[Advaita-l] The meaning of 'ekam, maam' in the BG 18.66

[V Subrahmanian]

The meaning of 'ekam, maam' in the BG 18.66

In the 18th Ch. of the Bh.Gita occurs this verse. The Lord asks the
aspirant to take refuge in Him.  What is meant by 'Him/Me' here?  The
Bhashya clarifies that it is the Pure Consciousness, the Atman, and not any
deity.

'Give up religion and irreligion' (Mbh. Sa. 329.40), etc. Parityajya,
abandoning all rites and duties; [Being a Ksatriya, Arjuna is not alified
for steadfastness in Knowledge through monasticism in the primary sense.
Still, the Gita being meant for mankind as a whole, monasticism is spoken
of here by accepting Arjuna as a representative man.] saranam vraja, take
refuge; *mam ekam, in Me alone, the Self of all, the same in all, existing
in all beings, the Lord, the Imperishable, free from being in the womb,
birth, old age and death-by knowing that 'I am verily so'. *That is, know
it for certain that there is nothing besides Me. By revealing My real
nature, aham, I; moksayisyami, shall free; tva, you, who have this
certitude of understanding...

In the Bhashya, Shankara says that the 'I' in which the aspirant has to
take refuge is the Pure Self of the aspirant that cannot be any deity. How
do we know this?  The manner of taking refuge is specified by Shankara: 'by
knowing that 'I am verily so'. Such an identification, even at the
nididhyasanam stage, is the one that is required, not with any deity but
with the Self, Atman. In Advaita, the 'I am that/He' is not an
identification with any person/deity/object but with the Pure
Consciousness. In many other places in the Gita itself Shankara has used
the term 'aham Vasudevah, mattah param kinchidapi naasti'. The other mark
that confirms that the 'taking refuge' is not in any deity but the Atman is
'there is nothing besides Me'.  If by 'Me' a deity were meant, then there
are so many things, the jiva himself, that are 'besides' the deity.  In
Advaita the only entity apart from which there is naught is the
Atman/Brahman.   Yet another mark of this idea is the line ' By revealing
My real nature, aham, I; moksayisyami, shall free you..' of the bhashya.
The real nature of the Atman is the one that is free of the pancha kosha
identification.

In support of this, we have the Kathopanishat statement:

नायमात्मा प्रवचनेन लभ्यो न मेधया न बहुना श्रुतेन ।
यमेवैष वृणुते तेन लभ्यस्तस्यैष आत्मा विवृणुते तनूंस्वाम् ॥ २३ ॥   1.2.23

and the bhashyam: आत्मनैवात्मा लभ्यत इत्यर्थः । कथं लभ्यत इति, उच्यते —
तस्यात्मकामस्य एष आत्मा विवृणुते प्रकाशयति पारमार्थिकीं स्वां तनूं स्वकीयं
याथात्म्यमित्यर्थः ॥

By Atman alone Atman is attained. How? To the one aspiring to know the
Atman, this Atman reveals its true, absolute, nature.

Surely, here there is no 'deity' that does this. The idea is: by the sheer
commitment and labor the aspirant tries to get at the
pancha-kosha-vilakshana chaitanyam.  And he succeeds.  This is what is
termed as 'Atman revealing its true nature.'  Thus, the 'Me' in the BG
verse is not any deity but the very Atman.

सर्वधर्मान्परित्यज्य
मामेकं शरणं व्रज ।
अहं त्वा सर्वपापेभ्यो
मोक्षयिष्यामि मा शुचः ॥ ६६ ॥
सर्वधर्मान् सर्वे च ते धर्माश्च सर्वधर्माः तान् — धर्मशब्देन अत्र
अधर्मोऽपि गृह्यते, नैष्कर्म्यस्य विवक्षितत्वात् , ‘नाविरतो दुश्चरितात्’ (क.
उ. १ । २ । २४)
<http://advaitasharada.sringeri.net/display/bhashya/Kathaka?page=1&id=Ka_C01_S02_V24&hl=%E0%A4%A8%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%B5%E0%A4%BF%E0%A4%B0%E0%A4%A4%E0%A5%8B%20%E0%A4%A6%E0%A5%81%E0%A4%B6%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%9A%E0%A4%B0%E0%A4%BF%E0%A4%A4%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%A4%E0%A5%8D>
‘त्यज धर्ममधर्मं च’
(मो. ध. ३२९ । ४०) इत्यादिश्रुतिस्मृतिभ्यः — सर्वधर्मान् परित्यज्य
संन्यस्य सर्वकर्माणि इत्येतत् । माम् एकं सर्वात्मानं समं
सर्वभूतस्थितम् ईश्वरम् अच्युतं गर्भजन्मजरामरणवर्जितम्
‘अहमेव’ इत्येवं शरणं व्रज, न मत्तः अन्यत् अस्ति इति
अवधारय इत्यर्थः । अहं त्वा त्वाम् एवं निश्चितबुद्धिंसर्वपापेभ्यः
सर्वधर्माधर्मबन्धनरूपेभ्यः मोक्षयिष्यामि
स्वात्मभावप्रकाशीकरणेन । उक्तं च ‘नाशयाम्यात्मभावस्थो ज्ञानदीपेन भास्वता’
(भ. गी. १० । ११)
<http://advaitasharada.sringeri.net/display/bhashya/Gita?page=10&id=BG_C10_V11&hl=%E0%A4%A8%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%B6%E0%A4%AF%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%AE%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%AF%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%A4%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%AE%E0%A4%AD%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%B5%E0%A4%B8%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%A5%E0%A5%8B%20%E0%A4%9C%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%9E%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%A8%E0%A4%A6%E0%A5%80%E0%A4%AA%E0%A5%87%E0%A4%A8%20%E0%A4%AD%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%B8%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%B5%E0%A4%A4%E0%A4%BE>
इति । अतः मा शुचः
शोकं मा कार्षीः इत्यर्थः ॥
Om Tat Sat