Chapter 15: Purushottama-yoga: / Verse 15

Right from the beginning Krishna’s focus has been the Self, the imperishable sentient presence in the body. He identified himself, Arjuna and all else with this inmost Presence (2.12), showing how immutable, unaffected and unconquerable It is, by Its very nature.

The Self is equally present everywhere and in everything. Thus omnipresence and indwelling-ness are Its special characteristics, which go together. On this basis, Krishna points that the Self cannot be missed any time by the earnest enquirer. True discrimination cannot but lodge the seeker in the Self, wherever he is and whatever he does.

Krishna has already stated that the Self is the brilliance of the sun and the moon alike. It is the prāna and apāna, the life forces. It is also present in the digestive process. All these are bodily functions. He now takes up the nonphysical cognitive functions like experience, knowledge and memory. He also stresses that the Supreme itself is forgetfulness as well. A very great revelation indeed!

Everyone tries hard to remember matters. But what is memory, except in the background of forgetfulness? You need to remember something only if there is a chance of forgetting. When forgetfulness is removed, memory is restored. Remembering something implies its presence in memory.

Equally so, when you forget something, you are aware of the absence of its presence in your memory. Thus both forgetfulness and memory, being complementary imply a presence. How true is Krishna’s statement that both memory and forgetfulness arise from the Supreme, are sourced by the Supreme!

If you channelize your thoughts in these lines, you will never get distanced from the Self, the Supreme, even for a fraction of a second. For, memory and forgetfulness immerse you alike in the Supreme.