Category Archives: bhaarata

Bhagavad Gita Verse 62, Chapter 18

20 Saturday Jul 2013

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tameva sharanam gaccha sarvabhaavena bhaarata |
tatprasaadaatparamaam shaantim sthaanam praapsyasi shaashvatam || 62 ||
 
Take refuge wholeheartedly in him only, O Bhaarata. With his grace you will attain supreme peace and the eternal abode.
 
tam : him
eva : only
sharanam : refuge
gaccha : take
sarvabhaavena : wholeheartedly
bhaarata : O Bhaarata
tatprasaadaat : with his grace
paramaam : supreme
shaantim : peace
sthaanam : abode
praapsyasi : you will attain
shaashvatam : eternal
 
Imagine that a mother is cooking in the kitchen. Her twins are playing in the hall. It is time for their next meal. One twin has learned how to walk before the other twin, and so, walks across the hall to drink his glass of milk. Frustrated at his efforts to walk, the second twin cries out to his mother. The mother immediately rushes to lift him up and give him his glass of milk. She knows that the first child does not need her help, but the second one does.
 
Shri Krishna says that for people who are still in stuck in the material world, who cannot renounce it in order to gain knowledge about the eternal essence, do have a shot at liberation. This can only happen by taking refuge in Ishvara. But this is no ordinary kind of refuge. It is sarve bhavena, it is wholehearted surrender, also known as sharanaagati. We cannot partially take refuge in Ishvara and also take refuge in material entities such as wealth, power and influence. We cannot hedge our bets in this manner. It has to be complete surrender to Ishvara.
 
So what is the result of sharanaagati? It is the grace, the prasaada, of Ishvara. It is like the mother automatically lifting the child, without any effort of the child. This grace removes all impurities from the mind, resulting in supreme peace, parama shaanti. We stop worrying about our food, clothing and shelter, since we realize it was always in the hands of Ishvara. We simply carry on performing our duty. In time, through the grace of Ishvara, the seeker attains the eternal abode, the shaashvata sthaanam of Ishvara, which is liberation from all sorrow.

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 3, Chapter 16

29 Friday Mar 2013

Posted by in 16.3, abhijaatasya, adrohaha, bhaarata, bhavanti, chapter 16 verse 3, daiveem, dhritihi, kshamaa, naatimaanitaa, sampadam, shaucham, tejaha

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tejaha kshamaa dhritihi shauchamadroho naatimaanitaa |
bhavanti sampadam daiveemabhijaatasya bhaarata || 3 ||
 
Radiance, forgiveness, fortitude, purity, lack of enmity, lack of arrogance, these are found in one who has obtained divine qualities, O Bhaarata.
 
tejaha : radiance
kshamaa : forgiveness
dhritihi : fortitude
shaucham : purity
adrohaha : lack of enmity
naatimaanitaa : lack of arrogance
bhavanti : are
sampadam : qualities
daiveem : divine
abhijaatasya : one who has obtained
bhaarata : O Bhaarata
 
Shri Krishna adds more entries into the list of divine qualities. Tejaha refers to brilliance that comes to dedicated seekers. Energy that is normally wasted through relentless contact with sense objects is conserved when we control our sense organs. Tapaha, conservation of energy, results in tejaha. Even if we control our food cravings for a short period of time, we will feel an influx of additional energy that will radiate out of our body.
 
A long term vow of never to get angry in the first place is termed kshamaa, which means forgiveness. If we feel someone has hurt us in any way, we want to punish him in the future. But when we forgive someone on the spot, we do not leave room for grudges to accumulate in our mind, cutting the very root of this attitude of punishment. The way to do this is to not expect any joy or sorrow from anyone or anything.
 
Next, we come across dhritihi which means fortitude. There will be situations in our life when our mind, body and senses will reach their breaking point. We will begin to say – I cannot take it anymore. The ability to keep holding on to our goal in the face of such fatigue is called dhritihi. It can only come out of training our mind to follow the direction of the intellect. This topic is covered in great detail in the eighteenth chapter.
 
Shaucham refers purity and cleanliness. External cleanliness, which means keeping our body, our surrounding and our environment clean is a given. But shaucham also refers to internal purity, which refers to keeping our mind and intellect free of likes, dislikes and attachments. Getting rid of the most stubborn dirt of the mind, ignorance of our true nature, is the highest act of cleaning we can perform.
 
The next quality Shri Krishna mentions is that of adroha. Here, we do not have any notion of hatred or enmity towards anyone. Droha actually means betrayal. It is the feeling of revenge we harbour against someone who we believe has wronged us, has betrayed us. Adroha means not to harbour such feelings. When one’s goal is the supreme, they will never stoop to harbour feelings of revenge against anyone.
 
Maanitaa refers to the notion of always demanding respect from our peers. Atimaanitaa refers to extreme arrogance, of always demanding respect from our superiors. It comes from an inflated sense of self worth, by giving emphasis to our individuality. Naatimaanita is the opposite of atimaanitaa. As our sense of individuality merges into Ishvara through constant spiritual practice, qualities that are associated with an exaggerated ego or self worth automatically correct themselves.
 
Shri Krishna concludes the list of divine qualities in this shloka. Very few people are born with all these qualities. So even if we focus on cultivating a handful of these qualities within ourselves, we would have made a good start.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 20, Chapter 15

25 Monday Mar 2013

Posted by in 15.20, anagha, bhaarata, buddhimaan, buddhvaa, chapter 15 verse 20, etat, guhyatamam, iti, kritakrityaha, mayaa, shaastram, syaat, uktam

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iti guhyatamam shaastramidamuktam mayaanagha |
etadbuddhvaa buddhimaansyaatkritakrityashcha bhaarata || 20 ||
 
Thus, this foremost secret has been taught to you by me, O sinless one. Having known this, one becomes wise and accomplishes all his duties, O Bhaarata.
 
iti : thus
guhyatamam : foremost secret
shaastram : science
idam : this
uktam : taught
mayaa : by me
anagha : O sinless one
etat : this
buddhvaa : having known
buddhimaan : wise
syaat : becomes
kritakrityaha : one who has accomplished all duties
cha : and
bhaarata : O Bhaarata
 
When you ask the question – can you stop working right now and retire, you get a couple of answers. Some people say that they have still so many desires, so many plans to fulfill, that’s why they cannot retire. Other people say that they still have so much to learn from the world, so much knowledge to acquire. Shri Krishna concludes this chapter by asserting that one who has truly understood the teaching of this chapter has accomplished whatever anyone can accomplish in this world, plus he has also known whatever can be known in this world.
 
Why does he say that whatever has to be known has been covered in this chapter? The highest knowledge to be known in this world is the understanding of three topics. What is the nature of the individual soul (who am I), what is this world and where did it come from, and what is beyond this world (is there a God). Any text that conclusively answers these three questions is termed a shaastra, a science. The fifteenth chapter of the Gita does so, and hence it is worthy of being termed a shaastra.
 
The method used to reveal Purushottama, the pure eternal essence, is to gradually move from the tangible to the intangible, from the visible to the subtle, from the visible universe to the invisible Prakriti to Purushottama who is beyond both. This method is known as Arundhati nyaaya, the technique of revealing the location of the star known as Arundhati. Here the teacher first points to a tree, then to one of its branches, then to one of its leaves, and then to the star that is right next to the tree. Without doing this step by step revelation, it would not have been possible to reveal the position of the star.
 
So then, the teaching of this chapter is called the foremost secret. It is secret because such knowledge is not accessible to any of these sense organs. It has to be revealed through a teacher who has had direct experience of the eternal essence. Furthermore, it has to be taught to a student who is straightforward and without sin like Arjuna. Shri Shankaraachaarya goes so far as to say that this chapter summarizes the teachings of all of the Vedic scriptures.

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 10, Chapter 14

15 Friday Feb 2013

Posted by in 14.10, abhibhooya, bhaarata, bhavati, chapter 14 verse 10, rajas, sattvam, tamas, tathaa

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rajastamaschaabhibhooya sattvam bhavati bhaarata |
rajaha sattvam tamaschaiva tamaha sattvam rajastathaa || 10 ||
 
Sattva rises, O Bhaarata, when it overpowers rajas and tamas, so does rajas overpower sattva and tamas, and also tamas overpowers sattva and rajas.
 
rajas : rajas
tamas : tamas
cha : and
abhibhooya : overpowers
sattvam : sattva
bhavati : rises
bhaarata : O Bhaarata
rajaha : rajas
sattvam : sattva
tamas : tamas
cha : and
eva : similarly
tamaha : tamas
sattvam : sattva
rajas : rajas
tathaa : similarly
 
Now that we have a basic understanding of the properties of the three gunaas, we need to go one level deeper. We know that our mind is always under the influence of the three gunaas, since it is made up of those very three gunaas. How do these three gunaas impact the mind? Do they work in parallel or do they work in sequence? Is there any one gunaa that is more powerful than the other?
 
Shri Krishna says that our mind can only be under the impact of one gunaa at a time. This happens when one gunaa assumes dominance, and consequently, asserts its authority over the others. When sattva is dominant, it dominates over rajas and tamas. Similarly, rajas dominates over the other two and tamas over the other two. All three gunaas are at war with each other in our mind. When one gunaa achieves victory, it temporarily defeats the others.
 
Having known this, we now would like to know which gunaa within us dominates more than others. This is not an easy question to answer, because we have to analyze ourselves and not anyone else. We need to look within. We need to understand what thoughts, feelings and emotions should we watch out for so that we can tie them back to a specific gunaa. If we conduct this analysis for a while, we will know which gunaa predominates. Shri Krishna expands on the topic of the marks or signs of each gunaa in the next shloka.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 9, Chapter 14

14 Thursday Feb 2013

Posted by in 14.9, aavritya, bhaarata, chapter 14 verse 9, jnyaanam, karmani, pramaade, rajaha, sanjayati, sattvam, sukham, tamaha, uta

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sattvam sukham sanjayati rajaha karmani bhaarata |
jnyaanamaavritya tu tamaha pramaade sanjayatyuta || 9 ||
 
Sattva binds through joy, rajas through action, O Bhaarata, while tamas cloaks knowledge and binds through heedlessness.
 
sattvam : sattva
sukham : joy
sanjayati : binds
rajaha : rajas
karmani : action
bhaarata : O Bhaarata
jnyaanam : knowledge
aavritya : cloaks
tu : while
tamaha : tamas
pramaade : heedlessness
sanjayati : binds
uta : and
 
Shri Krishna recaps the characteristics of the three gunaas in this shloka. Sattva binds by making us hold on to joy experienced after attaining a sense object. Rajas binds us by giving us joy in performing actions and obtaining their results. Tamas binds us by giving us joy in holding on to laziness and heedlessness. We now begin to look into how these three are interrelated.
 
In the second chapter, we have come across a series of shlokas that describe how the mind can fall from sattva into rajas and tamas in a matter of seconds. We start with the mind resting in a peaceful sattvic state. A tinge of rajas comes in, causing us to think about some sense object, let’s say a sweet. This fuels rajas further, creating a strong attachment to that sweet, culminating in a strong desire to do anything to get that sweet. But it gets worse. If we cannot get that sweet, if someone or something obstructs our consumption of the sweet, anger arises in us. Rajas deteriorates into tamas. The last rung of the ladder of fall is when anger goes to such an extent that it causes us to lose our faculty of intelligence and memory.
 
Conversely, we can go from tamas to rajas to sattva, but it may take a little longer. For someone steeped in tamas, immersing themself in action will raise them to the level of rajas. When action becomes focused and directed towards the pursuit of a selfless goal, rajas is elevated to the level of sattva. Swami Vivekananda always used to say “awake, arise, stop not till the goal is reached”. When India was under British rule, many had become accustomed to this slavery and had fallen into a tamasic state. They could not find a way out of their predicament, and were clouded in ignorance. Swami Vivekananda’s message urged citizens to engage in action towards independence. That was the only way to get them out of the tamasic state of laziness.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 8, Chapter 14

13 Wednesday Feb 2013

Posted by in 14.8, aalasya, ajnyaanajam, bhaarata, chapter 14 verse 8, mohanam, nibadhnaati, nidraabhihi, pramaada, sarvadehinaam, tamaha, tat, tu, viddhi

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tamastvajnyaanajam viddhi mohanam sarvadehinaam |
pramaadaalasyanidraabhistannibadhnaati bhaarata || 8 ||
 
And, know tamas to be born of ignorance, deluding all the body dwellers. It binds them through heedlessness, laziness and sloth, O Bhaarata.
 
tamaha : tamas
tu : and
ajnyaanajam : born of ignorance
viddhi : know
mohanam : delude
sarvadehinaam : all body dwellers
pramaada : heedlessness
aalasya : laziness
nidraabhihi : through sloth
tat : it
nibadhnaati : binds
bhaarata : O Bhaarata
 
Tamas is our state of mind when it is dull and inert. Like a glass of dirty water cannot let light shine through, tamas prevents our mind from thinking clearly. Our mind starts to operate in moha, which means confusion or error, mistaking one thing for another. Tamas can be triggered by an overpowering emotional situation like Arjuna seeing his family members and loved ones on the opposite side of the battlefield. A tamasic state can also be triggered by abusing our sense organs through excessive drinking, smoking, watching TV and so on.
 
After a long and tiring day, when we want to rush to get a good night’s sleep, we get a call from a friend who wants to catch up. Try as we might, we will not be able to understand what he is saying because the mind has switched to a tamasic state due to exhaustion. Our memory does not work properly and our intellect’s logic is flawed. All we want to do is to rest our head on the pillow. When tamas reaches the height of its potency, we fall asleep.
 
Shri Krishna says that tamas is born out of ignorance. At its core, tamas keeps the Purusha, the jeeva, body dweller under the delusion that he is the body and not the self. When we forget our true nature as the self, the eternal essence, we assume that our body is who we are. This erroneous notion, this ignorance enables tamas to bind us, to trap us.
 
Tamas binds us in three ways, through heedlessness, laziness and sloth. Heedlessness is the performance of actions without intellectual focus or awareness. We either perform actions carelessly, such as dialing the wrong phone number, or perform actions that are futile, such as gambling or excessive alcohol consumption. Laziness is postponing or abstaining from our duties. Sloth is lying around in a state of stupor or sleep. Now, there is a place for resting and sleeping in our life, which is at the end of every day. But some of us derive joy from futile actions, from procrastination, from lazing around and so on. It is this joy through which tamas binds us.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 3, Chapter 14

08 Friday Feb 2013

Posted by in 14.3, aham, bhaarata, bhavati, chapter 14 verse 3, dadhaami, garbham, mahadbrahma, mama, sambhavaha, sarvabhootaanaam, tasmin, tataha, yonihi

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mama yonirmahadbrahma tasmingarbham dadhaamyaham |
sambhavaha sarvabhootaanaam tato bhavati bhaarata || 3 ||
 
My womb is the great brahman. In it, I place the seed. From that, O Bharaata, is the birth of all beings.
 
mama : my
yonihi : womb
mahadbrahma : great brahman
tasmin : in it
garbham : seed
dadhaami : place
aham : I
sambhavaha : birth
sarvabhootaanaam : all beings
tataha : from that
bhavati : happens
bhaarata : O Bhaarata
 
According to the theory of karma, each jeeva or individual soul generates new unfulfilled desires or vaasanaas. These vaasanaas are created as a result of karma phala or fruits of action. Each action of eating a sweet creates a new desire to eat a sweet later, for instance. One lifetime is not enough to exhaust these vaasanaas, causing the jeeva to continuously take birth in the world to fulfill its desires. This is the explanation of birth and rebirth of jeevas. But how does the universe itself begin? Shri Krishna describes this topic in extremely poetic language in two shlokas.
 
Ishvara, at the beginning of creation, splits himself into his two aspects. One aspect is Prakriti, referred to here as the “great brahman”, which comprises three gunaas or qualities. Prakriti has the power to generate an infinite variety of forms through innumerable permutations and combinations of its three gunaas. But it is inert. It cannot create the universe by itself. The awareness aspect of Ishvara, the kshetrajnya, is needed to infuse Prakriti with life. This happens when Ishvara places all of the jeevas into Prakriti, just like seeds are placed into soil.
 
Let’s examine this in more detail. How exactly does the jeeva come into contact with Prakriti? It is due to avidyaa or ignorance. Each jeeva’s vaasanaas or unfulfilled desires are caused by its ignorance of its true nature which is infinite. Instead, the jeeva, also known as the Purusha, thinks that it is incomplete, and mistakenly rushes out into Prakriti to make itself complete again. This illusory link between the Purusha and Prakriti becomes the source of its birth and rebirth in the cycle of samsaara.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 33, Chapter 13

03 Sunday Feb 2013

Posted by in 13.33, bhaarata, chapter 13 verse 33, ekaha, imam, kritsnam, kshetram, kshetree, lokam, prakaashayati, ravihi, tathaa, yathaa

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yathaa prakaashayatyekaha kritsnam lokamimam ravihi |
kshetram kshetree tathaa kritsnam prakaashayati bhaarata || 33 ||
 
Just as the one sun illumines the entire world, so does the knower of the field illumine the entire field, O Bhaarata.
 
yathaa : just as
prakaashayati : illumines
ekaha : the one
kritsnam : entire
lokam : world
imam : this
ravihi : sun
kshetram : field
kshetree : knower of the field
tathaa : so does
kritsnam : entire
prakaashayati : illumines
bhaarata : O Bhaarata
 
The example of space in the previous shloka was meant to illustrate the unaffected and untainted nature of the self. In this shloka, the example of the sun is given to highlight the actionless nature of the self. The sun is located millions of miles away from the earth, yet it enables life on earth to exist. Minerals, plants, animals and humans, everything and every being survives only from the sun’s energy. But the sun never acts. All of the actions happen on our planet distinct and separate from the sun.
 
Shri Krishna says that the self in us, the “I” in us is similar in nature to the sun. The self or the knower of the field, the kshetrajnya, illumines or knows the actions taking place in the kshetra, the field, our body, which is a part of Prakriti. Furthermore, the self does not take on the notion of pride or doership in the actions of the body, neither does it get differentiated due to the differences or modifications of Prakriti, just like the sun never claims doership nor gets differentiated due to the variety of form on our planet.
 
So, if the self is the sole knower of all of the actions in our body, how does our intellect know things? With respect to the analogy of the sun, the intellect can be compared to a pool of water that reflects the light of the sun. The intellect is just an instrument that functions due to tje knowledge of the self. If the intellect is calm and steady, it works perfectly in interpreting the information sent to it from the mind and senses. If it is agitated or dull, it cannot work perfectly, just like the sun’s reflection is disturbed when the pool of water is agitated or muddy.
 
Here, Shri Krishna asserts that the self is of the nature of “chit”. It is knowledge, awareness, consciousness personified.