Category Archives: dveshti

Bhagavad Gita Verse 10, Chapter 18

29 Wednesday May 2013

Posted by in 18.10, akushalam, anushajjate, chapter 18 verse 10, chinnasamshayaha, dveshti, karma, kushale, medhaavee, na, sattvasamaavishtaha, tyaagee

≈ Comments Off on Bhagavad Gita Verse 10, Chapter 18

na dveshtyakushalam karma kushale naanushajjate |
tyaagee sattvasamaavishto medhaavee chinnasamshayaha || 10 ||
 
He does not dislike inauspicious action, nor does he get attached to auspicious action, he who gives up is pervaded by sattva, is wise, and free of doubts.
 
na : not
dveshti : dislike
akushalam : inauspicious
karma : action
kushale : auspicious
na : not
anushajjate : attached
tyaagee : that one who gives up
sattvasamaavishtaha : pervaded by sattva
medhaavee : wise
chinnasamshayaha : free of doubts
 
So far, three types of renunciation or giving up were described. Shri Krishna now describes the nature of the person who conducts renunciation in the proper manner, the saattvic tyaagi. Such a person is pervaded by sattva. This means that his intellect is able to discriminate between what is real and what is not, in other words, what is the eternal essence and what is the illusory world. This person is described as medhaavee, one who is wise due to the knowledge of the eternal essence, the self.
 
What makes this person different than the other so-called renouncers? It is his indifferent attitude towards action. Though he knows that every action has the potential to generate further sorrow and further desires, he does not hate that action but in fact, continues to do his duty. Conversely, though he knows that doing his duty will eventually make him fit for liberation, or if there is some action that he loves to perform, he does not develop a sense of attachment for it.
 
Eventually, a slow transformation takes place in such a person. Performing karma yoga, which is the same as performing saattvika tyaaga, leads a person to slowly recognize his true nature as the unchanging, unmoving eternal essence. He begins to realize that he is not performing any action at all, it is Prakriti that is doing all the work. When he comes to realize this, he becomes chinnasamshayaha, free of all doubts about who he really is, about his true nature.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 22, Chapter 14

27 Wednesday Feb 2013

Posted by in 14.22, chapter 14 verse 22, dveshti, kaankshati, moham, nivrittaani, paandava, prakaasham, pravrittim, sampravrittaani

≈ Comments Off on Bhagavad Gita Verse 22, Chapter 14

Shree Bhagavaan uvaacha:
prakaasham cha pravrittim cha mohameva cha paandava |
na dveshti sampravrittaani na nivrittaani kaankshati || 22 ||
 
Shree Bhagavaan said:
When light, activity and delusion are present, O Paandava, he does not hate them, nor does he yearn for them when they are absent.
 
prakaasham : light
cha : and
pravrittim : activity
cha : and
moham : delusion
eva : even
cha : and
paandava : O Paandava
na : not
dveshti : hate
sampravrittaani : present
na : not
nivrittaani : absent
kaankshati : yearn
 
Shri Krishna answers Arjuna’s question – what are the marks of one who has transcended the gunas – in this shloka. Light, activity and delusion refer to sattva, rajas and tamas respectively. One who is indifferent to the rise and fall of each guna, one who has a high degree of detachment and discrimination, one who lets the gunas come and go with ease, such a person has transcended the gunas. It is the difference between one who observes suitcases on an airport conveyor belt versus one who holds on to a suitcase and doesn’t let go. The one who insists on holding on gets pulled away.
 
When we are on vacation, our mind feels peaceful and relaxed. But when we come back from vacation, our mind becomes agitated since it has to get back to the nine to five routine of life. We want to hold on to that state of mind we had experienced when we were on vacation. In other words, we have an insistence, also known as aagraha, to hold on to a sattvic state when rajas comes in. Or when the alarm bell rings in the morning, we want to hold on to that sleepy tamasic state as long as possible, and not leave the bed. This aagraha, this insistence on holding on to one guna and not accepting the arrival of another guna, enables the gunas to control us. One who has transcended the gunas has given up this insistence through extreme vairagya or detachment.
 
Let’s look at it in another way. When we read comics, we can see what the characters are thinking through thought bubbles. For example, if Veronica insulted Archie, Archie would have a thought bubble that says “I feel so bad”. We temporarily feel sorry for Archie, and move on to the next frame in the comic. But if someone insults us in real life, we don’t usually move on that quickly. We hold on to that thought, as well as the tamasic or rajasic state of mind created by that thought, for weeks, months, or years to come. And that is not all. We bring up that mental state each time we meet the person who insulted us.
 
When we are able to treat our thoughts with the same detachment that we do when we are reading other people’s thoughts in comic books, we will know that we have gone beyond the gunas.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 17, Chapter 12

27 Thursday Dec 2012

Posted by in 12.17, bhaktimaan, chapter 12 verse 17, dveshti, hrishyati, kaanshati, me, na, priyaha, saha, shochati, shubhaashubhaparityaagee, yaha

≈ Comments Off on Bhagavad Gita Verse 17, Chapter 12

yo na hrishyati na dveshti na shochati na kaanshati |
shubhaashubhaparityaagee bhaktimaanhyaha sa me priyaha || 17 ||
 
He who neither rejoices nor hates, neither rejoices nor grieves, he who has given up good and bad, he who is (such a) devoted person, he is dear to me.
 
yaha : he who
na : not
hrishyati : rejoices
na : not
dveshti : hates
na : not
shochati : grieves
na : not
kaanshati : desires
shubhaashubhaparityaagee : given up good and bad
bhaktimaan : devoted person
yaha : he who
saha : he
me : me
priyaha : dear
 
In the previous shloka, Shri Krishna described the attitude of a perfected devotee towards the performance of actions. He now elaborates upon the attitude of a perfected devotee towards situations, objects, thoughts and emotions that he encounters. These may come to him either as a result of his actions or as a matter of course in his daily life.
 
When we usually encounter a situation or obtain an object, we are either attracted to it, repulsed by it or are indifferent to it. Attraction generates desires that are stored in our mind, and repulsion generates negative desires, a list of things we would like to stay away from. If we eventually get the favourable object, or hold on to the favourable situation long enough, we become “harshita”, we rejoice. But if we lose that object or situation, which is bound to happen sometime, we become “shochita”, we grieve. Attraction, revulsion, desire, hatred, joy, grief – this is how most of us usually operate.
 
The perfected devotee, however, has tackled this problem at its root. He has stopped labelling any object, person, situation or thought as either good or bad, because it is exactly this labelling that starts the chain reaction of attraction, desire, joy and sorrow. He is like the model student who does not label his teacher’s feedback as good or bad, whether it be praise or criticism, because he has the utmost faith in his teacher. The perfected devotee accepts all objects and situations as Ishvara’s blessings, does what he has to do, and moves on. Shri Krishna says that one who accepts whatever comes with way due to his faith and devotion to Ishvara, is dear to him.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 3, Chapter 5

07 Wednesday Mar 2012

Posted by in 5.3, bandhaat, chapter 5 verse 3, dveshti, hi, jneyah, kaanshati, mahaabaaho, na, nirdvandvaha, nitya, pramuchyate, saha, sannyasee, sukham, yaha

≈ Comments Off on Bhagavad Gita Verse 3, Chapter 5

jneyah sa nityasannyaasee yo na dveshti na kaanshati |
nirdvandvo hi mahaabaaho sukham bandhaatpramuchyate || 3 ||

He who does not hate anything, nor expects anything, know him to be an eternal renouncer. For one who is free from duality, O mighty-armed, he happily casts off bondage.

jneyah : know
saha : that
nitya : eternal
sannyaasee : renouncer
yaha : he who
na : does not
dveshti : hate anything
na : does not
kaanshati : expect anything
nirdvandvaha : free from duality
hi : for
mahaabaaho : O mighty-armed
sukham : happily
bandhaat : bondage
pramuchyate : casts off

During the time of the Mahabhaarata war, and even now, there existed a fixed ideal of what it means to become a renouncer, which was that one runs away from the world to some remote place. Shri Krishna needed to change that ideal completely. So he defines what it means to be a renouncer or sannyaasi in this shloka. A renouncer is one who completely gives up his ego, not external objects and situations.

In that regard, Shri Krishna says that if we have three qualities: freedom from hatred, expectation and duality, that person is a true renouncer. Firstly, if something is obstacle to happiness, or someone is giving us sorrow, we generate hatred for that person or object. Secondly, if we always keep thinking that we will become happy in the future, we generate expectations, taking consciousness away from the present and into the future. Finally, if we only get attracted to certain aspects of our existence, the other aspects will torture us and bind us. This is what is meant by duality.

So therefore, one who has become free from these 3 qualities has truly renounced the material world, even if he continues to perform his duties. This is a high standard indeed. Having clarified the definition of snanyaasi, Shri Krishna compares a sannyaasi to a karmayogi in the next shloka.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 57, Chapter 2

24 Thursday Nov 2011

Posted by in 2.57, abhinandanti, anabhisneha, ashubham, chapter 2 verse 57, dveshti, na, praapya, prajna, pratishthitaa, sarvatra, shubha, tasya, tat, yah

≈ Comments Off on Bhagavad Gita Verse 57, Chapter 2

yah sarvatraanabhisnehastattatpraapya shubhaashubham |
naabhinandanti na dveshti tasya prajna pratishthitaa || 57 ||

He who remains without affection everywhere, is not elated in gain, and is not dejected in loss, his wisdom is steady.

yah : he who
sarvatra : everywhere
anabhisneha : without affection
tat tat : those
praapya : receive
shubha : gain
ashubham : loss
na : not
abhinandanti : elated
dveshti : dejected
tasya : his
prajna : wisdom
pratishthitaa : steady

In the prior shloka, we saw how a person of steady wisdom responds to joyful and sorrowful situations that he encounters in life. In this shloka, Shri Krishna points out how that person responds to beneficial and adverse outcomes of his expectations.

This shloka uses an interesting word “anabhisneha”, which means without affection. The root of this word is “sniha” which means “to stick”. Most of us tend to get stuck to objects, people and situations that we encounter in our lives. And it is that stickiness which gets us into trouble.

An example from the corporate world would be a consultant who is hired for a 3 month assignment verses a full time employee who is given a similar assignment. The consultant comes in, does what she is supposed to do, submits her report and moves on to the next assignment, without getting entangled in office politics. Whereas the employee gets “stuck” to the job and gets entangled in all kinds of office politics, who he should align himself with, etc.

So therefore, if one remains unattached and works towards a goal, he gains the objectivity to remain the same whether he succeeds or fails in accomplishing that goal. He knows that he was there before that success or failure happened, he was there during it, and he will be there after it as well. Therefore whatever happened can be easily dealt with. In no way does he let any adverse outcome demotivate him.

How can we apply this practically? For example, if we worked hard for a project and someone criticizes us, internally we should remain steady and evaluate whether the criticism is valid or mean-spirited. If it is valid, we take the feedback positively. If it is mean-spirited, we ignore it. But if we are too attached to the work, we will lose our equanimity each time someone criticizes us.