Millions of beings in creation, from the tiniest ant to Brahma, are examples of the union of the atma or the self with matter. Krishna uses the analogy of the Kshetra, the field and Kshetrajna, the knower of the field to explain the mystery of creation brought about by the mutual association of consciousness and matter, said Swami Gautamananda in a discourse.
The immortal atma is the essence of consciousness, but owing to its individual karma it gets united with a body and this is the reason for the birth of any object, plant, animal, human or celestial being. The body is the field where the seeds are sown. These sprout in due course and produce results. Through our body, senses and mind, whatever we do produces results, good or bad. But during the brief period of existence, the self is overpowered by the superimposition of the non living with the living. As this takes place in the consciousness of the self, one is led to believe in the truth of the body, mind and senses as the reality.
A seashell shines like a silver piece in the sunlight. The knowledge of the nature of a silver coin makes one superimpose this on the sea shell and for the time being it is believed to be silver. This is understood as a mistaken notion only when the true nature of the sea shell is recognised in one’s consciousness.
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When the self exists in the body, the identification of the spirit with the body and material world is so strong that one is not able to see these throbbing with life as a dead matter. Death is the separation of the self from the body. Krishna emphasises that one should contemplate on what brings about this association and understand their mutual distinctness.