Spiritual Quest

The Spiritual Bubble

Shrimad Bhagavad Geeta Chapter 4a

Highlights

• Source of Spiritual Science (Brahma Vidya)
• Who was Shri Krishna? - Forms of Eternal Spirit - Why the knowledge disappear?
• The Spiritual Bubble

Source of Spiritual Science (Brahma Vidya)

Stephen Kapp estimated that the Shrimad Bhagavad Geeta was written around 3100 BCE. Does that mean the science of spirituality was discovered around that time, about 5000 years ago?

Not exactly! The answer to this question lies in the opening verses of chapter 4.

एवं परम्पराप्राप्तमिमं राजर्षयो विदु: |

स कालेनेह महता योगो नष्ट: परन्तप ॥

Shrimad Bhagavad Geeta 4.2

Shri Krishna says, “few spiritual kings of the past have known this through a lineage of inheritance, and over time it disappeared from practice (i.e. for a long time, no living seeker was aware of this science)”

To exemplify, he quotes, “I conferred this knowledge of Brahma Vidya to King Surya (12000 BCE). It remained in his lineage for some time and then disappeared from practice.”

Shri Krishna further says, “I am giving the same knowledge to you, for you are my dear friend and a worthy seeker”.

स एवायं मया तेऽद्य योग: प्रोक्त: पुरातन: |

भक्तोऽसि मे सखा चेति रहस्यं ह्येतदुत्तमम् ॥

Shrimad Bhagavad Geeta 4.3

Bewildered by these descriptions, Arjun asks, “How can you (Shri Krishna) give this knowledge to King Surya when the latter had lived many years earlier to you?”

Such an inquiry is logical, for it is unimaginable for someone to live for 9000 years, right?

Who was Shri Krishna?

In the following verses, Shri Krishna demystifies Arjun’s quandary. He says, “I am eternal. I don’t die nor take birth. I resort to my powers to take ‘different forms’ time and again to soothe worthy disciples.”

So, who was Shri Krishna? Certainly, he was not a mere mortal body. He cannot be an ordinary soul either. He was ‘one form’ of the eternal spirit who owns (bears or epitomizes) the spiritual science — Brahma Vidya.

Vedic scripts have used different names to decorate this spirit. Swarved summarizes these names in following verses.

संत ज्योति अज अत्रिये, ज्ञानी सुकृत देव |

हिरण्यगर्भ कह ताहि को, ऋषि मुनि जाको सेव ||

Swarved 4.1.48

Names of the eternal spirit: Sant | Aj | Atri | Gyani |Sukrit| Hiranyagarbha

Forms of Eternal Spirit

There are four forms in which the eternal spirit gives the knowledge of Brahma Vidya to the worthy seekers. These are:

a. Using spiritual powers: The eternal spirit directs a worthy seeker during his spiritual ascend through his powers. Vedas has talked about 20 powers of the eternal spirit.

b. Incarnation into a body form: Sometime the eternal spirit takes the body form and live like a normal human with the purpose to reinstate the practice of Brahma Vidya in virtuous seekers. Shri Krishna was one of the body forms who appeared around 3100 BCE.

c. Empowering a noble, accomplished yogi: Another way in which the eternal soul propels the cause of dissemination of Brahma Vidya is by empowering noble souls. Handful of resolute yogis attain highest state of consciousness. And rarely, one of them qualifies to become a messenger of the eternal spirit to disseminate this knowledge under his supervision. Maharshi Sadafaldeo Ji Maharaj, the author of Swarved, was one such accomplished yogi.

d. Empowering the lineage of such yogi: There can be two types of noble souls who act as a messenger. One that develops purity through arduous spiritual practice and, second, those that can behold this knowledge as inheritance (even without rigorous practice in the current body form).

Why the knowledge disappear?

Shri Krishna says that Brahma Vidya, the science of consciousness, flows from an accomplished guru to a worthy disciple. The spiritual science has two aspects:

a. theory, the concepts

b. practice, the realization of consciousness

ब्रह्म विद्या दो भेद हैं, तत्व ज्ञान अभ्यास |

प्रथम बोध तत्वन करें, अंतर भेद समास ||

Swarved 4.1.18

Theory prevails (with certain distortion in its interpretation) but the realization disappears from practice. As accomplished yogis leave their mortal body and fewer souls could attain the consciousness, there comes a time when no mortal person beholds the knowledge of Brahma Vidya in entirety. This leads to intellectual analysis, debate and distortions in interpretations that give rise to various sects.

So, over time, the written knowledge gets distorted and the practice stops. Until the eternal spirit takes another form to reinstall the practice amongst the worthy souls.

The Spiritual Bubble

When has the spiritual knowledge existed in its entirety (Theory and Practice) and which were the dry periods?

Answer to this can be found by inquiring about the kings and other spiritual seekers who have attained this knowledge. While this enquiry is a matter of research, I tried to compile some names on the timeline to see the cyclicity of Brahma Vidya. (NOTE: This research is in progress. Share your comments to help me populate this timeline)

Does this mean that the spirituality disappears completely? Certainly not. Spirituality is a necessity of life. Seekers contemplate and try many things on their spiritual quest. But, due to lack of guidance, they could not achieve the realizations of all four levels.

Today, when we talk about spiritual practices, we rarely envision the possibility of this discipline. In most cases, we restrict our aspirations to somewhere halfway through the Level 1 only.

There is a need to appreciate that attaining awareness of all the levels of consciousness is possible in our lifetime. And it does not mean a complete renunciation of the world.

In the latter half of Chapter 4, Shri Krishna talks about the ways to achieve the epitome of Brahma Vidya. He suggests and contrasts many dedications of life (Yagna) through which seekers endeavor to attain the consciousness.

Before we close, think about:

How do we know whether the current period is a dry period, or the bubble exists now ?

Stay tuned. Seek Spirituality!

Related Post: My realization

on on other chapters of Shrimad Bhagavad Geeta: Chapter-1; Chapter 2a; Chapter 2b; Chapter 3

Where can I get the access to the original text?

Beginners may find this useful.

For deeper insights, get a copy of the book from Vihangam Yoga. If you are in the US, contact North America Institute of Vihangam Yoga.

These revelations are based on my over twenty years of immersion in Swarved, The Encyclopedia of Spirituality. Swarved is available on Amazon and on Google Play store in multiple languages.