[Advaita-l] Extremely powerful reasoning for 'Aham Brahmasmi' in the Bh.Gita

[V Subrahmanian]

In the Bh.Gita 13th chapter, at the end, we have this verse:

यथा प्रकाशयत्येकः कृत्स्नं लोकमिमं रविः ।
क्षेत्रं क्षेत्री तथा कृत्स्नं प्रकाशयति भारत ॥ ३३ ॥

13.34 As the single sun illumines this whole world, similarly, O descendant
of the Bharata dynasty, the Knower of the field illumines the whole field.

The 1st  and 2nd verses of this very chapter say:

इदं शरीरं कौन्तेय क्षेत्रमित्यभिधीयते।
एतद्यो वेत्ति तं प्राहुः क्षेत्रज्ञ इति तद्विदः।।13.1।।

The Blessed Lord said O son of Kunti, this body is referred to as the
'field'. Those who are versed in this call him who is conscious of it as
the 'knower of the field'.

क्षेत्रज्ञं चापि मां विद्धि सर्वक्षेत्रेषु भारत।
क्षेत्रक्षेत्रज्ञयोर्ज्ञानं यत्तज्ज्ञानं मतं मम।।13.3।।

And, O scion of the Bharata dynasty, under-stand Me to be the 'Knower of
the field' in all the fields. In My opinion, that is Knowledge which is the
knowlege of th field and the knower of the field.

The Kshetram, the Field, has been defined by the Gita thus:

महाभूतान्यहङ्कारो बुद्धिरव्यक्तमेव च।
इन्द्रियाणि दशैकं च पञ्च चेन्द्रियगोचराः।।13.5।।
इच्छा द्वेषः सुखं दुःखं सङ्घातश्चेतनाधृतिः।
एतत्क्षेत्रं समासेन सविकारमुदाहृतम्।।13.6।।

The great elements, egoism, intellect and the Unmanifest itself; the ten
organs and the one, and the five objects of the senses;
Desire, repulsion, happiness, sorrow, the aggregate (of body and organs),
sentience, fortitude- this field, together with its modifications, has been
spoken of briefly.

Thus, the Kshetram is decidedly inert, Prakriti, jaDa.

If one were to say that the 'Knower of the field, kshetrajna' is Brahman
only, then we have to ask ourselves the question: Who am I, the jiva? This
question is very important because this chapter of the Gita accepts only
two categories: Kshetram (field, inert, jaDa) and the Kshetrajna, the 'Knower
of the field', the sentient, Chaitanya.  The answer to the above question
has to be Kshetrajna, Brahman because if I deny that I am Brahman, the only
alternative I have is to declare myself the inert Kshetram, jaDa. The 33
verse, cited first above solves the problem by clinching the issue:

The One Kshetrajna, on the analogy of the Sun, is the illumining principle,
Prakashaka, and the Kshetram, the inert, jaDa, Prakriti, is the illumined,
prakAshya.   So, if I the jiva is not the Kshetrajna, there is no way I can
avoid being the Kshetram, inert, jaDa.

Thus, by default, the jiva has to be Brahman, the Kshetrajna.  In Advaita
alone the jiva is logically too, admitted to be Brahman. In other systems,
since the Kshetrajna is Brahman and not the jiva, there is no way the jiva
can be saved from being jaDa. This is because the BG 13th chapter affords
no third category where the non-Brahman jiva can be placed.

Thus it is the 33rd verse of the 13th chapter that clinches the issue of
whether the jiva is Brahman or not. This verse provides the solution: the
jiva is none other than Brahman.

शिव इत्यहमित्युभौ न भिन्नौ शिव एवाहं अहं शिवः स एव ।
यदि नैवं अनात्मता शिवस्य प्रसरेत् अशिवत्वमात्मनोऽपि ॥

~ स्वराज्यसिद्धि टीका ३.३९

" The two, Shiva and I, are never different. I am Shiva Himself and Shiva
is I myself. Otherwise, अनात्मता / जड़त्व, not-self, inertness,  will
pervade Shiva and अशिवत्व (inauspiciousness), the Atman."  No one would
like to see himself as inauspicious, a-Shiva.

It is this same logic that is found in the BG 13.33: If I am not Shiva, I
am a-Shiva, jaDa. If Shiva is not me, the Atman, Shiva will have to be
anAtman, jaDa.

Om Tat Sat