“O scion of Bharata, you should understand that I am also the knower in all bodies, and to understand this body and its owner is called knowledge. That is My opinion.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 13.3)

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

kṣetra-jñaṁ cāpi māṁ viddhi
sarva-kṣetreṣu bhārata
kṣetra-kṣetrajñayor jñānaṁ
yat taj jñānaṁ mataṁ mama

In the insurance world, one might come across a concept known as policy stacking. It might also be known as a stacking tower. This is for the use-case of a single entity or person carrying multiple insurance policies.

One policy might apply to the first million dollars of coverage, for instance. Once that amount gets breached, the next policy in the tower takes over. You keep going in this way until you have reached the limit of your coverage.

The policy that covers for the worst case scenario might be known as an umbrella policy. It provides cover in case of a large-scale catastrophe. The umbrella is not always needed. It might not be raining outside. But just in case, there is little harm in keeping one around.

We can apply a similar stacking model to the universe itself. When we reach the top of the tower, we come across one of the five main concepts covered in Bhagavad-gita.

1. The older brother

“It wasn’t so easy growing up. It was nice having an older brother, but at the same time everything went through them. All the visits to friends and family. All the orders coming from the parents. All the toys we played with.

“I could only do what I was allowed to do. The brother could assert their dominance at any moment. What choice did I have? It was also considered disrespectful to go against the orders.”

2. The mother

“Our mom was pretty strict with us kids while growing up. We would never dream of watching television for more than an hour. She would be right behind us, yelling and screaming. She would urge us to read a book or do something constructive.

“We had little choice in the matter. Talking back was unheard of. The way I see children speak to their parents these days, I cannot comprehend; we would never do the same. We respected authority.”

3. The father

“It might be controversial to say, but the father dictates within the household. They set the direction. I believe there is even a Bhagavad-gita verse alluding to the same, in the context of leadership.

यद्यदाचरति श्रेष्ठस्तत्तदेवेतरो जनः ।
स यत्प्रमाणं कुरुते लोकस्तदनुवर्तते ॥

yad yad ācarati śreṣṭhas
tat tad evetaro janaḥ
sa yat pramāṇaṁ kurute
lokas tad anuvartate

“Whatever action is performed by a great man, common men follow in his footsteps. And whatever standards he sets by exemplary acts, all the world pursues.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 3.21)

“If our father got a new job, we had to move. If he wanted peace and quiet in the house, we had to listen. If he quizzed us on what we learned in school, we tried our best to impress him.”

4. The leader of the community

“If you have a good leader, everything goes well. If the leader is corrupt, then there are problems. They tend to bring everyone down with them. This is my explanation for why our family moved out of our local community.

“We loved living there, but the punishing rules and regulations imposed by the leader were too much. We could not tolerate it any longer. It is not like we are against government. There will always be a local leader, and you can’t get too far by going against them.”

5. The controller of everyone

The Sanskrit word is Ishvara. Bhagavad-gita covers the topics of the living entity, the material nature, action and reaction, and time. The fifth topic is Ishvara. This is the entity controlling everything.

The living entity is ishvara to a certain extent. They may be a controller in their local sphere of influence. At the very least, they have control in their choice of action. Though no one is truly the doer, as the modes of nature must first cooperate.

प्रकृतेः क्रियमाणानि
गुणैः कर्माणि सर्वशः
अहङ्कार-विमूढात्मा
कर्ताहम् इति मन्यते

prakṛteḥ kriyamāṇāni
guṇaiḥ karmāṇi sarvaśaḥ
ahaṅkāra-vimūḍhātmā
kartāham iti manyate

“The bewildered spirit soul, under the influence of the three modes of material nature, thinks himself to be the doer of activities, which are in actuality carried out by nature.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 3.27)

The local ishvara is not to be identified by a basic image. The image we see in photographs is actually the material nature covering the living entity. This nature is prakriti. The living entity dominates and prakriti is dominated.

The way that prakriti shifts is based on karma, which is fruitive activity. As a simple example, I decide to consume an entire pizza pie for dinner. Suddenly, my belly expands. My face looks more plump. I am carrying more mass as I move along.

Prakriti changed, and as the living being inside I instigated the change. The rules that facilitated that change is karma. At the most basic understanding, karma is action and consequence.

The changes take place through the influence of time. If we have a before-and-after, it means that time has operated. Before I took the action, prakriti manifested in a certain way. After my choice in action, time delivered the appropriate results. Prakriti then took a different shape, no pun intended.

The person above it all is Ishvara. This is one way to know God. We have given a concrete definition without making any reference to dogma, faith, religious system, or geographical region. Any person can understand this explanation of Ishvara.

This Ishvara is never controlled. As the living entities do not have full control in the results to their actions, they also fall into the prakriti category. They are prakriti in comparison to the Ishvara controlling everything.

The living entity knows only what occurs locally. They are the knower within the field, kshetra, but Ishvara is the knower in every single body. This is another way to understand God. To know this about God is to possess real knowledge.

In Closing:

In real knowledge possession,
That all at His discretion.

Since at top of stacking tower,
One wielding the most power.

Individual at local level to know,
But Ishvara in every sphere to go.

Another way superior to see,
That standing above all is He.

Categories: the five

Tags: god, hare krishna, hinduism, poem, poems, poetry, religion