“Lord Shri Krishna said: Listen, O Arjuna! And I will tell thee how thou shalt know Me in
my Full perfection, practising meditation with thy mind devoted to Me, and having Me
for thy refuge." (p.20)
my Full perfection, practising meditation with thy mind devoted to Me, and having Me
for thy refuge." (p.20)
First, though, Krishna extols himself:
"Earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intellect and personality; this is the eightfold division of
My Manifested Nature." (p.20)
My Manifested Nature." (p.20)
I don't enjoy numerology for itself, but I do enjoy noting how different cultures construct different aesthetic views of the positive integers. China lauds 5 and 60; Europe lauds 3,7, and sometimes 9 while avoiding 6 and 13; Japan avoids 4 because a kanji for death/die can be pronounced the same way as kanji for 4; the Indian subcontinent lauds 8. This is not a complete list, of course, and is not a result of directed study, only omnivorous reading. If you have an addition or correction, leave a comment!
More Krishna extolling himself:
"This is My inferior Nature; but distinct from this, O Valiant One, know thou that my
Superior Nature is the very Life which sustains the universe.
It is the womb of all being; for I am He by Whom the worlds were created and shall be
dissolved.
O Arjuna! There is nothing higher than Me; all is strung upon Me as rows of pearls upon a
thread.
O Arjuna! I am the Fluidity in water, the Light in the sun and in the moon. I am the mystic
syllable Om in the Vedic scriptures, the Sound in ether, the Virility in man.
I am the Fragrance of earth, the Brilliance of fire. I am the Life Force in all beings, and I am
the Austerity of the ascetics.
Know, O Arjuna, that I am the eternal Seed of being; I am the Intelligence of the intelligent,
the Splendour of the resplendent.
I am the Strength of the strong, of them who are free from attachment and desire; and,
O Arjuna, I am the Desire for righteousness.
Whatever be the nature of their life, whether it be pure or passionate or ignorant, they are
all derived from Me. They are in Me, but I am not in them." (p.20)
Superior Nature is the very Life which sustains the universe.
It is the womb of all being; for I am He by Whom the worlds were created and shall be
dissolved.
O Arjuna! There is nothing higher than Me; all is strung upon Me as rows of pearls upon a
thread.
O Arjuna! I am the Fluidity in water, the Light in the sun and in the moon. I am the mystic
syllable Om in the Vedic scriptures, the Sound in ether, the Virility in man.
I am the Fragrance of earth, the Brilliance of fire. I am the Life Force in all beings, and I am
the Austerity of the ascetics.
Know, O Arjuna, that I am the eternal Seed of being; I am the Intelligence of the intelligent,
the Splendour of the resplendent.
I am the Strength of the strong, of them who are free from attachment and desire; and,
O Arjuna, I am the Desire for righteousness.
Whatever be the nature of their life, whether it be pure or passionate or ignorant, they are
all derived from Me. They are in Me, but I am not in them." (p.20)
Very chant-able, soothing, euphonious "I am" statements. I'm about to rip into Krishna's philosophy, but I find something balanced and beautiful about chains of metaphorical "I-am" statements like this. The Song of Amergin is another particularly good example.
Onto dissecting the philosophy. Did you see what is missing in the above quotation? If not, go back and see if you can find where Krishna chooses not to identify as something.
Or you can just keep reading and I will hammer the point over the head: Krishna is the virility in man, but no mention of woman, or anyone non-gender binary. Unless you're counting the womb of all being reference earlier, but I would counter argue that since the Gita refers to the womb as "it" and leaves out woman after including the obvious sun/moon pairing, what we have is simply more woman-hating patriarchal bullshit. Oh Krishna, you claim you are the Desire for righteousness, but your righteousness doesn't include extending humanity to anyone who doesn't have a penis? Thanks, but I'll keep blaspheming Russell's teapot.
Feminism: the radical notion that women are people. --Marie Shear, New Directions for Women,
May/June 1986
After extolling himself, Krishna harps on how rare true righteousness and wisdom is, but it's still okay: even if you don't worship Krishna you can still get results, because Krishna is actually pretty chill about who worships whom:
"They in whom wisdom is obscured by one desire or the other, worship the lesser Powers,
practising many rites which vary according to their temperaments.
But whatever the form of worship, if the devotee have faith, then upon his faith in that
worship do I set My own seal.
If he worships one form alone with real faith, then shall his desires be fulfilled through
that only; for thus have I ordained.
The fruit that comes to men of limited insight is, after all, finite. They who worship the
Lower Powers attain them; but those who worship Me come unto Me alone."(p.21)
practising many rites which vary according to their temperaments.
But whatever the form of worship, if the devotee have faith, then upon his faith in that
worship do I set My own seal.
If he worships one form alone with real faith, then shall his desires be fulfilled through
that only; for thus have I ordained.
The fruit that comes to men of limited insight is, after all, finite. They who worship the
Lower Powers attain them; but those who worship Me come unto Me alone."(p.21)
That's way better than the genocide of Jehovah (books of Joshua, 1st Samuel, Revelations, plus many instances scattered throughout the Bible). I could leave flowers and incense for Krishna if he hadn't already displayed some really ugly misogyny and authoritarianism.
Anyway we've come to the end of chapter 7, and despite Krishna's opening statement the most we have about how to actually know Krishna are these ending lines:
"But those who act righteously, in whom sin has been destroyed, who are free from the
infatuation of the conflicting emotions, they worship Me with firm resolution.
Those who make Me their refuge, who strive for liberation from decay and Death, they
realise the Supreme Spirit, which is their own real Self, and in which all action finds its
consummation.
Those who see Me in the life of the world, in the universal sacrifice, and as pure Divinity,
keeping their minds steady, they live in Me, even in the crucial hour of death.” (p.21)
infatuation of the conflicting emotions, they worship Me with firm resolution.
Those who make Me their refuge, who strive for liberation from decay and Death, they
realise the Supreme Spirit, which is their own real Self, and in which all action finds its
consummation.
Those who see Me in the life of the world, in the universal sacrifice, and as pure Divinity,
keeping their minds steady, they live in Me, even in the crucial hour of death.” (p.21)
Which is still very vague and hand-wavy and full of fine-sounding words while not giving any practical advice on how to live as human beings with fragile bodies and passionate emotions among other human beings with fragile bodies and passionate emotions.
Chapter 8:
“Arjuna asked: O Lord of Lords! What is that which men call the Supreme Spirit, what is
man’s Spiritual Nature, and what is the Law? What is Matter and what is Divinity?
Who is it who rules the spirit sacrifice in many; and at the time of death how may those
who have learned self-control come to the knowledge of Thee?" (p.22)
man’s Spiritual Nature, and what is the Law? What is Matter and what is Divinity?
Who is it who rules the spirit sacrifice in many; and at the time of death how may those
who have learned self-control come to the knowledge of Thee?" (p.22)
My guesses are: Krishna, directed to Krishna, to do your duty, illusion, the Supreme Eternal Unknowable, Krishna, renounce desire and meditate on Krishna. Let's see how I do.
"The Lord Shri Krishna replied: The Supreme Spirit is the Highest Imperishable Self, and Its
Nature is spiritual consciousness. The worlds have been created and are supported by an
emanation from the Spirit which is called the Law.
Matter consists of the forms that perish; Divinity is the Supreme Self; and He who inspires
the spirit of sacrifice in man, O noblest of thy race, is I Myself, Who now stand in human
form before thee.
Whosoever at the time of death thinks only of Me, and thinking thus leaves the body and
goes forth, assuredly he will know Me." (p.22)
Nature is spiritual consciousness. The worlds have been created and are supported by an
emanation from the Spirit which is called the Law.
Matter consists of the forms that perish; Divinity is the Supreme Self; and He who inspires
the spirit of sacrifice in man, O noblest of thy race, is I Myself, Who now stand in human
form before thee.
Whosoever at the time of death thinks only of Me, and thinking thus leaves the body and
goes forth, assuredly he will know Me." (p.22)
Got the last 3 right. Not quite as predictable as I thought. Krishna goes on to repeat (for the 4th time?) that those who renounce all earthly desires and meditate on Krishna will escape reincarnation and merge with Krishna. The only notable bits are the common cross-cultural theme that god(s)(esses) operates on a different time scale:
"Those who understand the cosmic day and cosmic night know that one day of creation is a
thousand cycles, and that the night is of equal length." (p.23)
and
"At the dawning of that day all objects in manifestation stream forth from the Unmanifest,
and when evening falls they are dissolved into It again." (p.23)
and when evening falls they are dissolved into It again." (p.23)
That sounds to me like the things in H.P. Lovecraft's story "The Nameless City." Ia! Ia! Cthulhu Fthagn! Ph'nglui mglw'nfah Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn! Hey, will someone please write me some swashbuckling Hindu-deities-meet-Unnameable-Horrors crossover feminist fan fiction with singing prose full of adverbs and colors out of space? Please make Krishna be the one fainting all the time, and have Sarasvati and Kali kick butt together.
At the end of chapter 8 we have a short section with a specific formula involving the time of death (I think?) as a prediction for whether or not reincarnation occurs, but the translator says that this is very likely a later insertion into the text. I agree that it reads as a non-sequitur and the specificity is very unlike everything Krishna has said up til now. Judge for yourself:
*Now I will tell thee, O Arjuna, of the times at which, if the mystics go forth, they do not
return, and at which they go forth only to return.
If knowing the Supreme Spirit the sage goes forth with fire and light, in the daytime, in the
fortnight of the waxing moon and in the six months before the Northern summer solstice,
he will attain the Supreme.
But if he departs in gloom, at night, during the fortnight of the waning moon and in the six
months before the Southern solstice, then he reaches but lunar light and he will be born
again.
These bright and dark paths out of the world have always existed. Whoso takes the
former, returns not; he who chooses the latter, returns.* (p.23)
return, and at which they go forth only to return.
If knowing the Supreme Spirit the sage goes forth with fire and light, in the daytime, in the
fortnight of the waxing moon and in the six months before the Northern summer solstice,
he will attain the Supreme.
But if he departs in gloom, at night, during the fortnight of the waning moon and in the six
months before the Southern solstice, then he reaches but lunar light and he will be born
again.
These bright and dark paths out of the world have always existed. Whoso takes the
former, returns not; he who chooses the latter, returns.* (p.23)
End chapter 8. Next time, chapters 9 and 10.
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