Category Archives: brahmanaha

Bhagavad Gita Verse 27, Chapter 14

05 Tuesday Mar 2013

Posted by in 14.27, aham, aikaantikasya, amritasya, avyayasya, brahmanaha, chapter 14 verse 27, dharmasya, hi, pratishthaa, shaashvatasya, sukhasya

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brahmano hi pratishthaahamamritasyaavyayasya cha |
shaashvatasya cha dharmasya sukhasyaikaantikasya cha || 27 ||
 
For, I am the abode of brahman, the immortal, the imperishable, the eternal constitution, and of absolute joy.
 
brahmanaha : brahman
hi : for
pratishthaa : abode
aham : I am
amritasya : immortal
avyayasya : imperishable
cha : and
shaashvatasya : eternal
cha : and
dharmasya : constitution
sukhasya : of joy
aikaantikasya : absolute
cha : and
 
The thirteenth chapter of the Gita explained the topic of jnyaana yoga or the yoga of knowledge. One of the topics in that chapter was the description of nirguna brahman, which is the eternal essence in its purest state. Shri Krishna described the technique of mentally removing the upaadhis – the veiling of the organs, the senses and so on – to get to the eternal essence that is at the core all of us. One who attained this eternal essence through jnyaana yoga achieved liberation or moksha. Arjuna recollected this teaching, and a doubt arose in his mind. What was that doubt?
 
In the previous shloka of this chapter, Shri Krishna asserted that liberation would be attained by the one who has undivided devotion towards Ishvara. But in the previous chapter, Shri Krishna had said that the fruit of knowing the eternal essence in its purest state, nirguna brahman, also resulted in liberation. To address Arjuna’s doubt about the difference between the two approaches, Shri Krishna says here that he, as Ishvara, is the abode of the pure eternal essence, of nirguna brahman. In other words, undivided devotion to Ishvara results in the same outcome as does the yoga of knowledge. He also describes this pure eternal essence as immortal, imperishable, eternal and full of joy, just like he did in the thirteenth chapter. Furthermore, he says that the eternal essence is attained through the dharma or constitution of devotion and knowledge.
 
Shri Shankaraachaarya provides further nuances to this explanation in his commentary. He says that Prakriti or maaya is a power of nirguna brahman. Just like the strength of a strong person is inseparable from the person itself, maaya is inseparable from nirguna brahman. Therefore, it is nirguna brahman, with the power of maaya, that is speaking to Arjuna as Ishvara. This is the connection between nirguna brahman – brahman without maaya – and saguna brahman – brahman with maaya. Saguna brahman is the abode, and the power, of nirguna brahman. And the methods to attain brahman – devotion and knowledge – are two sides of the same coin. With this message, Shri Krishna concludes the fourteenth chapter.
 
om tatsatiti shreematbhagavatgitasupanishadsu brahmavidyaayaam yogashaastre shreekrishnaarjunsamvade gunatrayavibhaagayogo naama chaturdashodhyaayaha || 14 ||

Bhagavad Gita Verse 37, Chapter 11

20 Tuesday Nov 2012

Posted by in 11.37, aadikartre, aksharam, ananta, api, brahmanaha, chapter 11 verse 37, devesha, gareeyase, jagannivaasa, kasmaat, mahaatman, nameran, sadasattatparam, yat

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kasmaaccha te na nameranmahaatman gareeyase brahmanopyaadikartre |
ananta devesha jagannivaasa tvamaksharam sadasattatparam yat || 37 ||
 
And why should they not bow to you, O great one, most honourable and ancient creator of even Brahmaa? You are infinite, O lord of lords, O abode of the universe, you are imperishable, that which is beyond both the manifest and unmanifest.
 
kasmaat : why
cha : and
te : you
na : not
nameran : they bow
mahaatman : O great one
gareeyase : most honourable
brahmanaha : Brahmaa
api : even
aadikartre : ancient creator
ananta : infinite
devesha : lord of lords
jagannivaasa : abode of the universe
tvam : you
aksharam : imperishable
sadasattatparam : beyond manifest and unmanifest
yat : what is
 
Arjuna continues his prayer to Ishvara’s cosmic form. Here, he justifies why people who have preference for a particular deity were seen offering their salutations to the cosmic form. He says that when we see someone superior in all respects to our deity, there is no reason not to bow to that person. Ishvara in his cosmic form is the original cause, the creator of Lord Brahmaa. Whereas Lord Brahmaa could create several universes, Ishvara creates several Lord Brahmaas. Therefore it is appropriate that people worship Ishvara.
 
Now, Arjuna described Ishvara as “sadasattatparam”. What does that mean? “Sat” in this context refers to the manifest world, things that we can perceive with our mind and our senses. “Asat” refers to the unmanifest world comprising our subconscious desires or our vaasanas. In computer terms, Sat is the hardware and asat is the software, the programming stored in memory. Our behaviour is driven by the unmanifest programming of our desires, just like a computer behaves according to its programming.
 
So, if we were to describe electricity, it would be beyond the hardware and the software. Tiny electrical currents store the software in memory, and powerful electrical currents create the hardware in a factory. Another example we have come across is gold. Five grams of gold can make a necklace, or a bangle, or a biscuit. When the necklace is manifest, all the other shapes become unmanifest. But the gold transcends, it is beyond the manifest and the unmanifest. In the same way, Ishvara transcends the manifest and the unmanifest names and forms in this universe.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 17, Chapter 8

14 Saturday Jul 2012

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sahastrayugaparyantamaharyadbrahmano viduhu |
raatrim yugasahastraantaam tehoraatravido janaahaa || 17 ||
 
They who know the day of Brahma comprising a thousand yugaas, the night of Brahma comprising a thousand yugaas, those people know day and night.
 
sahastra : thousand
yuga : yugaas
paryantam : until
ahaha : one day
yat : they who
brahmanaha : of Brahma
viduhu : know
raatrim : one night
yuga : yugaas
sahastraantaam : thousand
te : those
ahoraatravidaha : know day and night
janaahaa : people
 
We now enter into the topic of cosmic creation with this shloka. Before the topic is taken up, Shri Krishna introduces some words here as a way of introduction. The new words introduced here are sahastra and yuga. Although not mentioned explicitly, we shall also look at the four yugas or ages that are part of the cosmic creation: satya yuga, treta yuga, dvaapara yuga and kali yuga.
 
The cycle of creation is said to begin with satyayuga or the age of truth. It is followed by the treta yuga and the dvaapara yuga. The last yuga is kali yuga or the age of discord, which is the current yuga. Kali yuga is the shortest yuga comprising 432,000 years. Dvaapara is twice that long, treta is thrice that long, and satya yuga is four times that long. Therefore, the total time of creation is ten times 432,000, which is 4.32 million years. This period of creation is also known as chatur-yuga.
 
Now, having understood the length of chatur yuga, we can calculate the length of Brahma’s day and night. Shri Krishna says that one day of Lord Brahma equals one thousand yugaas. The interpretation of the word yuga here is traditionally taken to mean a chatur-yuga. So then, a day of Brahma equals one thousand times 4.32 million, which is 4.32 billion years. This is also the length of one night of Lord Brahma.
 
Let us know dig deeper into the symbolic meaning of this shloka. There are two aspects we need to look at. First, this shloka re-emphasizes that every action we perform always bears fruit, but not necessarily in the current lifetime.
 
We may try and try very hard, but the result of our action may not show up in this lifetime, it may bear fruit in another lifetime. Alternatively, we may sometimes get into situations that we think we do not deserve. These could be favourable situations (an unexpected financial windfall) or unfavourable situations (a natural disaster). These type of results are due to actions we have performed in a prior lifetime.
 
The second aspect is to do with the cultivation of dispassion or vairagya towards this world. We perform actions in this world not just for immediate gain, but also to leave behind a legacy, leave behind something that future generations will remember us by. It could be wealth, power, prestige and so on. But in effect, Shri Krishna tells us that nothing will last forever. Everything will eventually end, if not now then certainly in 4.32 billion years. So if this is going to be the case, it is better to cultivate dispassion right now so that we can proceed spiritually.
 
How exactly does the universe come into being and dissolve? This is explained next.