Bhagavad Gita Commentary–Fifty-Five–by Swami Nirmalananda Giri

The Veil in the Mind

Krishna has spoken of the strong net of Maya that is difficult to break through. Now he speaks of Maya as a veil that darkens and blinds the minds of those over whom it lies. We must keep in mind that in this section–as in most others–he is speaking both as the Supreme Self and the individual Self. So not only is God speaking to us, so is our own divine spirit.

Mistaken views

“Thus think the ignorant: that I, the unmanifest am become man. They do not know my nature that is one with Brahman, changeless, superhuman.” (Bhagavad Gita 7:24) This verse tells us about traits of Brahman and the jiva (individual spirit) that are not perceived by the ignorant.

Unmanifest. Spirit is never manifest in the sense of becoming touched by material existence, or any form of relative existence at all. It is also unperceivable to the senses, the mind, and the intellect. Only that part of us which is forever beyond those three faculties can come into contact with Spirit and know it.

Become man. God does not become material or changeable by manifesting the cosmos. And we are not human beings although we are experiencing humanity in an objective manner–which illusion has become distorted into seemingly subjective experience.

Brahman. There is nothing but Brahman. To mistake ourselves for anything less is deadly to us.

Changeless. Although God is the source of all things, manifesting as all things, seated in the heart of all and experiencing all things, He is not in any way changed or affected by that. Nor are we, mirroring the Divine Being on the limited and finite level.

Superhuman. Both we and God transcend all relative existence, including that of mortal bondage, which is the state of all humanity. It is our nature to be beyond all the dreams of illusion which we call Maya.

Those who mistakenly assume differently as to the nature of God and themselves are impelled into a multitude of delusions from which arise a myriad false–and impossible–hopes and fears. Misunderstanding both themselves and God, they stumble–and often crawl–through a wilderness of spiritual and material death. Only when they emerge from it–as they all shall in time–will they realize the enormity of their ignorance and suffering. Then they will rejoice at having emerged from unreality into reality, from darkness into light, from death into immortality. For they and God have ever been the Real, the Light, the Immortal.

The unseen seer

“Veiled in my Maya, I am not shown to many. How shall this world, bewildered by delusion, recognize me, who am not born and change not?” (Bhagavad Gita 7:25)

Egoic religion loves the idea of God’s “chosen,” or “beloved” few, and its dupes pride themselves on having some kind of special relationship or favor with God. This is, of course, nonsense, for all are absolutely the same in God’s eyes, for they are part of Him. Yet some do perceive higher realities–at least in a kind of dim intuition–in contrast to the majority of people. This is not a matter of being chosen or favored of God, but of having managed to evolve to such a point that the “eyes to see” and the “ears to hear” have become at least partially opened on their inner, higher levels. For those, “bewildered by delusion,” who erroneously believe that they have been “born”–identify with the human body and condition–and who experience nothing but change within and without cannot possibly perceive or even guess the realities that lie within themselves–including the Divine Presence.

“I know all beings, Arjuna: past, present and to come. But no one knows me.” (Bhagavad Gita 7:26) Why? Because God is beyond relative “being” and can never be an object of intellectual knowledge. Since God is the Eternal Subject, He knows (perceives) all the waves that appear and disappear upon the Ocean of Being which He is. By His nature He knows all things, but “things” by their nature cannot know Him. It is a matter of Who in contrast to the “what.” We, being part of God, have the same capacity to know “things,” but in us the experience of thingness has swallowed up awareness of our true nature. This condition is not native to us, so in time it will melt away and we will once more know. Of course we have to work at that–and that is what yoga is all about. We can once again be established in our Self, and from that center we can come to know God Who is at that center. That is why Jesus said: “Blessed are those who are clear (catharos) at the center (kardia), for they shall see God.” (Matthew 5:8)

The problem

Misery may not always love company, but it certainly has company, for Krishna now says: “All living creatures are led astray as soon as they are born, by the delusion that this relative world is real. This delusion arises from their own desire and hatred.” (Bhagavad Gita 7:27)

How could we not believe this world is real? Its pain and fear block out from our minds all other aspects of existence, draw our awareness totally outward into the material world, and imprisons us there. Certainly that imprisonment is a delusion and not a reality, but we neither know that nor are capable of believing it when we first hear of it. But it is not the world that is at fault. No. Uncomfortable as it may be, the fault lies in us, in our continually veering back and forth between the two poles of desire and aversion (hatred is not such a good translation). “I want” and “I don’t want” push us back and forth and even morph into one another! Our minds become like a tennis ball, batted in opposite directions until it loses all perspective and orientation. As long as we are subject to these warring forces we can never know either peace or clarity of mind and heart.

The sole answer lies in changing ourselves, in establishing our consciousness in the right place. For Krishna tells Arjuna:

The solution

“But the doers of good deeds, whose bad karma is exhausted, are freed from this delusion about the relative world. They hold firmly to their vows, and worship me.” (Bhagavad Gita 7:28)

Now this is most interesting. Mere philosophizing or theologizing will not clear up our dilemma. “The truth” as verbal or intellectual formulations will avail nothing, either. Rather, it is what we DO that will neutralize the forces that work against our progress. By right action we expunge the force of past negative actions.

A more literal translation of this verse is: “But those in whom evil has come to an end, those men whose actions are pure; they, liberated from the deluding power of the opposites, worship Me with firm vows.” The word vrata, here translated “vows,” means a vow in the sense of a resolution which manifests in a rule of conduct–in right action. God-oriented thought and action is the only cure for the malady of bad karma and susceptibility to the forces of like and dislike–both of which spring from the ego alone. This is further underlined as Krishna continues:

“Men take refuge in me, to escape from their fear of old age and death. Thus they come to know Brahman, and the entire nature of the Atman, and the creative energy which is in Brahman. Knowing me, they understand the nature of the relative world and the individual man, and of God who presides over all action.” (Bhagavad Gita 7:29) Guru Nanak continually spoke of “the Godwards” in his hymns. Krishna here tells us that those who are totally Godward, whose every thought, word, and deed is directed toward God with the intention of knowing and uniting with God, will indeed come to know God and their Self and the true nature of this world and that which lies beyond it. The Relative and the Absolute will all be known to them.

This will be no temporary “high” or psychic “flash” that comes and goes, but: “Even at the hour of death, they continue to know me thus. In that hour, their whole consciousness is made one with mine,” (Bhagavad Gita 7:30) the Ring of Return made perfect and complete.

Read the Bhagavad Gita online: The English text of the Gita posted on this Web Site is arranged according to the meter of the original Sanskrit text so it can be sung–as it is done every morning in our ashram and in most of the ashrams of India.