Category Archives: eekshate

Bhagavad Gita Verse 20, Chapter 18

08 Saturday Jun 2013

Posted by in 18.20, avibhaktam, bhaavam, chapter 18 verse 20, eekshate, ekam, http://schemas.google.com/blogger/2008/kind#post, jnyaanam, saattvikam, sarvabhooteshu, vibhakteshu, viddhi

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sarvabhooteshu yenaikam bhaavamavyayameekshate |
avibhaktam vibhakteshu tajjnyaanam viddhi saattvikam || 20 ||
 
By which one sees a single, imperishable, indivisible entity in all diverse beings, know that knowledge to be sattvic.
 
sarvabhooteshu : in all beings
yena : by which
ekam : single
bhaavam : entity
avyayam : imperishable
eekshate : one sees
avibhaktam : indivisible
vibhakteshu : diverse
tat : that
jnyaanam :knowledge
viddhi : know
saattvikam : saattvic
 
Knowledge, the doer and action were introduced in the prior shloka. Shri Krishna now begins the analysis of knowledge. To recap, jnyaanam or knowledge here refers to the meaning given by an individual to information conveyed by the senses and the mind. The view of a large garden, for instance, could be interpreted differently by different people. A nature lover would rush towards it. A city dweller may think of it is a waste of living space. A real estate developer would imagine a resort being built on it, and all the consequent profits that follow from it.
 
Knowledge can be saattvic, raajasic or taamasic, since it is a product of Prakriti or nature. Sattvic knowledge is taken up here. The mind and the senses, by their very nature, report a diverse world. Shri Krishna says that the vision that can see unity within this diversity is called saattvic vision or knowledge. Few people have such a vision, since it is hard to fight against the normal tendency of the mind to chop up the world into fragments. Only someone with a saattvic vision like Mahatma Gandhi, for instance, could rally diverse and antagonistic states towards the idea of a united Indian nation.
 
Ultimately, a sattvic vision of seeing unity in diversity paves the way to understanding that the entire universe is pervaded by one single, imperishable, undivided entity. Initially, this entity is the eternal essence with attributes, the saguna brahman, also known as Ishvara. At the conclusion of the spiritual journey, the understanding evolves to recognize this entity as the nirguna brahman, the pure eternal essence, which is our own self. We can develop such a unified vision, this samyak darshana, through karma yoga. Instead of serving ourselves, we serve our family, then our community, our company, our state, our nation and eventually, Ishvara.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 29, Chapter 6

01 Tuesday May 2012

Posted by in aatmaanam, aatmani, cha, chapter 6 verse 29, eekshate, samadarshanaha, sarvabhootani, sarvabhootastham, sarvatra, yogayuktaatmaa

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sarvabhootasthamaatmaanam sarvabhootani chaatmani |
eekshate yogayuktaatmaa sarvatra samadarshanaha || 29 ||
 
One who is established in yoga, one with equanimous vision everywhere, sees his self in all beings, and all beings in his own self.
 
sarvabhootastham : present in all beings
aatmaanam : his self
sarvabhootani : all beings
cha : and
aatmani : in his own self
eekshate : sees
yogayuktaatmaa : one established in yoga
sarvatra : everywhere
samadarshanaha : equanimous vision
 
So far, Shri Krishna was talking about the process of meditation, what should be the meditator’s approach, how should he sit and so on. But having come out of meditation, what is the vision of the perfected meditator?
 
Shri Krishna says that the perfected meditator sees his self in all beings, and all beings in his self. It is difficult to comprehend what this means without actually practising meditation. We can do our best to understand it through an example.
 
We will use the illustration of the wave and the ocean as our running example. As an individual, we have a name and a form. In the same way, we can assume that each wave in the ocean has a (fictitious) name and form. If we go with this analogy, then we can consider ourself as one of those waves.
 
Meditation enables us to expand the notion of what a wave is. So first, we begin to see that although there are different kinds of waves in the ocean, in essence, they are nothing but name and form. Some waves are big, some are small. Some last for a few seconds, some last for much longer than that. Now I could be a small wave and you could be a big wave, but both of us are waves nevertheless. It is akin to realizing that we are all in the same family, company, nation and so on.
 
This stage of the perfected meditator’s vision is indicated by the words “he sees his self in all beings”.
 
As we further expand our vision, we begin to unravel the base of all these waves. We think: yes, all of us are waves, but what holds us together? We then realize that all waves no matter how big or small are contained in the ocean. The ocean is infinitely larger than all of the waves put together. None of the waves can exist without the ocean.
 
The final stage of this vision is reached when we as the wave realize that the ocean also is a name and form, even though it is infinitely larger than all of the waves put together. At its essence, it is nothing but water. I am the wave is water, other waves are water, the ocean is also water.
 
This state is indicated by the words “he sees all beings in his own self”, and such a person is called “sarvatra samadarshanaha”, one with equal vision.
 
Another point made in this shloka is that this “seeing” does not happen just with one’s eyes. This vision comes out of wisdom. Such vision is sometimes referred to as the “third eye”. This is the vision of a “sthitaprajnya” that was briefly discussed in the second chapter.
 
This topic is further elaborated upon in the next few shlokas.