Category Archives: buddhimaan

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 18, Chapter 4

08 Wednesday Feb 2012

Posted by in 4.18, akarma, akarmani, buddhimaan, cha, chapter 4 verse 18, karma, karmani, kritsnakarmakrit, manushyeshu, pashyet, saha, yaha, yuktaha

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karmanyakarma yaha pashyedakarmani cha karma yaha |
sa buddhimaanmanushyeshu sa yuktaha kritsnakarmakrit || 18 ||

One who sees inaction in action, and action in inaction, he is wise among all people, he is well integrated and accomplishes his actions.

karmani : in action
akarma : inaction
yaha : one who
pashyet : sees
akarmani : in in action
cha : and
karma : action
yaha : who
saha : he is
buddhimaan : wise
manushyeshu : among people
saha : he is
yuktaha : a yogi (well integrated)
kritsnakarmakrit : accomplishes all actions

Now, having understood the deeper meaning of karma, let us look at the most crucial shlokas of this chapter. Shri Krishna employs his poetic prowess to teach us how to apply the knowledge of karma to our actions. He uses the words karma and akarma (action and inaction) differently in different parts of the shloka, so let us take it part by part.

First, let us understand what is meant by “seeing inaction in action”. The word action in this phrase refers to activity of any sort: thinking, feeling, working. To be clear, even thinking a thought is action. And the word “inaction” here refers to the constant awareness that the eternal essence, our self, is inactive, and not the doer of action. It means complete detachment from the work and detachment from a sense of agency or doership, because the mind has now attached itself to a higher ideal.

So therefore, one who sees inaction in action knows that his every activity is happening out of prakriti or nature. His true identity is the eternal essence that neither does any action not enjoys the result of any action. From a practical standpoint, it refers to the attitude that we have towards our work. It is the difference between a worker who can perform tough tasks and not feel tired, and the worker who feels that every minute of his work is a burden.

Next, let us look at the phrase “seeing action in inaction”. The word action in this phrase refers to the ego, the notion that “I am the doer” as well as the sense of agency in the work. And the word “inaction” refers to absence of activity. So for example, if someone needs help crossing the road and we think “I won’t help him because I will be late for my bus”. Behind our absence of helping someone cross the road is a selfish motive. Similarly, if we hold back on admitting a mistake that we had committed, our absence of admitting our guilt is driven by a selfish motive. This is seeing action in inaction.

Shri Krishna then goes on to say that one who constantly uses his discrimination to eliminate all sense of doership from every action – that person is wise and is well integrated in the yajna spirit. That person will accomplish any task that he takes up without fail. His success is guaranteed.

The following four shlokas describe the attributes of such an integrated person, similar to the characteristics of a wise person from the second chapter.