Category Archives: avaapsyasi

Bhagavad Gita Verse 10, Chapter 12

19 Wednesday Dec 2012

Posted by in 12.10, abhyaase, api, asamarthaha, asi, avaapsyasi, bhava, chapter 12 verse 10, karmaani, kurvan, madartham, matkarmaparamaha, siddhim

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abhyaasepyasamarthosi matkarmo paramo bhava |
madarthamapi karmaani kurvansiddhimavaapsyasi || 10 ||
 
If you are incapable even to perform repeated practice, then perform actions for me. Even by doing actions for me, you shall attain success.
 
abhyaase : repeated practice
api : even
asamarthaha : incapable
asi : are
matkarmaparamaha : perform actions for me
bhava : become
madartham : for me
api : also
karmaani : actions
kurvan : doing
siddhim : success
avaapsyasi : attain
 
So far, Shri Krishna recommended jnyaana yoga, followed by abhyaasa yoga, both of which are difficult for us to follow. Our stock of desires prevents us from pursuing even a few hours of daily meditation. We cannot sit still in one place. If we do so, we get distracted every so often. And even if we are able meditate, we still need to remain attuned to Ishvara for the majority of the day when we are not meditating. How do we achieve this? It is through the yoga of devotion, bhakti yoga.
 
Prahlaada, son of the king of demons and one of the greatest devotees of Lord Vishnu, was asked by his father Hiranyakashipu about what he had learned in school. He replied that one should serve Ishvara by making every act into an act of worship. Shravana refers to the constant listening of Ishvara’s glories; kirtanam is the singing the names of Ishvara; smaranam refers to constant remembering of Ishvara; paadasevanam is adoring Ishvara’s feet; archanam is worshipping Ishvara in temples or in our own homes; vandanam is the offering prayers; daasyam is to consider ourselves as servants of Ishvara; sakhyam: considering ourselves as friends of Ishvara; and finally, aatmanivedana where we completely offer ourselves to Ishvara.
 
What happens when we lead our life this way? When every action including our work in the office, our chores at home, our studies in school and our dealings with friends and family becomes an act of worship, we slowly erode our sense of doership or agentship. Instead of acting with the notion “I am doing this”, we begin to act with the notion “Ishvara is doing everything”. We submit our ego into the altar of Ishvara. As our sense of ego dissolves, we become qualified to practice abhyaasa yoga, and ultimately, jnyaana yoga. So therefore, incorporating Ishvara into eevry aspect of our lives is bhakti yoga.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 53, Chapter 2

19 Saturday Nov 2011

Posted by in 2.53, achala, avaapsyasi, buddhih, chapter 2 verse 53, nishchalaa, samaadhau, shruti, sthaasyati, tadaa, te, vipratipanna, yada, yoga

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shrutivipratipanna te yada sthaasyati nishchalaa |
samaadhaavachalaa buddhistadaa yogamavaapsyasi || 53 ||

When your intellect, confused by what is heard, remains steady and stays grounded in equanimity, then you shall attain yoga.

shruti : what is heard
vipratipanna : confused
te : your
yada : when
sthaasyati : will become
nishchalaa : steady
samaadhau : in equanimity
achala : grounded
buddhih : intellect
tadaa : then
yoga : yoga
avaapsyasi : attain

The last shloka described an advanced stage of yoga, in other words, a state of equanimity, where we begin to slowly lose interest in material objects. In this shloka, Shri Krishna indicates the final stage of yoga where the intellect never loses its grounding.

In the initial stages of our spiritual journey, we will begin to experience moments of equanimity. These moments will be short and fleeting, but that is ok. As we continue to practice equanimity, these moments will grow longer and become more frequent. But there is always some thing – a thought from the past, a critical statement uttered by a friend, an object that we crave – that takes us out of equanimity and back into the world of moha.

So what should we aim for? We should aim for something better. Here’s an example. When the internet was new, most of us connected to it using a dial-up modem. Each time we needed to access the internet, we had to establish a connection, and then disconnect it once done. As technology improved, we began to connect through it via cable or DSL connections. These connections are “always on”, so there was no need to connect and disconnect everytime. Now no one wants to ever go back to using dial up modems.

So therefore, this shloka gives us a picture of the most advanced state of yoga where one is always in a state of equanimity, no matter what the circumstance. And when this happens, we will be always connected to the imperceptible, incomprehensible eternal essence. This is the only way to attain the eternal essence. When that happens, this state is called “samaadhi”, which will the the culmination of one’s spiritual journey.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 38, Chapter 2

04 Friday Nov 2011

Posted by in 2.38, avaapsyasi, chapter 2 verse 38, kritvaa, paapam, tataga, yujyasva

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sukhaduhkhe same kritvaa laabhaalaabhau jayaajayau |
tato yuddhaaya yujyasva naivam papamavapsyasi || 38 ||

Treat joy or sorrow, gain or loss, victory or defeat with equanimity, and then engage in war. By doing so, you will not incur sin.

sukhaduhkhe : joy or sorrow
same : equal
kritvaa : make
laabhaalaabhau : gain or loss
jayaajayau : victory or defeat
tataha : then
yuddhaya : in war
yujyasva : engage
evam : in this manner
paapam : sin
na avaapsyasi : will not incur

This is one of the most important shlokas in the second chapter, and perhaps in the entire Gita. In essence, Shri Krishna instructed Arjuna to maintain equanimity, an “even keel” attitude, not just in war, but in any circumstance in life.

Let us take stock of where we are. We had seen that Shri Krishna was covering 4 main topics: 1) Informing Arjuna that his logic and reasoning was incorrect 2) Explaining the correct logic and reasoning to Arjuna 3) Providing practical guidance to implement this correct logic and reasoning 4) Describing the attributes of the individual who follows this teaching. We are currently in the set of shlokas covering topic 2 – the correct reasoning and logic.

After the first sub-topic of the eternal essence concluded, we explored the second sub-topic of svadharma. Shri Krishna is now about to conclude this sub-topic by pointing us to the ultimate goal of our spiritual efforts.

Having reoriented ourselves with the scheme of the second chapter, lets now examine the current shloka. On first glance, the lesson in this shloka seems unapproachable and impossible to carry out, to some extent.

We encounter joy, sorrow, victory, defeat, gain and loss almost everyday, even several times a day. And each time we encounter any of these situations, we get emotionally and sometimes even physically affected by them. At work, a meeting with your boss does not go well. But on another day, your boss gives you an exemplary speech on a project well executed. How can we possible treat these as equal?

Shri Krishna fully understands this point. Here, he only lays out the ultimate goal for us: the goal of equanimity, or treating each and every life situation equally without getting agitated. Now that we know what the goal is, he will gently guide us through a path of practical advice throughout the rest of the teaching in the Gita.

So as we read the rest of the second chapter, if we think we have lost sight of the goal, let’s remember this shloka.