THE FIRST ESSENCE: TRI-SLOKI GITA

(Bg 15.16-18)
The Essence of Vedanta in Three Verses

Focus on Purport of Bhagavad-gita 15.16

**As already explained, the Lord in His incarnation as Vyasadeva

compiled the Vedanta-sutra. Here the Lord is giving, in summary,
the contents of the Vedanta-sutra.**

Notes:

1. From Teachings of Lord Caitanya Chapter 19: Any book that

deals with conclusive Vedic knowledge is called Vedanta.

2. Quote from "Light of the Bhagavata":

"The supreme spiritual master, Lord Sri Krsna, teaches us the
import of the Vedas in the following verse of Bhagavad-gita
(15.16):

dvav imau purusau loke

ksaras caksara eva ca
ksarah sarvani bhutani
kutastho 'ksara ucyate

The Lord says that in the Vedas it is mentioned that there

are two kinds of living beings, called the fallible and the
infallible. Those living beings who are materially encaged are
all fallible, whereas those who are not conditioned and who are
eternally situated in the spiritual realm are called aksara, or
infallible. The Lord then says,

uttamah purusas tv anyah

pa ramatmety udahrtah
yo loka-trayam avisya
bibharty avyaya isvarah1
yasmat ksaram atito 'ham
aksarad api cottamah
ato 'smi loke vede ca
prathitah purusottamah

"Besides these innumerable fallible and infallible living

beings there is another, superior personality, known as the
Paramatma. He pervades all the three worlds and exists as the
supreme controller.
"And because I [Lord Sri Krsna] am transcendental to all of
them, even those who are infallible, I am known in all the Vedas
and histories [the Puranas, Mahabharata, Ramayana, etc.] as the
Absolute Supreme Personality of Godhead." (Bg. 15.17-18)

3. From TLC Chapter 19: Vedanta-sutra teaches sambandha (the

relationship of the living entities and the Supreme Lord) in the
first two chapters, abhidheya (service to the Lord) in the third
chapter, and prayojana (the relationship that develops out of
service) in the fourth chapter.

**The living entities are eternally separated parts and parcels

of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. When they are in contact
with the material world they are called jiva-bhuta, and the
Sanskrit words given here, ksarah sarvani bhutani, mean that they
are fallible.**

Notes:

1. Fallible means "subject to failure" or "defective." Vedanta,

or Vedic knowledge, is not defective because it does not origin-
ate from conditioned souls who are subject to four defects. Its
origin is the infallible Lord and His infallible servants in the
disciplic succession.

Quote from Srimad Bhagavatam 4.26.7 Purport:

"The Vedic instructions are different because they do not have
these four defects. Vedic instructions are not subject to
mistakes. The knowledge of the Vedas is knowledge received
directly from God, and there is consequently no question of
illusion, cheating, mistakes or imperfect senses. All Vedic
knowledge is perfect because it is received directly from God by
the parampara, disciplic succession."

2. The fallible living entity is ignorant of Krsna due to his

bewilderment by the three modes of material nature.

Bg 7.13:
"Deluded by the three modes [goodness, passion and ignorance],
the whole world does not know Me, who am above the modes and
inexhaustible."

3. "Fallible soul" means "conditioned soul." The modes of nature

condition fallible souls to duality and repeated birth and death.

Bg 7.27:
"O scion of Bharata, O conqueror of the foe, all living entities
are born into delusion, bewildered by dualities arisen from
desire and hate."

Bg 13.22:
"The living entity in material nature thus follows the ways of
life, enjoying the three modes of nature. This is due to his
association with that material nature. Thus he meets with good
and evil among various species."

4. Fallible forms of karma, jnana and bhakti are generated by the

three modes of material nature.

Bg 3.27 (fallible karma):

"The spirit soul bewildered by the influence of false ego thinks
himself the doer of activities that are in actuality carried out
by the three modes of material nature."

Bg 7.24 (fallible jnana):

"Unintelligent me, who do not know Me perfectly, think that I,
the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krsna, was impersonal before
and have now assumed this personality. Due to their small
knowledge, they do not know My higher nature, which is imperish-
able and supreme."

Bg 7.20 (fallible bhakti):

"Those whose intelligence has been stolen by material desires
surrender until demigods and follow the particular rules and
regulations of worship according to their own natures."

5. Varnasrama-dharma is created by Krsna for fallible human

beings. But He is ever-infallible.

Bg 4.13:
"According to the three modes of material nature and the work
associated with them, the four divisions of human society are
created by Me. And although I am the creator of this system, you
should know that I am yet the nondoer, being unchangeable."

6. Within the four divisions of human society are both pious and
impious souls. Both are fallible. But pious souls may become
infallible. Impious souls fall ever lower into illusion.

Bg 7.15-16 (impious and pious fallible beings):

"Those miscreants who are grossly foolish, who are lowest among
mankind, whose knowledge is stolen by illusion, and who partake
of the atheistic nature of demons do not surrender unto Me. O
best among the Bharatas, four kinds of pious men begin to render
devotional service unto Me--the distressed, the desirer of
wealth, the inquisitive, and he who is searching for knowledge of
the Absolute."

Quote from Srila Prabhupada (the impious never surrender):

"I believe on that formula. Na mam duskrtino mudhah prapadyante
naradhamah. I believe that verse very strongly, that anyone who
has not surrendered to Krsna or is not Krsna conscious, he must
be within this list: duskrtina, mudha, naradhama, mayayapahrta-
jnana, asuram bhavam asritah. That's all."

Bg 7.14 (the pious can become infallible):

"This divine energy of Mine, consisting of the three modes of
material nature, is difficult to overcome. But those who have
surrendered unto Me can easily cross beyond it."

Bg 16.19-20 (the impious fall lower and lower):

"Those who are envious and mischievous, who are the lowest among
men, I perpetually cast into the ocean of material existence,
into various demoniac species of life. Attaining repeated birth
amongst the species of demoniac life, O son of Kunti, such
persons can never approach Me. Gradually they sink down to the
most abominable type of existence."

**Oneness does not mean that they have no individuality, but that

there is no disunity. They are all agreeable to the purpose of

the creation.**

Notes:

1. The purpose of creation is yajna.

Bg 3.10
"In the beginning of creation, the Lord of all creatures sent
forth generations of men and demigods, along with sacrifices for
Visnu, and blessed them by saying, 'Be thou happy by this yajna
[sacrifice] because its performance will bestow upon you everyth-
ing desirable for living happily and achieving liberation."

2. Vedic sacrifice that does not rise above the influence of the
three modes is fallible.

Bg 2.45
"The Vedas deal mainly with the subject of the three modes of
material nature. O Arjuna, become transcendental to these three
modes. Be free from all dualities and from all anxieties for
gain and safety, and be established in the self."

3. Vedic sacrifice aimed at the Supreme, the threefold goal of

Vedanta, is infallible.

Quotes from Bg 17.23, 26-27 Purports

"It has been explained that penance, sacrifice, charity and foods
are divided into three categories: the modes of goodness, passion
and ignorance. But whether first class, second class or third
class, they are all conditioned, contaminated by the material
modes of nature. When they are aimed at the Supreme--om tat sat,
the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the eternal--they become
means for spiritual elevation. ... These three words are taken
from Vedic hymns. Om ity etad brahmano nedistham nama (Rg Veda)
indicates the first goal. Then tat tvam asi (Chandogya Upanisad
6.8.7) indicates the second goal. And sad eva saumya (Chandogya
Upanisad 6.2.1.) indicates the third goal. Combined they become
om tat sat. Formerly when Brahma, the first created living
entity, performed sacrifices, he indicated by these three words
the Supreme Personality of Godhead." "In all such activities it
is recommended that one vibrate om tat sat. The words sad-bhave
and sadhu-bhave indicate the transcendental situation. Acting in
Krsna consciousness is called sattva, and one who is fully
conscious of the activities of Krsna consciousness is called a
sadhu."

**Of course, in the spiritual world there is no such thing as

creation, but since the Supreme Personality of Godhead, as stated
in the Vedanta-sutra, is the source of all emanations, that
conception is explained.**

Notes: (Quotes from Srila Prabhupada)

1. "So on account of Krsna's bodily rays, the whole creation is

coming out. That is Krsna's inconceivable power, brahmajyoti.
Janmadyasya yatah. Atatho brahma-jijnasa. In the Vedanta sutra,
you have to inquire about that param jyoti, brahmajyoti. And from
that param jyoti, everything is coming out."

2. "Every planetary system there are many millions and trillions

of living entities. They can see only when there is sunrise. This
gayatri mantra is, therefore, offering prayer to the savita. Om
bhur bhuvah svah tat savitur varenyam bhargo devasya dhimahi.
Sunshine. So sunshine is.. But there are many suns, not only one
sun. As there are many universes, yasya prabha prabhavato
jagad-anda-koti. Koti means innumerable. Numberless universes.
And in each and every universe there is sunshine. So this
sunshine is reflection of the brahmajyoti. Yasya prabha prab-
havato. When the bodily rays, shining rays, of Krsna is there,
then all these universes are generated. The universes are also
generated."

3. "Vedanta says also, janmadyasya yatah. Brahma, Paramatma, they

are expansion of Krsna. Krsna is the original. Mattah parataram
nanyat kincid asti dhananjaya. This is the truth. Therefore Krsna
says that either you follow the Brahman path or Paramatma path,
either as a jnani or yogi or as a bhakta... Therefore Krsna says,
mama vartmanuvartante manusyah partha... Anyone actually who is
seeking after self-realization, there are three divisions. Either
you have to realize as impersonal Brahman or as localized
Paramatma or as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. But if you
realize the Supreme Personality of Godhead, then automatically
you realize impersonal Brahman and Paramatma also."

4. "So Krsna is not nirvisesa; He is savisesa. But this material

world is actually nirvisesa, but it appears something like
varieties. The same thing, the example, I have already given: a
lump of matter--either you take earth or water or gold or
silver--and you can make varieties of things, cause and effect.
But that is nirvisesa. But the spiritual world, janmadyasya
yatah, as it is said in the Vedanta-sutra, the origin of everyth-
ing, the cause of all causes, that is full of spiritual vari-
eties. That is not nirvisesa."

**As long as a living entity is conditioned, his body changes due

to contact with matter; matter is changing, so the living entity
appears to be changing. But in the spiritual world the body is
not made of matter; therefore there is no change. In the material
world the living entity undergoes six changes--birth, growth,
duration, reproduction, then dwindling and vanishing. These are
the changes of the material body. But in the spiritual world the
body does not change; there is no old age, there is no birth,
there is no death. There all exists in oneness.**

Notes:

1. We are all originally part and parcel of Krsna, but the living
beings whose senses are uncontrolled cannot realize this.

Bg 15.7:
"The living entities in this conditioned world are My eternal
fragmental parts. Due to conditioned life, they are struggling
very hard with the six senses, which include the mind."

Bg 2.69:
"What is night for all beings is the time of awakening for the
self-controlled; and the time of awakening for all beings is
night for the introspective sage."

2. Realization of Krsna's transcendental form restores us to our

original transcendental nature.

Bg 11.51:
"When Arjuna thus saw Krsna in His original form, he said: O
Janardana, seeing this humanlike form, so very beautiful, I am
now composed in mind, and I am restored to my original nature."

3. The infallible abode is Krsnaloka.

Bg 8.21:
"That which the Vedantists describe as unmanifest and infallible,
that which is known as the supreme destination, that place from
which, having attained it, one never returns--that is My supreme
abode."

Focus on the Purport of Bg 15.17

**The Upanisadic verse runs as follows: nityo nityanam cetanas

cetananam. The purport is that amongst all the living entities,
both conditioned and liberated, there is one supreme living
personality, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who maintains
them and gives them all the facility of enjoyment according to
different work.**

Notes:

1. The conditioned souls depend upon the all-pervading Lord for

material necessities. They approach Him through the sruti (Vedic
sacrificial mantras). The liberated souls depend upon Him for
transcendental knowledge. They approach Him through purified
consciousness.

Bg 3.15:
"Regulated activities are prescribed in the Vedas, and the Vedas
are directly manifested from the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
Consequently the all-pervading Transcendence is eternally
situated in acts of sacrifice."

SB 11.12.17
"The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: My dear Uddhava, the
Supreme Lord gives life to every living being and is situated
within the heart along with the life air and primal sound
vibration. The Lord can be perceived in His subtle form within
the heart by one's mind, since the Lord controls the minds of
everyone, even great demigods like Lord Siva. The Supreme Lord
also assumes a gross form as the various sounds of the Vedas,
composed of short and long vowels and consonants of different
intonations."

Bg 13.25-26
"Some perceive the Supersoul within themselves through medita-
tion, others through the cultivation of knowledge, and still
others through working without fruitive desires. Again there are
those who, although not conversant in spiritual knowledge, begin
to worship the Supreme Person upon hearing about Him from others
(srutvanyebha upasate). Because of their tendency to hear from
authorities, they also transcend the path of birth and death."

2. That all-pervading Lord who is worshiped through sacrifice is

none other than Sri Krsna Himself.

Bg 9.15-16
"Others, who engage in sacrifice by the cultivation of knowledge,
worship the Supreme Lord as the one without a second, as diverse
in many, and in the universal form. But it is I who am the
ritual, I the sacrifice, the offering to the ancestors, the
healing herb, the transcendental chant. I am the butter and the
fire and the offering."

**That Supreme Personality of Godhead is situated in everyone's

heart as Paramatma. A wise man who can understand Him is eligible
to attain perfect peace, not others.**

Notes:

1. The Paramatma is the Lord of sacrifice, Lord Yajna. He is the

goal of Vedas. Both matter and spirit are His energies. Those
who know this can attain perfect peace.

Bg 15.15:
"I am seated in everyone's heart, and from Me come remembrance,
knowledge and forgetfulness. By all the Vedas, I am to be known,

Indeed, I am the compiler of Vedanta, and I am the knower of the

Vedas."

Bg 8.2-4:
"Who is the Lord of sacrifice, and how does He live in the body,
O Madhusudana?" "The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: The
indestructible, transcendental living entity is called Brahman
(aksaram brahma paramam), and his eternal nature is called
adhyatma, the self. Action pertaining to the development of the
material bodies of the living entities is called karma, or
fruitive activities. O best of the embodied beings, the physical
nature, which is constantly changing, is called adhibhuta [the
material manifestation]. The universal form of the Lord, which
includes all the demigods, like those of the sun and the moon, is
called adhidaiva. And I, the Supreme Lord, represented as the
Supersoul in the heart of every embodied being, am called
adhiyajna [the Lord of sacrifice]."

Bg 5.29:
"A person in full consciousness of Me, knowing Me to be the
ultimate beneficiary of all sacrifices and austerities, the
Supreme Lord of all planets and demigods, and the benefactor and
well-wisher of all living entities, attains peace from the pangs
of material miseries."

Focus on the Purport of Bg 15.18

**Now it is clear here that the living entities and the Supreme
Personality of Godhead are individuals.**

Notes:

1. The theme of eternal individuality is stressed throughout the

whole of the Bhagavad-gita.

Bg 2.12:
"Never was there a time when I did not exist, nor you, nor all
these kings; nor in the future shall any of us cease to be."

Bg 4.5:
"The Personality of Godhead said: Many, many births both you and
I have passed. I can remember all of them, but you cannot, O
subduer of the enemy!"

Bg 13.23, 28:
"Yet in this body there is another, a transcendental enjoyer, who
is the Lord, the supreme proprietor, who exists as the overseer
and permitter, and who is known as the Supersoul." "One who sees
the Supersoul accompanying the individual soul in all bodies, and
who understands that neither the soul nor the Supersoul within
the destructible body is ever destroyed, actually sees."

**The difference is that the living entities, either in the

conditioned state or in the liberated state, cannot surpass in
quantity the inconceivable potencies of the Supreme Personality
of Godhead.**

Bg 10.12-15
"Arjuna said: You are the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the
ultimate abode, the purest, the Absolute Truth. You are the
eternal, transcendental, original person, the unborn, the
greatest. All the great sages such as Narada, Asita, Devala and
Vyasa confirm this truth about You, and now You Yourself are
declaring it to me. O Krsna, I totally accept all that You have
told me. Neither the demigods nor the demons, O Lord, can
understand Your personality. Indeed, You alone know Yourself by
your own internal potency, O Supreme Person, origin of all, Lord
of all beings, God of gods, Lord of the universe!"

Bg 11.36
"Arjuna said: O master of the senses, the world becomes joyful
upon hearing Your name, and thus everyone becomes attached to
You. Although the perfected beings offer You their respectful
homage, the demons are afraid, and they flee here and there. All
this is rightly done."

**The word loke signifies "in the paurusa agama (the smrti scrip-
tures)." As confirmed in the Nirukti dictionary, lokyate vedartho
'nena: "The purpose of the Vedas is explained by the smrti
scriptures."**

Notes:

1. The paurusa agama are scriptures such as the Vaisnava Puranas

that directly describe the Purusa, the Supreme Person, as the
Lord of Sacrifice. Srila Vyasadeva extracted the paurusa agama
from the original Yajur Veda so that these scriptures could be
specially chanted during sacrificial offerings. They are known
as smrti ("that which is to be remembered") because they help the
priests engaged in sacrifice remember the Lord to whom they make
the offerings.

Vayu Purana 6.16-18 and 21-22:

"Originally there was only one Veda: the Yajur Veda. Vyasa
divided that single Veda into four, and he also divided the
sacrificial duties, so the Vedic sacrifices were conducted by not
one, but four, priests. Vyasa assigned the texts of the Yajur
Veda to be recited by the priest known as adhvaryu. In the same
way the hota priest recited the Rg Veda, the udgata priest
recited the Sama Veda, and the brahma priest recited the Atharva
Veda. O best of the brahmanas, at that time Vyasadeva, who
perfectly understood the accounts of the Puranas, took the
stories, conversations, and poems of that original Yajur Veda and
compiled the Puranas and histories. Therefore the Puranas and
histories are parts of the original Yajur Veda."

2. The Mahabharata Adi Parva 1.268 states "Whoever approaches the

Vedas without first studying the smrti (Itihasas and Puranas)
frightens Vedic knowledge away" (itihasapuranabhyam vedam samupa-
brmhayet bibhetyalpasrutadvedo mamayam praharisyati).

3. The Satvata Tantra (3.41-48) explains that only those who have
faith in devotional service (bhakti-nistha) understand the
paurusa agama. They know that Sri Krsna, whose form is of pure
goodness and who resides in the spiritual world served by His
devotees, is the Supreme Absolute Truth. Those who have faith in
speculation (jnana-nistha) follow the Upanisads. They say the
highest truth is the impersonal Brahman. And those who are
karma-paramah (devoted to pious deeds) follow the three Vedas.
They say the Supersoul (Hiranyagarbha) is the highest truth.
[NB: according to Bg 6.3, the mystic yoga system includes karma-
yoga in its aruruksa or beginning phase; at the arudha or
advanced platform, karma is given up and the yogi simply medi-
tates upon the Lord in the heart.]

4. Therefore Srimad Bhagavatam 1.2.11 states, "Learned transcend-

entalists who know the Absolute Truth call this nondual substance
Brahman, Paramatma or Bhagavan."

**The following verse appears in the Vedas (Chandogya

Upanisad 8.12.3): tavad esa samprasado 'mac charirat samutthaya
param jyoti-rupam sampadya svena rupenabhinispadyate sa uttamah
purusah. "The Supersoul coming out of the body enters the
impersonal brahmajyoti; then in His form He remains in His
spiritual identity. That Supreme is called the Supreme Per-
sonality." This means that the Supreme Personality is exhibiting
and diffusing His spiritual effulgence, which is the ultimate
illumination. That Supreme Personality also has a localized
aspect as Paramatma. By incarnating Himself as the son of
Satyavati and Parasara, He explains the Vedic knowledge as
Vyasadeva.**
Notes:

1. Krsna's eternal form is the basis of the brahmajyoti.

Bg. 14.27
"And I am the basis of the impersonal Brahman, which is immortal,
imperishable and eternal and is the constitutional position of
ultimate happiness."

2. That Krsna consciousness is beyond Brahman realization is il-

lustrated by Chandogya 8.12.3, quoted in full from Baladeva
Vidyabhusana's Vedanta Sutra commentary (Vs IV.4.1).

evam evaisa samprasado 'smac charirat samuttaya param jyotir

upasampadya svena rupen abhinispadyate sa uttama purusah sa tatra
paryeti jaksan kridan ramamanah stribhir va yanair va jnatibhir
sa nopajanam smarann idam sariram sa yatha prayogya acarane yukta
evam evayam asmic charire prano yuktah

"He through whose grace this released soul, arising from his last
body, and having approached the Highest Light, is restored to his
own form is the Highest Person (Uttama Purusa). The Mukta moves
about there laughing, playing, and rejoicing, with women, with
carriages, with other Muktas of his own period or of the past
kalpas. So great is his ecstasy that he does remember even the
person standing near him, nor even his own body. And as a
charioteer is appointed by his master to drive the carriage, just
so it the Prana appointed to drive this chariot of the body."

3. Srila Prabhupada's translation of the first line of the

Chandogya sloka gives a different viewpoint--that soul who rises
from the body into the spiritual sky is the Supersoul. The
explanation is found in Satvata Tantra 1.36.

virad-dehe yad avasad

bhagavan pura-samjnake
atah purusa-namanam
avapa purusah parah

"Because He resides (usa) in the home (pur) of the virata-deha

(cosmic body of the universal form), the Supreme Lord is called
purusa."

Therefore there is no contradiction. Just as the jiva leaves the

physical body and passes through the Brahmajyoti on his way back
to the abode of the Supreme Lord at the time of liberation, so
the Uttama Purusa (Supersoul) leaves the universe at the end of
the cosmic manifestation and passes through the Brahmajyoti to
return to Mahavisnu, the source of the Garbhodakasayi and Ksiro-
dakasayi purusa-avatara expansions.

TRISLOKI SUMMARY:

SB 11.11.1-9
"The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: My dear Uddhava, due to
the influence of the material modes of nature, which are under My
control, the living entity is sometimes designated as conditioned
and sometimes as liberated. In fact, however, the soul is never
really bound up or liberated, and since I am the supreme Lord of
maya, which is the cause of the modes of nature, I also am never
to be considered liberated or in bondage. Just as a dream is
merely a creation of one's intelligence but has no actual
substance, similarly, material lamentation, illusion, happiness,
distress and the acceptance of the material body under the
influence of maya are all creations of My illusory energy. In
other words, material existence has no essential reality. O
Uddhava, both knowledge and ignorance, being products of maya,
are expansions of My potency. Both knowledge and ignorance are
beginningless and perpetually award liberation and bondage to
embodied living beings. O most intelligent Uddhava, the living
entity, called jiva, is part and parcel of Me, but due to ig-
norance he has been suffering in material bondage since time
immemorial. By knowledge, however, he can be liberated. Thus,
My dear Uddhava, in the same material body we find opposing
characteristics, such as great happiness and misery. That is
because both the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is eternally
liberated, as well as the conditioned soul are within the body.
I shall now speak to you about their different characteristics.
By chance, two birds have made a nest together in the same tree.
The two birds are friends and are of a similar nature. One of
them, however, is eating the fruits of the tree, whereas the
other, who does not eat the fruits, is in a superior position due
to His potency. The bird who does not eat the fruits of the tree
is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who by His omniscience
perfectly understands His own position and that of the condi-
tioned living entity, represented by the eating bird. That
living entity, on the other hand, does not understand himself or
the Lord. He is covered by ignorance and is thus called eternal-
ly conditioned, whereas the Personality of Godhead, being full of
perfect knowledge, is eternally liberated. One who is en-
lightened in self-realization, although living within the
material body, sees himself as transcendental to the body, just
as one who has arisen from a dream gives up identification with
the dream body. A foolish person, however, although not identi-
cal with his material body but transcendental to it, thinks
himself to be situated in the body, just as one who is dreaming
sees himself as situated in an imaginary body. An enlightened
person who is free from the contamination of material desire does
not consider himself to be the performer of bodily activities;
rather he knows that in all such activities it is only the
senses, born of the modes of nature, that are contacting sense
objects born of the same modes of nature."