Summary:

Lesson 159 demonstrates brahman can't be none other then you. Part 3 (Brahman is in form of Jiva). Starting with journey of jiva's death.

Source: Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 15, Verse 6, 7, 8

---

Revision:

• Part 1 (Verse 1, 2 and second half of verse 3) shows the problem of samsara.
• Part 2 (Verse 3-6) provides the solution to samsara in 4 remedies:
  1. Dispassion (vairagyam):  A product of discrimination (viveka), which is a product of performing one's svadharma (duties in the world, making decisions, and assessing profit/loss in various experiences).
  2. Bhakti: Incorporating religion and spirituality into life as priority above all.
  3. Universal Values: Discussed in CH13. They mature the mind to grasp and hold the vision, and live a happy life of contribution.
  4. Brahma-vidya:
     • Self-knowledge which removes notional distance that “I” am away from the truth.
     • Example why studying any scriptural text (under guidance of teacher) is important:
       • Krishna uses word “I / Me” loosely in B.Gita. Depending on context, it can either mean (as brought out by guru):
         1. Eka rupa: God in some form, like the sun, Himalaya mountains.
         2. Aneka rupa / vishvarupa: Every form in past, present and future is God.
         3. Nirguna / arupa: Nature of God is formless (sat-cit).
       • So when Krishna says “Surrender to Me”, the uninformed reader of B.Gita; not knowing which is referring to; reader will interpret according to whatever believes Krishna represents.

Bhagavad Gita, CH15, Verse 6:

na tat bhāsayate sūryaḥ na śaśāṅkaḥ na pāvakaḥ ।
yat gatvā na nivartante tat dhāma paramam mama ॥ 15-6॥
Neither the sun, nor moon, nor fire, illumines that having gone to which, they do not return. That is My limitless abode.

• ESSENCE OF VERSE: The ones who discover Brahman as one’s very Self – for them, there is no return to ignorance (saṃsāra) ever again. Brahman being independent, full of itself as the limitless One – lends existence even to the glorious sun, moon and fire.
• Krishna tells the nature of Brahman; borrows from Katha Upanashad 2.2.15

न तत्र सूर्यो भाति न चन्द्रतारकं
na tatra sūryo bhāti na candratārakaṁ
There, the sun does not shine, nor the moon and the stars.

नेमा विद्युतो भान्ति कुतोऽयमग्निः।
nemā vidyuto bhānti kuto'yamagniḥ
Nor the lightening, much less fire.

नेमा विद्युतो भान्ति कुतोऽयमग्निः।
tameva bhāntam anubhāti sarvaṁ
Everything shines, reflecting God's glory.

तस्य भासा सर्वमिदं विभाति ॥
tasya bhāsā sarvam idaṁ vibhāti ||
This whole Universe is illumined by God's light (the Atman).

• VERSE IS SAYING: Brahman is not objectifiable through any instrument-of-knowledge (can’t be illumined by anything).
• To help understand Brahman; Upanishads uses example of light in whose presence things are known. It says that every sense-organ can be compared to light. Because sense-organ is that in whose presence things become known.
  • Light/Evidencer = pramāṇa. |  Evidenced: prameya.
  • Examples:
    1. Ear is a light, in whose presence sounds are known. Sight, smell, sensation, taste-organ.
    2. Inference.
    3. A lesson throws light onto a topic.
    4. Words are light called shabda-pramana, through which humans come to know things.
• Whereas Brahman is that which can NEVER be illumined-by, or known through any light (pramana). No light can objectify Brahman, because Brahman is the ONLY principle that’s NOT an object-of-knowledge (prameya). As stated in verse: sūryaḥ na bhāsayate, na śaśāṅkaḥ, na pāvakaḥ: Sun does not illumine it, neither the moon, nor fire. Sun is presiding deity of eyes (representing 5-sense-organs). Moon deity of the mind (buddhi, manas, ahaṃ kāra). Fire deity of speech (represents 5-organs of action). Thus Brahman can’t be objectified/perceived by the eyes, heard by the ears, conceived-of by thoughts, felt by emotion, nor described by speech. Why not? Because Brahman is beyond pramāṇa (instrument of knowledge) and prameya (attribute).
• If nothing in existence can reveal Brahman (God) directly, then how to know Brahman?  As the subject; the conscious being in whose presence both the pramana and prameya are objectified. Because the subject is the only principle that doesn’t need to be revealed by something else, since self-evident. Thus Brahman (the final reality) happens to be “I”, the ever-awareful subject.
• So what is Brahman? The experiencer of everything, but which is never experienced as any one thing. The seer of everything, but never seen. The unseen seer. The unheard hearer. The unsmelled smeller. The untasted taster. The untouched toucher. The conscious-principle. Illumines the inert world, but is not illumined by the inert world. Illumines matter, but never illumined by matter. In presence of Brahman, matter is known, but matter does not know Brahman. Brahman is Self, the consciousness which is aware-ing the 3 states (Waking, Dreaming, Sleeping).
• If Brahman is “I”, the subject, then how far should I travel to reach Brahman? No distance. Because reaching Brahman is not an event in time. If Brahman was an event in time, you wouldn’t be present right now (wouldn’t exist / darkness). So reaching Brahman involves dropping the notion that “I am not Brahman right now”. Reaching is entirely an intellectual process. And ignorance of Brahman is a notional distance that Brahman (God) is other then this ordinary Awareness that’s been near-and-dear throughout all times of living. How to remove the notional distance? By knowledge alone. Because wrong-notion is an incorrect-knowledge problem; not an action problem.
• tad mama paramam dhāma: Brahman is my supreme abode. In Purana, before Krishna concluded his physical incarnation, his friend Uddhava wanted to accompany Him. Krishna said, “Not even Garuḍa (my vehicle), Lakṣmī (my consort), Sudarśana-cakra (my weapon) can accompany Me in My abode. Because there I reside alone in My own nature”.

 

PART 3: Brahman is in form of jīva (Verse 7-11)

JĪVA’S DEATH & REBIRTH:

 

Bhagavad Gita, CH15, Verse 7:

mama eva aṃśaḥ jīva-loke jīva-bhūtaḥ sanātanaḥ ।
manaḥ-ṣaṣṭhāni-indriyāṇi prakṛti-sthāni karṣati ॥ 15-7॥
A part of Myself alone is in the form of the eternal jīva in the world of beings. When the one who rules (the body) departs, he draws to himself the (five) sense organs, and the mind as the sixth, obtaining in the body.

STRUCTURE:

• PART 1 (samsara description) & PART 2 (samsara antidote) is over.
• PART 3/4 will say that both the jīva and jagat are nothing but modifications of Brahman. Thus there’s no universe, only Brahman. Just as any ornament gains form-name only for sake of transaction, but it’s just clay. Also hinted in BG 4.24: brahmārpaṇaṁ brahma havir brahmāgnau brahmaṇā hutam brahmaiva tena gantavyaṁ brahma-karma-samādhinā
• To convey this, Krishna will categorize the Universe into 2 parts: (a) Conscious experiencer, called jīva. (b) Inert objects of experience, called jagat. Thus universe = jīva + jagat. Experiencers + experienced.

LINE 1:

mama eva aṃśaḥ jīva-loke jīva-bhūtaḥ sanātanaḥ
“A part of Myself alone exists as the eternal jīva in the world of beings”

1. “Aṁśa” (part) means reflection (pratibimba/ābhāsa), NOT division:

The word “aṁśa” ordinarily means a fraction or part, which immediately creates a philosophical problem – how can the infinite, partless Brahman have parts? If Brahman had parts, It would be subject to disintegration and destruction, contradicting Its very nature as imperishable, partless (niravayava), and whole (pūrṇa).

Therefore, “aṁśa” here is a figurative expression requiring deeper understanding. Just as the sun remains undivided in the sky while appearing as countless reflections in various water bodies, Brahman remains One while appearing as many jīvas.

Each reflection shows the complete sun, not a piece of it. The sun is independent of its reflections – it can exist without them – but the reflections are entirely dependent on the sun for their existence.

Similarly, when space is “enclosed” by a pot, we speak of “pot-space” as if it were a part of total space. Yet space itself is never actually divided – the division is only from the standpoint of the limiting adjunct (upādhi), the pot.

When the pot breaks, the “pot-space” doesn't go anywhere or merge with anything; we simply recognize space was always undivided.

In the same way, when ignorance is removed through knowledge, the jīva doesn't travel to merge with Brahman – the apparent separation is simply recognized as having never existed.

So, “aṁśa” here means reflection (pratibimba) or manifestation (ābhāsa) of the One Brahman.

This understanding is crucial: Brahman doesn't become many; It appears as many while remaining the One undivided Consciousness.

2. Eternal-jīva = Original Consciousness (Brahman) reflected in subtle body:

Every living being consists of three components working together:

• • Original Consciousness (OC) – the all-pervading Brahman, like electricity that pervades all appliances.
  • Reflecting Medium (RM) – the subtle body/mind complex, like the tungsten filament
  • Reflected Consciousness (RC) – the jīva, the consciousness manifesting in the individual mind

The subtle body, made of subtle matter according to Tattva Bodha (apañcīkṛta pañca mahābhūtas), is inherently inert. However, when the all-pervading Consciousness “touches” this subtle body, it becomes sentient. This borrowed sentiency in the subtle body is what we call the jīva or reflected consciousness (chidābhāsa / chaitanya pratibimba).

Importantly, the jīva is not a separate entity from Brahman – just as we don't consider our hand as an object separate from ourselves. The relationship is one of non-difference, yet through the reflecting medium, there appears to be a distinct individual.

The jīva exists within two orders of reality: Brahman is satya (absolutely real, independently existing), while the jīva is mithyā (dependently real, having no existence apart from Brahman). Like a pot's relationship with clay – the pot has no existence independent of clay, though it appears as a distinct form.

3. “Sanātana” (eternal) – The journey of the jīva:

In short: The jīva is “sanātana” (eternal) – without beginning or end. This eternal nature belongs to the consciousness aspect, not to the body-mind complex which serves as the reflecting medium.

“Sanātana” (eternal) must be understood in its proper context. It doesn't mean the jīva as a separate entity exists forever, but rather indicates three important aspects:

1. 1. Beginningless origin: The jīva's journey has no traceable beginning – hence in our daily sankalpa we say “anādi avidyā vāsanaya” (due to beginningless ignorance and tendencies). We cannot point to when this reflection first began, just as in a dream we cannot identify when the dream-ego first separated from the dreamer.
   2. Continuity through death: At physical death, the jīva doesn't perish. What dies is only the physical body – the gross bulb. The subtle body (the filament) along with the reflected consciousness departs intact, carrying all the saṃskāras, vāsanās, and the accumulated karma. This departure is described in verse 8 as the jīva “drawing to itself” (karṣati) all the subtle faculties before moving on.
   3. Survival through cosmic cycles: Even during pralaya (cosmic dissolution), when the entire manifest universe withdraws, the jīva doesn't cease to exist but enters a dormant state – like our mind during deep sleep. We know the mind survives sleep because we wake up with the same worries, memories, and sense of identity. Similarly, after pralaya, the jīvas re-emerge with their same karmic accounts and tendencies intact.

The eternal journey continues UNTIL liberation: This is the crucial qualifier. The jīva's capacity for eternal travel through bodies continues only as long as ignorance persists. Once self-knowledge (jñāna) dawns through proper teaching and assimilation, the very notion of being a limited jīva dissolves. The “eternal” journey ends not by going somewhere but by recognizing one was never a traveler – like a dreamer waking up doesn't need to return from the dream world.

4. The three stages of the jīva's understanding:

Stage 1 – Complete identification (ajñāni):
The eternal-jīva is completely identified with the body-mind complex, convinced of being a mortal, limited individual – “I am John/Jane,” “I am a doer (kartā),” “I am an enjoyer (bhoktā).” This is like a bucket of muddy water reflecting the sun – the reflection is so distorted that the water might even doubt the sun exists. The jīva here takes itself to be non-eternal, subject to birth and death, not recognizing its true nature as consciousness. All of saṃsāra operates at this level.

Stage 2 – Intellectual understanding (parokṣa jñāna):
Through scriptural study, the jīva gains the notion “I am Brahman” but hasn't fully assimilated this truth. Like water that's being filtered – clearer than before but not yet transparent. The understanding remains academic, requiring effort to remember and apply. There's knowledge but not yet abiding as that knowledge. The person can explain Vedanta perfectly but still experiences fear, desire, and anger as before.

Stage 3 – Direct realization (aparokṣa jñāna):
The knowledge “I am Brahman” becomes immediate, effortless, and permanent – like crystal-clear water perfectly reflecting the sun. Even as the body-mind (bucket) continues, the jñāni knows with absolute clarity: “Whatever consciousness enables this body-mind to know anything doesn't belong to this body-mind but is the same consciousness enabling all beings to know.” Like a clear crystal touching a red rose knows the redness doesn't belong to itself, the jñāni knows all attributes (guṇas) belong to the body-mind while I am the attributeless consciousness (nirguṇa) illumining them.

This realized being called jīvanmukta knows there are no real parts (aṁśas) in Brahman – there is only the One appearing as many through the reflecting media of countless minds.

LINE 2:

manaḥ-ṣaṣṭhāni-indriyāṇi prakṛti-sthāni karṣati
“He draws to himself the five senses with the mind as the sixth, which reside in the body”

1. The Process of Withdrawal at Death:

At the moment of death, the jīva (reflected consciousness) performs a subtle but profound action described by the word “karṣati” – literally meaning to draw, drag, or pull toward oneself. This is not a violent extraction but a natural gathering, like a person carefully packing their essential belongings before a journey.

The verse specifies exactly what is withdrawn: the five subtle sense organs (indriyāṇi) plus the mind as the sixth (manaḥ-ṣaṣṭhāni). The word “prakṛti-sthāni” indicates these faculties were residing in the prakṛti – here meaning the gross physical body (sthūla śarīram). It's crucial to understand that what travels is not the physical organs but the subtle sensory powers:

Physical organs (golakam) that remain with the corpse:

• • The physical eyes (cakṣu-golakam)
  • The physical ears (śrotra-golakam)
  • The physical tongue, nose, skin
  • The physical brain and nervous system

Subtle faculties (indriyāṇi) that travel with the jīva:

• • The power of seeing (cakṣu-indriya)
  • The power of hearing (śrotra-indriya)
  • The powers of tasting, smelling, touching
  • The mind that coordinates these powers

This explains why a dead body, though having all physical organs intact, cannot see, hear, or respond. As the Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad describes: “Eki bhavati, na paśyati ityāhuḥ” – “When becoming one (withdrawing), he does not see, they say.” The anatomy remains but the physiology – the power of functioning – has been withdrawn.

2. The Invisible Journey – Like Wind Carrying Fragrance:

This withdrawal process is imperceptible to our gross senses. The beautiful analogy given (in verse 8) is that of wind carrying fragrance from flowers. Just as we cannot see the air gathering scent molecules, we cannot observe the jīva collecting the subtle faculties. We only infer what has happened from the evidence – the body no longer responds, just as we infer the presence of wind from the fragrance we smell.

This subtle process follows a precise mechanism based on the consciousness principle:

• • The Original Consciousness (Brahman) pervades everywhere, including the body
  • The mind (reflecting medium) borrows consciousness from Brahman, becoming sentient
  • The sentient mind then lends consciousness to the physical body, making it alive
  • At death, the mind withdraws, taking its borrowed consciousness with it
  • The body, no longer receiving consciousness from the mind, becomes inert

It's like unplugging a device – the electricity (consciousness) is still there in the room, but without the connecting wire (mind), the device (body) stops functioning.

3. The Karma Mechanism – What Determines Death's Timing:

The timing of death is neither arbitrary nor cruel – it follows the precise law of karma. Each jīva comes to a particular body with a specific bundle of prārabdha-karma (karma that has begun to fructify) selected from the vast storehouse of sañcita-karma (accumulated karma from countless lives).

Think of it this way:

• • The physical body is like a rented house
  • The prārabdha-karma is like the lease agreement
  • Once the lease (karma) expires, the tenant (jīva) must vacate

The moment the allotted prārabdha-karma for this particular body is exhausted – whether through enjoyment or suffering – the jīva must depart. There's no extending the lease; when the karma is finished, death is inevitable. This explains why some die young while others live long.

4. The Journey Continues – Selection of Next Body:

After withdrawing from the current body, the eternal-jīva's doesn't float randomly. The next batch of karma from the sañcita (storehouse) automatically becomes active, like the next song in a playlist. This new prārabdha-karma determines:

• • Quality of the next body (uttama/madhyama/adhama śarīram)
  • Species (human, animal, celestial, etc.)
  • Parents and family (the genetic and cultural inheritance)
  • Environment (country, circumstances, opportunities)
  • Guṇa composition (sattvic, rajasic, or tamasic predominance)
  • Basic life trajectory (general health, lifespan potential, major life events)

5. Puṇya-Pāpa as Next Life's “Rent”:

Puṇya (merit) as your future “angel”: Think of it like a friend who owes you a favor that'll benefit you one fine day.  Puṇya patiently waits to manifest as favorable circumstances in your next life – good health, supportive family, opportunities for growth, natural talents, or circumstances conducive to spiritual progress.

Pāpa (demerit) as future obstacles: Think of it like unpaid debts that follow you.  Pāpa manifests as challenges, limitations, difficult relationships, or tendencies that hold you back. 

The infallible tracking system: Just as a calf unerringly finds its mother among thousands of cows, your specific karmas will find you regardless of which body you inhabit. The karmas are encoded in the subtle body that travels with you – they're not external records but intrinsic to your traveling subtle body complex.

6. The Continuity of Tendencies (Saṃskāras):

When the eternal-jīva inhabits a new body, it doesn't start with a blank slate. The subtle body carries all the saṃskāras (mental impressions) and vāsanās (tendencies) from the previous life. This explains:

• • Why children show distinct personalities from birth
  • Natural talents that seem to come from nowhere
  • Inexplicable fears or attractions
  • The sense of déjà vu or familiarity with certain teachings

The present life jiva is thus sculpted and influenced by accumulated tendencies.

7. The Īśvara Paradox:

The next verse 8 uses the word “īśvara” (the ruler) for the jīva who departs. This is profound – though the jīva is actually Parameśvara (the supreme Lord) in essence, due to ignorance it functions as the ruler of just one body. Like a prince who has forgotten his royal identity and thinks he owns only the small hut he occupies, the jīva – though essentially Brahman – identifies with and rules over a single body-mind complex.

This withdrawal at death is therefore not a tragedy but a transition – the eternal traveler packing up the subtle equipment needed for the next chapter of the journey, a journey that continues until the traveler realizes there was never any real travel, only the One appearing as many through the power of māyā.

 

Bhagavad Gita, CH15, Verse 8:

śarīram yat avāpnoti yat ca api utkrāmati īśvaraḥ ।
gṛhītvā etāni saṃyāti vāyuḥ gandhān iva āśayāt ॥ 15-8॥
When the Lord (jiva) obtains a new body, he goes, taking these (the sense organs and the mind) with him just as the wind (would carry) the fragrance from their sources (the flowers).

• ESSENCE OF VERSE: When gross body is dropped, the jīva sustains it’s 5-sense-organs and mind. They are carried over to a new gross body – just as the wind carries the scent ^(subtle) of the flowers ^(gross), leaving the flowers behind.
• When eternal-jiva leaves the body, it carries along with it the subtle-body (5 sense/perception-organs & mind). It’s new birth will be determined by guna-coloured-samskaras from previous life. Meaning the non-eternal-jiva (in present life), determines the quality of life for the non-eternal-jiva in the future. Just as the present jiva-you, is living strengths/weaknesses according to what past life jiva did.
  
• Death Process: As person ages, starts packing away ability to see/hear/walk/digestive-power. The sensory organs shut down from grossest to subtlest. Right before departure, udāna-prāṇa activates, thus ejects the subtle-body (conditioned by the vasanas).
• Krishna gives metaphor of death process: Flower = gross body. Flower has fragrance (samskaras/vasanas). Just as invisible wind carries the invisible fragrance, the invisible jiva carries the fragrance of samskaras (tendencies) and the subtle-body (reflecting-medium) from the physical body.
• How long until subtle-body traveling jiva inhabits a new gross-body? Impossible to tell. Because gross-time-space is only valid in gross-world. What is 100 years for us, may be 1 min for the traveling jīva.
• WHAT HAPPENS UPON BIRTH? Next verse…

 

Keywords: udana-prana

—
Credit for help in Bhagavad Gita teaching given to Swami Dayananda (Arsha Vidya), Paramarthananda & Chinmaya Mission.

Recorded 8 Feb, 2022