20. Death Does not Kill

 


Krishna tells Arjuna, “There is no time, past, present or future - when you, I and these rulers on the battlefield are not present” (2.12). He further adds that the ‘physical side’ or manifestation of the indestructible eternal ‘living entity’ (unmanifested) is certain to perish.  Hence, the battle ahead must be fought without worrying about perishable entities. This eternal ‘living entity’ is known by many names such as atma, chaitanya, soul and consciousness. Krishna refers to the same as dehi.

Krishna starts with the essence of creation and speaks of a ‘living entity’, which is indestructible, immeasurable, pervades all and is eternal (2.20 & 2.21). Secondly, the same eternal entity has a material side which invariably perishes (2.18). When Krishna mentions the rulers, he is referring to that ‘living entity’ in them, which is indestructible and eternal.

We are made up of two parts. The first part is ‘body and mind’ which would invariably perish. They are subject to polarities of pleasure and pain; and Arjuna is going through one such pain polarity.

The second part is dehi which is eternal. Krishna’s emphasis is to realise this and stop identifying with the body (asat) and start identifying with dehi (sat). Buddhatva (enlightenment) is when identification itself drops, which is an experience and can’t be explained in words.

The part of the Gita where Krishna asks Arjuna to fight is the most difficult part to understand. Some say that the Kurukshetra war never took place and is only a metaphorical representation of our everyday struggles.  The war would have continued even if Arjuna had chosen to withdraw. Krishna knows that with ahankaar (aham-karta) Arjuna will be a permanent slave to despondency even if he withdraws from the war. Krishna, therefore, asks him to realise ‘sat’ and fight the battle armed with weapons of awareness.


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