Srimad Bhagavad Gita -Ramanujacharya 388

Srimad Bhagavad Gita -Ramanujacharya

Chapter-12 Bhakti Darśana Yogaḥ

kleśo’dhikataras-teṣāṃ avyaktā-sakta-cetasām | avyaktā hi gatir-duḥkhaṃ dehavadbhir-avyāpyate || 5 || 5. But greater is the vexation of those whose minds are thus attached to the unmanifest. For the way of the unmanifest is onerous for embodied beings to follow. Commentary The Ātman which is the objective of meditation of those who follow the path of the ‘Akṣara’ (the Imperishable) is thus described:— It is ‘indefinable’ — it cannot be defined in terms of names for existing beings like gods and humans etc., because it is different from these categories. It is ‘unmanifest’ — because it cannot be grasped by the sense organs. It is ‘omnipresent and inconceivable’ — for though it exists everywhere in all bodies such as those of gods and others, it cannot be conceived of in terms of those bodies because it is an entity of an altogether different kind; It is ‘ubiquitous’ — exists alike in all beings but is different from their respective physical forms. It is ‘stable’ — it does not change its unique nature — it is therefore eternal because of not being subject to modifications. Such aspirants are further described as those who, ‘subduing their senses’ — like withdrawing the eye and the other organs from pursuing their natural objects. ‘Unprejudiced’ — they look upon all beings of different forms as ‘coequal’ because all of them consist of a Self [jivātman] comprised of consciousness. Therefore they are ‘intent on the welfare of all beings’ — not given to taking pleasure in the misfortune of others, — such feelings of joy on the misfortune of others arise from one’s identification with one’s own special physical form.