Bhagavad Gita Chapter 2 Verse 20 — Sankhya Yoga
Sanskrit
न जायते म्रियते वा कदाचिन् नायं भूत्वा भविता वा न भूयः | अजो नित्यः शाश्वतोऽयं पुराणो न हन्यते हन्यमाने शरीरे ||२-२०||
Transliteration
na jāyate mriyate vā kadācin nāyaṃ bhūtvā bhavitā vā na bhūyaḥ . ajo nityaḥ śāśvato.ayaṃ purāṇo na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre ||2-20||
Hindi Meaning
।।2.20।। यह आत्मा किसी काल में भी न जन्मता है और न मरता है और न यह एक बार होकर फिर अभावरूप होने वाला है। यह आत्मा अजन्मा, नित्य, शाश्वत और पुरातन है, शरीर के नाश होने पर भी इसका नाश नहीं होता।।
English Meaning
For the soul there is neither birth nor death at any time. He has not come into being, does not come into being, and will not come into being. He is unborn, eternal, ever-existing and primeval. He is not slain when the body is slain.
Commentary
Qualitatively, the small atomic fragmental part of the Supreme Spirit is one with the Supreme. He undergoes no changes like the body. Sometimes the soul is called the steady, or kūṭa-stha. The body is subject to six kinds of transformations. It takes its birth from the womb of the mother’s body, remains for some time, grows, produces some effects, gradually dwindles, and at last vanishes into oblivion. The soul, however, does not go through such changes. The soul is not born, but, because he takes on a material body, the body takes its birth. The soul does not take birth there, and the soul does not die. Anything which has birth also has death. And because the soul has no birth, he therefore has no past, present or future. He is eternal, ever-existing and primeval – that is, there is no trace in history of his coming into being. Under the impression of the body, we seek the history of birth, etc., of the soul. The soul does not at any time become old, as the body does. The so-called old man, therefore, feels himself to be in the same spirit as in his childhood or youth. The changes of the body do not affect the soul. The soul does not deteriorate like a tree, nor anything material. The soul has no by-product either. The by-products of the body, namely children, are also different individual souls; and, owing to the body, they appear as children of a particular man. The body develops because of the soul’s presence, but the soul has neither offshoots nor change. Therefore, the soul is free from the six changes of the body. In the Kaṭha Upaniṣad (1.2.18) we also find a similar passage, which reads: na jāyate mriyate vā vipaścin nāyaṁ kutaścin na babhūva kaścit ajo nityaḥ śāśvato ’yaṁ purāṇo na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre The meaning and purport of this verse is the same as in the Bhagavad-gītā , but here in this verse there is one special word, vipaścit, which means learned or with knowledge. The soul is full of knowledge, or full always with consciousness. Therefore, consciousness is the symptom of the soul. Even if one does not find the soul within the heart, where he is situated, one can still understand the presence of the soul simply by the presence of consciousness. Sometimes we do not find the sun in the sky owing to clouds, or for some other reason, but the light of the sun is always there, and we are convinced that it is therefore daytime. As soon as there is a little light in the sky early in the morning, we can understand that the sun is in the sky. Similarly, since there is some consciousness in all bodies – whether man or animal – we can understand the presence of the soul. This consciousness of the soul is, however, different from the consciousness of the Supreme because the supreme consciousness is all-knowledge – past, present and future. The consciousness of the individual soul is prone to be forgetful. When he is forgetful of his real nature, he obtains education and enlightenment from the superior lessons of Kṛṣṇa. But Kṛṣṇa is not like the forgetful soul. If so, Kṛṣṇa’s teachings of Bhagavad-gītā would be useless. There are two kinds of souls – namely the minute particle soul ( aṇu-ātmā ) and the Supersoul ( vibhu-ātmā ). This is also confirmed in the Kaṭha Upaniṣad (1.2.20) in this way: aṇor aṇīyān mahato mahīyān ātmāsya jantor nihito guhāyām tam akratuḥ paśyati vīta-śoko dhātuḥ prasādān mahimānam ātmanaḥ “Both the Supersoul [Paramātmā] and the atomic soul [ jīvātmā ] are situated on the same tree of the body within the same heart of the living being, and only one who has become free from all material desires as well as lamentations can, by the grace of the Supreme, understand the glories of the soul.” Kṛṣṇa is the fountainhead of the Supersoul also, as it will be disclosed in the following chapters, and Arjuna is the atomic soul, forgetful of his real nature; therefore he requires to be enlightened by Kṛṣṇa, or by His bona fide representative (the spiritual master).
Hinglish Commentary
Yeh samajhna zaroori hai ki jo chhoti si aatma hai, wo Supreme Spirit se juda hua hai. Aatma kabhi badalti nahi, jaise humara sharir badalta hai. Sharir chhe tarah ke parivartan se guzarta hai - pehle maa ke garbh se janm leta hai, fir kuch samay tak rehta hai, badhta hai, kuch prabhav daalta hai, dheere dheere kamzor hota hai, aur aakhir mein khatam ho jaata hai. Lekin aatma aise parivartan nahi karti. Aatma ka janm nahi hota, par jab wo ek material sharir ko apnaati hai, tab sharir janm leta hai. Aatma na kabhi janm leti hai, na kabhi marta hai. Jo cheez janm leti hai, wo maut bhi paati hai. Aur kyunki aatma ka janm nahi hota, isliye uska na purana hai, na aaj ka, na bhavishya. Aatma sadaiv hai, hamesha maujood hai aur purani hai - iska koi itihas nahi hai. Hum sharir ke prabhav mein aakar aatma ke janm ki kahani talash karte hain. Aatma kabhi purani nahi hoti, jaise sharir hota hai. Jo budha insaan hai, wo apne aap ko bachpan ya yuvaavastha mein wahi jazbaat mehsoos karta hai. Sharir ke parivartan aatma par koi asar nahi daalte. Aatma na to ped ki tarah kharab hoti hai, na kisi aur material cheez ki tarah. Aatma ka koi by-product nahi hota. Sharir ke by-products, jaise bachche, alag alag aatmaayein hain; aur sharir ke karan wo kisi vyakti ke bachche ki tarah dikhte hain. Sharir aatma ki maujoodgi ki wajah se badhta hai, par aatma mein na koi parivartan hota hai, na koi offshoots. Isliye aatma chhe parivarton se mukt hai. Kaṭha Upaniṣad mein bhi is baat ka zikr hai, jahan kaha gaya hai ki aatma na kabhi janm leti hai, na kabhi marta hai, wo sadaiv hai. Is verse mein ek khaas shabd hai, vipaścit, jo gyaan ya samajh ko darshata hai. Aatma gyaan se bhari hoti hai, hamesha chetna se bhari hoti hai. Agar hum aatma ko dil mein nahi bhi paate, toh bhi hum chetna se uski maujoodgi samajh sakte hain. Jaise kabhi kabhi hum suraj ko baadalon ki wajah se nahi dekh paate, par suraj ki roshni hamesha hoti hai, aur hum jaante hain ki din hai. Jab subah thoda roshni hoti hai, toh hum samajh jaate hain ki suraj aasman mein hai. Waise hi, har sharir mein kuch na kuch chetna hoti hai - chahe wo insaan ho ya jaanwar - aur isse hum aatma ki maujoodgi samajh sakte hain. Lekin yeh chetna Supreme se alag hai, kyunki Supreme ki chetna sab kuch jaanti hai - purana, aaj ka aur bhavishya. Individual aatma ki chetna bhoolne ki aadat mein hoti hai. Jab wo apni asal fitrat bhool jaati hai, toh wo Kṛṣṇa se gyaan aur enlightenment paati hai. Lekin Kṛṣṇa bhoolne wali aatma nahi hai, agar aisa hota toh Bhagavad-gītā ki shiksha bekaar hoti. Do tarah ki aatmaayein hain - ek chhoti aatma (aṇu-ātmā) aur doosri Paramātmā (vibhu-ātmā). Kaṭha Upaniṣad mein yeh bhi kaha gaya hai ki dono, Paramātmā aur jīvātmā, ek hi sharir ke vriksh par hain, aur sirf wahi vyakti jo sab material ichhaon aur shok se mukt hai, wo Supreme ke aashirwad se aatma ki mahima samajh sakta hai. Kṛṣṇa hi Paramātmā ka mool hai, aur Arjuna chhoti aatma hai, jo apni asal fitrat bhool chuka hai; isliye usse Kṛṣṇa ya unke sachche pratinidhi (spiritual master) se gyaan ki zaroorat hai.
Chinmaya Commentary
इस श्लोक में बताया गया है कि शरीर में होने वाले समस्त विकारों से आत्मा परे है। जन्म अस्तित्व वृद्धि विकार क्षय और नाश ये छ प्रकार के परिर्वतन शरीर में होते हैं जिनके कारण जीव को कष्ट भोगना पड़ता है। एक र्मत्य शरीर के लिये इन समस्त दुख के कारणों का आत्मा के लिये निषेध किया गया है अर्थात् आत्मा इन विकारों से सर्वथा मुक्त है।शरीर के समान आत्मा का जन्म नहीं होता क्योंकि वह तो सर्वदा ही विद्यमान है। तरंगों की उत्पत्ति होती है और उनका नाश होता है परन्तु उनके साथ न तो समुद्र की उत्पत्ति होती है और न ही नाश। जिसका आदि है उसी का अन्त भी होता है। उत्ताल तरंगे ही मृत्यु की अन्तिम श्वांस लेती हैं। सर्वदा विद्यमान आत्मा के जन्म और नाश का प्रश्न ही नहीं उठता। अत यहाँ कहा है कि आत्मा अज और नित्य है।आत्मा में क्रिया के कर्तृत्व और विषयत्व का निषेध तथा उसके बाद तर्क के द्वारा उसके अविकारत्व को सिद्ध करने के बाद भगवान् इस विषय का उपसंहार करते हुये कहते हैं