Category Archives: aasureem

Bhagavad Gita Verse 20, Chapter 16

15 Monday Apr 2013

Posted by in 16.20, aapannaahaa, aasureem, adhamaam, apraapyaiva, chapter 16 verse 20, gatim, janmani, kaunteya, moodhaa, tataha, yaant, yonim

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aasureem yonimaapannaa moodhaa janmani janmani |
maamapraapyaiva kaunteya tato yaantyadhamaam gatim || 20 ||
 
Entering into devilish wombs, the deluded individuals, from birth after birth, do not attain me, O Kaunteya. They attain destinations even lower than that (state).
 
aasureem : devilish
yonim : wombs
aapannaahaa : entering
moodhaa : deluded individuals
janmani : birth
janmani : birth
maam : me
apraapyaiva : do not attain
kaunteya : O Kaunteya
tataha : than that
yaanti : go
adhamaam : even lower
gatim : destinations
 
Here, Shri Krishna expresses his regret about a lost opportunity. Anyone who has attained a human birth has a chance to achieve self realization and liberation. But those individuals who engage in destruction of others instead of improving their state give up this golden opportunity. Such people enter a never ending descent into lower and lower realms of existence. An example given in most commentaries is that of kumbhipaaka, where individuals spend their time in a pot of boiling oil.
 
Such is the rare and special nature of a human birth, that most spiritual masters have mentioned it in their texts. Shankaraachaarya begins the Vivekachoodamani text with this proclamation : “For beings a human birth is hard to win, then manhood and holiness, then excellence in the path of wise law; hardest of all to win is wisdom. Discernment between Self and not-Self, true judgment, nearness to the Self of the Eternal and Freedom are not gained without a myriad of right acts in a hundred births”.
 
The practical implication of this shloka is the importance of free will. Only a human has the ability to shape his or her destiny. Plants, animals and birds cannot do so. All they can do is follow their instincts and their sense organs. If we also start ignoring our intellect and empowering our sense organs, there remains no difference between us and animals. We lose all traces of sattva, and only exist through rajas and tamas.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 4, Chapter 16

30 Saturday Mar 2013

Posted by in 16.4, aasureem, abhijaatasya, abhimaanaha, ajnyaanam, chapter 16 verse 4, dambhaha, darpaha, krodhaha, paartha, paarushyam, sampadam

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dambho darpobhimaanashcha krodhaha paarushyameva cha |
ajnyaanam chaabhijaatasya paartha sampadamaasureem || 4 ||
 
Ostentation, arrogance, exaggerated self worth, and anger, insolence and also ignorance, these are found in one who has obtained devilish qualities, O Paartha.
 
dambhaha : ostentation
darpaha : arrogance
abhimaanaha : exaggerated self worth
cha : and
krodhaha : anger
paarushyam : insolence
eva : also
cha : and
ajnyaanam : ignorance
cha : and
abhijaatasya : one who has obtained
paartha : O Paartha
sampadam : qualities
aasureem : devilish
 
Having supplied a long list of divine qualities, Shri Krishna begins listing the aasuri sampatti, the devilish or diabolical qualities. Asuras are portrayed as fearsome demons with long teeth and horns in comic books and TV shows. But the word asura means one who places sense enjoyment as his highest goals. Any ordinary looking human being can be an asura, if he constantly dwells in sense pleasures.
 
Projecting an image of ourselves to be larger, to be different than what we really are dambaha. There are people who portray themselves to be smarter, wiser and accomplished than they really are. Or, there are others who cover up their misdeeds by portraying themselves as god fearing and so on. Broadly speaking, such people try to change what they have through cover-up rather than work hard and perform actions that will give them better results.
 
Darpa refers to arrogance and pride over our possessions, and the subsequent putting down of others who may not have what we have. These people not only hurt others by their insults, they hurt themselves as well. Instead of weakening their notions of me and mine, which become obstacles to spiritual growth, such people strengthen them. Krodha refers to anger. Specifically, it is the thought that gives a kind of satisfaction after having yelled at someone who has wronged us, instead of the thought that wants to solve a concern, or to help that other person.
 
Next, Shri Krishna mentions paarushyam, which means insolence or harshness, as a diabolical quality. Harshness can occur at the body and speech level. Elbowing our way to the front of a crowded line is harshness at the body level. Using bitter and taunting language is harshness at the speech level. Pointing out someone’s faults in front of everyone is harshness at the speech level.
 
The primary devilish quality is that of ajnyaanam or ignorance. From a day to day standpoint, not knowing which action is right versus which action is to be avoided, this is ignorance. Chasing momentary pleasures in the material world without regards to actions and consequences constitutes ignorances. From an absolute standpoint, it is the ignorance of our true nature as existence, awareness and joy that is the fundamental devilish quality.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 12, Chapter 9

07 Tuesday Aug 2012

Posted by in 9.12, aasureem, cha, chapter 9 verse 12, eva, moghaashaa, moghajnyaanaa, moghakarmaanaha, mohineem, prakritim, raakshaseem, shritaahaa, vichetasaha

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moghaashaa moghakarmaano moghajnyaanaa vichetasaha |
raakshaseemaasureem chaiva prakritim mohineem shritaahaa || 12 ||
 
With useless desires, useless actions and useless knowledge, the unintelligent take refuge in delusory, devilish and evil nature.
 
moghaashaa : useless desires
moghakarmaanaha : useless actions
moghajnyaanaa : useless knowledge
vichetasaha : unintelligent
raakshaseem : devilish
aasureem : evil
cha : and
eva : also
prakritim : nature
mohineem : delusory
shritaahaa : take refuge in
 
After following this chapter so far, we may wonder why has Shri Krishna spent so much time in addressing our erroneous notion of Ishvara? He has done so because erroneous knowledge is the start of a chain of consequences that can either uplift or ruin our life, not just from a spiritual but also material perspective. He illustrates that chain in this shloka.
 
Consider a child born into a family that gives utmost important to the acquisition of money, but does not emphasize the ethical means of doing so. Such an erroneous knowledge starts a chain of consequences. The child always desires money, and all his actions are directed towards the pursuit of money.
 
Shri Krishna calls these useless desires and useless actions. All of these eventually lead to increasingly worse character traits in the child. He can undertake delusory actions (gambling), evil actions (stealing) or worse yet, devilish actions (murder), all because of the wrong notion that acquisition of money is paramount.
 
Broadly, if we start with the erroneous notion that our body and mind is everything and that Ishvara is a distant finite entity, all our desires and actions will be directed towards ensuring that our body can live comfortably. We will continue to make external adjustments such as moving to a new city or changing jobs in search of comfort and security, to continually appease our body and mind, and to gain freedom from sorrow. Since we have not acquired the knowledge of our true nature and Ishvara’s true natures, we will never understand that Ishvara is our ultimate source of security and the ultimate freedom from sorrow.
 
So we have seen that erroneous knowledge about Ishvara can lead to ultimate ruin. Who then, are those people that, having had the correct knowledge, develop the right type of relationhip with Ishvara? This is taken up next.