The Cause Of All Causes

Sat, 01/06/2013

Bangalore, India

(Below is a continuation of the post An Astonishing Secret)

The next verse is, 'Sarva-bhutani kaunteya prakritim yanti mamikam. Kalpa-ksaye punas tani kalpadau visrjamy-aham'. (9.7)
'Prakrtim svam avastabhya visrijami punah punah. Bhuta-gramam imam krtsnam avasam prakriter-vasat'. (9.8)

Lord Krishna says, ‘Nature follows certain laws, and it runs on those laws. A flower blossoms on a tree, and after some time it falls off. It decays and becomes fertilizer. The same fertilizer in the earth grows back again into another flower from the same tree. So this is the Divine law of nature. Everything in creation has come from Me, and it will all dissolve into Me one day. From time to time, I create this creation, and from time to time I dissolve this creation into Myself’.

A normal person who you see before you, one day dies and disappears, and you are left wondering where this person went! Even though his body is still there, where has his consciousness gone? Lord Krishna says, ‘After death, it merges into Me.'

A normal person who you see before you, one day dies and disappears, and you are left wondering where this person went! Even though his body is still there, where has his Chetna (consciousness) gone?
Lord Krishna says, ‘After death, it (a person’s consciousness) merges into Me (the soul merges with the Lord). It dissolves into Me and when the appropriate time comes, once again I grant life and a physical body to the soul (here referring to the Jiva or the individual being) as per the nature of its karmas. I then place it in the appropriate womb for it to be born once again. So through my material nature I create this cosmic creation again and again’.

He says, 'That from which all of creation is born out of, and into which all of creation dissolves into again and again; that elemental Tattva is the Paramatma Tattva (most fundamental element or principle)'.
Scientists today speak about the Black Hole (a region or object in space that consumes and absorbs everything that comes near it owing to its very high gravitational pull). They do not know what this Black Hole is made of and how deep it really is. Everything that comes near it gets sucked into it, and no one knows where it goes.
It is said that there are hundred thousands of such Black Holes in the Universe.

Similarly, scientists today speak about Dark Matter and Dark Energy. They say that the entire world is made up of this Dark Matter and Dark Energy.
Do you know why the Sun appears round in shape? It is because there is tremendous amount of pressure of energy from all sides. There is energy in the empty space around the Sun and it is much more powerful than the Sun itself.
Whatever objects appear round in shape in this world is because of the invisible forces present in the space around it, and these forces are much stronger than the object itself.
So the forces present in the empty space around the Sun are a thousand times stronger than the Sun, and this space is what scientists have called Dark Matter and Dark Energy.
This Dark Matter and Dark Energy is so powerful that it can completely swallow up the sun in a matter of minutes.

So that which is unseen is actually more powerful than what we see. This is what our ancestors termed as Adrishta (that which is unseen or invisible to the naked eye).
The un-manifest and unseen element is far more powerful than the manifest object which we can see.
The same thing that scientists speak of today, was said by Lord Krishna thousands of years back. This is why He says, ‘I create the creation again and again. All the atoms and molecules present in Nature continuously transform from one (energy) state to another, and ultimately dissolve into Me’.

The leaves, fruits and trees ultimately dissolve after dying. They dissolve back into Prakruti (nature) from where they are born once again. In the same way, the human body also decays and dissolves, and then (the soul) gets a new body once again according to the nature of its karmas. In this way the cycle of nature continues.

The next verses are, 'Na cha mam tani karmani nibadhnanti dhananjaya, Udasina-vad asinam asaktam tesu karmasu'. (9.9)
'Mayadhyaksena prakrtih suyate sa-characharam. Hetunanena kaunteya jagad viparivartate'. (9.10)

Lord Krishna says, ‘If this
entire creation comes from Me, then obviously I should also reap the fruits of it. But this is actually not so. O Arjuna! Though all creation is created and sustained by Me through my material nature, yet I am unaffected by the creation and the fruits of creating the creation’.

Lord Krishna says, ‘If this entire creation comes from Me, and if I am the doer of all this (the action of creation), then obviously I should also reap the fruits of this action. But this is actually not so. O Arjuna! Though all creation is created and sustained by Me through Prakruti and this Prakruti resides in Me, yet I am unaffected by the action and the fruits of creating the creation’.

Now how is this possible? For example, can anyone pollute the Space element (within which everything is contained)? It is not possible.
You can pollute the Earth, Water, Fire and even the Air, but can you pollute Space? Not at all! If the air is dirty and polluted, you can switch on the fan and all the bad air goes away. But the Space element always remains as it is, pure and unchanged.
So in the same way, Lord Krishna says, ‘Just as the Space element remains unaffected, in the same way I too am unaffected by everything even though all action (karma) happens within Me and through Me (that is, through the Lord’s Divine energies). I am not bound by any action or its fruits’.

This is why, when a Jnani (wise person) does anything, he remains unaffected by the fruits of that action. He does not suffer any ill-effects of his actions.

Suppose a surgeon operates on a patient, and the patient dies in the operation, does the doctor get blamed for the patient’s death? No, he does not; unless he acted irresponsibly and was operating carelessly. So despite a doctor’s best efforts, patients sometimes do die during an operation. Is it not so? The doctor cannot be blamed for the patient’s death.
But when a dacoit stabs someone with a knife, and the person dies, would the dacoit incur the bad karma of killing someone? Yes!
A dacoit’s knife is very different from a doctor’s knife. Though both knives essentially do the same thing – they cut through a person’s body. But when a doctor cuts open a person (to treat him), we thank him for his efforts; when a dacoit uses his knife, he is sent to jail.
So the dacoit reaps the fruits of his bad karma.

So here, Lord Krishna says, ‘I remain untouched by all karma and its fruits’.
Think of a person who is sitting on a train and looking outside the window. The scenery from the window keeps changing, but this person simply sits and watches it all go by. Stations keep coming one after another, yet this person is simply sitting, observing it all. He does not interfere in the changes that are happening outside.
He does not say, ‘Oh, this scenery should not be there’. He knows that saying this is of no use because it will not change what is happening outside. So in this way, he sits and observes everything with a sense of apathy.

Lord Krishna says, ‘I observe everything (all actions) with a sense of apathy, as Nature goes about doing its job. I am not attached to anything that happens because I know the nature of the three Gunas (Satguna, Rajoguna and Tamoguna). It is me who has created these Gunas and their nature. They operate as per the Divine laws designed by Me. So when they are functioning as per the laws that govern them, why should I interfere in their function? So I remain detached from the play of the three Gunas and simply observe everything that happens’.

Lord Krishna says, ‘All actions happen due to my material nature, but such actions do not bind Me. I remain separate from them. Just like an apathetic person who sits and observes everything with a sense of apathy (or indifference)'. He says, 'Do not think that I am apathetic or sad, no! But just as an apathetic person sits with a sense of detachment (withdrawn), I observe all actions without being attached to it or affected by it'.

There is consciousness deep within every person. Everything is operating because of this consciousness, which is why, whatever we do, we are also a witness to that action as well. (This is because it is the consciousness that is the source cause of all action). There is this feeling that it is all just happening.
Whenever you do some very good work, you feel, ‘I did not do anything. Everything simply happened on its own (through me)’.
How many of you here have had this experience? (Many in the audience raise their hands).
For example, you achieved a great task and everyone praises you for completing it, yet you feel that ‘I did not do anything. It all happened on its own. It is God who did everything (meaning to feel a sense of non-doership)’.
Have you ever felt this way?

In the same way, if you go to any jail and ask the worst criminal there, ‘How did you do such a crime? What made you do it?’ He will say, ‘I never did it. It just happened (through me)’. A person comes under a strong influence of the Tamoguna (a quality or state of existence characterized by inertia, ignorance and negativity), and ends up committing a crime. Then he says, 'I did not do it. It just happened. Please forgive me’.
But there is little sincerity in the forgiveness he asks because he continues to think, ‘I did not commit the crime. I wonder how it happened’.
There are many criminals who think of themselves to be innocent.

Once when I had gone to a prison to address the inmates there, I asked them all, ‘Tell me, how many of you here think that you are innocent. Raise your hands’.
Every one of them raised their hands! (Laughter)
The jailor then approached me and said, ‘Gurudev, everyone here will say that’.
So every criminal will say, ‘I am innocent. I have been falsely convicted of this crime by someone else. I have been wrongly accused and brought here to jail.’
Even the ones who commit the crime will say, ‘I do not know how it happened’.

So this is why Lord Krishna says, ‘All actions happen due to (the laws of) Nature, but such actions do not bind Me. I remain detached and separate from them. Just like an apathetic person who sits and observes everything with a sense of apathy (or indifference)'.
He says, 'Do not think that I am apathetic or sad, no! But just as an apathetic person sits with a sense of detachment (withdrawn), I observe all actions without being attached to it or affected by it'.

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(Note: The discourse was given in Hindi. Above is a translation of the original talk.)

(Photo credit: seanmcgrath /Foter/CC BY)

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