The Gita is a collection of philosophies :
It worth repeating that the Bhagavad Gita is a collection of all the philosophies at the end of the Dwapara Yuga (approx 3100 BCE), and summarised all the ideas and arguments of the upanishads, with an explanation/commentary/interpretation given by that teacher of the whole moving world (Jagadguru), Sri Krishna himself.
In the Bhagavad Gita, the dark Krishna, the teacher takes on the roles of Bhagavan, Citta, Paramatma, Parabrahma, Isa, Antaryami and addresses the white Arjuna, the pure manas, in search of answers.
See Engaging your manas, dealing with pain and confusion, experiencing bliss and Chitta Suddhi and Chit Svaroopi, kRtsna karma kRt : one who has done the entire karma (work) that is to be done and How do I know, if what I am doing is Karma? Is this a pure/purifying action? for some of the previous discussions.
The ninth chapter of the Bhagavad Gita has been labelled as the Rajavidya, Rajaguhya yoga, because these words occur in the second sloka. We generally think of raja is king and rajas as radiance or passion. So this method of attaining yoga in Krishna’s own words is not only easy but a radiant or royal secret knowledge.
Does Gita say that God is in me or does it not?
What upsets some people about this chapter is that they believe that it contradicts some other chapters. I don’t see what there is to be upset. If I was to summarise what the Acharyas Sankara, Ramanuja and Madhwa said and they disagreed with each other on some points, it does not mean that there are contradictions in my writing.
For that matter in the Isa Upanishad itself we hear that “some say by vidya and some say by avidya” etc. It is the Indian tradition to represent the previous speakers in your work and then state your view.
Okay. What is the point of dissent? Gita 15:14 says that Krishna as Vaiswanara, stays in the bodies of all beings that breathe and digests what they eat.
In Gita 9:4, Krishna says All beings are in me, but I am not in all beings.
If you want to believe all the philosophies of the Gita simultaneously, that’s like wanting to go by plane, train, and bus to Delhi at the one and same instant. Any one of them will work for you and each has its own conveniences and inconveniences associated with it, but not at the same time. This is my view.
So is God in me or not in me?
In this philosophy, Krishna, as the parabrahman, says that he created this entire moving world from his undifferentiated form and that all beings are in Him but says that He is not in any of them.
By the way, the Indian idea of creation is not like the middle-eastern idea of creation.. It is a sort of materialization of energy into matter, initiated by Purusha (Vishnu) and a dematerialization of all matter into energy which Vishnu takes into Himself at the end of the yuga. (Bhishma, in Vishnu Sahasranama, Mahabharata.)
The Purusha Suktha, of the Rk, Sama and Yajur Veda, says that after creating the universe with one quarter of Himself, the Purusha stood beyond, with three-fourths of Himself outside. This supports the idea that God is not “in” his creation.
The Hindu tradition of prana prathistha or inviting divinity into a “vigraha” is based on this s’loka. We can also conclude that Krishna lives in His devotees as per this philosophy because they invoke him and not otherwise. While rituals are disdained as physically elaborate, children and beginners find them far easier than abstract philosophy which is intellectually more difficult. Thus Krishna is right in calling this method as easy.
9:5 clarifies that all beings are not actually “in Him” so much as His Self is the supporter of all beings and is their cause/essence. That they are an expression of a bit of Himself, is consistent with the Purusha Suktha. 9:6 says that just as the wind that goes every where is in the akasa or space, so also all things are in Him.
My conclusion :
- The Brahman, ‘Tat‘, is anyway the stuff of my being, its essence and cause. If “Tat” needs to be invoked into my manas, well I am very happy to do the invoking. Honoured, as they say!
- Prana Pratishta is done by saying that our Jiva is the Jiva of Vinayaka (or Krishna or whoever you like), and our Prana (out-breath) is the prana (out-breath) of Vinayaka (or Siva or Indra or whoever you like) and then inviting divinity into the the pratima (image), that we may shower our worship on It. Then at the end we move the pratima and release the divinity.
- In kara-nyasa and hrudayadi nyasa done at the beginning of parayanam or yagnyam, we place divinity in ourselves and release it at the end of the worship.
- In normal house hold worship where we we perform nitya puja, there is no system of prana pratistha. We hold the image in our eyes, close our eyes and hold the idea of divinity in our manas and pray for a good day and anything else. Thus we invoke Divinity into our manas!
Authorship and Copyright Notice : All Rights Reserved : Satya Sarada Kandula
(P.S. whenever some commenter calls me sir., I feel annoyed. I think Devi must be this annoyed by people who address Her as a male God. I generally don’t answer comments addressed to sir.. so you watch out for your prayers, if you insist in thinking that God is male 
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