T he fifteenth chapter of the Geeta named Purushottama Yoga or the Yoga of Supreme Consciousness deals with the projection of one Infinity into phenomenal multiplicity. The Supreme Conscious Reality gets reflected into endless varieties of the universe. The fundamental cause of the creation is the all pervading and immutable consciousness. Both noumena and phenomena are represented as the Peepal tree( Ficus Religiosa) with the roots upward and branches downward. The Peepal tree allegory is the family tree of the universe. A family tree expands downward and goes on multiplying as it comes down. Similarly, the Supreme Reality is one, but when it manifests in the form of creation, it becomes pluralistic and manifold. Divinity is subtle, but its expression in the phenomenal world appears gross. The manifested world is constituted of the three types of tendencies, pure, passionate and dark.

 

Arrogance and delusion leads to bondage and suffering, while knowledge gained through meditation on the higher reality is liberating. The transcendental reality is eternal and does not need any outside source of energy, it is self illuminating. It is the source of all and everything. When pure consciousness is conditioned by the three types of mental tendencies, it becomes worldly and identifies with the mind and sense organs. After death, it carries all the tendencies with it in the reincarnation. Energy is not destructible, it only undergoes transformation. Men of wisdom understand the difference between the matter and the spirit, phenomena and noumena. The Geeta always talks about the integration of personality through the science of self evolution. The first stage of self evolution is to still the mind. With the mental agitations calmed down and sense organs under control, one enjoys inner peace and bliss. The purification of the mind generates better understanding and the person becomes worthy to behold the Ultimate Truth. Time and again the Geeta emphasises that it is only due to our limited intellect that mental confusions and delusions arise. Ego and self aggrandisement comes to the end with the realisation of the fact that everything belongs to the Supreme Reality. Food sustains life and the food is digested by the fire of the stomach with the assistance of inhaling and exhaling breath. Life vibrates with the metabolism energised by the conscious play of cosmic energy. The seat of the conscious energy is the human heart.

 

In philosophical terminology the heart is the place of the brain which generates positive emotions like love, tolerance, mercy, compassion, kindness, etc. Thus the Geeta concludes the chapter by propounding that there are two realities, one is ever changing and perishable and another is immutable and ever existing. It is the practice of devotion with detachment that one knows the Supreme Reality and merges into it. This is the beautiful description of the individual and cosmic dimensions of all pervading consciousness. Here also the Geeta talks about the gradual evolution from the gross to the subtle, from the worldly to the divine and from the material to the spiritual. (The writer is Former DG Police & CG, Homeguards, Maharashtra)