Category Archives: apraapya

Bhagavad Gita Verse 3, Chapter 9

29 Sunday Jul 2012

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ashradyadhaanaahaa purushaa dharmasyaasya parantapa |
apraapya maam nivartante mrityusamsaaravartmani || 3 ||
 
People who do not have faith in this prescription, O scorcher of foes, do not attain me. They return to the path of the mortal world.
 
ashradyadhaanaahaa = not having faith in
purushaa = people
dharmasya = prescription
asya = this
parantapa = O scorcher of foes
apraapya = not attain
maam = me
nivartante = return
mrityu = mortal
samsaara = world
vartmani = path
 
Like any good teacher, Shri Krishna first glorifies the knowledge that he is about to teach, then points out the qualifications of the worthy student. Addressing Arjuna as the “scorcher of foes”, he says that they key qualification required to receive this teaching is that of faith. If we do not have faith, we continue following our old ways, only to be trapped in this endless cycle of creation and dissolution.
 
Why is there so much importance placed in faith? Without faith, we will not have the inclination to fully understand any teaching. Even in school or college, we will not take the extra effort to inquire, ask questions, read books and resolve our doubts unless we have faith in the subject and the teacher. It is even more important in this kind of knowledge.
 
So then, what happens to those that do not have faith? Shri Krishna says that such people do not attain Ishvara. They have faith in their sense organs and their corresponding sense pleasures. These people still think that feeding their senses with more food, entertainment as well as bodily and intellectual comforts will result in long-lasting happiness. This misplaced faith further ensnares them in the path of the mortal world, which that of birth, old age, disease and death, over and over again.
 
Having sufficiently introduced the chapter, Shri Krishna delivers the main message of this chapter in the following two shlokas.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 37, Chapter 6

14 Monday May 2012

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Arjuna uvaacha:
ayatihi shraddhayopeto yogaachchalitamaanasaha |
apraapya yogasamsiddhim kaam gatim krishna gachchati || 37 ||
 
Arjuna said:
The unsuccessful seeker, endowed with faith, whose mind deviates from yoga, and has not attained perfection in yoga, what is his situation, O Krishna?
 
ayatihi : unsuccessful seeker
shraddhaa : faith
upetaha : endowed with
yogaat : yoga
chalitamaanasaha : deviates mind
apraapya : not obtained
yogasamsiddhim : perfection in yoga
kaam : what
gatim : situation
krishna : O Krishna
gachchati : attain
 
Arjuna’s first question around the difficulty of controlling the mind was resolved by Shri Krishna. Now Arjuna asked another question: what happens when a seeker is striving to meditate faithfully and diligently, but is unable to reach the state of the perfected meditator in his lifetime?
 
Attaining perfection in meditation is a long and arduous journey. Most seekers start on the spiritual path only after they have established themselves in their careers, which is a late start. Once they have begin, purification of the mind through karma yoga takes time. Hearing and reflection on the scriptures takes still more time. All in all, even if a seeker is sincere, it is going to take a long time to attain the goal of meditation.
 
Taking this into account, Arjuna formulates his question to Shri Krishna. He gives an example of a seeker who has managed to purify his mind to a great extent, but still has a small amount of desire left. This seeker may have comprehended that his true nature is the eternal essence, but is not able to remain established in that state. So the question is : what happens to such an “almost perfect” seeker?
 
The honest nature of this question shows to us the candid and open relationship between Arjuna and Shri Krishna. In effect, he is asking his teacher whether or not it is worth pursuing the spiritual path. It is a pragmatic question that many of us fear or fail to ask before pursuing undertakings in the material world, let alone in the spiritual path.
 
Arjuna further expands upon this question in the next shloka.