matkarmakrinmatparamo madbhaktaha sangavarjitaha |
nirvairaha sarvabhooteshu yaha sa maameti paandava || 55 ||
One who performs actions for me, considers me as supreme, is devoted to me, is free from attachment and without enmity towards all beings, that person attains me, O Paandava.
matkarmakrit : performs actions for me
matparamaha : considers me as supreme
madbhaktaha : devoted to me
sangavarjitaha : free from attachment
nirvairaha : without enmity
sarvabhooteshu : towards all beings
yaha : one who
saha : that person
maam : me
eti : attains
paandava : O Paandava
What do we get as a reward for studying one of the longest chapters of the Gita? It is this concluding shloka of the eleventh chapter which Shankaraachaarya considers the essence of the entire Bhagavad Gita. Shri Krishna says that Isvara can be attained by following five guidelines : perform actions for the sake of Ishvara, fix Ishvara as the ultimate goal, observe single-pointed devotion to Ishvara, remain free from worldly attachments, do not harbour likes or dislikes.
We have come across these themes throughout the Gita, but this is the first time that Shri Krishna reveals how they come together as a logical whole. First, he advises us to follow karma yoga, to perform selfless actions by dedicating them to Ishvara. He then advises us to fix Ishvara as the ultimate goal. This is the yoga of knowledge or jnyaana yoga. But we need something that propels us from karma yoga to jnyaana yoga. That is revealed as the third step, the yoga of devotion or bhakti yoga. None of these steps can be accomplished with a mind filled with the impurities of likes and dislikes that generate material attachment. These are addressed in fourth and fifth steps which are freedom from worldly attachments as well as from likes and dislikes.
Furthermore, all five steps are interconnected and strengthen each other. The mind cannot fully detach itself from everything. Like a child that drops attachment to toys and is attached to higher ideals as an adult, Shri Krishna advises us to drop attachments to material things and develop attachment for Ishvara. When we begin to see everything as Ishvara, and see ourselves as part of Ishvara, we will not generate feelings of dislike towards anyone or anything, just like we do not have enmity towards any part of our own body. This is the theme of this chapter, where the individual essence sees itself as part of the universal eternal essence.
om tatsatiti shreematbhagavatgitasupanishadsu brahmavidyaayaam yogashaastre shreekrishnaarjunsamvade vishwaroopadarshanayogo naama ekadashodhyaayaha || 11 ||
Showing posts with label eti. Show all posts
Showing posts with label eti. Show all posts
Saturday, December 8, 2012
Monday, January 30, 2012
Bhagavad Gita Verse 9, Chapter 4
janma karma cha me divyamevam yo vetti tattvataha |
tyaktvaa deham punarjanma naiti maameti sorjuna || 9 ||
My birth and action are divine. One who knows this in essence, having given up the body, is not born again; he obtains me, O Arjuna.
janma : birth
karma : action
cha : and
me : my
divyam : divine
evam : in this way
yah : one who
vetti : knows
tattvataha : in essence
tyaktvaa : give up
deham : body
punah, janma : rebirth
na : does not
eti : obtain
maam : me
eti : obtain
sah : he
arjuna : O Arjuna
In the last two shlokas, Shri Krishna gave the reason for his avataara. Now the question arises: how does this knowledge help the spiritual seeker? He says that once we understand the secret of Ishvaraa's birth and action, we will understand the secret of our action as well.
What is the secret of Ishvaraa's birth and action? It looks to us that Ishvaraa is born, and that Ishvaraa performs action. But that is not the case. Through the power of Ishvaraa's Maaya, it only looks like Ishvaraa takes birth and performs action. It is just an illusion. As we have seen earlier, the eternal essence does not perform action, only prakriti - also called maaya - performs action.
Now, the jeeva within us is identified with the body, mind and intellect. Its birth is based on past karmaas. It performs karmaas with a sense of doership. In other words, it thinks that it is performing actions. But from the standpoint of the eternal essence, there is no doership or enjoyership. It is prakriti alone that acts. Just like Ishvaraa does not perform action, the jeeva also does not perform action. The jeeva is one with Ishvaraa.
So therefore, one who truly and completely understands this point will drop identification with his body, and begin identifying with the eternal essence. That is what is meant by the phrase "deham tvaktvaa": the jeeva has stopped identification of the body.
Here, academic knowledge is not enough. We need a first-hand understanding that prakriti performs actions and not the eternal essence. That first-hand understanding can only be gained through meditation, which is explained later in the Gita.
A simple way to understand the teaching so far is as follows. The individual jeeva is like a wave in the ocean. Ishvaraa is like the ocean. The eternal essence or brahman is water. Once the wave realizes that it is the same water as Ishvaraa, it is free from the limitations of its tiny form.
tyaktvaa deham punarjanma naiti maameti sorjuna || 9 ||
My birth and action are divine. One who knows this in essence, having given up the body, is not born again; he obtains me, O Arjuna.
janma : birth
karma : action
cha : and
me : my
divyam : divine
evam : in this way
yah : one who
vetti : knows
tattvataha : in essence
tyaktvaa : give up
deham : body
punah, janma : rebirth
na : does not
eti : obtain
maam : me
eti : obtain
sah : he
arjuna : O Arjuna
In the last two shlokas, Shri Krishna gave the reason for his avataara. Now the question arises: how does this knowledge help the spiritual seeker? He says that once we understand the secret of Ishvaraa's birth and action, we will understand the secret of our action as well.
What is the secret of Ishvaraa's birth and action? It looks to us that Ishvaraa is born, and that Ishvaraa performs action. But that is not the case. Through the power of Ishvaraa's Maaya, it only looks like Ishvaraa takes birth and performs action. It is just an illusion. As we have seen earlier, the eternal essence does not perform action, only prakriti - also called maaya - performs action.
Now, the jeeva within us is identified with the body, mind and intellect. Its birth is based on past karmaas. It performs karmaas with a sense of doership. In other words, it thinks that it is performing actions. But from the standpoint of the eternal essence, there is no doership or enjoyership. It is prakriti alone that acts. Just like Ishvaraa does not perform action, the jeeva also does not perform action. The jeeva is one with Ishvaraa.
So therefore, one who truly and completely understands this point will drop identification with his body, and begin identifying with the eternal essence. That is what is meant by the phrase "deham tvaktvaa": the jeeva has stopped identification of the body.
Here, academic knowledge is not enough. We need a first-hand understanding that prakriti performs actions and not the eternal essence. That first-hand understanding can only be gained through meditation, which is explained later in the Gita.
A simple way to understand the teaching so far is as follows. The individual jeeva is like a wave in the ocean. Ishvaraa is like the ocean. The eternal essence or brahman is water. Once the wave realizes that it is the same water as Ishvaraa, it is free from the limitations of its tiny form.
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