Category Archives: bhayam

Bhagavad Gita Verse 35, Chapter 18

23 Sunday Jun 2013

Posted by in 18.35, bhayam, chapter 18 verse 35, dhritihi, durmedhaa, madam, mataa, shokam, svapnam, taamasee, vimunchati, vishaadam, yayaa

≈ Comments Off on Bhagavad Gita Verse 35, Chapter 18

yayaa svapnam bhayam shokam vishaadam madameva cha |
na vimunchati durmedhaa dhritihi saa taamasee mataa || 35 ||
 
That by which one with an inferior intellect does not give up sleep, fear, sorrow, dismay and intoxication, that fortitude is considered taamasic.
 
yayaa : by which
svapnam : sleep
bhayam : fear
shokam : sorrow
vishaadam : dismay
madam : intoxication
eva : also
cha : and
na : not
vimunchati : one gives up
durmedhaa : inferior intellect
dhritihi : fortitude
saa : that
taamasee : taamasic
mataa : considered
 
Fortitude is the quality of the intellect by which it holds on to certain thoughts, and rejects others. From the start of a task to its end, our intellect is confronted with a barrage of thoughts. If it drops the thought of completing the task and starts holding on to other tasks, it will never be able to take the task to its conclusion. Sattvic fortitude is active for all tasks, raajasic fortitude is active only for tasks motivated by selfishness and sense enjoyment. The third kind of dhriti or fortitude, one which holds on to everything but the task at hand, is taamasic.
 
While performing any task, it is natural to expect obstacles, and some fear as well. There are moments when our body and mind is tired, and we need to take some rest. If some things do not go as planned, we feel sorrow. If things do not go as planned repeatedly, we may also feel depressed or dejected. Conversely, if we experience some temporary successes, we may get intoxicated with the mental high, with the pride generated by those successes. Shri Krishna says that the fortitude that drops the thought of completing the task and holds on to any of these temporary thoughts is taamasic.
 
What causes someone to develop such a negative kind of fortitude? It is the degree of discrimination inherent in the intellect. One with a moderate level of discrimination has raajasic fortitude. But one in which there is little to no discrimination has no clue that he is choosing to hold on to thoughts that will ultimately lead him to ruin. Or to put it another way, one who has perversely high level of attachment to a certain object, person or situation will lose whatever level of discrimination he has left, due to the pursuit of that object of desire.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 4, Chapter 10

03 Monday Sep 2012

Posted by in 10.4, abhaavaha, abhayam, asammohaha, bhavaha, bhayam, buddhihi, cha, chapter 10 verse 4, damaha, duhkham, eva, jnyaanam, kshamaa, satyam, shamaha, sukham

≈ Comments Off on Bhagavad Gita Verse 4, Chapter 10

buddhirjnyaanamasammohaha kshamaa satyam damaha shamaha |
sukham duhkham bhavobhaavo bhayam chaabhayameva cha || 4 ||
 
Intellect, wisdom, non-delusion, forgiveness, truth, external restraint, internal restraint, external restraint, joy and sorrow, creation and destruction, fear and sorrow.
 
buddhihi : intellect
jnyaanam : wisdom
asammohaha : non-delusion
kshamaa : forgiveness
satyam : truth
damaha : external restraint
shamaha : internal restraint
sukham : joy
duhkham : sorrow
bhavaha : creation
abhaavaha : destruction
bhayam : fear
cha : and
abhayam : fearlessness
eva : also
 
Shri Krishna begins describing Ishvara’s vibhootis or expressions with this shloka. First, he describes Ishvara’s subtle expressions in two shlokas. He says that intelligence, wisdom, non-delusion, forgiveness, self-restraint, joy and sorrow, creation and destruction, fear and fearlessness, all of these are expressions of Ishvara. Whenever we come across any of these expressions, we should immediately realize that it is Ishvara expressing himself through them.
 
“Buddhihi” or intellect is the ability to know subtle things, things that are not immediately perceived by our senses. Our tongue may enjoy fried food, but our intellect will tell us not to indulge in it due to the potential health risks. Now, none of our senses saw something called a “health risk” but our intellect did. Similarly, “jnyaana” or wisdom is the ability to discriminate between the eternal essence and everything else. Engaging with the world without getting deluded into thinking that it is the source of happiness, this is “asammoha” or non-delusion.
 
With the foundation of intellect, wisdom and non-delusion, we are ready to engage with the world. We may encounter people that speak ill of us or trouble us in some way. “Kshamaa” or forgiveness lets us drop any negative thinking that is generated out of such interactions. Conversely, it is our duty to convey to others what we perceive of the world without adding any modifications or distortions. This is known as “satyam” or truthfulness. We may also encounter people, objects and situations that generate selfish desires within us. In order to guard against chasing after them, we need to cultivate “dama” or sense control, and “shama” which is control over the mind.
 
Now, let us examine Ishvara’s manifestations that come in pairs. We usually tend to be attracted towards one aspect of the pair and run away from the other aspect. First let us look at “sukham” and “duhkham” or joy and sorrow. We prefer joyful situations and tend to avoid sorrowful ones. We prefer “bhaavaha” or creation but dislike “abhaavaha” or destruction. We like to be “abhaya” or fearless, not “bhaya” or fearlessness.
 
Shri Krishna wants us to remain equanimous, remain balanced in both aspects of these pairs. Ishvara may send a sorrowful situation in order to create further vairagya or dispassion. Like a municipality that demolishes a dangerously unlivable building, he may destroy a person, object or situation so that a new one can be created in its place. Like a robber who is afraid of a burglary alarm, he may generate fear in us so that we do not commit an unlawful or unethical act.
 
The second part of this topic is covered in the next shloka.