Bg 7.7
mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyat kiñcid asti dhanañ-jaya
mayi sarvam idaṁ protaṁ sūtre maṇi-gaṇā iva
Bg 7.8
raso ’ham apsu kaunteya prabhāsmi śaśi-sūryayoḥ
praṇavaḥ sarva-vedeṣu śabdaḥ khe pauruṣaṁ nṛṣu
Bg 7.9
puṇyo gandhaḥ pṛthivyāṁ ca tejaś cāsmi vibhāvasau
jīvanaṁ sarva-bhūteṣu tapaś cāsmi tapasviṣu
Translation
7. There is nothing whatsoever higher than Me, O Dhananjaya. All this is strung in Me, as clusters of gems on a string.
8. I am the sapidity in water, O son of Kunti, I am the light in the moon and the sun; I am the syllable OM in all the VEDAS, sound in ether, and virility in men;
9. I am the sweet fragrance in earth and the brilliance in fire, the life in all beings, and I am austerity in the austere.
Commentary
There are two possible points of view of life, if the above-mentioned theory is accepted. There is a point of view from the lower and distinctly different from it, there is a point of view from the Higher also. Just as in mud there are none of the different shapes and colours of the pots, so too in the Pure Consciousness there is none of the worlds-of-objects, or feelings or ideas. "BESIDES ME THERE IS NAUGHT."
After waking up, to the waker, there is nothing of the dream-world for his recognition. In the endless waves that rise in the ocean there is nothing other than the ocean itself. None of the waves can rise, nor stay, nor ultimately reach anywhere but the ocean itself. In short, nothing can remain ever totally divorced from its own essential-nature.
The first line indicates that each one of us has a "lower-nature" which is married to our own Self, but still, the doubt might come into the minds of the students of the Geeta, "that the Self in me is different from the Self in all others." This logic of thinking may, as a result, take us to the conclusion that there are as many different Selves as there are different bodies in the world.
To show that the Self is one and the same in all forms, it has been said here that the Lord is the common factor in all forms in the universe. He holds them all intact as the string holds all the pearls in a necklace. These words have deep significance. Not only is it beautiful in its poetic suggestion, but it has also a very exhaustive philosophical implication. The pearls in the necklace are necessarily uniform and homogeneous, and its thread, which is generally unseen, passes through the central core of every pearl, and holds them all, the big and the small, into a harmonious ornament of beauty.
Again, the substance of which the pearls are made is totally different from the constituents that go to make the thread. Similarly, the world is constituted of an infinite variety of names and forms, which are all held together by the Spiritual Truth into a complete whole. Even in an individual, the mind, the intellect, the body, each different from the others, can harmoniously work and unitedly give the music of life for him because the same Conscious Principle works through all those different and varying matter-envelopments.
Here is an instance wherein we see Shri Veda Vyasa typically expressing himself as the poet-philosopher of the world. This example is not only poetical but also deeply philosophical.
FURTHER:
How the Supreme Self can be the "thread" upon which the 'pearls' consisting of individual elements of plurality are strung together to become the 'necklace' of the harmonious universe, is described in these two verses. It has already been said, "MY HIGHER PRAKRITI, THE PRINCIPLE OF CONSCIOUSNESS," is the womb of all beings, and that "BEYOND ME THERE IS NAUGHT." What can be this Eternal Factor, which is common in every one --- and yet not readily perceptible to all --- is the doubt that has been cleared here.
That which remains in a substance from the beginning to the end, constantly, and without which the thing cannot ever maintain its identity, is called its Dharma --- which is its LAW OF BEING. The examples of 'sapidity in water.' 'radiance in the sun and the moon,' 'OM in all Vedas,' 'sound in Akasa,' sweet smell in earth,' luminosity in fire, 'manhood in man,' and 'austerity in the austere' --- all clearly indicate that the Self is that which gives each individual phenomenon its own existence. In short, as the stanza declares, the Self is the LIFE IN ALL BEINGS.
Sources: vedabase.com; The Holy Geeta
mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyat kiñcid asti dhanañ-jaya
mayi sarvam idaṁ protaṁ sūtre maṇi-gaṇā iva
Bg 7.8
raso ’ham apsu kaunteya prabhāsmi śaśi-sūryayoḥ
praṇavaḥ sarva-vedeṣu śabdaḥ khe pauruṣaṁ nṛṣu
Bg 7.9
puṇyo gandhaḥ pṛthivyāṁ ca tejaś cāsmi vibhāvasau
jīvanaṁ sarva-bhūteṣu tapaś cāsmi tapasviṣu
Translation
7. There is nothing whatsoever higher than Me, O Dhananjaya. All this is strung in Me, as clusters of gems on a string.
8. I am the sapidity in water, O son of Kunti, I am the light in the moon and the sun; I am the syllable OM in all the VEDAS, sound in ether, and virility in men;
9. I am the sweet fragrance in earth and the brilliance in fire, the life in all beings, and I am austerity in the austere.
Commentary
There are two possible points of view of life, if the above-mentioned theory is accepted. There is a point of view from the lower and distinctly different from it, there is a point of view from the Higher also. Just as in mud there are none of the different shapes and colours of the pots, so too in the Pure Consciousness there is none of the worlds-of-objects, or feelings or ideas. "BESIDES ME THERE IS NAUGHT."
After waking up, to the waker, there is nothing of the dream-world for his recognition. In the endless waves that rise in the ocean there is nothing other than the ocean itself. None of the waves can rise, nor stay, nor ultimately reach anywhere but the ocean itself. In short, nothing can remain ever totally divorced from its own essential-nature.
The first line indicates that each one of us has a "lower-nature" which is married to our own Self, but still, the doubt might come into the minds of the students of the Geeta, "that the Self in me is different from the Self in all others." This logic of thinking may, as a result, take us to the conclusion that there are as many different Selves as there are different bodies in the world.
To show that the Self is one and the same in all forms, it has been said here that the Lord is the common factor in all forms in the universe. He holds them all intact as the string holds all the pearls in a necklace. These words have deep significance. Not only is it beautiful in its poetic suggestion, but it has also a very exhaustive philosophical implication. The pearls in the necklace are necessarily uniform and homogeneous, and its thread, which is generally unseen, passes through the central core of every pearl, and holds them all, the big and the small, into a harmonious ornament of beauty.
Again, the substance of which the pearls are made is totally different from the constituents that go to make the thread. Similarly, the world is constituted of an infinite variety of names and forms, which are all held together by the Spiritual Truth into a complete whole. Even in an individual, the mind, the intellect, the body, each different from the others, can harmoniously work and unitedly give the music of life for him because the same Conscious Principle works through all those different and varying matter-envelopments.
Here is an instance wherein we see Shri Veda Vyasa typically expressing himself as the poet-philosopher of the world. This example is not only poetical but also deeply philosophical.
FURTHER:
How the Supreme Self can be the "thread" upon which the 'pearls' consisting of individual elements of plurality are strung together to become the 'necklace' of the harmonious universe, is described in these two verses. It has already been said, "MY HIGHER PRAKRITI, THE PRINCIPLE OF CONSCIOUSNESS," is the womb of all beings, and that "BEYOND ME THERE IS NAUGHT." What can be this Eternal Factor, which is common in every one --- and yet not readily perceptible to all --- is the doubt that has been cleared here.
That which remains in a substance from the beginning to the end, constantly, and without which the thing cannot ever maintain its identity, is called its Dharma --- which is its LAW OF BEING. The examples of 'sapidity in water.' 'radiance in the sun and the moon,' 'OM in all Vedas,' 'sound in Akasa,' sweet smell in earth,' luminosity in fire, 'manhood in man,' and 'austerity in the austere' --- all clearly indicate that the Self is that which gives each individual phenomenon its own existence. In short, as the stanza declares, the Self is the LIFE IN ALL BEINGS.
Sources: vedabase.com; The Holy Geeta
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