132. Misery Loves Company
K rishna describes his higher nature ( para-prakriti ) which is the life-element beyond the three gunas . His lower nature ( apara-prakriti ), consisting of eight elements viz. fire, earth, water, air, space, mind, intellect and ahankaar, is under the hypnotic spell of the gunas . While the former (higher nature) is referred to as the unmanifested which is eternal, indestructible and immeasurable, the latter (lower nature) as manifested which is limited in many ways. For easy understanding, man can be taken as manifested and Paramatma as unmanifested which is beyond senses. The first level of interaction is between man and man which is the result of our identification with the manifested - the next level being between man and Paramatma . At the man-to-man level, things and resources are scarce like water in a puddle whereas it’s like the ocean at Paramatma’s level. The mind which is trained to compare keeps constantly comparing what we have against what others possess ...