Category Archives: evam

Bhagavad Gita Verse 16, Chapter 3

24 Saturday Dec 2011

Posted by in 3.16, aghaayu, anuvartayati, chakram, chapter 3 verse 16, evam, iha, indriyaraahah, jeevati, mogham, na, paartha, pravartitam, sah, yah

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evam pravartitam chakram naanuvartayateeha yaha |
aghaayurindriyaaraamo mogham paartha sa jeevati || 16 ||

In this manner, one who does not follow this system of evolution, that malicious individual who dwells in sense pleasures, wastes his life.

evam : in this manner
pravartitam : evolution
chakram : system
na : does not
anuvartayati : follow
iha : this
yah : one who
aghaayu : malicious
indriyaaraamah : dwells in senses
mogham : waste
paartha : O Paartha
sah : that one
jeevati : lives

In the two preceding shlokas, Shri Krishna illustrated how several beings acting in the spirit of yajna brought forth the potential for serving each other. Now he takes the illustration one step further. He says that yajna is a “system of evolution”. Which means, it is a method to move from a lower plane of existence to a higher plane of existence.

Darwin’s theory of evolution describes how life evolved from simple single-celled organisms into plants, then into animals, then into primates, and culminated in our species, the humans. What comes next? Shri Krishna explains that humans, being the only species capable of rational analysis and thinking, have a choice: to remain at the current state and give in to their “lower nature”, or evolve into a higher state of existence.

What is the “lower nature”? When one continually harbours selfish desires, and lives for the sake of sense pleasure, that person generates guilt, fear, anger, hatred, pride and other such emotions that strengthen the ego. Such an individual is termed “malicious” by Shri Krishna. That individual is said to have lived in vain, because he did not use the wonderful opportunity of being born as a human to access the higher nature.

And so, who is the individual of “higher nature”? It is the individual who has begun identifying with a higher ideal, and in doing so, has slowly eroded his ego in the selfless service of that higher ideal. A detailed description of such an individual was provided by Shri Krishna in the latter part of the second chapter in the “sthita-prajna-lakshana” or the signs of a wise individual. Karmayoga is the first step to participate in this system of evolution.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 26, Chapter 2

24 Monday Oct 2011

Posted by in 2.26, arhasi, atha, cha, chapter 2 verse 26, enam, evam, mahaabaaho, manyase, mirtam, nityajaatam, nityam, shochitum, tathaapi, tvam, vaa

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atha chainam nityajaatam nityam vaa manyase mritam |
tathaapi tvam mahaabaaho naivam shochitumarhasi || 26 ||

But on the other hand, if you believe that this (eternal essence) constantly takes birth and dies, then also you should not grieve, O mighty armed.

atha cha : but if
enam : this (eternal essence)
nityajaatam : constantly being born
nityam : constantly
vaa : or
manyase : believe
mritam: die
tathaapi : then also
tvam : you
mahaabaaho : O mighty-armed
na : not
evam : this
shochitum : grieve
arhasi : should

Shri Krishna imparted the teaching of the eternal essence to Arjuna in the shlokas we’ve been seeing. Now, the teaching becomes slightly less abstract and a little more “down-to-earth” as it were. Shri Krishna understands that people like us may find it hard to comprehend the notion of imperishability. Our mind will find a hard time comprehending that something was never born/created, and something will never die/get destroyed.

For example, we may think of the Earth as relatively imperishable, but even then we know from our school geology class that it was formed billions of years ago out of cooling of gases.

Therefore, Shri Krishna says : “O Arjuna, even if you cannot comprehend that the eternal essence is imperishable, it is ok, you can also believe that the eternal essence, which is present in human bodies, undergoes birth and death with the body”. In the next few shlokas, Sri Krishna will convince Arjuna that his grief is unfounded even if he accepts that the eternal essence undergoes birth and death.

We may have a question here: Why did Shri Krishna begin his teaching of the Gita by describing the eternal essence? Isn’t it a complex, abstract topic that all of us, including Arjuna, would have a hard time understanding? Couldn’t he have started with something simpler?

Here’s a possible answer. What is described as the eternal essence is the goal, the final result of the Gita teaching. Like a good teacher, Shri Krishna described the end goal to his students before describing the means to attain that goal. Any good teacher will always describe, elaborate upon, and glorify the end goal in the first lecture of a course. This will generate interest, curiosity, focus and dedication from the student. The student may not necessarily understand everything about that goal, but that is ok.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 25, Chapter 2

23 Sunday Oct 2011

Posted by in 2.25, achintaha, anushochitum, arhasi, avikaryaha, avyaktaha, ayam, chapter 2 verse 25, enam, evam, naa, tasmaad, uchyate, viditya

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avyaktoyamachintoyamavikaryoyamuchyate |
tasmaadevam viditvainam naanushochitumarhasi || 25 ||

This (eternal essence) is imperceptible, this is incomprehensible, this is unchanging, it is said. Therefore, having known this, it is not worthy of grief.

avyaktaha : imperceptible
ayam : this
achintaha : incomprehensible
avikaryaha : unchanging
uchyate : it is said
tasmaad : therefore
evam : thus
viditva : having known
enam : this
naa : not
anushochitum : grieve
arhasi : worthy

Let’s take stock of where we are. In the second chapter, Shri Krishna covers 4 main topics: 1) Informing Arjuna that his logic and reasoning was incorrect 2) Explaining the correct logic and reasoning to Arjuna 3) Providing practical guidance to implement this correct logic and reasoning 4) Describing the attributes of a person who follows this teaching.

We are still exploring the second topic, and this shloka marks the end of the argument that Shri Krishna began in shloka 17. The argument was whether the eternal essence can slay or be slain. Shri Krishna, in this shloka, concludes the argument by saying the following:

“Arjuna, associate yourself with the eternal essence and not the body. The eternal essence is eternal and imperishable; it cannot slay or be slain. Therefore do not grieve for the opposing army’s warriors on their imminent death. Their bodies will perish anyway, so you shouldn’t grieve for what is bound to perish. The eternal essence which is common between them and you is imperishable, so you should not grieve for that either. Therefore you have no reason to grieve at all.”

Let’s look further. If something is imperceptible, that means it is beyond the realm of our sense organs. If something is incomprehensible, it is beyond the realm of the intellect. If something is unchanging, then no physical effort will have an impact on it. We are dealing with something that is not of this material world, it is beyond it.

In the next few shlokas, Shri Krishna provides a simpler alternative of logic and reason to Arjuna, after which the teaching takes a turn towards more practical and concrete topics.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 47, Chapter 1

23 Friday Sep 2011

Posted by in chaapam, chapter 1 verse 47, evam, samkhye, samvigna, sasharam, upaavishat, upastha, visrujya

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Sanjaya uvaacha
evamuktaarjunaha samkhye rathopastha upaavishat |
visrujya sasharam chaapam shokasamvignamaanasaha || 47 ||
 
Having said these words in the battlefield, Arjun sat in the center of his chariot, casting off his weapons, his mind disturbed with sorrow.
 
evam : thus
uktva : having said
arjunaha : Arjun
samkhya : on the battlefield
rath : chariot
upasthaha : centre
upaavishat : sat
visrujya : cast out
sasharam : with arrows
chaapam : and bow
shoka : sorrow
samvignam : disturbed
maanasaha : mind
 
Arjuna ended his rant in this verse, which is the final verse in Chapter 1. His body language reflects his state of mind as he threw away his weapons and sat down on his chariot, in the midst of the battlefield. Sanjay the narrator took over here, and possibly gave a glimmer of hope to Dhritraashtra, who was hoping that this action of Arjuna could end the war even before it began.
 
Let us reflect upon the first chapter of the Bhagavad Gita, in preparation for the second chapter. Arjuna, ready for war, under the influence of his ego and mind, became weak when Shri Krishna moved the chariot in between the Paandava and Kaurava armies.
 
Now, we may never face a war in our lifetime, but we will undoubtedly face conflicts in life where we lose our mental equipoise, and need guidance on what the right course of action is. Death of a loved one, hard economic conditions, issues with family members or friends, a bad boss, a stressful job – life is full of conflict-ridden situations.
 
This chapter is called “Arjuna Vishaada Yoga”, or the Yoga of Arjuna’s dejection. We will delve deeper into the meaning of the word Yoga later, but for now, let’s assume that it means technique or method that shows how one should conduct oneself in a life situation.
 
So why is Arjuna’s dejection called a technique or a method? Let’s take an example. Assume you own a car, and ever since you owned the car for about 10 years or so. You have never had an accident, and you never had the need to get a car insurance policy. But one fine day, you drive into your neighbour’s car, and end up owing him a gigantic sum of money. From that day onwards, you will never ever drive a car without insurance. So, what this means is that you had to pass through an extremely difficult situation in order to gain the knowledge that insurance is important.
 
Similarly, Arjuna had to pass through an extremely difficult life situation which jolted him so much that it made him realize that he was missing something essential. He did not know how to conduct himself in such a difficult situation. Fortunately for him, Shri Krishna was right there to provide him that instruction. But without passing through that tough life situation, he never would have realized the need for such an instruction. Therefore, just like any other chapter in the Gita, this chapter is also a Yoga, or a method, of how to conduct one’s life correctly.
 
om tatsatiti shreematbhagavatgitasupanishadsu brahmavidyaayaam yogashaastre shreekrishnaarjunsamvade arjunavishaadayogo naama prathamodhyaayaha || 1 ||