भोक्तारं यज्ञतपसां सर्वलोकमहेश्वरम् ।
सुहृदं सर्वभूतानां ज्ञात्वा मां शान्तिमृच्छति ॥५-२९॥
Transliteration:
Lord Krishna says: O Arjuna, a seeker of God who finally sees essence of God in everything, all living beings after travelling path of jnana yoga (absolute wisdom) realized that the Advaita Vedanta principle of Hinduism propagated by Adi Shankaracharya was an absolute fact of life! Other than Brahman (God Almighty) nothing existed in cosmos. Even though God existed everywhere, in living forms it existed in their heart! Only a true seeker of spirituality can see God in every living being. Only by travelling path of nishkama karma yoga (offering fruits of karma performed to God Almighty all the time), human beings finally realized the hidden divinity within all living beings. The consciousness within all living beings was God Almighty residing in our heart in miniscule form. People ask a very pertinent question… why did God Almighty manifest itself through living beings?
Manifestation plays a very vital role in cosmic system! As of itself… every soul atman, the consciousness within was inert. Of its own it could not purify self. It needs a medium… a body, to work out its karma… remove dross impurities within! It is through a cycle of 8.4 million manifestations on the whole… a soul atman, the spirit within finally reached cosmic end of life… moment human beings reached stage of enlightenment (kaivalya jnana in Hinduism). The initial 7.3 million manifestations by a soul atman occurred in insect, plant and animal life. In the remaining 1.1 million manifestations in human form, one was expected to reach stage of Nirvikalpa Samadhi (stage of absolute nothingness)… the 8.4 millionth manifestation! As the existence of God Almighty in every living form cannot be ruled out… people prayed to and worshipped God Almighty in varied forms.
Lord Krishna rightly says, at every stage of life… our soul atman, the consciousness within was governing! Our soul atman, the spirit within was the absolute master and controller of human life on mother earth. From this analogy people deduced that God Almighty being controller of all things cosmic, though indirectly… the fruits of all yagna (yagya) performed by human beings belonged to God Almighty. Every form of Tapas in background had God Almighty in all its glory! Every form of tapasya indulged by human beings was directed towards self purification, and the fruits towards God Almighty. When people prayed to different gods and goddesses, the fruits of such prayers were all the time meant for God Almighty. All gods and goddesses were simply attributes of God Almighty (Brahman in Hinduism). God Almighty was one and only one.
A traveler of spiritual path, who recognizes presence of omniscient God in every act of karma, finally becomes a Tattva Jnani… knower of all! Tattva stands for that singularity in the beginning of time explosion of which results in formation of present cosmos. And that singularity for all practical purposes was God Almighty himself (Brahman in Hinduism). Knowing God Almighty in all its glory is becoming a Tattva jnani… the knower of absolute truth! For whom other than God Almighty nothing existed in cosmos… was a true Tattva jnani. Knower of God in entirety finally experienced unfathomable bliss, beyond expression of words! Real happiness in life never laid in sacred teachings of various religions but in understanding them truthfully and sincerely. Only by realizing God, realizing self human beings reached stage of ecstasy beyond measure of words.
The Explanation:
In Bhagavad Gita chapter 5 verse 29 Lord Krishna eulogizes merits of travelling spiritual path to finally realize God, realize self at the end of journey! By indulging in nishkama karma yoga when human beings reached God Almighty, they realized that the spirit, consciousness within every living being was of the same essence! In simpler words, God Almighty existed within every living being as our soul atman, the spirit within!
In Hinduism people indulge in praying to God Almighty by whatever means available or possible. Worshipping God through medium of trees, rivers and mountains… even stones is a common feature in Hinduism! As divinity existed in all forms of life… people considered trees, rivers, mountains as sacred. Rivers and mountains were not living beings yet life sustained on them! In Hinduism there is no dearth of gods and goddesses.
Going by mythological writings… Hinduism believes in existence of 330 million gods! This simply means that there was a God for every four persons! It may sound ridiculous but for a commoner, one from masses praying to God, worshipping God through medium of material objects was common! As the means… accordingly the worship or prayer to God Almighty! In olden times people prayed to various gods and goddesses out of fear.
So for all practical purposes… behind all gods and goddesses existed Brahman, the one and only God Almighty… creator of all cosmos! Bhagavad Gita of Hinduism believes in existence of one God Almighty… termed Brahman, Parmatman, Ishwar, Khuda, Sanatana Purusha, Bhagwan, Karta etc. in Hinduism. One who finally recognized that God Almighty was one and only one… was a truthful traveler of spiritual path.
As long as we believed in myriads of gods and goddesses… we never reached God Almighty! However, if we prayed to different forms of gods and goddesses with only God Almighty in mind… then our prayers were directed towards the only God Almighty… Brahman in Hinduism! Similar as all rivers finally reached their source… the mighty ocean, prayers to all gods and goddesses also finally reached God Almighty.
Whenever people conducted yagnas’ (yagyas’) as a ritual… the fruits of the same always belonged to God Almighty! Those who indulged in yagnas’ (yagyas’) with this feeling… always reaped fruits of karma performed! To absolve self of accumulated bad karmas when people indulged in Tapas of different kinds… all were directed towards God Almighty! Every form of Tapas results in self purification provided we know the right way to pray to God Almighty!
Mankind believed in existence of heaven and hell (Swarga and Naraka in Hinduism). Behind every domain of God Almighty did God exist in all its glory! No matter how we indulged in religious or spiritual affairs… the fruits of all must always be directed towards God Almighty! If we indulged in bad karma and went to hell (Naraka in Hinduism), we are bound to suffer at hands of God Almighty, no matter what!
Indulging in good karma, positive karma if we reaped fruits of Punya karma performed, then we may find place in heaven (swarga in Hinduism). If the fruits of good karma performed are directed towards God Almighty, then we are bound to experience happiness at hands of God Almighty! As our karma… accordingly the fruits of karma endured by us! Negative karma brought sufferings and positive karma intermittent stages of happiness!
One who realized that behind workings of karma lay hands of God Almighty, one finally reached God in no time! It is through indulgence in nishkama karma yoga and path of jnana yoga (Sankhya yoga) human beings slowly realized the hidden divinity in all living beings, including human beings! If we truly wanted to serve God… we must learn to serve his children! In serving mankind… we were only doing our duty to God Almighty!
Those who realized that stage of enlightenment could never be gained only by indulgence in sacred scriptures of different religions of world and one had to work for welfare of mankind… one truly understood the gist behind all sacred scriptures! The essence of life laid in working for God Almighty through his children… the entire paraphernalia of life on mother earth. A true seeker of God always indulged with lower forms of life in an intelligent way.
Being the highest manifest stage in cosmic life cycle… we as a human being could never disrespect lower forms of life on mother earth! Those who do not understand these primary basics of life could never reach stage of Tattva jnani, knower of God Almighty! Mahavira, Gautama Buddha, Jesus Christ and Prophet Mohammed… all respected every single form of life on mother earth. The same was the case with Sri Ramakrishna Paramhansa and Maharishi Ramana… the true spiritual stalwarts who reached God in their lifetime.
If we truly wanted to reach God, if we truly desire experiencing bliss all the time, our reaching stage of enlightenment (kaivalya jnana) was mandated by God Almighty. One who had absolute faith in God Almighty from beginning of life… finally reached God one day! A believer of sermon of Bhagavad Gita, a believer in Lord Krishna finally reached cosmic end of life… became a Brahma jnani, a Tattva jnani at the end of spiritual journey!
Commentary by: Vijay Kumar “Atma Jnani”… The Man who Realized God in 1993 – April 30, 2013
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