Monthly Archives: January 2012

Bhagavad Gita Verse 34, Chapter 3

11 Wednesday Jan 2012

Posted by in 3.34, aagacchet, arthe, asya, chapter 3 verse 34, dveshau, hi, indriyasya, na, paripanthinau, raaga, tau, tayoh, vasham, vyavasthitau

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indriyasyendriyasyaarthe raagadveshau vyavasthitau |
tayorna vashamaagacchettau hyaasya paripanthinau || 34 ||

Likes and dislikes for sense objects reside in the senses. One should not come under their sway, for they are highway robbers.

indriyasya : in the sense organs
indriyasya : in each and every
arthe : for the sense objects
raaga-dveshau : like and dislike
vyavasthitau : lie, reside, situated
tayoh : both
na : should not
vasham : under their control
aagacchet : one should not come
tau : both of them
hi : for
asya : in this
paripanthinau : highway robbers

Having explained that our inherent tendencies are the biggest obstacle in karmayoga, Shri Krishna points out their precise location. He says that the tendencies manifest as likes and dislikes for material objects. These tendencies reside in our senses: the eyes, ears, skin, tongue and nose.

First let’s look at likes and dislikes. The only way we can truly understand the shape of our inherent tendencies is through a deep examination of our likes and dislikes. Every human being harbours likes and dislikes. It is so strange that two children having grown up in the exact same home and family environment reveal such different likes and dislikes, even as toddlers.

So where are the likes and dislikes stored? They reside in our sense organs. The tongue is attracted to the taste of fries, and is repelled by the taste of spinach. The eye likes a certain kind of form and is repelled by another and so on. In his commentary on the Gita, Sant Jnyaneshwar compares the sense organs to dangerous animals and asks : does one befriend a snake, or maintain the company of tigers?

So therefore, what is the solution? We should not come under the sway of likes and dislikes by being aware of them especially when they strike, by using our intellect to guide us, and by continually reminding ourself of the higher ideal we have set for ourselves in karmayoga. We should not let them create a roadblock in our path. Like an elephant that moves on its path even though dogs bark at it, we should keep likes and dislikes at bay and never lose sight of our path and goal.

The first chapter of the Gita provides the best example for this shloka. Arjuna loved warfare, but he did not like the Mahabhaarata war simply because his relatives were on the other side. Shri Krishna, representing the intellect, guided him towards the right path. Another example is when a doctor prescribes us bitter medicine – we may not like but we take it nevertheless.

Shri Krishna compares likes and dislikes to highway robbers who target travellers that are unprepared and not alert. The robbers will come out of nowhere, and distract travellers from their path. Similarly, the likes make us run towards them and dislikes make us run away, but ultimately both take us away from our path. By being constantly alert that likes and dislikes can arise, we can reduce their influence.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 33, Chapter 3

10 Tuesday Jan 2012

Posted by in 3.33, api, bhootani, chapter 3 verse 33, cheshtate, jnyaanavaan, karishyati, kim, nirgraha, prakriteh, prakritim, sadrisham, svasyaaha, yaanti

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sadrisham cheshtate svasyaaha prakritejnyaanavaanapi |
prakritim yaanti bhootaani nigraha kim karishyati || 33 ||

Even a wise person will behave according to his own nature. All beings follow their own nature. What can restraint do?

sadrisham : according to
cheshtate : behave
svasyaaha : one’s own
prakriteh : of nature
jnyaanavaan : wise person
api: even
prakritim : nature
yaanti : follow
bhootaani : all beings
nigraha : restraint
kim : what
karishyati : will do

Shri Krishna here addresses a critical point, which is that even the most well-read and educated person will find it difficult to practice karmayoga. Why is this so? It is because inbuilt tendencies and urges inside us compel us to act against our will. These tendencies comprise our lower nature. Note that the lower nature is also called “prakriti” here, which is different than the prakriti that we saw earlier.

All beings – plants, animals and humans – are born with an innate set of traits. In humans, these traits are manifested in the body, mind and intellect. These traits are a product of our vaasanaas, which are impressions created by past actions.

It does not matter whether one is wise or foolish, rich or poor etc. All human beings are born with vaasanaas. These vaasanaas are “thought generators”. They cause thoughts about the material world to arise in our mind. And once a thought arises, it results into desire and action as we saw in the second chapter.

Therefore, Shri Krishna says that mere restraint of actions will not result in eradication of desires, since the vaasanaas will continue to generate more and more thoughts. And direct suppression of thoughts is next to impossible. Many people try to repress thoughts and desires in the hope of progressing spiritually, but like a spring that is pushed down, that strategy backfires very easily.

But then, should we give up our efforts altogether? That is not the case. For example, you cannot teach tiger to be non-violent and eat grass. But you can change his behaviour to a certain extent through repeated training. Similarly, the vaasanaas can be channeled in the service of society. Like judo uses the opponent’s strength to subdue the opponent, karmayoga uses the energy of vaasanaas to extinguish themselves.

So therefore, Shri Krishna gives us a way out. Even though all of us have tendencies that can drag us lower, we can analyze those tendencies and overcome them through the technique of karmayoga. Having explained this, Shri Krishna gives us the exact location of our enemies, these lower tendencies, in the next shloka.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 32, Chapter 3

09 Monday Jan 2012

Posted by in 3.32, abhyasooyantah, achetasaha, anutishtanti, chapter 3 verse 32, etad, matam, me, na, nashtaan, sarvajnyaana, taan, tu, viddhi, vimoodhaan, ye

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ye tvetadabhyasooyanto naanutishthanti me matam |
sarvajnyaanavimoodhaamstaanviddhi nashtaanachetasaha || 32 ||

But those who object to this teaching and do not follow it, they are confused in all of their knowledge. Know those people who are devoid of discrimination to be ruined.

ye : those
tu : but
etad : this
abhyasooyantah : with objection
na : do not
anutishthanti : follow
me : my
matam : teaching
sarvajnyaana : in all knowledge
vimoodhaan : confused
taan : those
viddhi : know
nashtaan : to be ruined
achetasaha : devoid of discrimination

Shri Krishna urged us to resolve all our objections to the teaching so that we may be able to incorporate it into our lives. But even if we overcome our philosophical objections, most of us will still find it difficult to follow the practice of karmayoga. Shri Krishna therefore begins to explain what prevents us from adopting karmayoga, and consequently, how should we tackle those obstacles.

The primary obstacle to karmayoga are our vaasanaas. Once a person is under the influence of vaasanaas, their actions will be prompted by selfish motives. These motives are expressed as negative emotions such as jealousy: “I will do things to make others jealous”, or out of anger: “I will destroy this person”, or greed: “I will earn so much even if it means I compromise on ethics”. Some people even pass on negative motives to their children, e.g. “I was not able to destroy this family, so you go ahead and do it, my son”.

Now, when we dwell in negative emotions such as jealousy, anger, greed etc., our intellect knows that what we are doing is wrong. But since our vaasanaas have overpowered the intellect, it does not function and so we follow a wrong path. We are then ruined because we are going against the laws of nature. What would happen if we disregarded the law of gravity? We would perish. A similar fate exists if we do not pursue karmayoga.

So the question is : how exactly do vaasanaas cause us not follow karmayoga? Shri Krishna covers this topic next.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 31, Chapter 3

08 Sunday Jan 2012

Posted by in 3.31, anasooyanto, anutishthanti, api, chapter 3 verse 31, idam, karmabhih, maanavaaha, matam, me, muchyante, nityam, shradhvavantah, te, ye

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ye me matamidam nityamanutishthanti maanavaaha |
shradhvavantonasooyanto muchyante tepi karmabhih || 31 ||

Those who always execute this teaching of mine, with faith and without objection, they too are freed from all actions.

ye : those
me : my
matam : teaching
idam : this
nityam : always
anutishthanti : execute
maanavaaha : people
shradhvavantah : faith
anasooyanto : without objection
muchyante : freed
te : those
api : too
karmabhih : actions

As we have seen so far, if we are bound to actions and objects, we will never be able to realize the eternal essence, which is the ultimate goal prescribed by the Gita. So in this shloka, Shri Krishna begins to conclude the teaching of karmayoga by reassuring us that it will free us from all bondages while we are engaged in action.

Prior to the Gita coming into existence, people heralded a misconception that spiritual realization was the domain of a select section of society, and could be achieved only through the accomplishment of extremely secret and arcane rituals. The Gita proposed a radical new method of realization where anyone regardless of their background can get the same result while performing any and all actions.

So therefore, Shri Krishna urges us to overcome any misconceptions, barriers and objections we may harbour against this teaching. Some may say, this teaching is too simplistic. Others may say, it goes against whatever preconceived notions they have about religion. Or that it is not achievable and so on. Whatever be the objection, Shri Krishna wants us to put the teaching into practice and try it out for ourselves.

Now, as he is about to conclude the teaching of karmayoga, Shri Krishna anticipates a problem. He knows that even for people who are ready and willing to take this path will run into obstacles. He covers this topic in the next shloka.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 30, Chapter 3

07 Saturday Jan 2012

Posted by in 3.30, adhyaatma, bhootvaa, chetasaa, karmaani, mayi, niraasheeh, nirmamah, sannyasya, sarvaani, verse 30 chapter 3, vigatajvaraha, yudhyasua

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mayi sarvaani karmaani sannyasyaadhyaatmachetasaa |
niraasheernirmamo bhootvaa yudhyasva vigatajvaraha || 30 ||

Dedicate all your actions to me, using your intellect. Without expectation or sense of my-ness, fight without mental distress.

mayi : to me
sarvaani : all
karmaani : actions
sannyasya : dedicate
adhyaatma-chetasaa : with intellect
niraasheeh : without expectation
nirmamah : without sense of I
bhootvaa : make
yudhyasva : fight
vigatajvaraha : without mental distress

Shri Krishna provides the essence of the entire chapter in this shloka, one of the most important shlokas in this chapter. It can be considered “karmayoga in a nutshell”. In this shloka, he covers the following 3 topics:
1. What should be our attitude while performing actions?
2. What kinds of actions should we perform?
3. How do we make our actions more efficient?

First, he talks about the attitude that one should maintain while performing actions. He says that before, during and after the action, one should continuously dedicate the action to a higher ideal. It can be any higher ideal like our family, employer or nation, but we should consider it pure and divine, indicated by the word “me” in the shloka.

What is important here is never get out of tune with the higher ideal – it is like talking to a friend constantly on a handsfree telephone while performing all actions. We can use the ritual of a “pooja” to practice this act of dedication, but the key is to do it constantly, not just during the pooja. Furthermore, we will know whether the action was in service of a higher ideal or of our ego by the feeling we get once the action is complete. If we find that we have a deep sense of peace and contentment after the action was performed, it was in the service of a higher ideal.

Secondly, he asks us to use our intellect to guide us so that only correct actions, those that are our duties, are performed by us. Actions that are unethical or illegal should be discarded by the intellect. He urges us to strengthen and reinforce the intellect’s power of discrimination, or viveka.

Finally, Shri Krishna gives us a formula to make actions extremely efficient. He explains that our mental energy and focus “leaks” out of our system through three sources: brooding over the past, becoming anxious about the future, and becoming overly excited in the present. How does this leakage happen?

“Aashaa” or harbouring expectations is akin to living in the future because it gives rise to anxiety. It is as if we are insulting the present moment. “Mamatva” or my-ness implies that we are giving undue importance to our past achievements. In other words, we are living in the past. No matter what happened in the past usually gives rise to sorrow if we brood over it. And “jvarah” or extreme excitement and agitation in the present has the effect of destabilizing our mind and intellect.

All of these three tendencies ultimately take attention away from the present moment, strengthen our ego and diminish our efficiency. So therefore, a true karmayogi always lives in the present moment and gives complete and undivided attention to the task at hand, no matter what kind of task it is. Shri Krishna urges us to give up expectation for the future (“niraasha”), anxiety over the past (“nirmamah”) and overexcitement in the present (“vigatajvarah”).

Footnotes
1. Eckhart Tolle has written an entire book on the topic of acting in the present moment called “The Power Of Now”.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 29, Chapter 3

06 Friday Jan 2012

Posted by in 3.29, akritsna, chaalayet, chapter 3 verse 29, guna, karmasu, kritsna, mandaan, prakriteh, sajjante, sammoodha, taan, vidah, vit

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prakritergunasammoodhaah sajjante gunakarmasu |
taanakritsnavido mandaankritsnavinna vichaalayet || 29 ||

People deluded by the gunaas of prakriti are attached to gunaas and action. The wise person does not disturb those fools who are of limited knowledge.

prakriteh : from prakriti
guna-sammoodhaah : people deluded by the gunas
sajjante : are attached to
guna-karmasu : gunas and karmas
taan : those
akritsna : limited
vidah : knowledge
mandaan : fools
kritsna : complete
vit : one who knows
vichaalayet : do not disturb

Shri Krishna uses this shloka to reiterate the difference between a wise person and an ignorant or foolish person. It is nothing but their degree of attachment to gunaas (forces of nature) and their actions. He also restates that wise people should not preach karmayoga to those who are attached to gunaas and their actions. Instead, they should lead by example.

Why should they do so? The teacher in a school does not condemn or ridicule a student’s ignorance about mathematics. He fully well knows that the student is in very early stages of his curriculum. With enough time and practice, the student will evolve into a higher level of math understanding.

Similarly, a wise person does not condemn or judge anyone, knowing that everyone is at a different level of spiritual evolution. “Judge not, that ye be not judged” as the Bible says in Matthew 7.1.

As a point of clarification, let us reexamine the message of the last 2 shlokas, which was that most of us mistakenly think that the “I” is the doer. We had seen that it is a tough statement to swallow, so let’s look at a common question that arises when one hears this statement. “I am a well renowned surgeon. I just completed a successful triple-bypass surgery. So if I did not do it, who did?”

There was a team of three “agents” that performed the operation – the surgeon’s mind, body and intellect. The mind gathered data from the five senses and presented it to the intellect. The intellect, based on past experiences and knowledge, took decisions. These decisions were sent to the surgeon’s body, specifically the fingers, which performed the operation.

The real “I”, which is the eternal essence, was a witness of this entire surgery. But the principle of the ego or ahamkaara created a mix-up between the real-I and the three agents: mind, body and intellect. Reversing this fundamental mix-up is the ultimate goal of karmayoga, in fact, of any yoga.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 28, Chapter 3

05 Thursday Jan 2012

Posted by in 3.28, chapter 3 verse 28, guna, gunesh, iti, karma, mahaabaaho, matvaa, na, sajjate, tattvavit, tu, vartanta, vibhagayoh

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tattvavittu mahaabaaho gunakarmavibhaagayoh |
gunaa guneshu vartanta iti matvaa na sajjate || 28 ||

But he who knows the truth, O mighty-armed, about the divisions of gunaas as well as their functions, recognizes the interplay of gunaas (everywhere). Having known this, he does not get attached.

tattvavit : knower of truth
tu : but
mahaabaaho : O mighty-armed
gunaa : gunas
karma : functions
vibhaagayoh : distinction
gunaa : gunas
guneshu : in gunas
vartanta : act
iti : this
matvaa : having known
na : does not
sajjate : get attached

Previously, we learned about the ignorant individual who is deluded by the notion that he is the doer. But then, what does the wise person know that the ignorant one does not? Shri Krishna explains that point here.

The wise person is termed a “tattva-vit” – one who knows the truth – by Shri Krishna. The truth, as we saw earlier, is that all actions in this world are performed by prakiriti. And prakriti is comprised of the three gunaas and their respective functions, termed in this shloka as “guna-karma-vibhaaga”. But how exactly do we know that prakriti causes the actions, not the “I”?

Our sense organs are like agents that send messages to the mind when they perceive an object. For instance, if you hold a rose in your hand, the eyes, skin and nose send different signals to the mind. The mind creates a holistic picture from all those signals – “this is a red rose” – and sends it to the intellect. The intellect analyzes that information and makes a decision – “buy this rose”, having consulted its memory of past experiences with roses.

This means that perception, thinking, decision-making – all these functions are part of prakriti, operating based on laws set by prakriti. The “I” is the eternal essence, different from prakriti.

So therefore, if one knows that he is not the doer, and that things are happening of their own accord, he does not get attached to anything in this world. He becomes a witness or a “saakshi”, just like someone watching a play does not get attached to one actor or another. Another example is the process of digestion. We are not attached to it because we know that we are not the doer in that instance. The notion that everything is an interplay of gunaas may seem abstract and theoretical. One can only gain a first-hand experience of this truth in deep stages of meditation.

This teaching is beneficial in our day-to-day lives as well. If we contemplate on this teaching, it has the effect of thinning our ego. Once that happens, it makes us very humble and reduces several negative emotions like fear, anger, stress and so on. Now, we may fear that this teaching makes us lackadaisical. On the contrary, it makes thinking clear and actions more efficient by getting rid of negative emotions that drain our mental energy.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 27, Chapter 3

04 Wednesday Jan 2012

Posted by in 3.27, aham, ahamkaara, chapter 3 verse 27, gunaih, iti, karmaani, kartaa, kriyamaanaani, manyate, prakruteh, sarvhashah, vimoodhaatmaa

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prakruteh kriyamaanaani gunaih karmaani sarvashah |
ahamkaaravimoodhaatmaa kartaahamiti manyate || 27 ||

All actions, in all situations, are performed by the gunaas of prakriti. He who is completely deluded by the ego thinks “I am the doer”.

prakruteh : of prakriti
kriyamaanaani : act upon
gunaih : by the gunaas
karmaani : all actions
sarvashah : in all situations
ahamkaara : ego
vimoodhaatmaa : one who is complete deluded
kartaa : doer
aham : I
iti : in this way
manyate : thinks

We saw earlier that an ignorant person is attached to action while a wise person is not. But what exactly does it mean to be attached to action? Shri Krishna clarifies that point in this shloka, which is yet another deep shloka with layers and layers of meaning. We shall approach it step by step to grasp its essentials.

First, let us take the example of someone who has accomplished a great thing, for example, won a Grammy award for outstanding singing. If that singer truly examines her accomplishment, she will realize that there were so many people and situations that were responsible for her accomplishment.

To begin with, her parents probably encouraged her to pursue music seriously. Her music teacher taught her the theoretical aspects of music. She met other musicians who helped hone her craft. She came across a situation that inspired her to write her award-winning song. Her accomplishment was a product of all these factors.

Compare that singer to some other award-winning singer who thinks that it was he who did it all, and does not even acknowledge the contribution of others. The notion that “I am the doer” is called “ahamkaara” or the ego, and creates an “us-vs-them” attitude. Someone who is under the influence of the ego is called deluded in this shloka.

Let us now look at what is meant by gunaas and prakriti so that we can better understand the shloka. Just like our scientists have discovered that all of matter is made up of fundamental particles known as atoms, ancient rishis postulated that all matter or prakriti is made up of combinations of three essential forces: an inert force, an active force, and a harmonizing force. These three forces or gunas are known as tamoguna, rajoguna and sattvaguna respectively.

Now here comes a statement which is a little difficult to swallow. Like the singer whose accomplishments had very little to do with her “own” efforts, every action that we perform is in reality performed by prakriti that is comprised of the gunas.

So then who are “we”? We go back to the second chapter to remember that we are the eternal essence that is everlasting and all-pervading. Like the sun that enlivens the earth but does not itself do anything, the eternal essence does not perform any action. It only enlivens prakriti which is performing the action. Most of us that do not realize this truth, unfortunately, fall in the “ignorant” category. The next shloka shows us the goal : how to become wiser.

Footnotes

1. Prakriti is further subdivided into the following 24 components:
– 5 elements : space, air, fire, water, earth
– 5 mediums : sound, touch, form, taste, smell
– 5 sense organs : ear, skin, eye, tongue, nose
– 5 organs of actions : speech, grasp, movement, generation, excretion
– 4 internal organs : mind, intellect, memory, ego

2. Prakriti is also known as Maya

Bhagavad Gita Verse 26, Chapter 3

03 Tuesday Jan 2012

Posted by in 3.26, ajnyaanaam, bhedam, buddhi, chapter 3 verse 26, janayet, joshayet, karmasanginaam, na, samacharan, sarvakarmaani, vidvaan

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na buddhibhedam janayedajnyaanaam karmasanginaam |
joshayetsarvakarmaani vidvaanyuktaha samacharan || 26 ||

No wise individual should create confusion in the minds of ignorant people who are attached to action. He should engage them in all actions, himself performing them diligently.

na : not to
buddhi : mind
bhedam : confusion
janayet : create
ajnyaanaam : ignorant people
karmasanginaam : attached to action
joshayet : engage
sarvakarmaani : all actions
vidvaan : wise individual
yuktaha : alert
samacharan : diligently act

In the previous shloka, Shri Krishna asked Arjuna to follow a “live and let live” approach towards other people in this world who have not yet realized the extent of their attachments. In this shloka, Shri Krishna provides the reason behind that statement. We shall first look at an example in this regard.

Consider a car going at a fast speed on a major highway. Other cars on the highway are going equally as fast. The car contains a driver and one passenger who have divided the responsibilities equally : the driver is in charge of driving, and the passenger is in charge of navigation and directions. The passenger keeps the driver informed of where to turn, how much time is left before the next food break and so on.

Now in the middle of the journey, the passenger realizes that they are on the wrong highway. What is the best course of action for the passenger? If he says to the driver “Stop! We have to turn back!” it could unsettle the driver and potentially cause a major accident on the highway. Instead he choses to gently inform the driver to take the next exit, stop for a few minutes in a safe area, and then figure out how to get back on the proper highway.

Similarly, when working with other people, the practitioner of karmayoga should continue to perform actions diligently instead of preaching to others about karmayoga, in other words, change their way of doing action. There will always be a tendency to misinterpret the message of karmayoga if we begin preaching it to others. As evidence, note that even Arjuna had incorrectly assumed that one should give up actions altogether.

Therefore, this shloka advises us to act diligently, and let others act to the best of their ability, and not to unsettle them in any way.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 25, Chapter 3

02 Monday Jan 2012

Posted by in 3.25, asaktah, avidvaansah, bhaarata, chapter 3 verse 25, chikeershuh, karmani, kurvanti, kuryaat, lokasangraham, saktaah, tathaa, vidvaan, yathaa

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saktaah karmanyavidvaanso yathaa kurvanti bhaarata |
kuryaadvidvaanstathaasaktashchikeershulokasangraham || 25 ||

Just as an ignorant individual performs action with attachment, O Bhaarata, so does a wise person perform action without attachment, wishing for the welfare of society.

saktaah : with attachment
karmani : in action
avidvaansah : ignorant
yathaa : just as
kurvanti : act
bhaarata: O Bhaarata
kuryaat : act
vidvaan : wise
tathaa : so does
asaktah : without attachment
chikeershuh : wishing
lokasangraham : societal welfare

Here, Shri Krishna offers a guideline for Arjuna in regards to working with other people. He says that one who is working with the attitude of karmayoga should learn to work in harmony with others who may have not yet understood or learned that technique. In other words, Shri Krishna warns us from adopting a “holier-than-thou” attitude with others when performing action.

For instance, imagine a little girl playing by herself, and pretending to make tea in a small cup. She brings an empty cup to her aunt and asks her to drink that tea. The aunt should enjoy that fake tea, not start questioning the reality of that team. There is no need to do so, the child is doing what is appropriate. Similarly, just because one is studying karmayoga does not make him or her eligible to behave differently with others.

Now, most of our actions are either performed individually or in a team. If we are performing actions individually, it is very straightforward to adopt the attitude of karmayoga. If we are working in a team, we could be playing the role of peers, leaders or followers. In all three of these situations, Shri Krishna urges us to maintain the attitude of karmayoga regardless of whether our peers, leaders or followers have the very same attitude. Their attitude in no way should impact the efficiency of our work.

This “live and let live” approach is extremely practical and sensible. But is there a reason behind it? Shri Krishna will explain in the next verse.