Category Archives: kashchit

Bhagavad Gita Verse 3, Chapter 7

28 Monday May 2012

Posted by in api, chapter 7 verse 3, http://schemas.google.com/blogger/2008/kind#post, kaschit, kashchit, maam, manushyaanaam, sahastreshu, sidhhaye, tattvataha, yatataam, yatati

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manushyaanaam sahastreshu kashchidyatati sidhhaye |
yatataamapi siddhaanaam kaschinmaam vetti tattvataha || 3 ||
 
Among thousands of people, perhaps one strives for success. Among those successful strivers, perhaps only one knows me in essence.
 
manushyaanaam : among people
sahastreshu : thousands
kashchit : perhaps one
yatati : strives
sidhhaye : success
yatataam : among those strivers
api : only
siddhaanaam : successful
kaschit : perhaps one
maam : me
vetti : knows
tattvataha : in essence
 
Shri Krishna introduced this chapter by saying that he will reveal his true nature to Arjuna, which comprises both knowledge and wisdom. He also said that by knowing this, nothing else will remain to be known. Given the powerful nature of this knowledge, one would hope that everyone would seek this knowledge rather than running after new sources of knowledge everyday. But this is not the case. Here, he says that those who seek this knowledge are extremely rare in this world.
 
Let us look at the language used in the shloka. The word “sahasra” literally means thousands, but used in this context, it means innumerable or an extremely large quantity. So the shloka then reads: out of innumerable people, only one strives for success in liberation. Out of those few strivers, only one knows Shri Krishna in his essence.
 
Here, we can raise a doubt and say: what about the millions of people who go the the temple everyday? They worship Ishvara in his numerous forms. Many people observe fasts. Many people have a little temple in their homes. Many people conduct religious ceremonies where they donate food and other items. So how can it be said that only few people know Ishvara?
 
This doubt can be answered by looking at the last part of the shloka where Shri Krishna says that he has to be known in his essential nature. Most of the people mentioned earlier worship Ishvara, but they tend to have a partial understanding of what Ishvara really is. That is why Shri Krishna devoted almost a third of the Gita in describing his essential nature.
 
Having introduced the topic of Ishvara, Shri Krishna begins the main portion in the next shloka.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 38, Chapter 6

15 Tuesday May 2012

Posted by in apratishtha, brahmana, chapter 6 verse 38, chinnabhram, http://schemas.google.com/blogger/2008/kind#post, iva, kashchit, mahaabaaho, nashyati, pathi, ubhaya, vibhrashtaha

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kashchinnobhayavibhrashtashchinnabhramiva nashyati |
apratishtha mahaabaaho vimoodhaa brahmanam pathi || 38 ||
 
Unsuccessful in both ways, with no worldly glory, distracted in the spiritual path, doesn’t the seeker get destroyed like a scattered cloud, O mighty armed?
 
kashchit : doesn’t
ubhaya : both
vibhrashtaha : unsuccessful (seeker)
chinnabhram : scattered cloud
iva : like
nashyati : destroyed
apratishtha : without any worldly glory
mahaabaaho : O mighty armed
vimoodhaha : distracted
brahmana : spiritual
pathi : path
 
Arjuna further elaborates upon his question to Shri Krishna with regards to the promise of meditation. To understand this better, let’s examine a saying in Hindi : “dhobi ka kutta, na ghar kaa na ghaat kaa”. Loosely translated, it refers to a situation where someone has two jobs but because he cannot do either job properly, he loses from both sides in the end.
 
Arjuna wanted Shri Krishna to tell him whether someone who follows the spiritual path, but is not able to attain fulfillment, ends up in a similar situation. Arjuna uses the analogy of a cloud that neither provides rain, nor does it vanish. This in-between situation makes it an easy target for winds to scatter the cloud from one place to another.
 
If we were to frame this as an economic problem, Arjuna is speaking about opportunity cost, which is the loss incurred in one activity by spending time in another activity. If the seeker devotes a large amount of his time and effort towards meditation, but fails to attain the desired outcome, is it worth it? He could have very easily have devoted this time to worldly pursuits and obtained wealth, status and thereby secured his worldly position.
 
Instead, the seeker is “ubhaya-vibhrashta” or unsuccessful from both sides. One side is “apratishtha” or lack of worldly glory, and the other is “vimoodha brahmana pathi” or distracted in progress on the spiritual path. Arjuna, the pragmatic soldier, does not want to get into such a compromising position. He adds one more element to this question in the next shloka, after which he lets Shri Krishna answer.
 

Bhagavad Gita Verse 18, Chapter 3

27 Tuesday Dec 2011

Posted by in 3.18, akruten, apaashrayah, arthaha, arthavya, asya, cha, chapter 3 verse 18, eva, iha, kashchana, kashchit, kruten, na, sarvabhootehsu, tasya

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naiva tasya krutenaartho naakruteneha kashchana |
na chaasya sarvabhooteshu kashchidarthavyapaashrayah || 18 ||

For that (realized individual), there is nothing to be gained by action or inaction here. Also, he does not have even the slightest dependency on anyone for any object.

na : not
eva : only
tasya : that realized individual
kruten : from action
arthaha : gained
na : not
akruten : from inaction
iha : here
kashchana: any
na : not
cha : also
asya : for him
sarvabhooteshu : with anyone
kashchit : slight/even a little
arthavya : object
apaashrayah : dependency

In the last shloka, Shri Krishna explained that one who has found delight solely in the eternal essence loses all sense of doership. In other words, all his actions become selfless and spontaneous, like an artist who cares only about creating paintings without any expectation (art for art’s sake).

Shri Krishna further elaborates that point in this shloka. He says that for such a person, the concept of gain or loss does not exist, nor does the notion of dependency or support from anyone or anything.

To better understand this shloka, let us imagine a situation where one is at the end of a critical chapter in one’s life, e.g. imagine that a person has submitted his resignation and is in the last week of his job. What will be his mindset? He will suddenly become the nicest guy in the office, and the most fun guy to hang out with. Why is that? Everyone knows that he has no agenda with anyone anymore, since it does not really matter. And he can surf the web all day long, because it does not really matter whether he works or doesn’t work.

Another example could be a person who at age 65 has just retired. He has made a decent fortune with his savings, and can live comfortably till his last day. In addition, he is quite healthy and can still work if needed. But just like in the earlier example, it does not matter whether he performs any action or doesn’t. Moreover, since he does not have any dependency on anyone, his savings make him self sufficient. Therefore, for the individual that has realized the worth of the eternal essence “treasure”, any other material gain or loss does not hold any meaning.

Ultimately, these 2 shlokas reveal the state of a realized person, who by losing all sense of doership, renounces all action. Renouncing doership is renouncing action. The topic of renunciation is covered in detail in the forthcoming chapters.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 29, Chapter 2

27 Thursday Oct 2011

Posted by in 2.29, aashcharyavat, anyaha, api, cha, chapter 2 verse 29, enam, eva, kashchit, na, pashyati, shrunooti, shrutva, tathaa, vadati, veda

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aashcharyavatpashyati kashchidenamaashcharyavadvadati tathaiva chaanyaha |
aashcharyavachchainamanyaha shrunooti shrutvaapyenam veda na chaiva kashchit || 29 ||

Some perceive this (eternal essence) as a wonder, and similarly indeed, others speak of it as a wonder; it is a wonder that some hear about this, and after hearing about it, some understand this and some do not.

aashcharyavat : as a wonder
pashyati : perceive
kashchit : some
enam : this
vadati : speak
tathaa : similarly
eva : thus
cha : and
anyaha : others
shrunooti : listen
shrutva : hearing
api : also
enam : this
veda : know
na : don’t

Shri Krishna was getting ready to conclude the topic of the eternal essence. Therefore, he wanted to remind Arjuna about it, and also instill a sense of deep curiosity and interest in him. In this shloka, Shri Krishna did both of those things.

Four types of spiritual seekers are pointed out here. Firstly, there are seekers who have heard about the eternal essence through the Gita or through other means. Usually, most of them will hear about it and forget about it. But there will be some that will become interested in it, and will want to hear more – this is the second category. Of those seekers, some will try to gain an intellectual understanding about it and having done so, will be so enthralled with it that they will keep speaking about it to other people. This is the third category.

But the most devoted and advanced seekers will ultimately perceive the eternal essence directly, and the perception would have occurred without any sense organs. When this happens, there would be no words to describe it. The closest one could come to describing it is when we see something so wonderful that it renders us speechless, like a breathtaking painting or a waterfall.

Note that the meter has changed in this verse to indicate its importance.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 17, Chapter 2

13 Thursday Oct 2011

Posted by in 2.17, arhati, asya, avinaashi, avyayasya, chapter 2 verse 17, idam, kartum, kashchit, sarvam, tatam, viddhi, vinaasham, yena

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avinaashi tu tadviddhi yena sarvamidam tatam |
vinaashamavyayasyaasya na kashchitkartumarhati || 17 ||

But know that (eternal essence) to be indestructible by which all this is pervaded. Nothing ever can destroy that, the imperishable.

avinaashi : indestructible
tu : but
tat : that
viddhi : know
yena : which
sarvam : everything
idam : this
tatam : pervades
vinaasham : destruction
avyayasya :  of the imperishable
asya : of this
na : not
kashchit : any
kartum : do
arhati : is able

The theme of the ongoing shlokas has been understanding the nature of the eternal essence. This verse gives us two qualities that the eternal essence possesses. Note that the sanskrit word “tat” meaning “that” refers to the eternal essence in this shloka.

Firstly, the eternal essence is imperishable. It cannot be destroyed, nor is it created. In the bangle example from the prior verse, the pawn shop owner only cared about the gold content of the bangle and not its shape and form. He could melt that bangle into another ornament, melt it again and make it into another ornament, and so on. In doing so, each subsequent ornament was “created” and “destroyed”, but the gold essence was imperishable and indestructible. Similarly, the eternal essence spoken of in these verses is imperishable.

Secondly, the eternal essence pervades “all this”, which means the eternal essence pervades the entire universe. If we immerse a piece of cloth into water, water pervades each and every fibre of the cloth. There is no part of the cloth that isn’t dry. In the same way, from a rock, to plants, to animals, and to humans, the eternal essence pervades everything that is part of the universe.