Daily Shlokas: July 31, 2016

Bg 9.16

ahaṁ kratur ahaṁ yajñaḥ svadhāham aham auṣadham
mantro ’ham aham evājyam aham agnir ahaṁ hutam

Bg 9.17

pitāham asya jagato mātā dhātā pitāmahaḥ
vedyaṁ pavitram oṁ-kāra ṛk sāma yajur eva ca

Translation

16. I am the KRATU; I am the sacrifice; I am the offering (food) to PITRIS (or ancestors) ; I am the medicinal herb, and all plants; I am the MANTRA I am also the clarified butter; I am the fire; I am the oblation.

17. I am the Father of this world, the Mother, the supporter and the grandsire; the (one) Thing to be known, the Purifier, (the syllable) OM, and also the RIK, the SAMA and the YAJUH also.

Commentary

Repeating the idea already expressed earlier in a famous stanza in the Geeta, (IV-24) this verse expresses how the Self is the existence everywhere, in all actions and factors constituting actions. Ritualistic actions constitute worship. At the time of the Mahabharata, divine worship was always undertaken in Vedic ritualism (Kratu), by ritualistic adoration of the deity as prescribed in the Smriti (Yajna), or by food-offerings for the ancestors (Swadha). Arjuna is here taught that all these methods of worship are, in a sense, nothing but the worship of the Self.

Not only are the different ritualistic prescriptions all presided over by the Self, but the medicinal herbs (Oushadha) used in the sacrifice, the ghee (Ajya --- clarified butter) poured into the altar-of-fire the oblations (Hutam) offered, the fire (Agni) that is invoked, the mantras chanted --- all of them are nothing but the Self alone expressed through different equipments in different fields. When a variety of ornaments is made from a mass of gold, the gold can certainly say that "I am the pendant, I am the ring, I am the chain, I am its shine, I am its hook; I alone am its shape and its glory." Similarly, the Self, being the essence of all happenings and circumstances in which the devotee attempts to adore the Eternal, this assertion here is perfectly acceptable to all philosophic-minded readers.

The Self is not a vague imperceptible Spirit of Existence in all fields of divine activities --- sans-emotion, sans-relationship, sans-qualities. In order to show that there is an ardour of love that permeates the very essence of the Self everywhere, the finite relationships of the world are mentioned to indicate the mass of love that the Self is. "I AM THE FATHER, THE MOTHER, THE SUSTAINER, THE GRANDSIRE, THE PURIFIER OF THE WORLDS."

The verse insists, "I AM THE ONE THING TO BE KNOWN" --- and this is the repeated assertion in all the scriptures. The Self is "That, having known which, everything else becomes known." To know the Self is to destroy the consciousness of imperfection, the existence finite, the sorrows poignant. To live in the ego, as a mere embodied self, is to live self-exiled from all the Divine potentialities that one is heir to. To re-discover this infinite Beatitude is the only satisfying end and goal of life, where alone an awakened intellect can discover a haven of peace and an enduring existence in perfect tranquillity.

The Self, the Substratum of the entire universe, is symbolised by the Vedic mantra called Omkara. Life is conceived of as 'the flow during our waking, dreaming, and deep-sleep states.' The Substratum for these three states and their experiences must be something other than these three, inasmuch as the rider is always different from the ridden, the container is different from the contents. The Substratum is different from the superimposition upon it.

This fourth-state, supporting and embracing the three ordinary states of consciousness in every one of us, is termed as Turiya by the Upanishad Seers. The one symbol representing all these four states is called Omkara, and naturally, therefore, the Ultimate indicated by OM, is the Self, conceived of, for the purpose of worship, as Krishna in Shrimad Bhagavata.

The Self is the Essence indicated by OM, and this Absolute Reality is the One theme, tacitly expressed, or indirectly implied, in all the Vedas, and therefore, it is said "I AM ALSO THE RIK, SAMA AND YAJUH."

Sources: vedabase.com; The Holy Geeta