Category Archives: ayam

Bhagavad Gita Verse 9, Chapter 3

17 Saturday Dec 2011

Posted by in 3.9, anyatra, ayam, chapter 3 verse 9, karma, karmabandhanaha, karmanah, kaunteya, lokah, muktasangah, samaachara, yajnyaarthaat

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yajnyaarthaarkarmanonyatra lokoyam karmabandhanaha |
tadartham karma kaunteya muktasangah samaachara || 9 ||

Other than those actions performed for yajna, this world gets bound by action. Therefore, O Kaunteya, perform actions in that regard, without attachment.

yajnyaarthaat : done for yajna
karmanah : actions
anyatra : except
lokah : world
ayam : this
karmabandhanaha: gets bound by action
tadartham : for that purpose
karma : actions
kaunteya : O Kaunteya
muktasangah : without attachment
samaachara : observing, practising

So far, Shri Krishna spoke about why performing action is essential, as well as what kind of action to perform. With this shloka, he begins the main topic of this chapter, which deals with how to perform actions. The second chapter mentioned it briefly, but this chapter goes deeper into it.

Shri Krishna uses the beautiful metaphor of a “yajna” to convey this teaching. In Indian culture, a yajna is a formal ritual of worship. Firstly, we fix a higher ideal before commencing a yajna, and dedicate the entire yajna to that ideal. Typically, that ideal is a “devataa” or a deity. Secondly, we perform actions such as chanting mantras and pouring oblations into the sacrificial fire, but do so with absolutely no trace of selfishness. Some mantras even include the words “naa mama” or “not me” to make unselfishness explicit.

So how does that ancient ritual apply to us? Let’s look at a practical example. An accountant working for a corporation can be successful if she acts in the spirit of a yajna. She should set a higher ideal, e.g. “I dedicate myself to the success of this corporation”. Then, she should perform her job responsibilities in the service of that goal. She will, for instance, frequently sign large cheques where there are opportunities to play games for selfish profit. But she will not even think about such things because her focus is on the company’s well being, not hers.

Now let’s see what happens when her goal becomes becomes selfish. She will begin to do things that generate “conflict of interest” in corporate-speak. She may slowly divert some of the company money to a shell company owned by a friend and so on. From a wordly perspective, she will get kicked out of the company sooner or later. From a spiritual perspective, each selfish action will bind her, propelling her into further selfish desires, and away from self-realization.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 58, Chapter 2

25 Friday Nov 2011

Posted by in 2.58, angaani, ayam, cha, chapter 2 verse 58, indriyaani, indriyaarthabhyaha, iva, koormah, prajna, pratishthitaa, samharate, sarvashaha, tasya, yada

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yada samharate chaayam koormangaaneeva sarvashaha |
indriyaanindriyaarthabhyastasya prajna pratishtitaa || 58 ||

When, just like a tortoise withdraws its limbs from all sides, he withdraws his senses from objects, his intellect is steady.

yada : when
samharate : withdraws
cha : also
ayam : he
koormah : tortoise
angaani : limbs
iva : like
sarvashaha : all sides
indriyaani : senses
indriyaarthabhyaha : sense objects
tasya : his
prajna : intellect
pratishtitaa : steady

So far, Shri Krishna gave us a checklist of factors that could disturb our equanimity: joy, sorrow, gain and loss. Let’s say, we detect that one of these factors has presented itself to us. What should we do? He gives a beautiful example from the world of nature to address this point.

Whenever a tortoise senses danger, he withdraws his limbs into his shell. The shell is strong enough to withstand any adverse situation. And once that situation passes, he brings his limbs back into the world. Similarly, if we detect that an object, person or situation is about to disturb our equanimity, Shri Krishna advises us to bring our intellect into the picture, and completely withdraw our attention from that object, person or situation.

In one commentary on this topic, we learn that most animals have one sense organ as their weakness. The deer has sound, the elephant has touch, the moth has sight (fire), the fish has taste, and the bee has smell as its weakness. So for example, if a moth sees fire, it loses all control and flies straight into the fire. However, human beings have all five senses as their weakness, making this technique all the more important.

The most practical application of this technique is dieting. If we have a sweet tooth like we saw earlier, and we see a large slice of black forest chocolate cake in front of us, we have to apply the “tortoise technique” and move some steps away from that cake. It also means that we do not keep large stocks of chocolates, cakes etc. in our house because we may be tempted very easily.

Here’s another related point. In India, many aspects of spiritual practices are embedded in our customs, but sometimes we do not realize their significance. We may have noticed a sculpture of a tortoise outside many Indian temples, which is an instruction to withdraw our worldly matters and enter the temple with a devotional mindset. But instead of doing so, we tend to whisper about worldly matters into the tortoise’s ear, which is exactly the opposite of the original intent.

Footnotes
1. The example on 5 animals and their weaknesses is from Vivekachoodamani by Adi Shankarachaarya

Bhagavad Gita Verse 30, Chapter 2

28 Friday Oct 2011

Posted by in 2.30, arhasi, avadhyaya, ayam, bhaarata, bhootani, chapter 2 verse 30, dehe, dehi, nityam, sarvaani, sarvasya, shochitum, tasmaat, tvam

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dehi nityamavadhyooyam dehe sarvasya bhaarata |
tasmaatsarvaani bhootani na tvam shochitumarhasi || 30 ||

This eternal and imperishable body-dweller dwells in all bodies, O Bhaarata. Therefore, you should not grieve for any or all beings.

dehi : body-dweller
nityam : eternal
avadhyaha : imperishable
ayam :  this
dehe : bodies
sarvasya : in all
bhaarata : O Bhaarata
tasmaat : therefore
sarvaani : all
bhootani : beings
tvam : you
shochitum : grieve
na arhasi : should not

With this shloka, Shri Krishna concludes the topic of the eternal essence. Now, having followed the teaching so far, we would probably have some questions. Let’s try to address some of them.

So if we were to ask ourselves “I have studied the Gita for a while now, what is the message in a nutshell so far?”. Or in management-speak “What is the net-net?”. It is this shloka. Therefore, even if we may not remember all the shlokas about the eternal essence, we should not forget this shloka.

Here’s another question: “We have covered the entire first chapter, as well as some part of the second chapter. Where is God in all of this?” We have purposely avoided the word “God” in our discussions because Shri Krishna has not yet uttered that word in any teaching so far. As we proceed through the Gita, Shri Krishna will bring up this topic at the appropriate time. For now, if we go to a place of worship like a temple, we can still continue to pray to God, knowing that the eternal essence is an integral part of God as well.

The pragmatist among us would ask “All this abstract stuff is well and good, how do we apply it in our daily life?”. And the answer is – stay tuned! The topics will become more practical starting with the next shloka. All we need to remember is the examples from these shlokas: the eternal essence is like the sun, actionless and changeless. It is like the water that pervades the entire cloth. And it is like the car-dweller who occupies and leaves the car once it is old.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 25, Chapter 2

23 Sunday Oct 2011

Posted by in 2.25, achintaha, anushochitum, arhasi, avikaryaha, avyaktaha, ayam, chapter 2 verse 25, enam, evam, naa, tasmaad, uchyate, viditya

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avyaktoyamachintoyamavikaryoyamuchyate |
tasmaadevam viditvainam naanushochitumarhasi || 25 ||

This (eternal essence) is imperceptible, this is incomprehensible, this is unchanging, it is said. Therefore, having known this, it is not worthy of grief.

avyaktaha : imperceptible
ayam : this
achintaha : incomprehensible
avikaryaha : unchanging
uchyate : it is said
tasmaad : therefore
evam : thus
viditva : having known
enam : this
naa : not
anushochitum : grieve
arhasi : worthy

Let’s take stock of where we are. In the second chapter, Shri Krishna covers 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 a person who follows this teaching.

We are still exploring the second topic, and this shloka marks the end of the argument that Shri Krishna began in shloka 17. The argument was whether the eternal essence can slay or be slain. Shri Krishna, in this shloka, concludes the argument by saying the following:

“Arjuna, associate yourself with the eternal essence and not the body. The eternal essence is eternal and imperishable; it cannot slay or be slain. Therefore do not grieve for the opposing army’s warriors on their imminent death. Their bodies will perish anyway, so you shouldn’t grieve for what is bound to perish. The eternal essence which is common between them and you is imperishable, so you should not grieve for that either. Therefore you have no reason to grieve at all.”

Let’s look further. If something is imperceptible, that means it is beyond the realm of our sense organs. If something is incomprehensible, it is beyond the realm of the intellect. If something is unchanging, then no physical effort will have an impact on it. We are dealing with something that is not of this material world, it is beyond it.

In the next few shlokas, Shri Krishna provides a simpler alternative of logic and reason to Arjuna, after which the teaching takes a turn towards more practical and concrete topics.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 20, Chapter 2

17 Monday Oct 2011

Posted by in 2.20, abhavitaa, ajaha, ayam, bhootvaa, bhooyaha, chapter 2 verse 20, hanyamaane, hanyate, jaayate, kadaachita, mriyate, nityaha, puraano, shaashvataha, shareere

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na jaayate mriyate vaa kadaachinnaayam bhootvaa bhavitaa vaa na bhooyaha |
ajo nityaha shaashvatoyam puraano na hanyate hanyamaane shareere || 20 ||

It (the eternal essence) is neither born, nor does it ever die; nor is it that having come into existence, it will again cease to exist. It is birthless, eternal, changeless and primeval, it is not slain when the body is killed.

na : not
jaayate : born
mriyate : dies
vaa : and
kadaachita : ever
na : not
ayam : this
bhootvaa : having come into existence
abhavitaa : ceases to be
vaa na : it is not the case that
bhooyaha : again
ajaha : birthless
nityaha : timeless
shaashvataha : changeless
puraano : primeval
na hanyate : slain
hanyamaane : when slain
shareere : the body

This shloka reinforces the attributes of the eternal essence that we have seen so far, that it is eternal and changeless. Any material object, including the human body, goes through six types of modifications: birth, exist, change, grow, decay, and to perish. The eternal essence is beyond all these modifications, hence it is changeless.

Two additional qualities of the eternal essence are provided here. The first is that it is birthless. It is logical that it should be birthless, otherwise it could not be eternal and timeless. And since it is birthless, it would have always existed, therefore it is primeval.

Note the change in meter to highlight the importance of this shloka.

Footnotes
1. “Om namoji aadya” is the very first ovi or stanza of the Jnyaneshwari. Sant Jnyaneshwar invokes the primeval quality of the eternal essence by using the word “aadya” which means primeval.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 19, Chapter 2

16 Sunday Oct 2011

Posted by in 2.19, ayam, cha, chapter 2 verse 19, enam, hantaaram, hanti, hanyate, hatam, manyate, tau, ubhau, vetti, vijaanitaha, yaha

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ya enam vetti hantaaram yachshainam manyate hatam |
ubhau tau na vijaanito naayam hanti na hanyate || 19 ||

A person who believes that it (the eternal essence) slays, and another who believes that it is slain, neither of these understands. It does not slay, nor is it slain.

yaha : that person who
enam : this (body dweller)
vetti : believes
hantaaram : slayer
yaha : that
cha : and
enam : this
manyate : believes
hatam: slain
ubhau : both
tau : those
na : do not
vijaanitaha : know
na ayam : this does not
hanti : slay
na hanyate : nor is slain

The “It” in this shloka and the following shlokas refers to the body-dweller. Here Shri Krishna addresses another concern that Arjuna had raised. Arjuna thought that that he will be held responsible for killing his kinsmen, which was something that was abhorrent to him. But Shri Krishna through this shloka advised him to use the logic or the perspective of the eternal essence. The eternal essence does not kill, nor does it die from someone else trying to kill it.

But how does this apply to us? We are not warriors, and it is rare that we will be put in the position of killing somebody. So there must be another interpretation.This shloka equates the act of slaying to performance of any action, and being slain to any change or modification. In other words, the eternal essence never performs any action, nor does it undergo any change or modification.

As an example, let’s consider at the sun. Without the sun there will be no activity or life on this planet. There would be no plant life because plants use the sun’s energy. There would be no animal or human life because both cannot survive without plants. But, does the sun perform any action pertaining to growing a plant or an animal? Does it get affected by all the changes happening on earth? It does not that that “I caused this forest to grow” or “I was impacted by this eclipse”. It remains actionless and changeless.

The shloka goes on to say that one who thinks that the eternal essence acts or kills is not using viveka or discrimination, and that person does not have the correct understanding. The person is still thinking at the level of the material object, or in other words, the level of the un-real, and has still not learnt to discriminate between the two.

Footnotes
1. Verses 19 and 20 are almost verbatim taken from the Katha Upanishad.