Category Archives: jaatu

Bhagavad Gita Verse 23, Chapter 3

31 Saturday Dec 2011

Posted by in aham, anuvartante, atandritaha, chapter 3 verse 23, hi, jaatu, karmani, mama, manushyaaha, na, paartha, sarvashaha, vartama, varteyam, yadi

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yadi hyaham na varteyam jaatu karmanyatandritaha |
mama vartamaanuvartante manushyaaha paartha sarvashaha || 23 ||

For, if I were not to perform my duties alertly, people from everywhere will follow my path, O Paartha.

yadi : of
hi : for
aham : I
na : do not
varteyam : perform
jaatu : when
karmani : duties
atandritaha: alertness
mama : my
vartama : path
anuvartante : follow
manushyaaha : people
paartha : O Paartha
sarvashaha : from everywhere

To better understand this shloka, and make it more relatable, let us examine the life of a individual from our time who dedicated his life to the service of others – Baba Amte.

In his early years, he acted as a defense lawyer for freedom fighters imprisoned by British authorities in the 1942 Quit India movement. Later, Amte founded three ashrams for treatment and rehabilitation of leprosy patients, disabled people, and people from marginalized sections of the society in India. Today, the largest ashram named Anandwan has a university, an orphanage, and schools for the blind and the deaf, housing over 5,000 residents.

Now, imagine if someone like Baba Amte were to one day say “I think I am going to stop all my work and take it easy”. What would be the impact on the general population? People would start saying “If even Baba Amte does not work, why should I do so?”

Therefore, Shri Krishna urged Arjuna to always perform action and not give in to the tendency of the human body to become lazy. If not for Arjuna’s own sake, at least for the sake of others who considered him as a role model. And similarly, he urges us also to become role models by continually performing selfless actions, with complete attention and alertness.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 5, Chapter 3

13 Tuesday Dec 2011

Posted by in 3.5, akarmakrita, api, avashah, chapter 3 verse 5, gunaaih, hi, jaatu, kaaryate, karma, kaschit, kshanam, na, prakritijaih, sarvah, tishtati

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na hi kaschitkshanamapi jaatu tishthatyakarmakrita |
kaaryate hyaavashah karma sarvah prakritijairgunaih || 5 ||

For no one can stay without performing action, even for a moment. All beings, helplessly, are compelled to act by the gunaas born of prakriti.

na : not
hi : for
kaschit : anyone
kshanamapi : for even a moment
jaatu : in any state
tishthati : stay
akarmakrita : without performing action
kaaryate : compels to act
avashah : helplessly
karma : action
sarvah : all beings
prakritijaih : born of prakriti
gunaih : gunaas

Imagine a huge forest untouched by man, like we see on the National Geographic channel. If we look at it superficially, we could conclude that there is nothing going on there. But if we pay close attention, we will begin to hear the chirping of the crickets, the babble of a brook, the fluttering of wings and so on.

Watching all the actions going on in the forest reminds us of a simple fact. It is the tendency of nature or “prakriti” to act continuously. It never stays action-less even for a moment. Even a rock that seems action-less is undergoing geological change that is visible only after thousands or millions of years.

Now lets shift our attention to the human body. It too, is constructed by nature. It is composed of substances derived from the food we eat, the water we drink and the air we breathe, all products of nature. If our body is made of components born out of nature, wouldn’t it also follow the tendency of nature towards continuous action?

Therefore, Shri Krishna informs us that all beings have no choice but to act, because all beings are made up of prakriti. He explains that prakriti is nothing but three gunaas – energies or forces that make up this entire universe. These three energies are: rajas which causes movement, tamas which causes inertia, and sattva which maintains harmony between movement and inertia. This topic is taken up in great detail in later chapters.

In this way, Shri Krishna addresses the question raised earlier: “Why can’t I retire to the forest and cease all action?” We cannot, because the gunaas that we are made up are born out of nature, and nature never ceases to act continuously.

If this answer still does not satisfy us, let’s try to sit still for three hours. Even if we somehow manage to physically sit still, our minds will be racing with thoughts. And even the act of thinking is an action.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 12, Chapter 2

07 Friday Oct 2011

Posted by in 2.12, aasam, atahaa, bhavishyaanaha, chapter 2 verse 12, eva, ime, jaatu, janaadhipaaha, param, sarve, vayam

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na tvevaaham jaatu naasam na tvam neme janaadhipaaha |
na chaiva na bhavishyaamaha sarve vayamataha param || 12 ||

In fact, there was never a time when I did not exist, nor did you, nor did these kings; and never shall we all cease to exist hereafter.

tu  : in fact
na eva : certainly never
jaatu : any time
aham : I
na : did not
aasam : exist
na : nor
tvam : you
no : nor
ime : these
janaadhipaaha : kings

cha : and
na eva : certainly never
na : will not
bhavishyaamaha : exist
sarve : all
vayam : of us
ataha param : hereafter

The Gita uses a lot of poetic techniques, including using double negatives like the ones in this verse. If you cancel the double negatives, a simpler version of this verse will be “All of us are timeless and eternal. We always existed in the past, and we will always exist in the future”.

This statement, at first glance, does not seem to make sense. So let’s look at an example. Let’s imagine a huge lake with deep waters. The surface of the lake is usually quiet. Once in a while, a wind blows across the lake causing a wave to appear for a few seconds, then disappear soon after.

If we apply the logic of this verse and examine it from the perspective of a wave, the lake always existed before the wave came into existence. And the lake will remain long after any wave has disappeared.

Similarly, an LCD television has thousands of pixels, or dots of light, on its screen. These pixels turn on and off, due to which a moving image is created on the screen. We can enjoy a movie on the screen that will begin and end, characters and situations will come and go, but the screen will remain as a constant.

Now, according to physics, matter can never be created or destroyed, it can only undergo change from one state to another. So therefore, this shloka reiterates this physical law by saying that the atoms and molecules that comprise us always existed in the universe in some shape or forms.

But, just like the surface of the lake is a constant that lets the play of waves happen on it, there is a timeless, eternal, constant surface or “essence” that is present in the entire universe, which is the backdrop on which the play of matter happens.

At this point, what is being spoken of here may seem abstract and somewhat hard to conceptualize, but it is similar to algebra where we denote unknown quantities by variables like x and y, till such time as we deduce the right value.

Ok. So what exactly is this eternal essence? How do we see it? If it is present in us, which part of the body does it reside in?

Footnotes
1. The wave and lake example is from the Jnyaneshwari, which is filled with tons of examples to explain complex concepts such as this one.