Category Archives: attachment

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

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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.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 1, Chapter 1

16 Tuesday Aug 2011

Posted by in attachment, chapter 1 verse 1, dhritrashtra, ego, Gita, sanjaya

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Dhritraashtra uvaacha
dharmakshetre kurukshetre samavetaa yuyutsavaha |
maamakaaha paandavaashchaiva kimakurvata sanjaya || 1 ||

Dhritrashtra said:
In Kurukshetra, the field of the Kurus and also the field of righteousness, both my sons and Pandu’s sons gathered, eager to fight. What did they do?

dharma-kshetre: in the field of dharma
kuru-kshetre: in the field of the Kurus
samavetaa yuyutsavaha: gathered here in order to fight
maamakaaha paandavasahcha-eva: my sons and also Pandu’s sons
kim-akurvata sanjaya: what did they do?

So begins the first chapter of the Gita. The first chapter is a dialog between Dhritrashtra, father of the Kauravas and Sanjaya, his charioteer and also his adviser. Sanjaya was given divine vision so that he could provide a real-time commentary on the Mahabharata war for the sightless Dhritrashtra.

This verse begins to reveal one of the recurring themes of the Gita – the downside of extreme attachment to objects or situations. Dhritrashtra means someone who clings to his kingdom, and Sanjaya means victory. Dhritrashtra was extremely attached to his sons and his kingdom, which is one of the reasons that the Mahabharata war occurred. He refers to his nephews as “Pandu’s sons” indicating that they are a 3rd party, whereas his sons are referred to as “my sons”.

What exactly is attachment? Here’s an example. Let’s say Mr. X brought a brand new car. He shows it to all his friends, they ooh and they aah, his spouse is happy, his kids are jumping up and down and so on. When he hears all the praises, there usually is something inside him that “puffs up”. That thing is the ego. Now let’s say a few weeks have passed. It’s morning and as he opens the car door, he notices a large dent on the side of the car. He begins to experience anger, sadness, and a whole host of other emotions.

What just happened? It was attachment to the car. Mr. X’s ego created an identification with the new car. In other words, it began to think of the car as an extension of its identity. So any praise for the car became the ego’s praise, and any harm to the car became the ego’s harm. The ego strengthens itself by attachment, i.e. identification with objects, thoughts (I am smart, I am sincere etc), positions (e.g. right wing vs left wing).

So what is the practical lesson here? Later chapters and verses will go in detail into this subject, but till then, this verse urges us to examine our life and take stock of our attachments. What are our attachments? How strong are those attachments? What can we do to prevent ourselves getting entangled in more and more attachments?

Also – at this point, do we think that all attachments are bad? Or are some good? Upon introspection we will find the answers.The Gita will begin to address those questions as we go further into it.

Footnotes
1. Eckhart Tolle talks about ego and attachment in his books “The Power Of Now” and “A New Earth”
2. Per the Dnyaneshwari commentary, the word “dharmakshetre” here suggests that Kurukshetra battleground had a positive energy that was known to bring senseless warriors to their senses and make them behave rationally. Perhaps Dhritrashtra wanted to know whether that positive energy compelled his sons the Kauravas to give up the idea of war altogether.