Sunday, November 7, 2021

CHAPTER 10, VERSE 20 - I am Atma - अहमात्मा गुडाकेश




















अहमात्मा गुडाकेश सर्वभूताशयस्थित: |
अहमादिश्च मध्यं च भूतानामन्त एव च ॥20॥



Transliteration:
aham ātmā guḍākeśha sarva-bhūtāśhaya-sthitaḥ
aham ādiśh cha madhyaṁ cha bhūtānām anta eva cha



Translation
O Gudakesa, I am the Self residing in the hearts of all beings, and I am the beginning and the middle as also the end of (all) beings.



My Understanding:

ॐ नमो नारायण ! जय श्री कृष्णा


श्रीमदभगवतगीता (ShriMad Bhagwat Geeta) is the Sun of knowledge. It's the brightest light that enlightens the world within ourselves. With Acharya Shri Shivender Nagar Ji's teaching and guidance, I am attempting to understand and to see. Following is a record of my understanding of the highest knowledge available to mankind.

Attention all serious students of Shrimad Bhagwat Geeta Ji, this verse is the key for advanced studies. Here's the main idea, In numerous verses of Geeta Ji Lord Shri Krishna has called himself the greatest and advises us to surrender ourselves to him. It sounds narcissistic and self-gratifying because the primary teachings of Lord Krishna's are to be free of ego and desires. To be ego-free is the goal of everyone's spiritual journey. This verse resolves this contradictory idea. That's the reason why this verse is the key to understanding Geeta Ji.

For the last seven verses, Lord Krishna was listening to Arjun's praises. Eventually, Arjun requested and praised lord Krishna to tell him about his glories. In the last verse, Lord Krishna said OK. With this verse, Lord Krishna starts to proffer his grandeur to Arjun. He begins with the grandest of all declarations by saying "I am the Atma residing at the centre of all the beings".

As per Acharya Ji and my understanding from other literature I read, whenever Lord Krishna says "I", it means pure consciousness or Atma. It isn't the King of Dwarka talking or a relative/friend of Arjun's. It isn't the charioteer of Arjun or an average-sized male. However, when we say "I", it always means the Body, Mind and Intellect. That, why self-praise is simply egotistical. Swami RaamTirtha wrote, "Rama Said" instead of I in all of his books due to this very reason.

The word गुडाकेश (Gudakesh) got several meanings. One is: who has conquered sleep, also means someone confused. Here, Lord Krishna calls Arjun the conqueror of sleep. Most probably, he is saying that O conqueror of sleep now conure this idea. Or O confused one, here's the real knowledge.

To simplify and summarise, Lord Krishna is the substratum of everything, the very basis of all beings, who resides at the centre or the heart of everyone existence. Our identification is with our Body, Mind and Intellect. But Atma, the pure consciousness is before Body, Mind and Intellect and will be there after it as well. A pearl neckless can explain this idea perfectly. All beings are pearls of the neckless string together. Some pearls are costly and, some are cheap, some are large and, some are small, some bright and, some are dull. Similar to the world, some are poor, rich, weak, strong, bright and, dull. String together by an invisible thread. Every day pearls are added and removed from the neckless. But the thread forever remains. It was there before, during and after the neckless. Without the string, the neckless will not exist. That thread is the Atma or pure consciousness. And that is what Lod Krishna refers to whenever he says "I".

There's irony in this verse as well. People often say that Atma is lost, Atman is not happy, is not at peace, rest in peace, Atma has become a ghost etc. Lord Krishna reveals to all those Gudhakesh that he is the Atma. Furthermore, the Aatma is the same in every being. It's the same in the drugs junky and Swami Vivekananda. The only thing which differentiates the two are their desires and, it actually decides the magnitude of their lives.

Atma is the eternal light and, our desires are blankets. Blankets have engulfed the light and it's dark. Lord Krishna is the eternal light. And to see the light, all those thick blankets need to be removed.

ॐ तत् सत्