38) Krishna lesson to arjun – The Gita – Agni Purana now relates the essence

Krishna lesson to arjun about Atma

Krishna had taught Arjuna the lessons of the Gita on the plains of Kurukshetra. The Agni Purana now relates the essence of the Gita.

If physical body is alive, that is no reason for rejoicing. Just as, if the physical body is dead, that is no reason for mourning. The atman does not die. It does not decay, it cannot be destroyed and it is immortal. The atman does not warrant any tears that might be shed over it. People who are addicted to sensual pleasures cannot realize this. The person who is addicted to the atman alone has no desire for anything else. He had no action to perform. He had neither gains nor losses. The knowledge of this is like a raft that rescues one from the flood of illusions.

This knowledge frees one from the shackles of all actions (karma), since all actions are vested in the Brahman. A person with this knowledge is as pure as a drop of water on a lotus flower. Such a person sees himself in everything and everything in himself. There are four types of people who worship Vishnu. The first category consists of people who are in trouble. The second consists of people who desire wealth. The third consists of people who are merely curious, while the last consists of people who hanker after true knowledge. It is the last category of people who realise the union and identity of the atman and the Brahman.

The Brahman is there in the smallest blade of grass. It is there in the most powerful and sacred of people. The physical senses mean nothing, they merely further the Brahman extends beyond all these senses. The Brahman has neither traits, nor is it without traits.

The Brahman creates and destroys, it is the most powerful of all energies. Some realise the identity of the atman and the Brahman through meditation, others through actions.

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