vihaaya kaamanyah sarvaanpumaanshcharati nihspruha |
nirmamo nirahankaarah sa shaantimadhigachchati || 71 ||
That individual who walks having abandoned all desires, cravings, mine-ness and ego, he attains peace.
vihaaya : abandon
kaaman : desires
yah : who
sarvaan : all
pumaan : individual
charati : walks
nihspruha : without cravings
nirmamah : without mine-ness
nirahankaarah : without ego
sah : he
shaantim : peace
adhigachchati: attains
Earlier in the chapter, Arjuna asked Shri Krishna to point out the signs of a person of steady wisdom. To that end, he asked Shri Krishna to answer the following questions: how does he sit, speak and walk. In this shloka, hence the use of the word "charati" meaning "walks" is used to denote the conclusion of the answer to the question, "how does a person of steady intellect walk?".
Shri Krishna summarizes the entire topic of the signs of a wise person in four points. He first asks us to give up selfish desires using the technique of karma yoga. Next, he asks us to give up cravings for things we already possess, which is the second point here. And to eliminate even the slightest trace of selfishness, he finally asks us to give up the sense of "I-ness" and "mine-ness" which we had seen in the first chapter, also known as "ahankaara"' and "mamataa". The goal attained by giving up these four things is also repeated here for emphasis: it is everlasting peace.
As a point of clarification, let us remember that for most of us, abandoning these four things will not happen overnight. We have to follow a disciplined technique to do so, and only after having applied this technique for a period of time will be begin to see the desires, cravings, ego and mine-ness slowly lose their grip.
With this shloka, Shri Krishna concludes the final topic of the second chapter, that of the signs of a wise person. The next shloka will be the last shloka in the second chapter, a wonderful milestone in our journey. This shloka is the seed of the fifth and sixth chapters of the Gita that cover the topic of renunciation of actions.
Gita Journey is a straightforward, modern, contemporary, basic explanation and commentary of the Bhagawat Gita, with Sanskrit to English word meanings. Each shloka or sloka (verse) is explained in detail. An introduction to the Bhagavad Gita along with study resources can also be found here. A summary of each chapter of the Bhagavad Gita is also included. No prior background is needed for this interpretation.
Showing posts with label vihaaya. Show all posts
Showing posts with label vihaaya. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Bhagavad Gita Verse 22, Chapter 2
vaasaamsi jeernaani yathaa vihaaya navaani grihnaati naroparaani |
tathaa shareeraani vihaaya jeernaanyanyaanisamyaati navaani dehee || 22 ||
Just as an individual will discard old clothes and wears new one, so does the body-dweller discard old bodies and obtain other new bodies.
vaasaamsi : clothes
jeernaani : old
yathaa : just like
vihaaya: discard
navaani : new
grihnaati : wears
naraha : individual
aparaani: other
tathaa : so does
shareeraani : bodies
vihaaya : discard
jeernaani : old
ayanyaani : other
samyaati : obtains
navaani : new
dehee : body-dweller
This is an oft-quoted shloka, and has several aspects and interpretations, just like many shlokas we have seen in this chapter. For our purposes, the main point here is that the eternal essence, or the body dweller, is separate from the human body. When the human body has outlived its purpose, the body dweller discards it and subsequently inherits a new body.
If we have followed the line of reasoning so far, a doubt emerges. How does the eternal essence, which is all-pervading and infinite, enter and leave human bodies? Shouldn't there just be one eternal essence, one body dweller? This question will be answered later in subsequent verses. For now, we should still consider the eternal essence as one but know that the one eternal essence gets attached to this body or that body, and perceives itself to be that body out of an error.
Note the change of meter in this verse.
tathaa shareeraani vihaaya jeernaanyanyaanisamyaati navaani dehee || 22 ||
Just as an individual will discard old clothes and wears new one, so does the body-dweller discard old bodies and obtain other new bodies.
vaasaamsi : clothes
jeernaani : old
yathaa : just like
vihaaya: discard
navaani : new
grihnaati : wears
naraha : individual
aparaani: other
tathaa : so does
shareeraani : bodies
vihaaya : discard
jeernaani : old
ayanyaani : other
samyaati : obtains
navaani : new
dehee : body-dweller
This is an oft-quoted shloka, and has several aspects and interpretations, just like many shlokas we have seen in this chapter. For our purposes, the main point here is that the eternal essence, or the body dweller, is separate from the human body. When the human body has outlived its purpose, the body dweller discards it and subsequently inherits a new body.
If we have followed the line of reasoning so far, a doubt emerges. How does the eternal essence, which is all-pervading and infinite, enter and leave human bodies? Shouldn't there just be one eternal essence, one body dweller? This question will be answered later in subsequent verses. For now, we should still consider the eternal essence as one but know that the one eternal essence gets attached to this body or that body, and perceives itself to be that body out of an error.
Note the change of meter in this verse.
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