Category Archives: ijyate

Bhagavad Gita Verse 12, Chapter 17

02 Thursday May 2013

Posted by in 17.12, abhisandhaaya, bharatashreshtha, chapter 17 verse 12, dambhaartham, ijyate, phalam, raajasam, tam, viddhi, yajnyam

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abhisandhaaya tu phalam dambhaarthamapi chaiva yat |
ijyate bharatashreshtha tam yajnyam viddhi raajasam || 12 ||
 
That which is performed with the intent of reward and for ostentation alone, know that such a sacrifice is raajasic.
 
abhisandhaaya : intent
tu : but
phalam : reward
dambhaartham : ostentation
api : also
cha : and
eva : alone
yat : that which
ijyate : performed
bharatashreshtha : O foremost among Bharataas
tam : such
yajnyam : sacrifice
viddhi : know
raajasam : raajasic
 
Our attitude towards our actions determines the texture of our faith. Continuing with this theme, Shri Krishna describes the attitude with which a raajasic person performs his actions. He says that such a person constantly thinks “what is in it for me” in each and every action he performs. Personal gain is paramount, anyone else’s gain is secondary or even overlooked. Such a person is also constantly interested in the impression created by his action in the minds of others, and how will it benefit him. In other words, his actions are only performed for name and fame, for show and display. There is always an ulterior motive.
 
So far we have heard about the attitudes of saattvic and raajasic people towards action. This may raise several questions with respect to our life. We may say, I am a businessman, how can I not think what is in it for me? To answer this, we need to go back to the notion of our svadharma, our chosen career path. As long as ethics and laws are observed, a businessman should absolutely be focused on maximizing profits, otherwise he is not performing his duty. However, the businessman’s profit motive should only be restricted to business deals. A transaction mindset creeps into interactions with friends and family, it ends up causing trouble.
 
Now, we may be tempted to point our fingers at those who spend a lot of time and energy in maintaining their appearance. We may also say, when others make negative comments about our appearance, we do not get stressed. All this is well and good. However, we may get insulted or stressed when someone comments upon our intellect or our competency in our job. This means that we harbour a strong sense of aham, a strong sense of the “I” notion with our intellect. This stress is also an indicator that somewhere within us, the texture of our faith is tinged with rajas.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 11, Chapter 17

01 Wednesday May 2013

Posted by in 17.11, aphalakaankshibhihi, chapter 17 verse 11, ijyate, manaha, saattvikaha, saha, samaadhaaya, vidhidrishtaha, yaajnaha, yaha, yashtavyam

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aphalakaankshibhiryaajnau vidhidrishto ya ijyate |
yashtavyameveti manaha samaadhaaya sa saattvikaha || 11 ||
 
That which is performed by one without expectation of result, according to scripture, with a mental resolve of duty alone, such sacrifice is saattvic.
 
aphalakaankshibhihi : one without expectation of result
yaajnaha : sacrifice
vidhidrishtaha : according to scripture
yaha : that which
ijyate : performed
yashtavyam : duty
eva : alone
iti : in this manner
manaha : mind
samaadhaaya : resolve
saha : that
saattvikaha : is saattvic
 
So far, Shri Krishna revealed that the type of food we can reveal texture of our faith. He now lists the types of yajnya, the types of sacrificial rituals for worship, so that we can analyze the texture of our faith through them. Yajnyas are extremely elaborate rituals, but can be reduced to three basic components – the offering, the flame and the result. The person conducting the ritual uses items such as oil or butter as an offering to the deity. The deity is represented by the flame that consumes the offering. A yajnya is typically performed with a specific goal or result in mind, such as a longer life, marriage, children, prosperity and so on.
 
How does this matter to us in today’s day and age? Symbolically, yajnya refers to all of our interactions with any entity or object in this world, and comprises of the very same components. First, the offering is the effort we put in to perform an action. This action could be something we perform at our job, for example. Second, the flame represents the recipient of our action. Lastly, the recipient responds to our action in the form of a result, which could e something tangible such as money, or intangible, such as goodwill towards us.
 
As we saw earlier, three people can perform the same action with three different attitudes of sattva, rajas and tamas. Here, Shri Krishna describes the attitude of a saatvic person. Such a person performs his action driven by a sense of duty to a higher ideal, without any selfish desire. The higher ideal could be service of one’s country, for instance. There is no expectation of any result from the recipient of the action. Furthermore, the action is performed in line with a set of selfless laws, such as the law of a country, humanitarian laws, or laws that have come from scripture.