Some readers thought that these articles sounded very technical. While I don’t disagree, technicalities can’t be avoided completely. For example, to get a driver’s license, we need to know the traffic rules. We need to understand what gear should be engaged at what speed and why; the speed limit on the road we are driving on; what each road sign means; when and where to expect pedestrians, and so on. We don’t run away from all those rules, do we? We MUST learn them all and also from authentic sources.
If the speed limit is 50 KMH, and if you learnt the traffic rules from some prankster, he may’ve told you that the speed limit is 100 KMH only to watch you get shocked while driving so fast on a road where everyone is driving half your speed. Worse yet, if you learnt the traffic rules from a crook, he may’ve told you that the speed limit is 100 KMH so that when you drive that fast, the police will focus on you while he casually escapes smuggling some banned goods.
So, the crook meant to use you as a decoy for his illegal activity. Therefore, it is important to learn the rules from authentic sources who teach with your well-being in mind. Driving on the spiritual path too works the same way. If you don’t learn the facts and rules from authentic sources, you’ll end up in the hands of pranksters or crooks who don’t care for your well-being.
Before buying any gadget, don’t we fact-check, recheck, read reviews, evaluate, re-evaluate and use ALL our rationale before making a purchase? The attempt in this article series is also the same i.e., to present to you the Vedic way of life in a rationalistic way. One should use all the rationale to decide on what to bow our head down to… And when it all makes sense, only then you’ll feel like bowing down to it. Hope you find this article series rational. Hope this helps you build the confidence and conviction to stick to this path and continue on without getting swayed.
In the previous article, we learnt how the quintessence of the entire reality about the Vedic way of life is captured in the verses 15-18 of Chapter 15 of Shreemad-Bhagavad-Gita. We also saw an elaboration on Verse 15. Now let’s look at verses 16-18. To understand these verses, we need to first have some background on the following:
- A particular statement from a particular Upanishat
- Definition of a term called Pancha-BhEdae, 5 differences that make up this universe
- Definition of the 3 types of Jeevaatmas, Devatas, and Asuras
- The cycle of birth/death, and Moksha (liberation from the cycle of birth/death)
Also read: https://orangenews9.com/puraana-and-itihaasa/
In the previous articles, it’s already been discussed that the Vedas are authorless, unprejudiced, eternal, infinite and are verses/sentences in praise of the infinite God. The Vedas have 4 parts:
- Samhita: The text containing mantras that praise the infinite God and his infinite attributes
- BraahmaNa: Instructions and recommendations to people who are in Gruhasthaa ashrama, i.e., family life living amidst a society
- AaraNyaka: Instructions and recommendations to people who are in Vaanaprastha ashrama, i.e., retired from family life and dwelling in araNyae, forests… and finally
- Upanishat: Basically, it teaches the essence of Vedic philosophy, subtle nuances, and morals necessary for spiritual upliftment
There are many Upanishads, but 10 are very well known. The names and contents of Upanishats are beyond the scope of this article series. They are topics to be studied at a higher level by a formally trained scholar. For our level, suffice it to say that the Upanishads are part of the Vedas and therefore, are eternal, unprejudiced truth. We shall invoke one such Upanishat called ParamOpanishat. A particular statement in ParamOpanishat helps elaborate the above-mentioned verses of Bhagavad-Gita, Chapter 15.
ParamOpanishat states that there are 3 entities, namely:
- Paramaatma: The Infinite God
- Jeevaatma: The finite sentient and
- JaDa: The insentient.
Also read: https://orangenews9.com/veda/
Further, ParamOpanishat states that there is a 5-fold difference between the above 3 entities:
- Paramaatma is not Jeevaatma and vice versa: Paramaatma is of the form of Jnyaana (knowledge) and Aananda (bliss). But so is the Jeevaatma. So, what is the difference? Well, Paramaatma’s Jnyaana and Aananda are both infinite. But the Jeevaatma’s Jnyaana and Aananda are both finite/limited.
- Paramaatma is not JaDa and vice versa: JaDa (Insentient) has neither Jnyaana nor Aananda… and therefore, the difference is comprehensible.
- Each Jeevaatma is different from all other Jeevaatmas: Don’t we say “each individual is different” so casually? So, this too is well within the realm of our personal experience and therefore, should make sense.
- Jeevaatma is not JaDa and vice versa: As mentioned in previous articles, wherever there is a Jeevaatma, we’ll be able to see that there is birth, growth, transition to adulthood, adulthood, decline to old age and finally death. We don’t see this in the insentient.
- Each JaDa is different from all other JaDas: Each particle of matter is different from all else.
ParamOpanishat states that the entire universe is made of these 5 differences, i.e., Pancha bhEda,s and therefore the Sanskrit term for the word “Universe” is Prapancha.
Well, the above reference from ParamOpanishat mentions only about Paramaatma, Jeevaatma, and JaDa. But, who exactly is it referring to as Paramaatma? Don’t we have many, many Gods?
No!!! Have you ever used the word “Infinity” in plural… like “Infinities”? No… There can only be one “Infinity”. Likewise, the word “God” should also never be used in the plural. “God” or Paramaatma is “Infinite”. There is only one “God”.
Also read: https://orangenews9.com/the-three-avasthaas/
Wait… So, then how come we have so many “Gods”? Well, no… we have precisely only ONE Infinite God… but we have many, many Devatas or divinities. If we take the number system analogy, the Devatas are like very, very big numbers… such as quadrillion, quintillion, septillion etc. But, however big a number may be… it is still finite, and every number is smaller than Infinity. Likewise, all Devatas, regardless of how big they may be, are all finite and too small in comparison with the Infinite Paramaatma.
In other words, there is a difference between Paramaatma and Devata. Devataas too are Jeevaatmas, but with trillion times more abilities than us mere mortals. And, like us mere mortals, the Devatas too are seeking mOkSha. What is mOkSha? We’ll come back to this a bit later.
There are 3 types of Jeevaatmas: Saatvik (benevolent) Jeevaatmas, Raajasik Jeevaatmas and Taamasik (malevolent) Jeevaatmas. It has already been stated in the previous articles that Jeevaatmas are eternal. They are neither created by Paramaatma or anyone else nor will they ever cease to exist. But they are always dependent on Paramaatma.
Saatvik Jeevaatmas are the Devatas. By their intrinsic character, they are way more knowledgeable, blissful, humble, kind, compassionate & powerful than us. They use their knowledge, strength, and compassionate nature for the benevolence of the world. They realize that they are always dependent on Paramaatma and therefore are always devout, reverent, and subservient to the Infinite God. In the number system example, Saatvik Jeevaatmas are like the huge positive numbers.
Taamasik Jeevaatmas, on the other hand, are the Asuras. By their intrinsic characteristic, they too are way more powerful than us, but are not kind and compassionate. They use their power to humiliate, harm, torture, destroy and seek pleasure from such acts. They do not realize that they are dependent on Paramaatma and therefore are not devout, irreverent, and are always interested in destroying the very source that they are dependent on, i.e., the Paramaatma. In the number system example, Taamasik Jeevaatmas are like the huge negative numbers.
Also read: https://orangenews9.com/special_thoughts_spiritual_lens_slokas/
Raajasik Jeevaatmas, by their nature, are neither benevolent nor malevolent. In the number system example, Raajasik Jeevaatmas are like the square root of -1 (√-1 or i), which is indeterminate. There is no number which, when multiplied by itself, will result in -1. But when squared, this indeterminate √-1 will only become -1 i.e., a negative number and never positive. Likewise, the Raajasik Jeevaatmas – by nature – are generally not very interested in joining hands with the Saatvik Jeevaatmas to do anything beneficial. They just waste their time in wasteful activities and are always focused on having fun. But when forced by the Taamasik Jeevaatmas, the Raajasik may end up siding with the Taamasik Jeevaatmas.
It has been explained earlier, in Article 2, that the modern-day philosophy of YOLO (You Only Live Once) does not make any sense and that there is a seemingly eternal cycle of birth and death that all Jeevaatmas go through. And in Article 4, it has been explained that the Jeevaatma is wrapped in 3 bodies, i.e., Sthoola (Gross body, which is the outermost), SookShma (the subtle body), and the Linga body, which is the innermost. At death, it is only the outermost Gross body that separates from the other 2 bodies which wrap the Jeevaatma. Now that the outermost Gross body has fallen off… the SookShma body, i.e., the subtle body, becomes the outermost. And wrapped in only 2 bodies, with the SookShma (subtle) being the outermost, the Jeevaatma may travel to the SookShma Lokas i.e., subtle worlds popularly referred to as Swarga (Heaven), i.e., if the Jeevaatma has done a lot of good deeds (good karma) in the past… or to Naraka (Hell) if it has done a lot of bad deeds (bad karma). What we earn through our good deeds (good karma) is called PuNya, for which I’ve not found an equivalent word in English. And what we earn through our bad deeds (bad karma) is referred to as sin or Paapa.
Also read: https://orangenews9.com/starting-point-of-spiritual-pursuit/
If a Jeevaatma has accumulated a lot of PuNya, it can travel to Swarga (Heaven) which is like a resort. We don’t spend all our money in a resort. We choose to spend some and can stay in a resort only as long as that money runs out. Correct? Similarly, we’ll be eligible to stay in heaven only as long as the PuNya that we earned permits us.
But if a Jeevaatma has accumulated a lot of Paapa (sin), then it has to suffer it out in hell (Naraka), which is like a jail. In a jail, we can’t say “oh, this place is horrible… I don’t like the food here… there’s no A/C… bathrooms are bad…” and so on… can we? We are forced to stay there until the jail time is served or you are let off for good conduct.
Once the Jeevaatma exhausts its PuNya in Swarga, and serves its suffering time in Naraka for all the Paapa it accumulated in the past… it is thrown back to earth, where it gets stuck in the clouds. When the clouds rain, the Jeevaatma falls to the earth and is absorbed into some fruit, vegetable or some other vegetation. When a man eats the fruit/vegetable, the Jeevaatma enters his body and lives in his body for 3 months to acquire a body which is as tiny as a gamete (sperm). It then enters the woman’s womb, and stays there for 9 months, acquiring the gross body (Sthoola body), and takes birth and thus the cycle repeats. Worse yet… There is no guarantee that the Jeevaatma will always make its way into a human body. It can get into the body of any number of species on earth. If so, then it will have to live its life out until that plant or animal dies… and then the afore-mentioned cycle repeats. This is the seemingly unending cycle of birth/death. Getting out of this cycle of birth/death is called Moksha.
Also read: https://orangenews9.com/question-to-hindus-how-much-do-you-know-about-hinduism/
As mentioned earlier, the Saatvik Jeevaatmas, i.e., Devatas, strive to get out of this cycle of birth/death. But there is one Devata who has never been through this cycle of birth/death EVER!!! And that is LakShmi Devi, who is also referred to as AkShara. All of the above topics have been abbreviated into a single verse by Shree Krishna in Bhagavad-Gita, Chapter 15, Verse 16.
Next week, we’ll look at the various Devatas and their roles.
