Category Archives: kevalam

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 21, Chapter 4

11 Saturday Feb 2012

Posted by in 4.21, aapnoti, chapter 4 verse 21, karma, kevalam, kilbisham, kurvan, naa, niraasheehi, shaareeram, tyaktasarvaparigraha, yatachittaatmaa

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niraasheeryatachittaatmaa tyaktasarvaparigraha |
shaareeram kevalam karma kurvannaapnoti kilbisham || 21 ||

Without expectation, with a subdued body and mind, giving up all possessions, performing actions only for (maintaining) the body, he does not incur sin.

niraasheehi : without expectation
yatachittaatmaa : subdued body and mind
tyaktasarvaparigraha : given up all possessions
shaareeram : body-related
kevalam : only
karma : actions
kurvan : performing
na aapnoti : does not incur
kilbisham : sin

As we proceed with our project, our mind is racing with thoughts and anxieties about the future – will this happen, will that happen, what will go wrong and so on. But when we enter a peaceful place like a temple or a library, we notice that our thoughts tend to quiet down. This is because the sights, smells and sounds of such places put a fence around our mind and senses, as it were, and cause them to brood over a higher ideal. So Shri Krishna urges us to contemplate upon a higher ideal as much as possible. When that happens, our mind and our body automatically become quiet and subdued.

Now, in the course of the project, we may end up creating certain objects – a huge report, an excel file, a powerpoint presentation, a cutting-edge invention and so on. The wealth generated from the project will enable us to buy a new house, car, TV etc. We may notice that we develop a strong attachment, a strong sense of possessiveness towards these objects. Our ego may get inflated because we think that we created them, or own them. But that attitude makes us slaves of those objects. The reality is that nature produced the raw materials, as well as the knowledge to convert those into these objects. We did not “do” anything.

It has to be noted that there is no need to give up possessions. That is not the meaning here. Our attitude towards our possessions should be like a renter versus an owner. We should take care of possessions but not be bound to them. Slowly, as our possessive thinking diminishes, our actions also reduce. We then care only about our svadharma, and on keeping our mind and body fit for service.

The attitude created by observing this teaching has the effect of reducing the ego notion, which is nothing but the false identification of the eternal essence with the body, mind, intellect and objects.