Category Archives: abhijaayate

Bhagavad Gita Verse 23, Chapter 13

24 Thursday Jan 2013

Posted by in 13.23, abhijaayate, bhooyaha, chapter 13 verse 23, evam, gunaih, prakritim, purusham, saha, sarvathaa, vartamaanaha, vetti, yaha

≈ Comments Off on Bhagavad Gita Verse 23, Chapter 13

ya evam vetti purusham prakritim cha gunaih saha |
sarvathaa vartamaanopi na sa bhooyobhijaayate || 23 ||
 
He who thus knows Purusha and Prakriti, along with the gunaas, no matter what his conduct, is never born again.
 
yaha : he who
evam : thus
vetti : knows
purusham : Purusha
prakritim : Prakriti
cha : and
gunaih : gunaas
saha : along with
sarvathaa : whatever
vartamaanaha : conduct
api : no matter
na : not
saha : he
bhooyaha : again
abhijaayate : born
 
To better understand this shloka, let us quickly take a look at the theory of karma. It says that each of us comes with three types of karmas, which are unfulfilled desires that become seeds of future actions. Total karmas or “sanchita” karmas are the entire stock of our karmas. Present life karmas or “prarabdha” karmas are those karmas that are activated in our present life. Expected karmas or “agaami” karmas are those karmas that will be generated due to the results of actions in the present life. These karmas get added to our sanchita karmas, our stock of karmas.
 
As an illustration, consider this. The arrows in an archer’s quiver are sanchita karmas, the arrows that have left his bow are prarabdha karmas, and the arrows that are loaded on the bow are agaami karmas. The Vedas assert that so long as an individual maintains a stock of karmas, he has to take on a body to exhaust those karmas. In each birth, a portion of the stock of karmas is allocated to the individual so that he can exhaust them. By generating further selfish desires, the individual adds to his stock of karmas, and the cycle of birth goes on indefinitely.
 
Shri Krishna says that the one who has properly understood the relationship between Purusha and Prakriti, one who has understood the identification of the eternal essence with Prakriti due to ignorance and the consequent rushing after the gunaas, is never born again. This means that his stock of karmas is destroyed, just like a spark of fire destroys dry hay. He does not generate any further selfish desires, because he is no longer fascinated by the play of the three gunaas. Why does this happen? When one realizes that selfish desire is created by ignorance of one’s true nature, it wipes out any notion of selfishness completely. There is no longer an urge to come into contact with Prakriti.
 
Now, this person still has to deal with his prarabdha. His present life karmas continue to be active until his body drops off, after which he does not have to take any further births. The word “api” in the shloka indicates that the individual can continue to perform his duties even if he has realized his true nature as the eternal essence, just like king Janaka continued to rule his kingdom even though he had achieved liberation.
 
Shri Krishna concludes the topic of Purusha and Prakriti with this shloka.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 41, Chapter 6

18 Friday May 2012

Posted by in abhijaayate, chapter 6 verse 41, gehe, illustrious, lokaan, praapya, punyakritaam, samaaha, shaashvateeh, shreemataam, shucheenaam, ushitvaa, yogabrasht

≈ Comments Off on Bhagavad Gita Verse 41, Chapter 6

praapya punyakritaam lokaanushitvaa shaashvateeh samaaha |
hucheenaam shreemataam gehe yogabrashtobhijaayate || 41 ||
 
Obtaining those worlds destined for performers of virtuous deeds, and residing there for several years, that one who has fallen from yoga is born in the home of the pure and illustrious.
 
praapya : having obtained
punyakritaam : performers of virtuous deeds
lokaan : worlds of
ushitvaa : resided
shaashvateeh : several
samaaha : years
shucheenaam : pure
shreemataam : illustrious
gehe : home
yogabrasht : that one who has fallen from yoga
abhijaayate : is born
 
Shri Krishna continues to answer Arjuna’s question with regards to what happens to the unfulfilled meditator after death. He says that such a meditator attains heaven, and having stayed there for a long period of time, he is born into an illustrious family.
 
Many of us strive to perform meritorious acts or “punya” throughout our life, and at the same time try to avoid or minimize demerits or “paapa”. The difference between paapa and punya determines our fate after death. Those that have an excess of punya go to heaven after death, others go to hell. So Shri Krishna says that one who follows the path of meditation is automatically qualified to access the very same heaven that is attained by people who have performed immeasurable meritorious deeds. He does not have to worry about counting merits and demerits, he just has to continue meditating.
 
Now, no matter how much pleasure it gives, the stay in heaven is always temporary. Once the allotted time runs out, the unfulfilled meditator will have to come back into the world. But it will not be such a bad thing. He will attain an environment that is conducive for continuing his spiritual journey. Shri Krishna says that such a person will be born into an illustrious family, one that is endowed not only with material wealth but also spiritual prowess.
 
Why should such a family need to have material wealth? The primary reason for the meditator to remain unfulfilled is that he still carried around traced of material desire. The new family that he is born into will give him the opportunity to get those material desires out of his system. As we have seen earlier, perfect meditation is possible only when material desires are addressed holistically.
 
Many of us may not be able to digest the notion of heaven and rebirth. In any case, Shri Krishna wants to assure us that the very laws of nature that take care of the meditator while he is alive will ensure that he will be taken care of even after death.
 
Do all unfulfilled meditators attain this state? Shri Krishna goes into this topic next.
 

Bhagavad Gita Verse 62-63, Chapter 2

29 Tuesday Nov 2011

Posted by in 2.62, 2.63, abhijaayate, attachment, bhavati, chapter 2 verse 62-63, dhyayataha, kaamaat.krodhah, kaamaha, krodhaat, pumsaha, sammohaat, sammohah, sangaat, sangah, sanjaayate, teshu, upajaayate, vishayaan

≈ 1 Comment

dhyayato vishayaanpumsaha sangasteshoopajaayate |
sangaatsanjaayate kaamaha kaamaatkrodhobhijaayate || 62 ||

krodhaadbhavati sammohah sammohaatsmritivibhramaha |
smritibhramshaad buddhinaasho buddhinaashaatpranashyati || 63 ||

When a man constantly thinks about objects, attachment for those objects arises. From attachment is born desire, and from desire is born anger.

From anger comes delusion, from delusion comes loss of memory, from loss of memory comes destruction of intellect, and once the intellect is destroyed, he perishes.

dhyayataha : thinking
vishayaan : objects
pumsaha : individual
sangah : attachment
teshu : to those
upajaayate : is born
sangaat : from attachment
sanjaayate : is born
kaamaha : desire
kaamaat : from desire
krodhah : anger
abhijaayate : is born

krodhaat : when anger arises
bhavati : happens
sammohah : delusion
sammohaat : from delusion
smritivibhramaha : loss of memory
smritibhramshaad : from loss of memory
buddhinaasho : destruction of intellect
buddhinaashaat : from destruction of intellect
pranashyati : he perishes

Earlier, Shri Krishna touched upon the topic of continually thinking about material objects when we do not contact them physically. In this shloka, he goes into great detail as to why it is to be avoided. These two shlokas are sometimes referred to as the “ladder of fall”. They illustrate how one simple thought can lead to the downfall of an individual. 

Here is the entire sequence of events as mentioned in the 2 shlokas:

Constant thinking of material objects -> attachment -> desire -> anger -> delusion -> loss of memory -> destruction of intellect -> individual perishes.

Let’s first examine the sequence of events from constant thinking all the way upto desire using the Ipod example from earlier :
A person has thoughts about ipod on sale -> gets attached to that ipod deal -> desire to buy ipod on sale is created.

Now, at this point, he has purchased the Ipod and is extremely attached to it. Even without going forward in the sequence, we can see that the material desire to procure an Ipod has taken the person away from performing his svadharma. His equanimity has already been disturbed. He is dragged back into the material world, and has taken one step backwards from moksha or freedom.

Let’s move forward in the sequence:
Ipod breaks down -> he is angry that it has broken down -> he completely loses his equanimity -> takes anger out on his wife -> family environment is agitated.

Here, not only has he completely lost his equanimity, but has also caused pain to other members of his family. So the message here is that constant pondering and thinking about objects eventually leads to moving away from equanimity, hence it is to be avoided, or at least minimized to the extent possible.

An interesting point seen here is around anger. Per the shlokas, anger is caused when one’s desire gets obstructed. Also, attachment to a concept such as one’s job title or position causes continual waves of thought, anger and delusion, in other words, stress.  Therefore, these shlokas provide an ancient but relevant analysis of anger and stress.