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Students gain knowledge of the eternal, indestructible essence of life With the passing of His Holiness Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, the great spiritual leader and founder of Maharishi’s Vedic Science and Global Raam Raj, Administration through Total Natural Law, students of Maharishi’s Vedic Science find solace in reviewing Maharishi’s descriptions of the eternal, indestructible essence of human life and of all existence. Turning to Chapter 2, verses 11-30, of his commentary on the Bhagavad-Gita, students find a vivid description of the eternal nature of the Self. The Self is easily and effortlessly experienced during the practice of Maharishi’s Transcendental Meditation. During the practice, the mind turns within and one experiences finer and finer levels of the mind until one transcends thinking altogether and experiences the silent, unbounded ocean of pure consciousness, Transcendental Consciousness, the Self of all beings. Maharishi explains that this direct experience of the Self brings knowledge of the eternal Reality of life. In Chapter 2, verses 11-30 of the Bhagavad-Gita, Lord Krishna is speaking to Arjuna, a great warrior. Arjuna is faced with the difficult situation of fighting his own kinsmen in order to uphold righteousness. He cannot bear killing his kinsmen and has turned to Lord Krishna for advice. Maharishi’s commentary on these verses provides deep insight into the eternal nature of life. Bhagavad-Gita Chapter 2 Verses 11-30:
Verse 11 ‘The Blessed Lord said: You grieve for those for whom there should be no grief, yet speak as do the wise. Wise men grieve neither for the dead nor for the living. Verse 12 ‘There never was a time when I was not, nor you, nor these rulers of men. Nor will there ever be a time when all of us shall cease to be. Verse 13 ‘As the dweller in this body passes into childhood, youth and age, so also does he pass into another body. This does not bewilder the wise. Verse 14 ‘Contacts (of the senses) with their objects, O son of Kunti, give rise to (the experience of) cold and heat, pleasure and pain. Transient, they come and go. Bear them patiently, O Bharata! Verse 15 ‘That man indeed whom these (contacts) do not disturb, who is even-minded in pleasure and pain, steadfast, he is fit for immortality, O best of men! Verse 16 ‘The unreal has no being; the real never ceases to be. The final truth about them both has thus been perceived by the seers of ultimate Reality. Verse 17 ‘Know That to be indeed indestructible by which all this is pervaded. None can work the destruction of this immutable Being. Verse 18 'These bodies are known to have an end; the dweller in the body is eternal, imperishable, infinite. Therefore, O Bharata, fight! Verse 19 ‘He who understands him to be the slayer, and he who takes him to be the slain, both fail to perceive the truth. He neither slays nor is slain. Verse 20 ‘He is never born, nor does he ever die; nor once having been, does he cease to be. Unborn, eternal, everlasting, ancient, he is not slain when the body is slain. Verse 21 ‘One who knows him to be indestructible, everlasting, unborn, undying, how can that man, O Partha, slay or cause anyone to slay? Verse 22 ‘As a man casting off worn-out garments takes other new ones, so the dweller in the body casting off worn-out bodies takes others that are new. Verse 23 ‘Weapons cannot cleave him, nor fire burn him; water cannot wet him, nor wind dry him away. Verse 24 ‘He is uncleavable; he cannot be burned; he cannot be wetted, nor yet can he be dried. He is eternal, all-pervading, stable, immovable, ever the same. Verse 25 ‘He is declared to be unmanifest, unthinkable, unchangeable; therefore knowing him as such you should not grieve. Verse 26 ‘Even if you think of him as constantly taking birth and constantly dying, even then, O mighty-armed, you should not grieve like this. Verse 27 ‘Certain indeed is death for the born and certain is birth for the dead; therefore over the inevitable you should not grieve. Verse 28 ‘Creatures are unmanifest in the beginning, manifest in the middle state and unmanifest again at the end, O Bharata! What grief is there in this? Verse 29 ‘One sees him as a wonder; another likewise speaks of him as a wonder, and as a wonder another hears of him. Yet even on (seeing, speaking and hearing) some do not understand him. Verse 30 ‘He who dwells in the body of everyone is eternal and invulnerable, O Bharata; therefore you should not grieve for any creature whatsoever.’ The eternal Truth Describing verse 11, Maharishi brings out the eternal Truth of the unchangeable reality. He explains that the wise ‘do not grieve over anything, for they know that everything is in its essence everlasting’. Commenting on verse 12, Maharishi describes how Lord Krishna presents to Arjuna ‘the permanent nature of the inner man, the inner Reality of individual life. The nature of this spirit in man is imperishable. Despite the continual change of bodies in the past, present and future, it ever remains the same.’ In his commentary on verse 13, Maharishi explains that‘the wise are not taken aback by changes of the body; the death of the body is like the change that takes place when children become grown-up, or when the young become old. Phenomenal changes continue to take place, while the never-changing Reality of life, the dweller in the body, remains ever the same.’ Rising above the ups and downs of relative life Commenting on verses 14 and 15, Maharishi describes the impermanent, ever-changing nature of relative life and the underlying permanent nature of the ultimate Reality. He says that: ‘once a man has become established in the understanding of the permanent Reality of life, as explained in verse 13, his mind rises above the influence of pleasure and pain. Such an unshakable man passes beyond the influence of death and lives in the permanent phase of life; he attains eternal life. It is the Lord’s purpose that Arjuna shall gain this state where he will be above all considerations in the relative field, even death, and all problems of life and death.’ Maharishi also explains that ‘a man established in the unlimited abundance of absolute existence is naturally free from influence of the relative order. This is what gives him the status of immortal life.’ In verse 16, Maharishi explains how the ‘seer of Truth perceives clearly the difference between the permanent, never-changing absolute state of life and its ever-changing states of diversified phenomenal existence. It is this which gives him that stability and heightened state of consciousness by which he rises above the binding influence of activity in the phenomenal world.’ Refining the individual nervous system to reflect eternal Being In his commentary on verse 17, Maharishi emphasizes the indestructible nature of the Self, which pervades relative existence and is reflected through different nervous systems. Maharishi says, ‘The Lord presents to Arjuna the indestructibility of the inner Reality, the Being of the phenomenal objective world, which pervades everything.’ He compares the reflection of inner Being in different nervous systems to the Sun shining on different media like water and oil, and explains that, ‘When the nervous system is pure, Being reflects more and the spirit is more powerful, the mind more effective. When the nervous system is at its purest, then Being reflects in all its fullness, and the inner individuality of the spirit gains the level of unlimited eternal Being. Thus it is clear that in its essential nature the spirit is undying and omnipresent.’ Maharishi explains in verse 18 how eternal Being dwells within the body as the individual aspect of cosmic existence. This individualized cosmic existence has the name ‘jiva’. Jiva is the individual spirit within the body; and when its limitations are removed, then jiva is Atma, Transcendental Being. This experience develops naturally through the regular practice of Maharishi’s Transcendental Meditation, during which one experiences Transcendental Consciousness, eternal Being. With the regular practice of Transcendental Meditation alternated with regular activity, the individuality of the jiva and the universality of the Transcendental Self, Atma, are united; then there is Brahman, the all-embracing cosmic life. This is the state of enlightenment; one knows and lives the true, eternal Reality of cosmic existence. The Self is the silent witness, beyond all change In verse 19, Maharishi explains that the Self is separate from the activity of relative existence, remaining a silent witness. ‘It has been made clear that the self, or spirit, in its essential nature, knows no change or variation, is free from any attributes, is neither the doer nor the doing. . . the Self in its real nature, is only the silent witness of everything.’ Maharishi’s commentary on verse 20 and 24 provides vivid descriptions of the eternal, infinite Self. ‘The eternal unmanifested absolute nature of the spirit, or Self, is ever unaffected by happenings in the relative field. It is ever the same, beyond the limits of time, space, and causation. Without beginning or end, it knows no birth or death. Whether in this or that body, the Self continues to be. The immutable eternal life remains through the ever-changing phases of the bodies which it takes.’ ‘. . . being eternal, Reality is all-pervading; being all-pervading, It is stable; being stable, It is immovable; and being immovable, It is ever the same.’ Every step of change brings a step towards perfection Commenting on verses 27-30, Maharishi summarizes: ‘Change is inevitable in the field of relative existence; it is going on even in the present, as it was in the past and will be in the future. Therefore birth and death are natural events about which one should not feel much concern.’ . . . ‘the phenomenon of birth and death is the expression of the eternal process of evolution, which in its turn expresses the purpose of creation. Life evolves with a view to the realization of perfection. Development through change is the natural course of this cosmic process. Every change is significant, for it provides a step to perfection.’ . . . ‘This is the conclusion of all that has been said by the Lord from the eleventh verse onwards. Every creature is on the path to perfection. Through births and deaths of bodies, everyone is progressing towards fulfilment. No one should grieve over the death of another.’
With the death of a realized man, the Self remains in eternal freedom Maharishi brings further illumination to the subject of death in his commentary on of the Bhagavad-Gita in Chapter 3, verse 35, explaining that in the case of a realized man, only the relative aspect of individuality ceases with death; while the true reality, the Self, remains, continuing in its infinite state of perpetual freedom. The relative aspect of the individual body is subject to the sphere of relative change, governed by the forces know as the three gunas—the forces of creation, maintenance, and destruction. However, the absolute, eternal nature of the Self remains eternally indestructible, beyond the field of change: ‘When the body of a realized man meets with death and the nervous system finally ceases to function, the Self remains established in Its own dharma, the eternal dharma of Being, while the sphere of the three gunas continues in its dharma of continuous change, transforming the dead body into its different component elements. In such a case, death only amounts to the cessation of individual activity, leaving the Self in Its unbounded state of eternal freedom. Such a death is just a silent declaration of no return—no return to the cycle of birth and death.’ The ever-shining, never-setting Sun of the Divine Grace In other words, one can use the analogy from verse 17 in Chapter 2, of the pure nervous system which becomes a perfect reflector of the Sun—the fullness of eternal Being. When that perfect reflector of the nervous system of an enlightened man drops off, what remains is the eternal radiance of divine Being, the Self. This is why, in his book, Love and God, Maharishi writes of his teacher Guru Dev: ‘Our Guiding Light is the ever-shining, never-setting Sun of the Divine Grace. Ever the same, constant as the northern star and bright as the mid-day sun, our Guiding Light is the Divine Grace of Shri Guru Deva, Maha Yogiraj, His Divinity Swami Brahmananda Saraswati Maharaj, the most illustrious in the galaxy of the Jagad-guru Shankaracharyas of India.’ Describing Guru Dev’s passing, Maharishi writes: ‘As time would have it, after 12 years that flashed by, the Manifested merged with its original, the Unmanifested, and “Brahma Leena Brahmanandam” is now appearing in the hearts of His devotees as waves of Brahmanandam (Bliss). He cast off His mortal coil, but left behind a few others in mortal coil to keep up the light of His grace and pass on the torch of His teachings from hand to hand for all the millennium to come.’ Now Maharishi’s worldwide Transcendental Meditation Movement is continuing the tradition, carrying the torch of Guru Dev’s teachings and celebrating Maharishi’s gift of Total Knowledge of the eternal truth of life, bringing freedom from the changing waves of relative existence in the ever-present bliss of the unchanging Self.
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