaraprAptirdhIRastatra
na muhyati..13..
Click here to listen to the verse
Word-by-word
meaning:
देहिनः – one who dwells in the body; अस्मिन् – in
this; यथा – as; देहे- in the body; कौमारं – childhood; यौवनं – youth;
जरा – old-age; तथा- thus; देहान्तर – another body; प्राप्तिः – attainment; धीरः – the
wise;तत्र - there; न - do not; मुह्यति- grieve;
Meaning:
Just as this body undergoes
the stages of – Childhood, Youth and Old-age, so is this attainment of another
body (by the soul). The wise people do not grieve over this.
Significance:
After proving the ‘Eternal’
nature of the Soul in the previous verse, Lord Krishna here says that the
change of bodies will not affect the Soul in any way. The individual remains
the same when he is in childhood, in youth and in old age – which are the
different and unavoidable changes of our body. Same way the soul remains the
same when it changes from one body to another. A person who is not enlightened
with the knowledge of the nature of soul worries for birth and death. That is
why the knowledge of the soul is said to be the foundation of Indian Philosophy.
