Category Archives: asammoodhaha

Bhagavad Gita Verse 19, Chapter 15

24 Sunday Mar 2013

Posted by in 15.19, asammoodhaha, bhaarata, bhajati, chapter 15 verse 19, jaanaati, purushottamam, sarvabhaavena, sarvavit

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yo maamevamasammoodho jaanaati purushottamam |
sa sarvavidbhajati maam sarvabhaavena bhaarata || 19 ||
 
One who knows me in this manner, without delusion, knows me as the foremost person, he, knowing all, worships me from all viewpoints, O Bhaarata.
 
yaha : one who
maam : me
evam : in this manner
asammoodhaha : without delusion
jaanaati : knows
purushottamam : foremost person
saha : he
sarvavit : knowing all
bhajati : worship
maam : my
sarvabhaavena : from all viewpoints
bhaarata : O Bhaarata
 
It is said that once a travelling circus came to a village with a most unique attraction known as the tent of mirrors. Anyone who entered it would see a whole army of their own selves due to the mirrors reflecting back and forth indefinitely. A dog entered this tent, saw an infinite number of dogs that looked like him, was afraid and started barking in fear. A passerby went in to see what was going on. Now when he saw himself in those infinite reflections, he thought to himself – I see myself everywhere, how nice this is!
 
Shri Krishna says that when we see our “I” as no different from anyone or anything else, when we do not pay attention to the name and form but to the self or aatmaa that is the basis of all name and form, that is the correct way of knowing Purushottama, the foremost person. Any other way of conceptualizing Purushottama or the eternal essence will involve some degree of delusion, some trace of name and form involvement. Worship of Ishvara as a deity with name and form is an essential step in the direction of realizing the Purushottama who is beyond all name and form.
 
When one reaches this conclusion of one’s spiritual journey, there is nothing else left to be known in this world. Such a person becomes sarvavit, all knowing. He will develop sarvaatma bhaava, he will see himself in everything and everyone. So then, no matter the viewpoint, whatever angle, whatever pursuit he will undertake after this knowledge, it will be in worship of this Purushottama. This is the grand message of the Bhagavad Gita.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 3, Chapter 10

02 Sunday Sep 2012

Posted by in 10.3, ajam, anaadim, asammoodhaha, cha, chapter 10 verse 3, lokamaheshwaram, maam, martyeshu, pramuchhyate, saha, sarvapaapaihi, vetti, yaha

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yo maamajamanaadim cha vetti lokamaheshwaram |
asammoodhaha sa martyeshu sarvapaapaihi pramuchhyate || 3 ||
 
One who knows me as birthless, causeless and lord of the universe, he is wise among all humans and is freed from all sins.
 
yaha : one who
maam : me
ajam : birthless
anaadim : causeless
cha : and
vetti : knows
lokamaheshwaram : lord of the universe
asammoodhaha : wise
saha : he is
martyeshu : among humans
sarvapaapaihi : all sins
pramuchhyate : freed from
 
In this shloka, Shri Krishna says that one whose devotion in Ishvara has reached its pinnacle, one who understands Ishvara as the eternal lord of the universe, automatically develops this capacity of discrimination and becomes wise. Also, he is freed from all his sins. This is the end result of devotion.
 
The Gita places special emphasis on the quality of viveka or discrimination. It is the ability to differentiate between what is real and what is unreal. For some people, this comes easily but for most of us, it does not. Devotion is the solution. When we begin to hear about Ishvara’s glories, our vision and understanding about his true nature increases. We begin to realize that while everything in the world has a beginning and end, Ishvara is beyond time. We begin to see that he is everywhere, he is not confined to a certain space or location.
 
So when we see that Ishvara is present everywhere and everytime, beyond the realm of time and space, we automatically begin to understand that everything else is finite and transient. Our reactions to situations become calmer. If we come across a tough situation, we know that the timeless ever present Ishvara is in there, and so therefore the situation will be temporary and will not bother us anymore. We become “assammodaha” or wise, beyond all delusion.
 
Also, by hearing these glories, we realize that Ishvara is the one who is running the universe. When we identify ourselves with the controller of the universe, our ego, sense of doership and enjoyership automatically drops because we know that we are doing nothing, it is all Ishvara’s doing. When the sinner, which is nothing the sense of doership and enjoyership, is dropped, all our sins are destroyed in an instant.
 
Shri Krishna now beings to speak of Ishvara’s expressions, which is the main theme of this chapter. He first speaks about Ishvara’s inner, subtle expressions in the next few shlokas. He later speaks about his external, more visible expressions.