𝗠𝗼𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝗽𝗶𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 (𝟯𝟬th 𝗡𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟱)

 

ॐ असतो मा सद्गमय। तमसो मा ज्योतिर्गमय। मृत्योर्मा अमृतं गमय। ॐ शांतिः शांतिः शांतिः

𝔹ℍ𝔸𝔾𝕍𝔸𝔻𝔾𝕀𝕋𝔸

अर्जुन उवाच |

परं ब्रह्म परं धाम पवित्रं परमं भवान् |पुरुषं शाश्वतं दिव्यमादिदेवमजं विभुम् || 10.12||

आहुस्त्वामृषय: सर्वे देवर्षिर्नारदस्तथा |असितो देवलो व्यास: स्वयं चैव ब्रवीषि मे ||10.13||

Arjun said: You are the Supreme Divine Personality, the Supreme Abode, the Supreme Purifier, the Eternal God, the Primal Being, the Unborn, and the Greatest. The great sages, like Narad, Asit, Deval, and Vyas, proclaimed this, and now You are declaring it to me Yourself.

When the Lord spoke of His compassion for the devotees, and how he confers knowledge on them who worship Him with love and faith, Arjuna was lifted up by a mighty upsurge of devotional fervour. His adoration for the Lord reaches the peak point. His love and worship attain the highest state. His joy knows no bounds. From that fulness of heart proceeds Arjuna’s ecstatic adoration as revealed in these two verses. Such devotion to the Guru is needed to receive enlightenment. The blossoming of the heart through devotion makes the disciple fit to understand the Truth propounded by the Master.

𝕍𝕀𝕍𝔼𝕂𝔸ℂℍ𝕌𝔻𝔸𝕄𝔸ℕ𝕀

यावद्भ्रान्तिस्तावदेवास्य सत्ता, मिथ्याज्ञानोज्जृम्भितस्य प्रमादात् ।

रज्ज्वां सर्पो भ्रान्तिकालीन एव, भ्रान्तेर्नाशे नैव सर्पोऽपि तद्वत् ॥ 197 ॥

It exists only so long as the delusion lasts, being caused by indiscrimination due to an illusion. The rope is supposed to be the snake only so long as the mistake lasts, and there is no more snake when the illusion has vanished. Similar is the case here.

As long as ignorance (bhrānti) persists, the jīva and the world appear to exist with full reality.

This false experience arises solely from mithyā-jñāna—a mistaken superimposition caused by negligence (pramāda) of one’s real nature. Just as a snake appears on a rope only during the period of illusion, and disappears the moment the illusion ends,so too the jīva, bondage and world appear only as long as ignorance lasts.

When the ignorance is destroyed, the jīva is found to have never truly existed separately—only Brahman remains.

Appearance = while ignorance lasts.

Reality = disappears when ignorance ends.

The example of the rope-snake shows: the superimposed thing never truly exists, even when experienced intensely.