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Re: Animal-Killing, and Soul-Merging Condemned
H. Krishna Susarla (susarla.krishna@studentserver1.swmed.edu) wrote:
: asuryaa naama te lokaa
: andhena tamasaavritaah
: taams te pretyaabhigacchanti
: ye ke caatma-hano janaah
: "The killer of the soul, whoever he may be, must enter into the planets
: known as the worlds of the faithless, full of darkness and ignorance."
: (Note: Srila Prabhupada often referred to the idea of merging the soul into
: God, and thus losing one's individual identity, as "spiritual suicide").
Dear Hari Krishnaji:
Thank you for bringing this verse to the discussion. This is one of the
most difficult verses to interpret and I have read various translations of
this one. Personally, I like Sri Aurobindo's translation. Presently, I
will try to open up this verse for everybody. I am using Sri Atul
Chandra Sen's translation.
Anvaya with word for word meaning:
asuryAh nAma (sunless) andhena tamasAvritA (covered by darkness) te lokAh
(those places) ye ke Atmahanah janAh (those who kill Atman) te (they)
[imam deham] pretya (upon leaving this body) tAn abhigacchanti (recieves
thosse lokas).
Straight meaning:
Those who are not Self-realized, go to the lokas filled with darkness
after their death.
asuryA: Acharya Sankar has taken it to mean 'fit for asuras', who include
the unrealized Devas. Sri Aurobindo accepted 'sunless' as the translation.
The real difference between PrabhupAda's translation and the others is in
Atmahanah janAh. Just who are they? Since it is impossible to kill the
Atman, this phrases must be interpreted in a symbolic way. However,
there is not much room for speculative interpretation here, therefore,
the phrase must mean 'those who do not recognize the existence of Atman'.
In liberation, one goes to the Param dhAma, which is the akshar
Purusha. Sri Krishna says that he creates sarvabhuta after the end of the
age, by returning them to Prakriti. 'Spiritual suicide', assuming that
it is possible, would clearly conflict with this.
With best regards,
Dhruba.
