niyatam sangarahitamaraagadveshataha kritam |
aphalaprepsunaa karma yattatsaattvikamuchyate || 23 ||
That action prescribed by scripture which is performed without attachment, without like or dislike, by one without hankering for reward, that is said to be saattvic.
niyatam : prescribed by scripture
sangarahitam : without attachment
araagadveshataha : without like or dislike
kritam : performed
aphalaprepsunaa : one without hankering for reward
karma : action
yat : that which
tat : that
saattvikam : saattvic
uchyate : is said
We came across three types of knowledge or world-view in the prior three shlokas. Now we come to the topic of the karma, the action itself. Knowledge is the main instigator of any action. So if the knowledge is saattvic, the action will be saattvic and so on. A simple way to differentiate between the three types of knowledge is the gauge the severity of the likes and dislikes, the raaga and dvesha, that the knowledge creates. When we only see unity and harmony, without any likes or dislikes, that is saattvic knowledge. When we have strong likes or dislikes for this object or that person or that situation, it is raajasic knowledge. When we have a extreme or perverted like or dislike, it is taamasic knowledge.
Imagine that you are a guest at a friend’s house. A group of young children are playing a game of monopoly that they ask you to join. Some children want you to win, since you are in their team. The other team wants you to lose. At the conclusion of the game, you end up losing all your monopoly money. But you do not harbour any feelings of resentment or anger towards the children. Why does this happen? You have no attachment to the monopoly game, the money or property that you have acquired, since you know that it is not real.
Shri Krishna says that any action performed without attachment, without like or dislike towards any part or character in the action, without hankering for the reward of the action, such an action is a sattvic action. In other words, while commencing the action, our intent and our state of mind is saattvic. We will only be able to perform such an action if we have reduced our likes and dislikes towards material objects to a great extent. This happens only if we see the world as illusory and ephemeral, either through seeing everything as Ishvara’s Prakriti or through meditation upon the hollowness of Maaya.
Showing posts with label uchyate. Show all posts
Showing posts with label uchyate. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 11, 2013
Saturday, May 18, 2013
Bhagavad Gita Verse 28, Chapter 17
ashraddhaya hutam dattam tapastaptam kritam cha yat |
asaditityuchyate paartha na cha tatpretya no iha || 28 ||
Whatever is sacrificed, donated or done, and whatever penance is performed, without faith, it is called asat, O Paartha. It is neither here nor after death.
ashraddhaya : without faith
hutam : sacrificed
dattam : donated
tapaha : penance
taptam : performed
kritam : done
cha : and
yat : whatever
asat : asat
iti : in this manner
uchyate : is called
paartha : O Paartha
na : neither
cha : and
tat : that
pretya : after death
no : nor
iha : here
In the previous shloka, Shri Krishna asserted that any action performed with the steadfastness in Ishvara, with constant memory and faith in Ishvara, automatically becomes a saattvic action. Furthermore, with the application of the purifier Om Tat Sat, it becomes a means towards liberation. Here, such kind of action is compared with an action that is performed without any faith or steadfastness whatsoever. Action performed without any faith is called as asat, which literally means non reality or devoid of reality.
In our daily life, we can immediately tell the difference between one who puts their heart and soul into their actions, and one who is just going through the motions. We ourselves have instances where we love an action so much that we put everything in it, we get lost in it, and some other actions where we are acting like mechanical machines, like robots. Shri Krishna says that any action, any sacrifice, penance or charity performed without faith, without our soul in it, becomes a worthless action. Forget liberation, it will not even yield a result here, on this earth.
With this shloka, Shri Krishna concludes the seventeenth chapter on the three types of faith. He says that there are three types of devotees based on the texture of their faith, and are categorized as saattvic, raajasic and taamasic. In order to make ourselves fit for liberation, we should cultivate saatvic faith and eliminate the other two types of faith. This will happen only by consuming saattvic food and performing saattvic sacrifices, charity and penance. To ensure that our saatvic actions are free of errors and defects, we should use the purifier Om Tat Sat while performing the actions.
om tatsatiti shreematbhagavatgitasupanishadsu brahmavidyaayaam yogashaastre shreekrishnaarjunsamvade shraddhatrayovibhaagayogo naama saptadashodhyaayaha || 15 ||
asaditityuchyate paartha na cha tatpretya no iha || 28 ||
Whatever is sacrificed, donated or done, and whatever penance is performed, without faith, it is called asat, O Paartha. It is neither here nor after death.
ashraddhaya : without faith
hutam : sacrificed
dattam : donated
tapaha : penance
taptam : performed
kritam : done
cha : and
yat : whatever
asat : asat
iti : in this manner
uchyate : is called
paartha : O Paartha
na : neither
cha : and
tat : that
pretya : after death
no : nor
iha : here
In the previous shloka, Shri Krishna asserted that any action performed with the steadfastness in Ishvara, with constant memory and faith in Ishvara, automatically becomes a saattvic action. Furthermore, with the application of the purifier Om Tat Sat, it becomes a means towards liberation. Here, such kind of action is compared with an action that is performed without any faith or steadfastness whatsoever. Action performed without any faith is called as asat, which literally means non reality or devoid of reality.
In our daily life, we can immediately tell the difference between one who puts their heart and soul into their actions, and one who is just going through the motions. We ourselves have instances where we love an action so much that we put everything in it, we get lost in it, and some other actions where we are acting like mechanical machines, like robots. Shri Krishna says that any action, any sacrifice, penance or charity performed without faith, without our soul in it, becomes a worthless action. Forget liberation, it will not even yield a result here, on this earth.
With this shloka, Shri Krishna concludes the seventeenth chapter on the three types of faith. He says that there are three types of devotees based on the texture of their faith, and are categorized as saattvic, raajasic and taamasic. In order to make ourselves fit for liberation, we should cultivate saatvic faith and eliminate the other two types of faith. This will happen only by consuming saattvic food and performing saattvic sacrifices, charity and penance. To ensure that our saatvic actions are free of errors and defects, we should use the purifier Om Tat Sat while performing the actions.
om tatsatiti shreematbhagavatgitasupanishadsu brahmavidyaayaam yogashaastre shreekrishnaarjunsamvade shraddhatrayovibhaagayogo naama saptadashodhyaayaha || 15 ||
Friday, May 17, 2013
Bhagavad Gita Verse 27, Chapter 17
yajnye tapasi daane cha sthitihi saditi chochyate |
karma chaiva tadartheeyam sadityevaabhidheeyate || 27 ||
Steadfastness in sacrifice, austerity and charity is called Sat, and also, action relation to these is called Sat.
yajnye : sacrifice
tapasi : penance
daane : in charity
cha : and
sthitihi : steadfastness
sat : Sat
iti : in this manner
cha : and
uchyate : is called
karma : action
cha : and
eva : also
tadartheeyam : related to these
sat : Sat
iti : in this manner
eva : also
abhidheeyate : is called
In the concluding shlokas of this chapter, Shri Krishna described the purifying chant Om Tat Sat. Any sattvic action will be freed of defects, attachment to the action and its reward will be weakened, all notions of duality will be muted when we use this purifying chant. Now we may say that in this day and age, we may not have the time to follow the guidelines given in this chapter to make our actions and our intake sattvic. Following the guidelines in the scriptures is beyond our scope anyway.
As usual, Shri Krishna makes things easy for us. He says our stithi, our steadfastness is towards Ishvara, is the most important thing to pay attention to. If we take care of our steadfastness, and chant Om Tat Sat with that steadfastness, every action that we perform will become sattvic and a means towards liberation. What does sthithi or steadfastness mean? It is that which our mind is occupied the most. If we keep a notebook next to our bed, and write down the first thought that comes to mind when we wake up, we will know what our stithi is within a few days.
Many people say that a sport such as cricket or tennis is their life. Others say that it is their career, others say it is their family, others say it is their family and so on. It is the first thought that they wake up with in the morning. When our first thought, and also, the constant background thought throughout the day is that of Ishvara, all our actions will automatically become sattvic. We will not have to take any additional precaution or follow any other guideline. For instance, if we are in constant thought of Ishvara, we will never think of donating anything with a view to get something back in return. Action follows thought, and with the constant thought of Ishvara, actions take care of themselves.
karma chaiva tadartheeyam sadityevaabhidheeyate || 27 ||
Steadfastness in sacrifice, austerity and charity is called Sat, and also, action relation to these is called Sat.
yajnye : sacrifice
tapasi : penance
daane : in charity
cha : and
sthitihi : steadfastness
sat : Sat
iti : in this manner
cha : and
uchyate : is called
karma : action
cha : and
eva : also
tadartheeyam : related to these
sat : Sat
iti : in this manner
eva : also
abhidheeyate : is called
In the concluding shlokas of this chapter, Shri Krishna described the purifying chant Om Tat Sat. Any sattvic action will be freed of defects, attachment to the action and its reward will be weakened, all notions of duality will be muted when we use this purifying chant. Now we may say that in this day and age, we may not have the time to follow the guidelines given in this chapter to make our actions and our intake sattvic. Following the guidelines in the scriptures is beyond our scope anyway.
As usual, Shri Krishna makes things easy for us. He says our stithi, our steadfastness is towards Ishvara, is the most important thing to pay attention to. If we take care of our steadfastness, and chant Om Tat Sat with that steadfastness, every action that we perform will become sattvic and a means towards liberation. What does sthithi or steadfastness mean? It is that which our mind is occupied the most. If we keep a notebook next to our bed, and write down the first thought that comes to mind when we wake up, we will know what our stithi is within a few days.
Many people say that a sport such as cricket or tennis is their life. Others say that it is their career, others say it is their family, others say it is their family and so on. It is the first thought that they wake up with in the morning. When our first thought, and also, the constant background thought throughout the day is that of Ishvara, all our actions will automatically become sattvic. We will not have to take any additional precaution or follow any other guideline. For instance, if we are in constant thought of Ishvara, we will never think of donating anything with a view to get something back in return. Action follows thought, and with the constant thought of Ishvara, actions take care of themselves.
Saturday, May 4, 2013
Bhagavad Gita Verse 14, Chapter 17
devadvijagurupraajnyapoojanam shauchamaarjavam |
brahmacharyamahimsaa cha shaareeram tapa uchyate || 14 ||
Worship of the deities, the twice born, teachers and the learned, purity, straightforwardness, chastity and non violence, these are called penance of the body.
deva : deities
dvija : twice born
guru : teacher
praajnya : learned
poojanam : worship
shaucham : purity
aarjavam : straightforwardness
brahmacharyam : chastity
ahimsaa : non violence
cha : and
shaareeram : of the body
tapaha : penance
uchyate : called
So far, Shri Krishna described the three types of food and worship so that we can use them to analyze the texture of our faith. He now begins the topic of tapas, which means penance or austerity. Through tapas we ensure that the energy that we derive from consuming food can be conserved and channeled into our actions. This tapas or penance is also of three types, saattvic, raajasic and taamasic. But penance itself needs to be broken down into its three main components first. Here, we examine the first component which is bodily or physical penance, shaaririka tapas.
Penance of the body begins with bowing down to, respecting, and serving our deities, our elders and our teachers. Deities also means the gods representing elemental forces such as Varun, lord of the seas. This means that we should worship and take care of all the natural resource this world has to offer. Offering service to something greater than us also has the effect of checking our aham, our ego, our illusory notion of who we are. It increases our humility and decreases our individuality.
Shaucham refers to purity of our body and our surroundings. If we keep our room unclean or cluttered, it is an indication that our mind is also unclean, or is cluttered with useless thoughts. Aarjavam or straightforwardness refers to our posture. We will not be able to meditate unless we are able to maintain an erect posture. This straightforwardness of the body is also a pointer to making our thinking straightforward, without any trace of deceit. Brahmacharyam refers to stopping our checking the excessive straying of our sense organs into their respective objects, like watching too much TV or consuming a lot of rich food. Ahimsa or non violence prevents us from harming anyone or anything using our body.
brahmacharyamahimsaa cha shaareeram tapa uchyate || 14 ||
Worship of the deities, the twice born, teachers and the learned, purity, straightforwardness, chastity and non violence, these are called penance of the body.
deva : deities
dvija : twice born
guru : teacher
praajnya : learned
poojanam : worship
shaucham : purity
aarjavam : straightforwardness
brahmacharyam : chastity
ahimsaa : non violence
cha : and
shaareeram : of the body
tapaha : penance
uchyate : called
So far, Shri Krishna described the three types of food and worship so that we can use them to analyze the texture of our faith. He now begins the topic of tapas, which means penance or austerity. Through tapas we ensure that the energy that we derive from consuming food can be conserved and channeled into our actions. This tapas or penance is also of three types, saattvic, raajasic and taamasic. But penance itself needs to be broken down into its three main components first. Here, we examine the first component which is bodily or physical penance, shaaririka tapas.
Penance of the body begins with bowing down to, respecting, and serving our deities, our elders and our teachers. Deities also means the gods representing elemental forces such as Varun, lord of the seas. This means that we should worship and take care of all the natural resource this world has to offer. Offering service to something greater than us also has the effect of checking our aham, our ego, our illusory notion of who we are. It increases our humility and decreases our individuality.
Shaucham refers to purity of our body and our surroundings. If we keep our room unclean or cluttered, it is an indication that our mind is also unclean, or is cluttered with useless thoughts. Aarjavam or straightforwardness refers to our posture. We will not be able to meditate unless we are able to maintain an erect posture. This straightforwardness of the body is also a pointer to making our thinking straightforward, without any trace of deceit. Brahmacharyam refers to stopping our checking the excessive straying of our sense organs into their respective objects, like watching too much TV or consuming a lot of rich food. Ahimsa or non violence prevents us from harming anyone or anything using our body.
Monday, January 21, 2013
Bhagavad Gita Verse 20, Chapter 13
kaaryakaranakartritve hetuhu prakritiruchyate |
purushaha sukhaduhkhaanaam bhoktritve heturuchyate || 20 ||
With regard to the source of actions in the body and its instruments, Prakriti is said to be the cause. With regard to experiencing joy and sorrow, Purusha is said to be the cause.
kaarya : body
karana : instruments
kartritve : source of actions
hetuhu : cause
prakriti : Prakriti
uchyate : it is said
purushaha : Purusha
sukhaduhkhaanaam : joy and sorrow
bhoktritve : experience
hetuhu : cause
uchyate : it is said
Let us bring back the example of the movie projector from the seventh chapter so that we can better understand this shloka. Imagine a gigantic IMAX screen on which Prakriti or nature projects the life of every human being in the world. Think of it as the world’s largest soap opera. We can now examine the first half of this shloka. It shows what Prakriti can create through its projections. It can project “kaarya”, the body of a person. It can project “karana”, the instruments of the body which include the five organs of sense, five organs of actions, the mind, the intellect and the ego. It can not just project one body, but every body in the world.
Now, here comes an important point. Shri Krishna says that Prakriti is the source of all actions in this world, not the Purusha. We are now coming back to the topic that was hinted upon in the karma yoga chapter. Typically, most of us attribute the agency, or the doership of our actions, to our own self. We say “I did this”, “I did not do that” and so on. Shri Krishna makes it perfectly clear that the intellect, the ego and the mind in our body receive input from our senses, filter it through our vaasanaas, and send instructions to our organs of action. All this is going on within the realm of Prakriti, that continues projecting the IMAX movie of the world. In other words, the “I” does not do anything, but Prakriti does everything.
Next, the role of the Purusha is described. The Purusha is the awareness principle, the knowledge principle present in the body. From our perspective, he is concerned with the experience of only one body out of the millions of bodies in that IMAX movie - our body. What is his role? His role is to know. If we put a drop of a bitter liquid on our tongue, it sends an electrical current to the mind based on the chemical makeup of the bitter liquid. But ultimately, it is only the Purusha that has the capacity to come up with the knowledge that “this liquid is bitter”. On one level, Purusha knows what the senses and the mind report. Without the Purusha, there will be nothing to know what Prakriti has projected. It would be like projecting a movie without an audience to see it.
So then, when this knowledge of bitterness is filtered through our vaasanaas or our “programming”, it can result in either joy or sorrow. Some of us like bitter taste, some of us don’t. This difference comes from the variety in our vaasanaas, our individual programming. So whenever external objects are arranged by Prakriti in a pattern that is conducive to our vaasanaas, the Purusha experiences joy. In other words, whenever we say “I am happy”, it is the Purusha experiencing happiness. Similarly, sorrow is also experienced when objects are undesirable.
Here, encapsulated in these two lines of this shloka, is the state of our lives. Our body with its organs interacts with other bodies in this world. It performs actions whose results are experienced by the Purusha as joy and sorrow. The cycle of joy and sorrow continues from one action to another action, from one experience to another experience. This is “samsaara”.
Now, there seems to be a problem. Right from the second chapter, we have been told that our true nature is the eternal essence. It pervades the entire universe. It is eternal, indestructible and indivisible. We have also been told that Prakriti, through some inexplicable magic, projects the entire universe of names and forms. How then, does the third entity called Purusha come into being? And also, how does it take on one body out of all the bodies in the world as its own, and experience only that body’s joy and sorrow?
Shri Krishna reveals the root cause of samsaara, of our repeated experience of joy and sorrow, in the next shloka.
purushaha sukhaduhkhaanaam bhoktritve heturuchyate || 20 ||
With regard to the source of actions in the body and its instruments, Prakriti is said to be the cause. With regard to experiencing joy and sorrow, Purusha is said to be the cause.
kaarya : body
karana : instruments
kartritve : source of actions
hetuhu : cause
prakriti : Prakriti
uchyate : it is said
purushaha : Purusha
sukhaduhkhaanaam : joy and sorrow
bhoktritve : experience
hetuhu : cause
uchyate : it is said
Let us bring back the example of the movie projector from the seventh chapter so that we can better understand this shloka. Imagine a gigantic IMAX screen on which Prakriti or nature projects the life of every human being in the world. Think of it as the world’s largest soap opera. We can now examine the first half of this shloka. It shows what Prakriti can create through its projections. It can project “kaarya”, the body of a person. It can project “karana”, the instruments of the body which include the five organs of sense, five organs of actions, the mind, the intellect and the ego. It can not just project one body, but every body in the world.
Now, here comes an important point. Shri Krishna says that Prakriti is the source of all actions in this world, not the Purusha. We are now coming back to the topic that was hinted upon in the karma yoga chapter. Typically, most of us attribute the agency, or the doership of our actions, to our own self. We say “I did this”, “I did not do that” and so on. Shri Krishna makes it perfectly clear that the intellect, the ego and the mind in our body receive input from our senses, filter it through our vaasanaas, and send instructions to our organs of action. All this is going on within the realm of Prakriti, that continues projecting the IMAX movie of the world. In other words, the “I” does not do anything, but Prakriti does everything.
Next, the role of the Purusha is described. The Purusha is the awareness principle, the knowledge principle present in the body. From our perspective, he is concerned with the experience of only one body out of the millions of bodies in that IMAX movie - our body. What is his role? His role is to know. If we put a drop of a bitter liquid on our tongue, it sends an electrical current to the mind based on the chemical makeup of the bitter liquid. But ultimately, it is only the Purusha that has the capacity to come up with the knowledge that “this liquid is bitter”. On one level, Purusha knows what the senses and the mind report. Without the Purusha, there will be nothing to know what Prakriti has projected. It would be like projecting a movie without an audience to see it.
So then, when this knowledge of bitterness is filtered through our vaasanaas or our “programming”, it can result in either joy or sorrow. Some of us like bitter taste, some of us don’t. This difference comes from the variety in our vaasanaas, our individual programming. So whenever external objects are arranged by Prakriti in a pattern that is conducive to our vaasanaas, the Purusha experiences joy. In other words, whenever we say “I am happy”, it is the Purusha experiencing happiness. Similarly, sorrow is also experienced when objects are undesirable.
Here, encapsulated in these two lines of this shloka, is the state of our lives. Our body with its organs interacts with other bodies in this world. It performs actions whose results are experienced by the Purusha as joy and sorrow. The cycle of joy and sorrow continues from one action to another action, from one experience to another experience. This is “samsaara”.
Now, there seems to be a problem. Right from the second chapter, we have been told that our true nature is the eternal essence. It pervades the entire universe. It is eternal, indestructible and indivisible. We have also been told that Prakriti, through some inexplicable magic, projects the entire universe of names and forms. How then, does the third entity called Purusha come into being? And also, how does it take on one body out of all the bodies in the world as its own, and experience only that body’s joy and sorrow?
Shri Krishna reveals the root cause of samsaara, of our repeated experience of joy and sorrow, in the next shloka.
Friday, January 18, 2013
Bhagavad Gita Verse 17, Chapter 13
jyotishaamapi tajjyotistamsaha paramuchyate |
jnyaanam jnyeyam jnyaanagamyam hridi sarvasya vishthitam || 17 ||
That is the light even among all the lights, and it has been spoken of as beyond darkness. It is knowledge, that which is to be known, and the goal of knowledge. It especially resides in the hearts of all.
jyotishaam : among all lights
api : even
tat : that
jyotihi : light
tamsaha : darkness
param : beyond
uchyate : has been spoken
jnyaanam : knowledge
jnyeyam : that which is to be known
jnyaanagamyam : goal of knowledge
hridi : hearts
sarvasya : all
vishthitam : especially resides
In prior verses, the “sat” or existence aspect of the eternal essence was highlighted. Here, the “chit” or awareness aspect is elaborated upon. Awareness or sentience is what makes an entity know about it surroundings as well about itself, as we had seen earlier. Shri Krishna says that the eternal essence is the “light among all the lights”. The word “light” in the Vedas refers to awareness, to knowledge. Which means that ultimately, it is the eternal essence that provides the power of awareness, the power to know, to all beings. Without the eternal essence, we would have no awareness, no sentience.
Imagine a classroom of students that are taking an examination. The student on the last bench can see all of the students in front of him. The student seated in the second to last row can see other students, but not the last row student. Also, the student in the front row cannot see the student in the last row. The awareness provided by the eternal essence is like the student in the last row. The next student is the intellect, followed by the mind and the senses. In other word, the eternal essence gives awareness to the intellect, which gives it to the mind, and then to the senses. But the mind, intellect and senses cannot immediately contact the eternal essence.
Now, just like the word “light” refers to knowledge, the word “darkness” refers to ignorance. By saying that the eternal essence is beyond ignorance, Shri Krishna points out the uniqueness of the awareness aspect of the eternal essence. If we light a lamp in a dark room, it dispels the darkness. We cannot have darkness and light coexist. However, the eternal essence is present in individuals who are ignorance of it, as well as those few rare individuals who have realized it. This unique ability of the eternal essence to illumine ignorance is why Shri Krishna calls it “beyond darkness”.
So, how can we use our antahakarana, our intellect, mind and senses, to realize that eternal essence? Shri Krishna provides a three step process. We use “jnyaanam”, the means of knowledge indicated in the twenty attributes such as humility mentioned earlier in the chapter, to gradually reduce the importance we give to upaadhis or conditionings. As we systematically study the scriptures under the guidance of a teacher, the eternal essence comes into our awareness as “jneyam”, the object of knowledge. But only through constant contemplation, reflection and meditation does the eternal essence becomes “jnyaanagamyam”, the goal of knowledge, where all notions of duality are removed and we remain established in the eternal essence.
Shri Krishna concludes this shloka by reminding us that all these three stages - preparation, study and reflection - are enabled only through the intellect, which is referred to here as the “hridi” or heart of all human beings. Only humans have the capability to access the eternal essence. That is why we come across the statement “a human birth is rare to attain” in many prominent spiritual texts.
jnyaanam jnyeyam jnyaanagamyam hridi sarvasya vishthitam || 17 ||
That is the light even among all the lights, and it has been spoken of as beyond darkness. It is knowledge, that which is to be known, and the goal of knowledge. It especially resides in the hearts of all.
jyotishaam : among all lights
api : even
tat : that
jyotihi : light
tamsaha : darkness
param : beyond
uchyate : has been spoken
jnyaanam : knowledge
jnyeyam : that which is to be known
jnyaanagamyam : goal of knowledge
hridi : hearts
sarvasya : all
vishthitam : especially resides
In prior verses, the “sat” or existence aspect of the eternal essence was highlighted. Here, the “chit” or awareness aspect is elaborated upon. Awareness or sentience is what makes an entity know about it surroundings as well about itself, as we had seen earlier. Shri Krishna says that the eternal essence is the “light among all the lights”. The word “light” in the Vedas refers to awareness, to knowledge. Which means that ultimately, it is the eternal essence that provides the power of awareness, the power to know, to all beings. Without the eternal essence, we would have no awareness, no sentience.
Imagine a classroom of students that are taking an examination. The student on the last bench can see all of the students in front of him. The student seated in the second to last row can see other students, but not the last row student. Also, the student in the front row cannot see the student in the last row. The awareness provided by the eternal essence is like the student in the last row. The next student is the intellect, followed by the mind and the senses. In other word, the eternal essence gives awareness to the intellect, which gives it to the mind, and then to the senses. But the mind, intellect and senses cannot immediately contact the eternal essence.
Now, just like the word “light” refers to knowledge, the word “darkness” refers to ignorance. By saying that the eternal essence is beyond ignorance, Shri Krishna points out the uniqueness of the awareness aspect of the eternal essence. If we light a lamp in a dark room, it dispels the darkness. We cannot have darkness and light coexist. However, the eternal essence is present in individuals who are ignorance of it, as well as those few rare individuals who have realized it. This unique ability of the eternal essence to illumine ignorance is why Shri Krishna calls it “beyond darkness”.
So, how can we use our antahakarana, our intellect, mind and senses, to realize that eternal essence? Shri Krishna provides a three step process. We use “jnyaanam”, the means of knowledge indicated in the twenty attributes such as humility mentioned earlier in the chapter, to gradually reduce the importance we give to upaadhis or conditionings. As we systematically study the scriptures under the guidance of a teacher, the eternal essence comes into our awareness as “jneyam”, the object of knowledge. But only through constant contemplation, reflection and meditation does the eternal essence becomes “jnyaanagamyam”, the goal of knowledge, where all notions of duality are removed and we remain established in the eternal essence.
Shri Krishna concludes this shloka by reminding us that all these three stages - preparation, study and reflection - are enabled only through the intellect, which is referred to here as the “hridi” or heart of all human beings. Only humans have the capability to access the eternal essence. That is why we come across the statement “a human birth is rare to attain” in many prominent spiritual texts.
Sunday, January 13, 2013
Bhagavad Gita Verse 12, Chapter 13
jneyam yattatpravakshyaami yajjnyaatvaamritamashnute |
anaadimatparam brahma na sattannaasaduchyate || 12 ||
I will describe that which is to be known, by realizing which, immortality is attained. The supreme brahman is without beginning, said to be neither manifest nor unmanifest.
jneyam : known
yat : which
tat : that
pravakshyaami : I will describe
yat : which
jnyaatvaa : having realized
amritam : immortality
ashnute : attain
anaadimat : without beginning
param : supreme
brahma : brahman
na : not
sat : manifest
tat : that
na : not
asat : unmanifest
uchyate : said
In the beginning of this chapter, Shri Krishna set out to explain what is kshetra or the field, and what is kshetrajnya or the knower of the field. He then set to list out various aspects of the field, which are also known as upaadhis or conditionings. This list included upaadhis such as the intellect, the mind, the five elements and so on. Shri Krishna also asserted there is only one knower of the field that is limited or conditioned by all of these upaadhis. He then gave us twenty attributes that we should cultivate in order to reduce the importance we give to these upaadhis, so that we can slowly uncover and get to the kshetrajnya, the knower of the field.
After assuming that we have cultivated these twenty qualities, and consequently learned how to reduce the importance of the field in our lives, Shri Krishna now gets to the main topic of this chapter. He says that he will now reveal what is the real knowledge, what all of us should know in this world as the culmination of all of our knowledge, what is “jneyam”. We learn so many things in our life through schools, colleges, professional training, street smarts and so on. But none of them can give us immortality. None of them can give us a permanent solution from the sorrows that we experience day in and day out. Each time we leave our self and go through our senses into the world to fulfill a desire, we generate sorrow, we create "death" in each such departure.
So then, what is this immortality-giving knowledge? Shri Krishna says that it is brahman, which is the very same eternal essence that is within us, and within everything else in the universe. It is “param” or supreme, beyond which nothing else needs to be known. It is “anadimat”, eternal, without any beginning, beyond all notions of time. It is not manifest, which means it is not accessible to the senses or the mind as an object of perception or a thought. But it is also not unmanifest. For instance, our unfulfilled desires lie dormant in our unconscious mind, but do not manifest as thoughts in our mind. The eternal essence is beyond our unconscious as well.
We now see why it is so difficult to understand the eternal essence. It is not like any object or form that can be described in words. It is also not an abstract concept that can be explained through logic, or by comparing it to something else or by combining one concept with another. In earlier chapters we saw how such situations can be handled with negation. If we want to instruct someone on how to select a maroon shirt, we tell them ignore all of the other colours of shirts. The one that is left will be the maroon shirt. Similarly, the eternal essence cannot be comprehended by our mind and senses because it is beyond the mind and senses. It can only be attained through negating everything that is not the eternal essence - by negating the upaadhis or fields.
Now, in the upcoming shlokas, Shri Krishna proceeds step by step to negate the upaadhis of the eternal essence, starting with the most visible ones.
anaadimatparam brahma na sattannaasaduchyate || 12 ||
I will describe that which is to be known, by realizing which, immortality is attained. The supreme brahman is without beginning, said to be neither manifest nor unmanifest.
jneyam : known
yat : which
tat : that
pravakshyaami : I will describe
yat : which
jnyaatvaa : having realized
amritam : immortality
ashnute : attain
anaadimat : without beginning
param : supreme
brahma : brahman
na : not
sat : manifest
tat : that
na : not
asat : unmanifest
uchyate : said
In the beginning of this chapter, Shri Krishna set out to explain what is kshetra or the field, and what is kshetrajnya or the knower of the field. He then set to list out various aspects of the field, which are also known as upaadhis or conditionings. This list included upaadhis such as the intellect, the mind, the five elements and so on. Shri Krishna also asserted there is only one knower of the field that is limited or conditioned by all of these upaadhis. He then gave us twenty attributes that we should cultivate in order to reduce the importance we give to these upaadhis, so that we can slowly uncover and get to the kshetrajnya, the knower of the field.
After assuming that we have cultivated these twenty qualities, and consequently learned how to reduce the importance of the field in our lives, Shri Krishna now gets to the main topic of this chapter. He says that he will now reveal what is the real knowledge, what all of us should know in this world as the culmination of all of our knowledge, what is “jneyam”. We learn so many things in our life through schools, colleges, professional training, street smarts and so on. But none of them can give us immortality. None of them can give us a permanent solution from the sorrows that we experience day in and day out. Each time we leave our self and go through our senses into the world to fulfill a desire, we generate sorrow, we create "death" in each such departure.
So then, what is this immortality-giving knowledge? Shri Krishna says that it is brahman, which is the very same eternal essence that is within us, and within everything else in the universe. It is “param” or supreme, beyond which nothing else needs to be known. It is “anadimat”, eternal, without any beginning, beyond all notions of time. It is not manifest, which means it is not accessible to the senses or the mind as an object of perception or a thought. But it is also not unmanifest. For instance, our unfulfilled desires lie dormant in our unconscious mind, but do not manifest as thoughts in our mind. The eternal essence is beyond our unconscious as well.
We now see why it is so difficult to understand the eternal essence. It is not like any object or form that can be described in words. It is also not an abstract concept that can be explained through logic, or by comparing it to something else or by combining one concept with another. In earlier chapters we saw how such situations can be handled with negation. If we want to instruct someone on how to select a maroon shirt, we tell them ignore all of the other colours of shirts. The one that is left will be the maroon shirt. Similarly, the eternal essence cannot be comprehended by our mind and senses because it is beyond the mind and senses. It can only be attained through negating everything that is not the eternal essence - by negating the upaadhis or fields.
Now, in the upcoming shlokas, Shri Krishna proceeds step by step to negate the upaadhis of the eternal essence, starting with the most visible ones.
Saturday, June 30, 2012
Bhagavad Gita Verse 3, Chapter 8
Shree Bhagavan uvaacha:
aksharam brahma paramam svabhaavodhyaatmamuchyate |
bhootabhaavodbhavakaro visargaha karmasamjnyitam || 3 ||
Shree Bhagavan said:
Brahman is the imperishable supreme. Adhyaatma is individual nature. Karma is defined as the force that produces the existence of beings.
aksharam : imperishable
brahma : brahman
paramam : supreme
svabhaavaha : individual nature
adhyaatmam : adhyaatma
uchyate : is called
bhoota : beings
bhaavaha : existence
bhavakaraha : produce
visargaha : force
karma : karma
samjnyitam : defined
As we saw earlier, Arjuna asked seven questions to Shri Krishna. In this shloka, three questions are answered. We shall use the illustration of the animated character Tom to get an additional perspective on the answers given by Shri Krishna.
First, Shri Krishna answers the question “What is that brahman”. He says that brahman is the imperishable, supreme eternal essence that we encountered in the second chapter. In terms of our illustration, brahman is the light in the movie projector that illuminates the film strip. It has no specific shape, qualities or attributes. It is just light. It stands as a witness and is not affected by whatever is happening in the movie. It can exist without the movie, but the movie cannot exist without it.
“What is adhyaatma” is answered next. Shri Krishna says that it is svabhaava, or the set of qualities of an individual. Each person in this world has a unique combination of attributes, a unique permutation of sattva, rajas and tamas that is their own. When the universal eternal essence is conditioned or covered by an individual’s attributes, it is known as adhyaatma or aatma.
In the example of the movie projector, karma refers to the portion of light that illuminates the character of Tom. Suppose Tom is wearing a blue outfit and is walking on a green lawn. A portion of the movie projector’s light shines blue on the movie screen. The other portion shines blue. The portion of light that shines blue and thinks that it has its own identity - that is adhyaatma.
Lastly, Shri Krishna answers the question “What is karma”. He says that it is the force that brings about the creation of every entity in this universe. At one level, it is the mechanism in the projector that brings to life the story that lies hidden in the film strip. At another level, it is the animator’s act of drawing the characters in the movie. Essentially, it is the force that converts an unmanifested object into a manifested object.
Similarly, we can say that Ishvara set into motion this entire universe with the one original action that has resulted into the millions and millions of actions that occur in the universe every second. It was the seed of all future actions in the universe. But our ego, our false sense of individuality, comes under the delusion that it is the doer of all actions. Each such individualistic action causes us to further identify with our body, and go further from liberation. Ultimately, like the movie that eventually ends in two hours, everything that is unmanifested will be manifested and will be dissolved, only to start all over again.
Shri Krishna continues with his explanations in the next shloka.
aksharam brahma paramam svabhaavodhyaatmamuchyate |
bhootabhaavodbhavakaro visargaha karmasamjnyitam || 3 ||
Shree Bhagavan said:
Brahman is the imperishable supreme. Adhyaatma is individual nature. Karma is defined as the force that produces the existence of beings.
aksharam : imperishable
brahma : brahman
paramam : supreme
svabhaavaha : individual nature
adhyaatmam : adhyaatma
uchyate : is called
bhoota : beings
bhaavaha : existence
bhavakaraha : produce
visargaha : force
karma : karma
samjnyitam : defined
As we saw earlier, Arjuna asked seven questions to Shri Krishna. In this shloka, three questions are answered. We shall use the illustration of the animated character Tom to get an additional perspective on the answers given by Shri Krishna.
First, Shri Krishna answers the question “What is that brahman”. He says that brahman is the imperishable, supreme eternal essence that we encountered in the second chapter. In terms of our illustration, brahman is the light in the movie projector that illuminates the film strip. It has no specific shape, qualities or attributes. It is just light. It stands as a witness and is not affected by whatever is happening in the movie. It can exist without the movie, but the movie cannot exist without it.
“What is adhyaatma” is answered next. Shri Krishna says that it is svabhaava, or the set of qualities of an individual. Each person in this world has a unique combination of attributes, a unique permutation of sattva, rajas and tamas that is their own. When the universal eternal essence is conditioned or covered by an individual’s attributes, it is known as adhyaatma or aatma.
In the example of the movie projector, karma refers to the portion of light that illuminates the character of Tom. Suppose Tom is wearing a blue outfit and is walking on a green lawn. A portion of the movie projector’s light shines blue on the movie screen. The other portion shines blue. The portion of light that shines blue and thinks that it has its own identity - that is adhyaatma.
Lastly, Shri Krishna answers the question “What is karma”. He says that it is the force that brings about the creation of every entity in this universe. At one level, it is the mechanism in the projector that brings to life the story that lies hidden in the film strip. At another level, it is the animator’s act of drawing the characters in the movie. Essentially, it is the force that converts an unmanifested object into a manifested object.
Similarly, we can say that Ishvara set into motion this entire universe with the one original action that has resulted into the millions and millions of actions that occur in the universe every second. It was the seed of all future actions in the universe. But our ego, our false sense of individuality, comes under the delusion that it is the doer of all actions. Each such individualistic action causes us to further identify with our body, and go further from liberation. Ultimately, like the movie that eventually ends in two hours, everything that is unmanifested will be manifested and will be dissolved, only to start all over again.
Shri Krishna continues with his explanations in the next shloka.
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Bhagavad Gita Verse 1, Chapter 8
Arjuna uvaacha:
kim tadbrahma kimadhyaatmam kim karma purushottama |
adhibhootam cha kim proktamadhidaivam kimuchyate || 1 ||
Arjuna said:
What is that brahman? What is adhyaatma? What is karma? O supreme person. What is termed as adhibhoota and adhidaiva?
kim : what is
tat : that
brahma : brahman
adhyaatma : adhyaatma
karma : karma
purushottama : O supreme person
adhibhootam : adhibhoota
cha : and
proktam : what is termed as
adhidaivam : adhidaivam
uchyate : what is termed as
Shri Krishna ended the previous chapter by referencing some technical terms, and stressed the need for Arjuna to understand these terms completely so that he could realize Ishvara. Here, Arjuna does a favour to all future students of the Gita by asking Shri Krishna to clearly define these terms. In that regard, Arjuna asks the definition of four terms in this shloka: adhyaatma, karma, adhibhoota and adhidaiva.
This chapter is perhaps one of the more philosophical and esoteric chapters of the Gita. It deals with the theme of life after death, something that has not been addressed so far in the Gita. Furthermore, The definition of the aforementioned technical terms is provided, but has been interpreted differently by various commentators, so we need to chose the most clear and straightforward explanation. We will also get a sweeping glimpse of the Gita’s view on the origin of the cosmos.
To better understand these technical terms, let us set up an illustration. First, let us quickly look at how a movie projector works. A projector consists of a bright light that shines onto a strip of film. This film strip contains a series of images that are shot by a movie camera, or drawn by an animator in case of an animated movie. When the film strip is run through the projector, the images are projected onto the movie screen. The fast speed of the moving images creates the illusion of movement on the screen.
Let us further say that there is an animated movie called “Tom” that shows a day in the life of Tom who is a teenager. Tom wakes up, eats breakfast, goes to school, comes back home, plays with his friends and goes to sleep. It is a very simple movie. Like any other animated movie it follows a script written by a scriptwriter, and is in fact a sequence of images drawn by an animator.
Now, here’s where we have to stretch our thinking. Imagine that by some inexplicable magic, the light that shines on Tom on the film strip begins to think that it is different than the light that shines on the other part of the film strip. It develops an identity of its own. It even begins to think that it is actually waking up, going to school and so on.
The light of the projector has identified itself with Tom. What happens next? We will continue to develop this illustration further in the explanation of the next shloka.
kim tadbrahma kimadhyaatmam kim karma purushottama |
adhibhootam cha kim proktamadhidaivam kimuchyate || 1 ||
Arjuna said:
What is that brahman? What is adhyaatma? What is karma? O supreme person. What is termed as adhibhoota and adhidaiva?
kim : what is
tat : that
brahma : brahman
adhyaatma : adhyaatma
karma : karma
purushottama : O supreme person
adhibhootam : adhibhoota
cha : and
proktam : what is termed as
adhidaivam : adhidaivam
uchyate : what is termed as
Shri Krishna ended the previous chapter by referencing some technical terms, and stressed the need for Arjuna to understand these terms completely so that he could realize Ishvara. Here, Arjuna does a favour to all future students of the Gita by asking Shri Krishna to clearly define these terms. In that regard, Arjuna asks the definition of four terms in this shloka: adhyaatma, karma, adhibhoota and adhidaiva.
This chapter is perhaps one of the more philosophical and esoteric chapters of the Gita. It deals with the theme of life after death, something that has not been addressed so far in the Gita. Furthermore, The definition of the aforementioned technical terms is provided, but has been interpreted differently by various commentators, so we need to chose the most clear and straightforward explanation. We will also get a sweeping glimpse of the Gita’s view on the origin of the cosmos.
To better understand these technical terms, let us set up an illustration. First, let us quickly look at how a movie projector works. A projector consists of a bright light that shines onto a strip of film. This film strip contains a series of images that are shot by a movie camera, or drawn by an animator in case of an animated movie. When the film strip is run through the projector, the images are projected onto the movie screen. The fast speed of the moving images creates the illusion of movement on the screen.
Let us further say that there is an animated movie called “Tom” that shows a day in the life of Tom who is a teenager. Tom wakes up, eats breakfast, goes to school, comes back home, plays with his friends and goes to sleep. It is a very simple movie. Like any other animated movie it follows a script written by a scriptwriter, and is in fact a sequence of images drawn by an animator.
Now, here’s where we have to stretch our thinking. Imagine that by some inexplicable magic, the light that shines on Tom on the film strip begins to think that it is different than the light that shines on the other part of the film strip. It develops an identity of its own. It even begins to think that it is actually waking up, going to school and so on.
The light of the projector has identified itself with Tom. What happens next? We will continue to develop this illustration further in the explanation of the next shloka.
Friday, April 20, 2012
Bhagavad Gita Verse 18, Chapter 6
yada viniyatam chittamaatmanyevaavatishyate |
nihspruhaha sarvakaamebhyo yukta ityuchyate tadaa || 18 ||
When the controlled mind, indifferent towards all objects, is established only in the self, then such a person is called a yogi.
yada : when
viniyatam : controlled
chittam : mind
aatmani : in the self
eva : only
avatishyate : is established
nihspruhaha : indifferent towards
sarvakaamebhyo : all objects
yuktaha : that yogi
iti : in this manner
uchyate : is called
tadaa : at that time
In this key shloka within the sixth chapter, Shri Krishna gives us a way to evaluate ourselves with regards to attaining perfection in meditation. He says that only when one can establish the mind in the self, and not in material objects of the world, is one fit to be called a meditator. There is a lot of depth and meaning in this shloka. The next few shlokas go deeper into its meaning.
For most of us, it is the thoughts about the material world that become the major obstacle in meditation. These thoughts are generated by vaasanaas, which are latent desires and cravings. When we experience or entertain materials object in the mind, we create subtle impressions or vaasanaas in our mind, like a camera, that “this object/person/situation is good”. The mind then regurgitates these impressions in the form of thoughts. The part of the mind that stores these impressions is also known as the “chitta”.
A desire is a thought that says “I have not experienced something, I want to experience it”. A craving is a thought that says “I already had a good experience, but I want it to experience it again”. It is these 2 types of thoughts that do not allow us to sit down in meditation, because they take the mind outward. Depending on the proclivities of our sense organs, impressions are recorded deeply or superficially. Stronger impressions generate stronger thoughts, pulling the mind outward forcefully.
Shri Krishna says that when the mind has gone beyond generating desires and cravings, only then does proper meditation happen. When the mind gets established in the self, at that time, this person is considered as perfected, integrated and established in meditation. He is fit to be called a yogi. It will only happen with a very well firmly controlled mind, which is pure and free from all kinds of cravings and desires.
Next, let us examine the question of where should the mind be established once it has stopped turning outward. Shri Krishna says that the mind should get established in the aatmaa or the self. But, in an earlier shloka, he had asked us to meditate on his form. What does this mean?
Shri Krishna says that there is no difference. He is our self. In fact, he is the self of all beings. This is the great revelation of the scriptures. If we choose to meditate on his form, that is fine. If we choose to meditate on the formless brahman, the eternal essence, that is fine too. It is usually easier to meditate on the form for beginner seekers. But it is extremely important that we have extreme regard and love towards the Ishta Devata, the form of Ishvara that we chose to meditate on. It could be Vitthala, Rama, Krishna - any deity. Meditation is not a mechanical activity, it needs uncompromising support from the body, mind and intellect. If the mind does not take pleasure in meditation, it will not happen.
Furthermore, the mind will settle in the self only when we make meditation our top priority. In other words, all other activities in the world should take lower priority. Otherwise, they will show up in meditation. Our job is to do just that. The mind will settle in the self automatically once we do so. It is like a youngster in the house trying to study for an exam while the TV, internet and music system are on. His attention will never go to studying because it is being dragged in several directions. He needs to first switch all the other things off.
Next, Shri Krishna explains the state of a perfect meditator through an illustration.
nihspruhaha sarvakaamebhyo yukta ityuchyate tadaa || 18 ||
When the controlled mind, indifferent towards all objects, is established only in the self, then such a person is called a yogi.
yada : when
viniyatam : controlled
chittam : mind
aatmani : in the self
eva : only
avatishyate : is established
nihspruhaha : indifferent towards
sarvakaamebhyo : all objects
yuktaha : that yogi
iti : in this manner
uchyate : is called
tadaa : at that time
In this key shloka within the sixth chapter, Shri Krishna gives us a way to evaluate ourselves with regards to attaining perfection in meditation. He says that only when one can establish the mind in the self, and not in material objects of the world, is one fit to be called a meditator. There is a lot of depth and meaning in this shloka. The next few shlokas go deeper into its meaning.
For most of us, it is the thoughts about the material world that become the major obstacle in meditation. These thoughts are generated by vaasanaas, which are latent desires and cravings. When we experience or entertain materials object in the mind, we create subtle impressions or vaasanaas in our mind, like a camera, that “this object/person/situation is good”. The mind then regurgitates these impressions in the form of thoughts. The part of the mind that stores these impressions is also known as the “chitta”.
A desire is a thought that says “I have not experienced something, I want to experience it”. A craving is a thought that says “I already had a good experience, but I want it to experience it again”. It is these 2 types of thoughts that do not allow us to sit down in meditation, because they take the mind outward. Depending on the proclivities of our sense organs, impressions are recorded deeply or superficially. Stronger impressions generate stronger thoughts, pulling the mind outward forcefully.
Shri Krishna says that when the mind has gone beyond generating desires and cravings, only then does proper meditation happen. When the mind gets established in the self, at that time, this person is considered as perfected, integrated and established in meditation. He is fit to be called a yogi. It will only happen with a very well firmly controlled mind, which is pure and free from all kinds of cravings and desires.
Next, let us examine the question of where should the mind be established once it has stopped turning outward. Shri Krishna says that the mind should get established in the aatmaa or the self. But, in an earlier shloka, he had asked us to meditate on his form. What does this mean?
Shri Krishna says that there is no difference. He is our self. In fact, he is the self of all beings. This is the great revelation of the scriptures. If we choose to meditate on his form, that is fine. If we choose to meditate on the formless brahman, the eternal essence, that is fine too. It is usually easier to meditate on the form for beginner seekers. But it is extremely important that we have extreme regard and love towards the Ishta Devata, the form of Ishvara that we chose to meditate on. It could be Vitthala, Rama, Krishna - any deity. Meditation is not a mechanical activity, it needs uncompromising support from the body, mind and intellect. If the mind does not take pleasure in meditation, it will not happen.
Furthermore, the mind will settle in the self only when we make meditation our top priority. In other words, all other activities in the world should take lower priority. Otherwise, they will show up in meditation. Our job is to do just that. The mind will settle in the self automatically once we do so. It is like a youngster in the house trying to study for an exam while the TV, internet and music system are on. His attention will never go to studying because it is being dragged in several directions. He needs to first switch all the other things off.
Next, Shri Krishna explains the state of a perfect meditator through an illustration.
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Bhagavad Gita Verse 8, Chapter 6
jnaanavignyaanatriptaatmaa kutastho vijitendriyaha |
yukta ityuchyate yogi samaloshtaashmakaanchanaha || 6 ||
One whose self is content with knowledge and wisdom, who is steady like an anvil, who has conquered the senses; such a person called an established yogi; to him, a lump of clay, a stone and gold are same.
jnaana : knowledge
vignyaana : wisdom
triptaatmaa : one whose self is content
kutasthaha : who is (steady) like an anvil
vijitendriyaha : who has conquered the senses
yuktaha : established
iti : such a
uchyate : is called
yogi : yogi
sama : same
loshta : lump of mud
ashma : stone
kaanchanaha : gold
Shri Krishna continues the explanation on the outlook of a realized meditator. In this shloka, he speaks about how such a person responds to objects. This person’s nature is complete and content with knowledge and wisdom, he has no need for anything else. This contentment and the mastery over senses gives him the quality of steadfastness. He is like an anvil in that regard. He sees sameness in a lump of clay, a stone and gold, such is his vision.
First let us look at what is meant by knowledge and wisdom. Knowledge is that which is gained externally through study of texts. But wisdom comes only when this knowledge has been internalized, and when we can see its application in our life. If someone tells us that exercise is good, then it is knowledge. But if we also come to that conclusion and start exercising, it becomes wisdom. It is like a math problem, we have to work out the answer for ourselves.
Similarly, when we hear that our self is beyond the body, mind and intellect, it is knowledge. But if our body gets a disease, but we think that “I have fallen sick, not my body”, it means that our knowledge has not translated into wisdom. Once I gain wisdom, I do not get disturbed by any more diseases. The combination of knowledge and wisdom brings me to the realization that I am complete, and hence I do not get affected by what happens to the body.
Next, Shri Krishna says that this person is steady like an anvil. A favourable object does not cause excitement in him, and an unfavourable object does not cause any agitation in him. Is it because he has become like a stone? No, it is because he is content with himself. He does not need to rush out into the world of objects to fulfill himself. He knows that desire and hatred are components of sense organs, as we saw in earlier chapters. So when he knows that desire and hatred is not his, and the reactions is not his, then he remains undisturbed.
Shri Krishna then mentions that such a person has full control over mind and senses. This point repeated countless times because it is the most important thing to do for a seeker, but also the most difficult. Even if we hear it several times it does not sink in. So, such a person becomes steady like an anvil because he remains absolutely steady in his own self. He completely controls his senses, they do not move without permission. There is no restlessness in the body.
What is the vision of this person towards object? He sees sameness in gold, clay and stone. Now he is not foolish. He knows that each of these has value in life, but he does not give them undue importance. He has a rational and practical assessment of each object’s value in the grand scheme of things, but does not super-impose his values on them. These objects fail to attract and excite his mind.
So therefore, such a person is “yuktaha” or completely established in meditation. He has nothing further to do when it comes to meditation.
yukta ityuchyate yogi samaloshtaashmakaanchanaha || 6 ||
One whose self is content with knowledge and wisdom, who is steady like an anvil, who has conquered the senses; such a person called an established yogi; to him, a lump of clay, a stone and gold are same.
jnaana : knowledge
vignyaana : wisdom
triptaatmaa : one whose self is content
kutasthaha : who is (steady) like an anvil
vijitendriyaha : who has conquered the senses
yuktaha : established
iti : such a
uchyate : is called
yogi : yogi
sama : same
loshta : lump of mud
ashma : stone
kaanchanaha : gold
Shri Krishna continues the explanation on the outlook of a realized meditator. In this shloka, he speaks about how such a person responds to objects. This person’s nature is complete and content with knowledge and wisdom, he has no need for anything else. This contentment and the mastery over senses gives him the quality of steadfastness. He is like an anvil in that regard. He sees sameness in a lump of clay, a stone and gold, such is his vision.
First let us look at what is meant by knowledge and wisdom. Knowledge is that which is gained externally through study of texts. But wisdom comes only when this knowledge has been internalized, and when we can see its application in our life. If someone tells us that exercise is good, then it is knowledge. But if we also come to that conclusion and start exercising, it becomes wisdom. It is like a math problem, we have to work out the answer for ourselves.
Similarly, when we hear that our self is beyond the body, mind and intellect, it is knowledge. But if our body gets a disease, but we think that “I have fallen sick, not my body”, it means that our knowledge has not translated into wisdom. Once I gain wisdom, I do not get disturbed by any more diseases. The combination of knowledge and wisdom brings me to the realization that I am complete, and hence I do not get affected by what happens to the body.
Next, Shri Krishna says that this person is steady like an anvil. A favourable object does not cause excitement in him, and an unfavourable object does not cause any agitation in him. Is it because he has become like a stone? No, it is because he is content with himself. He does not need to rush out into the world of objects to fulfill himself. He knows that desire and hatred are components of sense organs, as we saw in earlier chapters. So when he knows that desire and hatred is not his, and the reactions is not his, then he remains undisturbed.
Shri Krishna then mentions that such a person has full control over mind and senses. This point repeated countless times because it is the most important thing to do for a seeker, but also the most difficult. Even if we hear it several times it does not sink in. So, such a person becomes steady like an anvil because he remains absolutely steady in his own self. He completely controls his senses, they do not move without permission. There is no restlessness in the body.
What is the vision of this person towards object? He sees sameness in gold, clay and stone. Now he is not foolish. He knows that each of these has value in life, but he does not give them undue importance. He has a rational and practical assessment of each object’s value in the grand scheme of things, but does not super-impose his values on them. These objects fail to attract and excite his mind.
So therefore, such a person is “yuktaha” or completely established in meditation. He has nothing further to do when it comes to meditation.
Friday, April 6, 2012
Bhagavad Gita Verse 4, Chapter 6
yada hi nendriyaartheshu na karmasvanushajjate |
sarvasankalpasannyaasi yogaaroodhastadochyate || 4 ||
When one does not find attachment in sense objects and in actions, when one has renounced all projections, at that time one is said to have been established in yoga.
yada : when
hi : for
na : not
indriyaartheshu : in sense objects
na : not
karmasu : in actions
anushajjate : attached to
sarva : all
sankalpa : projections, urge to go outward
sannyaasi : one who has renounced
yogaaroodhaha : established in yoga
tadaa : at that time
uchyate : is called
Having introduced the qualification of a meditator to be “yogaaroodha”, Shri Krishna now explains what that term really means. He says that it refers to a person who no longer gets attracted or attached to sense objects and actions. This happens because that person finds contentment within himself and does not need to rush out into the world, in other words, he does not have sankalpas.
So far we have understood sankalpa to mean desire. Now, let us understand the deeper meaning of sankalpa. As we have seen throughout the Gita, ignorance of our true self is the root cause of all our sorrows. Ignorance makes us think that we are incomplete. It causes desires that push the mind to go outward to seek happiness. This outward projection is called sankalpa. Typically, sankalpa is seen in the urge to give undue importance to objects, and to actions.
No matter how much we want to deny it, each one of us has a weakness for certain material objects. We think that those objects will give us happiness, peace, security, stability and so on. But if we follow path of karmayoga diligently, the undue importance we place on objects slowly diminishes.
As an example, compare the experience of a child walking in a toystore to that of an adult doing the same thing. The minute the child enters into the store, each object pulls the child towards itself, as it were. The pull is so strong that the child thinks that he cannot live without these toys. A multitude of desires get generated in his mind. He gets excited and restless. But if an adult walks into the toy store, he may very well appreciate the toys, but there is no urge or force that compels him to get attached to any toy. Once our outlook towards all objects of the world is like that adult in a toy store, we are fit for meditation.
Similarly, we have a fascination towards performance of actions. But when we deeply examine our actions, we realize that most of these are performed due to a herd mentality, in other words, because everyone else is doing it, and because we think we will be left out of a group if we do not perform those actions. Many of us pursue educational and career paths by emulating what someone else had done.
Another reason that we perform actions is for strengthening our ego (asmita). Our ego puffs up when we say “I did this”. We forget that actions are part of nature, that they are happening of their own accord. For instance, we do not boast when we have taken a shower or when one of our hands puts a bandage on another hand. So it is only when we have a similar attitude towards all actions that we perform, that we become fit for meditation.
A child eventually stops putting his finger in the fire, having burned it each time. Similarly our sankalpa, our need to act for gaining objects diminishes as the wisdom gained through contemplation increases. When this wisdom dawns and we diminish our attachment to action and objects, we become yogaroodha or established in dhyaana yoga. In other words, we become qualified for meditation.
This journey to meditation seems arduous. How can we get some support? Who can help us? The next shloka goes into this topic.
sarvasankalpasannyaasi yogaaroodhastadochyate || 4 ||
When one does not find attachment in sense objects and in actions, when one has renounced all projections, at that time one is said to have been established in yoga.
yada : when
hi : for
na : not
indriyaartheshu : in sense objects
na : not
karmasu : in actions
anushajjate : attached to
sarva : all
sankalpa : projections, urge to go outward
sannyaasi : one who has renounced
yogaaroodhaha : established in yoga
tadaa : at that time
uchyate : is called
Having introduced the qualification of a meditator to be “yogaaroodha”, Shri Krishna now explains what that term really means. He says that it refers to a person who no longer gets attracted or attached to sense objects and actions. This happens because that person finds contentment within himself and does not need to rush out into the world, in other words, he does not have sankalpas.
So far we have understood sankalpa to mean desire. Now, let us understand the deeper meaning of sankalpa. As we have seen throughout the Gita, ignorance of our true self is the root cause of all our sorrows. Ignorance makes us think that we are incomplete. It causes desires that push the mind to go outward to seek happiness. This outward projection is called sankalpa. Typically, sankalpa is seen in the urge to give undue importance to objects, and to actions.
No matter how much we want to deny it, each one of us has a weakness for certain material objects. We think that those objects will give us happiness, peace, security, stability and so on. But if we follow path of karmayoga diligently, the undue importance we place on objects slowly diminishes.
As an example, compare the experience of a child walking in a toystore to that of an adult doing the same thing. The minute the child enters into the store, each object pulls the child towards itself, as it were. The pull is so strong that the child thinks that he cannot live without these toys. A multitude of desires get generated in his mind. He gets excited and restless. But if an adult walks into the toy store, he may very well appreciate the toys, but there is no urge or force that compels him to get attached to any toy. Once our outlook towards all objects of the world is like that adult in a toy store, we are fit for meditation.
Similarly, we have a fascination towards performance of actions. But when we deeply examine our actions, we realize that most of these are performed due to a herd mentality, in other words, because everyone else is doing it, and because we think we will be left out of a group if we do not perform those actions. Many of us pursue educational and career paths by emulating what someone else had done.
Another reason that we perform actions is for strengthening our ego (asmita). Our ego puffs up when we say “I did this”. We forget that actions are part of nature, that they are happening of their own accord. For instance, we do not boast when we have taken a shower or when one of our hands puts a bandage on another hand. So it is only when we have a similar attitude towards all actions that we perform, that we become fit for meditation.
A child eventually stops putting his finger in the fire, having burned it each time. Similarly our sankalpa, our need to act for gaining objects diminishes as the wisdom gained through contemplation increases. When this wisdom dawns and we diminish our attachment to action and objects, we become yogaroodha or established in dhyaana yoga. In other words, we become qualified for meditation.
This journey to meditation seems arduous. How can we get some support? Who can help us? The next shloka goes into this topic.
Thursday, April 5, 2012
Bhagavad Gita Verse 3, Chapter 6
aarurukshormuneryogam karma kaaranamuchyate |
yogaroodhasya tasyaiva shamah kaaranamuchyate || 3 ||
For that contemplative person who desires to ascend to yoga, action is said to be the means. For one who is established in yoga, tranquility is said to be the means.
aarurukshoho : one who desires to ascend
munehe : contemplative person
yogam : yoga
karma : action
kaaranam : means
uchyate : is said to be
yogaroodhasya : one who is established in yoga
tasya : that person
eva : only
shamah : tranquility
kaaranam : means
uchyate : is said to be
In the shlokas so far, Shri Krishna has pointed out the similarity between a karmayogi and a monk in regards to their suitability for practicing meditation. Now, he begins to go one level deeper and tell us where we stand, and how should we prepare ourselves for meditation.
Let’s first understand what is meant by a muni or a contemplative person. Most people in this world harbour the notion that worldly objects, people and situations yield happiness. The contemplative person is one who has spent enough time observing the world and understood that notion to be false. He need not have retreated to the forest to contemplate on this. He knows from his daily life experience that the world cannot give joy. Such a muni, who has the desire to go higher, ascend above the material world, is called “aarurkshoho”.
So for such a muni, there are two possibilities. One is that he is not established in dhyaana yoga or meditation. His mind still harbours desires. His proportion of sattva guna is lower compared to rajas and tamas. For such a seeker, the only means to get established in meditation is karmayoga. Diligent observance of karmayoga will develop the qualities of discrimination and dispassion (viveka and vairagya), which will ultimately purge desires from the mind.
The second possibility is the muni who has achieved a high level of viveka and vairagya. His mind does not harbour desires due to the predominance of sattva. He only performs the bare minimum of actions that are in line with his obligatory duties. Such a person is “aarudha” or elevated. For such a person, meditation will come naturally. All he has to is to follow the instructions given later in this chapter towards “shamaha”, which is quietening the mind.
Consider this illustration. When a child wants to ride a heavy bicycle, he usually cannot climb it directly. He has to put one foot on the pedal and kick the ground with the other foot till the bicycle gathers speed. Only then can he climb the bicycle. So in the initial stage, the child is “aarurkshoho” and has to kick the ground until the bike gathers speed. Then when he ascends the bicycle, he becomes “aarudha”.
Now, when exactly does the seeker become ready to meditate? This is tackled in the next shloka.
yogaroodhasya tasyaiva shamah kaaranamuchyate || 3 ||
For that contemplative person who desires to ascend to yoga, action is said to be the means. For one who is established in yoga, tranquility is said to be the means.
aarurukshoho : one who desires to ascend
munehe : contemplative person
yogam : yoga
karma : action
kaaranam : means
uchyate : is said to be
yogaroodhasya : one who is established in yoga
tasya : that person
eva : only
shamah : tranquility
kaaranam : means
uchyate : is said to be
In the shlokas so far, Shri Krishna has pointed out the similarity between a karmayogi and a monk in regards to their suitability for practicing meditation. Now, he begins to go one level deeper and tell us where we stand, and how should we prepare ourselves for meditation.
Let’s first understand what is meant by a muni or a contemplative person. Most people in this world harbour the notion that worldly objects, people and situations yield happiness. The contemplative person is one who has spent enough time observing the world and understood that notion to be false. He need not have retreated to the forest to contemplate on this. He knows from his daily life experience that the world cannot give joy. Such a muni, who has the desire to go higher, ascend above the material world, is called “aarurkshoho”.
So for such a muni, there are two possibilities. One is that he is not established in dhyaana yoga or meditation. His mind still harbours desires. His proportion of sattva guna is lower compared to rajas and tamas. For such a seeker, the only means to get established in meditation is karmayoga. Diligent observance of karmayoga will develop the qualities of discrimination and dispassion (viveka and vairagya), which will ultimately purge desires from the mind.
The second possibility is the muni who has achieved a high level of viveka and vairagya. His mind does not harbour desires due to the predominance of sattva. He only performs the bare minimum of actions that are in line with his obligatory duties. Such a person is “aarudha” or elevated. For such a person, meditation will come naturally. All he has to is to follow the instructions given later in this chapter towards “shamaha”, which is quietening the mind.
Consider this illustration. When a child wants to ride a heavy bicycle, he usually cannot climb it directly. He has to put one foot on the pedal and kick the ground with the other foot till the bicycle gathers speed. Only then can he climb the bicycle. So in the initial stage, the child is “aarurkshoho” and has to kick the ground until the bike gathers speed. Then when he ascends the bicycle, he becomes “aarudha”.
Now, when exactly does the seeker become ready to meditate? This is tackled in the next shloka.
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Bhagavad Gita Verse 56, Chapter 2
duhkeshvanudvignamanaah sukheshu vigatspruhah |
veetaraagabhayakrodaha sthitadheermuniruchyate || 56 ||
One whose mind is not agitated in sorrow, and remains indifferent in joy, and is free from attachment, fear and anger; that contemplative individual is known as a person of steady intellect.
duhkeshu : in sorrow
anudvignamanaah : mind is not agitated
sukheshu : in joy
vigatspruhah: indifferent
veetaraagabhayakrodaha : free from attachment, fear and anger
sthitadheeh : person of steady intellect
munih : contemplative person
uchyate : called
Shri Krishna continues giving us factors that can destabilize our state of equanimity. In this shloka, he says that the person of steady intellect does not let joy or sorrow upset his equanimity. Now does that mean that the person becomes a stone? No. As long as we are alive, it is natural to experience joy and sorrow. But if we notice that any joyful or sorrowful situation has upset our equanimity for a prolonged period of time, we should be on guard. There usually is an underlying selfish desire at work.
For instance, if you know that your favourite dish was planned to be cooked for dinner, but is no longer being cooked because of some reason, you will get disappointed. But if this disappointment persists for a long period of time, it means that you have a deep-seated desire for that dish, which can resurface anytime to cause you further agitation. The goal pointed our in the prior shloka is to free ourselves of as many material desires as possible, and to be "self satisfied with one's self".
The second part of the shloka goes deeper into this point by describing how a desire can give rise to fear and anger, both of which cause instability of mind. At the time of writing this, it is the thanksgiving holiday, so it is apt to look at a shopping example. Let's say that you go window shopping and see an ipod that is on sale with a huge discount. Later, you head home but all you can think about is that ipod. That's all it takes - you have developed attachment to it.
But that's not all. Right there, you will also develop a fear that it may go out of stock tomorrow, and that you will lose the deal. So you go to the store to buy it the very next day. Now, after a couple of days it stops working. You call the tech support phone number and are kept on hold for 20 minutes. What do you think has arisen in your mind? Anger, of course. And all it took was a desire to take hold of your mind when you saw the ipod. In later shlokas, Shri Krishna gives a more detailed, step by step breakdown of how a simple little thought can bring about one's downfall.
In the example, the individual imagined that the Ipod, which is nothing but a material object, would give him happiness. Whereas in reality, there is no happiness "built into" the Ipod. This projection of happiness onto a material object is termed as "shobhana adhyasa".
This shloka and the next comprise the answer to the second of Arjuna's four questions, "how does a person of steady wisdom speak?". This shloka is the seed of the first portion of chapter sixteen of the Gita called "daivee sampat" or the qualities of the gods.
veetaraagabhayakrodaha sthitadheermuniruchyate || 56 ||
One whose mind is not agitated in sorrow, and remains indifferent in joy, and is free from attachment, fear and anger; that contemplative individual is known as a person of steady intellect.
duhkeshu : in sorrow
anudvignamanaah : mind is not agitated
sukheshu : in joy
vigatspruhah: indifferent
veetaraagabhayakrodaha : free from attachment, fear and anger
sthitadheeh : person of steady intellect
munih : contemplative person
uchyate : called
Shri Krishna continues giving us factors that can destabilize our state of equanimity. In this shloka, he says that the person of steady intellect does not let joy or sorrow upset his equanimity. Now does that mean that the person becomes a stone? No. As long as we are alive, it is natural to experience joy and sorrow. But if we notice that any joyful or sorrowful situation has upset our equanimity for a prolonged period of time, we should be on guard. There usually is an underlying selfish desire at work.
For instance, if you know that your favourite dish was planned to be cooked for dinner, but is no longer being cooked because of some reason, you will get disappointed. But if this disappointment persists for a long period of time, it means that you have a deep-seated desire for that dish, which can resurface anytime to cause you further agitation. The goal pointed our in the prior shloka is to free ourselves of as many material desires as possible, and to be "self satisfied with one's self".
The second part of the shloka goes deeper into this point by describing how a desire can give rise to fear and anger, both of which cause instability of mind. At the time of writing this, it is the thanksgiving holiday, so it is apt to look at a shopping example. Let's say that you go window shopping and see an ipod that is on sale with a huge discount. Later, you head home but all you can think about is that ipod. That's all it takes - you have developed attachment to it.
But that's not all. Right there, you will also develop a fear that it may go out of stock tomorrow, and that you will lose the deal. So you go to the store to buy it the very next day. Now, after a couple of days it stops working. You call the tech support phone number and are kept on hold for 20 minutes. What do you think has arisen in your mind? Anger, of course. And all it took was a desire to take hold of your mind when you saw the ipod. In later shlokas, Shri Krishna gives a more detailed, step by step breakdown of how a simple little thought can bring about one's downfall.
In the example, the individual imagined that the Ipod, which is nothing but a material object, would give him happiness. Whereas in reality, there is no happiness "built into" the Ipod. This projection of happiness onto a material object is termed as "shobhana adhyasa".
This shloka and the next comprise the answer to the second of Arjuna's four questions, "how does a person of steady wisdom speak?". This shloka is the seed of the first portion of chapter sixteen of the Gita called "daivee sampat" or the qualities of the gods.
Monday, November 14, 2011
Bhagavad Gita Verse 48, Chapter 2
yogasthaha kuru karmaani sangam tyaktvaa dhananjaya |
siddhyasiddhyoh samo bhootvaa samatvam yoga uchyate || 48 ||
Perform action, established in yoga, and discard attachment, O Dhananjaya. Remain balanced in success and failure. Yoga is defined as equanimity.
yogasthaha : established in yoga
kuru : perform
karmaani : action
sangam : attachment
tyaktvaa : discard
dhananjaya : O Dhananjaya
siddhyasiddhyoh : in success and failure
samaha : balanced
bhootvaa : remain
samatvam : equanimity
yoga : yoga
uchyate : defined
This shloka pushes further the teaching of Karmayoga by advising us to begin discarding our attachments to objects in the material world. Obviously, we will not be able to totally discard all our attachments in one day. This will take a long time. However, Shri Krishna asks us to slowly start treading on this path. Why is he asking us to do so? He wants us to diminish our hankering for the outcome of our actions, and the only way to do that is by reducing our attachments to the material world.
Consider a mother who takes care of her 5 year old child. She gets extremely attached to it and develops lots of expectations: my child will take care of me when it grows up, it will become a doctor etc. If those things don't happen, she will generate lots of sorrow for herself. But a nanny taking care of a child will not be attached to it. She will perform her svadharma by taking good care of child. However, she will have zero expectations from the child, and therefore she will be able to maintain equanimity in action.
The only difference between the mother and the nanny is their attitude - one is attached, one is unattached. And the one that has attachments has expectations for the future, the other does not.
Now in this shloka we encounter Shri Krishna defining the term "yoga". It has nothing to do with arcane rituals. It has nothing to do with complex physical postures. It is a surprisingly simple and practical definition: equanimity of mind during performance of action. It is how the nanny operated in the earlier example.
So what is the practical technique to cast off attachments? How do we actually do this? We have to rid ourself of all expectations and worries about the future, as well as memories of the past. If we eliminate constant thinking about past and future, we can channel all that energy into the present moment and into executing the task at hand.
We probably have experienced instances in our lives where we were so joyfully and blissfully immersed in our work that we forgot where we were and what time it was. But those experiences were few and far between. By going deeper into each and every task we perform, no matter how big or small the task, we will minimize past and future thinking, which will enable us to remain balanced regardless of success and failure. This is the true definition of yoga.
There are four kinds of attachment: attachment to result (I want a reward for singing this song), to action (I will sing a song only in my way), to doership (I will song the song, not anyone else), and to non-doership (I am the non-singer of this song).
To recap, our toolkit contains 3 techniques: reducing unnecessary thoughts, improving quality of thought, and focusing on the task and hand. We can practice this teaching with mundane tasks, and move on to more complex ones. Next time we wash dishes, lets give each movement of the hand our single and undivided attention, and try to sustain it while washing each and every dish. Give it a shot, see what happens.
This shloka is the seed of the third and fourth chapters of the Gita on the topic of Karma yoga as a means for purification of the mind.
siddhyasiddhyoh samo bhootvaa samatvam yoga uchyate || 48 ||
Perform action, established in yoga, and discard attachment, O Dhananjaya. Remain balanced in success and failure. Yoga is defined as equanimity.
yogasthaha : established in yoga
kuru : perform
karmaani : action
sangam : attachment
tyaktvaa : discard
dhananjaya : O Dhananjaya
siddhyasiddhyoh : in success and failure
samaha : balanced
bhootvaa : remain
samatvam : equanimity
yoga : yoga
uchyate : defined
This shloka pushes further the teaching of Karmayoga by advising us to begin discarding our attachments to objects in the material world. Obviously, we will not be able to totally discard all our attachments in one day. This will take a long time. However, Shri Krishna asks us to slowly start treading on this path. Why is he asking us to do so? He wants us to diminish our hankering for the outcome of our actions, and the only way to do that is by reducing our attachments to the material world.
Consider a mother who takes care of her 5 year old child. She gets extremely attached to it and develops lots of expectations: my child will take care of me when it grows up, it will become a doctor etc. If those things don't happen, she will generate lots of sorrow for herself. But a nanny taking care of a child will not be attached to it. She will perform her svadharma by taking good care of child. However, she will have zero expectations from the child, and therefore she will be able to maintain equanimity in action.
The only difference between the mother and the nanny is their attitude - one is attached, one is unattached. And the one that has attachments has expectations for the future, the other does not.
Now in this shloka we encounter Shri Krishna defining the term "yoga". It has nothing to do with arcane rituals. It has nothing to do with complex physical postures. It is a surprisingly simple and practical definition: equanimity of mind during performance of action. It is how the nanny operated in the earlier example.
So what is the practical technique to cast off attachments? How do we actually do this? We have to rid ourself of all expectations and worries about the future, as well as memories of the past. If we eliminate constant thinking about past and future, we can channel all that energy into the present moment and into executing the task at hand.
We probably have experienced instances in our lives where we were so joyfully and blissfully immersed in our work that we forgot where we were and what time it was. But those experiences were few and far between. By going deeper into each and every task we perform, no matter how big or small the task, we will minimize past and future thinking, which will enable us to remain balanced regardless of success and failure. This is the true definition of yoga.
There are four kinds of attachment: attachment to result (I want a reward for singing this song), to action (I will sing a song only in my way), to doership (I will song the song, not anyone else), and to non-doership (I am the non-singer of this song).
To recap, our toolkit contains 3 techniques: reducing unnecessary thoughts, improving quality of thought, and focusing on the task and hand. We can practice this teaching with mundane tasks, and move on to more complex ones. Next time we wash dishes, lets give each movement of the hand our single and undivided attention, and try to sustain it while washing each and every dish. Give it a shot, see what happens.
This shloka is the seed of the third and fourth chapters of the Gita on the topic of Karma yoga as a means for purification of the mind.
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Bhagavad Gita Verse 25, Chapter 2
avyaktoyamachintoyamavikaryoyamuchyate |
tasmaadevam viditvainam naanushochitumarhasi || 25 ||
This (eternal essence) is imperceptible, this is incomprehensible, this is unchanging, it is said. Therefore, having known this, it is not worthy of grief.
avyaktaha : imperceptible
ayam : this
achintaha : incomprehensible
avikaryaha : unchanging
uchyate : it is said
tasmaad : therefore
evam : thus
viditva : having known
enam : this
naa : not
anushochitum : grieve
arhasi : worthy
Let's take stock of where we are. In the second chapter, Shri Krishna covers 4 main topics: 1) Informing Arjuna that his logic and reasoning was incorrect 2) Explaining the correct logic and reasoning to Arjuna 3) Providing practical guidance to implement this correct logic and reasoning 4) Describing the attributes of a person who follows this teaching.
We are still exploring the second topic, and this shloka marks the end of the argument that Shri Krishna began in shloka 17. The argument was whether the eternal essence can slay or be slain. Shri Krishna, in this shloka, concludes the argument by saying the following:
"Arjuna, associate yourself with the eternal essence and not the body. The eternal essence is eternal and imperishable; it cannot slay or be slain. Therefore do not grieve for the opposing army's warriors on their imminent death. Their bodies will perish anyway, so you shouldn't grieve for what is bound to perish. The eternal essence which is common between them and you is imperishable, so you should not grieve for that either. Therefore you have no reason to grieve at all."
Let's look further. If something is imperceptible, that means it is beyond the realm of our sense organs. If something is incomprehensible, it is beyond the realm of the intellect. If something is unchanging, then no physical effort will have an impact on it. We are dealing with something that is not of this material world, it is beyond it.
In the next few shlokas, Shri Krishna provides a simpler alternative of logic and reason to Arjuna, after which the teaching takes a turn towards more practical and concrete topics.
tasmaadevam viditvainam naanushochitumarhasi || 25 ||
This (eternal essence) is imperceptible, this is incomprehensible, this is unchanging, it is said. Therefore, having known this, it is not worthy of grief.
avyaktaha : imperceptible
ayam : this
achintaha : incomprehensible
avikaryaha : unchanging
uchyate : it is said
tasmaad : therefore
evam : thus
viditva : having known
enam : this
naa : not
anushochitum : grieve
arhasi : worthy
Let's take stock of where we are. In the second chapter, Shri Krishna covers 4 main topics: 1) Informing Arjuna that his logic and reasoning was incorrect 2) Explaining the correct logic and reasoning to Arjuna 3) Providing practical guidance to implement this correct logic and reasoning 4) Describing the attributes of a person who follows this teaching.
We are still exploring the second topic, and this shloka marks the end of the argument that Shri Krishna began in shloka 17. The argument was whether the eternal essence can slay or be slain. Shri Krishna, in this shloka, concludes the argument by saying the following:
"Arjuna, associate yourself with the eternal essence and not the body. The eternal essence is eternal and imperishable; it cannot slay or be slain. Therefore do not grieve for the opposing army's warriors on their imminent death. Their bodies will perish anyway, so you shouldn't grieve for what is bound to perish. The eternal essence which is common between them and you is imperishable, so you should not grieve for that either. Therefore you have no reason to grieve at all."
Let's look further. If something is imperceptible, that means it is beyond the realm of our sense organs. If something is incomprehensible, it is beyond the realm of the intellect. If something is unchanging, then no physical effort will have an impact on it. We are dealing with something that is not of this material world, it is beyond it.
In the next few shlokas, Shri Krishna provides a simpler alternative of logic and reason to Arjuna, after which the teaching takes a turn towards more practical and concrete topics.
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