Category Archives: bhajante

Bhagavad Gita Verse 8, Chapter 10

07 Friday Sep 2012

Posted by in 10.8, aham, bhaavasamanvitaahaa, bhajante, budhaahaa, chapter 10 verse 8, iti, maam, mattaha, matvaa, prabhavaha, pravartate, sarvam, sarvasya

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aham sarvasya prabhavo mattaha sarvam pravartate |
iti matvaa bhajante maam budhaa bhaavasamanvitaahaa || 8 ||
 
I am the cause of everything, everything originates from me. Realizing this, wise individuals filled with this attitude worship me.
 
aham : I
sarvasya : everything
prabhavaha : cause
mattaha : from me
sarvam : everything
pravartate : originates
iti : this
matvaa : realizing
bhajante : worship
maam : me
budhaahaa : wise individuals
bhaavasamanvitaahaa : filled with this attitude
 
“Avikampena yoga”, the unwavering, unshakeable yoga, is defined by Shri Krishna as knowing that Ishvara is the cause of everything, and that everything originates from Ishvara. Those who have established themselves in this yoga are “budhaa”, they are wise. They only worship or contemplate upon Ishvara, remaining unaffected by the ups and downs in life.
 
Imagine an adult and a child walking inside a haunted house within an amusement park. Though both of them see and hear the same things, they have different reactions. The child thinks that the ghosts and the eerie noises are real and becomes afraid. The adult knows that everything inside is fake, it is unreal. So enjoys the thrill of the haunted house without being afraid.
 
The difference between the adult and the child is that the adult has knowledge about the cause of the ghosts and the noises. Similarly, Shri Krishna says that one who knows Ishvara as the cause of everything will develop an extremely positive attitude towards life. He will take failures as learning opportunities, not as triggers for depression. He will never question why something bad happened to him, knowing that it is a result of his prior actions.
 
One who has developed such an outlook towards life will worship Ishvara at all times. This is indicated by the worlds “maam bhajante”. He will experience sorrow only if he forgets that Ishvara is the cause of everything. When one has understood that Ishvara, as the cause of everything, also is the ultimate goal, then they become totally immersed in Ishvara, as described in the next shloka.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 28, Chapter 7

24 Sunday Jun 2012

Posted by in 7.28, actions te, antagatam, bhajante, chapter 28 verse 7, dridhavrataahaa, dvandvamoha, janaanaam, maam, nirmuktaa, paapam, punyakarmanaam, tu, yesham

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yesham tvantagatam paapam janaanaam punyakarmanaam |
te dvandvamohanirmuktaa bhajante maam dridhavrataahaa || 28 ||
 
But, those people of meritorious actions whose sins have been exhausted, they, freed from the delusion of duality, worship me with firm determination.
 
yesham : those who
tu : but
antagatam : exhausted
paapam : sin
janaanaam : people
punyakarmanaam : meritorious actions
te : they
dvandvamoha : delusion of duality
nirmuktaa : freed
bhajante : worship
maam : me
dridhavrataahaa : firm determination
 
The delusion of duality, as we saw earlier, is a condition that we are cast into right from birth. This delusion further strengthens maaya that prevents us from accessing Ishvara. Having explained the condition of most people who are trapped in this situation, Shri Krishna now describes the people who have come out of maaya. He says that only those who have conducted enough meritorious acts and wiped out their sins acquire the firm resolution to directly access Ishvara.
 
Let us revisit what exactly is meant here by merits and sins. What is a sin? Any time that our mind and senses drag us into the world, and force us to conduct actions born out of selfish desire, we commit a sin. When this happens again and again, it adds to the moha or delusion that blocks our discrimination or viveka.
 
Conversely, whenever we perform an unselfish action that is in line with our svadharma or duty, we commit a merit. In doing so, we do not add to the stock of delusion, but in fact purify our mind.
 
Therefore, Shri Krishna says that only those who perform unselfish actions are fit to approach Ishvara. The message is clear: do your duty because it is the only way to contact Ishvara. Karma yoga, seen from this vantage point, reasserts its importance.
 
Next, Shri Krishna begins to conclude this chapter by planting the seed of the next chapter in two shlokas. They deal with the fundamental question of our ultimate liberation.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 16, Chapter 7

12 Tuesday Jun 2012

Posted by in 7.16, aartaha, arjuna, arthaarthee, bhajante, bharatarshabha, cha, chapter 7 verse 16, chaturvidhaaha, janaaha, jignyaasuhi, jnyaanee, maam, sukritinaha

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chaturvidhaa bhajante maam janaaha sukritinorjuna |
aarto jignyaasurarthaarthee jnyaanee cha bharatarshabha || 16 ||
 
Four types of people who perform good actions worship me, O Arjuna – the distressed, the inquisitive, the profit-minded and the wise, O scion of the Bharataas.
 
chaturvidhaaha : four types
bhajante : worship
maam : me
janaaha : people
sukritinaha : who perform good actions
arjuna : O Arjuna
aartaha : those who are in distress
jignyaasuhi : the inquisitive
arthaarthee : profit-minded
jnyaanee : wise
cha : and
bharatarshabha : O scion of the Bharataas
 
Shri Krishna is a methodical teacher. He loves to categorize and classify knowledge. In the previous shloka, he defined people who are blinded by maaya as “dushkritinaha” – those who commit wrong or evil actions. Such people cannot contact Ishvara. In this shloka, he adds the second category of people – those who perform good actions, “sukritinaha”. He then further classifies these devotees of Ishvara into four types.
 
The first type of devotee is the “aarta” or the distressed. When such devotees are in trouble, when they have a health condition, when they have a monetary problem, when they are anxious about the result of the final exam, when there is nowhere else to go, they approach Ishvara for help. Usually, such devotees would not have remembered Ishvara if they were well off, if they had no source of affliction. Regardless, Ishvara accepts them as his devotees.
 
The second type of devotee is the “jignyaasu” or the inquisitive. Such people are seeking knowledge in all of its various aspects: economic knowledge, scientific knowledge, artistic knowledge and even spiritual knowledge. They worship Saraswati as the goddess of knowledge.
 
The third type of devotee is the “arthaarthee”. Many commentators interpret this word as one who is desirous of “artha”, which is profit or material gains. However, if we assume that the four types of devotees are arranged in order of importance, then “artha” could mean “purushaartha” which comprises dharma, artha, kaama (desire) and moksha (liberation). In other words, such a devotee has realized that he needs to use all his time and resources on this world to attain liberation.
 
Finally, the fourth type of devotee is the “jnyaani” or the wise one. He is the one who realized that there is nothing other than god. He sees god in everything. Therefore, he does not want god for some other purpose. He wants god and nothing else. There are no other desires or ulterior motives in such a devotee.
 
Are all four devotees alike? Or is there one in particular that Shri Krishna prefers?