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FROM-THE-LIBiRARY-OF' 
 A. W.Ryder 
 

 3/» 
 
 DISCOURSES 
 
 ON THE BHAGAVAT GITA, 
 
 To hell) Situ lents in atudy'iHg iti< philosoph//. 
 BY 
 
 Mr. T. SUBBA ROW, B. A., B. L., F.T.S. 
 
 PRINTED FOR THE BOMBAY 
 THEOSOPHICAL PUBLICATION FUND. 
 
 BY 
 
 TOOK ARAM TATYA. 
 
 BOMBAY: 
 Printed at the Joint-Stock Printing Prkss. 
 
 1888. 
 [All rights Reserved. '\ 
 

 Vve^Ww ^^ U\^^o-^ 
 
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INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Ill studying the Bhagavad Gita it must not be treated as if 
 isolated from the rest of the Mahabharata as it at present exists. 
 It was inserted by Vyasa in the right place with special refer- 
 ence to some of the incidents in that book^ One must first 
 re'klise the real position of Arjuna and Krishna in order to 
 appreciate the teaching of the latter. Among other appella- 
 tions Arjuna has one very strange name — he is called at differ- 
 ,cnt times by ten or eleven names, most of which are explained 
 by himself in Virataparva. One name is omitted from the list, 
 ». e., Nara. This Word simply means "man." But why a 
 particular man should be called by this as a proper name may 
 at first sight appear strange. Nevertheless herein lies a clu« 
 which enables us to understand not only the position 
 of the Bhagavad Gita in the text and its connection with Arjuna 
 and Krishna, but the entire current running through the whole 
 of the Mahabharata, implying Vyasa's real views of the origin, 
 trials and destiny of man. Vyasa looked upon Arjuna as man, 
 or rather the real monad in man ; and upon Krishna as the 
 Logos, or the spirit that comes to save man. To some it ap- 
 pears strange that this highly philosophical teaching should 
 have been inserted in a place apparently utterly unfitted for it. 
 The discourse is alleged to have taken place between Arjuna 
 and Krishna just before the battle began to rage. But when 
 once you begin to appreciate the Mahabharata, you will see 
 this was the fittest place for the Bhagavad Gita. 
 
 Historically the great battle was a struggle between two 
 families. Philosophically it is the great battle, in which the 
 human spirit has to fight against the lower passions in the 
 
 M31927 
 
II INTRODUCTION. 
 
 physical body. Many of our readers have probably heard about 
 the so-called Dweller on the Threshold, so vividly described in 
 Lytton's novel "Zanoni." According to this author's descrip- 
 tion, the Dweller on the Threshold seems to be some elemental, 
 or other monster of mysterious form, appearing before the 
 neophyte just as he is about to enter the mysterious land, and 
 attempting to shake his resolution "with menaces of unknown 
 dangers if he is not fully prepared. 
 
 There is no such monster in reality. The description miist 
 be taken in a figurative sense. But nevertheless there is a 
 Dweller on the Threshold, whose influence on the mental plane 
 is far more trying than any physical terror can be. The real^ 
 Dweller on the Threshold is formed of the despair and despon- 
 dency of the neophyte, who is called upon to give up all his old 
 affections for kindred, parents and children, as well as his aspi- 
 rations for objects of wordly ambition, which have perhaps 
 been his associates for many incarnations. When called upon 
 to give up these things, the neophyte feels a kind of blank, 
 before he realises his higher possibilities. After having given 
 up all his associations, his life itself seems to vanish into thin 
 air. He seems to have lost all hope, and to have no object to 
 live and work for. He sees no signs of his own future progress. 
 All before him seems darkness ; and a sort of pressure comes 
 upon the soul, under which it begins to droop, and in most 
 cases he begins to fall back and gives up further progress. 
 But in the case of a man who really struggles, he will battle 
 against that despair, and be able to proceed on the Path. I 
 may here refer you to a few passages in Mill's autobiography. 
 Of course the author knew nothing of occultism ; but there 
 was one stage in his mental life, which seems to have come on 
 at a particular point of his career and to have closely resembled 
 what I have been describing. Mill was a great analytical philo- 
 
INTRODUCTIOX. Ill 
 
 sopher. He made an exhaustive analysis of all mental process- 
 es,— mind, emotions, and will. 
 
 "I now saw or thought I saw, what I had always before 
 received with incredulity, — that the habit of analysis has a 
 tendency to wear away the feelings, as indeed it has when no 
 other mental habit is cultivated. * ^ ^ Thus neither selfish 
 nor unselfish pleasures were pleasures to me." 
 
 At last he came to have analysed the whole man into nothing. 
 At this point a kind of melancholy came over him, which had 
 something: of terror in it. In this state of mind he continued 
 for some years, until he read a copy of Wordsworth's poems 
 full of sympathy for natural objects and human life. " From 
 them," he says, " I seemed to learn what would be the peren- 
 nial sources of happiness, when all the greater evils of life 
 should have been removed." This feebly indicates what the 
 chela must experience when he has determined to renounce all 
 old associates, and is called to live for a bright future on a higher 
 plane. This transition stage was more or less the position of 
 Arjuna before the discourse in question. He was about to 
 engage in a war of extermination against foes led by some of 
 his nearest relations, and he not unnaturally shrank from the 
 thought of killing kindred and friends. We are each of us 
 called upon to kill out all our passions and desires, not that they 
 are all necessarily evil in themselves, but that their influence 
 must be annihilated before we can establish ourselves on the 
 higher planes. The position of Arjuna is intended to typify 
 that of a chela, who is called upon to face the Dweller on the 
 Threshold. As the guru prepares his chela for the trials of 
 initiation by philosophical teaching, so at this critical point 
 Krishna proceeds to instruct Arjuna. 
 
 The Bhagavad Gita may be looked upon as a discourse ad- 
 dressed by a guru to a chela who has fully determined upon the 
 
IV INTRODUCTION. 
 
 rennnciation of all worldly desires and aspirations, but yet feeh 
 a certain despondency, caused by the apparent blankness of his 
 existence. The book contains eighteen chapters, all intimately 
 connected. Each chapter describes a particular phase or aspect 
 of human life. The student should bear this in mind in reading 
 the book, and endeavour to work out the correspondences. He 
 will find what appear to be unnecessary repetitions. These 
 were a necessity of the method adopted by Vyasa, his intention 
 being to represent nature in different ways, as seen from the 
 standpoints of the various philosophical schools which flourish-* 
 ed in India, 
 
 As regards the moral teaching of the Bhagavad Gita, it is • 
 often asserted by those who do not appreciate the benefits of 
 occult study, that, if everybody pursued this course, the world 
 would come to a standstill ; and, therefore, that this teaching 
 can only be useful to the few, and not to ordinary people. This 
 is not so. It is of course true that the majority of men are not 
 in the position to give up their duties as citizens and members 
 of families. But Krishna distinctly states that these duties, if 
 not reconcilable with ascetic life in a forest, can certainly be 
 reconciled with that kind of mental abnegation which is far 
 more powerful in the production of effects on the higher planes 
 than any physical separation from the world. For though the 
 ascetic's body may be in the jungle, his thoughts may be in the 
 world. Krishna therefore teaches that the real importance lies 
 not in physical but in mental isolation. Every man who has 
 duties to discharge must devote his mind to them. But, says 
 the teacher, it is one thing to perform an action as a matter of 
 duty, and another thing to perform the same from inclination, 
 interest, or desire. It is thus plain that it is in the power of a 
 man to make definite progress in the development of his higher 
 faculties, whilst there is nothing noticea ble in hi? mode of life 
 
INTRODUCTION. V 
 
 to distinguish him from his fellows. No religion teaches that 
 men should be the slaves of interest and desire Few inculcate 
 the necessity of seclusion and asceticism. The great objection 
 that has been brought against Hinduism and Buddhism is that 
 by recommending such a mode of life to students of occultism 
 they tend to render void the lives of men engaged in ordinary 
 avocations. This objection however rests upon a misapprehen- 
 sion. For these religions teach that it is not the nature of the 
 act, but the mental attitude of its performer, that is of import- 
 ance. This is the moral teaching that runs through the whole of 
 the Bhagavad Gita. The reader should note carefully the various 
 ^ arguments by which Krishna establishes his proposition. He 
 will find an account of the origin and destiny of the human 
 monad, and of the manner in which it attarins salvation through 
 the aid and enlightenment derived from its Logos. Some have 
 taken Krishna's exhortation to Arjuna to worship him alone 
 as supporting the doctrine of a personal god. But this is an 
 erroneous conclusion. For, though speaking of himself as 
 Parabrahm, Krishna is still the Logos. He describes himself 
 as Atma, but no doubt is one with Parabrahm, as there is no 
 essential difference between Atma and Parabrahm. Certainly 
 the Logos can speak of itself as Parabrahm. So all sons of 
 God, including Christ, have spoken of themselves as one with 
 the Father. His saying that he exists in almost every entity 
 in the Cosmos, expresses strictly an attribute of Parabrahm. But 
 a Logos, being manifestation of Parabrahm, can use these words 
 and assume these attributes. Thus Krishna only calls upon 
 Arjuna to worship his own highest spirit, through which alone he 
 can hope to attain salvation, Krishna is teaching Arjuna what the 
 Logos in the course of initiation will teach the human monad, 
 pointing out that through himself alone is salvation to be ob- 
 tained. This implies no idea of a personal god. 
 
VI INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Again notice the view of Krishna respecting the Sankhya 
 philosophy. Some strange ideas are afloat about this system. 
 It is supposed that the Sutras we possess represent the original 
 aphorisms of Kapila. But this has been denied by many great 
 teachers, including Sankarachdrya, who say that they do not 
 represent his real views, but those of some other Kapila, or the 
 writer of the book. The real Sankhya philosophy is identical 
 with the Pythagorean system of numerals, and the philosophy 
 embodied in the Chaldean system of numbers. The philoso- 
 pher's object was to represent all the mysterious powers of nature 
 by a few simple formulae, which he expressed in numerals. The 
 original book is not to be found, though it is possible that it 
 still exists. The system now put forward under this name con- 
 tains little beyond an account of the evolution of the elements 
 and a few combinations of the same which enter into the for- 
 mation of the various tatwams. Krishna reconciles the Sankhya 
 philosophy, Raj Yog, and even Hatta Yog, by first pointing out 
 that the philosophy, if properly understood, leads to the same 
 merging of the human monad in the Logos. The doctrine of 
 Karma, which embraces a wider field than that allowed it by 
 orthodox pundits, who have limited its signification solely to 
 religious observances, is the same in all philosophies, and is made 
 by Krishna to include almost every good and bad act or even 
 thought. The student must first go through the Bhagavad Gita 
 and next try to differentiate the teachings in the eighteen dif- 
 ferent parts under different categories. He should observe how 
 these different aspects branch out from one common centre, and 
 how the teachings in these chapters are intended to do away 
 with the objections of different philosophers to the occult theory 
 and the path of salvation here pointed out. If this is done, the 
 book will show the real attitude of occultists in considering the 
 nature of the Logos and the human monad. In this way almost 
 
INTRODUCTION. Tir 
 
 all that is held sacred in different systems is combined. By 
 such teaching Krishna succeeds in dispelling Arjima's despon- 
 dency and in giving him a higher idea of the nature of the 
 force acting through him, though for the time being it is 
 manifesting itself as a distinct individual. He overcomes Arjuna's 
 disinclination to fight by analysing the idea of self, and 
 showing that the man is in error, who thinks that he is 
 doing this, that and the other. When it is found that what 
 he calls "1" is a sort of fiction, created by his own ignorance, * 
 great part of the difficulty has ceased to exist. He further 
 proceeds to demonstrate the existence of a higher individuality, 
 • of which Arjuna had no previous knowledge. Then he points 
 out that this individuality is connected with the Logos. He 
 furthermore expounds the nature of the Logos and shows that 
 it is Parabrahm. This is the substance of the first eleven or 
 twelve chapters. In those that follow Krishna gives Arjuna 
 further teaching in order to make him firm of purpose ; and 
 explains to him how, through the inherent qualities of Prakriti 
 and Purusha, all the entities have been brought into existence. 
 
 It is to be observed that the number eighteen is constantly 
 recurring in the Mahabharata, seeing that it contains eighteen 
 Parvas, the contending armies were divided into eighteen army- 
 corps, the battle raged eighteen days, and the book is called by 
 a name which means eighteen. This number is mysteriously 
 connected with Arjuna. I have been describing him as man, 
 but even Parabrahm manifests itself as a Logos in more ways 
 than one. Krishna may be the Logos, but only one particular 
 form of it. The number eighteen is to represent this particular 
 form. Krishna is the Logos that overshadows the human 
 Ego and his gift of his sister in marriage to Arjuna typifies the 
 union between" the light of the Logos and the human monad. 
 It is worthy of note that Arjuna did not want Krishna to fight 
 
Till INTRODUCTION. 
 
 for him, but only to act as his charioteer and to be his friend 
 and counsellor. From this it will be perceived that the human 
 monad must fight its own battle, assisted, when once the human 
 being begins to tread the true path, bj his own Logos. 
 
NOTES ON THE BHACAVAD GITA- 
 I. 
 
 ►o(2SSK>-«2)o< 
 
 Before proceeding with the subject, I think it necessary to 
 miike a few preliminary remarks. All of yon know that our 
 Society is established upon a cosmopolitan basis. Wo are not 
 wedded to any particular creed or to any particuhu* system of 
 Religious philosophy. We consider ourselves as mere enquir- 
 ers. Every great system of philosophy is brought before us for 
 the purpose of investigation. At the present time we are not 
 at all agreed upon any particular philosophy which could be 
 preached as the philosophy of our Society. This is no doubt 
 a very safe position to take at the commencement. But from 
 all this it does not follow that we are to be enquirers and enquirers 
 only. We shall, no doubt, be able to find out the fundam(3ntal 
 principles of all philosophy and base upon them a system 
 which is likely to satisfy our wants and aspirations. You will 
 kindly bear this iu mind, and not take my views as the views 
 of the Society, or as the views of any other authority higher 
 than myself. I shall simply put them forward for what they 
 are worth. They are the results of my own investigations into 
 various systems of philosophy and no higher authority is alleged 
 for them. It is only with this view that I mean to put^ for- 
 ward the few remarks I have to make. 
 
 You will remember that I gave an introductory lecture the 
 last time we met here, and pointed out to you the fundamental 
 notions which ought to be borne in mind in trying i;o under- 
 stand the Bhagavad Gita. I need not recapitulate all that I 
 1 
 
2 NOTES ON THE BHAGAVAD GITA. 
 
 then said ; it will be simply necessary to remind yon that 
 Krishna was intended to • represent the Logos, which I shall 
 hereafter explain at length ; and that Arjnna, who was called 
 Nara, was intended to represent the hnman monad. 
 
 The Bhagavad Gita, as it at present stands, is essentially practi- 
 cal in its character and teachings, like the discourses of all 
 religions teachers who have appeared on the scene of the world 
 to give a few practical directions to mankind for their spiritual 
 guidance. Just as the sayings of Christ, the discourses of 
 Buddha, and the preachings of various other philosophers which 
 have come down to us, are essentially didactic in character and 
 practical in their tone, so is the Bhagavad Gita. But these 
 teachings will not be understood — indeed, in course of time 
 they are even likely to be misunderstood — unless their basis is 
 constantly kept in view. The Bhagavad Gita starts from certain 
 premises, which are not explained at length, — they are simply 
 alluded to here and there, and quoted for the purpose of enforc- 
 ing the doctrine, or as authorities, and Krishna does not go 
 into the details of the philosophy which is their foundation. 
 Still there is a philosophical basis beneath his teachings, and 
 unless that basis is carefully surveyed, we cannot understand 
 the practical applications of the teachings of the Bhagavad Gita, 
 or even test them in the only way in which they can be tested. 
 
 Before proceeding further, I find it absolutely necessary to 
 preface my discourse with an introductory lecture, giving the 
 outlines of this system of philosophy which I have said is the 
 basis of the practical teaching of Krishna. This philosophy I 
 cannot gather or deduce from the Bhagavad Gita itself; but I 
 can show that the premises with which it starts are therein in- 
 dicated with sufficient clearness. 
 
 This is a very vast subject, a considerable part of which 1 
 cannot at all touch ; but I shall lay down a few fundamental 
 
NOTES ON THE BHAGAVAD GITA. 3 
 
 principles which are more or less to be considered as axiomatic 
 in their character — you may call them postulates for the time 
 being — so many as are absolutely necessary for the purpose of 
 understanding the philosophy of the Bhagavad Gita. I shall 
 not attempt to prove every philosophical principle I am about 
 to lay down in the same manner in which a modern scientist 
 attempts to prove all the laws he has gathered from an exami- 
 nation of nature. 
 
 In the case of a good many of these principles, inductive 
 reasoning and experiment are out of the question ; it will be next 
 to impossible to test them in the ordinary course of life or in 
 ^the ways available to the generality of mankind. But, neverthe- 
 less, these principles do rest upon very high authority. When 
 carefully explained, they will be found to be the basis of every 
 system of philosophy which human intellect has ever construct- 
 ed, and furthermore, will also be found , — I venture to promise 
 — to be perfectly consistent with all that has been found out by 
 man in the field of science ; at any rate they give us a working 
 hypothesis — a hypothesis which we may safely adopt at the 
 commencement of our labours, — for the time being. This hy- 
 pothesis may be altered if you are quite certain that any new 
 facts necessitate its alteration, but at any rate it is a working 
 hypothesis which seems to explain all the facts which it is ne- 
 cessary for us to understand before we proceed upon a study of 
 the gigantic and complicated machinery of nature. 
 
 Now to proceed with this hypothesis. First of all, I have to 
 point out to you that any system of practical instruction for 
 spiritual guidance will have to be judged, first, with reference to 
 the nature and condition of man and the capabilities that are 
 locked up in him ; secondly, with reference to the cosmos and 
 the forces to which man is subject and the circumstances under 
 which he has to progress. 
 
4 NOTES ON THE BHAGAVAD GITA. 
 
 Unless these hvo points are sufficiently investigated, it will be 
 hardly possible for us to ascertain the highest goal that man is 
 capable of reaching ; and unless there is a definite aim or a goal 
 to reach, or an ideal towards Avliich man has to progress, it will 
 be almost impossible to say whether any particular instruction 
 is likely to conduce to the welfare of mankind or not. Now I 
 say these instructions can only be understood by examining the 
 nature of the cosmos, the nature of man, and the goal towards 
 which all evolutionary progress is tending. 
 
 Before I proceed farther, let me tell you that I do not mean 
 to adopt the sevenfold classification of the principles in man 
 that has up to this time been adopted in Theosophical writings 
 generally. Just as I would classify the principles in man, I would 
 classify the principles in the solar system and in the cosmos. There 
 is a certain amount of similarity and the law of correspondence — 
 as it is called by some writers — whatever may be the reason, — is 
 the law which obtains in a good many of the phenomena of nature, 
 andAcry often by knowing what happens in the case of the micro- 
 cosm we are enabled to infer what takes place in that of the macro- 
 cosm. Now as regards the numbers of principles and their re- 
 lation between themselves, this sevenfold classification which I 
 do not mean to adopt, seems to me to be a very unscientific and 
 misleading one. No doubt the number seven seems to play an^ 
 important part in the cosmos, though it is neither a power nor 
 a spiritual force ; but it by no means necessarily follows that in 
 every case we must adopt that number. What an amount of 
 confusion has this sevenfold classification given rise to I These 
 seven principles, as generally enumerated, do not correspond to 
 any natural lines of cleavage, so to speak, in the constitution of 
 man. Taking the seven principles in the order in which they 
 are generally given, the physical body is separated from the so- 
 called life-priuciple ; the latter from what is called I'nr^a sarira 
 
NOTES ON THE BHAGAVAD GITA. » 
 
 (very often confounded with sukshma sarira.) Tlins the phy- 
 sical body is divided into three principles. Now here we may 
 make any mimber of divisions ; if yon please, yon may as well 
 enumerate nerve-force, blood, and' bones, as so many distinct 
 parts, and make the number of divisions as large as sixteen or 
 thirty-five. But still the physical body does not constitute a 
 separate entity apart from the life principle, nor the life prin- 
 ciple apart from the physical body, and so with the li?2ga sarira. 
 Again, in the so-called " astral body," the fourth principle, when 
 separated from the fifth soon disintegrates, and the so-called 
 fourth principle is almost lifeless unless combined with the fiftl', 
 This system of division does not give us any distinct principles 
 which have something like independent existence. And what is 
 more, this sevenfold classification is almost conspicuous by its 
 absence in many of our Hindu books. At any rate a considerable 
 portion of it is almost unintelligible to Hindu minds ; and so 
 it is better to adopt the time-honored classification of four 
 principles, for the simple reason that it divides man into so 
 many entities as are capable of having separate existences, and 
 that these four principles are associated with four vpadhis^ which 
 are further associated in their turn with four distinct states of 
 consciousness. And so for all practical purposes — for the purpose 
 of explaining the doctrines o| religious philosophy — Ihave found 
 it far more convenient to adhere to the fourfold clasification 
 than to adopt the septenary one and multiply principles in a 
 manner more likely to introduce confusion than to throw light 
 upon the subject. I shall therefore adopt the four-fold classifica- 
 tion, and when I adopt it in the case of man, I shall also adopt it 
 
 * Four Upadhis including the Ego — the reflected image of the Logos in 
 Karana Sarira — as the vehicle of the T^ight of the Logos. This is. sometimes 
 called Samanva Sarira in Hindu hooks. But strictly speaking there are only 
 three Upadliis. 
 
O NOTES ON TH E BHAGAVAD GITA. 
 
 in the case of the solar system, and ajso in the case of the princi- 
 ples that are to be found in the cosmos. By cosmos I mean 
 not the solar system only, but the whole of the cosmos. 
 
 In enumerating these principles I shall proceed in the order 
 of evolution, which seems to be the most convenient one. 
 
 I shall point out what position each of these principles occu- 
 pies in the evolution of nature, and in passing from the First 
 Cause to the organized human being of the present day, I shall 
 give you the ])asis of the fourfold classification that I have pro- 
 mised to adopt. 
 
 The first principle, or rather the first postulate, which I have 
 to lay down is the existence of what is called Parahrahmam^ 
 Of course there is hardly a system of philosophy which has ever 
 denied the existence of the First Cause. Even the so-called 
 atheists have never denied it. Various creeds have adopted vari- 
 ous theories as to the nature of this First Cause. All sectarian 
 disputes and diiferences have arisen, not from a difference of 
 opinion as to the existence of the First Cause, but from the dif- 
 ference of the attributes that man's intellect has constantly tried 
 to impose upon it. Is it possible to know anything of the First 
 Cause ? No doubt it is possible to know something abont it> It 
 is possible to know all about its manifestations, though it is 
 next to impossible for human knowledge to penetrate into its 
 inmost essence and say what it really is in itself. All religious 
 philosophers are agreed that this First Cause is omnipresent and 
 eternal. Further, it is subject to periods of activity and pas- 
 sivity. When cosmic pralaya comes, it is inactive, and when 
 evolution commences, it becomes active. 
 
 But even the real reason for this activity and passivity is un- 
 iutelligible to our minds. It is not matter or anything like 
 matter. It is not even consciousness, because all that we know 
 of consciousness is with reference to a definite organism. What 
 
NOTES ON THE BHAGAVAD GITA. 7 
 
 consciousness is or will be when entirely separated from upadhi 
 is a thing utterly inconceivable to us, not only to us but to any 
 other intelligence which lias the notion of self or ego in it, or 
 which has a distinct individualized existence. Again it is not 
 even attiia. The word atma is used in various senses in our 
 books. It is constantly associated with the idea of self. But 
 Parabrahma'in is not so associated ; so it is not ego, it is not 
 non-ego, nor is it consciousness — or to use a phraseology adopt- 
 ed by our old philosophers, it is not gnatha, not gnanam and 
 gnayam. Of course every entity in this cosmos must come un- 
 der one or the other of these three headings. Bat Parahrahmam 
 does not come under any one of them. Nevertheless, it seems 
 to be the one source of which gnatha, gnanam, and gnayam are 
 the manifestations or modes of existence. There are a few other 
 aspects which it is necessary for me to bring to your notice, be- 
 cause those aspects are noticed in the Bhagavad Gita. 
 
 In the case of every objective consciousness, we know that 
 what we call matter or non-ego is, after all, a mere bundle of at- 
 tributes. But whether we arrive at our conclusion by logical 
 inference, or whether we derive it from innate consciousness, 
 we always suppose that there is an entity, — the real essence of 
 the thing upon which all these attributes are placed,- — which 
 bears these attributes, as it were, the essence itself being un- 
 known to us. 
 
 All Vedantic writers of old have formulated the principle that 
 Parabrahmam is the one essence of everything in the cosmos. 
 When our old writers said ^'Sarvam khalvidamhrahma,^'' they 
 did not mean that all those attributes which we associate with 
 the idea of non-ego should be considered as Brahmam, nor did 
 they mean that Brahmam should be looked upon as the upadana 
 karanam in the same way that earth and water are the upadana 
 karanam of this pillar. They simply meant that the real thing 
 
8 NOTES ON THE BHAGAVAD GITA. 
 
 in the bundle of attributes that our consciousness takes note of, 
 the essence which seems to be the bottom and the foundation 
 of all phenomena is Parahrahnam, which, though not itself an 
 object of knowledge, is yet capable of supporting and giving 
 rise to every khid of object and every kind of existence which 
 becomes an object of knowledge. 
 
 Now this Parabrahnam which exists before all thino-s in the 
 cosmos is the one essence from which starts into existence a 
 centre of energy, which I shall for the present call the Logos. 
 
 This Logos may be called in the language of old writers either 
 Esicara or Pratyagatma or Sahda Brahmam. It is called the 
 Verhum or the Word by the Christians, and it is tho divine 
 Christos who is eternally in the bosom of his father. It is called 
 Avalokiteswara by the Buddhists ; at any rate, Avalok'Ueswara 
 in one sense is the Logos in general, though no doubt in tho 
 Chinese doctrine there are also other ideas with which it is associ- 
 ated. In almost every doctrine they have formulated the exist- 
 ence of a centre of spiritual energy which is unborn and eternal, 
 and which exists in a latent condition in the bosom of Parahrah- 
 mam at the time of pralaija, and starts as a centre of conscious 
 energy at the time of cosmic activity. It is the first gnatha or 
 the ego in the cosmos, and every other ego and every other self, 
 as I shall hereafter point out, is but its reflection or manifesta- 
 tion. In its inmost nature it is not unlnowahle as Parahrahmamj 
 but it is an object of the highest knowledge that man is 
 capable of acquiring. It is the one great mystery in the cosmos, 
 with reference to which all the initiations and all the systems 
 of philosophy have been devised. What it really is in its inmost 
 nature will not be a subject for consideration in my lecture, but 
 there are some stand-points from which we have to look at it to 
 understand the teachings in the Bhagavad Gita. 
 
 The few propositions that I am going to lay down with refer- 
 
NOTES ON THE BHAGAVAD GITA. \) 
 
 ence to this principle are these. It is not material or physical in 
 its constitution, and it is not objective ; it is not different in 
 substance, as it were, or in essence, from Parahrahmam, and yet 
 at the same time it is different from it in havino- an individuals 
 ized existence. It exists in a latent condition in the bosom of 
 Parahrahmam, at the time of pralaya just, for instance, as the 
 sense of ego is latent at the time of sushupti or sleep. It is often 
 described in our books as satcliidanandam, and by this epithet 
 you must understand that it is sat, and that it is chit and 
 anandam. 
 
 It has consciousness and an individuality of its own. I may 
 jj,s well say that it is the only personal God, perhaps, that exists 
 ^n the cosmos. But not to cause any misunderstanding I must 
 also state that such centres of energy are almost innumerable in 
 the bosom of Parahrahmam, It must not be supposed that this 
 Logos is but a single centre of energy which is manifested by 
 Parahrahmam. There are innumerable others. Their number is 
 almost infinite. Perhaps even in this centre of energ}^ called the 
 Logos there may be differences ; that is to say, Parahralunam 
 can manifest itself as a Logos not only in one particular, definite, 
 form, but in various forms. At any rate, whatever may be the 
 variations of form that may exist, it is unnecessary to go minutely 
 into that subject for the purpose of understanding the Bhagavad 
 Gita. The Logos is here considered the Logos in the abstract 
 and not as any particular Logos, in giving all those instructions 
 to Arjuna which are of a general application. The other aspect 
 of the Logos will be better understood if I point out to you the 
 nature of the other principles that start into existence subse- 
 quent to the existence of this Logos or . Verhum. 
 
 Of course, this is the first manifestation of Parahrahmam, the 
 first ego that appears in the cosmos, the beginning of all crea- 
 tion and^ the end of all evolution. It is the one source of all 
 
10 NOTES ON THE BHAGAVAD GIT A. 
 
 energy in the cosmos, and the basis of all branches of knowledge 
 and what is more, it is, as it were, the tree of life, because the 
 chaitanyam which animates the whole cosmos springs from it. 
 Vhen once this ego starts into existence as a conscious being 
 having objective consciousness of its own, we shall have to see 
 what the result of this objective consciousness will be with re- 
 ference to the one absolute and unconditioned existence from 
 which it starts into manifested existence. From its objective 
 standpoint, Parahrahmam appears to it as Mulaprakriti. Please 
 bear this in mind and try to understand my words, for here 
 is the root of the whole difficulty about Purusha and Prakriti 
 felt by the various writers on Vedantic philosophy. Of course^ 
 this Mulaprakriti is material to us. This Mulaprahiti is no 
 more Parahrahmam than the bundle of attributes of this pillar is 
 the pillar itself ; Parahrahmam is an unconditioned and abso- 
 lute reality, and Mulaprakriti is a sort of veil thrown over it. 
 Parahrahmam by itself cannot be seen as it is. It is seen by 
 the Logos with a veil thrown over it, and that veil is the mighty 
 expanse of cosmic matter. It is the basis of material manifesta- 
 tions in the cosmos. 
 
 Again, Parahrahmam, after having appeared on the one hand 
 as the ego, and on the other as Mulaprakriti, acts as the one 
 energy through the Logos. I shall explain to you what I mean 
 by this acting through the Logos by a simile. Of course you 
 must not stretch it very far ; it is intended shnply to help you 
 to form some kind of conception of the Logos. For instance, 
 the sun may be compared with the Logos ; light and heat ra- 
 diate from it, but its heat and energy exist in some unknown 
 condition in space, and are diffused throughout space as visible 
 light and heat through its instrumentality. Such is the view 
 taken of the sun by the ancient philosophers. In the same man- 
 ner Parahrahmam radiates from the Logos^ and manifests itself 
 
NOTES ON THE BHAGAVAD GITA. 11 
 
 as the light and energy of the Logos, Now we see the first 
 manifestation oi Pardbrahinam is a Trinity , the highest Trinity 
 that we are capable of understanding. It consists of Mulapra- 
 kriti^ Esawara or the Logos^ and the conscious energy of the 
 LogoSy which is its power and light ; and here we have the 
 three principles upon which the whole cosmos seems to be based. 
 First, we have matter ; secondly, we have force — at any rate, 
 the foundation of all the forces in the cosmos ; and thirdly, we 
 have the ego or the one root of self, of which every other kind 
 of self is but a manifestation or a reflection. You must bear in 
 mind that there is a clear line of distinction drawn between 
 fdidaprakriti, (which is, as it were, the veil thrown over Para- 
 hrahmam from the objective point of view of the Logos) and 
 this energy which is radiated from it. Krishna, in the Bhaga- 
 vad Gita, as I shall hereafter point out, draws a clear line of dis- 
 tinction between the two ; and the importance of the distinction 
 will be seen when you take note of the various misconceptions 
 to which a confusion of the two has given rise in various systems 
 of philosophy. Now bear in mind that this Mulaprakrlti 
 which is the veil of Parabrahmam is called Avyahtam in 
 Sankhya philosophy. It is also called Kutastha in the Bhagavad 
 Gita, simply because it is undifferentiated ; even the literal 
 meaning of this word conveys more or less the idea that it is 
 undifferentiated as contrasted with differentiated matter. This 
 light from the Logos is called Daiviprahriti in the Bhagavad 
 Gita ; it is the Gnostic Sophia and the Holy Ghost of the 
 Christians. It is a mistake to suppose that Krishna, when 
 considered as a Logos , is a manifestation of that Avyahtam, as 
 is generally believed by a certain school of philosophers. He 
 is on the other hand Parahralimam manifested ; and the Holy 
 Ghost in its first origin emanates through the Christos. The 
 reason why it is called the mother of the Christos is this. 
 
12 NOTES ON THE BHAGAVAD GITA. 
 
 When Christos manifests himself in man as his Saviour it is 
 from the womb, as it were, of this divine light that he is horn. 
 So it is only when the Logos is manifested in man that he 
 becomes the child of this light of the Logos — this 7naya — but 
 in the course of cosmic manifestation this DaiviprahHti, instead 
 of being the mother of the Logos ^ should, strictly speaking, be 
 called the daughter of the Logos. To make this clearer, I may 
 point out that this light is symbolized as Gayatri. You know 
 Gayatri is not Prahiti. It is considered as the light of the 
 Logos, and in order to convey to our minds a definite image, it 
 is represented as the light of the sun. But the sun from which 
 it springs is not the physical sun that we see, but the central 
 sun of the light of wisdom. This light is further called the maha- 
 chaitanyam of the whole cosmos. It is the life of the whole of 
 nature. It will be observed that Avhat manifests itself as lioht, 
 as consciousness, and as force, is just one and the same energy. 
 All the various kinds of forces that we know of, all the various 
 modes of consciousness with which we are acquainted, and life 
 manifested in every kind of organism, are but the manifesta- 
 tions of one and the same power, that power being the one that 
 springs from the Logos originally. It will have to be surveyed 
 in all these aspects, because the part that it really plays in the 
 cosmos is one of considerable importance. 
 
 As far as we have gone we have arrived at firstly, Parabrahm- 
 am ; secondly, Eswara ; thirdly, the light manifested through 
 Eswara, which is called Daiviprahrati in the Bhagavad Gita, 
 and lastly that Mulaprahriti which seems to be, as I have said, 
 a veil thrown over Parabrahmam. Now creation or evolution is 
 commenced by the intellectual energy of the Logos. The uni- 
 verse in its infinite details and with its wonderful laws, does not 
 spring into existence by mere chance, nor does it spring into 
 existence merely on account of the potentialities locked up in 
 
NOTES ON THE BHAGAVAD GITA. 13 
 
 MulapraJcriti. It comes into existence mainly through the in- 
 strumentality of the one source of energy and power existing in 
 the cosmos, which we have named the Logos^ and which is the 
 one existing representative of the power and wisdom of Para- 
 hrahmam. Matter acquires all its attributes and all its powers 
 which, in course of time, give such wonderful results in the 
 course of evolution, by the action of this light that emanates 
 from the Logos upon Mulaprakriti. From our standpoint, it 
 will be very difficult to conceive wdiat kind of matter that may 
 be which has none of those tendencies which are commonly as- 
 sociated with all kinds of matter, and which only acquires all 
 ' the various properties manifested by it on receiving, as it wer e 
 this light and energy from the Logos. This light of the Logos 
 is the link, so to speak, between objective matter and the sub- 
 jective thought of Eswara. It is called in several Buddhist 
 books fohat. It is the one instrument with which the Logos 
 works. 
 
 What springs up in the Logos at first is simply an image, a 
 conception of what it is to be in the cosmos. This light or energy 
 catches the image and impresses it upon the cosmic matter 
 which is already manifested. Thus spring into existence all the 
 manifested solar systems. Of course the four principles we 
 have enumerated are eternal, and are common to the whole cos- 
 mos. There is not a place in the whole cosmos where these 
 four energies are absent ; and these are the elements of the four- 
 fold classification that I have adopted in dealing with the princi- 
 ples of the mighty cosmos itself. 
 
 Conceive this manifested solar system in all its principles and 
 in its totality to constitute the sthula sarira of the whole cos- 
 mos. Look on this light which emanates from the Logos as 
 corresponding to the sukshma . sarira of the cosmos. Conceive 
 further that this Logos which is the one germ from which the 
 
14 NOTES ON THE BHAGAVAD GITA. 
 
 whole cosmos springs, — which contains the image of the uni- 
 verse, — stands in the position of the karana sarira of the cos- 
 mos, existing as it does before the cosmos comes into existence. 
 And lastly, conceive that Parabrahmam bears the same relation 
 to the Logos as our atma does to our harana sarira. 
 
 These, it must be remembered, are the four general principles 
 of the infinite cosmos, not of the solar system. These principles 
 must not be confounded with those enumerated in dealing; with 
 the meaning of Franava in Vedantic Philosophy and the Upa- 
 nishads. In one sense Pranava represents the macrocosm and 
 in another sense the microcosm. From one point of view Pra- 
 7iava is also intended to mean the infinite cosmos itself, but it is, 
 not in that light that it is generally explained in our Vedantic 
 books, and it will not be necessary for me to explain this aspect 
 of Pranava, With reference to this subject I may however al- 
 lude to one other point, which explains the reason why Eswara 
 is called Verhum or Logos ; why in fact it iscalled Sahda BraJi- 
 mam. The explanation I am going to give you will appear 
 thoroughly mystical. But, if mystical, it has a tremendous signi- 
 ficance when properly understood. Our old writers said that 
 Vach is of four kinds. These are called para, pasyanti, mad- 
 hyama^ vaikhari. This statement you will find in the Rig Veda 
 itself and in several of the Upanishads. Vaikhari Vach is what 
 we utter. Every kind of Vaikhari Vacli exists in its madhyama, 
 further in its pa5?/a^^i, and ultimately in ii?> para form. The 
 reason why this Pranava is called Vach is this, that these four 
 principles of the great cosmos correspond to these four forms of 
 Vaxih. Now the whole manifested solar system exists in its 
 sukshma form in this light or energy of the Logos, because its 
 image is caught up and transferred to cosmic matter, and again 
 the whole cosmos must necessarily exist in the one source of 
 energy from which this light emanates. The whole cosmos in 
 
NOTES ON THE BIIAGAVAD GITA. 15 
 
 its objective form is vaihhari VacJi^ the light of the Logos is the 
 7nad]iyama form, and the Logos itself the pasyanti form, and 
 Farahrahnain the para aspect of that Vach, It is by the light 
 cf this explanation that we must try to understand certain state- 
 ments made by various philosophers to the effect that the mani- 
 fested cosmos is the Verhum manifested as cosmos. 
 
 These four principles bear the same relationship to one another 
 as do these four conditions or manifestations of Vach. 
 
 I shall now proceed to an examination of the principles that 
 constitute the solar system itself. Here I find it useful to refer 
 to the explanations generally given with reference to Prana- 
 ya and the meaning of its matras. Pranava is intended to re- 
 present man and also the manifested cosmos, the four principles 
 in the one corresponding to the four in the other. The four 
 principles in the manifested cosmos may be enumerated in this 
 order. First, Vishwanara. Now this Vishivanara is not to be 
 looked upon as merely the manifested objective world, but as 
 the one physical basis from which the whole objective world started 
 into existence. Beyond this, and next to this, is what is called 
 Hiranyagarhha. This again is not to be confounded with the 
 astral world, but must be looked upon as the basis of the astral 
 world, bearing the same relationship to the astral world as Vish* 
 icanara bears to the objective world. Next to this there is 
 what is now and then called Eswara ; but as this word is likely 
 to mislead, I shall not call it Eswara, but by another name, also 
 sanctioned by usage — Sutratma. And beyond these three it is 
 generally stated there is Parabrahmam. As regards this fourth 
 principle differences of opinion have sprung up, and from these 
 differences any amount of difficulty has arisen. For this princi- 
 ple, we ought to have, as we have for the cosmos, some princi- 
 ple or entity out of which the other three principles start into 
 existence and which exist in it and by reason of it. If such 
 
16 NOTES ON TEIE BHAGAVAD GITA. 
 
 be the case, no donbt we ought to accept the Avyaktam of the 
 Saiikhyas as this fourth principle. This AvT/aJdam is the Mu- 
 laprakriti which I have already explained as the veil of Para- 
 brahmam considered from the objective standpoint of the Logos, 
 and this is the view adopted by the majority of the Sankhyas. 
 Into the details of the evolution of the solar system itself, it is 
 not necessary for me to enter. You may gather some idea as to 
 the way in which the various elements start into existence from 
 these three principles into which Mulaprahriti is differentiated, 
 by examining the lecture delivered by Professor Crookes a short 
 time ago upon the so-called elements of modern chemistry. This 
 lecture will at least give you some idea of the way in which the, 
 so-called elements spring from Vishivanara the most objective of 
 these three principles, which seem to stand in the: place of the 
 ^rotyle mentioned in that lecture. Except in a few particulars, 
 this lecture seems to give ihe outlines of the theory of physical 
 evolution on the plane of Vishicanara a ad is, as far as I know, 
 the nearest approach made by modern investigators to the real 
 occult theory on the subject. 
 
 These principles, in themselves, are so far beyond our common 
 experience as to become objects of merely theoretical conception 
 and inference rather than objects of practical knowledge. Of 
 course if it is so difficult for us to understand these different 
 principles as they exist in nature, it will be still more difficult 
 for us to form any definite idea as to their basis. But at any 
 rate the evolution and the work of differentiation of these prin- 
 ciples is a matter which appertains more properly to the 
 science of physics, than to the science of spiritual ethics, and the 
 fundamental principles that I have laid down will suffice for our 
 present purpose. You must conceive, without my going through 
 the whole process of evolution, that out of these three principles, 
 having as their one foundation Mulaprakriti the whole man- 
 
NOTES ON THE BHAGAVAD GiTA. 17 
 
 fested solar system with all the various objects in it has started 
 into being. Bear in mind also that the one energy which works 
 out the whole process of evolution is that light of the Logos 
 which is diffused through all these principles and all their mani- 
 festations. It is the one light that starts with a certain definite 
 impulse communicated by the intellectual energy of the Logos 
 and works out the whole programme from the commencement 
 to the end of evolution. If we begin our examination from the 
 lowest organisms, it will be seen that this one life is, as it were, 
 undifferentiated. Now when we take, for instance, the mineral 
 kingdom, or all those objects in the cosmos which we cannot 
 blirictly speaking call living organisms, we find this light undif- 
 ferentiated. In the course of time when we reach plant life it 
 becomes differentiated to a considerable extent, and organisms 
 are formed which tend more and more towards differentiation 
 And when we reach animal life, we find that the differentiation 
 is more complete, and this light moreover manifests itself as 
 consciousness. It must not be supposed that consciousness is a 
 sort of independent entity created by this light ; it is a mode 
 or a manifestation of the light itself, which is life. By the time 
 we reach man, this light becomes differentiated and forms that 
 centre or ego that gives rise to all tha mental and physical pro- 
 gress that we see in the process of cosmic evolution. This 
 differentiation results in the first instance from the environment 
 of particular organisms. The various actions evoked in a given 
 organism and those which it evokes in other organisms or in its 
 surroundings, and the actions which it generates in itself at 
 that stage, can hardly be called Karma ; still its life and actions 
 may perhaps have a certain effect in determining the future 
 manifestations of that life-energy which is acting in it. By the 
 time we reach man, this one light becomes differentiated into 
 certain monads, and hence individuality is fixed. 
 
18 NOTES ON THE BHAGAVAD GITA. 
 
 As individuality is rendered more and more definite, and be- 
 comes more and more differentiated from other individualities 
 by man's own surroundings, and the intellectual and moral 
 impulses he generates and the effect of his own Karma^ the 
 principles of which he is composed become more defined. There 
 are four principles in man. First, there is the physical body, 
 about which we need not go into details, as they appertain more 
 to the field of enquiry of the physiologist than to that of the 
 religious investigator. No doubt certain branches of physiology 
 do become matters of considerable importance in dealing with 
 certain subjects connected with Yoga Philosophy ; but we need 
 not discuss those questions at present. 
 
 Next there is the sukshma sarira. This bears to the physical 
 body the same relationship which the astral world bears to the 
 objective plane of the solar system. It is sometimes called 
 kamarupa in our theosophical dissertations. This unfortunate 
 expression has given rise also to a misconception that the prin- 
 ciple called kaina represents this astral body itself, and is trans- 
 formed into it. But it is not so. It is composed of elements 
 of quite a different nature. Its senses are not so differentiated 
 and localized as in the physical body, and, being composed of 
 finer materials, its powers of action and thought are consider- 
 ably greater than those found in the physical organism. Karana 
 sarira can only be conceived as a centre of pragna — a centre 
 of force or energy into which the third principle ( or sutratma) 
 of the cosmos was differentiated by reason of the same impulse 
 which has brought about the differentiation of all these cosmic 
 principles. And now the question is, what is it that completes 
 this trinity and makes it a quaternary ?* Of course this light of 
 
 * The reflected image of the Logos formed by the action of this light or 
 Karana Sarira may be considered as the 4th principle in man and it has been 
 BO considered by certain philosophers. But in reality the real entity is the 
 light itself and not the reflected image. 
 
NOTES ON THE BHAGrVAD GITA. 19 
 
 the Logos. As I have already said, it is a sort of light that 
 penneates every kind of organism, and so in this trinity it is 
 manifested in every one of the upadhis as the real jiva or the 
 ego of man. Now in order to enable you to have a clear con- 
 ception of the matter, I shall express my ideas in figurative 
 language. Suppose, for instance, we compare the Logos itself 
 to the sun. Suppose I take a clear mirror in my hand, catch 
 a reflection of the sun, make the rays reflect from the surface of 
 the mirror — say upon a polished metallic plate — and make the 
 rays which are reflected in their turn from the plate fall upon a 
 wall. Now we have three images, one being clearer than the 
 /other, and one being more resplendent than the other. I can 
 compare the clear mirror to harana sarira, the metallic plate to 
 the astral body, and the wall to the physical body. In each 
 case a definite himham is formed, and that hinibam or reflected 
 image is for the time being considered as the self. The himham 
 formed on the astral body gives rise to the idea of self in it 
 when considered apart from the phj^sical body ; the himham 
 formed in the karana sarira gives rise to the most prominent 
 form of individuality that man possesses. You will further see 
 that these various himhams are not of the same lustre. The 
 lustre of this himham you may compare to man's knowledge, 
 and it grows feebler and feebler as the reflection is transferred 
 from a clear upadhi to one less clear, and so on till you get to 
 the physical body. Our knowledge depends mainly on the 
 condition of the upadhi^ and you will also observe that just as 
 the image of the sun on a clear surface of water may be disturbed 
 and rendered invisible by the motion of the water itself, so 
 by a man's passions and emotions he may render the image of 
 his true self disturbed and distorted in its appearance, and even 
 make the imago so indistinct as to be altogether unable to 
 perceive its light. 
 
20 NOTES ON THE BIIAGAVAD GITA. 
 
 You will further see that this idea of self is a delusive one. 
 Almost every great writer on Ved antic philosophy, as also both 
 Buddha aud Sankaracharya, have distinctly alleged that it is a 
 delusive idea. You must not suppose that these great men said 
 that the idea of self was delusive for the same reason which led 
 John Stuart Mill to suppose that the idea of self is manufactured 
 from a concatenation or series of mental states. It is not a 
 manufactured idea, as it were, not a secondary idea which has 
 arisen from any series of mental states. It is said to be delusive, 
 as I have been trying to explain, because the real self is the 
 Logos itself, and what is generally considered as the ego is but 
 its reflection. If you say, however, that a reflected image can- 
 not act as an individual being, I have simply to remind you 
 that my simile cannot be carried very far. We find that each 
 distinct image can form a separate centre. You will see in 
 what difficulty it will land us if you deny this, and hold the self 
 to be a separate entity in itself. If so, while I am in my objec- 
 tive state of consciousness, my ego is something existing as a 
 real entity in the physical body itself How is it possible to 
 transfer the same to the astral body? Then, again, it has also to 
 be transferred to the karana sarira. "We shall find a still greater 
 difficulty in transferring this entity to the Logos itself, and 
 you may depend upon it that unless a man's individuality or 
 ego can be transferred to the Logos immortality is only a name. 
 In certain peculiar cases it will be very difficult to account for 
 a large number of phenomena on the basis that this self is some 
 kind of centre of energy or some existing monad transferred 
 from upadJd to npadhi. 
 
 In the opinion of the Yedantists, and, as I shall hereafter 
 point out, in the opinion of Krishna also, man is a quaternary. 
 He has first the physical body or sthida sarira ^ secondly the 
 astral body or sukshma sarira, thirdly the seat of his higher 
 
NOTES ON THE BHAGAVAD GITA. 21 
 
 individuality, the karana sarira, and fourthly and lastly his 
 atma. There is no doubt a difference of opinion as to the exact 
 nature of the fourth principle as I have already said, which has 
 given rise to various misconceptions. Now, for instance, ac- 
 cording to some followers of the Sankhya philosophy, at any 
 rate those who are called nireswara sankhyas, man has these 
 three principles, with their Avyaktam to complete the quater- 
 nary. This Avyaktam is Mulaprakriti or rather Parabrahmam 
 manifested in Mulaprakriti as its upadhi. In this view Para- 
 brahnam is really the fourth principle, the highest principle in 
 man ; and the other three principles simply exist in it and by 
 reason of it. That is to say, this Avyaktam is the one principle 
 which is the root of all self, which becomes diflPerentiated in the 
 course of evolution, or rather which appears to be differentiated 
 in the various organisms, which subsists in every kind of upadhi 
 and which is the real spiritual entity which a man has to reach. 
 Now let us see what will happen according to this hypothesis 
 The Logos is entirely shut out ; it is not taken notice of at all; 
 and that is the reason why these people have been called nires- 
 wara sankhyas (not because they have denied the existence of 
 Parabrahmam for this they did not — but) because they have 
 not taken notice of the Logos, and its light — the two most 
 important entities in nature, — in classifying the principles of 
 man. 
 
 II. 
 In my last lecture I tried to trace the course of the first begin- 
 nings of cosmic evolution, and in doing so I indicated with a 
 certain amount of definiteness the four main principles that 
 operate in the infinite cosmos. I also enumerated the four 
 principles that seemed to form the basis of the whole manifes- 
 ted solar system, and defined the nature of the four principles 
 
»^ NOTES ON THE BHAGAVAD GITA. 
 
 into which I have divided the constitution of man. I hope that 
 you will bear in mind the explanatians that 1 have given, be- 
 cause it is on a clear nnderstanding of these principles that the 
 whole Vedantic doctrine is explicable ; and, moreover, on ac- 
 count of misconceptions introduced as regards the nature of 
 these principles, the religious philosophies of various nations- 
 have become terribly confused, and inferences have been drawn 
 from wrong assumptions, which would not necessarily follow 
 from a correct understanding of these principles. 
 
 In order to make my position clear^ I have yet to make a few 
 more remarks about some of these principles. You will re- 
 member that I have divided the solar system itself -into four main ^ 
 principles and called them by the names assigned to them in 
 treatises on what may be called Tharaka Yoga. Tharam^ or 
 Pranava is also the symbol of the manifested man. And the 
 three Matras without the Ardhamatra symbolize the threes 
 principles, or the three manifestations of the original Mulapra- 
 kriti in the solar system. Sanhhya Yoga, properly so called 
 mainly deals with these three principles and the evolution from 
 them of all material organisms. I use the word material to 
 indicate, not only the physical and astral organisms, but also 
 organisms on the plane higher than the astral. Much of what 
 lies on this plane also is in my opinion physical, though perhaps 
 it may differ in its constitution from the known forms of matter 
 on the ordinary objective plane. The whole of this manifested 
 solar system is, strictly speaking, within the field of physical 
 research. As yet we have only been surveying the superficies 
 of the outward cosmos. It is that, and that alone, which phy- 
 sical science has, up to this time, reached. I have not the 
 slightest doubt that in course of time physical science will be 
 able to penetrate deep into the underlying basis, that corresponds 
 to the Sutratma of our Vedantic writers. 
 
NOTES ON THE BHAGAVAD QITA. 23 
 
 It is the province of Sankhya philosophy to trace from the 
 three component parts of Mulapralcriti all the various physical 
 manifestations. It must not, however, be supposed that I in 
 any way authorize the way in which Sankhya philosophy, as at 
 present understood, traces out the origin of these manifestations. 
 On the contrary, there is every reason to believe that enquirers 
 into physical science in the West, like Professor Crookes and 
 others, will arrive at truer results than are contained in the 
 existing systems of Sankhya philosophy known to the public- 
 Occult science has, of course, a definite theory of its own to 
 propound for the origin of these organisms, but that is a matter 
 ,that has always been kept in the background, and the details of 
 that theory are not necessary for the purpose of explaining 
 the doctrine of the Bhagavad Gita, It will be sufficient for the 
 present to note what the field of Sankhya philosophy is, and 
 what it is that comes within the horizon of physical science. 
 
 We can form no idea as to the kind of beings that exist on 
 the astral plane, and still less are we able to do so in the case of 
 those beings that live on the plane anterior to the astral. To 
 the modern mind, everything else, beyond and beside this ordi- 
 nary plane of existence, is a perfect blank. But occult science 
 does definitely formulate the existence of these finer planes of 
 being, and the phenomena that now manifest themselves in the 
 so-called spiritualistic seances will give us some idea of the 
 beings living on the astral plane. It is well known that in most 
 of our Puranas Devas are mentioned as existing in Swarga, 
 
 All the Devaganains mentioned in the Puranas are not in 
 Swarga. Vasus^ Rudras, Adityas and some other classes are 
 no doubt Devas strictly so-called. But Yakshasj Gandharvas, 
 Kinnaras and several Other Ganams must he included amongst 
 ^he beings that exist in the plane of the astral light. 
 
 Tbase beings that inhabit the astral plane are called by the 
 
54 NOTES ON THE BHAGAvAD GITA. 
 
 general name of elementals in our theosophical writings. But 
 besides elementals, properly so-called, there are still higher 
 beings, and it is to these latter that the name Deva is strictly 
 applicable. Do not make the mistake of thinking that the 
 word Deva means a god, and that because we have thirty- 
 three crores of Devas, we therefore worship thirty-three crores 
 of gods. This is an unfortunate blunder generally committed 
 by Europeans. Deva is a kind of spiritual being, and because 
 the same word is used in ordinary parlance to mean god, it by 
 no means follows that we have and worship thirty-three crores 
 of gods. These beings, as may be naturally inferred, have ar 
 certain affinity with one of the three component upadlds into ' 
 which we have divided man. 
 
 One organism has always a certain affinity with another 
 organism composed of the same materials and existing on the 
 same plane. As may naturally be expected, the astral body of 
 man has affinity with the elementals, and the so-called karana 
 sarira of man with the Devas. The ancient writers on Hindu 
 philosophy have divided the cosmos into three lokas. The first 
 is Bhuloka^ the second Bhuvarloka, and the third Suvarloka. 
 Bhuloka is the physical plane with which we are generally 
 acquainted. Bhuvarloka is, strictly speaking, the astral plane 
 It is sometimes called Antariksham in the Upanishads. But 
 this term is not to be understood as simply meaning the whole 
 extent of the atmosphere with which we are acquainted. The 
 word Antariksham is used, not in its general sense, but in a 
 technical one belonging to the philosophical terminology adopted 
 by the authors of the works in which it occurs. Suvarloka is 
 what is generally known as Swargam, At any rate it is the 
 Devachan of the theosophical writings. In this place, called 
 Devachan by the Buddhists, and Swargam by the Hindus, we 
 locate the higher orders of the so-called Devaganams, 
 
NOTES ON THK BHAGAVAD GITA. 25 
 
 There is one more statement I have to make with reference 
 to the three Upadhis in the human being. Of these what is 
 called the karana sarira is the most important. It is so, be- 
 cause it is in that that the higher individuality of man exists. 
 Birth after birth a new physical body comes into existence, and 
 perishes when earthly life is over. The astral body, when once 
 separated from the karana sarira may perhaps live on for some 
 time, owing to the impulse of action and existence, already 
 communicated to it during life, but, as these influences are 
 cut off from the source whence they originally sprung, the force 
 communicated, as it were, stands by itself, and sooner or later 
 . the astral organism becomes completely dissolved into its com- 
 ponent parts. But karana sarira is a body or organism, which 
 is capable of existing independently of the astral body. Its plane 
 of existence is called Sutratma, because, like so many beads 
 strung on a thread, successive personalities are strung on this 
 karana sarira, as the individual passes through incarnation after 
 incarnation. By personality I mean that persistent idea of self, 
 with its definite associations, so far as those associatious apper- 
 tain to the experiences of one earthly incarnation. 
 
 Of course all the associations or ideas of mental states which a 
 human being may experience are not necessarily communicated 
 to the astral man, much less to the karana sarira. Of all the 
 experiences of the physical man, the astral man, or the karana 
 sarira beyond it, can only assimilate those w^hose constitution 
 and nature are similar to its own. It is moreover but consistent 
 with justice that all our mental states should not be preserved 
 as most of them are concerned merely with the daily avocations, 
 or even the physical wants of the human being, there is no 
 object to be gained by their continued preservation. But all 
 that goes deep into the intellectual nature of man, all the higher 
 emotions of the human soul and the intellectual tastes generated 
 4 
 
26 NOTES ON THE BHAGAVAD GITA. 
 
 in man with all his higher aspirations, do become impressed 
 almost indelibly on the karana sarira. The astral body is 
 simply the seat of the lower nature of man. His animal 
 passions and emotions, and those ordinary thoughts which are 
 generally connected w^ith the physical wants of man, may no 
 doubt communicate themselves to the astral man, but higher 
 than this they do not go. 
 
 This karana sarira is what passes as the real ego, which 
 subsists through incarnation after incarnation, adding in each 
 incarnation something to its fund of experiences, and evolving a 
 higher individuality as the resultant of the whole process of 
 assimilation. It is for this reason that the karana sarira is 
 called the ego of man, and in certain systems of philosophy it is 
 called the j^Vra. 
 
 It must be clearly borne in mind that this karana sarira is 
 primarily the result of the action of the light of the Logos, which 
 is its life and energy, and which is further its source of con- 
 sciousness on that plane of Malaprakriti which we have called 
 Sutratma, and which is its physical or material basis. 
 
 Out of the combination of these two elements, and from the 
 action of the energy of the light emanating from the Logos upon 
 that particular kind of matter that constitutes its physical frame, 
 a kind of individuality is evolved. 
 
 I have already said that individual existence, or differentiated 
 conscious existence, is evolved out of the one current of life, 
 which sets the evolutionary machine in motion. I pointed out 
 that it is this very current of life gradually gives rise 
 to individual organisms as it proceeds on its mission. Further- 
 more it begins to manifest what we call conscious life, and, when 
 we come to man, we find that his conscious individuality is clearly 
 and, completely defined by the operation of this force. In pro- 
 ducing this result several subsidiary forces,which are generated by 
 
NOTES ON THE BHAGAVAD GITA. 27 
 
 the peculiar conditions of time, space and environment, co- 
 operate with this one life. What is generally called karana sarira 
 is but the natural product of the action of those very forces that 
 have operated to bring about this result. When once that plane 
 of consciousness is reached in the path of progress that includes 
 the voluntary actions of man, it will be seen that those voluntary 
 actjons not only preserve the individuality of the karana sarira 
 but render it more and more definite, as birth after birth 
 further progress is attained and thus keep up the continued 
 existence of the jiva as an individual monad. So in one sense the 
 karana sarira is the result of karmic impulses. It is the child 
 of Karma as it were. It lives with it, and will disappear if 
 the infleunce of Karma can be annihilated. The astral body 
 on the other hand is, to a great extent, the result of the physical 
 existence of man, as far as that existence is concerned with his 
 physical wants, associations and cravings. We may therefore 
 suppose that the persistence of astral body after death, will 
 under ordinary circumstances, be more or less proportionate to 
 the strength of these emotions and animal passions. 
 
 Now let us enquire what, constituted as man is, are the rules 
 to which he is generally subject, and the goal tow^ards which all 
 evolution is progressing. It is only after this has been deter- 
 mined, that we shall be in a position to see whether any special 
 rules can be prescribed for his guidance that are likely to render 
 his evolutionary progress more rapid than it would otherwise be. 
 
 What happens in the case of ordinary men after death is this. 
 First, the karana sarira and the astral body separate themselves 
 from the physical body ; when that takes place, the physical 
 body loses its life and energy. Yesterday I tried to explain the 
 connection between the three bodies and the energy of life acting 
 within them, by comparing the action of this life to the action 
 of a sunbeam falling successively on three material objects. It 
 
28 NOTES ON THE BHAGAVAD GITA. 
 
 will be seen from this comparison, that the light reflected on 
 to the astral body, or rather into the astral body, is the light 
 that radiates from the karana sarira. From the astral body 
 it is again reflected on to the sthula sarira, constitues its life 
 and energy, and developes that sense of ego that we experience 
 in the physical body. Now it is plain that, if the karana 
 sarira is removed, the astral body ceases to receive any reflec- 
 tion. The kara^ia sarira can exist independently of the astral 
 body, but the astral body cannot survive the separation of the 
 karana sarira. Similarly the physical body can go on living 
 so long as it is connected with the astral body and the karana 
 sarira ; but, when these two are removed, the physical body 
 will perish. The only way for the life current to pass to the 
 physical body is through the medium of the astral body. The 
 physical body is dissolved when separated from the astral body 
 because the impulse that animated it is removed. As the 
 karana sarii^a is on the plane of Devachan, the only place to 
 which it can go on separation from the physical body is De- 
 vachauy or Swargam ; but in separating itself from the astral 
 body it takes with it all those impulses, that were accumulated 
 by the karma of the man during his successive incarnations. 
 
 Thpse impulses subsist in it, and perhaps it docs enjoy a new 
 life in Devaclian — a life unlike any with which we are ac- 
 quainted, but a life quite as natural to the entity that enjoys 
 it as our conscious existence seems to be to us now These 
 impulses give rise to a further incarnation, because there is a 
 certain amount of energy locked up in them, which must find 
 its manifestation on the physical plane. It is thus karma that 
 leads it on from incarnation to incarnation. 
 
 The natural region of the astral body is the Bliuvarloka or 
 astral plane. To the astral plane it goes, and there it is detain- 
 ed. It very rarely descends into the physical plane, for the 
 
NOTES ON THE BHAGAVAD GITA. 29 
 
 simple reason that the physical plane has no natural attraction 
 for it. Moreover it necessarily follows that, just as the karana, 
 ^anra cannot remain on the physical plane, the astral body 
 •cannot remain there either. This astral body loses its life im- 
 pulse when the karana sarira is separated from it. When 
 once its source of life and energy is thus removed from it, it 
 is naturally deprived of the only spring of life that can enable 
 it to subsist. But astral matter being of a far finer constitution 
 than physical matter, energy once communicated to it subsists 
 for a longer time than when communicated to physical matter. 
 When once separated from the astral body, the physical body 
 (}ies very rapidly, but in the case of the astral body some time is 
 required before complete dissolution can take place, because the 
 impulses already communicated to it still keep the particles to- 
 gether, and its period of post-mortem existence is proportion- 
 ate to the strength of those impulses. Till this strength is 
 exhausted the astral body holds together. The time of its inde- 
 pendent existence on the astral plane will thus depend on the 
 strength of its craving for life and the intensity of its unsatisfied 
 desires. This is the reason why, in the case of suicides and those 
 who die premature deaths, having at the time of death a strong 
 passion or a strong desire that they were unable to satisfy dur- 
 ing life, but on the fulfilment of which their whole energy was 
 concentrated, the astral body subsists for certain length of time, 
 and may even make desperate efforts for the purpose of descend- 
 ing into the physical plane to bring about the accomplishment 
 of its object. Most of the spirtualistic phenomena are to be 
 accounted for upon this principle, and also upon the principle 
 that many of the phenomena exhibited at seances are really pro- 
 duced by elementals (which naturally subsist on the astral 
 plane) masquerading jas it were in the garb of elementaries or 
 pisachas. 
 
30 NOTES ON THE BHAGAVAD GITA. 
 
 £ need not, however, enter further into this brancli of the 
 subject, as it has but a very remote bearing upon the teachings of 
 tlie Bhagavad Gita with which I am concerned. Suffice it to 
 say, that what has been stated is all that ordinarily takes place 
 -at the death of a man, but ^there are certain kinds of karma 
 which may present exceptions to the general law. Suppose, 
 for instance, a man has devoted all his life to the evocation of 
 elementals. In such a case either the elementals take possession 
 of the man and make a medium of him, or, if they do not 
 do that completely, they take possession of his astral body and 
 absorb it at the time of death. In the latter case the astral body, 
 associated as it is with an independent elemental being, will 
 subsist for a considerable length of time. But thoucrh elemen- 
 tal worship may lead to mediumship — to irresponsible medium- 
 ship in the majority of cases — and may confuse a man's intellect, 
 and make him morally worse than he was before, these elementals 
 will not be able to destroy the karana sarira. Still it is by no 
 means a desirable thing, that we should place ourselves under 
 the control of elementals. 
 
 There is another kind of worship, however, which a man may 
 follow, and which may lead to far more serious results. What 
 may happen to the astral body, may also happen to the karana 
 sarira. The karana sarira bears the same relation to the Devas 
 in Siuargam that the astral body does to the elementals on the 
 astral plane. In this Devaloka there are beings, or entities, 
 sojne vicious and some good, and, if a man who wishes to evoke 
 these powers were to fix his attention upon them, he might in 
 course of time attract these powers to himself, and it is quite 
 possible that when the force generated by the concentration of 
 his attention upon these beings attains a certain amount of 
 strength, the karana sarira may be absorbed into one of these 
 DevaSj just as the astral body may be absorbed into an elemental. 
 
NOTES ON THE BHAGAVAD GITA. 81 
 
 This is a far more serious result than any that can htippen 
 to man in the case of elemental worship, for the simple reason 
 that he has no more prospect of reaching the Logos. 
 
 The whole of his individuality is absorbed into one of these 
 beings, and it will subsist as long as that being exists, and noloBiger. 
 When cosmic pralaya comes it will be dissolved, as all these 
 heinors will be dissolved. For him there is no immortality. He 
 may indeed have life for millions of years, but what are millions 
 of years to immortality? You will recollect that it is said in 
 Mr. Sinnett's book, that there is such a thing as immortality in 
 evil. The statement, as it stands, is no doubt an exaggeration. 
 "\Yhat Mr. Sinnett meant to say was, that, when those who follow 
 the left-hand path evoke certain powers which are wicked in their 
 nature, they may transfer their own individualities to those 
 powers, and subsist in them until the time of cosmic pralaya 
 These would then become formidable powers in the cosmos, and, 
 would interfere to a considerable extent in the affairs of mankind, 
 and even prove fiir more troublesome, so far as humanity is 
 concerned, than the genuine powers themselves on account of the 
 association of a human individuality with one of these powers. 
 It was for this reason that all great reliorions have inculcated the 
 great truth, that man should not, for the sake of gain or profit, or 
 for the acquisition of any object, however tempting for the time 
 being, worship any such powers, but should wholly devote his 
 attention and wors;hip to the one true Logos accepted by every 
 true and great religion in the world, as that alone can lead a man 
 safely along the true moral path, and enable him to rise higher 
 and higher, until he lives in it as an immortal being, as the 
 manifested Eswara of the cosmos, and as the source, if necessary, 
 of spiritual enlightenment to generations to come. 
 
 It is towards this em\^ which may be hastened in certain 
 cases, that all evolution is tendiiio-. The one great power, that 
 
32 NOTES ON THE BHAGAVAD (?ITA. 
 
 is as it were guiding the whole course of evolution, leading 
 nature on towards its goal, so to speak, is the light of the Logos, 
 The Logos is as it were the pattern, and emanating from it is 
 this light of life. It goes forth into the world with this pattern 
 imprinted upon it, and, after going through the whole cycle of 
 evolution, it tries to return to the Logos whence it had its rise. 
 Evolutionary progress is effected by the continual perfecting of 
 the Upadhij or organism through which this light works. In 
 itself it has no need of improvement. What is perfected is, 
 neither the Logos, nor the light of the Logos, but the Upadhi 
 or physical frame through which this light is acting. I have 
 already said that it is upon the purity and nature of this 
 Upadhi, that the manifested clearness and refulgence of the 
 Logos mainly depends. As time goes on, man's intelligence on 
 the spiritual, astral and physical planes will become more and 
 more perfect, as the Upadhis are perfected, until a certain point 
 is reached when he will be enabled to make the final attempt to 
 perceive and recognise his Logos, unless he chooses to wilfully 
 shut his eyes, and prefers perdition to immortality. It is to- 
 wards this end that nature is workinor. 
 
 o 
 
 I have pointed out the fact that there are certain cases which 
 may cause a disturbance in the general progress, and I have 
 mentioned the causes that may facilitate that progress. All the 
 initiations that man ever invented were invented for the purpose 
 of giving men a clear idea of the Logos, to point out the goal, and 
 to lay down rules by which it is possible to facilitate the approach 
 to the end towards which nature is constantly working. 
 
 These are the premises from which Krishna starts. Whethe 
 by express statements, or by necessary implications, all these 
 propositions are present in this book, and, taking his stand on 
 these fundamental propositions, Krishna proceeds to construct 
 his practical theory of life. 
 
NOTES ON THE BHAGAVAD GlTA. SB 
 
 In stating this theory I have not made any reference to 
 particular joassages in the Bhagavad Gita. By constantly 
 turning to the detached passages in which [these propositions 
 are expressed or implied, I should have only created confusion, 
 it therefore seemed better to begin by stating the theory in my 
 own language, in order to give you a connected idea of it as a 
 whole. I do not think it will be allowed by every follower of 
 every religion in India, that these are the propositions from 
 which Krishna started. The theory has been misunderstood by 
 a considerable number of philosphers, and, in course of time^ 
 the speculations of the Sankhyas have introduced a source of 
 . error, which has exercised a most important influence on the 
 development of Hindu philosophy. There is not however the 
 slightest doubt in my own mind, that what I have said includes 
 the basis of the real Vedantic philosophy. Having but little 
 time at my command I have thought it unnecessary to cite 
 authorities : had I done so it would have taken me not three 
 days, but three years, to explain the philosophy of the Bhagavad 
 Gita. I shall leave it to you to examine these propositions and 
 to carefully ascertain how far they seem to underlie, not merely 
 Hinduism, but Buddhism, the ancient philosophies of the 
 Egyptians and the Chaldeans, the speculations of the Rosi- 
 crucians, and almost every other system having the remotest 
 connection with occultism from times long antecedent to the 
 so-called historic periods. 
 
 1 will now turn to the book itself : 
 
 Krishna is generally supposed to be an Avatar. This theory 
 of Avatars plays a very important part in Hindu philosophy ; 
 and, unless it is properly understood, it is likely that great 
 misconceptions will arise from the acceptance of the current 
 views regarding this Avatar. It is generally supposed that 
 Krishna is the Avatar of the one great personal God who exists 
 
34 NOTES ON THB BHAGAVAD GITA. 
 
 in the cosmos. Of course those who hold this view make no 
 attempt to explain how this one great personal God succeeded 
 in setting up an intimate connection with the physical body of 
 Krishna, constituted as the physical body of every man is, or 
 even with a personality, or human individuality, that seems to 
 be precisely similar to that of any other human being. And 
 how are we to explain the theory of Avatars, as generally stated 
 with reference to the view of this particular Avatar to which I 
 have referred ? This view is without any support. The Logos 
 in itself is not the one personal God of the cosmos. The great, 
 Parahrahmam behind it is indeed one and niramsa undifferent- 
 iated and eternally existing, but that Parahrahnam can never 
 manifest itself as any of these Avatars. It does, of coui-se, 
 manifest itself in a peculiar way as the whole cosmos, or rather 
 as the supposed basin, or the one essence, on which the whole 
 cosmos seems to be superimposed, the one foundation for every 
 existence. But it can manifest itself in a manner approaching 
 the conception of a personal God, only when it manifests itself 
 as the Logos, If Avatars are possible at all, they can only be 
 so with reference to the Logos, or Eswara, and not by any 
 means with reference to what I have called Parahrahmam, 
 But still there remains the question, what is an Avatar ? Ac- 
 cording to the general theory I have laid down, in the case of 
 every man who becomes a Mukta there is a union with the 
 Logos. It may be conceived, either as the soul being raised to 
 the Logos, or as the Logos descending from its high plane to 
 associate itself with the soul. In the generality of cases, this 
 association of the soul with the Logos is only completed after 
 death — the last death which that individual has to go through. 
 
 But in some special cases the Logos does descend to the plane 
 of the soul and associate itself with the soul during the life-timo 
 of the individual ; but these cases are very rare. In the case 
 
NOTES ON THE BHAaAVAP QITA. 35 
 
 of such beings, while they still exist as ordinary men on the 
 physical plane, instead of having for their soul merely the re- 
 flection of the Logos, they have the Logos itself. Such beings 
 have appeared. Buddhists say, that in the case of Buddha 
 there was this permanent union, when he attained what they 
 call Para-nirvana nearly twenty years before the death of his 
 physical body. Christians say, that the Logos was made flesh, 
 as it were, and was born as Christ — as Jesus — though the 
 Christians do not go into a clear analysis of the propositions 
 they lay down. There are, however, certain sections of Christ- 
 ians, who take a more philosophical view of the question, 
 and say that the divine Logos associated itself with the man 
 named Jesus at some time during his career, and that it was 
 only after that union he began to perform his miracles and 
 show his power as a great reformer and saviour of mankind. 
 
 Whether this union took place as a special case in the case of 
 Jesus, or whether it was such a union as would take place in 
 the case of every Mahatma or Maharishi when he becomes a 
 Jivanmukta, we cannot say, unless we know a great deal more 
 about him than what the Bible can teach us. In the case of 
 Krishna the same question arises. Mahavishun is a God, and 
 is a representative of the Logos ; he is considered as the Logos 
 by the majority of Hindus. From this it must not however be 
 inferred that there is but one Logos in the cosmos, or even that 
 but one form of Logos is possible in the cosmos. For the pi-e- 
 sent I am only concerned with this form of the Logos, and it 
 seems to bo the foundation of the teachings we are considering. 
 
 There are two views which you can take with reference to 
 such human Avatars, as for instance, Rama, Krishna, and 
 Parasurama. Some Vaishnavites deny that Buddha was an 
 -4 m^a?* of Vishnu. But that was an exceptional case and is 
 very little understood by eithor Vaishnavites or Buddhists 
 
36 NOTES ON THE BHAGAVAD GITA. 
 
 Parasiirama's Avatar will certainly be disputed by some 
 writers. I believe that, looking at the terrible things he did, 
 the Madwas thought that, in the case of Parasurama, there was 
 no real Avatar, but a mere over-shadowing of the man ])y 
 Mahavishnu. But, setting aside disputed cases,we have two. 
 undisputed human Avatars — Kama and Krishna. 
 
 Take for instance the case of Krishna. In this case two 
 views are possible. We may suppose that Krishna, as an in- 
 dividual, was a man who had been evoluting for millions of 
 years, and had attained great spiritual perfection, and that in 
 the course of his spiritual progress the Logos descended to him 
 and associated itself with his soul. In that case it is not the 
 Logos that manifested itself as Krishna, but Krishna who 
 raised himself to the position of the Logos. In the case of a 
 Mahatma who becomes a Jivanmukta, it is his soul, as it were 
 that is transformed into the Logos, In the case of a Logos 
 descending into a man, it does so, not chiefly by reason of that 
 man's spiritual perfection, but for some ulterior purpose of its 
 «wn for the benefit of humanity. In this case it is the Logos 
 that descends to the plane of the soul and manifests its energy 
 in and though the soul, and not the soul that ascends to the 
 plane of the Logos. 
 
 Theoretically it is possible for us to entertain either of these 
 two views. But there is one difiiculity. If we are at liberty 
 to call that man an Avatar who becomes a Jivajimukta, we 
 shall be obliged to call Sukn, Vasishta, Thurvasa and perhaps 
 the whole number of the Maharishis who have become Jican- 
 muJdas Avatars ; but they are not generally called Avatars. 
 Ko doubt some great Rishis are enumerated in the list of 
 Avatars, given for instance in Bhagavad, but somehow no clear 
 explanation is given for the fact that the ten Avatars ordinarily 
 enumerated are looked upon as the Avatars of Mahavishnu, and 
 
NOTES ON THE BHAGAVA1> GITA. 37 
 
 the others as his manifestations, or beings in whom his light 
 and knowledge were placed for the time being ; or for some rea- 
 son or other, these others are not supposed to be Avatars in the 
 strict sense of the word. But, if these are not jhatars, then 
 we shall have to suppose that Krishna and Rama are called 
 Avatars J not because we have in them an instance of a soul 
 that had become a Jivaninukta and so become associated with 
 the Logos, but because the Logos descended to the plane of the 
 soul, and, associating itself with the soul, worked in ami 
 through it on the plane of humanity for some great thing that 
 had to be done in the world. I believe this latter view will be 
 found to be correct on examination. Our respect for Krishna 
 need not in any way be lessened on that account. The real 
 Krishna is not the man in and through whom the Logos appear- 
 ed, but the Logos itself. Perhaps our respect will only be en- 
 hanced, when we see that this is the case of the Logos descend- 
 ing into a human being for the good of humanity. It is not 
 encumbered with any particular individuality in such a case 
 and has perhaps greater power to exert itself for the purpose, 
 of doing good to humanity — not merely for the purpose of 
 doing good to one man, but for the purpose of saving millions. 
 There are two dark passages in Mahabharata, which will be 
 found ver}^ hard nuts for the advocates of the orthodox theory 
 to crack. To begin with Eama. Suppose Rama was not the 
 individual monad plus the Logos but in some nnaccountable 
 manner the Logos made flesh. Then, when the physical body 
 disappeared there should be nothing remaining but the Logos — 
 there should be no individual ego to follow its own course. That 
 seems to be the inevitable result, if we are to accept the orthodox 
 theory. But there is a statement made by Narada in the Loka- 
 pala Sablia V;irnana, in Mahabharata, in which he says, speaking 
 of the court of Yama, who is one of the JJevas, that Dasaratha 
 
38 NOTES ON THE BHAaAVAD GITA. 
 
 Hama. was one of the individuals present there. Now, if the 
 individual Rama was meiely a Maya — not in the sense in which 
 every human being is a Maya^ but in a special sense — there is 
 not the slightest reason why he should subsist after the purpose 
 for which this Maya garb was wanted was accomplished. It is 
 stated in Ramayana, that the Logos went to its place of abode 
 when Rama died, yet we find in Mahabharata Dasaratha Rama 
 mentioned together with a number of other kings, as an indivi- 
 dual present in YamaloJca, which, at the highest, takes us only up 
 to JDevachan. This assertion becomes perfectly consistent with 
 the theory I have laid down, if that is properly understood. Rama 
 was an individual, constituted like every other man. Probably 
 he had had several incarnations before, and was destined, even 
 after his one great incarnation, to have several subsequent births. 
 When he appeared as Rama Avatar, it was not Rama's soul 
 transformed into the Logos, or rather Rama himself as Jivan- 
 mukta, that did all the great deeds narrated in the Ramayana — 
 allegorical as it is, — but it was the Logos, or Mahavishnu, that 
 descended to the plane of the soul and associated itself for the 
 time being with a particular soul for the purpose of acting through 
 it. Again, in the case of Krishna there is a similar difficulty to 
 be encountered. Turn for instance to the end of the Mousala 
 Parva in the Mahabharata, where you will find a curious passage. 
 Speaking of Krishna's death, the author says that the soul went 
 to heaven — which corresponds to I) evachanwYi^Ye it was received 
 with due honors by all the Devas. Then it is said, that Narayana 
 departed from that place to his own place, Narayana being 
 the symbol of the Logos. Immediately after there follows a stanza 
 describing the existence of Krishna in Sivar-gam, and further 
 on we find that when Dharmaraja's soul went into Swargam 
 he found Krishna there. How are these two statements to be 
 reconciled I Unless we suppose that Narayan, whose energy and 
 
NOTES ON THE BHAGAVAD GITA, 39 
 
 ■wisdom >vere manifested throTigh the man Krishna, was a separate 
 spiritual power manifesting itself for the time being through 
 this individual, there is no solution of the difficulty. Now^ 
 from these two statements we shall not be far wrong in 
 inferring that the Avatars we are speaking of, were the mani- 
 festations of one and the same power, the Logos, which the 
 great Hindu writers of old called Mahavishnu. Who then is 
 this Mahavishnu? Why should this Logos in particular, if there 
 are several other Logos in the universe, take upon itself tho 
 care of humanity, and manifest itself in tho form of various 
 Avatars ; and further, is it possible for every other adept, after 
 he becomes associated with the Logos, to descend as an Avatar 
 in the same manner for the good of humanity ? 
 
 A clear discussion of these questions will lead into consider- 
 ations that go far down into the mysteries of occult science, and 
 to explain which clearly I should have to take into account a 
 number of theories that can only be communicated at the time 
 of initiation. Possibly some light will be thrown upon the 
 subject in the forthcoming " Secret Doctrine " but it would be 
 premature for me to discuss the question at this stage. It will 
 be sufficient for me to say, that this Mahavishnu seems to be tho 
 Dhyan Chohan that first appeared on this planet when human 
 evolution commenced during this Kalpa, who set the evolutionary 
 progress in motion, and whose duty it is to watch over the 
 interests of mankind until the seven Manwahtara through 
 which we are passing, are over. 
 
 It may be that this Logos itself was associated with a jivan- 
 muJcta, or a great Mahatma of a former Kalpa. However that 
 may be, it is a Logos, and as Huch only it is of importance to us 
 at present. Perhaps in former Kalpas, of which there have been 
 millions, that Logos might have associated itself with a series of 
 Mahatma, and all their individualities might have been subsisting 
 
40 NOTES ON THE BTIAOAVAD GITA. 
 
 in it; nevertheless it has a distinct individuah'ty of his own, it is 
 Eswara, and it is only as a Logos in the abstract that we have to 
 consider it from present purpose. This explanation, however, I 
 liave thouo-ht it necessary to <rive, for the purpose of enabling 3-0U 
 to understand certain statements made by Krishna, which will- 
 not become intelligible unless read in connection with what I have 
 said. 
 
 III. 
 
 In this lecture I shall consider the premises I have laid do-WB 
 with special reference to the various passages in which they 
 seem to be indicated in this book. 
 
 It will be remembered that I started with the very first caiise, 
 which I called Farabrahmam. Any positive definition of this 
 principle is of course impossible, and a negative definition is all 
 that can be attempted from the very nature of the case. It is 
 generally believed, at any rate by a certain class of j)hilosopherSy 
 that Krishna himself is Parahrahmam — that he is the personal 
 God who is Parahrahmam — , but the words used by Krishna 
 in speaking of Parahrahmam,, and the way in which he deals- 
 with the subject, clearly show that he draws a distinction 
 between himself and Parahrahmam, 
 
 No doubt he is a manifestation of Parahrahmam, as every 
 Logos is. And Pratyagatma is Parahrahmam in the sense in 
 which that proposition is laid down by the Adwaitis. This state- 
 ment is at the bottom of all Adwaiti philosophy, but is very 
 often misunderstood. When Adwaitis say ''^ Aham eva Parahror- 
 htnam,'^ they do not mean to say that this ahafikaram (egotism) 
 is Parahrahmam, but that the only true self in the cosinos 
 which is the Logoi^ or Pratyagatma, is a manifestation of 
 Parahrahmam, 
 
NOTES ON THE BHAGAVAD GITA. 41 
 
 It will be noticed that when Krishna is speaking of himself 
 he never uses the word Parabrahmam^ but places himself in the 
 position oi pratyagatmcb and it is from this standpoint that we 
 constantly find him speaking. Whenever he speaks of Pra-- 
 tyagatma^ he speaks of himself, and whenever he speaks of ^ara- 
 IraJimamj he speaks of it as being something different from 
 himself. 
 
 I will now go through all the passages in which reference is 
 made to Parabrahmam in this book. The first passage to which 
 I shall call your attention is chapter viii, verse 3: — 
 
 " The eternal spirit is the Supreme Brahma. Its condition as Pratyag- 
 at ma is called Adhyatma, Action which leads to incarnated existence ia 
 denoted by Karma." 
 
 Here the only words used to denote Parah^aJimani are Aksha- 
 ram and Brahma. These are the words he generally uses. You 
 will notice that he does not in any place call it Eswara or Ma- 
 heswara; he does not even allude to it often as Atma. Even the 
 term Paramatma he applies to himself, and not to Parabrahmam , 
 I believe that the reason for this is that the word Atma, strictly 
 speaking, means the same thing as self, that idea of self being 
 in no way connected with Parabrahmam. This idea of self 
 first comes into existence with the Logos, and not before ; hence 
 Parabrahmam ought not to be called Paramatma or any kind 
 of Atma. In one place only Krishna, speaking of Parabrah- 
 7)iam, says that it is his Atma. Except in that case he nowhere 
 uses the worok Atina or Paramatma in speaking of Parabrah- 
 mam. Strictly speaking Parabrahmam is the very foundation 
 of the highest self. ParamatVfia is however a term also applied 
 to Parabrahmam as distinguished from Pratyagatma. When 
 thus applied it is used in a strictly technical sense. Whenever 
 the term Pratyagatma is used, you will find Paramatma used 
 as expressing something distinct from it. 
 
42 NOTES ON THE BHAGAVAD GITA. 
 
 it must not be supposed that either the ego, or any idea of 
 self, can be associated with, or be considered as inlierent in 
 Parabrahmam. Perhaps it may be said that the idea of self • 
 is latent in Parabrahmam, as everything is latent in it ; and, if 
 on that account you connect the idea of self with Parabrahmam 
 you will 1)0 quite justified in applying the term Paramatina to 
 ParahraJimam. But to avoid confusion it is much better to 
 use our words in a clear sense, and to give to each a distinct 
 connotation about which there can be no dispute. Turn now 
 to chapter viii, verse 11 : — 
 
 "I will briefly explain to thee that i^Iace (padam), which those who know 
 the Vedas describe as indestructible ( aksharam), which the ascetics, who, 
 are free from desire, enter, and which is the desired destination of those who 
 observe Brahniacharyam.*' 
 
 Here we find another word used by Krishna when speaking 
 of Parabrahmam, He calls it his padam — the ahode of bliss, or 
 Nirvana, When he calls Parabrahmatii his padatn or abode, 
 he does not mean vaikuntha loha or any other kind of loka ; 
 he speaks of it as his abode, because it is in the bosom of Para- 
 brahmam that the Logos resides. He refers to Parabrahmam 
 as the abode of bliss, wherein resides eternally the Logos, mani- 
 fested or Junmanifested. Again turn to chapter viii, verse 
 21 ;- 
 
 " That which is stated to be immanifested and immutable is spoken of as 
 the highest condition to be reached. That place from which there is no 
 return for those who reach it is my supreme abode." 
 
 Here the same kind of language is used, and the reference is 
 to Parabrahmam. When any soul is absorbed into the Logos^ 
 or reaches the Logos, it may be said to have reached Parabrah- 
 mam, which is the centre of the Logos ; and as the Logos re- 
 sides in the bosom of Parabrahmam, when the soul reaches 
 the Logos it reaches Parabrahmam also. 
 
NOTES ON THE BHAGAVAD GITA. 43 
 
 Here yon will notice that ho again speaks of Parahrahmam 
 as his abode. 
 
 Turn now to chapter ix, verses 4, 5 and 6 : — 
 
 "The whole of this Universe is pervaded by me in my unmanifested 
 form {Avyahtaiiioorti). I am thus the support of all the manifested 
 existence, but I am not supported by them." Look at my condition when 
 manifested as Esirara (Lorjoa) : these phenomenal manifestations are not 
 within me. My Atma (however j is the foundation and the origin of mani- 
 fested beings, though it does not exist in combination with them. Conceive' 
 that all the manifested beings are within me, just as the atmosphere spread- 
 ing everj^-where is always in space." 
 
 ^ In my last lecture I tried to explain the mysterious connect- 
 ion between Parahrahmaiii and Mulaprakrlti, Parabrahna'm, 
 is never differentiated. What is differentiated is Mulaprakrlti^ 
 which is sometimes called Avt/aktain, and in other places ► 
 Kutastham, which means simply the undifferentiated Element. 
 Nevertheless Parahrahmam seems to be the one foundation 
 for all physical phenomena, or for all phenomena that are 
 generally referred to Mulaprahriti. After all, any material 
 object is nothing more than a bundle of attributes to us. Either 
 on account of an innate propensity within us or as a matter 
 of inference, we always suppose that there is a non-ego, which 
 has this l>undle of attributes superimposed upon it, and which 
 is the basis of all these attributes. Were it not for this essence^ 
 there could be no physical body. But these attributes do not 
 spring from Parahrahmam itself, but from Mulaprakrlti 
 which is its veil, Mulaprakntl is tiie veil of Parahrahmam. 
 It is not Parahrahmam itself, but merely its appearance. It 
 is purely phenomenal. It is no doubt far more persistent than 
 any other kind of objective existence. Being the first mode or 
 manifestation of the only absolute and unconditioned reality 
 it seems to be the basis of all subsequent manifestations. Speak- 
 
44 NOTES ON THE BHAGAVAD (ilTA, 
 
 ingof this aspect o^ Pardbrahmam, Krisliim says that tlie whole 
 cosmos is pervaded bv it, which is his Avyakta form. 
 
 Thus he speaks of Parabi^ahnamashis Avt/aktamoorii, ])ocanso 
 Parabralnnam is unknowable, and only becomes knowable Avheu 
 manifesting itself as the Logos or Eswara. Here he is trying 
 to indicate that Parahrahmam is the Avyaktamoorti of the Logos 
 as it is the Atma of the Logos, which is everywhere present, 
 since it is the Atma of the imiverse, and which ap})ears differ- 
 entiated, — when manifested in the shape of the various Logos 
 working in the cosmos, though in itself it is undifferentiated — , 
 and which, though the basis of all phenomenal manifestations, 
 does not partake of the viharanis of those phenomenal mani-' 
 festations. 
 
 Refer now to chapter xii, verses 13, 14, 15, 10, and IT.* 
 
 Here again, in speaking of Parahrahmam in verses 15, IG, 
 and 17, Krishna is laying down a proposition which I have 
 already explained at length. I need not now go minutely into 
 the meaning of these verses, for you can very easily ascertain 
 them from the commentaries. 
 
 Turn to chapter xiv, verse 27 :- - 
 
 " I am the image or the seat of the immortal and indestructible Brahmama 
 of eternal law and of undisturbed happiness." 
 
 Here Krishna is referring to himself as a manifestation or 
 image of Parahrahmavi, He says he is the Pratishfa of Para" 
 hrahnain ; he does not call himself Parahrahmam^ but only 
 its image or manifestation. 
 
 The only other psssago in which Krishna refers to the same sub- 
 ject is chapter xv, verse 6 : — 
 
 " That is my supreme abode (dhama)^\\]\\ch. neither sun, nor moon, nor 
 fire illumines. Those who enter it do not return." 
 
 * This and some of the other quotations have been omitted Qn account of 
 their length. — Ed 
 
NOTES ON THIS BHAGAVAD GITA* 45 
 
 There again he sjxaks o^ padam and refers to F arahrahmam 
 as his alode. I believe that tliese arc all the statements 
 that refer to Parahrahmam in this hook, and they are snfHcient 
 to indicate its position pretty clearly, and to show the nature 
 of its connection with the Logos. I shall now proceed to point 
 ont the passages in which reference is made to the Lo(jos itself. 
 
 Strictly speaking the whole of this hook may be called the 
 book of the philosophy of the Lor/os. There is hardly a page 
 which does not directcly or indirectly refer to it. There are 
 however a few important and significant passages, to which it is 
 desirable that I should refer you, so that you may see whether 
 • what I have said about the nature and functions of the Logos; 
 and its connection with humanity and the human soul, is sup- 
 ported by the teachings of this book. Let us turn to chapter iv, 
 and examine the meaning of verses 5 to 11 : — 
 
 " Arjuna, I and thou have passed through many births. I know all of 
 them, but thou dost not know, harasser of foes. 
 
 " Even I,who am unborn, imperishable, the Lord of all beings, controlling 
 my own nature, take birth through the instrumentality of my >nai/a. 
 
 " Bharata, whenever there is a decline of dharma or righteousness and 
 spread of adhanua or unrighteousness, I create myself. 
 
 " I take birth in every yuga^ to protect the good, to destroy evil-doers 
 and to re-establish dharma. 
 
 " Arjuna, he who understands truly my divine birth and action, 
 abandoning his body, reaches me, and does not come to birth again. 
 
 " Many, who are free from passion, fear and anger, devoted to me and full 
 of me, purified by spiritual wisdom, have attained my condition." 
 
 This passage refers, of course, not only to the Logos in the 
 abstract, but also to Krishna's own incarnations. It will be 
 noticed that he speaks here as if his Logos had already associa- 
 ted itself with several personalities, or human indvidualities, in 
 former yugas ; and he says that he remendjers all that took 
 place in coijnectiou with those incarnations. Of course, since 
 
4G NOTES ON THE BHAGAVAD GITA. 
 
 there could be no karmahandham as far as he was concerned, 
 h\s Logos y when it asociated itself with a human soul, would 
 not lose its own independence of action, as a soul confined by 
 the bonds of matter. And because his intellect and wisdom 
 were in no way clouded by this association with a human sonb 
 he says he can recollect all his previous incarnations, while 
 Arjuna, not yet having fully received the light of the Logos is 
 not in a position to understand all that took place in connection 
 with his former ])irths. He says that it is his object to look 
 after the welfare of humanity, and that whenever a special in- 
 carnation is necessary, he unites himself with the soul of a 
 particular individual ; and that he appears in various forms for, 
 the purpose of establishing dharma^ and of rectifying matters on 
 the plane of human life, H adharma gets the ascendancv. From 
 the words he uses there is reason to suppose that the number of 
 his own incarnations has been very great, more so than our 
 books are willing to admit. He a])parenlty refers to human 
 incarnations; \i i\\Q janmas or incarnations referred to are simply 
 the recognised human incarnations of Vishnu, there would per- 
 haps be only two incarnations before Krishna, Kama and Par- 
 asurama, for the Mafsf/a, Koorma, Varaha and Narasinha 
 Avatars were not, strictly speaking, human incarnations. Even 
 Vamana was not born oi' human father or mother. 
 
 The mysteries of these incarnations lie deep in the inner 
 sanctuaries of the ancient arcane science, and can only be under- 
 stood by unveiling certain hidden truths. The human incarna- 
 tions can however be understood by the reniarks I have already 
 made. It may be that this L^ogos, which has taken u})on itself 
 the Ciire of humanity, has incarnated not merely in connection with 
 two individuals whose history we see narrated in the Ramayana 
 and the Mahabharata, but also perhaps in connection with 
 various individuals who have api)eared in different parts of the 
 
NOTES ON THE BHAGAVAD GITA. 47 
 
 %vorld and at different times as great reformers and saviours of 
 mankind. 
 
 Again, these janmams might not only include all the special 
 incarnations which this Logos has undergone, but might also 
 perhaps include all the incarnations of that individual, who in 
 the course of his spiritual progress finally joined himself, or 
 united his soul with the Logos, which has been figuring as the 
 guardian angel, so to speak, of the best and the highest interests 
 of humanity on this planet. 
 
 In this connection there is a great truth that I ought to bring 
 to your notice. Whenever any particular individual reaches the 
 .highest state of spiritual culture, developes in himself all the 
 virtues that alone entitle him to an union with the Logos, and 
 finally, unites his soul with the Logos, there is as it were, a sort 
 of reaction emanating from that Logos for the good of humanity. 
 If I am permitted to use a simile, I may compare it to what may 
 happen in the case of the sun when a comet fiills upon it. If a 
 €omet falls upon the sun, there is necessarily an accession of 
 heat and light. So, in the case of a human being who has de- 
 veloped an unselfish love for humanity in himself. He unites 
 his highest qualities with the Logos, and, when the time of the 
 final union comes, generates in it an impulse to incarnate for the 
 good of humanity. Even when it does riot actually incarnate, it 
 sends down its influence for the good of mankind. This influence 
 may be conceived as invisible spiritual grace that descends from 
 heaven, and it is showered down upon humanity, as it were, 
 whenever any great Mahatma unites his soul with the Logos, 
 Every Mahatma who joins his soul with the Logos is thus a 
 source of immense power for the good of humanity in after 
 generations. It is said that the Mahatmas, living as they are 
 apart from the world, are utterly useless so far as humanity is 
 concerned when they are still living, and are still more so when 
 
48 NOTES ON THE BIIAGAVAD GITA. 
 
 they have reached Nirvana, This is an ahsurd proposition that 
 has been put forward by certain writers who did not compre- 
 hend the true nature of Nirvana. The truth is, as I have said, 
 every purified soul joined with the Logos is capable of stimulat- 
 ing the energy of the Logos in a particular direction. I do not 
 mean to say that in tlie scase of ever}^ Mahatma there is neces- 
 sarily any tendency to incarnate for the purpose of teaching 
 dharma to mankind — in special cases this may happen — . but 
 in all cases there is an influence of the highest spiritual efficacy 
 coming down from the Logos for the good of humanity, whether 
 as an invisible essence, or in the shape of another human incarna- 
 tion, as in the case of Krishna, or rather the Logos with reference 
 to which we have been speaking of Krishna. It might be 
 that this Logos, that seems to have incarnated already on this 
 planet among various nations for the good of humanity, was 
 that into which the soul of a great Mahatma of a former kalpd 
 was finally absorbed ; that the impulse which was thus communi- 
 cated to it has been acting, as it were, to make it incarnate and 
 re-incarnate during the present kalpa for the good of mankind. 
 In this connection I must frankly tell you, that beyond the 
 mystery I have indicated there is yet another mystery in con- 
 nection with Krishna and all the incarnations mentioned in this 
 book, and that mystery goes to the very root of all occult science. 
 Rather than attempt to give an imperfect explanation, I think it 
 much better to lose sight of this part of the subject, and pro- 
 ceed to explain the teachings of this book, as if Krishna is not 
 speaking from the stand-point of any particular Logos, but from 
 that of the Logos in the abstract. So far as the general tenour 
 of this book is concerned, it would suit any other Logos as well 
 as that of Krishna, but there are few scattered passages, that 
 when explained will be found to possess a special significance 
 ^•ith reference to this mystery which they do not possess now. 
 
KOTliS ON Tim BlUaAVAD GITA. 49 
 
 An attempt will be made in the ^^ Secret Doctrine" to indieato 
 the nature of this mystery as far as possible, but it must not be 
 imagined that the veil will be completely drawn, and that the 
 whole mystery will be reveale 1. Only hints will be given by the 
 help of which you will have to examine and understand the sub- 
 ject. This matter is however foreign to my subject ; yet I have 
 thought it better to bring the fact to your notice lest you should 
 be misled. The whole philosophy of this book is the philosophy 
 gf the Logos. In general Christ or Buddha might have used the 
 same words as those of Krishna ; and what I have said about this 
 mystery only refers to some particular passages that seem to 
 touch upon the nature of Krishna's divine individuality. He 
 himself seems to think there is a mystery, as you may see from 
 .the 9th verse. 
 
 In the tenth verse " Mathhkavam" means the condition of the 
 Logos. Krishna says there have been several Mahatmas who 
 have become Eswaras, or have united their souls completely 
 with the Logos. 
 
 Turn now to chapter v, verses 14 and 15 : — 
 
 "The Lord of the world does not bring about or create karma or the con- 
 dition by which people attribute karma to themselves ; nor does he make 
 people feel the effects of their karma. It is the law of natural causation that 
 works. He does not take upon himself the sin or the merit of any one. Real 
 knowledge is smothered by delusion^ and hetlcfe created beings are misled." 
 
 Here he says that Eswara does not create karma, nor does he 
 create in individuals any desire to do karma. All karma, or 
 impulse to do karma, emanates from Mulaprakriti and its 
 ViJcarams, and not from the Logos, or the light that emanates 
 from the Logot. You must look upon this light or Fohat, as a 
 kind of energy eternally beneficent in its nature, as stated in 
 the *^ Idyll of the White Lotus." In itself it is not capable of 
 generating any tendencies that lead to bandharn; but ahankaram, 
 7 
 
50 NTOTJSS ON THB BHA^AVAD GITA. 
 
 and the desire to do karma, and all karma with its varioTis con- 
 sBquences come into existence by reason of the iipadhis which 
 are but the manifestations of that one Mulaprakriti. 
 
 Strictly and logically speaking, yoti will have to attribute 
 these results to both of these forces. Mulaprakriti will not act, 
 and is incapable of producing any result, unless energised by the 
 light of the Logos. Nevertheless, most of the results that pertain 
 to karma and the continued existence of man as the responsible 
 producer of karma are traceable to Mulaprakriti, and not to the 
 light that viiilizes it. We may therefore suppose that this 
 Mulaprakriti, is the real or principal handhakaranam, and this 
 light is the one instrument by which we may attain to union 
 with the Logos, which is the source of salvation. This light is 
 the foundation of the better side of human nature, and of all 
 those tendencies of action, which generally lead to liberation from 
 the bonds of avidya. 
 
 Turn to chapter vii, verses 4 and 5 : — 
 
 " My Prahriti {Midaprahriti) is divided into eight parts — earthy water, 
 fire, wind, ether, mind, intuition and egotism. This Prakriti is called 
 Aparaprakriti." 
 
 "Understand my Paraparakrit (Dahiprakriti^) as something distinct 
 from this. This Daiviprakriti is the one life by -w^hich the whole Universe 
 is supported." 
 
 Krishna in verse 5 distinguishes between this Daiviprakriti 
 and Faraknti. This Baivipraknti is, strictly speaking, th6 
 Mahachaitanyam of the whole cosmos, the one energy, or th6 
 only force from which spring all force manifestations. He says 
 you must look upon it as something different from the Prakriti 
 of the Sankhyas. 
 
 Turn now to chapter vii, verse 7 : — 
 " Dhanamjaya, there is nothing superior to me, and all this hangs on me as 
 ft row of gems on the string running through theni."' 
 
NOTES qN THE BIIAGAVAi:) GITA. 51 
 
 please notice tiiat in verses 4 and 5 Krishna i? referring to 
 two kinds of Prakriti, Of course that Prakrlti, which is differen- 
 tiated into the eight elements enumerated in Sankhya philosophy 
 is the avyahtam of the Sankhyas — it is the Mulaprakriti^ which 
 must not be confounded with the Daiviprakriti, which is the 
 light of the Logos, Conceive Mulapraknti as av'idya, an4 
 J)aiviprakriti, the light of the Logosy as vidya. These words 
 have other meanings also. In the Swetaswatara Upanishad 
 Esivara is described as the deity who controls both vidya 
 ftnd avldya. 
 
 Here Krishna seems to refer to all the qualities, or all the ex^ 
 'cellent qualities, manifested in every region of phenomenal 
 existence, as springing from himself. 
 
 No doubt the other qualities also or rather their ideal forms 
 originally spring from him, but they ought to be traced mainly 
 to Mulaprakriti, and not to himself. 
 
 1 will now refer you to verse 24 and the following verses of 
 the same chapter : ~ 
 
 ** The ignorant, who do not know my supreme and indestructible and beat 
 nature, regard me as a manifestation of avyahtam, 
 
 " Veiled by my yoga maya I am not visible to all. The deluded world 
 does not comprehend me, who am unborn and imperishable. 
 
 " I know, Arjuna, all beings, past, present, and future, but none know* 
 me." 
 
 In these verses Krishna is controvertinof a doctrine that has 
 unfortunately created a good deal of confusion. I have already 
 told you that the Sankhyas have taken their avyaktam, or rather 
 Parahrahmam veiled by Mulaprakriti, as Atma or the real self., 
 Their opinion was that this avyaktam took on a kind of pheno- 
 menal differentiation on account of association with upadhi, and 
 when this phenomenal differentiation took place, the avyaktam 
 became the Atma of the individual. They have thus altogether 
 
52 KOTKS ON THE BliAGAVAD GITA. 
 
 lost sight of the Logos. Startling consequences followed from 
 this doctrine. They thought that there being but one avjfaktam^ 
 one soul, or one spirit, that existed, in every upadhi, appearing dif- 
 ferentiated, though not differentiated in reality, if somehow we 
 could control the action of upadhi, and destroy the maya it had 
 ereated, the result would be the complete extinction of man's 
 self and a final layam in this avyaktam, Parahrahmam, It is 
 this doctrine that has spoilt the Adwaiti philosophy of this country, 
 that has brought the Buddhism of Ceylon, Burmah and China to 
 its present deplorable condition, and led so many Vedantid 
 writers to say that Nirvana was in reality a condition of perfect 
 layam or annihilation. 
 
 If those who say that Nirvana is annihilation are right, then, 
 so far as the individuality of the soul is concerned, it is comp- 
 letely annihilated, and what exists ultimately is not the soul, or 
 the individual however purified or exalted, but the one Fara- 
 hrahmarriy which has all along been existing, and that Para^ 
 hrahmam itself is a sort of unknowable essence which has no 
 idea of self, nor even an individual existence, but which is the 
 one power, the one mysterious basis of the whole cosmos. In 
 interpreting the Pranava, the Sankhyas made the ardhamatra 
 really mean this Avyaktam and nothing more. In some Upa- 
 nishads this ardhamatra is described as that which, appearing 
 differentiated is the soul of man. When this difierentation, 
 which is mainly due to the upadhi^ is destroyed, there is a layam 
 of Atma in Parabrahmam. This is also the view of a consider- 
 able number of persons in India, who called themselves Adwaitis. 
 It is also the view put forward as the correct Vedantic view. It 
 was certainly the view of the ancient Sankhyan philosophers, and 
 is the view of all those Buddhists who consider Nirvana to be the 
 layam of the soul in Pa/rahrahmam, 
 
KOTliiS ON TJITi BHAGAVAD GTTA. 53 
 
 After ronching karana earira there are two paths, both of 
 which lead to Parabrahmam, Karana sarira, you must know, 
 18 an upadhi ; it is material, that is to say, it is derived from 
 Mulaprakritiy but there is also acting in it, as its light and 
 energy the light from the Logos, or Daiviprahriti or Fohat. Now, 
 as I have said, there are two paths. When you reach Karana 
 Earira you can either confine your^attention to the upadhi and^ 
 tracing its genealogy up to Mulaprakriti^ViTTiy eat Parabrahmam 
 at the next step, or you may lose sight of the upadhi ^altogether y 
 and fix your attention solely upon the energy, or light, or life, that 
 is working within it. You may then try to trace its origin, travel- 
 ling along the ray till you reach its source, which is the Logo» 
 and from the standpoint of the Logos try to reach Parbrahmam, 
 
 Of these two paths a considerable number of modern Vedant^ 
 ists, and all Sankhyas and all Buddhists — except those who are 
 acquainted with the occult doctrine — have chosen the one that 
 leads to Mulaprakriti, hoping thus to reach Parabrahmam ulti- 
 mately. But in the view taken by these philosophers the Logos 
 and its light were completely lost sight of. Atmaf in their opi- 
 nion, is the differentiated appearance of this avyahtam and 
 nothinor more. 
 
 o 
 
 Now what is the result ? The differentiated appearance ceases 
 when the upadhi ceases to exist, and the thing that existed before 
 exists afterwards, and that thing is avyahtam, and beyond it 
 there is Parabrahmam. The individuality of man is completely 
 annihilated. Further, in such a case it would be simply absurd 
 to speak of Avatars, for they would then be impossible and out 
 of the question. How is it possible for Mahatmas, or adepts, to 
 help mankind in any possible way when once they have reached 
 this stage ? The Cingalese Buddhists have pushed this doctrine 
 to its logical conclusion. According to them Buddha is ex- 
 tinguished, and every man who follows hie doctrine will even- 
 
51 NOTES 0\ THE BIUGAVAp QITA. 
 
 tnally lose tlie individuality of his Atma } therefore they say 
 that the Tibetans are entirely mistaken in thinking that Buddha 
 has been overshadowing, or can overshadow any mortals ; since 
 the time he reached Paranirvana the soul of the man who waa 
 called Buddha has lost its individuality. Now I say that 
 Krishna protests against the doctrine which leads to such con- 
 sequences. 
 
 He says (verse 24) that such a view is wrong, and that those 
 who hold it do not understand his real position as the Logos or 
 Verhum, Moreover he tells us the reason why he is thus lost 
 sight of. He says it is so because he is always veiled by his 
 yoga maya. This yoga maya is his light. It is supposed that' 
 this light alone is visible, the centre from which it radiates 
 remaining always invisible. 
 
 As may naturally be expected this light is always seen mixed 
 lip, or in conjunction, with the Emanations of MulaprahitL 
 Hence Sankhyas have considered it to be an aspect of, or an 
 Emanation from Mulaprahnti, Avyaktam was in their opinion 
 the source, not only of matter, but of force also. 
 
 But according to Krishna this light is not to be traced to 
 avyaktam, but to a different source altogether, which source is 
 himself. But, as this source is altogether arupa and mysterious 
 and cannot be easily detected, it was supposed by these philo-^ 
 fiophers that there was nothing more in and behind this light, 
 except their avykatam its basis. But this light is the veil of 
 the Logos in the sense that the Shekinah of the Kabbalists is 
 supposed to be the veil of Adonai. Verily it is the Holy Ghost 
 that seems to form the flesh and blood of the divine Christ, 
 If the Logos were to manifest itself, even to the highest spiritual 
 perception of a human being, it would only be able to do so 
 cbtlie I in Ihi^ light vhicb forms its body, Se6 vhat Sankaa:a^^ 
 
NOTE.*^ ox Tim Blt^e^yAO filTA. 15 
 
 dmrra says in his Soundaryaluliari. Addressing the light ho 
 says :— *'You are the body of Sainbhu/' This light i8, as it weroj 
 a cloak, or a mask, with which the Lo^/os is enabled to make its 
 appearance. 
 
 The real centre of the light is not visible even to the highest 
 spiritual perception of man. It is this truth which is briefly 
 expressed in that priceless little book "Light on the Path/' 
 when it says (rule 12) t — ■" It is beyond you ; because when 
 yon reach it vou have lost yourself. It is unattainable because 
 it for ever recedes. You will enter the light, but you will 
 neVer touch the fiame." 
 
 • Yon t\-ill bear in mind the distinction that Krishna draws 
 between the unfortunate doctrine of the Sankhyas and others, 
 and thfe true theory \vhich he is endeavouring to inculcate, 
 because it leads to important consequences. Even now I may 
 j?ay that ninety per cent, of the Vedantic writers hold the view 
 which Krishna is trying to combat* 
 
 Turn now to chapter viii, and examine th6 meaning of verses 
 5 to 16. 
 
 In these passages Krishna lays down two propositions which 
 are of immense importance to humanity. First, he says that the 
 soul can reach and become finally assimilated with himself. 
 Nextj he says, that \vhen once he is reached there is no more 
 Punarjanmatn^ or rebirth, for the man who has succeeded iii 
 reaching him. 
 
 Against the latter proposition some objections have some- 
 times been raised. It is said that if the soul reaches the Logoi 
 and the spiritual individuality of the Logos is preserved, and 
 yet if the Logos has also to overshadow mortals from time to 
 time^ or have any connection with a human being living oii 
 earth, then the statement that A man who reaches the Logos 
 will have no Fuaarjanmam is untrue. But this objection 
 
§(> N0TEJ8 ON THE BHAaAVAD GITA* 
 
 arises ft'om a misunderstanding as to the nature of this nnhti 
 with the Logos. As far as we know, judging from our ordinary 
 experience, this individuality, this sense of Ego, which we havg 
 at present is a kind of fleeting entity changing from time to 
 time. Day after day the different experiences of man are 
 being stored up, and in a mysterious manner united into a 
 single individuality. Of course it seems to every man that he 
 has a definite individuality during the course of a particular 
 incarnation^ but the individuality of his Karaiia Sarira is 
 made up of several individualities like these. It must not bo 
 imagined that all the experiences that are connected with the 
 ■Various incarnations and . go to constitute their respective, 
 personalities are to be found in a kind of mechanical juxtaposi- 
 tion in the karana sarira. It is not so. Nature has a sort of 
 machinery by which it is able to reduce all these bundles of 
 experiences into a single self. Great as is this higher indivi- 
 duality of the human monad, there is an individuality over and 
 above this and far greater than it is. The Logos has an in- 
 dividnality of its own. When the soul rises to the Logos, all 
 that this latter takes from the soul is that portion of the soul's 
 individuality which is high and spiritual enough to live in the 
 individuality of the Logos ; just as the Karana Sarira makes 
 a choice between the various experiences of a man, and only 
 assimilates such portions thereof as belong to its own nature, 
 the Logos, when it unites itself with the soul of a man, only 
 takes from it that which is not repugnant to its nature. 
 
 But now see what changes take place in the consciousness of 
 the human being himself. The moment this union takes place, 
 the individual at once feels that he is himself the Logos, the 
 monad formed from whose light has been going through all 
 the experiences which he has now added to his individuality 
 In fact his own individuality is lost, and he becomes Endowed 
 
NOTES ON THE SHAGAVAl) CUTA. 57 
 
 with the original individuality of the Logos. Fromlthe stand- 
 point]of the Logos the case stands thus* The Logos throws, 
 out a kind of feeler, as it were, of its own light into varioua 
 organisms. This light vibrates along a series of incarnations 
 and whenever it produces spiritual tendencies, resulting in ex- 
 perience that is capable of being added to the individuality of 
 the Logos ^ the Logos assimilates that experience. Thus the 
 individuality of the man becomes the individuality of the Logos 
 and the human being united to the Log'oe thinks that this is 
 one of the innumerable spiritual individualities that he has 
 assimilated and united in himself, that self being composed 
 . of the experiences wdiich the Logos has accumulated, per- 
 haps from the beginning of time. That individual will 
 therefore never return to be born again on earth. Of course if 
 the Logos feels that It is born, whenever a new individual makes 
 his appearance having its light in him, then the individual who 
 has become assimilated with the Logos may no doubt be said | to 
 have punarjanmam. But the Logos does not suffer because its 
 light is never contaminated by the Vikarams of PrakritL 
 Krishna points out that he is simply Upadrislitha, a witness, 
 not personally interested in the result at all, excej)t when a 
 certain amount of spirituality is generated and the Mahatma is 
 sufficiently purified to assimilate his soul with the Logos, 
 Up to that time he says, *^ I have no personal concern, because 
 I simply watch as a disinterested witness. Because my light 
 appears in different organisms, I do not therefore suffer tlio 
 pains and sorrows that a man may have to bear. My spiritual 
 nature is in no way contaminated by the appearance of my light 
 in various organisms." One might just as well say that the 
 sun is defiled or rendered impure, because its light shines in 
 impure places. In like manner it cannot be true to say that 
 the Logos suffers. Therefore it is not the real soil' that foela 
 8 
 
58 NOTES ON THE BHAGAVAD GITA. 
 
 pleasure or pain, and when a man assimilates his soul with the 
 Logos^ he no longer suffers either the pains or pleasures of 
 human life. 
 
 Again when I speak of the light of the Logos permeating this 
 cosmos and vibrating in various incarnations, it does not neces- 
 sarily follow that a being who has gone to the Logos is incarnat- 
 ed again. He has then a well defined spiritual individuality of 
 his own, and though the Logos is Eswara, and its light is the 
 Chaitani/am of the universe, and though ihe Logos from time 
 to time assimilates with its own spiritual nature the purified 
 souls of various Mahatmag, and also overshadows certain indivi- 
 duals, still the Logos itself never suffers and has nothing like 
 Punarjanmam, in the proper sense of the word ; and a man 
 who is absorbed into it becomes an immortal, spiritual being, a 
 real LJswara in the cosmos, never to be reborn, and never again 
 to be subject to the pains and pleasure of human life. 
 
 It is only in this sense that you have to understand immorta- 
 lity. If unfortunately immortality is understood in the sense 
 in which it is explained by the modern Vedantic writers and by 
 the Cingalese Buddhists, it does not appear to be a very desir- 
 able object for man's aspirations. If it be true, as these teach, 
 that the individuality of man, instead of being ennobled and 
 preserved and developed into a spiritual power, is destroyed and 
 annihilated, then the word immortality becomes a meaningless 
 term. 
 
 I think I have the complete authority of Krishna for saying 
 that this theory is correct, and this I believe to be, though all 
 may not agree with me on this point, a correct statement of the 
 doctrine of Saukaracharya and Buddha. 
 
 Turn now to chapter ix, verse 11 : — 
 
 "The deluded, not knowing my supreme nature, despise me, the Lord 
 {Eswara) of all beings, when dwelling in a human body." 
 
NOTES ON THE BHAGAVAD GITA. 59 
 
 Here Krishna calls himself the real Eswara. Again in 
 verse 13 : — 
 
 " The Mahatmas devoted to Dalviprahriti, and knowinf^j me as the imperish- 
 able cause of all beings, worship me with their minds concentrated on me." 
 
 Here he refers to Daiviprahnti, between which and Mulapra- 
 Icriti he draws a clear distinction. By some however this 
 Daiviprakriti is looked upon as a thing to be shnnned, a force 
 that must be controlled. It is on the other hand a beneficent 
 energy, by taking advantage of which a man may reach its 
 centre and its source. 
 
 See verse 18 of the same chapter :— 
 
 " I am the refuge, the protector, the Lord, the witness, the abode, the 
 shelter, the friend, the source, the destruction, the place, the receptable, the 
 imperishable seed." 
 
 All these epithets applied by Krishna to himself, show that 
 he is speaking of himself in the same manner as Christ spoke of 
 himself, or as every great teacher, who was supposed to have 
 represented the Logoji for the time being on this planet, spoke 
 of himself. 
 
 Another very significant passage is verso 22 of the same 
 chapter : — 
 
 " I take interest in the welftire of those men, who worship me, and think 
 of me alone, with their attention always fixed on me." 
 
 1 have told you that in the generality of cases Krishna, or 
 the Logos, would simply be a disinterested witness, watching 
 the career of the human monad, and not concerning itself with 
 its interests. But, in cases where real spiritual progress is made, 
 the way is preparsc] for a final connection with the Logos. It 
 commences in this manner : the Logos begins to take a greater 
 interest in the welfare of the individual, and becomes his light 
 and his guide, and watches over him, and protects him. This 
 is the way in which the approach of the Logos to the humai* 
 soul commences. This interest increases more and more, till, 
 
CO KOTES ON THE BHAQAVAD GITA. 
 
 when tne man reaches the highest spiritual development, tlie 
 Logos enters into him, and then, instead of finding within 
 nimself merely the reflection of the Logos, he finds the Logos 
 itself. Then the final imion takes place, after which there is no 
 more incarnation for the man. It is only in such a case that 
 the Logos becomes more than a disinterested spectator. 
 
 1 must here call yonr attention to verse 29 and the following 
 verses at the end of this chapter : — 
 
 " I am the same to all beings , I have neither friend not foe *, those who 
 worship Me with devotion are in Me, and I am in them. 
 
 " Even if he whose conduct is wicked worships Me alone, he is to be 
 regarded as a good man, for ho is working in the right direction. 
 
 " son of Kunti, he soon becomes a virtuous x>^rson, and obtains eternal 
 peace ; rest assured that my worshipper does not perish^ 
 
 " Those who are born in sin and are devoted to Me, whether women, or 
 Vaishyas, or Sudras, reach my supreme abode. 
 
 " How much more h3ly Brahmans and devoted Rajarshis, having come 
 into this transient and miserable world, worship me ! 
 
 " Fix thy mind on me, worship me, bow down to me : those who depend 
 on me, and are devoted to me, reach me." 
 
 Here Krishna shows, by the two propositions that he is laying 
 down, that he is s[)eaking from a thoroughly cosmopolitan stand- 
 point. He says," No one is my friend : no one is my enemy." 
 Ho has alrea'ly pointed out the best way of gaining his friend- 
 ship. He does not assume that any particular man is his enemy 
 or his friend. We know that, even in the case of rakshasas, 
 Pralilada became the greatest of hhagavathas. Krishna is 
 thoroughly impartial in dealing with mankind and in his spiri- 
 tual u>inistration. He says it does not matter in the least to him 
 what kind of as^^ainam a man may have, what kind of ritual or 
 formula of faith he professes ; and he further says, that he does 
 not make any distinction between Sudraa and BrahinanSy 
 
NOTES ON THE BIIAGAVAD GITA. 61 
 
 !)etween men and women, between higher and lower cksses. 
 His help is extended to all there is but one way of reachino; hijn; 
 and that way may be utilized by anybody. In this respect he 
 draws a distinction between the doctrines of the karmayogis 
 and his own teaching. Some people say that cartain privileged 
 classes only are entitled to attain Kirvana* He says this is not 
 the case. Moreover he must be taken to reject by implication 
 the doctrine of certain Mad h was, who say that all souls can be 
 divided into three divisions. They say that there is a certain 
 class of people called Nityanarakikas^ who are destined, what- 
 ever they may do to go down to bottomless perdition : another 
 class of people called Mitijasaimarikas^ who can never leave 
 the plane of earth ; and a third class, the InthamuktaSy who, 
 whatever mischievous things they do, must be admitted into' 
 Vaikuntham. This doctrine is not sanctioned by Krishna. 
 His doctrine further contains a protest against the manner in 
 which certain writers have misrepresented the importance of 
 Buddha Avatar. No doubt some of our Brahman writers admit 
 that Buddha was an Avatar of Vishnu ; but they say it was an 
 Avatar undertaken for mischievous purposes. He came here 
 to teach people all sorts of absurd doctrines, in order to bring 
 about their damnation. These people had to be punished ; and 
 he thought the best way to bring about their punishment was 
 to make them mad by preaching false doctrines to them. This 
 view, I am ashamed to say, is solemnly put forward in some of 
 our books. How different this is from what Krishna teaches. 
 He says : — ''In my sight all men are the same ; and if I draw 
 any distinction at all, it is only when a man reaches a very 
 high state of spiritual perfection and looks upon me as his 
 guide and protector. Then, and then only, I cease to be a 
 disinterested witness, and try to interest myself in his affairs. 
 In every other Ciise I am simply a disinterested witness." He 
 
€2 NOTES 0^ TIIK BHAGAVAD GITA. 
 
 tnkes no account of tho fact that tliis man is a Brahman and 
 that one a Buddhist or a Parsee ; but he says that in his eyes 
 all mankind stand on the same level, that ^vhat distinguishes 
 one from another is spiritual light and life. 
 
 "He is who is sensible enough amongst men to know me, the unborn Lord 
 of the world who has no beginning, is freed from all sins." 
 
 Now turn to the 3rd verso of the next chapter (chapter X) : — 
 Here he calls himself tho unborn : he had no beirinninii : he 
 is the Esicara of the cosmos. It must not be supposed that the 
 Logos perishes or is destroyed even at the time oi cosmic pralay a. 
 Of course it is open to question whether there is such a thing as 
 cosmic pralatja. We can very well conceive a solar -pralaya as . 
 probable, we can also conceive that there may be a time when 
 activity ceases throughout the whole cosmos, but there is somo 
 difficulty in arguing by analogy from a definite and limited 
 system to an indefinite and infinite one. At any rate, among 
 occultists there is a belief that there will be such a cosmic j^ra- 
 laya., though it may not take place for a number of years that it 
 is impossible for us even to imagine. But even though there 
 may be a cosmic pralaija the Logos will not perish even when it 
 takes place ; otherwise at the recommencement of cosmic acti- 
 vity, the Logos will have to be born again, as the present Logos 
 came into existence at the time when the present cosmic evolu- 
 tion commenced. In such a case, Krishna cannot call himself 
 aja (unborn) ; he can only say this of himself, if tho Logos does 
 not perish at tho time of cosine pralaya, but sleeps in the bosom 
 oi Parahrahmain, and starts into wakefulness when the next day 
 of cosmic activity conmiences. 
 
 I have already said in speaking of this Logos, that it was quite 
 
 possible that it was tho Logos that appeared in the shape of tho 
 first Dhyan Chohan, or planetary Spirit, when the evolution of 
 man was recommenced after the last period of inactivity on this 
 
NOTES ON TUB BHAGAVAD GITA. 63 
 
 planet, as stated in Mr. Sinnett's book, " Esoteric Buddhism," 
 and after having set the evohitionary. current in motion, retired 
 to the spiritual plane congenial to its own nature, and has been 
 watching since over the interests of humanity, and now and then 
 appearing in connection with a human individuality for the good 
 of mankind. Or you may look upon the Logos represented by 
 Krishna as one belonging to the same class as the Logos which 
 so appeared. In speaking of himself Krishna says, (chapter 
 X, verse 6) : — 
 
 " The seven great Rishis, the four preceding Manus, partakinj? of my na- 
 ture, were born from my mintl ; from them sprang (was born) the human 
 race and the world/' 
 
 He Speaks of the sapta rishis and of the Manus as his manasa 
 putras or mind-born sons, which they would be if he was the so- 
 called Prajapati, who appeared on this planet and commenced 
 the work of evolution. 
 
 In all Puranas the Maharishis are said to be the mind-born 
 sons of Prajapati or Brahma, who was the first manifested beingj 
 on this planet, and who was called Sivayamhhuva, as he had 
 neither father nor mother ; he commenced the creation of man 
 by forming, or bringing into existence by his own intellectual 
 power, these Maharishis and these Manus. After this was ac- 
 complished Prajapati disappeared from the scene ; as stated in 
 Manu-Smriti, Sicayamhhuva thus disappeared after commencing 
 the work of evolution. He has not, however, yet disconnected 
 himself altogether from the group of humanity that has com- 
 menced to evolute on this planet, but is still the overshadowing 
 Logos or the manifested Eswara, who does interest himself in 
 the affairs of this planet and is in a position to incarnate as an 
 Avatar for the good of its population. 
 
 There is a peculiarity in this passage to which I must call 
 your attention. He speaks here of four Manus. Why does he 
 
64 NOTES ON THE BHAGAVAD GITA. 
 
 speak of four ? We are now in the seventh Manwantara — that 
 of Vaivaswata. If he is speaking of the past Manns, he ought 
 to speak of six, but he only mentions four. In some commentaries 
 an attempt has been made to interpret this in a peculiar manner* 
 
 The word ^' Chatwaraha" is separated from the word " Man- 
 avaha"and is made to refer to Sanaka, Sanandana, Sanatkumara 
 and Sanatsujata, who were also included among the mind-born 
 sons of Prajapati. 
 
 But this interpretation will lead to a most absurd conclusion^ 
 and make the sentence contradict itself. The persons alluded to 
 in the text have a qualifying clause in the sentence. It is well 
 known that Sanaka and the other three refused to create, though' 
 the other sons had consented to do so ; therefore, in speaking of 
 those persons from whom humanity has sprung into existence, 
 it would be absurd to include these four also in the list. The 
 passage must be interpreted without splitting the compound into 
 two nouns. The number of Manus will be then four, and the 
 etateraent would contradict the Puranic account, thoucrh it 
 would be in harmony with the occult theory. You will recol- 
 lect that Mr. Sinnet has stated that we are now in the fifth root 
 race. Each root race is considered as the santhathi of a parti- 
 cular Manu. Now the fourth root race has passed, or in other 
 words there have been four past Manus. There is another point 
 to be considerd in connection with this subject. It is stated in 
 Manusmriti that the first Manu (Swayabhuva) created seven 
 Manus. This seems to be the total number of Manus according 
 to this Smriti. It is not alleged that there was, or would bo 
 another batch of Manus created, or to be created at some other 
 time. 
 
 But the Puranic account makes the number of Manus fourteen. 
 This is a subject, which, I believe, requires a considerable 
 amount of attention at your hands ; it is no doubt a very 
 
NOTES ON THK BHAGAVAD GIT A. 65 
 
 interesting one, and I request such of you as have the required 
 time at your disposal, to try and find out how this confusion 
 has arisen. The commentators try to get the number fourteen 
 out of Manu. Of course an ingenious pandit can get anything 
 out of anything, but if you will go into the matter deeply, it is 
 quite possible we may be able to find out how the whole mistake 
 has arisen, and if there is any mistake or not. Any further 
 discussion of the subject at present is unnecessary. 
 
 Another interesting function of the Logos is indicated in the 
 same chapter, verse 11 : — 
 
 *' I, dwelling in them, out of my compassion for them, destroy the dark- 
 ness born from ignorance by the shining light of spiritual Wisdom." 
 
 Here he is said to be not only an instrument of salvation, but 
 also the source of wisdom. As I have already said, the light 
 that emanates from him has three phases, or three aspects. 
 First it is the life, or the Mahachaitam/am of the cosmos ; that 
 is one aspect of it ; secondly, it is force, and in this aspect it is 
 the Fohat of the Bhuddhist philosophy ; lastly, it is wisdom, in 
 the sense that it is the ChichaJcti of the Hindu philosophers. 
 All these three aspects are, as you may easily see, combined in 
 our conception of the Gayatn. It is stated to be ChichaJdi by 
 Vasishta : and its meaning justifies the statement. It is further 
 represented as light, and in the sanhalpam that precedes the 
 japam it is evoked as the life of the whole cosmos. If you will 
 read carefully the *' Idyll of the White Lotus," you will perhaps 
 gain some further ideas about the functions of this light, and 
 the help it is capable of giving to humanity. 
 
 I have now to call your attention to all those verses in chapter x 
 that refer to his so-called vihhuti, or excellence. 
 
 He says '' Aham Atma'^ (I am self,) because every self is but 
 
 a manifestation of himself, or a reflection of the Logos, as I 
 
 have already indicated. It is in that sense he is the Aham (I) 
 
 manifested everywhere in every upadhi. When he says this ho 
 
 1) 
 
66 NOTES ON THE BIIAGAVAD GITA. 
 
 is speaking from the standpoint of the Logos in the ahstracfc, 
 and not from that of any particular Logos. The description of 
 this viblmti conveys to onr minds an important lesson. All 
 that is good and great, sublime and noble in this phenomenal 
 universe, or even in the other lokas, proceeds from the Logos, 
 and is in some way or other the manifestation of its wisdom and 
 power and vihhuti ; and all that tends to spiritual degradation 
 and to objective physical life emanates from prahriti. In fact 
 there are two contending forces in the cosmos. The one is this 
 prah-iti whose genealogy we have already traced. The other is 
 the Dalviprakritl, the light that comes down, reflection after 
 reflection, to the plane of the lowest organisms. In all those 
 religions in which the fight between the good and the bad im- 
 pulses of this cosmos is spoken of, the real reference is always 
 to this light, which is constantly attempting to rai.«e men from 
 the lowest level to the highest plane of spiritual life, and that 
 other force, which has its place in PraJcritij and is constantly 
 leading the spirit into material existence. This conception 
 seems to be the foundation of all those wars in heaven, and of 
 all the fighting between good and bad principles in the cosmos, 
 which we meet with in so many religious systems of philosophy. 
 Krishna points out that everything that is considered great or 
 good or noble should be considered as having in it his energy, 
 wisdom and light. This is certainly true, because the Logos is 
 the one source of energy, wisdom and spiritual enlightenment. 
 When you realize what an important place this energy that 
 emanates from the Logos plays in the evolution of the whole 
 cosmos, and examine its powers with reference to the spiritual 
 enlightenment which it is capable of generating, you will see 
 that this description of his vihhuti is by no means an exaggerated 
 account of Krishna's importance in the cosmos. 
 Turn next to chapter xi. 
 
NOTES ON THE BHAGAVAD GITA. 67 
 
 The inferences I mean to draw from this chapter are these. 
 First, that the Logos reflects the whole cosmos in itself, or, in 
 other words, that the whole cosmos exists in the Logos in its germ. 
 As I have already said, the world is the word made manifest, 
 and the Logos is, in the mystical phraseology of our ancient 
 writers, the pasyanti form of this word. This is the germ in 
 which the whole plan of the solar system eternally exists. The 
 image existing in the Logos becomes expanded and amplified 
 when communicated to its light, and is manifested in matter 
 when the light acts upon MulapraJcriti. No impulse, no energy 
 no form in the cosmos can ever come into existence without 
 having its original conception in the field of Chitj which con- 
 stitutes the demiurgic mind of the Logos, 
 
 The Logos y its light and Midaprakrltl constitute the real 
 Tatwatrayam of the Visishtadwaitis, Mulaprakriti being their 
 Achitj this light from the Logos their Chitj and the Logos being 
 their Eswara, 
 
 There is yet another way of looking at these entities with 
 which you ought to familiarize, yourselves. The whole cosmos, 
 by which I mean all the innumerable solar systems, may be 
 called the physical body of the one Parabrahmam ; the whole 
 of this light or force may be called its sukshma sarira ; the 
 abstract Logos will then be the karana sarira^ while the Atma 
 will be Parahrahmam itself. 
 
 But this classification must not be confused with that other 
 classification which relates to the subdivisions of one only of 
 these entities, the manifested solar system, the most objective 
 of these entities, which I have called the stliula sarira of 
 Parahrahmam. This entity is in itself divisible into four planes 
 of existence, that correspond to the four matras in Prana^ as 
 generally described. Again this light which is the sukshma 
 
68 NOTI':S ON THE BHAGAVAD GITA. 
 
 sarira of Parahrahmam must not be confounded with the 
 astral light. The astral light is simply the sukshma form of 
 Vaiswanara ; but so far as this light is concerned, all the 
 manifested planes in the solar system are objective to it, and so 
 it cannot be the astral light. I find it necessary to draw this 
 distinction, because the two have been confounded in certain 
 writings. What I have said will explain to some extent why 
 the Logos is considered as having viswarupam. 
 
 Again, if the Logos is nothing more than a Aclildrupam, 
 how is it that Aijuna, with his spiritual intelligence, sees an 
 objective image or form before him, which, however splendid 
 and magnificent, is, strictly speaking, an external image of the 
 world ? What is seen by him is not the Logos itself but the 
 Viswarupa form of the Logos as manifested in its light — 
 Baivipraknii, It is only as thus manifested that the Logos can 
 become visible even to the highest spiritual intelligence of man. 
 
 There is yet another inference to be drawn from this chapter. 
 Truly the form shown to Arjuna was fearful to look at, and all 
 the terrible things about to happen in the war appeared to him 
 depicted in it. The Logos being the universe in idea, coming 
 events (or those about to manifest themselves on the objective 
 plane) are generally manifested long, it may be, before they 
 actually happen, in the plane of the Logos from which all im- 
 pulses spring originally. Bhishma, Drona and Kama were 
 still living at the time Krishna showed this form. But yet 
 their deaths and the destruction of almost their whole army 
 seemed to be foreshadowed in this appearance of the Logos, 
 Its terrible form was but an indication of the terrible things 
 that were going to happen. In itself the Logos has no form ; 
 clothed in its light it assumes a form which is, as it were, a 
 symbol of the impulses operating, or about to operate, in the 
 cosmos at the time of the manifestation. 
 
NOTES ON THE BHAGAVAD GITA. 69 
 
 lY. 
 
 The subject of these lectures is a very vast and comph'cated one. 
 I have endeavoured to compress the substance of my lecture 
 within the required limits, expecting to go through the whole dis- 
 course in three days, but my calculations have failed, and I have 
 hardly finished even the introduction. These lectures must 
 necessarily remain imperfect, and all I could do in them was to 
 lay before you a few suggestions upon which you should meditate. 
 
 A good deal will depend on your own exertions. The subject 
 is very difficult ; it ramifies into various departments of science, 
 and the truth I have been putting forward will not be easily 
 grasped, and I might not even have succeeded in conveying my 
 exact meaning to your minds. Moreover, as I have not given 
 reasons for every one of my propositions, and have not cited 
 authorities in support of my statements, some of them might 
 appear strange. 
 
 I am afraid that before you can grasp my real ideas, you will 
 have to study all the existing commentaries on the Bhagavad 
 Gita, as well as the original itself, according to your own light, 
 and see besides this to what conclusions the speculations of the 
 Western scientists and philosophers are gradually leading. You 
 will then have to judge for yourselves whether the hypothesis 
 which I have attempted to place before you is a reasonable one 
 or not. 
 
 In my last lecture I stopped at the eleventh chapter of the book. 
 
 In that lecture I pointed out the various passages relating to 
 the Logos, which I thought would support and justify the 
 assertions I made in my preliminary lecture about its nature and 
 its relation to mankind. I shall now proceed to point out the 
 passages to which it is desirable to call your attention in the suc- 
 ceeding chapters. 
 
70 NOTES ON THE BIIAGAVAD GITA. 
 
 In Chapter XII, to which I shall have to refer again in another 
 connection, I have to ask your attention to the passages with 
 which it commences. There Krishna points out the distinction 
 between meditating and concentrating one's attention upon the 
 Avyaktam of the Sankhyas and fixing the mind and relying upon 
 the Logos. 
 
 I have already shown in what important respects the Sankhya 
 philosophy differed from the Vedantic system of Krishna. Krishna 
 has stated in various places, that their Avyaktam was different 
 from his Parabrahmam — that he was by no means to be con- 
 sidered a manifestation of that Avyaktam — and now he tells 
 Arjuna in this chapter that those who try to follow the Sankhya 
 philosophy and endeavour to reach that Avyaktam by their own 
 methods, are placed in a far more difficult position than those 
 whose object is to search for and find out the Logos. 
 
 This must naturally be so, and for this reason. This Avyaktam 
 is nothing more than Mulaprakritl. The Sankhyas thought 
 that their Avyaktam was the basis of the differentiated Prakrati 
 with all its gunas, this differentiated Prakrati being represented 
 by the three principles into which I have divided the solar system. 
 In case you follow the Sankhyan doctrine, you have to rise from 
 Upadhi to Upadhi in gradual succession, and when you try to 
 rise from the last Upadhi to their Avyaktam^ there is unfortu- 
 nately no connection that is likely to enable your consciousness 
 to bridge the interval. If the Sankhyan system of philosophy 
 is the true one, your aim will be to trace Upadhi to its source, 
 but not consciousness to its source. The consciousness mani- 
 fested in every Upadhi is traceable to the Logos and not to the 
 Avyaktam of the Sankhyas. It is very much easier for a 
 man to follow his own consciousness farther and farther into the 
 depths of his own inmost nature, and ultimately reach its source 
 — the Logos- — jthan to try to follow Upadhi to its source in this 
 
NOTES ON THE BHAGAVAD GITA. 7 1 
 
 Mulaprahriti, this Avyaldam. Moreover, supposing you do 
 succeed in reaching this Avyaldam^ you can never fix your 
 thoughts in it or preserve your individuality in it ; for, it is in- 
 capable of retaining any of these permanently. It may be that 
 to reach it means to take objective cognisance of it, but even 
 that you cannot do from the standpoint of karana sarira. You 
 have to rise to a still higher level before you can look upon 
 Mulaprahiti as an object. Thus, considering Avyaldam as an 
 object of perception, you cannot reach it until you reach the 
 Logos. You cannot transfer your individuali ty to it, for the 
 simple reason that this individuality derives its source from a 
 quarter altogether different from the Mulapraknti or the Av- 
 yaktam of the Saukhyas, and that as this Avyaktam in itself 
 has no individuality, and does not generate by itself anything 
 like an individuality, it is impossible that anybody's sense of 
 ego can be transferred to and preserved permanently in it. 
 
 What, then, do the efforts of all those who try to follow the 
 Sankhya doctrine end in ? Krishna says, that after arriving at 
 the plane of karana sarira/^ they will come to him," finding it 
 impossible otherwise to reach this Avyaktam for the reasons 
 indicated above. So when Arjuna asks whether Avyaktam or the 
 Logos is to be the goal, Krishna says that the latter must be 
 looked upon as the ultimate destination, because those who try 
 to follow the line indicated by the Sankhyas have tremendous 
 difficulties to contend with. If anything is gained at all by fol- 
 lowing this latter course, it is that end which is also to be gained 
 by following his path, by making him the object of meditation, 
 and looking upon him as the ultimate goal. 
 
 Read Chapter XII, verses 3, 4, and 5 in this connection : — 
 
 " Those who are kind and charitable towards all creatures, and who, with 
 a properly balanced mind and with senses under control, meditate on the 
 imperishable and undefinable Avyaktam, which is all-pervading, unthinkable, 
 
72 NOTES ON THE BHAOAVAD GIT A. 
 
 undifferentiated and imcliangable, reach me alone. But tlie difficulty of those 
 who fix their minds on .4 i-ya/ttowi is great. The path towards Avyahtam is 
 travelled by embodied souls under very great difficulties." 
 
 This description refers to the Avyahtam of the Sankhyas. 
 
 In Chapter XIII we find the following in the first four verses : — 
 
 " son of Kunti, this body is called Kshetra iUpadhi or vehicle). That 
 wliich knows this {Kshetra) the wise call Kshetragna (the real self or Ego). 
 
 " Know also that I am the Kshetragna in all Kshetras ; the knowledge of 
 Kshetra and Kshetragna I consider to be real knowledge. 
 
 " Hear me. I shall state to you briefly what that Kshetram is, what its 
 attributes are, what qualities it generates, its source and the reason of its 
 existence ; and further who that Kshetrayna is, and what powers he possesses. 
 Rishis have described them in various ways. Different accounts of them are 
 to be found in different Vedas ; and they are also spokeu of by the Brahraa- 
 sutras, which are logical and definite." 
 
 Here he speaks of Kshetram and Kshetragna. Kshetram 
 means nothing more than Upadhi or vehicle, and Kshetragna is 
 the Ego in all its forms and manifestations. Kshetram springs 
 from this Avyahtam or Mulaprahiti. But he says that he 
 himself is Kshetragna in the sense in which every manifested 
 Ego is but a reflection of the Logos, while he himself is the real 
 form of the Ego, the only true self in the cosmos. He takes 
 care, however, to point out in several places that though he is 
 Kshetragna^ he is not subject to Karmabandham ; he does not 
 create Karma, simply because the self manifested in the Upadhi 
 is not his own true self, but merely a reflection, which has an 
 individual phenomenal existence for the time being, but is 
 ultimately dissolved in himself. 
 
 In verse 4 (see above) he refers to Brahmasutras for the 
 details of the three Upadhis in man, their relation to each other 
 and the various powers manifested by this^Ego. Hence it is in 
 that book— the Brahmasutras — that we have to look for a de- 
 tailed examination of this subject. 
 
 Turn now to verse 22 : — 
 
NOTES ON THE BHAQAVAD GITA. 73 
 
 **The supreme Purusha in this body is called the Witness, the Director, 
 the Supporter, the Enjoyer, the Great Lord and the Supreme Spirit {Para- 
 'niatma)." 
 
 It must not be imao-nied that the word Parmaatma here 
 used refers to Parahrahmam. I have ah-eady said that it ap- 
 plies to Krishna himself. Though he is Kshetragna, he is not 
 responsible for Karma^ and this he explains in verses 30 and 32 
 of the same chapter : 
 
 "He perceives the real truth who sees that Karma is the result of Prakrit 
 and that the Atma performs no Karma. 
 
 "This imperishable and supreme Atma, does no Karma and does not feeli 
 the effects of Karma even while existing in the body, as it is without begin- 
 ning and without Ounam." 
 
 Throughout Chapter XIV Krishna disthictly repudiates any 
 responsibility for Karma, or any of the effects produced by the 
 three Gunams which aie the children of Malapraknti. Look 
 at verse 19 ior instance :— 
 
 "When the (discriminating) observer recognizes no other agent {of Karma) 
 than the qualities (of Prahriti), and knows that which is beyond these 
 qualities, he attains to my being." 
 
 And now turn to the closing verse in that chapter, a passage 
 we have already referred to in another connection : — 
 
 " I am the image of Parahrahm, which is indestructible, unchangeable ; 
 and (I am) the abode of the Eternal Dhinna fLiw) and of absolute happi- 
 ness. " 
 
 Here he says he is the image of Parahrahmam which is 
 eternal and has no Vikaram, and he is the abode wherein 
 resides the eternal Dliarma of the cosmos, and he is also the 
 abode of bliss, and it is for this reason that the Logos is often 
 described as SacJichidanandam. It is Sat, because it is Para- 
 hrahmam ; and Chity because it contains within itself the eternal 
 Dhanna of the cosmos, the whole law of cosmic evolution ; it 
 is Aiiandani, because it is the abode of bliss, and tho highest 
 10 
 
74 NOTES ON THS BIIVGAVAD GITA. 
 
 happiness possible for man is attained when the human soul 
 reaches the Logos, 
 
 Now turn to Chapter XV, verse 7, a passage which has Tin- 
 fortunately given rise to many sectarian disputes : — 
 
 "It is the amsa which emanates from me and which is manifested from 
 the beginning of time that becomes the Jiva in the world of living beings, 
 and attracts mind and the other five senses which have their basis in Pra- 
 hriti" 
 
 The proposition herein made is a matter of necessary inference 
 almost inevitable from the premises I have laid down : — if what 
 constitutes the Jiva is the light of the Logos, which is Chait- 
 anyam, and which, becoming differentiated, forms the individual 
 Ego in combination with the Karanopadhi, 
 
 I need not now advert to all the controversies to which this 
 passage has given rise. The verse is perhaps susceptible of 
 more than one interpretation, and the different interpretations 
 were necessitated by the different premises with which the 
 interpreters started. 
 
 Read now verse 8 : — 
 
 "When the lord, Jiva (human Ego), quits one body and enters another 
 he carries with him the mind and the senses as the wind carries the fra- 
 grance of flowers from their source." 
 
 Here Krishna refers to that human individuality which re- 
 sides in the Karana sarira. It is the human monad or Karana 
 sarira, that is the one connecting link between the various 
 incarnations of man ; when it leaves the body for Devachan, 
 it takes with it all the germs, of conscious existence, the essence 
 of the five Tanmatras, the Manas and the Ahankaram. Strict- 
 ly speaking, in every stage of conscious existence, there are 
 seven elements which are always present, viz., the five senses, 
 the mind (also recognised as a sense by some of our philosophers), 
 and the Ego. These are the seven elements that constantly 
 
NOTES ON THE BHAGi^VAD GITA. 75 
 
 manifest themselves whenever consciousness manifests itself, 
 or conscious existence makes its appearance. They exist in 
 the sthula sarira, further also in the sukshma sarira, and they 
 are latent in karana sarira. Not only are they latent in karana 
 sarira^ but even the impulses generated in connection with the 
 seven elements of conscious existence reside in it, and form that 
 latent energy which tries to spend itself, as it were, by bringing 
 about the future incarnations, the environments being those de- 
 termined by the past Karma of the man and the impulses already 
 generated thereby. 
 
 In calling attention to verses 12 — ^14 : — 
 
 "Know that the splendour which belongs to the sun and illumines the 
 whole word — which is in the moon and in fire — is from me. 
 
 "Entering into the earth, I sustain all things by my energy ; and I am the 
 cause of the moisture that nourishes the herbs. 
 
 "Becoming fire (of digestion) I enter into the bodies of all that breathe, 
 and being united with Pranam and Apanairiy I cause food of the four kinds 
 to digest." 
 
 I have only to point out that what Krishna really means is, 
 that it is his energy that gives to matter all its properties, and 
 that all the properties that we now associate with matter, and 
 all those tendencies of chemical action that we see in the 
 chemical elements, did not belong to it or them originally. 
 
 When you examine Mulaprakriti none of these tendencies are 
 found to be present in it. It is simply the stuff or substance 
 which is endowed with these properties by the action on it of 
 the current of life which emanates from the Logos, Con- 
 sequently Krishna says that all the qualities exhibited in matter, 
 as in fire, the sun, light, or any other object that you may take 
 into consideration, originally emanate from him, because it was 
 his life, his energy, that gives to matter all the qualities that enable 
 it afterwards to form the various organisms that we now see in 
 the manifested cosmos. In connection with this point you will 
 
76 NOTES ON THE BHAGAVAD GITA. 
 
 find it inter esting to refer to what is stated, I believe, in one of 
 the ten Upanishads (Kenopanishad) with reference to the 
 mysterious appearance of Farasakti (Daivip^akriti) in Sicarga. 
 
 When Parasakti first appeared, Indra wanted to know what 
 it was. He first sent Agni to enquire what it was that appeared 
 in that peculiar form. Then Parasakti asked Agni what 
 functions he fulfilled or what was his latent capacities. Agni 
 replied that he could reduce almost everything to ashes. And 
 in order to show that this attribute did not originally belong to 
 Agni but was simply lent to him, Parasakti placed before him a 
 little bit of grass and asked him to reduce that to ashes. He 
 tried his best, but failed. Vayu was next sent ; but he also 
 failed in a similar manner. All this was done to show that 
 Pararsakti, or the light of the Logos, endows even the Pancha- 
 tanmatras with qualities that did not originally belong to 
 Mulaprakriti. Krishna is right in saying that he constitutes 
 the real energy of the fire and of all those things he has enu- 
 merated. 
 
 Now turn to verse 16 of the same chapter, which has also 
 given rise to a considerable number of interpretations : — 
 
 " These two Purnsha? — the perishable and. the imperishable — exist in the 
 world. The perishable is all the living beings, and the imperishable is 
 called the Kittastha." 
 
 The meaning here is clear enough if you will only read it in 
 the light of the explanations already given. Krishna first divides 
 all existing entities into two classes, those not permanent — 
 hsharam — by which he means the manifested cosmos, and 
 AksJiaium, or imperishable, which he calls Kuthastham, the 
 undifferentiated Prakriti. He also uses the same word, in an- 
 other passage, in connection with the Avyaktam of the Sankhyas; 
 and it is but natural to conclude that he here uses the same 
 word in the same sense. 
 
 In the succeeding verse he says that these two classes are 
 
NOTES ON THE BHAGAVAD GITA. 77 
 
 inferior to himself. Although AJcsharam is not destroyed at the 
 time of cosmic Fralai/a, as are all the things thai come out of 
 it, yet his own nature is superior to that of this Aksharam, and 
 that is why he is called Uttama Puruslia. For we read in 
 
 verse 17 : — 
 
 " But there is another, the supreme Uttama Purusha, called Paramatma) 
 (the supreme Atma) who is the imperishable Lord, and who pervades and 
 sustains the three worlds." 
 
 I have only to refer you, in this connection, to verse 66 of 
 Chapter XVIII :— 
 
 " Renouncing all religious observances, come to me as the only refuge. I 
 will deliver thee from all sins ; grieve not." 
 
 To crown all, here is a distinct declaration that he is the one 
 means and the most effectual means of obtaining salvation. 
 These are all the passages to which I wish to call your attention, 
 in reterence to the Logos. The passages read go far, I believe 
 to support every one of the propositions I have laid down in 
 connection with it, as regards its own inherent nature and its 
 relation to the cosmos and to man. 
 
 Now, as regards Mulaprakrlti, I have already called attention 
 to it in several places when speaking of Parahrahmam and of 
 the Logos. There is one passage, however, which I did not cite. 
 I believe I have clearly indicated the distinction between this 
 Avyaktam or Mulaprakriti and the Logos, as well as that 
 between Mulaprakriti and Daiviprakriti. 
 
 I have also said that Mulaprakriti should not be confounded 
 with Parabrahmam. If it is anything at all, it is but a veil of 
 Parabrahmam. In order to support my statements I now ask 
 you to turn to Chapter VIII, verse 20 : — 
 
 " But there is another AvyaJctam superior to the Avyaktam above men- 
 tioned, which is without a beginning and which survives when all the bhu- 
 tarns perish." 
 
 The preceding verses should also be read : — 
 
78 J^OTKS ON THE BHAGAVAD GITA. 
 
 " At the approach of day all manifestations issue from Avyahtam : at the 
 approach of night they are absorbed into Avyahtam. 
 
 " All these collective beings, produced again and ai^fain, are dissolved at 
 the approach of night, Partha (Arjuna), and are evolved involuntarily at 
 the approach of day." 
 
 Here Krishna says that at the time when the cosmos wakes 
 into a condition of activity, all the bhutams spring from this 
 Avyahtam ; when the time of Pralaya comes, they go back into 
 Avyahtam, But lest this Avyahtam should be mistaken for 
 Parabrahmam, he takes care to point out that there is an entity 
 which is higher than this, which is also called Avyahtam^ but 
 which is different from the Avyahtam of the Sankhyas and even 
 existing anterior to it. It is Parabrahmam in fact. 
 
 It is not an evolved entity, and it will not perish even at the 
 time of cosmic Pralaya, because it is the one basis, not only of 
 the whole cosmos, but even of this Mulaprakntiy which seems to 
 be the foundation of the cosmos. 
 
 As regards Daiviprakritiy 1 have already called your attention 
 to those passages in Chapter VII which refer to it. 
 
 Thus the four main principles I have enumerated, and which 
 I described as constituting the four principles of the infinite 
 cosmos, are described and explained, precisely in the manner I 
 have myself adopted, in the teachings of this book. 
 
 Krishna does not go into the details of the four principles 
 that exist in the manifested solar system, because, so far as the 
 ultimate object of his teaching is concerned, it is not absolutely 
 necessary for him to go into the details of that question, and as 
 regards the relation of the microcosmic Upadhis to the soul and 
 their connection with each other, instead of giving all the details 
 of the philosophy connected with them, he refers to the Brahma- 
 sutras, in which the question is fully discussed. 
 
 The so-called Prasthanathrayain, upon the authority of which 
 our ancient philosophers relied, composed of the Bhagavad Gita, 
 
NOTES ON THE BlIAGAYAD GITA. 79 
 
 the ten Upanishads and Brahmasntras, must be thoroughly 
 examined to find a complete explanation of the whole theory. 
 
 The main object of the Bhagavad Gita— which is one of the 
 main sources of Hindu philosophy — is to explain the higher 
 principles that operate in the cosmos, which are omnipresent 
 and permanent and which are common to all the solar systems. 
 
 The main object of the Upanishads is to indicate the nature of 
 this manifested cosmos, and the principles and energies therein 
 present. 
 
 Lastly, in the Brahmasntras an attempt is made to give a 
 clear and consistent theory about the composition of the entity 
 that we call a human being, the connection of the soul with the 
 three Upadhis, their nature and their connection with the soul 
 on the one hand, and between themselves on the other. These 
 books are not, however, devoted to these subjects only, but each 
 book deals prominently with one of these subjects, and it is only 
 when you take all the three into consideration, that you will 
 have a consistent theory of the whole Vedantic philosophy. 
 
 And now, granting the truth of the premises we have laid 
 down, what are the conclusions that will necessary follow ? 
 
 For this purpose the whole of the Bhagavad Gita may be 
 divided into three parts. Of the first six chapters, the first i» 
 merely introductory, the remaining chapters deal with the five 
 theories that have been suggested by various philosophers as 
 pointing out to man the way to salvation ; the succeedmg six 
 chapters explain the theory which Krishna advocates as pointing 
 out the way which he recommends as the best one to follow, anj 
 give such explanations as are necessary. In the last six 
 chapters, Krishna attempts by various arguments to point out that 
 it is Prakriti which is mainly responsible for Karma, for even 
 the various intellectual and moral qualities that are exhibited by 
 human beings, for the varieties of the emotional nature, and for 
 
80 NOTKS ON TIJE BHAGAVAD GITA. 
 
 the various practices that are followed. It is impossible for me 
 now to go into the whole of this argument in detail. Iii study- 
 ing this book the last six chapters should be read first, because 
 one of the main principles that will have to be taken into ac- 
 count in dealing with all the various measures that have been 
 recommended, is therein enumerated and established ; and our 
 conclusions will have to be altered if the doctrine those six 
 chapters are intended to inculcate is found to be false or un- 
 tenable. Of course, in those six chapters, the illustrations are 
 taken, not from matters with which we at the present day are 
 familiar, but from matters which, at the time Krishna gave this 
 discourse, were perfectly, intelligible to his hearers, and to the 
 public of that day, and with which they were thoroughly fami- 
 liar. So it is possible that in the illustrations he gives we may 
 not be able to find those arguments and those considerations, 
 which, perhaps, a modern writer, trying to support the same 
 conclusions, would present to the mind of the reader. Notwith- 
 standing this, the nature of the argument is the same and the 
 conclusion is true for all time to come. Illustrations will 
 certainly be forthcoming, if necessary, from other departments 
 of human knowledge with which we at the present day are 
 familiar. It does not require any very lengthy argument to 
 show, now that the works of Professor Bain and Herbert Spencer 
 have been so widely read^ that the human physical organism has 
 a great deal to do with the mental structure of man ; and, in 
 fact, all modern psychology is trying to find a foundation for 
 itself in physiology and is perhaps even going to extremes in 
 this direction. The great French philosopher Avho originated 
 what is called Positivism, would not, in his classification of 
 sciences, assign a separate place to psychology. He wanted to 
 give psychology a subordinate place, and include it, as a branch 
 {subject, under physiology. 
 
NOTKS ON THE BHAGAVAD GIT A. 81 
 
 This classification shows the extremes to which this tendency 
 may lead. If all that is found in the body is nothing more than 
 the material of which it is composed, true psychology is nothing 
 more than physiology, and the mind is but an affection of matter. 
 But there is something more than the mere physical organism ; 
 there is this invisible essence that we call the supreme CAaiianyam 
 which constitutes the individuality of man, and which is 
 further that energy which manifests itself as the consciousness 
 behind the individuality. 
 
 It is not material, and it is not likely, that science will be 
 able to get a glimpse of its real nature till it begins to adopt the 
 methods of all the great occultists who have attempted to probe 
 into this mystery. But at any rate this much must be conceded; 
 whatever the real nature of this essence or life-force may be, the 
 human constitution or the physical body has a good deal to do 
 with the mental development and character of a human being. 
 
 Of course the force that operates in all these Upadhis is, as it 
 were, colourless — it can by itself produce no result. But when 
 acting in conjunction with Prakriti, it is the force that is the 
 substratum of all the kingdoms, and almost every thing in the 
 cosmos is, in a certain sense, traceable to this force. When, 
 however, you begin to deal with particular forms of conscioug 
 existence, particular characteristics and developments, you will 
 have to trace them, strictly speaking, to the Upadhis, or the 
 material forms in which the force is acting, and not to the force 
 itself. So Krishna says all Karma is traceable to Upadhi^ and 
 hence to Prahriti. Karma itself depends upon conscious exist- 
 ence. Conscious existence entirely depends upon the consti- 
 tution of the man's mind, and this depends upon the nerve 
 system of the body and the various elements existing therein, 
 the nature of the astral elements and the energies stored up in 
 the Karanopadhi , 
 11 
 
82 NOTES ON THE BHAGAVAD GITA. 
 
 In the case of even the astral body the same law holds good- 
 To begin with, there is the aura, which is material in the strict 
 sense of the word, and which composes its UpadM, Behind this 
 there is the energy, which is the basis of that feeling of self that 
 even an astral man experiences. 
 
 Going on still higher, to Karana Saiira, there again yon find 
 this invisible, colourless force acting within its Upadhi, which 
 contains within itself the characteristics of the individual Ego. 
 
 Go where you will, you will find that Karma and the gunams 
 emanate from Prakriti : Upadhi is the cause of individual exist- 
 ence. 
 
 Existence itself, I mean living existence, is however traceable 
 to this light. All conscious existence is traceable to it, and further- 
 more, when spiritual intelligence is developed, it directly springs 
 from it. 
 
 Now let us assume that this is the conclusion we are prepared 
 to admit — and I need not enter into the details of the argument 
 which you will find at length in the last six chapters. Let us 
 now examine in order the various theories suggested by different 
 philosophers. I shall take them as they are dealt with in the 
 first six chapters of this book. 
 
 The first chapter is merely introductory. The second treats 
 of Sankhya Yoga, the third of Karma Yoga, the fourth of Jnan 
 Yoga, the fifth of Karmasanyasa Yoga, and the sixth deals with 
 Atmasamyama Yoga. 
 
 These are the tlu^ories suggested by other philosophers, and 
 in this list Krishna does not include that path of salvation point- 
 ed out by himself, which is set forth in the second group of 
 six chapters. I believe that almost all the various suggestions 
 made by different philosophers can be brought under one or the 
 other of these headings. To complete the list there is the method 
 suggested by Krishna himself as being of universal applicability 
 
NOTES ON THE BHAQAVAD GITA. 8S 
 
 and standing in the background, unknown and unseen, is that 
 occult method, to facilitate which all the systems of initiation 
 have been brought into existence. As this occult method is not 
 of universal applicability, Krishna leaves it in the background and 
 puts his doctrine in such a manner as to render it applicable to 
 the whole of mankind. He points out the defects of each of the 
 other systems, and takes, as it were, the best part of the five 
 theories, and adds the one element, without which every one of 
 these theories will become false. He thus constructs the theory 
 which he recommends for the acceptance of mankind. 
 
 Take, for instance, the Sankhya philosophy. I have already 
 explained the peculiar doctrine of the Sankhya philosophers that 
 their Avyaktami itself was the one self-manifested everywhere in 
 all Upadhis. That is more or less their Puruhsa. This Purush 
 is entirely passive. It is not the Esicara^ not the active 
 creative God, but simply a sort of passive substratum of the 
 cosmos, and all that is done in the cosmos is done by Prakriti, 
 which produces all the organisms or Upadhis that constitute the 
 sum total of the cosmos. They accept the view that Karma 
 and all the results that spring therefrom are traceable to this 
 Maya or Prakriti, to this substratum that forms the basis of all 
 manifestation. Now it is through the action of this Karma 
 that individual existence makes its appearance. On account of 
 this Karma individual existence is maintained, and it is on ac- 
 count of Karma that man suffers all the pains and sorrows of 
 earthly existence. Birth, life and death, and all the innumerable 
 ills to which human nature is subject, are endured by man- 
 kind owing to this Karma, Granting their premises, if the 
 ambition of your life is to put an end to all earthly sorrows, 
 then your object should be to put an end to the operation of 
 this Karma, 
 
 But the question is, how can you do this ? While Parabrak- 
 
84 NOTES ON THE BHAGATAD GITA. 
 
 mam remains passive, Prakrit i goes on creating the cosmos 
 without its interference. It is not possible to get rid of Prakriti 
 or its gunams altogether. You may as well try to rid fire or, 
 water of all its properties. Thus, Karma being the inevitable 
 result of Prakriti, and Prakriti continuing to exist as long as 
 you are a human being, it is useless to try to get rid of Karma, 
 But, they say, you must try to get rid of the effects of Karma 
 by reducing yourself to the passive state of existence in which 
 Parahrahmam is, remaining simply a disinterested witness. Do 
 Karma^ not with a desire to do it, but from a sense of duty — 
 because it must be done. The Sankhyas say : give up Sangam, 
 that desire to do Karma, which alone seems to connect the soul 
 with it, and renounce this connection, which alone renders the 
 soul responsible for the Karma. 
 
 What will happen then ? They say, when you renounce this 
 desire, Karma will become weaker and weaker in its ability to 
 affect you, till at last you arrive at a condition in which you are 
 not affected by Karma at all, and that condition is the condition 
 of Mukti. You will then become what you were originally. 
 You yourself are but a delusive manifestation of Avyaktam, 
 and when once this delusive appearance ceases to exist, you be- 
 come Parahrahmam. 
 
 This is the theory suggested by the Sankhyas. Furthermore, 
 as this Avyaktam., which exists everywhere, — which is eternal, 
 and cannot be affected by anything else — forms the real soul of 
 man, to hold it responsible for any Karma, is shown in the 
 chapter before us, to be but a figment of Arjuna's fancy. Self 
 cannot kill self. All that is done by the real self is in reality 
 what is done by the various forms of Prakriti. The one sub- 
 stratum is immutable and can never be affected by any action 
 of Prakriti. For some inexplicable reason or other the one self 
 seems to have desceLded from the condition of passive existence, 
 
NOTES ON THE BHl-GAYAD GITA. S5 
 
 and to have assumed a delusive active individual existence in 
 your own self. Try to get rid of this delusive appearance, then 
 the result will be that you attain Nirvana. 
 
 Krishna examines this theory. He admits two of the pre- 
 mises. He says that all this Karma is due to Upadhi, an d 
 leads to conditioned existence, subject to all the pains and 
 sorrows of life. But he denies that the supreme end of man's 
 life is to reach this Avyaktam, and he further states that it is 
 far more difficult to reach this AvyaJctamfi than to reach himself ; 
 and that even if those who direct all their efforts towards the 
 attainment of this Avyaktam meet with any success at all, it 
 can only be by joining him, for otherwise it is impossible to 
 reach Avyaktam. While accepting two of the conclusions of 
 the Sankhyas, he points out that the real goal is not the one 
 they postulated. 
 
 Now let us turn to the second system. This is mainly that 
 kind of philosophy which is inculcated by the followers of Purva 
 Mimansa. Every form of ritualism has its basis in the philosophy 
 oi Karmakanda. The arguments here used by Krishna in support 
 of his own conclusions will not be quite intelligible to our minds 
 for the simple reason that times have changed during the last five 
 thousand years. At the time this discourse was delivered, the 
 Vedantic ritual was strictly followed, and the conclusions of the 
 followers of Purva Mimansa were very well known and were a 
 common topic of discussion. This philosophy was intended to 
 provide a solution for all the difficulties that were common to 
 the other systems of philosophy at that time evolved. But 
 some of the arguments put forward by the Karma Yogis may 
 be extended beyond the very limited form in which they are to 
 be found stated in the books, and can be made applicable even 
 to the life of modern times. 
 
 Karma Yogis say : True, this Karma may be due to Upadhi 
 
86 NOTfiS ON THIC BHAGAVAD GITA. 
 
 but it is not due to Upadhi alone ; it is due to the efPects por- 
 duced by the two elements Upadhi and Chaitanyatn. Those 
 philosophers who want to reject all Karma pretend to renounce 
 it altogether. But that is an impossible task. No man, as long 
 as he is a human being, can ever give up Karma altogether. 
 He is at least bound to do that which the bare existence of his 
 physical body requires, unless indeed he means to die of star- 
 vation, or otherwise put an untimely end to his life. 
 
 Supposing you do give up Karma — that is, abstain from it in 
 action, how can you keep control over your own minds ? It is 
 useless to abstain from an act and yet be constantly thinking of 
 it. If you come to the resolution that you ought to give up 
 Karma, you must necessarily conclude that you ought not even 
 to think about these things. That being so, let us see in what 
 a condition you will then place yourselves. As almost all our 
 mental states have some connection with the phenomenal world, 
 and are somehow or other connected with Karma in its various 
 phases, it is difficult to understand how it is possible for a man 
 to give up all Karma, unless he can annihilate his mind, or get 
 into an eternal state of Sushupti. Moreover, if you have to 
 give up all Karma, you have to give up good Karma as well as 
 bad, for Karma, in its widest sense, is not confined solely to bad 
 actions. If all the people in the world give up Karma, how is 
 the world to exist ? Is it not likely that an end will then be 
 put to all good impulses, to all patriotic and philanthropic deeds 
 that all the good people, who have been and are exerting them- 
 selves in doing unselfish deeds for the good of their fellowmen, 
 will be prevented from working ? If you call upon everybody 
 to give up Karma, you will simply create a number of lazy 
 drones and prevent good people from benefiting their fellow beings. 
 
 And, furthermore, it may be argued that this is not a rule of 
 universal applicability. How few are there in th« world who 
 
NOTES ON THE BHAGAYAD GITA. 87 
 
 can give up their whole Karma and reduce themselves to a 
 position of eternal inactivity. And if you ask these people to 
 follow this course, they may, instead of giving up Karma, 
 simply become lazy, idle persons, who have not really given up 
 anything. What is the meaning of the expression " to give up 
 Karma ?" Krishna says that in abstaining from doing a thing 
 there may be the effects of active Karma, and in active Karma 
 there may be no real Karmic results. If you kill a man, it is 
 murder, and you are held responsible for it ; but suppose you 
 refuse to feed your old parents and they die in consequence of 
 your neglect, do you mean to say that you are not responsible 
 for that Karma ? You may talk in the most metaphysical 
 manner you please, you cannot get rid of Karma altogether. 
 These are the arguments put forward by an advocate of this 
 second view. 
 
 The unfortunate mistake that these Karma Yogis make is 
 this ; in their system there is little or nothing said about the 
 Logos. They accept all the thirty-three crores of gods mention- 
 ed in the Yedas and say that the Yedas represent the Logos or 
 Verhum. They say " the Yedas have prescribed a certain course 
 to be followed, and it is not for you to say whether such a 
 course is or is not capable of producing the result to be attained. 
 You ought to take what is stated in the Yedas as absolute truth, 
 and by performing the various rituals therein prescribed, you 
 will be able to reach Sivargam. Devas will assist your efforts, 
 and in the end you will attain supremo happiness. That being 
 the course prescribed, we are not called upon to give up all 
 Karma, and thereby throw all existing institutions into a state 
 of inextricable confusion." 
 
 To these Karma-vadis Krishna says : " One of your con- 
 clusions I accept, the other I deny. I admit that an incalculable 
 number of evil consequences will follow a^ the result of telling 
 
^ irOTSS OK TIIK BHAGAVAD GITA. 
 
 people to give up Karma^ but I cannot admit that your worship 
 of the Devas is at all a desirable thing." 
 
 Who and what are these Devas ? " They are beings on the 
 plane of Kojvana Sarira. They can never give you immorta- 
 lity, because they are not immortal themselves. Even if through 
 worshipping them you are enabled to reach Siuargam, you will 
 have to return thence into objective existence in a new incar- 
 nation. The happiness that Swargam can give you is not 
 eternal and permanent, but subject to this disturbance. And 
 what is more, if you worship the Devas, concentrating your 
 mind on them and making them the sole object of your atten- 
 tion, it is their bhavam that you will obtain, and not mine." 
 Taking all these circumstances into consideration, and admitting 
 the many mischievous consequences that in their view will follow 
 as the result of recommending every human being to give up 
 Karma J Krishna adds to this system all that is to be found in 
 the teaching that makes the Logos the means of salvation, and 
 recommends man — if he would seek to obtain immortality, a 
 method by following which he is sure to reach it, and not one 
 that may end in his having to go through another incarnation, 
 or being absorbed into another spiritual being whose existence 
 is not immortal. Furthermore, all these thirty-three crores of 
 gods spring into existence with the beginning of every ManwaU' 
 tar a and disappear at Pralaya. Thus, when the very existence 
 of the Devas themselves is not permanent, you cannot expect 
 that your existence will become permanent by merging it into 
 their plane of being. 
 
 I now turn to the third theory — Karmasanyasa-Yogam. 
 This Krishna at once rejects as being a most mischievous and 
 even impossible course to follow. AM the advantages offered 
 by its pursuit may be obtained by doing Karma, not as a matter 
 of human affection, passion or desire, but as a matter of duty. 
 
NOTES ON THE BHAGAVAD GIT A. 69 
 
 The fourtli system is that of Gnana Yogam, When people began 
 to perceive that Ritualism was nothing more than a physical act, 
 and that it was altogether unmeaning, unless accompanied by pro- 
 per knowledge, the} said it was not the Karma suggested by the 
 folio vers of Purva Mimasa, or the followers of any other 
 particular ritual, that would be of auy use for man's salvation 
 but the knowledge of, or the intellectual elements underlying, the 
 ritual that would be fpr more important than any physical act 
 could be. 
 
 As Krishna says, their motto is, that all Karma is intended 
 simply as a step to gain knowledge or Gnanam. These philoso- 
 phers, while admitting that Karma should not be rejected, have 
 prescribed other methods of their own, by means of which they 
 thought salvation would be gained. 
 
 They said,'' Consider Karma to be a kind of discipline, and try 
 to understand what this Karma really means. It is in fact 
 merely symbolical. There is a deep meanmg underlying the 
 whole ritual that deals with real entities, with the secrets of 
 nature, and all the faculties imbedded in man's Pragna, and its 
 meaning must not be taken to apply to physical acts alone, for 
 they are nothing more than what their outward appearances 
 signify." In addition to mere Karma yogam, they adopted 
 several other kinds of yogam., such as JapaTYi. Strictly speaking, 
 this Karma-^ogam is not yogam at all, properly so called. They 
 have added to it Antar-yogam^ Pranagnihotram, and other things 
 which may be more or less considered as refined substitutes for 
 external ritual. Now as regards the theory of these philo- 
 sophers. All that Krishna has to propose is that their Gnanam 
 should be directed towards its proper source. They must have 
 some definite aim before them in their search after truth, and 
 they must not simply follow either Japam or Thapasy or any 
 other method which is supposed to open the interior senses of 
 
90 NOTES ON THE BHAGAVAD GITA. 
 
 man, without having also a complete view of the whole path to 
 be traversed and the ultimate goal to be reached. Because, if 
 the attainment of knowledge is all that you require, it may be 
 you still stop short at a very great distance from the Logos and 
 the spiritual knowledge that it can give you. Strictly speaking, 
 all scientists, and all those who are enquiring into the secrets of 
 nature, are also following the recommendations of this Gnana- 
 yogam. But is that kind of investigation and knowledge suffi- 
 cient for the purpose of enabling a man to attain im mortality ? 
 It is not by itself sufficient to produce this effect. This course 
 may indeed ultimately bring to the notice of man all those great 
 truths belonging to the principles operating in the cosmos, 
 which aloue, when properly appreciated and followed, will be 
 able to secure to man the highest happiness he can desire — that 
 is, immortality or Moksham. While admitting the advantages 
 of the spirit of enquiry recommended by this school Krishna 
 tries to direct it towards the accomplishment of this object. 
 
 Let us now examine the fifth system. The votaries of this 
 sect, after having examined what was said by the Saukhyas as 
 well as all the teachings of the other systems we have described, 
 came to the conclusion that it would only be possible to give up 
 Karwta in truth and not merely in name, if you could somehow 
 or other restrain the action of the mind. As long as you cannot 
 concentrate the mind upon yourself, or turn self towards self, 
 it is not possible for you to restrain your nature, and so long as 
 you cannot do that, it is almost impossible to subdue Prakriti or 
 rise superior to the effects of Karma, 
 
 These philosophers wanted men to act in accordance with 
 certain recommendations they laid down as a more effectual 
 and positive means of obtaining mastery over one's own mind, 
 without which mastery they considered it impossible to carry out 
 the programme of either the Sankhya or the Gaaiui-yoga schools. 
 
NOTES O^ THE BHAGAVAD GTTA. 91 
 
 It was for this purpose that all the various systems of Hata-yoga 
 with their different processes, by means of which man attempted 
 to control the action of his own mind, were brought into exist- 
 ence. It was these people who recommended what might be 
 called Ahhiasa-yoga. Whatever maybe the definite path pointed 
 out, whether Hata-yoga, or that department of Raja-yoga that 
 does not necessarily refer to secret initiations, the object is the 
 same, and the final purpose is the attainment of perfect control 
 over oneself. 
 
 This recommendendation to practise and obtain self-mastery, 
 Krishna accepts. But he would add to it more effectual means 
 of obtaining the desired end, — means sufficient in themselves to 
 enable you to reach that end. He points out that this Ahhiasa- 
 yogam is not only useful for training in one birth, but is likely 
 to leave permanent impulses on a man's soul which come to his 
 rescue in future incarnations. As regards the real difficulties 
 that are encountered in following this system, I need not speak 
 at present , because all of you are aware of the difHculties gen- 
 erally encountered by Ilata-yogis. Many of our own members 
 have made some efiorts in this direction, and they will know 
 from personal experience what difficulties are in the way. 
 
 Krishna, in recommending his own method, combines all that 
 is good in the five systems, and adds thereto all those necessary 
 means of obtaining salvation that follow as inferences from the 
 existence of the Logos, and its real relationship to man and to all 
 the principles that operate in the cosmos. He is certainly 
 more comprehensive than any of the theories from which these 
 various schools, of philosophy have started, and it is this theory 
 that he is trying to inculcate in the succeeding six chapters. 
 
 As I have already referred to various passages in these six 
 chapters to show in what light you ought to regard the Logos, I 
 need not say anything more now, and if you will bear in mind 
 
92 NOTES ON THE BHAGAVAD GITA. 
 
 the remarks I have already made, the meaning will not be very 
 difficult to reach. 
 
 In this connection there is one point on which I have been 
 asked to give some explanation. 
 
 Reference is made in this book to Uttarayanam and DakshinayOn 
 nam or day and night, or light and darkness. These are symbolical 
 of the two paths Pravrittimarga and Nivnttimarga, What he 
 calls Uttarayanam is Nivrittimarga^ represented as day or the 
 path of light, the path he recommends, and the other Dakshin- 
 ayanam is Pravrittimarga, or the way which leads to embodied 
 existence in this world. 
 
 But there is one expression in the book that is significant, 
 Krishna says that those who follow this second path attain to 
 Chandramasamjyoti and return thence, while those who follow the 
 first method reach Brahma. This Chamiramasainjyoti is in 
 reality a sywibol of devachanic existence The moon shines, 
 not by its own light, but by the light derived from the sun. 
 Similarly the Karana Sarira shines by the light emanating 
 from tlie Logos, which is the only real source of light, and not 
 by its own inhorent light. That which goes to Devachan or 
 Swargam is this Karana Sarira, and this it is that returns 
 from Devachan. Krishna tries to indicate the nature of the 
 Logos by comparing it to the sun or something that the sun 
 symbolizes. 
 
 I may here draw your attention to one other contingency 
 that may happen to raan after death in addition to those I have 
 already enumerated. Those who have read Mr. Sinnett's 
 ^'Esoteric Buddhism" will, perhaps, recollect that he talks of 
 the terrible fate that might befal the soul in what he calls the 
 eighth sphere. This has given rise to a considerable amount 
 of misunderstanding. The real state of things is that the 
 Karana Sarira may, in very extreme circumstances, die, as the 
 
NOTES ON THE BHAQAVAD GIT A. 93 
 
 physical body or the astral body ales. Suppose that, in course 
 of time, the Karana Sarira is reduced, by the persistence of 
 bad Karma, into a condition of physical existence^ which renders 
 it imposible for it to reflect the light of the Logos ; or suppose 
 that that on which it feeds, as it were, — the good Karma of the 
 man — loses all its energy, and that no tendencies of action are 
 communicated to it, then the result may be that the Karana 
 Sarira dies, or becomes merely a useless aggregation of particles, 
 instead of being a living organism, ju^t as the physical body 
 decompose-; and becomes a dead body when the life principle 
 leaves it. 
 
 The Karana Sarira may become so contaminated and so un- 
 fit to reflect the light of the Logos aa to render any future in- 
 dividual existence impossible ; and then the result is annihi- 
 lation, which is simply the most terrible fate that can befal a 
 human being. Without proceeding further, I must stop here. 
 
 I beg that you will all kindly bear this in mind. We have 
 merely commenced the study of Bhagavad Gita in these lectures. 
 Try to examine, by the light of the statements found in 
 our own books, and in modern books on Psychology and Science, 
 whether the theory I have placed before you is at all tenable or 
 not — decide for yourselves — whether that is the theory sup- 
 ported by the Bhagavad Gita itself. Do not rely on a host of 
 commentaries which will only confuse you, but try to inter- 
 pret the text for yourselves as far as your intelligence will allow, 
 and if you think this is really a correct theory, try to follow it 
 up and think out the whole philosophy for yourselves. I have 
 found that a good deal more is to be gained by concentration of 
 thought and meditation, than by reading any number of books 
 or hearing any number of lectures. Lectures are utterly use- 
 less, unless you think out for yourself what they treat of. The 
 Society cannot provide you with philosophical food already 
 
94 NOTT^S ON THE BHAGAVAD GITA. 
 
 digested, as though you were in the ideal state of passivity 
 aimed at by the advocates of the Sankhyau philosophy ; but 
 every one of you is expected to read and study the subject for 
 himself. Read and gain knowledge, and then use what you 
 have gained for the benefit of your own countrymen. 
 
 The philosophy contained in our old books is valuable, but It 
 has been turned into superstition. We have lost almost all our 
 knowledge. What we call religion is but the shell of a religion 
 that once existed as a living faith. The sublime philosophy of 
 Sankarachaiya has assumed quite a hideous form at the present 
 day. The philosophy of a good many Adwaitis does not lead 
 to practical conduct. They have examined all their books, 
 and they think with the Southern Buddhists of Ceylon, that 
 JVirvana is the Nirvana promised by the Sankhya philosophers, 
 and instead of following out their own philosophy to its legiti- 
 mate conclusion, they have introduced by their Panchayata)ia- 
 puja and other observances what seems to be a foolish and un- 
 necessary compromise between the different views of the varioua 
 sects that have existed in India. Visishthadwaita philosophy 
 has degenerated, and is now little more than temple worship, 
 and has not produced any good impression on men*s minds, 
 Madhwa philosophy has degenerated in the same manner, and 
 has perhaps become more fanatical. For instance, Sankara- 
 charya is represented in their Manimanjari as a Rakshasa of former 
 times. In Northern India people generally recite Saptasati 
 and many have adopted Sakti worship. Kali is worshipped in 
 Calcutta more perhaps than any other deity. If you examine 
 these customs by the light of Krishna's teachings, it must ap- 
 pear to you that, instead of having Hinduism, we have assimi- 
 lated a whole collection of superstitious beliefs and practices 
 which do not by any means tend to promote the welfare of tho 
 Hindu nation, but demoralize it and sap its spiritual strength. 
 
NOTES ON THE BHAGAVAD GITA. 95 
 
 and have led to the present state of things, which, I believe, is 
 not entirely due to political degeneration. 
 
 Our Society stands upon an altogether unsectarian basis ; we 
 sympathize with every religion, but not with every abuse that 
 exists under the guise of religion ; and while sympathizing 
 with every religion and making the best efforts we can for the 
 purpose of recovering the common foundations that underlie all 
 religious beliefs, it ought to be the duty of every one of us 
 to try to enlighten our own countrymen on the philosophy of 
 religion, and endeavour to lead them back to a purer faith — a 
 faith which, no doubt, did exist in former times, but which now 
 lives but in name or in the pages of forgotten books. 
 
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