Link to purport by A C Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada

Transcript of Bhakti-Shastri class on this verse by Chaitanya Charan

Chp15 Overview

1-6: Attain Liberation by detachment (The upside-down banyan tree)

If one will not get liberation in this way then stage 2 (7-11)

7-11: Otherwise bondage and transmigration

12-15: How Krishna assists us in our material existence and our spiritual endeavor

16-18: The essence of Vedanta (Tri-ShlokiGita)

19-20: To know Krishna means to know everything

 

Bg 15.7

mamaivāṁśo jīva-loke
jīva-bhūtaḥ sanātanaḥ
manaḥ-ṣaṣṭhānīndriyāṇi
prakṛti-sthāni karṣati

Synonyms: 

mama — My; eva — certainly; aṁśaḥ — fragmental particle; jīva–loke — in the world of conditional life; jīva–bhūtaḥ — the conditioned living entity; sanātanaḥ — eternal; manaḥ — with the mind; ṣaṣṭhāni — the six; indriyāṇi — senses; prakṛti — in material nature; sthāni — situated; karṣati — is struggling hard.

Translation: 

The living entities in this conditioned world are My eternal fragmental parts. Due to conditioned life, they are struggling very hard with the six senses, which include the mind.

 

mamaivāṁśo jīva-loke, mama-amsa, Krishna is telling that all living being in conditioned life they are my Amsa, 

jīva-bhūtaḥ sanātanaḥ, they are eternally my parts and parcels, 

manaḥ-ṣaṣṭhānīndriyāṇi
prakṛti-sthāni karṣati

They are undergoing karṣati, struggling and suffering in this material existence because of manaḥ-ṣaṣṭhānīndriyāṇi, that the six senses which include the mind, that is cause of their sufferings, manaḥ-ṣaṣṭhānīndriyāṇi, 

So this verse is having two parts both of them are important and their combination is also important.

mamaivāṁśo jīva-loke
jīva-bhūtaḥ sanātanaḥ

This part of verse is telling a very important philosophical truth that living entity is eternally a part of Krishna. So we are Amsa and we are Sanatana Amsha. So this is important because impersonalist have idea that eventually we will become one with God and we will merge with His existence but here it is said we are part so can part become whole no and will part merge? No, Sanatanah, it can be made clear by early verses also Na Tva Eva aham Jatu Nasham…

And it is also important to note it is Mama Amsha not Brahma Amsha…

We are not just sparks of spirit we are parts of Spiritual Person. Examples are given that Supreme Lord is like a big fire and we are like sparks but that example is given to illustrate qualitatively oneness but it doesn’t necessarily illustrate anything more than that. But the fire doesn’t have any personality directly at least the way we perceive it and similarly the spark also but when we talk about Supreme Absolute Reality, He is a person, so Mama is important here. 

manaḥ-ṣaṣṭhānīndriyāṇi
prakṛti-sthāni karṣati

karṣati is struggling and suffering. This is also expressed earlier, Dukalayem Ashashvatam 8.15, 9.33, Anityam Ashukam Lokam, 13.11, Janma Mritu Jara Vadhi…so that is referred that this material world is a place of misery and the living entity is suffering over here. So earlier verses talked about how material world is miserable and this verse talks about how we, the living entity is miserable here, but the important point of addition here is 

manaḥ-ṣaṣṭhānīndriyāṇi so the struggle about happiness and suffering is happening because of mind and senses. So normally indriyas are considered 5 but in BG Indriyas are often grouped with the mind even when Krishna was talking about Shankya in 13.6, there also He said indriyāṇi daśaikaṁ ca, so there Krishna included 5 Karmedriyas (voice, legs, hands, anus and genitals), 5 Jyanadriyas (eyes, ears, nose, tongue and skin) and the Mind.

In general in BG analysis mind is grouped as one of the senses even in Vibhuti Yoga 10th chapter Krishna has said Indriyanam Manaschasmi, that I am the Mind among the senses. 

 

So 24 elements is called field of activity (purport 13.6-7):

 Panch Mahabhuta: earth, water, fire, air and ether => 5

False Ego, intelligence, un-manifested stage of the three modes of nature => 3 

Five Jyanadriyas (eyes, ears, nose, tongue and skin) and Mind => 5

Five Karmedriyas (voice, legs, hands, anus and genitals) => 5

Sense Within is Mind => 1

{So including mind there are 11 senses}

Five objects of the senses (smell, taste, form, touch and sound) => 5

 

Generally people think that senses are source of happiness but that is very insignificant happiness, here Krishna is saying it is source of suffering by getting bound in this material world. 

So mind drives by providing images by presenting on its screen, objects for its enjoyment, the objects that captivate e.g. someone is absorbed on TV screen, like in TV there are various channel like goodness, passion and ignorance 

Purport:  He is bound up by the false ego, and the mind is the chief agent which is driving him in this material existence. When the mind is in the mode of goodness, his activities are good; when the mind is in the mode of passion, his activities are troublesome; and when the mind is in the mode of ignorance, he travels in the lower species of life.

False Ego is the false reality to our consciousness

As mentioned in 14.18 

jaghanya-guṇa-vṛtti-sthā
adho gacchanti tāmasāḥ

That is how a person goes down. There is degrees of suffering depending on the mode one is situated. 

The following information is there in the Mādhyandināyana-śruti: 

sa vā eṣa brahma-niṣṭha 

idaṁ śarīraṁ martyam atisṛjya 

brahmābhisampadya brahmaṇā paśyati 

brahmaṇā śṛṇoti 

brahmaṇaivedaṁ sarvam anubhavati.

 It is stated here that when a living entity gives up this material embodiment and enters into the spiritual world, he revives his spiritual body, and in his spiritual body he can see the Supreme Personality of Godhead face to face. He can hear and speak to Him face to face, and he can understand the Supreme Personality as He is. From smṛti also it is understood, vasanti yatra puruṣāḥ sarve vaikuṇṭha-mūrtayaḥ: in the spiritual planets everyone lives in bodies featured like the Supreme Personality of Godhead’s. As far as bodily construction is concerned, there is no difference between the part-and-parcel living entities and the expansions of viṣṇu-mūrti. In other words, at liberation the living entity gets a spiritual body by the grace of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

 

sa vā eṣa brahma-niṣṭha, when one is situated in the spiritual platform brahma-niṣṭha

idaṁ śarīraṁ martyam atisṛjya, one gives up the body at the time of death

brahmābhisampadya brahmaṇā paśyati, one sees the brahman 

brahmaṇā śṛṇoti, one hears the Brahman

brahmaṇaivedaṁ sarvam anubhavati, one actually experiences the Brahman.

So after liberation  there are senses and one perceives with senses śṛṇoti, paśyati one sees with eyes, one hears with ears. 

It is talking about two significant things that even when the soul is liberated the soul has perceptions and not just perceptions but it is talking about sensory perceptions. 

The second point is there is something to perceive if the Brahman were non differentiated oneness as the impersonalist conceive then there is nothing to perceive actually, everything will be simply be one.  

 

Purport: vasanti yatra puruṣāḥ sarve vaikuṇṭha-mūrtayaḥ: in the spiritual planets everyone lives in bodies featured like the Supreme Personality of Godhead’s.

Vasanti, reside yatra, refers to the spiritual world puruṣāḥ sarve,all the persons over there, vaikuṇṭha-mūrtayaḥ everyone in spiritual world has vaikuṇṭha-mūrtayaḥ means has a form which is like form of the Supreme Lord. 

just as the parts and parcels of gold are also gold., so we are Godly not God. 

So first part is saying we are part of Krishna and second part says that when we become disconnect then we come in the spell of mind and senses and we suffer, 

So these two parts of the verse can be said in a phrase “Be a part but be not apart” . When we wanted to become happy independently our happiness is limited but when we are connected with Krishna our happiness becomes unlimited.

End of transcription.