Om Namo
Bhagavathe Vaasudevaayaa!
“Brahma Satyam, Jaganmidhya”
“The Aatman is True and the World is an
Illusion”
Chapter 2; Sankhya Yoga
Having introduced the concept and nature of
‘Aatman’, Krishna further explains about the sensory perceptions arising out of
the play of sensory organs (Gyanedriyas) and the illusions they create and
advises to stay balanced and poised.
Krishna speaks thus;
“Oh Arjuna, the sensory
experiences arising out of the play of sensory organs create feelings of cold
and heat; pleasure and pain. They keep occurring and are transient in nature.
Hence, you need to stay resilient” (2/14)
In the world today, we keep experiencing the
various contradictory experiences mentioned above due to the play of forces of
nature. Our sensory organs translate these changes into experiences. But these
are impermanent and are transient. Hence, it would be unwise to stay attached
to these feelings. Cold weather turns into hot weather, pleasures and happiness
may give way to pain and grief. These things keep happening in a loop. But the
one, who thinks these feelings as permanent or real, falls into the vortex of
misery. But the Wise, who realise their impermanence, stay calm, composed and unmoved to all
these transient changes.
“Oh Arjuna, whosoever is
unaffected by these sensory experiences and who maintains equanimity and looks
at these with equal detachment, becomes eligible for Moksha or Enlightenment”
(2/15)
Here, Krishna clearly mentions the
qualification for Moksha or attainment of ultimate bliss. So, for becoming
eligible for the journey of enlightenment, one needs to conquer the illusions
created by the play of sensory experiences. Such a person doesn’t get elated at happiness or pleasure or get unnerved by the
happening of sorrow and grief. He stays detached to all such feelings.
“The name and form are unreal
and perishable, the Aatman is real and eternal. The Wise or the Gyanis decisively
know this” (2/16)
Krishna says that the Wise who can
discriminate between what is real and what is unreal, have experienced this
through Sadhana and introspection. They consider the visual world as an
illusion created by the play of senses. Through contemplation and
discrimination, they also understand the permanence of Aatman.
To put it in a nutshell, Krishna propounds
that eternal bliss and alternatively the loop of misery are created by two
things:
- Ignorance about what is Real that is Aatman and
- Belief in the Unreal that is the illusion created by Avidya (lack of discrimination)
The first one takes a person away from the Real
and Eternal Bliss and the second one ties him down to the Unreal illusion
created by the play of the physical world and causes misery and discontent.
In this sloka, Bhagavan Krishna lays the
foundation for the great philosophical non-dualistic (Advaita) tenet called “Brahma Satyam, Jaganmidhya” or “The Aatman is True and the
World is an Illusion”
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