Category Archives: ingate

Bhagavad Gita Verse 23, Chapter 14

01 Friday Mar 2013

Posted by in 14.23, aaseenaha, avatishthathi, chapter 14 verse 23, eva, gunaaha, gunaihi, ingate, iti, udaaseenavat, vartante, vichaalyate, yaha

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udaaseenavadaaseeno gunairyo na vichaalyate |
gunaa vartante ityeva yovatishthathi nengate || 23 ||
 
One who is sits like an indifferent person, is not agitated by the gunas, who, knowing that the gunas interact with each other, is firmly situated and does not move.
 
udaaseenavat : indifferent person
aaseenaha : seated
gunaihi : through gunaas
yaha : one who
na : not
vichaalyate : agitated
gunaaha : gunas
vartante : interact
iti : in this manner
eva : only
yaha : one who
avatishthathi : situated firmly
na : does not
ingate : move
 
Previously, Shri Krishna indicated the mental state of one who has transcended the gunas. He now addresses the second question – how does one who has gone beyond the gunas behave in this world. He says that such a person lives life with ease and grace. He is like the graceful elephant who walks on the road, unaffected by the horde of dogs that is barking at him. We have come across such people ourselves, who remain calm and unperturbed even when facing their darkest personal challenges.
 
What makes a person so calm? There are two factors. First, even though such a person may not look like a monk from the outside, he has a great deal of detachment towards the world. Second, such a person is seated on an unshakeable platform, his own self. Both factors are possible through the conviction and constant awareness that the entire world, including one’s own body, is a play of the three gunas. It is the difference between getting swept away by the waves or sitting calmly on the beach. It is the difference between participating in a street fight or observing the fight from a second floor balcony.
 
What does all this mean in practice? It means when our mind is agitated, we will not crave for a peaceful state. We will accept that a certain level of agitation, a certain level of rajas is part and parcel of daily life. We will simply watch that mental state arise, persist, and go away, only to be replaced by another state. We will view the whole world as the gunas interacting with the gunas. The “I” within us will be firmly seated in itself, with a healthy level of distance and detachment from the movement of those gunas. It will stop identifying, giving importance, giving reality to the play of gunas. The gunas will move, but the “I” within us will not.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 19, Chapter 6

22 Sunday Apr 2012

Posted by in aatmanaha, chapter 6 verse 19, deepaha, ingate, na, nivaatasthataha, saa, smritaa, upamaa, yatachittasya, yathaa, yogam, yoginaha, yunjato

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yathaa deepo nivaatasthato nengate sopamaa smritaa |
yogino yatachittasya yunjato yogamaatmanaha || 19 ||
 
Just like a lamp in a windless place does not flicker, this state is comparable to the yogi, having controlled the mind, who engages his self in yoga.
 
yathaa : just like
deepaha : lamp
nivaatasthataha : in a windless place
na : does not
ingate : flicker
saa : this (state)
upamaa : comparison
smritaa : has been said
yoginaha : of the yogi
yatachittasya : who has controlled the mind
yunjato : engages
yogam : yoga
aatmanaha : with his self
 
The state of the meditator’s mind is beautifully explained with a classic illustration or “upamaa” by Shri Krishna in this shloka. He compares the mind of a meditator to the flame of a lamp that is burning in a windless room. Just like the flame is unwavering due to absence of wind, so too is the mind of a meditator steady due to absence of desire.
 
If we compare the focused mind to a steady flame, then we need to understand how to prevent to mind from succumbing to the winds of desire. If desires exist, we may be able to temporarily stabilize the mind, but it will eventually get destabilized due to a thought generated by a desire. Presence of desire indicates absence of detachment or vairagya. The only cure is to increase our level of detachment towards the world.
 
The intense level of detachment that is needed for meditation is not an alien concept. When people get extremely absorbed in watching TV, they temporarily develop detachment towards everything else. If we call them for dinner, or if the doorbell rings and so on, these external occurences do not even register in their minds. It again depends on what we give importance to.
 
Now let us examine another aspect of the lamp illustration. According to Vedaanta, seeing an inert object is a 2 step process. First, our mind creates a mental picture of the object. Next, the aatman or self shines a light on that picture, just like a torch does. Only when this light is shined do we come to know that “this is a mango” or “this is a car” and so on.
 
But when we meditate on the self, the second step does not happen because we are not focusing our attention on an inert object. We are focusing on the self, which illuminates itself. It is like shining a torch on the sun – the torch is useless. The self is like the candle since it does not require anything else to illumine it, to shine a light on it. This is another point made in the illustration of the flame.
 
So therefore, when our focus and concentration reaches its peak, and when the target of meditation becomes our own aatmaa or self, it is the culmination of meditation. It is the state of samaadhi. This state is further elaborated upon in the forthcoming shlokas.