Category Archives: kartaaram

Bhagavad Gita Verse 16, Chapter 18

04 Tuesday Jun 2013

Posted by in 18.16, aatmaanam, akritabuddhitvaat, chapter 18 verse 16, durmatihi, kartaaram, kevalam, pashyati, saha, tatra evam sati

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tatraivam sati kartaaramaatmaanam kevalam tu yaha |
pashyatyakritabuddhitvaanna sa pashyati durmatihi || 16 ||
 
This being the case, the one who has an untrained intellect, sees the pure self as the doer. Indeed, that person of perverted understanding sees not.
 
tatra evam sati : this being the case
kartaaram : doer
aatmaanam : self
kevalam : pure
tu : indeed
yaha : one who
pashyati : sees
akritabuddhitvaat : one with untrained intellect
na : not
saha : that person
pashyati : sees
durmatihi : perverted understanding
 
We look at the clouds moving in the sky, and we imagine that the moon is moving, though it is stationary. We see other vehicles moving and think that our vehicle, which is stationary, to be moving. The actions of one object can be superimposed on another object due to optical illusion. Shri Shankaraachaarya provides these examples in this commentary of this shloka to drive home the point that what we see or experience may not really be the truth.
 
Shri Krishna says that our entire life is steeped in the incorrect notion that we perform actions. With regards to the analogies taken up, the self is stationary, and Prakriti is moving. But we do not see this because our intellect is untrained. It is akrita buddhi. We have not imbibed the knowledge that action is performed by the five factors mentioned in the prior shlokas. The scriptures, and Shri Krishna, are repeatedly informing us that ultimately Ishvara’s Prakriti is performing all the actions, not our self, not the aatmaa, not the eternal essence. But we fail to see this. We are durmati, we have a perverted understanding.
 
Unless someone hears this statement from a teacher well versed in the scriptures, this ancient misunderstanding never comes up for questioning. The most common understanding is that the body is the self, the aatmaa. Some other people think that the jeeva, the individualized soul, is the aatmaa. But both these schools of thought attribute action to the aatmaa, which is incorrect. Furthermore, even the results of the actions go to the Prakriti. They do not go to the self, the aatmaa. The aatmaa is kevala, it is untainted, pure, and incapable of any change, modification or action. So then, what is the correct understanding? This is taken up next.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 19, Chapter 14

24 Sunday Feb 2013

Posted by in 14.19, adhigacchati, anupashyati, anyam, chapter 14 verse 19, drishtaa, gunebhyaha, kartaaram, madbhaavam, na, param, saha, vetti, yadaa

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naanyam gunebhyaha kartaaram yadaa drishtaanupashyati |
gunebhyashcha param vetti madbhaavam sodhigacchati || 19 ||
 
When the beholders views no other doer than the gunaas, and knows himself as transcending the gunaas, he attains my nature.
 
na : no
anyam : any other
gunebhyaha : gunaas
kartaaram : doer
yadaa : when
drishtaa : beholder
anupashyati : views
gunebhyaha : gunaas
cha : and
param : transcending
vetti : knows
madbhaavam : my nature
saha : he
adhigacchati : attains
 
Let us now introduce a new character into our recurring example, a CEO of a television channel. He is the father of the young child who, as we have seen earlier, is addicted to watching boxing matches. These matches are broadcast on the very same channel that the CEO owns. What is the difference between the child and the CEO? The CEO has set up the machinery of the television channel. He knows how the shows are recorded, edited and broadcast. When he comes home, he watches the channel as a detached observer. But the child, due to his addiction, gets affected by the blows received by the boxer in the boxing match.
 
The CEO keeps reminding his son to not get so attached to the boxing match since it is not real, it is just a television program. Once the child has identified himself as the boxer, he will have to accept all the consequences of that character in that particular TV show. In the same way, Shri Krishna urges us to not get trapped in the machine called Prakriti. If we identify with Prakriti, which is nothing but the three gunas, then we have to accept all its laws including birth, death, rebirth, joy, sorrow and so on. We have to understand that we neither do anything, nor do we experience the result of our actions. All action and reaction is within the realm of Prakriti. Once we establish ourselves as a witness, we understand that we have incorrectly taken on action and reaction upon ourselves.
 
Knowing this reality, however, does not mean that Prakriti will go away. Even if the child has stopped identifying with the boxer, the boxing match will be broadcast every day at 8 PM. Similarly, even if we are not bound by it, Prakriti will be tangible and visible to us during our waking hours. The entire universe, including the body that we are identified with, is made up of the three gunas of Prakriti. But despite it appearing to us as an apparent reality, Prakriti will be unable to bind us with its laws once we recognize it as an illusion, and not as reality. Once we are able to rise beyond identification with the three gunas, we will see Prakriti the way Ishvara sees Prakriti, as a detached observer. In this manner, when we realize our identity with Ishvara, we will attain the state of liberation, of self realization.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 13, Chapter 4

03 Friday Feb 2012

Posted by in 4.13, akartaaram, api, avyayam, chaatur, guna, karma, kartaaram, maam, mayaa, srishtam, tasya, varnyam, vibhaagashaha, viddhi

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chaaturvarnyam mayaa srishtam gunakarmavibhaagashaha |
tasya kartaaramapi maam viddhyakartaaramavyayam || 13 ||

Four classes have been created by me, based on the division of guna and action. Even though I created them, know me as the non-doer and imperishable.

chaatur : four
varnyam : classes
mayaa : by me
srishtam : created
guna : guna
karma : action
vibhaagashaha : division
tasya : that
kartaaram : being the doer
api : even though
maam : me
viddhi : know
akartaaram : non-doer
avyayam : imperishable

Earlier, Shri Krishna mentioned that humans cannot avoid action at any cost. So how can we achieve liberation from bondage while still performing action? To that end, Shri Krishna advises us to act per our svadharma. By efficiently performing svadharma, we can liberate ourselves while performing actions. This is the “why” of karmayoga.

Knowing that one should perform one’s svadharma or duty in this world is core to karmayoga. But how does one know what is one’s svadharma? Shri Krishna addresses this point briefly in this shloka. He says that human beings are categorized into four classes or varnaas. These classes are based on the 3 gunaas, and the corresponding action that each guna prompts us to do.

The three gunas and their corresponding actions are as follows. Rajas is expressed as as activity or agitation. Tamas is expressed as lethargy or laziness. Sattva is expressed as knowledge and peace. So we have to perform self-analysis in order to understand how the gunaas behave within us and in what proportion to each other.

We will find that we will fall into one of these four categories. A brahmana who is predisposed to gaining knowledge, faith, sharing knowledge will usually have a prominence of sattva. A kshatriya who demonstrates courage, likes to organize and protect people, face challenges, take risks, try new things will have a prominence of sattva and rajas. A vaishya who likes to be creative and produce something will have a prominence of rajas and tamas. A shudra who likes to execute tasks but requires a lot of motivation will have prominence of tamas.

As we can tell, this shloka was heavily misinterpreted to support the incorrect notion that varna is determined by birth. There is no such thing. Just like we have career counselling in modern times, the Gita offered a scientific manner of selecting a career that is suitable for oneself both from a practical perspective, and also from a karma yoga perspective.

In the second part of the shloka, Shri Krishna reminds us that although he has set up this classification of varnaa, he is not the doer even in this act. It is maayaa alone that is acting in this world, whereas he is only the witness to its actions. We can think of ourselves as playing different parts in a cosmic play. Each part is different based on our svadharma.