Category Archives: gunaan

Bhagavad Gita Verse 26, Chapter 14

03 Sunday Mar 2013

Posted by in 14.26, avyabhichaarena :, bhakti, brahmabhooyaaya, chapter 14 verse 26, etaan, gunaan, kalpate, maam, saha, samateetya, sevate, yaha, yogena

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maam cha yovyabhichaarena bhaktiyogena sevate |
sa gunaansamateetyaitaanbrahmabhooyaaya kalpate || 26 ||
 
And he who worships me with the unwavering yoga of devotion, having gone beyond these gunas, becomes fit for attaining brahman.
 
maam : my
cha : and
yaha : he who
avyabhichaarena : unwavering
bhakti : devotion
yogena : with yoga
sevate : worship
saha : he
gunaan : gunas
samateetya : gone beyond
etaan : these
brahmabhooyaaya : attaining Brahman
kalpate : fit
 
Since this chapter is coming to an end, let us do a quick recap. We learned that this entire universe, including our mind and body, is nothing but the play of the three gunas of Prakriti – sattva, rajas and tamas. Only when we learn to stand apart from the gunas, when we separate ourselves from the gunas, can we attain liberation from the endless cycle of sorrow known as samsaara. For most of us, such a high degree of discrimination is extremely difficult. Moreover, such discrimination needs to be combined with dispassion as well as total control of the mind and the sense organs.
 
Knowing the impediments of fulfilling all these requirements, Arjuna wanted to know whether there was a straightforward way of releasing oneself from the influence of the gunas. Shri Krishna says that yes, it is possible. The answer is the yoga of unwavering devotion, which was the topic of chapters seven to twelve. In a nutshell, we detach ourselves from the gunas by attaching ourselves to something higher, which is Ishvara. It is like the child who gives up his toys because he loves poetry now that he is a teenager.
 
This yoga of devotion is not completely without effort, however. Shri Krishna adds an adjective that we need to bear in mind – avyabhichaarena or unwavering. We cannot keep Ishvara as our goal from 7 am to 8 am and then start thinking about how to demolish our competitors from 8 am to 11 am. The one and only goal should be Ishvara. If all our goals are within the scope of our svadharma, our prescribed role in this world, they very naturally are part and parcel of our devotion towards Ishvara.
 
Having made Ishvara our only goal, and having maintained such an awareness throughout our life, we become fit to attain brahman. How does that happen? The next and last shloka of this chapter addresses this topic.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 21, Chapter 14

26 Tuesday Feb 2013

Posted by in 14.21, ateetaha, ativartate, bhavati, chapter 14 verse 21, etaan, gunaan, kaihi, katham, kimaachaaraha, lingaihi, prabho, treen

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Arjuna uvaacha:
kairlingaistreengunaanetaanateeto bhavati prabho |
kimaachaaraha katham chaitaanstreengunaantivartate || 21 ||
 
Arjuna said:
By which signs is the one who has gone beyond the three gunas known, O Lord? What is his behaviour, and how does he transcend these three gunas?
 
kaihi : which
lingaihi : signs
treen : three
gunaan : gunas
etaan : these
ateetaha : one who has gone beyond
bhavati : is
prabho : O Lord
kimaachaaraha : what is his behaviour
katham : how
cha : and
etaan : these
treen : three
gunaan : gunas
ativartate : transcend
 
We hear Arjuna speak after a long time in this shloka. Arjuna usually speaks when he needs to clarify a doubt, or when he thinks that he needs a more practical version of what he has just heard. We have seen this happen several times. In the second chapter, Arjuna wanted to know the marks of the person who is established in knowledge, sthitha prajnya. Arjuna also asked the signs of a perfected devotee in the chapter on bhakti yoga. Every time he has asked a question, we as listeners have benefitted tremendously.
 
Having heard a detailed explanation around the three gunas, but only a couple of shlokas on the person who transcends those gunas and attains immortality, Arjuna found it appropriate to ask a question at this juncture. He wanted to know three things. First, how does one know that a person has transcended the three gunas. Second, how does such a person behave in the world. Third, how does he actually transcend the three gunas.
 
We have to constantly remind ourselves that everything we learn from this chapter is purely for self-analysis, not for judging or evaluating someone else. The only person that can accurately determine whether our mental state is sattvic, rajasic or tamasic is none other than ourselves. There is another aspect to learning about the signs of one who has gone beyond the influence of the gunas. Until we reach the state of liberation, these signs are attributes that we should aspire to cultivate in our lives.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 20, Chapter 14

26 Tuesday Feb 2013

Posted by in 14.20, amritam, ashnute, ateetya, chapter 14 verse 20, dehasamudbhavaan, dehee, etaan, gunaan, janmamrityujaraaduhkhaihi, treen, vimuktaha

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gunaanetaanateetya treendehee dehasamudbhavaan |
janmamrityujaraaduhkhaurvimuktomritamashnute || 20 ||
 
Having gone beyond these three gunaas, the creators of the body, the body dweller is freed from sorrow of birth, death and old age, and attains immortality.
 
gunaan : of the gunaas
etaan : these
ateetya : gone beyond
treen : three
dehee : body dweller
dehasamudbhavaan : creators of the body
janmamrityujaraaduhkhaihi : sorrows of birth, death and old age
vimuktaha : freed
amritam : immortality
ashnute : attains
 
Shri Krishna now conveys the gist of the fourteenth chapter in this shloka. He says that Prakriti, which is comprised of the three gunaas, creates this entire universe, including our body. As long as the individual soul, the jeeva, the body dweller identifies with this body and gives reality to it, he experiences sorrows throughout his life. Once the jeeva stops identifying with the body which is the product of the three gunaas, he attains liberation and becomes immortal.
 
This shloka also connects the main theme of the prior chapter to this chapter. In the thirteenth chapter, we learnt that ignorance of our true nature creates an entity called the Purusha, which in essence is nothing but a bundle of unfulfilled desires. Now here, we learn that these unfulfilled desires, also known as avidyaa, ignorance or maaya, attract a combination of sattva, rajas and tamas that becomes the physical body. Only when the Purusha severs his connection with this body by rising above the three gunaas, he realizes his true nature as the eternal essence.
 
Immortality in this context does not mean physical immortality. The body follows the laws of nature. Everything in nature has to perish, including our physical body. From the perspective of Prakriti, the body will die. But the dehi, the body dweller, having gone beyond the three gunas, having stopped identifying with the three gunas, knows that he is untouched and unaffected by the laws of Prakriti. For him, the modifications of the body such as old age and disease are as if they are happening to some third party. This ultimate freedom from the influence of the Prakriti is what makes him immortal.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 21, Chapter 13

22 Tuesday Jan 2013

Posted by in 13.21, asya, bhungkte, chapter 13 verse 21, gunaan, gunasangaha, kaaranam, prakritijaan, prakritisthaha, purushaha, sadasadyonihijanmasu

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purushaha prakritistho hi bhungkte prakritijaangunaan |
kaaranam gunasangosya sadasadyonijanmasu || 21 ||
 
Purusha, when seated in Prakriti, experiences the qualities born of Prakriti. Attachment to these qualities is the cause of his birth in good and evil wombs.
 
purushaha : Purusha
prakritisthaha : seated in Prakriti
hi : only
bhungkte : experiences
prakritijaan : born of Prakriti
gunaan : qualities
kaaranam : cause
gunasangaha : attachment to qualities
asya : his
sadasadyonihijanmasu : birth in good and evil wombs
 
Imagine that two young brothers and their grandmother are watching a boxing match on TV. One brother is a huge fan of boxer A, and the other brother of boxer B. The two brothers get so involved in the match that they feel they themselves are in the boxing ring. The brothers start throwing punches in the air, mimicking the actions of the boxers. Also, when boxer A punches boxer B, the first brother feels exhilaration whereas the second brother feels pain. All this time, their grandmother is watching the match without any of these reactions.
 
This involvement with the boxers doesn’t end with the match. Boxer A always likes to wear a headband, so the first brother starts to wear headbands in the house. Boxer B always snaps his fingers at the end of every sentence, so the second brother begins to do that as well, much to the annoyance of his parents. Both the brothers have become so infatuated with their boxers that they take on their likes and dislikes. We may think that such behaviour only happens with children and teenagers, but something similar has happened to all of us, causing us to get trapped in samsaara.
 
We are stuck twice in samsaaraa. First, Shri Krishna says that the eternal essence has mistakenly identified itself with one body due to avidyaa or ignorance, just like the brother identified himself with boxer A. Instead of watching the IMAX movie of the universe like the grandmother, we get stuck to one character in that movie. When the eternal essence as though gets deluded with ignorance, it becomes the Purusha, and becomes “seated in Prakriti”. It forgets it real nature as infinite, indivisible and blissful. It assumes the properties of our body and thinks itself to be finite, divisible and sorrowful.
 
Second, having identified with a finite body, having taken the “upaadhi” or conditioning of a body, we get attached to the play of Prakriti, the play of the three gunaas or qualities. We get so attached to the forms of Prakriti that we generate selfish desires in order to repeatedly contact these forms, which are nothing but objects and people. Seeking a shinier car is a mistaken attempt to find joy in the car instead of understanding our true nature as joy itself. We become the brother who starts wearing a headband to feel happy, just because boxer A does so, when the brother was happy even before he know what boxing was.
 
So then, how do we get out of this two step problem of samsaara which causes us to “take birth in good and evil wombs”? We solve step one – attachment to gunaas – through vairaagya or dispassion, we learn to slowly wean ourselves off the influence of the three gunaas. We then solve step two – ignorance of our true nature – through jnyaana or knowlege, when we learn of our real nature as the eternal essence and internalize it through meditation.
 
An illustration of Purusha getting entangled in Prakriti is taken up next.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 19, Chapter 13

20 Sunday Jan 2013

Posted by in 13.19, anaadi, chapter 13 verse 19, gunaan, prakritim, prakritisambhavaan, purusham, ubhau, viddhi, vikaaraan

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prakritim purusham chaiva viddhyanaadi ubhaavapi |
vikaaraanshcha gunaanshchaiva viddhi prakritisambhavaan | | 19 ||
 
Know that surely, both Prakriti and Purusha are without beginning. Also, know that in fact, all modifications and qualities are born of Prakriti.
 
prakritim : prakriti
purusham : purusha
cha : and
eva : surely
viddhi : know
anaadi : without beginning
ubhau : both
api : also
vikaaraan : modifications
cha : and
gunaan : qualities
cha : and
eva : in fact
viddhi : know
prakritisambhavaan : born of prakriti
 
Shri Krishna now describes how we fall into the trap of samsaara, the cycle of birth and death. In many respects, this topic is a continuation of the discussion of higher and lower prakriti from the seventh chapter. Let us quickly recap what we saw there. We learnt about two aspects of Ishvara, the lower and the higher. The lower nature comprises the five elements plus the mind, ego and intellect. The higher nature comprises the life-giving force which is also the experiencer, the subject. In this manner, Ishvara is established as the ultimate cause of the universe.
 
Here, the lower nature is termed “Prakriti” and the higher nature is termed “Purusha”. First, Shri Krishna says that both these aspects of Ishvara are without beginning, they are eternal. This is because Ishvara himself is eternal, so it logically follows that his aspects must also be eternal. But we also have to note that something which has no beginning can have an end. We will come back to this point later in the discussion.
 
The second statement here states that all modifications and qualities are born out of Prakriti. Maaya and prakriti refer to the same thing. Prakriti is a power wielded by Ishvara. It is beyond the comprehension of our intellect since our intellect itself is a product of Prakriti. The only way to understand Prakriti is to think of it as a magician’s illusion. This Prakriti gives rise to five elements that produce the entire visible universe. These combinations or modifications of Prakriti are termed as “vikaaraas”. Prakriti also comprises the three “gunaas” or qualities which are sattva, rajas and tamas. These qualities manifest as mental states such as happiness, sorrow and attachment.
 
In other words, if we go back in time, if we press the rewind button, we will see that everything merges back into Prakriti, everything has come from Prakriti. Now, let us get practical. Whenever we experience emotions such as sorrow, grief, anger and so on, it is Prakriti that creates it, not the self, not the “I”. This is what was explained in the shloka. But, when anger arises in our mind, for instance, we always say “I am angry”. How do we come to the conclusion that the “I” is angry when it is Prakriti that created the anger? This is taken up next.