Question on: Shankara Bhashya of 13th and 15th chapters of Gita.
Krishna Kashyap
kshetrajna is ishwara, who is same as jivatma, who is same as nirguna brahman. This was clearly stated in the 13th chapter.
However, explicitly, in the 15th chapter, which is supposed to be the summary of the entire gita or even the entire Vedanta, there is no direct mention of nirguna brahman!! Why is it so?
V Subrahmanian
namaste everyone,Disclaimer: I am not an expert; however I want to understand Shankarabhashya on Gita sincerely. The more I read, the more I know that I don't know much about Gitabhashya!☺😁 in general (this applies to all bhashyas).Long Question on 13th and 15th chapter - shankara-bhashyain the 13th chapter clearly, Shankaracharya states that kshetra includes everything other than kshetrajna. kshetra is jnana-badhya. Hence all that is to be sublated is kshetra including jivatma and all the universes put together.
kshetrajna is ishwara, who is same as jivatma, who is same as nirguna brahman. This was clearly stated in the 13th chapter.
However, explicitly, in the 15th chapter, which is supposed to be the summary of the entire gita or even the entire Vedanta, there is no direct mention of nirguna brahman!! Why is it so?Here in the 15th chapter the three aspects mentioned are kshara - sarvani bhutani, akshara - mAyA, uttamah purushaha is Narayana - Ishana Sheelah (stated as mAm in Gita 15), which is saguna brahman. We can infer that Narayana is same as nirguna brahman by taking that equivalence of the three jiva, ishwara, nirguna brahman as stated in the 13th chapter. However, I was looking for an explicit mention of nirguna brahman in the 15th chapter which is the summary chapter!
प्रकारेण असंमूढः संमोहवर्जितः सन् जानाति अयम् अहम् अस्मि
इति पुरुषोत्तमं सः सर्ववित् 15.19.
See docs attached for details.I have attached my notes in the form of PowerPoint docs. Hope you can open these docs.Please identify mistakes in my understanding and mention them so that I can learn.Best Regards,Krishna Kashyap
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Krishna Kashyap
यो लोकत्रयमाविश्य बिभर्त्यव्यय ईश्वरः।।15.17।।
।।15.17।। --,उत्तमः उत्कृष्टतमः पुरुषस्तु अन्यः अत्यन्तविलक्षणः आभ्यां परमात्मा इति परमश्च असौ देहाद्यविद्याकृतात्मभ्यः? आत्मा च सर्वभूतानां प्रत्यक्चेतनः? इत्यतः परमात्मा इति उदाहृतः उक्तः वेदान्तेषु। स एव विशिष्यते यः लोकत्रयं भूर्भुवःस्वराख्यं स्वकीयया चैतन्यबलशक्त्या आविश्य प्रविश्य बिभर्ति स्वरूपसद्भावमात्रेण बिभर्ति धारयति अव्ययः न अस्य व्ययः विद्यते इति अव्ययः। कः ईश्वरः सर्वज्ञः नारायणाख्यः ईशनशीलः।।यथाव्याख्यातस्य ईश्वरस्य पुरुषोत्तमः इत्येतत् नाम प्रसिद्धम्। तस्य नामनिर्वचनप्रसिद्ध्या अर्थवत्त्वं नाम्नो दर्शयन् निरतिशयः अहम् ईश्वरः इति आत्मानं दर्शयति भगवान् --,
In this verse above, the terms ishara, sarvajna, narayanakhya, ishana sheelah - refer to saguna brahman right?
यो मामेवमसम्मूढो जानाति पुरुषोत्तमम्।
स सर्वविद्भजति मां सर्वभावेन भारत।।15.19।।
Sanskrit Commentary By Sri Shankaracharya
।।15.19।। --,यः माम् ईश्वरं यथोक्तविशेषणम् एवं यथोक्तेन प्रकारेण असंमूढः संमोहवर्जितः सन् जानाति अयम् अहम् अस्मि इति पुरुषोत्तमं सः सर्ववित् सर्वात्मना सर्वं वेत्तीति सर्वज्ञः सर्वभूतस्थं भजति मां सर्वभावेन सर्वात्मतया हे भारत।।अस्मिन् अध्याये भगवत्तत्त्वज्ञानं मोक्षफलम् उक्त्वा? अथ इदानीं तत् स्तौति -
Here above in this verse, I agree that, since it is said that sarvatmana, asammUdaha, etc. indicate that the person who knows without being influenced by any "maya". However, the idea that "ayam aham asmi" actually is taken by the information from 13th chapter and not stressed by the original words of the verse 15.19 right?
The verse itself states:
यो मामेवमसम्मूढो जानाति पुरुषोत्तमम्।स सर्वविद्भजति मां सर्वभावेन भारत।।15.19।।
here what does "bhajati" mean?
he is all-knowing. obviously the information from "kshetrajnam chaapi maam viddhi sarva kshetreshu bharatha" - 13.2 is used here to explain this verse. the original verse does not indicate - अयम् अहम् अस्मि इति
This is my point. Without using the information from 13th chapter, such a meaning of equivalence between jiva and ishwara cannot be understood by this verse or other verses of the 15th chapter. I was expecting an explicit confirmation of the advaita view as established by Shankaracharya in 13.2 to be reiterated in the 15th chapter, if this chapter is taken as the summary of Gita.
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Raghavendra
Krishna Kashyap Ji,
Disclaimer:
I follow tattva-vāda of Srī Madhvāchārya. I read works of other schools as well. I will try to answer your question based on the text of Srī Shankara himself. If there are mistakes, then it is entirely mine.
Srī Shankara gives a keynote or central theme at the commencement of his bhāshya to each of the chapters of the BG. This is either called sambandha bhāshya or adhyāya sangati.
The sambandha bhāshya or the adhyāya sangati of the 15th chapter of the BG is given below,
यस्मात् मदधीनं कर्मिणां कर्मफलं ज्ञानिनां च ज्ञानफलम्, अतः भक्तियोगेन मां ये सेवंते ते मम प्रसादात् ज्ञानप्राप्तिक्रमेण गुणातीताः मोक्षं गच्छन्ति । किमु वक्तव्यम् आत्मनः तत्त्वमेव सम्यक् विजानन्तः इति अतः भगवान् अर्जुनेन अपृष्टोऽपि आत्मनः तत्त्वं विवक्षुः उवाच ‘ऊर्ध्वमूलम्’ इत्यादिना । तत्र तावत् वृक्षरूपककल्पनया वैराग्यहेतोः संसारस्वरूपं वर्णयति — विरक्तस्य हि संसारात् भगवत्तत्त्वज्ञाने अधिकारः, न अन्यस्येति ॥
With this keynote, Srī Shankara introduces the adhyāya, viz.,
श्रीभगवानुवाच —
ऊर्ध्वमूलमधःशाखमश्वत्थं प्राहुरव्ययम् ।
छन्दांसि यस्य पर्णानि यस्तं वेद स वेदवित् ॥१॥
The term गुणातीताः (transcending qualities) provides enough indication of what you are looking for, (the state of nirguNa). This position is bhāshyastha.
I presume I answered your question viz., (I was expecting an explicit confirmation of the advaita view as established by Shankaracharya in 13.2 to be reiterated in the 15th chapter, if this chapter is taken as the summary of Gita)
The sambandha bhāshya or the adhyāya sangati and the bhāshya for each of the specific verses should be read contiguously, which helps clear doubts, more often than not.
Your second question relates to why the conclusions of the 13th chapter (especially 13.2) is not reflected in all its bearing in the 15th chapter? (If I have understood your question right)
Answer to the above question lies in the cintana-prakriyā of the school of Srī Shankara.
According to the cintana-prakriyā, the tvam-aspect and tat-aspect has already been covered severally (individually) in the first 12 chapters, the akhandārtha of tvam-aspect and tat-aspect is discussed in the remaining 6 chapters.
Therefore, the akhandārtha should be understood as running uninterrupted (anusyūta) in the last set of 6 chapters. If this is kept in view, then you will find the answer to your second question.
Thank you & Best regards,
Raghavendra. B
==================From: Krishna Kashyap <kkashy...@gmail.com>
Sent: Sun, 3 Jul 2022 16:42:30 GMT+0530
To: bvpar...@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: {भारतीयविद्वत्परिषत्} Question on: Shankara Bhashya of 13th and 15th chapters of Gita.
subrahmanian.v
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Krishna Kashyap
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Nagaraj Paturi
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Venkatesh Murthy
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