The Self, an Indestructible Eternal Element

either. This is because this Self does not die nor can It get killed. This Self never takes birth nor does It die. It is not even that It was not around in the past or that It will not be around in the future; It certainly exists in the past, the present, and the future. ‘It’ is without birth (ajanma), permanent (nitya), eternal (shaashwat), It has existed since time immemorial. That is why even though the body dies, It cannot be killed. Oh Arjun! The One who Knows the Self to be indestructible (avinashi), permanent, without birth, and unchanging (avikaari), such a Self-realized One (Purush) can understand, ‘How can It kill anyone and in what way as well as how can It make anyone else kill another?’ He understands all that. The truth is, the Self gives up old garments and puts on new ones.” [Bhagwat Gita, Part 2, Shloka 16 to 22] There is nothing else to it. People have both, flights of imagination as well as the confusion that, ‘This one [living being] has died.’

Questioner: In the Gita, Lord Krishna told Arjun, “Moksha is indeed inside Me,” so is moksha indeed within?

Dadashri: Yes, of course it is within, it’s not as though you can find it outside!

Questioner: Lord Krishna said, “It is within Me.”

Dadashri: Yes, it is indeed within Him. Where would He bring it from outside?

Questioner: So, it is the intention of the Gita to convey, ‘You let go of everything else. Worship Me alone.’ That is what is written inside it.

Dadashri: What it is trying to convey is, ‘This Krishna is who I am,’ and Krishna means the Self. The Self exists within each and everyone’s body, that Self is Itself Krishna, and moksha verily lies within It. That is what it [the Gita] is conveying.

Questioner: Is that why it has been said, “The Self is Itself the absolute Self (Atma so Parmatma)”? Is the Self Itself Krishna?

Dadashri: Yes, when Lord Krishna says, “This that I am doing…,” there He is speaking as the Self. So, there has been a mistake in understanding [what He was saying]. People have understood that He is talking as an individual, meaning, ‘I am the doer, and I Myself created this world.’ It is not like that; He is speaking as the Self. Come and understand the entire Gita from ‘us’ [the Gnani Purush], then you will be able to understand it.

The Eternal Element That Supports Motion – The Eternal Element That Supports Inertia

Motion Happens Because of the Eternal Element That Supports Motion

These [eternal elements of] inanimate matter (jada) and the Self (Chetan) require energy to move from here. Neither the Self has this energy nor does inanimate matter have this energy. The Self does not have the intrinsic property to move. The Parmanu (smallest, most indivisible and indestructible particles of inanimate matter) cannot move back and forth from here, nor can this Self move back and forth. There is the eternal element called gatisahayak which moves them back and forth, which changes the location of the two. It helps them and it puts them into motion.

Questioner: How does that motion happen? Does the motion happen through positive and negative power?

Dadashri: No, no. There is the eternal element of gatisahayak which itself puts objects into motion, it helps in the relative (vyavahaar). When the intention to move arises within the [worldly-interacting] self *, the moment there is a subtle sign that it wants to move, then the eternal element that supports motion helps it.

* Wherever there is discussion about the self having the intention to move, understand the self to mean the worldly-interacting self (vyavahaar atma).

Questioner: In the Bhagavad Gita, a reference has been made to the para prakruti (the prakruti that is closer to the ‘I’, the mishrachetan; also known as pratyaksh prakruti) and apara prakruti (the prakruti that is further away from the ‘I’, the mind, the speech, the body; also known as paroksh prakruti).

Dadashri: That is referring to the prakruti (non-Self complex). Apara (that which is farther away from me) and para (that which is near me) both refer to the prakruti. Now this is a different thing; this body which is made up of these five elements (panch mahabhoot; according to ancient Indian philosophy, the five elements that are the basis of all cosmic creation: earth, water, fire, air, and space), does not have the property of movement. If it wants to move from here, if it wants to go from here, then it would not be able to go a mile from here. Even the Self does not have the property of movement.

Questioner: In the Upanishad [ancient Sanskrit texts of spiritual teaching and ideas of Hinduism], there is the description that, ‘The Self is in motion (gatimaan) and the Self is not in motion.’ So, which of these two is correct?

Dadashri: Neither is the Self in motion, nor are these five elements [the body] in motion. That eternal element that supports motion is within, and that eternal element does a lot of work; it does not move anything intentionally of its own accord, it is only when the desire [to move] arises within the self, that it starts functioning.

The Intent to Move Arises Due to Vibhaav

The moment it [the worldly-interacting self] has the intent (bhaav) to move, this is the eternal element that helps