POWERFUL COGNITION
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Life and death are the two siodes of the same coin.
अधियज्ञः कथं कोऽत्र देहेऽस्मिन्मधुसूदन ।
प्रयाणकाले च कथं ज्ञेयोऽसि नियतात्मभिः
adhiyajñaḥ kathaṃ ko’tra dehe’smin
madhusūdana prayāṇakāle ca kathaṃ
jñeyo’si niyatātmabhiḥ
How does this Lord of sacrifice
live in the body, and in which part
does He live, O Madhusūdana? How
can those engaged in devotional
service know You at the time of their
death?
POWERFUL COGNITION
Our understanding about death impacts our understanding about life. Understanding that life is eternal gives freedom from the need to accomplish everything in one lifetime.
INTRODUCTION
These are two beautiful
questions!
Of course, when I
translate them into
English, much of the
taste is lost!
No English words can
convey the meaning of
so many beautiful words
expressed by Arjuna. A
single word has many
meanings in Saṃskṛt.
The moment I translate,
I give only one
dimension, a single
dimension of the verse.
Understand, the Sanskrit language is that it is not only linguistic, but also has importance at the phonetic level. Just the vibration of the words can transform our whole inner space. The sound changes the energy of the place and the inner space of those who hear it or are chanting it. We should understand the concepts called padā and padārtha.
For example, when I say the word 'cow,' immediately a figure appears in our mind— an animal with four legs, a tail, head and two horns. The word is called padā, the figure is padārtha. What happens in our mind when we hear the word is padārtha. In all languages the distance or gap between padā and padārtha is significant.
