Category Archives: arjuna

Bhagavad Gita Verse 16, Chapter 8

13 Friday Jul 2012

Posted by in 8.16, aabhramhabhuvanaat, arjuna, chapter 8 verse 16, kaunteya, lokaahaa, maam, na, punaraavartinaha, punarjanma, tu, upetya, vidyate

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aabhramhabhuvanaallokaahaa punaraavartinorjuna |
maamupetya tu kaunteya punarjanma na vidyate || 16 ||
 
O Arjuna, all worlds including the abode of Brahma (are subject to) return. But having obtained me, O Kaunteya, rebirth does not occur.
 
aabhramhabhuvanaat : including the abode of brahma
lokaahaa : all worlds
punaraavartinaha : return
arjuna : O Arjuna
maam : me
upetya : having obtained
tu : but
kaunteya : O Kaunterya
punarjanma : rebirth
na : does not
vidyate : occur
 
According to the scriptures, there exist heavens or worlds subtler than our visible universe. All beings on this earth who perform meritorious deeds go to one of those heavens after death. The abode of Lord Brahma (Brahma-loka) is considered the highest among the heavens. Shri Krishna says that all beings who end up in these heavens, including the world of Lord Brahma, do not stay there permanently. They have to return to earth at some point. Only those who attain Ishvara gain permanent liberation.
 
The first half of the shloka is applicable to seekers who perform karma yoga diligently and worship Ishvara as well. Depending upon the sincerity of their deeds and worship, they will attain the appropriate heaven. A select few attain the abode of Lord Brahma which is the highest possible heaven. Here, it is said that the residents only enjoy pleasure. There is no sorrow or suffering whatsoever.
 
Once they attain the abode of Lord Brahma, they are faced with a choice. They can continue to remain interested in pleasure seeking, or attain liberation. Attainment of Ishvara is the same as liberation. If they continue to remain interested in pleasure seeking, if they think of Brahma loka as yet another realm of space and time, they will eventually come back to earth and start life all over again. If they are interested in liberation, they will attain it when Brahma loka is dissolved along with all of the other worlds. This kind of liberation is called “krama mukti”.
 
Now, the questions arises, why do all of these worlds end? The topic of cosmic creation and dissolution is taken up next.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 26, Chapter 7

22 Friday Jun 2012

Posted by in 7.26, aham, arjuna, bhavishyaani, bhootaani, cha, chapter 7 verse 26, kashchana, maam, na, samateetaani, tu, vartamaanaani, veda

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vedaaham samateetaani vartamaanaani chaarjuna |
bhavishyaani cha bhootaani maam tu veda na kashchana || 26 ||
 
I know those beings who used to exist, who exist now, and who will exist in the future, O Arjuna, but no one knows me.
 
veda : know
aham : I
samateetaani : those who have existed
vartamaanaani : those that exist
cha : and
arjuna : O Arjuna
bhavishyaani : those who will exist
cha : and
bhootaani : beings
maam : I
tu : but
veda : know
na : not
kashchana : anyone
 
In continuing the topic of maaya, Shri Krishna makes it very clear that maaya or the limitations of space and time do not have any impact on Ishvara. He says that Ishvara does not identify with any one form, therefore he has knowledge of all forms in the past, present or future. In other words, Ishvara transcends time.
 
Earlier, Shri Krishna had said that Ishvara is like a string that goes through all the beads in a necklace, which is a poetic way of saying that Ishvara is beyond space. So therefore, we can conclude that Ishvara is beyond space and time.
 
Looking at it differently, we who inhabit the world of three dimensions cannot understand the dimensionless Ishvara. When viewing a live broadcast, we are conscious of the time aspect because we cannot know how the broadcast will end. But if we are viewing a recorded program, we have the ability to go backwards and forwards in time and see all the events regardless of when they took place. Time as a concept ceases to exist if we have that ability.
 
Similarly, from Ishvara’s standpoint, there is no such thing as the past, present or future, because the concept of time does not exist for him. That is how he can have knowledge of everyone that was alive, is alive and will be alive.
 
What is the implication for us? The only way to know Ishvara completely is to surrender to him and take refuge in him. This means knowing that we do not have an independent existence or power apart from Ishvara. We need to lose our identity in Ishvara, become one with Ishvara.
 
Now, if we know that Ishvara alone is the truth, that alone is going to give infinite happiness, why don’t we really strive to know that Ishvara? Why is it that we get stuck here and there?This is answered in the next shloka.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 16, Chapter 7

12 Tuesday Jun 2012

Posted by in 7.16, aartaha, arjuna, arthaarthee, bhajante, bharatarshabha, cha, chapter 7 verse 16, chaturvidhaaha, janaaha, jignyaasuhi, jnyaanee, maam, sukritinaha

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chaturvidhaa bhajante maam janaaha sukritinorjuna |
aarto jignyaasurarthaarthee jnyaanee cha bharatarshabha || 16 ||
 
Four types of people who perform good actions worship me, O Arjuna – the distressed, the inquisitive, the profit-minded and the wise, O scion of the Bharataas.
 
chaturvidhaaha : four types
bhajante : worship
maam : me
janaaha : people
sukritinaha : who perform good actions
arjuna : O Arjuna
aartaha : those who are in distress
jignyaasuhi : the inquisitive
arthaarthee : profit-minded
jnyaanee : wise
cha : and
bharatarshabha : O scion of the Bharataas
 
Shri Krishna is a methodical teacher. He loves to categorize and classify knowledge. In the previous shloka, he defined people who are blinded by maaya as “dushkritinaha” – those who commit wrong or evil actions. Such people cannot contact Ishvara. In this shloka, he adds the second category of people – those who perform good actions, “sukritinaha”. He then further classifies these devotees of Ishvara into four types.
 
The first type of devotee is the “aarta” or the distressed. When such devotees are in trouble, when they have a health condition, when they have a monetary problem, when they are anxious about the result of the final exam, when there is nowhere else to go, they approach Ishvara for help. Usually, such devotees would not have remembered Ishvara if they were well off, if they had no source of affliction. Regardless, Ishvara accepts them as his devotees.
 
The second type of devotee is the “jignyaasu” or the inquisitive. Such people are seeking knowledge in all of its various aspects: economic knowledge, scientific knowledge, artistic knowledge and even spiritual knowledge. They worship Saraswati as the goddess of knowledge.
 
The third type of devotee is the “arthaarthee”. Many commentators interpret this word as one who is desirous of “artha”, which is profit or material gains. However, if we assume that the four types of devotees are arranged in order of importance, then “artha” could mean “purushaartha” which comprises dharma, artha, kaama (desire) and moksha (liberation). In other words, such a devotee has realized that he needs to use all his time and resources on this world to attain liberation.
 
Finally, the fourth type of devotee is the “jnyaani” or the wise one. He is the one who realized that there is nothing other than god. He sees god in everything. Therefore, he does not want god for some other purpose. He wants god and nothing else. There are no other desires or ulterior motives in such a devotee.
 
Are all four devotees alike? Or is there one in particular that Shri Krishna prefers?

Bhagavad Gita Verse 46, Chapter 6

23 Wednesday May 2012

Posted by in adhikaha, api, arjuna, bhava, cha, chapter 6 verse 46, jnyaanibhyaha, karmibhyaha, mataha, tapasvibhyaha, tasmaat, yogi

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tapasvibhyodhiko yogi jnyaanibhyopi matodhikaha |
karmibhyashchaadhiko yogi tasmaadyogi bhavaarjuna || 46 ||
 
The yogi is greater than men of austerity, even greater than men of knowledge, and greater than men of action. Therefore, become a yogi, O Arjuna.
 
tapasvibhyaha : men of austerity
adhikaha : greater
yogi : yogi
jnyaanibhyaha : men of knowledge
api : even
mataha : opinion
adhikaha : greater
karmibhyaha : men of action
cha : and
adhikaha : greater
yogi : yogi
tasmaat : therefore
yogi : yogo
bhava : become
arjuna : O Arjuna
 
Shri Krishna begins to conclude the topic of meditation with this shloka. Having described the need for meditation, the definition of meditation, the process of meditation and the fate of a meditator, he now positions meditation as the ultimate means of attaining liberation. He says that the yogi, or the meditator, is superior to people who practice austerities, work selflessly or study the scriptures. And regardless of how much spiritual progress has been made in prior births, meditation is the only means of liberation. That is why he urges Arjuna to follow the path of meditation.
 
Here, Shri Krishna first lists three types of spiritual strivers: the taspasvi who practices austerities, the karmayogi who works selflessly, and the jnyaani who studies scriptures. We have come across the term karma yogi earlier, so let us look at the other two. The tapasvi is one who practicies austerities in the form of minimizing exposure to the material world, such as fasting, donating wealth, keeping a vow of silence and so on. The jnyaani is one who is well versed in spiritual knowledge and continues to increase and disseminate this knowledge through books, satsangs or company of holy people, and discourses.
 
Although each of these practices has their place and moves the seeker forward in his spiritual path, they are will not lead the seeker to his ultimate goal of liberation. Moreover, any of these practices will result in worldy gains as well. Shri Krishna advises Arjuna to not get “stuck” in any of these practices, but to gradually move towards meditation as the conclusion of his spiritual practice. Otherwise, there is a danger of the tapasvi harming himself through extreme austerity, the karmayogi not being able to detach himself from his actions, and the jnyaani gaining a ton of theoretical knowledge but not resulting in anything tangible.
 
So therefore, Shri Krishna urges Arjuna to follow the path of meditation as prescribed in this chapter. Specifically, this means developing the vision of equanimity or “samyak darshana”, where one sees oneself in all, and all in one’s self. Shri Krishna concludes this chapter in the next shloka.
 

Bhagavad Gita Verse 32, Chapter 6

05 Saturday May 2012

Posted by in aatmaopamyena, arjuna, chapter 6 verse 32, dukham, mathaha, paramo, pashyati, saha, samam, sarvatra, sukham, vaa, yadi, yaha, yogi

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aatmaopamyena sarvatra samam pashyati yorjuna |
sukham vaayadivaa dukham sa yogi paramo mathaha || 32 ||
 
By comparing himself to everything, one who sees the same, O Arjuna, whether in joy or in sorrow, such a yogi is considered supreme.
 
aatmaopamyena : by comparing himself to
sarvatra : everything
samam : same
pashyati : see
yaha : one who
arjuna : O Arjuna
sukham : joy
vaa : in
yadi : whether
vaa : or in
dukham : sorrow
saha : such a
yogi : yogi
parami : supreme
mathaha : is considered
 
In this shloka, Shri Krishna concludes his discourse on the topic of meditation. He also summarizes the entire topic of meditation. He says that one who sees himself in others, and thus experiences their joys and sorrows, becomes a yogi or meditator of the highest caliber.
 
This is a simple, straightforward and practical teaching that is central tenet of most religions: “do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” Shri Krishna echoes that golden rule in this shloka. He says that the perfected meditator sees no difference between himself and other beings, just like we do not see differences between our left and right hand, or other parts of the body.
 
If the meditator sees no difference between himself and other beings, then any negative emotions such as jealousy, hatred, greed and anger go away. When one cannot get angry at one’s right hand or left leg, how one get angry with anyone or anything if all are part of the same “being”? In other words, the meditator “puts himself in the other person’s shoes”. He experiences joy when others are happy. He experiences sorrow when others feel sad.
 
Moreover, one who obtains such a vision will never hurt anyone else physically, mentally or verbally. Such an attitude of non-violence or ahimsa comes naturally to a meditator, since meditation is next to impossible for a person that harbours any kind of hatred or negative emotion towards anyone.
 
With this shloka, Shri Krishna concludes the topic of meditation. But the chapter is not over yet. In the next shloka, Arjuna raises a doubt that many of us would agree with.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 16, Chapter 6

18 Wednesday Apr 2012

Posted by in anashnataha, arjuna, ashnaha, ati, cha, chapter 6 verse 16, ekaantam, jaagritaha, na, svapnasheelasya, tu, yogaha

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naatyashnatastu yogosti na chaikaantamanashnataha |
na chaati svapnasheelasya jaagrito naiva chaarjuna || 16 ||
 
This yoga is not for one who overeats nor for one who fasts, it is not for one who oversleeps nor for one who never sleeps, O Arjuna.
 
na : not
ati : extreme
ashnaha : eating
tu : for
yogaha : this yoga
ati : extreme
na : not
cha : and
ekaantam : ever
anashnataha : fasting
na : not
cha : and
ati : extreme
svapnasheelasya : sleeper
jaagritaha : waker
na : not
eva : only
cha : and
arjuna : O Arjuna
 
When we begin to think that we are progressing in meditation, we may begin to impose severe hardships on the body just because we have seen some others do it. Shri Krishna, in this shloka and the next one, dispels many of these misconceptions. Alternately, we may go in the other direction and begin to neglect the body. In this regard, he advocates a balanced and moderate lifestyle towards achieving our spiritual goals.
 
First let us examine the imposition of severe hardships on the body. Shri Krishna says that meditation will not be easy for one who constantly deprives his body of food and sleep. If the body is deprived of food for a long period of time, where will the mind go when we sit in meditation? It will go to food. The same thing will happen if we forcibly deprive the body of sleep. The minute we close our eyes to meditate, sleep will take over the body. Such hardships become obstacles in meditation.
 
Before the Buddha achieved enlightenment, he went through a phase where he deprived his body of food. When his body began to look like a skeleton, and when he realized that he was almost about to die of starvation, he came to the conclusion that such severe hardships do not in any way accelerate the process of enlightenment. One cannot torture the very instrument that one uses to attain liberation. Like a perfectly tuned musical instrument, the strings should not be too loose or too tightly wound.
 
The other extreme is living life improperly by overeating and oversleeping. Besides the health problems associated with overeating, the additional strain put on the digestive system will draw the mind’s attention away from meditation. Where meditation aims to negate association with the body, overeating pulls the meditator back to the body. Also, oversleeping makes the body dull and taamasic. Instead of meditation uplifting the meditator to a higher level of sattva, oversleeping will also pull the meditator down.
 
So therefore, any deviation from treating the body with care and moderation is not just an obstacle in the spiritual path, it also is an obstacle in any worldly activities. Shri Shankaraachaarya provides a simple formula for moderating our eating habits. He says that one should have a sense of how big one’s appetite is, and then divide it into four parts. Two parts of that appetite should be filled with solid food, one part with liquid and one part should be left empty.
 

Bhagavad Gita Verse 37, Chapter 4

27 Monday Feb 2012

Posted by in 4.37, agnihi, arjuna, bhasmaat, chapter 4 verse 37, edhaamsi, jnyaana, kurute, samiddhaha, sarvakarmaani, tathaa, yathaa

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yathaidhaamsi samiddhognirbhasmasaatkuruterjuna |
jnyaanaagnihi sarvakarmaani bhasmasaatkurute tathaa || 37 ||

Just as a burning flame turns fuel into ashes, O Arjuna, so does the fire of knowledge turn all actions into ashes.

yathaa : just as
edhaamsi : fuel
samiddhaha : burning
agnihi : flame
bhasmasaat : ashes
kurute : turn into
arjuna : O Arjuna
jnyaana-agnihi : fire of knowledge
sarvakarmaani : all actions
bhasmasaat : ashes
kurute : turn into
tathaa : so does

Previously, Shri Krishna mentioned that having gained knowledge, we will be able to cross over all our sins. But does that mean that the sins remain hidden somewhere? In this shloka, he says that all sins or karmaas get destroyed with knowledge. Just as fire has the capability to burn fuel in the form of wood or coal into ashes, so does knowledge totally destroy karmaas.

Karmaas accumulate in our psyche due to ignorance of our true identity. Now, knowledge and ignorance are mutually exclusive. One cannot remain when the other is present. Take an example from early school. Once you what the addition symbol “+” does, you no longer get confused when you see a question on addition.

So when knowledge comes, ignorance is destroyed, as well as karmaas that were created a result of ignorance. And when the sense of doership and enjoyership vanishes, then situations do not cause joy or sorrow. No more karmaas are accumulated.

In this manner, Shri Krishna continues to praise knowledge in this shloka and the following two shlokas.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 9, Chapter 4

30 Monday Jan 2012

Posted by in 4.9, arjuna, cha, chapter 4 verse 9, deham, divyam, eti, evam, janma, karma, me, na, punah, sah, tattvataha, tyaktvaa, vetti, yah

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janma karma cha me divyamevam yo vetti tattvataha |
tyaktvaa deham punarjanma naiti maameti sorjuna || 9 ||

My birth and action are divine. One who knows this in essence, having given up the body, is not born again; he obtains me, O Arjuna.

janma : birth
karma : action
cha : and
me : my
divyam : divine
evam : in this way
yah : one who
vetti : knows
tattvataha : in essence
tyaktvaa : give up
deham : body
punah, janma : rebirth
na : does not
eti : obtain
maam : me
eti : obtain
sah : he
arjuna : O Arjuna

In the last two shlokas, Shri Krishna gave the reason for his avataara. Now the question arises: how does this knowledge help the spiritual seeker? He says that once we understand the secret of Ishvaraa’s birth and action, we will understand the secret of our action as well.

What is the secret of Ishvaraa’s birth and action? It looks to us that Ishvaraa is born, and that Ishvaraa performs action. But that is not the case. Through the power of Ishvaraa’s Maaya, it only looks like Ishvaraa takes birth and performs action. It is just an illusion. As we have seen earlier, the eternal essence does not perform action, only prakriti – also called maaya – performs action.

Now, the jeeva within us is identified with the body, mind and intellect. Its birth is based on past karmaas. It performs karmaas with a sense of doership. In other words, it thinks that it is performing actions. But from the standpoint of the eternal essence, there is no doership or enjoyership. It is prakriti alone that acts. Just like Ishvaraa does not perform action, the jeeva also does not perform action. The jeeva is one with Ishvaraa.

So therefore, one who truly and completely understands this point will drop identification with his body, and begin identifying with the eternal essence. That is what is meant by the phrase “deham tvaktvaa”: the jeeva has stopped identification of the body.

Here, academic knowledge is not enough. We need a first-hand understanding that prakriti performs actions and not the eternal essence. That first-hand understanding can only be gained through meditation, which is explained later in the Gita.

A simple way to understand the teaching so far is as follows. The individual jeeva is like a wave in the ocean. Ishvaraa is like the ocean. The eternal essence or brahman is water. Once the wave realizes that it is the same water as Ishvaraa, it is free from the limitations of its tiny form.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 5, Chapter 4

26 Thursday Jan 2012

Posted by in 4.5, aham, arjuna, bahooni, cha, chapter 5 verse 4, janmaani, me, na, parantapa, sarvaani, taani, tava, tvam, veda, vettha, vyateetaani

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Shree Bhagavaan uvaacha:
bahooni me vyateetaani janmaani tava chaarjuna |
taanyaham veda sarvaani na tvam vettha parantapa || 5 ||

Shree Bhagavaan said:
You and I have have undergone many births, O Arjuna. I know all of those (births), but you do not know them, O scorcher-of-foes.

bahooni : many
me : mine
vyateetaani : have happened
janmaani : births
tava : your
cha : and
arjuna : Arjuna
taani : those
aham : I
veda : know
sarvaani : all of them
na : do not
tvam : you
vettha : know
parantapa : scorcher-of-foes

In this shloka, Shri Krishna begins to reveal his divine nature to Arjuna. Previously, Arjuna raised a doubt as to how did Shri Krishna convey the Gita teaching to the sun. Shri Krishna responds by pointing out the similarity as well as the difference between his birth and Arjuna’s birth. The similarity is that both Arjuna and Shri Krishna have taken many births in the past.

However, the difference is that Shri Krishna had the knowledge and memory of all his prior births, whereas Arjuna did not. Normally, human beings have such strong identification with their body that it restricts their ability to remember what occurred in another body. We even tend to forget events associated with our own body with the passage of time, including simple things like where we kept our keys in the morning.

So if Shri Krishna could recall what happened in all his births, he did not have any identification to his body, and therefore he is not restricted by its limitations. He was speaking as an enlightened being who realized the eternal essence and has dropped identification with his body. But there is more to Shri Krishna than just this aspect. He will reveal more in the next shloka.

Footnotes
1. How does the Gita treat the topic of rebirth? Our vaasanaas force us to take a birth in a body. If we chose to use the birth to exhaust those vaasanaas, then the cycle of rebirth is broken. But if we chose to use the birth to accumulate more vaasanaas, then we will be forced to take another birth to exhause the newly acquired vaasanaas. Only by cleansing our vaasanaas can we break the cycle of rebirth or “samsaara”.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 7, Chapter 3

15 Thursday Dec 2011

Posted by in 3.7, aarabhate, arjuna, asaktah, chapter 3 verse 7, indriyaani, karmayogam, karmendriyaih, manasaa, niyamya, sa, tu, vishishyate, yah

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yastvindriyaani manasaa niyamyaarabhaterjuna |
karmendriyaih karmayogamasaktah sa vishishyate || 7 ||

But one who controls his senses by his mind, O Arjuna, and performs karmayoga with his organs-of-action without attachment – that individual is superior.

yah : that
tu : but
indriyaani : senses
manasaa : by mind
niyamya : controls
aarabhate : follows
arjuna : O Arjuna
karmendriyaih : through organs-of-action
karmayogam : karma yoga
asaktah : without attachment
sa : that individual
vishishyate : is superior

In the previous shloka, we saw that repressing our urges and giving up actions does not work. A different approach is needed to clean our vasanaas and selfish desires. In this shloka, Shri Krishna says that we should not give up actions – instead, we should give up attachment.

Giving up attachment is a technique unto itself, and this chapter goes into a lot of detail on that topic. To begin with, this shloka informs us that we need to arm ourselves with two weapons: discrimination or “viveka”, and dispassion or “vairagya”.

Let first look at discrimination. If we have followed the teaching so far, we know that material objects are are temporary and are not the true sources of happiness. But it is extremely easy to forget this teaching, especially if we have strong vasanaas and desires.

Therefore, we have to constantly arm ourselves with the weapon of discrimination by being always aware and alert about our thoughts and emotions. And we have to be especially alert when we are around objects that we are attached to. For a simple example take food: it could be chocolates for the sweet tooth person, fried food for the obese person etc.

Next comes dispassion. If we constantly practice discrimination, dispassion will happen automatically. Objects, people and situations will begin to lose their hold on us. Dispassion will prevent our energy from rushing out into the world of material objects through our senses. This is what the shloka means by the phrase “one who controls his senses by his mind.”

Finally, once the mind has gained back control over the senses, then the energy that once rushed out through our senses can be channeled into performing karmayoga. The next shloka will go deeper into what Shri Krishna means by karmayoga.

Footnotes
1. Verse 375 of Shankarachaarya’s Vivekachoodamani speaks of dispassion and discrimination as “two wings of a bird” that lift the seeker into realization.