Five Basic Truths Explained in Bhagavad-Gita Isvara (the Supreme Lord) Jiva (the living entity) Prakrti (nature) Kala (eternal time) Karma (activity) Ishwar - The Supreme Lord God is everywhere yet localized, all-pervading yet aloof. He walks yet doesn’t walk. He is far away yet very near as well.” Such contradictory statements are not whimsical. Rather, they indicate God’s inconceivable power. The Absolute Truth, Krishna, can be realized in three phases: Brahman, Paramatma, and Bhagavan. These aspects of the Absolute Truth are comparable to the sunshine (brahman), the sun’s surface (paramatma), and the sun planet (bhagavan)—three different features of the same reality. The Brahman aspect of God is the beginning less, impersonal form of the Lord, the effulgence of Krishna’s transcendental body. Just as the root of a tree maintains the whole tree, Krishna, the root of all things, maintains everything by His energies: He is the heat in the fire, the taste of water, the light of the sun and the moon—the active principle of everything. Although Krishna spreads Himself throughout His creation, He retains his own personality. Jiva - The Living Entity Who am I? The face I see every morning in the mirror? The eyes that scrutinize it? The heartbeats within my chest? Or the thoughts that race through my brain while I wonder about all this? According to the ancient Vedic Scriptures, I am none of these things. I am an eternal soul – a jiva – stuck within a city of nine gates (two eyes, two ears, two nostrils, the mouth, rectum, and genitals). “when the upper point of a hair is divided into one hundred parts and again each of such parts is further divided into one hundred parts, each such part is the measurement of the dimension of the spirit soul.” This statement from the Svetasvatara Upanishad explains why scientists have not been able to see the soul through their microscopes. Prakriti - Material Nature In the Seventh Chapter of Bhagavad-gita (7.6), Krishna says that all created beings have their origin in two natures – the material and the spiritual – and that He is the sources of both natures. Prakriti, nature, is actually threefold. Nature consists of a superior energy (para), an inferior energy (apara), and a marginal energy. The superior energy manifests the spiritual realm. The inferior energy (known as “nature” by scientists) manifests the material world. And the marginal energy, also spiritual by constitution, comprises the infinitesimal sparks of consciousness known as jivas – that is, all living beings. When the jivas choose to associate with matter and identify with the inferior energy, they manipulate it for sense enjoyment, and thus the entire world functions. Kala – Eternal Time Time controls and subdues all embodied beings. Anyone can easily see that material bodies undergo six changes: birth, growth, maintenance, reproduction, decay, and death. Whether we like it or not, every rising and setting of the sun brings us closer to inevitable death. The rise and fall of civilizations follow the same pattern, and their Taj Mahals, Parthenons, Chateau de Versailles and pyramids stand as pathetic reminders that time and tide wait for no man. Karma – Material Activities The Bhagavad-gita discusses five topics: isvara, the Supreme Controller; jiva, the living entity; prakriti, material nature; kala, time; and karma, activities. The living entity, material nature, and time are eternal energies of the Lord, the Supreme Controller. Karma however, is not eternal. “karma” means work and its results, or action and reaction. “ action pertaining to the development of the material bodies of the living entities is called karma, says Bhagavad-gita (8.3). From one life to the next, and from one cosmic creation to the next, the living entity makes a determination to act in a certain way, and then he is entangled in the reaction to his work. After giving up one body, he enters another and usually he forgets everything about his previous life. The Super soul in everyone’s heart witnesses one’s past desires and gives one facility and directions by which to fulfill them. In this way, the soul reaps the results of his actions. Thank You Gud nt......frndzzz
Posted on: Tue, 23 Dec 2014 17:41:48 +0000