Arjuna's 8 questions...
hariḥ oṁ
~~~~~~
namasté
In the 8th chapter ( prapāṭhaka¹ of the bhāgavad gītā, 1st & 2nd śloka, arjun (some spell arjuna) asks kṛṣṇa-ji 8 questions:
- What is brahman?
- What is adhyātman ?
- What is adhhibhūtam ?
- What is karma ?
- What is adhidaivam?
- Who is adhiyajña ?
- How does He exist in the body ? ( what is inferred is adhiyajña) ?
- How can you (kṛṣṇa) be known at the time of death by the self-controlled ?
There are some that say a 9th question is inferred, How is it ( adhiyajña ) to be known ?
Perhaps we can review these.
It is interesting to me that there are 8 questions. This number 8 from a jyotish POV points to a mokṣa house ( that of liberation), and is also call the house of life ( and its length) , so for me these questions are very insightful as they deal with the subject matter of liberation, brahman.
What is brahman?
What is adhyātman ?
Śrī kṛṣṇa (addressed as madhusūdhana in these śloka's) answers arjuna and reveals some profound knowledge that ( IMHO) is worthy of one's full attention and study.
Śrī kṛṣṇa calls out that brahman is svabhāva . This one word sets the tone for the answers śrī kṛṣṇa offers. This word svabhāva is defined as own's condition or state of being , natural state or constitution. This would be Being, brahman. Yet as you would expect there is more to this word then meets the eye.
Let's look at svabhāva as sva+bhāva.
- sva = one's own (my own); yet sva is a name for viṣṇu. We know viṣṇu is rooted (√) in viṣ meaning all-pervading, here and below.
- viṣ is another way of saying vyāpana , pervasion; being all pervading all inclusive.
- bhāva = becoming , being , existing
Hence brahman = svabhāva ( my own condition) = sva+bhāva - one's own all pervading, all inclusive nature, or viṣṇu.
But there is more.
- bhāva is that level of Being
- sva brings us to viṣṇu is rooted (√) in viṣ meaning all-pervading, yet viṣ also means to flow.
Now we have that level of Being that flows continuously ( via the notion of all-pervading). We check this meaning via the word brahman. This word itself means expansion. It is rooted in bṛh defined as grow great or strong , increase , expand , further , promote.
We know that brahman = svabhāva = sva+bhāva = one's own Being = viṣ or all-pervading.
And what is this brahman in us? It is adhyātman or adhi + ātman meaning the receptacle of the Self, of ātman¹. We are the receptacle of this brahman in our own being.
praṇām
words
- prapāṭhaka प्रपाठक - a lecture ; also a chapter or subdivision of a book
- ātman -for those that for those that appreciate the etmology of words adhi + ātman would also mean over and above the ātman. This ātman is also defined as the body/breath.
So if we are over and above it, we are beyond the body and hense arrive at the Self, brahman, beyond the body.
Last edited by yajvan; 03 February 2011 at 01:29 PM.
यतस्त्वं शिवसमोऽसि
yatastvaṁ śivasamo'si
because you are identical with śiva
_
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