Category Archives: charati

Bhagavad Gita Verse 36, Chapter 3

13 Friday Jan 2012

Posted by in 3.37, anicchan, api, atha, balaat, chapter 3 verse 36, charati, iva, kena, niyojitah, paapam, poorushah, prayutah, vaarshneya

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Arjuna uvaacha:
atha kena prayuktoyam paapam charati poorushah |
anicchannapi vaarshneya balaadiva niyojitaha || 36 ||

Then, what compels people to commit sin against their wishes, O Vaarshneya, as if commanded forcefully?

atha : then
kena : which
prayuktah : compels
paapam : sin
charati : commit
poorushah : people
anicchan : without one’s wish
api : also
vaarshneya : O Vaarshneya
balaat : forcefully
iva : as if
niyojitaha : commanded

In the last shloka, Shri Krishna completed his teaching of karmayoga. But Arjuna was not satisfied. He was listening attentively and wanted to know more details around the obstacles to karmayoga, how to spot them and how to get rid of them.

It is a wonderful question, because as we have seen earlier, obstacles to karmayoga pop up when we least expect them. Therefore, a deeper understanding of the obstacles is needed to fully overcome them. Note that Arjuna addresses Shri Krishna as “vaarshneya”, which means a member of the Vrishni dynasty.

Even in simple matters like our food intake, we face obstacles. Most of us are smart enough to know that foods containing a lot of oil and sugar are not good for us. But when we see our favourite dessert in front of us, we are propelled to eat it. All our intellect stops functioning. Well educated people, under the influence of greed, commit all kinds of scams today.

There is an interesting statement made by Duryodhana in the Mahaabhaarata. He says that even he knows that his actions are wrong, but there is something inside him that forces him to carry out those actions. This means that even a strong intellect is not necessarily able to check our behaviour.

In the final portion of the third chapter, Shri Krishna responds to Arjuna’s doubt to describe the obstacles in detail and the method to control their influence on us.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 71 Chapter 2

06 Tuesday Dec 2011

Posted by in 2.71, abhiriksitam, adhigachchati, chapter 2 verse 71, charati, kaaman, nihspruha, nirahankarah, nirmamah, pumaan, sah, sarvaan, shaantim, vihaaya

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vihaaya kaamanyah sarvaanpumaanshcharati nihspruha |
nirmamo nirahankaarah sa shaantimadhigachchati || 71 ||

That individual who walks having abandoned all desires, cravings, mine-ness and ego, he attains peace.

vihaaya : abandon
kaaman : desires
yah : who
sarvaan : all
pumaan : individual
charati : walks
nihspruha : without cravings
nirmamah : without mine-ness
nirahankaarah : without ego
sah : he
shaantim : peace
adhigachchati: attains

Earlier in the chapter, Arjuna asked Shri Krishna to point out the signs of a person of steady wisdom. To that end, he asked Shri Krishna to answer the following questions: how does he sit, speak and walk. In this shloka, hence the use of the word “charati” meaning “walks”.

Shri Krishna summarizes the entire topic of the signs of a wise person in four points. He first asks us to give up selfish desires using the technique of karma yoga. Next, he asks us to give up cravings for things we already possess, which is the second point here. And to eliminate even the slightest trace of selfishness, he finally asks us to give up the sense of “I-ness” and “mine-ness” which we had seen in the first chapter, also known as “ahankaara”‘ and “mamataa”. The goal attained by giving up these four things is also repeated here for emphasis: it is everlasting peace.

As a point of clarification, let us remember that for most of us, abandoning these four things will not happen overnight. We have to follow a disciplined technique to do so, and only after having applied this technique for a period of time will be begin to see the desires, cravings, ego and mine-ness slowly lose their grip.

With this shloka, Shri Krishna concludes the final topic of the second chapter, that of the signs of a wise person. The next shloka will be the last shloka in the second chapter, a wonderful milestone in our journey.