manmanaa bhava madbhakto madyaajee maama namaskuru |
maamevaishyasi yuktvaivamaatmaanam matparaayanaha || 34 ||
Keep your mind in me, become my devotee, perform actions for me, surrender to me. In this manner, engage yourself in me. By making me your goal, you will attain only me.
manmanaahaa : keep your mind in me
bhava : do
madbhaktaha : become my devotee
madyaajee : perform actions for me
maam : me
namaskuru : surrender to
maama : me
eva : only
eshyasi : attain
yuktvaa : engaged in
evam : in this manner
aatmaanam : yourself
matparaayanaha : make me your goal
Shri Krishna concludes the ninth chapter with a “take home message”. He gives us specific, tangible and practical instructions to bring the teachings of this chapter into our life. Having declared that this world is impermanent and devoid of joy, he wants us to follow a new way of life that orients us towards Ishvara and away from the world.
Let’s look at the most important instruction first. Shri Krishna wants us to make Ishvara as our sole goal in life. How does this work in practice? If for instance, we are ready to go to college, it should be in line with our svadharma so that we get skilled in performing our work. If we want to get married, it should be with the intention of serving our family and our parents. Any time we serve someone else, we are serving Ishvara.
Now once this goal is set, everything else falls into place. Shri Krishna wants us to keep on contemplating Ishvara and perform all our actions for Ishvara. The more we do this, the more will our ego get subdued, and this is how we will convert ourselves into a true devotee. We may encounter people and situations that are unpleasant, disagreeable and not to our liking. Even in the midst of this we should bow down and surrender to Ishvara, knowing that it is our past actions that are manifesting as unpleasant but temporary situations.
What is the end result? If we are ever engaged with Ishvara throughout our lives, if we make Ishvara our goal and refuge, we will certainly attain him. This attainment is explained in the sixth chapter as “Yo maam pashyati sarvatra sarvam cha mayi pashyati”. We will not view the world as different from us. We will see Ishvara in all, and all in Ishavara.
om tatsatiti shreematbhagavatgitasupanishadsu brahmavidyaayaam yogashaastre shreekrishnaarjunsamvade raajavidyaaraajaguhyayogo naama navamodhyaayaha || 9 ||
Showing posts with label maama. Show all posts
Showing posts with label maama. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 29, 2012
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Bhagavad Gita Verse 24, Chapter 7
avyaktam vyaktimaapannam manyante maamabuddhayaha |
param bhaavamajaananto mamaavyayamanuttamam || 24 ||
The unintelligent, not knowing my unmanifest, supreme, incomparable and imperishable nature, believe that I assume a human form.
avyaktam : unmanifest
vyaktim : human form
aapannam : assume
manyante : believe
maama : me
abuddhayaha : unintelligent
param : supreme
bhaavam : nature
ajaanantaha : not knowing
mama : my
avyayam : imperishable
anuttamam : incomparable
“To one that holds a hammer, everything looks like a nail”. When we get used to a certain mode of thinking or behaving, it becomes a disadvantage because that mode of thinking begins to limit our perspective. We spend all of our waking life taking in information from the sense organs - the eyes, ears, nose, tongue and skin. Due to this constant exposure, we tend to perceive everything in terms of these 5 senses. Ultimately, these senses limit what we can perceive.
Shri Krishna, having described the finite goal-seeking mindset of most people, now clearly articulates the problem that they face. Limited by their finite intellect, limited by the prison of the 5 senses, people tend to view Ishvara as a finite entity. As if this is not unfortunate enough, they get so attached to their favourite deity that they sometimes begin to develop a fanatic attitude - “my god is better than your god” and so on. The true Ishvara is beyond all senses. Neither the mind nor our speech can reach it. Ishvara is beyond all names and forms.
But, many of us go to temples to worship deities. Even spiritual masters worship deities. How should we understand this? It is because deities in a temple are indicators or pointers to the infinite. An idol in the shape of a deity helps us focus our attention on the form of the deity. But this focusing of attention on the finite deity is a stepping stone to contemplating the true nature of Ishvara which is infinite, imperishable and supreme.
What is the real reason for the problem pointed out here? Why do most people think of Ishvara in finite terms? This is examined next.
param bhaavamajaananto mamaavyayamanuttamam || 24 ||
The unintelligent, not knowing my unmanifest, supreme, incomparable and imperishable nature, believe that I assume a human form.
avyaktam : unmanifest
vyaktim : human form
aapannam : assume
manyante : believe
maama : me
abuddhayaha : unintelligent
param : supreme
bhaavam : nature
ajaanantaha : not knowing
mama : my
avyayam : imperishable
anuttamam : incomparable
“To one that holds a hammer, everything looks like a nail”. When we get used to a certain mode of thinking or behaving, it becomes a disadvantage because that mode of thinking begins to limit our perspective. We spend all of our waking life taking in information from the sense organs - the eyes, ears, nose, tongue and skin. Due to this constant exposure, we tend to perceive everything in terms of these 5 senses. Ultimately, these senses limit what we can perceive.
Shri Krishna, having described the finite goal-seeking mindset of most people, now clearly articulates the problem that they face. Limited by their finite intellect, limited by the prison of the 5 senses, people tend to view Ishvara as a finite entity. As if this is not unfortunate enough, they get so attached to their favourite deity that they sometimes begin to develop a fanatic attitude - “my god is better than your god” and so on. The true Ishvara is beyond all senses. Neither the mind nor our speech can reach it. Ishvara is beyond all names and forms.
But, many of us go to temples to worship deities. Even spiritual masters worship deities. How should we understand this? It is because deities in a temple are indicators or pointers to the infinite. An idol in the shape of a deity helps us focus our attention on the form of the deity. But this focusing of attention on the finite deity is a stepping stone to contemplating the true nature of Ishvara which is infinite, imperishable and supreme.
What is the real reason for the problem pointed out here? Why do most people think of Ishvara in finite terms? This is examined next.
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Bhagavad Gita Verse 46, Chapter 1
yadi maamaprateekaaramashastram shasktrapaanayaha |
dhaartaraashtraa rane hanyustanme kshemataram bhavet || 46 ||
Even if I, unarmed and non-resistant, am killed in war by the sons of Dhritraasthra, who are armed with weapons, this will be beneficial for me.
yadi : even if
maama : I
aprateekaaram : non-resistant
ashastram : unarmed
shastra : weapons
paaneyaha : in hand
dhaartaraashtraa : sons of Dhritaraashtra
rane : in war
hanyuh : kill
tat : that
me : for me
kshemataram : beneficial
bhavet : will be
This is the final statement uttered by Arjuna in the first chapter of the Gita. It shows the extent of delusion in Arjuna's mind, as he morphed from a mighty warrior into a pathetic, weak, helpless individual. Arjuna was desperately looking to escape the difficult situation he found himself in, and so his mind came up with all kinds of arguments to justify this escape, including making the escape "beneficial".
Let us revisit our friend Mr. X. He has been laid off due to the recession, and has been out of work for 3 months. He has not interviewed in over 2 weeks now. As time goes by, his confidence begins to weaken. If his mind cannot maintain equanimity, it will lead him down a path similar to Arjuna's fall. He begins to think that there's no point in applying for more jobs since there aren't any, and even if he gets an interview call, he has to compete with more qualified candidates. Therefore, there's no point even trying. In fact, it's better to stay at home and do nothing because there's no point applying for a job in a bad economy. Just look at how his mind has generated perverse logic to preserve the ego.
There's another point to note here : Shri Krishna kept quiet throughout Arjuna's rant. He wanted Arjuna to expel every perverse argument out of his system, in preparation for the teaching of the Gita.
dhaartaraashtraa rane hanyustanme kshemataram bhavet || 46 ||
Even if I, unarmed and non-resistant, am killed in war by the sons of Dhritraasthra, who are armed with weapons, this will be beneficial for me.
yadi : even if
maama : I
aprateekaaram : non-resistant
ashastram : unarmed
shastra : weapons
paaneyaha : in hand
dhaartaraashtraa : sons of Dhritaraashtra
rane : in war
hanyuh : kill
tat : that
me : for me
kshemataram : beneficial
bhavet : will be
This is the final statement uttered by Arjuna in the first chapter of the Gita. It shows the extent of delusion in Arjuna's mind, as he morphed from a mighty warrior into a pathetic, weak, helpless individual. Arjuna was desperately looking to escape the difficult situation he found himself in, and so his mind came up with all kinds of arguments to justify this escape, including making the escape "beneficial".
Let us revisit our friend Mr. X. He has been laid off due to the recession, and has been out of work for 3 months. He has not interviewed in over 2 weeks now. As time goes by, his confidence begins to weaken. If his mind cannot maintain equanimity, it will lead him down a path similar to Arjuna's fall. He begins to think that there's no point in applying for more jobs since there aren't any, and even if he gets an interview call, he has to compete with more qualified candidates. Therefore, there's no point even trying. In fact, it's better to stay at home and do nothing because there's no point applying for a job in a bad economy. Just look at how his mind has generated perverse logic to preserve the ego.
There's another point to note here : Shri Krishna kept quiet throughout Arjuna's rant. He wanted Arjuna to expel every perverse argument out of his system, in preparation for the teaching of the Gita.
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