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Chapter 2
A Vital Fact
The world is kaleidoscopic, it changes every moment. So it cannot be seen in the same state, the very next moment. Bodies are taking birth, and dying every moment, but the process is not perceived, with these dull physical eyes[1] Similarly, the world is also perishing, all the time. But it is not perceived, because the senses, mind and intellect etc., also belong to the same class, to which the world belongs. So, how can the perishable perceive, the perishable? Only the imperishable (self), (spirit) can perceive it.
Secondly the self cannot perform any activity, without assistance of the world (body, senses, mind and intellect). It proves, that all activities take place in the world rather than, in the self. The self has no affinity with activities, and objects. It proves, that the world, with body, mind, senses and intellect etc., is non-existent. Only the super soul (God), is ever existent, who ever remains untainted and is the basis and illuminator, of the entire world.
Ubhayorapi drsto'ntastvanayostattvadarsibhih:-Seers of truth, have perceived the truth, about the real, and the unreal, or the
soul and the body. The fact is, that the real is ever-existent, the unreal has no existence, but it seems to exist because of the light of the real. Therefore the essence of the real (Sat), and the unreal (asat) is 'sat', (ever-existent). The real has been called as Para Prakrti (higher or sentient nature) (Gita 7/5), 'Ksetrajna (self, soul) (Gita 13/1-2), 'Purusa' (spirit) (Gita 13/19) and 'aksara' (the imperishable) (Gita 15/16), while the unreal has been called'apara prakrti (lower or insentient nature), Ksetra (non-self), prakrti (matter) and 'Ksara' (the perishable).
Arjuna is grieved by thinking, that the warriors will die. So, the Lord explains that the real never dies, and the unreal never exists as it is continuously dying. Therefore, it is not wise, to grieve.
In the eleventh verse, it has been said, that 'pandita (the wise) grieve neither for the living, nor for the dead. In the twelfth and thirteenth verses the word 'dhira' (wise or enlightened) has been used for the person, who. realizes the distinction, between the soul and the body; in the fifteenth verse also 'dhira', has been used for a person who does not grieve over, the decay of the body and the world, In the sixteenth verse 'tattvadar f (the seers of truth), has. been used for a discerning person, who distinguishes between the real and unreal. All these words dhira etc., show that the wise do not grieve and if they grieve, it means, that they are not wise.
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