तत्क्षेत्रं यच्च यादृक्च यद्विकारि यतश्च यत् ।
स च यो यत्प्रभावश्च तत्समासेन मे शृणु ॥१३-३॥
Transliteration:
Lord Krishna briefs Arjuna about different forms of Kshetras and that internally all Kshetras had same entity. This simply means that all souls’ atmans in cosmos at the time of start of their cosmic journey had absolutely similar properties. How these souls atmans gained different impurities, what were different type of manifestations by souls atmans… all would be detailed to Arjuna by Lord Krishna in brief.
Lord Krishna further extols virtues of a Kshetrajna and the power it could exercise! The merits of becoming self realized, God realized would be explained to Arjuna by Lord Krishna in brief. Reaching God in lifetime is truly noble… something that could not be exercised by all! Only a learned few like Arjuna alone were competent to assimilate teachings of spiritual path.
The human body has been termed as Kshetra and an enlightened one… a Kshetrajna!
The Explanation:
Lord Krishna tells Arjuna about different kinds of Kshetras and emphasizes the fact that all Kshetras inherently had almost same properties. In spiritual parlance it simply means that at the time of origin all Kshetras initially were the same… had similar properties. As per Bhagavad Gita chapter 13 verse 3 every single soul atman, the spirit within started its cosmic journey by manifesting form of amoeba (single cell formation). In the initial stages of life… all souls’ atmans truly were the same! It was only during cosmic sojourn souls’ atmans gathered impurities in different measure! Based on inherent dross impurities within… every soul atman manifested different forms of life!
Within core of every life form, every human being… laid a soul atman whose basic primordial entity was similar to others. When our soul atman, the consciousness within was all the time governing… how could human beings indulge in violence ever. This gives impetus to doctrine of nonviolence. As every form of life had a soul atman, the spirit within… killing insects, plants and animals for sake of pleasure invoked displeasure of God. As human form was highest manifest stage in cosmic life cycle… it was but our duty to respect lower forms of life, wherever and whenever possible!
Lord Krishna emphasizes the fact that every single form of life was indirectly controlled by inscrutable laws of karma. As we sow so shall we reap… nothing less or more! Every living form had been imbibed with ego (Aham in Hinduism) to cater to daily needs of life. If there was no ego (Aham)… why would one indulge in karma? Based on certain laid down parameters… every single living being had to live life. One just could not escape infallible laws of karma that governed all actions of human beings. Karma was directly responsible for our past, present and future! The existence of impurities in a soul atman has been implicitly made clear in Bhagavad Gita chapter 13 verse 3.
Lord Krishna also says to Arjuna… that he would explain in depth the need for different manifestations every soul atman had to undergo. In its entire life cycle, every soul atman manifests a maximum of 8.4 million bodies to work out its karma… remove dross impurities within! Out of a maximum of 8.4 million manifestations… the initial 7.3 million manifestations by a soul atman occurred in insect, plant and animal form! In the remaining 1.1 million manifestations in human form, every soul atman was expected to reach cosmic end of life, 8.4 millionth manifestation… the stage when human beings gained enlightenment (kaivalya jnana)!
Lord Krishna also tells Arjuna advantages of travelling spiritual path to reach stage of Kshetrajna (knower of all). For becoming a Kshetrajna we had to dissolve our ego in totality. Until single trace of ego remained in body… one could never become a Kshetrajna! To reach stage of self realization, god realization, becoming one with God… One had to negate karma to zero forever. The spiritual path truly was travelled in stages. The journey from stage of amoeba to that of enlightenment is covered in approx 96.4 million earthly years. This makes clear… spiritual path is not that easy to travel. The spiritual journey had pitfalls all along… something one could never escape! There was never a shortcut to spiritual path… gaining enlightenment (kaivalya jnana)!
Only a very ardent seeker of god finally succeeds in establishing absolute control over five senses and mind. Lord Krishna in very specific terms makes clear all the ambiguity surrounding Kshetra and Kshetrajna. Cutting across all bondages of ephemeral life… one could easily become a Kshetrajna by travelling path of jnana yoga (absolute wisdom) in entirety! Spirituality is something that could never be imparted through textbooks. Travelers of spiritual path must indulge in teachings contained in Bhagavad Gita to reach God.
Commentary by: Vijay Kumar “Atma Jnani”… The Man who Realized God in 1993 – April 14, 2013
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