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Category Archives: jnyaana

Bhagavad Gita Verse 42, Chapter 4

03 Saturday Mar 2012

Posted by in 4.42, aatishtha, aatmanaha, ajnyaana, asina, bhaarata, chapter 4 verse 42, chhittavaa, enam, hyatstham, jnyaana, sambhootam, sanshayam, tasmaat, uttishtha, yogam

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tasmaadajnyaanasambhootam hritstham jnyaanaasinaatmanaha |
chhittavainam sanshayam yogamaatishthottishtha bhaarata || 42 ||

Therefore, with the sword of knowledge, tear your doubts that are born of ignorance and reside in your heart; establish yourself in this path of yoga, and arise, O Arjuna.

tasmaat : therefore
ajnyaana : ignorance
sambhootam : born of
hritstham : reside in the heart
jnyaana : knowledge
asina : sword of
aatmanaha : your
chhittavaa : tear
enam : this
sanshayam : doubts
yogam : yoga
aatishtha : establish yourself (in this path)
uttishtha : arise
bhaarata : O Bhaarata

In this concluding verse of the fourth chapter, Shri Krishna urges Arjuna to cast away all his doubts and get back to fighting the Kurukshetra war. In other words, he asks the students of the Gita to put the teaching of the fourth chapter into practice, and to act in this world.

Shri Krishna reiterates the location of our accumulated ignorance. He uses the word “hritstham” which literally means heart, but actually refers to the four-fold antaha-karana comprising the mind, intellect, memory and ego.

This shloka also provides a concise summary of the fourth chapter. Ignorance in the form of individuality, selfishness and finitude, is our natural condition. This ignorance causes us to question our relationship with the world, just like Arjuna got confused in regards to his duty as a warrior. Having gained knowledge, in the form of universality, selflessness and infinitude, we know exactly how to transact with the world. All our doubts are destroyed. We begin to act in a spirit of yajnya, where we see the same eternal essence in the actor, the action and the result. Ultimately, like the shloka says, we arise not just physically, but also spiritually, into a new level of consciousness.

om tatsatiti shrimadbhagavadgitasu upanishadsu brahmavidyayaam yogashastre shrikrishnaarjunasamvade
jnyaanakarmasanyaasayogonaamo chaturthodhyaahaha || 4 ||

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Bhagavad Gita Verse 37, Chapter 4

27 Monday Feb 2012

Posted by in 4.37, agnihi, arjuna, bhasmaat, chapter 4 verse 37, edhaamsi, jnyaana, kurute, samiddhaha, sarvakarmaani, tathaa, yathaa

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yathaidhaamsi samiddhognirbhasmasaatkuruterjuna |
jnyaanaagnihi sarvakarmaani bhasmasaatkurute tathaa || 37 ||

Just as a burning flame turns fuel into ashes, O Arjuna, so does the fire of knowledge turn all actions into ashes.

yathaa : just as
edhaamsi : fuel
samiddhaha : burning
agnihi : flame
bhasmasaat : ashes
kurute : turn into
arjuna : O Arjuna
jnyaana-agnihi : fire of knowledge
sarvakarmaani : all actions
bhasmasaat : ashes
kurute : turn into
tathaa : so does

Previously, Shri Krishna mentioned that having gained knowledge, we will be able to cross over all our sins. But does that mean that the sins remain hidden somewhere? In this shloka, he says that all sins or karmaas get destroyed with knowledge. Just as fire has the capability to burn fuel in the form of wood or coal into ashes, so does knowledge totally destroy karmaas.

Karmaas accumulate in our psyche due to ignorance of our true identity. Now, knowledge and ignorance are mutually exclusive. One cannot remain when the other is present. Take an example from early school. Once you what the addition symbol “+” does, you no longer get confused when you see a question on addition.

So when knowledge comes, ignorance is destroyed, as well as karmaas that were created a result of ignorance. And when the sense of doership and enjoyership vanishes, then situations do not cause joy or sorrow. No more karmaas are accumulated.

In this manner, Shri Krishna continues to praise knowledge in this shloka and the following two shlokas.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 23, Chapter 4

13 Monday Feb 2012

Posted by in 4.23, aachaarataha, avasthita, chapter 4 verse 23, chetasaha, gatasangasya, jnyaana, karma, muktasya, pravileeyate, samagram, yajmaaya

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gatasangasya muktasya jnyaanavasthitachetasaha |
yajnaayaachaarataha karma samagram pravileeyate || 23 ||

One who is unattached, who is liberated, who is established in knowledge, works for the sake of yajnya, his actions are completely dissolved.

gata-sangasya : one who is unattached
muktasya : one who is liberated
jnyaana-avasthita-chetasaha: one who is established in knowledge
yajnaaya : for yajnya
aachaarataha : works
karma : actions
samagram : completely
pravileeyate : dissolved

What is the end result of following the practical tips given so far? Shri Krishna says that if we make the yajnya spirit a part of our life, rather than implement it only in work projects, it has the power to destroy all our vaasanaas. In this shloka, he tells Arjuna that for the person who is totally detached, free from attachments and established in the eternal essence, all of his accumulated karmaas melt away, like ice before the sun.

As we learned earlier, we perform selfish actions as a result of an unhealthy relationship with the world. Each such selfish action generates a negative reaction from the world which accumulates in our psyche as a karma. The way out of this predicament is correct knowledge, which is nothing but a healthy relationship with the world where all traces of selfishness are gone, where one works in a spirit of yajnya. This attitude of yajnya slowly makes us lose our identification with the body, mind, intellect and material objects. As our attachment goes away, we become liberated individuals.

Shri Krishna concludes the current topic of practical karmayoga advice by assuring us that the fire of knowledge burns the masses of karma that we have accumulated, provided that our actions are totally unselfish.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 10, Chapter 4

31 Tuesday Jan 2012

Posted by in 4.10, aagataaha, bahavaha, bhaya, chapter 4 verse 10, jnyaana, krodhah, maam, madbhaavam, manmayaaha, pootaha, raaga, tapasa, upaashritaah, veeta

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veetaraagabhayakrodhaa manmayaa maamupaashritaaha |
bahavo jnyaanatapasaa pootaa madbhaavamaagataaha || 10 ||

Free from attachment, fear and anger, absorbed in me and taking refuge in me; many have been purified through the austerity of knowledge, and have attained my essence.

veeta : free from
raaga : attachment
bhaya : fear
krodhah : anger
man-mayaaha :  absorbed in me
maam-upaashritaaha : taking refuge in me
bahavaha : many have
jnyaana-tapasaa : through the austerity of knowledge
pootaaha : purified
mad-bhaavam : my essence
aagataaha : have attained

Shri Krishna concluded the topic of Ishvaraa and his avataara in the previous shloka. Having heard this, a question may arise as to how many individuals were successful in realizing the eternal essence by following the path laid out by Shri Krishna. He gives an encouraging answer to that question. He says that many people have attained the eternal essence following this path. They have become “manmayaahaa” or one with him.

Many of us may have followed the teaching so far, and may have also understood the notion of karmayoga. Assuming that we follow it diligently, we would like to know what comes next in the spiritual journey. We can proceed further, but we cannot force it, just like one cannot go from high school to college without passing exams.

So in this shloka, Shri Krishna gives the roadmap to attaining the eternal essence. First, he advises us to follow the path of karmayoga so that our system is cleared of vaasanaas. It is the preparatory stage in the spiritual path, as we have seen earlier. As we become proficient in karmayoga, we slowly become free of attachment, fear and anger.

Next, as our vaasanaas become weaker, the force of our thought becomes more controlled. Our mind becomes purer, and consequently, becomes still. This enables us to better comprehend, contemplate upon and internalize the statements such as “I am the eternal essence”. Traditionally, these stages are shravana (hearing the scriptures), manana (contemplating) and nidhidhyaasana (internalization).

This constant and continued attempt to achieve identification with the eternal essence through the three stages of shravana, manana and nidhidhyaasana is called “jnyaana tapas” or the austerity of knowledge. We should note that this knowledge is not the kind of academic knowledge that we are used to. It is the absence of ignorance caused by vasanaas, or in other words, absence of selfish thinking.

Finally, having been purified by the austerity of knowledge, we begin to attain an affectionate attitude towards Ishvaraa. This attitude of devotion makes us take ultimate refuge in Ishvaraa, indicated here by the word “maanupaashritaaha”.

Footnotes
1. This shloka summarizes the three traditional paths of spirituality: karmayoga, bhaktiyoga (devotion) and jnyaanayoga (knowledge)

Bhagavad Gita Verse 41, Chapter 3

18 Wednesday Jan 2012

Posted by in 3.41, adau, bharatarshabha, chapter 3 verse 41, enam, hi, indriyaani, jnyaana, miyamya, naashanam, paapmaanam, prajahi, tasmaat, tvam, vijnyaana

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tasmaattvamindriyaanyaadau niyamya bharatarshabha |
paapmaanam prajahi hyonam jnyaanavijnyaananaashanam || 41 ||

Therefore, first control the senses, O excellent among Bharataas, and with force, definitely kill this destroyer of knowledge and wisdom.

tasmaat : therefore
tvam : you
indriyaani : senses
adau : first
niyamya : control
bharatarshabha : excellent among Bharataas
paapmaanam : mighty sinner (desires)
prajahi : kill with force
hi : definitely
enam : this
jnyaana : knowledge
vijnyaana : wisdom
naashanam : destroyer

Having revealed the location of desire, Shri Krishna now provides a method of taming desire. He advises Arjuna to first control desire at the level of the senses. Desires originate in the likes and dislikes present in the senses, and therefore, that is where we should go after them.

This requires us to be constantly aware and alert of our likes and dislikes, and not to get overpowered by them once we see them arise. For example, we can detect anger towards someone we dislike arise in our mind. We may try to suppress angry thoughts, but that is not feasible. Therefore we should first learn to control anger at level of the tongue by not speaking any harsh words towards that person.

How do we remain alert? There are several techniques to make us alert and bring us to the present moment. The simplest technique is to take a few breaths and just focus attention on the inhaling and exhaling. This will immediately stop all mental “chatter”.

Shri Krishna also mentions here that desire not only destroys knowledge but also wisdom. So let us correctly understand what is meant by wisdom here. Essentially, knowledge + experience = wisdom. If we read something in a book, then it is knowledge. But if we experience something on our own, then we own it and it becomes wisdom.

With this shloka, Shri Krishna answered the question raised by Arjuna, which was in regards to obstacles to karma yoga. He also provided a simple technique that only begins to address the obstacles, but does not completely eradicate them. In the next two verses, he concludes the topic of karmayoga by providing the advanced technique of removing these obstacles.