The Eternal Teacher and Divine Incarnation: Freedom Beyond Birth and Death
Bhagavad Gita Ch. 4 v. 4-7
The Self is eternal, beyond birth and death. These verses reveal the mystery of divine incarnation, unbroken awareness, and the assurance that truth arises again whenever dharma declines.
Contents
The Eternal Self and the Guru-Disciple Transmission
Arjuna’s Confusion and the Mystery of Eternal Incarnation
The Eternal Self and Unbroken Awareness
Divine Incarnation and the Power of Maya
Restoring Dharma Through Divine Incarnation
Living with Faith in the Eternal Self
PODCAST EPISODE: The Paradox of Spiritual Enlightenment - Guru, Friend, and Self
The Bhagavad Gita reveals that the true Self is never born and never dies, and whenever righteousness falters, divine grace manifests to restore harmony.
We are exploring Chapter Four — the Yoga of Renunciation, Action, and Knowledge. In Chapters Two and Three, we received guidance about Self-knowledge and skillful action—jnana yoga and karma yoga. Chapter Four adds sannyasa yoga, the way of renunciation, and brings these paths together into a higher synthesis.
Renunciation is necessary because awakening requires more than knowledge and more than action—it requires letting go of clinging to our separate self-identity. The false sense of self as body and mind must be surrendered for the illumination of consciousness to dawn. The opening verses of Chapter Four prepare Arjuna for this letting go by revealing the eternal nature of the Self, the reality of the guru-disciple relationship, and the perennial re-emergence of truth through the ages.
The Eternal Self and the Guru-Disciple Transmission
Before turning our focus to the Bhagavad Gita verses 4.4 through 4.7, let us briefly recall the opening verses 4.1-4.3.
- Verse 4.1: “I proclaimed this imperishable yoga to Vivasvat. Vivasvat communicated it to Manu, and Manu imparted it to Ishvaku.” Here, Krishna speaks as the eternal Self, the I Am, revealing that yoga is not taught as information but as revelation of being.
- Verse 4.2: Yoga, as conscious union of Self and Spirit, is supreme and eternal. Though imperishable, it can seem lost when human beings become too materialistic or forgetful. What is eternal cannot be lost, but we can lose our capacity to perceive it.
- Verse 4.3: “That same ancient yoga has this day been taught to you by me, for you are my devotee and my friend, and also because this is a supreme secret.” Here we are introduced to intimacy with God—not only reverence as a devotee, but also closeness as a friend. Transmission is not abstract, but personal, relational, and born of devotion and receptivity.
Next, we move into the heart of verses 4.4 through 4.7, where Arjuna voices his confusion, and Lord Krishna reveals the eternal nature of Consciousness, the mystery of divine incarnation, and the assurance that whenever righteousness declines, the Divine appears again to restore harmony.
"Freedom is found in remembering who we truly are: unborn, imperishable, and ever-aware. The Gita points the way.
—Yogacharya Ellen Grace O'Brian
Arjuna’s Confusion and the Mystery of Eternal Incarnation
The Bhagavad Gita verse 4.4 records Arjuna’s question:
“O Bhagavan, the deva of the Sun, Vivasvan, came into being millions of years ago. How is it possible that you spoke this Vedic knowledge to him at that time?” (Bhagavad Gita verse 4.4)
Here we find Arjuna struggling with what many of us struggle with when we hear mystical teachings—trying to comprehend eternal truths through the lens of the ordinary mind. Arjuna knows Krishna as his cousin, as his charioteer, as his companion on the battlefield. How then can Krishna claim to have taught the Sun God millions of years ago?
This is not doubt in the cynical sense; it is genuine bewilderment. And it reflects our own confusion when we first hear teachings about the eternal Self. We ask: How can this be? How can life be different from the way I have always known it? How can I be more than this body and this mind?
Arjuna’s question reveals an essential truth: the ordinary mind cannot comprehend the eternal. To know the eternal requires the grace of the guru, the grace of God, and our willingness to open to the infinite possibilities beyond our conditioned ways of seeing.
The Eternal Self and Unbroken Awareness
Lord Krishna responds in the Bhagavad Gita, verse 4.5:
“Many of my births have passed away, and also yours, Arjuna. I know them all. You do not know them.” (Bhagavad Gita verse 4.5)
This verse is profound. Here Lord Krishna reveals the nature of conscious immortality. One who is supremely awake, enlightened, and established in the Self has no break in awareness. Birth and death occur at the level of the body, which is a product of nature. But consciousness, the true Self, remains unbroken, aware through all changes.
The contrast is clear:
- The awakened one knows all past births because there is no discontinuity of awareness.
- The unawakened forget, because their awareness is bound by identification with body and mind.
This is why Lord Krishna says, “I know them all; you do not.”
Baba Hari Dass commented:
“Anything that is manifest by nature goes through the cycle of birth, growth, decay, and death. Death is complete forgetfulness of past identities. One who remembers past births is not really dead, because the memory from one birth to the next creates continuity of the same life.”
What is death, then? Simply the veil of forgetfulness. The Self does not die. Consciousness continues, but for most, awareness is broken by the force of identification with the body and mind. For the enlightened, awareness remains steady, unbroken, and immortal.
This verse invites us to ask a fundamental question: How do I define death? For the yogi, death is not the end of life but the forgetting of the Self. Liberation means awakening to that which never dies.
Divine Incarnation and the Power of Maya
The Bhagavad Gita verse 4.6 deepens this revelation:
“Though I am unborn and of imperishable nature and the Lord of beings, yet ruling over my own nature, I manifest myself by my own divine potency (maya).” (Bhagavad Gita verse 4.5)
Here, Lord Krishna makes a distinction between ordinary birth and divine incarnation.
- Unawakened beings take birth involuntarily, driven by karma and the forces of nature.
- The Divine, or an enlightened soul, can incarnate freely, not compelled by past causes but by divine will.
This is a key teaching: Supreme Consciousness is beyond nature, yet rules over nature. Prakriti, the field of nature, cannot manifest without Purusha, Consciousness itself. The divine appears not through compulsion but by intention, by its own maya shakti—the creative power that manifests the universe.
For the yogi, this verse is reassurance: liberation is possible. To awaken fully is to no longer be compelled into rebirth by karma. Consciousness is free, and even if one chooses to incarnate again, it is not through bondage but freedom.
Restoring Dharma Through Divine Incarnation
Verse 4.7 is among the most beloved and hopeful verses in the Bhagavad Gita:
“Whenever there is a decline of righteousness and an increase of unrighteousness, I come into manifestation.” (Bhagavad Gita verse 4.7)
Here we are assured that the Divine does not abandon creation. Whenever harmony is disrupted, whenever dharma is threatened, the divine impulse arises again to restore balance.
Roy Eugene Davis wrote:
“In the field of individualized soul consciousness and in the field of planetary consciousness, whenever the impulse of evolution contends with resistance and disorder increases, a new spiritual impulse originates in the field of pure consciousness that restores the momentum of evolution.”
This is the nature of divine grace. The evolutionary impulse of consciousness always moves toward harmony and fulfillment. Even when disorder and conflict arise, even in times of darkness, the inexorable creative force of the Self works to restore order.
Paramahansa Yogananda said:
“God’s will be done whether individuals cooperate with it or not. But how much sweeter for us to learn to cooperate with this divine evolutionary force.”
This verse offers hope, reminding us that divine support is always present—in our own soul, in the collective consciousness, in the appearance of awakened beings, and in the subtle currents of evolution itself.
Living with Faith in the Eternal Self
As we contemplate verses 4 through 7, we are invited into profound mystical insight. Krishna reveals the eternal nature of the Self, unbroken awareness through many births, the freedom of divine incarnation, and the assurance that whenever dharma declines, divine grace manifests anew.
This chapter teaches us that:
- Death is not the end but forgetfulness.
- Awakening is the remembrance of who we truly are.
- The divine friend and eternal teacher is never absent.
- Evolution is upheld by the natural impulse of consciousness toward harmony.
We close with a poem by Mary Oliver, which beautifully echoes this teaching of divine presence:
I Wake Close to Morning
Why do people keep asking to see God’s identity papers?
When the darkness opening into morning is more than enough?
Certainly, any God might turn away in disgust.
Think of Sheba approaching the kingdom of Solomon.
Do you think she had to ask, Is this the place?
The invitation of these verses is simple and profound: stop looking outside for proof. The eternal Self is ever-present, shining as the very awareness that reads these words, as the light that opens into morning.
Listen to the full podcast episode below.
Bhagavad Gita, pt 34: The Paradox of Spiritual Enlightenment - Guru, Friend, and Self
Chapter 4, v. 4-7
This episode explores the intricate relationship between a guru and a disciple, where the ultimate lesson lies in realizing that everything we seek is already within us. This episode examines how Lord Krishna's teachings to Arjuna serve as a metaphor for our own spiritual journey, emphasizing the importance of friendship and devotion on the path to enlightenment. Discover how these ancient dialogues inspire us to transcend our ordinary understanding of self and embrace the infinite possibilities of our true nature.
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