2.11-2.30: counters first argument – compassion

So Krishna is building up a flow of thought over here, and He is saying that there is an eternal reality which all of us have to move towards.

BG 2.17

avinasi tu tad viddhi

yena sarvam idam tatam

vinasam avyayasyasya

na kascit kartum arhati

SYNONYMS

avinasi — imperishable; tu — but; tat — that; viddhi — know it; yena — by whom; sarvam — all of the body; idam — this; tatam — pervaded; vinasam — destruction; avyayasya — of the imperishable; asya — of it; na kascit — no one; kartum — to do; arhati — is able.

TRANSLATION

That which pervades the entire body you should know to be indestructible. No one is able to destroy that imperishable soul.

avinasi tu tad viddhi, know that all that is avinashi. what is that? yena sarvam idam tatam, that by which everything is pervaded. vinasam avyayasyasya, of this which is avyaya vinash of that is na kascit kartum arhati, no body can do that. So here, Krishna is talking to without giving any antecedents, what is sarvam refers to? So is it referring to all existence or is it referring to the body?

Srial Prabhupada explains to us, it refers to the body. Impersonalists, says it refers to all of existence.

The meaning of this verse is: “That which pervades the entire body you should know to be indestructible. No one is able to destroy that (avyaya) imperishable soul.”

So what is the difference between avinashi and avyaya. avinashi means indestructible, and avyaya means imperishable – which doesn’t degrade due to old age. So there is deterioration or degradation and there is distraction, so avyaya means there is no deterioration. Because of oldness and avinashi means there is no destruction, so this is na kascit kartum arhati, nothing can destroy.

So now what does sarvam refers to: If we look at what topic Krishna is talking about; it is body & soul. Then he told, tolerate the changes. And if we see the next verse, that also talks about the body itself— which is inside the body know it to be indestructible. Seeing previous and upcoming verses, it is very clear from the context that it is referring to body and soul. That which pervades the entire body you should know to be indestructible. And in that way one can move forward.

Krishna is telling to Arjuna that Bhima, Drona of whom you are concerned of death, actually who are they? They are these particles of spirit who are pervading the body, and they are actually indestructible that is, their souls are actually indestructible

Because mayavadis interpreted sarvam as all of creation, so Ramanujachraya gives another explanation. He says, we have to look sarvam from the context of what comes after it, so what comes after it is “vinasam avyayasyasya, na kascit kartum arhati” so the point which is conveyed here is that which pervades everything else is indestructible.

So what is the connection between pervasion and indestructible? So unless we know about this connection, we don’t see the integrated thought in this verse. The integrated thought is yena sarvam idam tatam… generally one object destroys another object by pervading into it, by entering into it. For instance, bullet enters into a body and destroys the body. When a person drowns, water enters into that person. When the weapon kills, the weapon enters into that person; likewise, termite enters into a tree, it destroys the tree. So for destroying one object, it enters or penetrate into other; that is one way. So Krishna is emphasizing that Atma (soul) cannot be pervaded by anyone, because it pervades everywhere, and because of which it is indestructible.

So what it is that pervades? That is the consciousness. Soul is residing at one particular place, but it radiates its energy through consciousness. So consciousness, it spreads or pervades throughout the body. We know that Servam, that consciousness doesn’t spread everywhere. My consciousness pervades thorough my body, but not to your body. So if you are feeling back pain, I cannot feel it; as my consciousness doesn’t pervades your body. For instance, Srila Prabhupada has given that when we take medicine, it spreads to the entire body through elementary cannel through blood current. Similarly consciousness spreads to the entire body, and one which pervades through entire body is indestructible. So the consciousness and atma is indestructible. They are eternal. And the whole point is to drive Arjuna to the understanding that don’t lament, the soul is eternal.

Srila Prabhupada mentioned from The Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad (5.9) confirms this:

bālāgra-śata-bhāgasya
śatadhā kalpitasya ca
bhāgo jīvaḥ sa vijñeyaḥ
sa cānantyāya kalpate

Similarly it is stated in again is

keśāgra-śata-bhāgasya
śatāṁśaḥ sādṛśātmakaḥ
jīvaḥ sūkṣma-svarūpo ’yaṁ
saṅkhyātīto hi cit-kaṇaḥ

So it is stated …

bālāgra-śata-bhāgasya
śatadhā kalpitasya ca

So if a take a hair and cut its tips and cut it in 100 and then each again in 100 then that which remains is the size of the soul. Is it literal that soul is 1/10,000 of tip of the hair? When scriptures give such a details is it literal or metaphorical? It is both. It is both symbolic (it is indicative that it is extremely small ), but that it has actually a dimension.

We shouldn’t think that soul is a radiating consciousness, formless. Soul has svarupa in spiritual world. And when it comes here, it is part of a cit kana, a part of the consciousness. It is small tiny being. It is like a seed right now.

We should not think that spiritual realm is dimensionless, dimensions are not the monopoly of material realm, soul has form. The soul is not amorphous spray of consciousness, it is a particle from which consciousness is spreading out.

Srila Prabhupada has quoted another verse,

In the Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad(3.1.9) the measurement of the atomic spirit soul is further explained:

eṣo ’ṇur ātmā cetasā veditavyo
yasmin prāṇaḥ pañcadhā saṁviveśa
prāṇaiś cittaṁ sarvam otaṁ prajānāṁ
yasmin viśuddhe vibhavaty eṣa ātmā

So soul is eṣo ’ṇur ātmā, it is atomic in size so how it can be know by consciousness by cetasā veditavyo, so we can’t see this with our gross senses, it is atomic. Again the point is, it is so small that one can’t see it. If somebody says, that if we use a microscope which can see to 1/10,000 particle, will we be able to see the soul? We will not be able to see, as the soul spiritual and a spiritual thing cannot be seen by material things.

Our inability to see soul is because it is spiritual in nature, not because it is microscopic in size. But when it is present in material world, it is atomic in nature. cetasā veditavyo, it is known through cetasā.

yasmin prāṇaḥ pañcadhā saṁviveśa: so it is saying; soul is floating within five types of air which is situated within heart. So there are five types of air and each of them have some specific function, prāṇa, apāna, vyāna, samāna and udāna. So these functions are about they bring different movements within the body. It is different way of look in comparison with modern way of science looking at the world.

There are five types of air in the body which bring different functions. Similar to vectors; when there are different vectors in different directions, then all of them have resultant zero at a point. The point where resultant is zero, is the point according to Sankya where the atma is floating within 5 airs.

Airs are one mode of interaction between gross body & subtle body. And subtle body is one mode of interaction between gross body and the soul. So in this way prāṇaiś cittaṁ sarvam otaṁ prajānāṁ, it spreads its consciousness over the body.

yasmin viśuddhe vibhavaty eṣa ātmā, so we can perceive the spirituality of soul when we becomes free from the influences of contamination. Whole process of prana~yam, the regulation of life air is to lift our consciousness upwards – elevates towards Krishna towards spiritual reality. Yogis try to uplift chakras center where atam is there they try to lift to mind and then escape from bodily bondage to the spiritual destination.

Srila Prabhupada mentioned in Purport: “Medical science accepts the importance of the red corpuscles, but it cannot ascertain that the source of the energy is the soul. Medical science, however, does admit that the heart is the seat of all energies of the body.”

So what is the meaning of this section? We have to understand that there is interaction between gross body and subtle body. Ultimately between material part and spiritual part, this gross and subtle bodies and the soul; it is quite intricate and complex because the spiritual itself is difficult to comprehend for us. And even the subtle is difficult for us to comprehend.

The precise understanding of the mechanism may be difficult. But the important point; there are sophisticated interactions which exists, and there are various means through which it happens. Now modern science says, that when we take food, it is the source of energy, or it may say that brain is seat of consciousness. All these are true. The body is a complex mechanism and there are multiple centers of critical importance e.g stomach, heart, brain which are true, but the actual point of this discussion is Atma. It is eternal and the body is temporary. Atma is situated in heart, but its consciousness through subtle body goes to mind, and through mind to the brain and from brain to outwards. And the energy is channelized through blood, so whole mechanism of interaction is complex orchestrated by Atma.