Category Archives: ayam

Bhagavad Gita Verse 3, Chapter 17

23 Tuesday Apr 2013

Posted by in 17.3, ayam, bhaarata, bhavati, chapter 17 verse 3, purushaha, sarvasya, sattvaanuroopaa, shraddhaa, shraddhaamayaha, yacchraddhaha

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sattvaanuroopaa sarvasya shraddhaa bhavati bhaarata |
shraddhaamayoyam purusho yo yacchraddhaha sa eva saha || 3 ||
 
The faith of each is according to his nature, O Bhaarata. This human being is comprised of faith. As his faith, so is he.
 
sattvaanuroopaa : according to nature
sarvasya : of each
shraddhaa : faith
bhavati : is
bhaarata : O Bhaarata
shraddhaamayaha : comprised of faith
ayam : this
purushaha : human being
yaha : he who
yacchraddhaha : as his faith
saha : so
eva : only
saha : he
 
Shri Krishna emphasized the point made in the earlier shloka. The human being is nothing but a bundle of faiths, also known as beliefs, prejudices, customs, culture, tradition, basically everything that is ingrained into us as samskaaraas or impressions. But where do these impressions come from? Some of these impressions come from external factors, and some of these are present in us right from our birth.
 
When we see a child prodigy perform a complicated symphony, we may say that she got this skill from non stop practice since her birth, or we may say that she got it from her practice in a previous life. In any case, her actions are a product of the samskaaraas or impressions formed through countless hours of practice.
 
Shri Krishna says that faith is according to one’s sattva. Here, sattva is not used in its traditional meaning as a guna like rajas and tamas. Sattva refers to our svaabhaava, our nature, the bundle of impressions that are stored in our inner instrument, our antaha karana, which is comprised of our mind, intellect, memory and senses. This sattva, this bundle of impressions, makes us choose our actions throughout our lives. Although we think of ourselves as rational individuals, we use logic and reason to justify and rationalize our faith, in a roundabout way.
 
Now we come back to the question posed in the previous shloka. How can we assess the texture of our faith, our beliefs and our prejudices? We need to examine our actions. Our faith, our beliefs and our prejudices guide our actions. Therefore, by examining the texture of our actions, we can determine the texture of our faith. Our faith could be saatvic, raajasic or taamasic. Shri Krishna now takes each aspect of our actions and gives us guidelines on how to determine their texture.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 9, Chapter 15

14 Thursday Mar 2013

Posted by in 15.9, adhishthaaya, ayam, chakshuhu, chapter 15 verse 9, ghraanam, manaha, rasanam, shrotram, sparshanam, upasevate, vishayaan

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shrotram chakshuhu sparshanam cha rasanam ghraanameva cha |
adhishthaaya manashchaayam vishayaanupasevate || 9 ||
 
The ear, eye and touch, taste and smell, taking support of these and the mind, it enjoys the sense objects.
 
shrotram : ear
chakshuhu : eye
sparshanam : touch
cha : and
rasanam : taste
ghraanam : smell
eva : only
cha : and
adhishthaaya : taking support
manaha : mind
cha : and
ayam : this
vishayaan : sense objects
upasevate : enjoys
 
Shri Krishna continues explaining how the jeeva, the individual soul, takes up a human body to carry out its transactions with Prakriti. We can use the wonderful Vedantic text “Drig Drishya Viveka”, or “Discrimination of the seer and the seen”, to examine this process in a little more detail. It explains, with almost mathematical precision, how the eternal essence begins to think of itself as a finite human entity. There are two main players in this process. One is the eternal essence, which is of the nature of infinite awareness and existence, explained in great detail in the second chapter. Let us call it “Om” here. The second player is avidya or ignorance, which exists in the realm of the illusory Maaya.
 
When Om and ignorance come into contact with each other, a fragment of Om is reflected in ignorance, just like a fragment of the sun as though appears in the water of a pot. As we saw earlier, this fragment is called the jeeva. Ignorance creates an apparent limitation, also known an upaadhi, which imposes a sense of incompleteness or finitude upon the jeeva. The jeeva seeks the help of the upaadhi to remove its sense of completeness. The upaadhi can exist in one of many modifications or states. Let us examine these modifications. The sense organs are modifications of this upaadhi that can contact different aspects of Prakriti. The mind is a modification of this upaadhi that can take input from the sense organs, compare that input with its memory, and present a complete picture of what was contacted. The ego is another modification that thinks of itself as the “I”, just like a low level manager thinks of himself as the owner of the factory in the absence of the real owner.
 
Now let us examine the content of this shloka. After the end of its journey in one body, the jeeva travels with the mind and senses, the upaadhi in other words, in search of another physical body. When the ego aspect of the upaadhi associates itself with a tiny physical body inside a womb, based on the desires its wants to exhaust, it develops the notion “I am this body”. It now begins to use the body to transact with the world. The human nose, for instance, is an inert object. But due to the association of the ego with the body, we think that the physical human nose is doing the smelling. The ego then uses the mind to generate the notion “I know that this smell is that of a rose”. This finally leads the ego to generate the notion “This smell it pleasant, it makes me happy”.
 
In this way, the jeeva gives up its power of reality, knowledge and happiness to the ego. The ego becomes the doer and the experiencer of the world. It has to constantly transact with the world in order to chase sense objects for happiness. It forgets the fact that it was happy to begin with. It gives reality to the domain of Prakriti, the three gunas, the visible and so called tangible world. But we should not forget that behind all this is the illusory mix up of Om and ignorance, the mix up of awareness and inertness. The Raamacharitamanas describes this mix up as “jada chetan ki granthi” or the knot between awareness and inertness.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 31, Chapter 13

01 Friday Feb 2013

Posted by in 13.31, anaaditvaat, avyayaha, ayam, chapter 13 verse 31, karoti, kaunteya, lipyate, nirgunatvaat, paramaatmaa, shareerasthaha

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anaaditvaannirgunatvaatparamaatmaayamavyayaha |
shareerasthopi kaunteya na karoti na lipyate || 31 ||
 
Without beginning, without qualities, this supreme self is indestructible. Though residing in the body, O Kaunteya, it neither acts nor is tainted.
 
anaaditvaat : without beginning
nirgunatvaat : without qualities
paramaatmaa : supreme self
ayam : this
avyayaha : indestructible
shareerasthaha : residing in the body
api : even though
kaunteya : O Kaunteya
na : not
karoti: act
na : not
lipyate : tainted
 
As this chapter slowly comes to a close, Shri Krishna begins to describe the nature of the supreme self. Since this chapter gives prominence to logic, more so than any other chapter in the Gita, he wants to clear any doubts or misconceptions that we may harbour about the supreme self. The first doubt we may have is as follows. If Prakriti is without beginning, and the supreme self is also without beginning, what makes them different?
 
Shri Krishna says that the difference is cause by whether or not they have gunaas or qualities. So far, we have seen that Prakriti is nothing but the three gunaas of sattva, rajas and tamas. But the supreme self is “nirguna”, it has no association or association with any quality whatsoever. This is what makes it different than Prakriti. Also, Prakriti is constantly changing and perishing whereas the supreme self is imperishable. When something has association with qualities, like the human body has strength, it is bound to perish or decay. Since the supreme self has no qualities at all, it is imperishable. Prakriti, on the other hand, is every changing and perishable.
 
Another doubt is as follows. Does the supreme self get affected by the actions and reactions of Prakriti? Shri Krishna asserts that it does not. We have seen that the supreme self, due to ignorance, identifies itself with a body, a product of Prakriti. This is what is referred to in this shloka – it “resides” in the body. We have also repeatedly heard that the supreme self has nothing to do with Prakriti. It can never become the doer or the enjoyer of any actions. But due to the apparent identification with the body, the supreme self assumes that it is a doer and enjoyer. Since the identification is fake, not real, the supreme self can never get affected by the actions and reactions by Prakriti.
 
We may have understood the non-doership and non-enjoyership of the supreme self in theory, but it is still a little fuzzy. We need to clearly understand how the supreme self, in its real nature neither acts, nor experiences the results of its actions. To better explain this, Shri Krishna provides an illustration in the next shloka.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 11, Chapter 11

25 Thursday Oct 2012

Posted by in 11.11, aalyaa, ambara, anantam, anulepanam, ayam, chapter 11 verse 11, devam, dharam, divyam, gandhaan, sarvaashcharyam, vishvatomukham

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divyamaalyaambaradharam divyagandhaanulepanam |
sarvaashcharyamayam devamanantam vishvatomukham || 11 ||
 
Wearing divine garlands and clothes, anointed with divine fragrances, all of these wonderful (sights) were shining and infinite, with faces on all sides.
 
divyam : divine
aalyaa : garlands
ambara : clothes
dharam : wearing
gandhaan : anointed
anulepanam : anointed with
sarvaashcharyam : all wonderful
ayam : these
devam : shining
anantam : infinite
vishvatomukham : faces on all sides
 
Sanjaya continues the description of Ishvara’s cosmic form in this shloka. Shri Krishna, after giving a hint of Ishvara’s destructive power to Arjuna, showed his soumya roopa or his pleasing form. In other words, all the five senses and the mind enjoyed taking in this pleasant form. To that end, Arjuna saw Ishvara dressed up in fine clothes and garlands, as well as anointed with divine perfumes.
 
Another aspect of this form that it did not have a “centre”. Whenever we try to worship God, we always choose either an idol or an image so that we can focus our thoughts. However, many of us tend to get fixated on one deity, image or idol and consequently shun other deities. Sanjaya, in describing the cosmic form, noted that it had “infinite faces”. In other words, whenever Arjuna tried to pinpoint one face and say “this is Ishvara”, he would fail. Shri Krishna did this to remove any prior conceptions of Ishvara that Arjuna would have harboured.
 
Now, we always need to keep one thing in mind when we contemplate the cosmic form – there is oneness behind all the diversity. It is all one being, ultimately. Just like the millions of cells, tissues and organs in our body serve one person, all the diversity seen in the cosmic form serves one Ishvara. Our minds are used to dividing things, cutting up things. The cosmic form is meant to reverse that process and unify everything.
 
Sanjaya used the word “devam” which means shining to describe this form. He elaborates on this in the next shloka.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 1, Chapter 11

15 Monday Oct 2012

Posted by in 11.1, adhyaatma, ayam, chapter 11 verse 1, guhyam, madanugrhaaya, mama, mohaha, paramam, sangitam, tena, tvayaa, uktam, vachaha, vigataha, yat

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arjuna uvaacha:
madanugrhaaya paramam guhyamadhyaatmasangitam |
yattvayoktam vachastena mohoyam vigato mama || 1 ||
 
Arjuna said:
Out of compassion for me, you have spoken about the supreme secret known as the knowledge of the self. By those statements, my delusion has been destroyed.
 
madanugrhaaya : out of compassion for me
paramam : supreme
guhyam : secret
adhyaatma : knowledge of the self
sangitam : known as
yat : that
tvayaa : you have
uktam : spoken
vachaha : statements
tena : by those
mohaha : delusion
ayam : this
vigataha : destroyed
mama : my
 
We begin the eleventh chapter with Arjuna’s words. He recalls the root cause of his panic attack from the first chapter which is moha or delusion which caused confusion between his duty as a warrior and as a family member. He now says that his delusion has been dispelled. How did that happen? It is only because Shri Krishna revealed the knowledge of the self, Adhyaatma vidyaa, to Arjuna, the answer to the question “who am I?”
 
When Arjuna understood his true nature as the self, the aatmaa, the eternal essence, he came to know that the self does not kill or be killed, it is neither the doer of action or the enjoyer of the results. He then realized that even if his body died, or his body killed another body, nothing would happen to the eternal essence in each of those bodies. Given the power of this knowledge to destroy the biggest delusion about who he was, he terms it “paramam” or supreme. And since it requires a sincere student and a rare teacher, he terms it “guhyam” or secret.
 
Now, we may think that there was something special in Arjuna that qualified him to receive this supreme knowledge. Arjuna was humble enough to acknowledge that it was purely out of compassion that Shri Krishna showered his grace upon him and gave him this knowledge. Only through the grace and compassion of Ishvara and a qualified guru can one receive this knowledge.
 
Another aspect of the teaching was Ishvara’s involvement with the universe. Arjuna highlights it in the next shloka.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 19, Chapter 8

16 Monday Jul 2012

Posted by in 8.19, aharaagame, avashaha, ayam, bhootagraamaha, bhootvaa, chapter 8 verse 19, eva, paartha, prabhavati, praleeyate, raatryaagame, saha

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bhootagraamaha sa evaayam bhootvaa bhootvaa praleeyate |
raatryaagamevashaha paartha prabhavatyaharaagame || 19 ||
 
That (same) collection of beings, which was created repeatedly, helplessly dissolves during the night, O Paartha, and is (again) created during the day.
 
bhootagraamaha : community of beings
saha : that
eva : only
ayam : this
bhootvaa : having been created repeatedly
praleeyate : dissolves
raatryaagame : during the night
avashaha : helplessly
paartha : O Paartha
prabhavati : created
aharaagame : during the day
 
Previously, we learned about the process of cosmic creation, where all the living and non-living beings in the universe become manifest at the beginning of the day of Brahma. Now, Shri Krishna elaborates on the dissolution aspect. He says that all those beings go into an unmanifest or “frozen” state during the night of Lord Brahma. The very same beings become manifest or “un-frozen” again, when the day of Lord Brahma begins.
 
As we saw earlier, nothing is ever created or destroyed. The very same set of beings becomes manifest and unmanifest. The total number of “beings” in the universe remains the same. Those who die are “born” into a different form. Forms change but the total amount of universal “stuff” remains the same. It is said that there are 8.4 million species, which are nothing but forms. The movie ends, the reel is rewound, and it begins all over again, on and on, without any end in sight.
 
Now, here is one word in this shloka that deserves further attention. It is “avashaha” which means helplessly. Shri Krishna says that all beings, even if they are plants, animals, minerals or humans are helplessly stuck in this wheel of birth and rebirth, otherwise known as the wheel of samsaara. If they do not actively pursue a spiritual path, whatever that path may be, they will never come out of this cycle.
 
Most of us get frustrated if we get stuck in an elevator for more than a few minutes. Imagine how frustrated we should get if we find out that we are stuck somewhere for an infinite amount of time. So how exactly do we escape from this situation? We shall see in the next shloka.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 25, Chapter 7

22 Friday Jun 2012

Posted by in 25, 7, abhijaanaati, aham, avyayam, ayam, chapter 7 verse 25, lokaha, maam, moodhaha, na, prakaashaha, samaavritaha, sarvasya, yogamaayaa

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naaham prakaashaha sarvasya yogamaayaasamaavritaha |
moodhoyam naabhijaanaati loko maamajamavyayam || 25 ||
 
Concealed by yoga maaya, I am not visible to everyone. Foolish people do not recognize me as unborn and unchanging.
 
na : not
aham : me
prakaashaha : visible
sarvasya : everyone
yogamaayaa : yoga maayaa
samaavritaha : concealed
moodhaha : foolish
ayam : this
na : do not
abhijaanaati : recognize
lokaha : people
maam : me
ajam : unborn
avyayam : unchanging
 
Earlier, Shri Krishna stated the fundamental problem that most people have with regards to understanding the nature of Ishvara. A mental limitation forces people to think of Ishvara as a visible, finite entity. Here, Shri Krishna provides the reason for this mental limitation. He says that Ishvara is hidden from us due to the power of maaya.
 
Our mind is trained to recognize two things: space and time. We can only see, hear, touch, smell and taste objects in space. We can also perceive changes in those objects, which is nothing but the time aspect. So, we are unable to perceive anything that is beyond space and time. We can say that space and time is maaya, or the three gunaas of prakriti known as sattva, rajas and tamas are maaya.
 
Shri Krishna says that Ishvara has disguised himself in a dress, as it were, made of maaya. Our senses can perceive only maaya. Therefore, we fail to comprehend Ishvara, who is beyond maaya, just like the light of the sun blinds us from seeing the sun itself. Those who think that only the visible is real and the visible is unreal are called moodha or foolish. They fail to see the real nature of Ishvara which is beyond birth and death.
 
But if we cannot pierce through maaya, can Ishvara do so? We shall see next.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 33, Chapter 6

05 Saturday May 2012

Posted by in agam, ayam, chanchalatvaat, chapter 6 verse 33, etasya, madhusudhana, na, pashyaami, proktaha, saamyena, sthiraam, sthitim, tvayaa, yaha, yogaha

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Arjuna uvaacha:
yoyam yogastvayaa proktaha saamyena madhusudhana |
etasyaaham na pashyaami chanchalatvaatsthitim sthiraaam ||
 
Arjuna said:
Of this yoga of equanimity that you have spoken of, O slayer of Madhu, I do not envision stability in that state, due to the fickle nature (of the mind).
 
yaha : of
ayam : this
yogaha : yoga
tvayaa : you have
proktaha : spoken of
saamyena : equanimity
madhusudhana : O slayer of Madhu
etasya : in that
aham : I
na : do not
pashyaami : envision
chanchalatvaat : due to fickle nature (of the mind)
sthitim : state
sthiraaam : stability
 
Arjuna was listening attentively to Shri Krishna’s discourse on meditation. As the discourse concluded, he asked Krishna, the slayer of the demon Madhu, a series of clarifying questions. The first question that Arjuna raised was : how can we remain established in the meditative state, when the mind is so fickle? He then further elaborates on this question in the following shlokas.
 
Arjuna, being the perfect student, summarized the entire discourse of the sixth chapter in one word: “saamyena” or equanimity. The end goal of meditation is not some magic power or levitation or anything like that. It is the ability to see the eternal essence pervading everything, and thereby develop an attitude of equanimity or sameness towards everything and everyone. This vision reaches its peak when we do not perceive any difference between us and the world, giving us everlasting peace and joy.
 
But, as Arjuna states, it is difficult for someone to maintain such a vision because the untrained mind will not allow it. It may be possible to develop that vision for a few seconds, maybe for a few minutes, but not more than that. Moreover, it is difficult to see one’s own self in someone we hate or dislike. If we try to see our self in such a person, the mind quickly changes that thought from “I am the self of that person” to “he did a bad thing to me last year”.
 
Arjuna further elaborates on the fickleness of the mind in the next shloka.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 21, Chapter 6

23 Monday Apr 2012

Posted by in aatyantaikam, ateendriyam, ayam, buddhigraahyam, cha, chalati, chapter 6 verse 21, eva, na, sthitaha, sukham, tat, tattvataha, vetti, yat, yatra

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sukhamaatyantikam yattadbuddhigraahyamateendriyam |
vetti yatra na chaivaayam sthitashchalati tattvataha || 21 ||
 
That infinite joy which is comprehended by the intellect but is beyond the senses, when he experiences that state and is established in it, he does not move away from his essence.
 
sukham : joy
aatyantikam : infinite
yat : that
tat : that
buddhigraahyam : comprehended by the intellect
ateendriyam : beyond the senses
vetti : experiences
yatra : in that state
na : does not
cha : and
eva : ever
ayam : he
sthitaha : established
chalati : move away
tattvataha : in his essence
 
Previously, Shri Krishna explained that the perfected meditator taps into a source of permanent joy once he detaches the mind from the sense organs and connects it to his self. In this shloka, he elaborates on the nature of that joy. He says that this joy is infinite and is comprehended only by the intellect. Also, he says that once we are established in this joy, no external circumstance will knock us or take us away from this state.
 
Let us examine the nature of this joy. Shri Krishna says that it is aatyantikam or infinite. Now, the material world is an expert in giving us infinite sorrow. There are moments in our life when the degree of sorrow is low, and we tend to think that this is joy whereas in reality it is just a lower grade of sorrow. Any new object, person or situation that we encounter carries within it the seed for innumerable sorrows. But the joy that one gets from the self is infinite.
 
Why is the joy from the self infinite? All our worldly joys are dependent on external situations. For some of us, a perfect climate makes us happy, causing us to become sad if the climate changes. For some of us, a certain person makes us happy, so we become dependent on that person and consequently feel sad if that person leaves us. We keep creating subsets in the world: I like A, which means I don’t everything that is not A. But here’s the problem; A is finite and temporary. The joy experienced in the self is independent of all external situations that are temporary in nature. That is why it is infinite.
 
Another characteristic of this joy is that it is beyond the comprehension of the senses. Just like we cannot catch a satellite TV signal with a regular antenna, our senses cannot catch this joy. It is of a different wavelength altogether. It is only comprehended by our intellect, which operates at a much higher level than our mind and senses.
 
As an example, consider two teenagers who are at a party where everyone else is enjoying a cigarette. Both of them are offered a cigarette by their friends. The sense organs are reporting the same information to both the teenager’s intellects – that cigarette smoking is enjoyable and that all their friends are doing it. One teenager accepts the offer and takes a puff. But the other teenager has a refined intellect and it “sees” that this will only lead to sorrow in the end. In the same way, the intellect experiences joy that the senses cannot experience.
 
Shri Krishna further goes on to say that once the perfected meditator is established in this joy, he will never deviate from it. It is like a child learning that 2+2 = 4. Once he has internalized this teaching, it stays with him throughout his life. Similarly, once the perfected meditator realizes this self as his true nature, he will not feel the need to take on any other role or identification for the purpose of fulfillment.
 

Bhagavad Gita Verse 40, Chapter 4

01 Thursday Mar 2012

Posted by in 4.40, ajnyaha, ashradhaanaha, asti, ayam, cha, lokaha, na, paro, samshayaatmaa, sanshayaatmaa, sukham, verse 4 chapter 40, vinashyati

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ajnyashchaashraddadhaanashcha samshayaatmaa vinashyati |
naayam lokosti na paro na sukham sanshayaatmanaha || 40 ||

One who is ignorant, devoid of faith and who doubts constantly is destroyed. Neither in this world, nor in other worlds is peace attained by one who constantly doubts.

ajnyaha : ignorant
cha : and
ashradhaanaha : devoid of faith
cha : and
samshayaatmaa : one who constantly doubts
vinashyati : destroyed
na : not
ayam : this
lokaha : world
asti : is
na : neither
paro : other (worlds)
na : no
sukham : happiness
sanshayaatmanaha : one who constantly doubts

Having pointed out the qualifications needed in a seeker to gain knowledge of self-realization, Shri Krishna explains the obstacles, or “disqualifications”, that prevent us from accessing that knowledge. There are three main obstacles: ignorance, lack of faith, and constant doubting.

Fortunate are those who have had the chance to even come across something called spiritual knowledge, scriptures, Gita and so on. But unless one comes across a taste of the scriptures, one spends their entire life totally ignorant of the eternal reality behind the changing world. So it is this ignorance that becomes the obstacle towards the knowledge of self-realization.

Secondly, Shri Krishna says that one who lacks faith will never fully gain this knowledge. As mentioned earlier, we have to possess faith in scriptures, in our teacher, in ourselves and in the truth of the eternal essence until we gain the knowledge of self-realization. Without faith, we will not last in the long and arduous journey.

Finally, the person who doubts everything will also find it difficult to gain knowledge. Now, to be sure, skepticism and inquiry is absolutely important. In fact, it is encouraged by spiritual teachers. But constant doubting without taking efforts to resolve those doubts will become a huge roadblock in gaining spiritual knowledge.

Shri Krishna also says that constant doubting is not just an obstacle on the spiritual path. It also prevents us from living peacefully in the material world. Each time we board a train or a plane, we implicitly have faith that the driver will take us to our destination safely. If we constantly doubt the capability of the driver, we will never be able to go about our daily business.