Category Archives: maa

Bhagavad Gita Verse 5, Chapter 16

31 Sunday Mar 2013

Posted by in 16.5, aasuri, abhijaataha, asi, chapter 16 verse 5, daivee, daiveem, maa, mataa, nibandhaaya, paandava, sampadam, sampat, shuchaha, vimokshaaya

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daivee sampadvimokshaaya nibandhaayaasuri mataa |
maa shuchaha sampadam daiveemabhijaatosi paandava || 5 ||
 
Divine qualities are considered conducive to liberation, devilish qualities to bondage. Do not grieve, O Paandava. You have obtained divine qualities.
 
daivee : divine
sampat : qualities
vimokshaaya : to liberation
nibandhaaya : to bondage
aasuri : devilish
mataa : considered
maa : do not
shuchaha : grieve
sampadam : qualities
daiveem : divine
abhijaataha : obtained
asi : you have
paandava : O Paandava
 
The aim of any spiritual text including the Gita is to lead the seeker onto the path of liberation. Shri Krishna now connects this chapter with the aim of the Gita. He says that we can increase the chances of our success in the spiritual path if we cultivate the divine qualities listed in this chapter, while toning down our devilish qualities. In today’s day and age, it is easy to misunderstand some of these devilish qualities as essential for our survival, that without these qualities we will not get ahead in life. but it is not so.
 
For instance, take the quality of krodha or anger. Whenever we are in a state of anger, our intellect, our power of reasoning shuts down, as described in the second chapter. Our emotional mind takes over, and makes us perform actions that may harm us in the long run. Therefore, each time we get angry, we weaken our intellect, which is the one faculty that differentiates us from animals, and can take us closer to liberation. Akrodha, the divine quality of keeping our anger in check, prevents this from happening. We have to also keep in mind that we have to conduct self analysis and not apply this teaching to judge some other person.
 
Shri Krishna also anticipates a question arising in Arjuna’s mind. Arjuna would have thought, am I in the divine qualities camp or in the other one. To this end, Shri Krishna consoles Arjuna. He asserts that Arjuna was always endowed with divine qualities, and that those qualities will most definitely lead him towards liberation. He addresses him as Paandava, to remind him that he comes from a lineage that has always demonstrated these divine qualities.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 3, Chapter 2

27 Tuesday Sep 2011

Posted by in 2.3, chapter 2 verse 3, daurbalyam, gamah, hridaya, klaibyam, kshudram, maa, parantapa, sma, tvavi, upapadyate, uttishtha

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klaibyam maa sma gamah paartha naitattvayyupapadyate |
kshudram hridayadaurbalyam tyaktvotishtha parantapa || 3 ||


Don’t yield to this effeminate behaviour, O Paartha, it is not worthy of you. Cast off this petty weakness of heart and arise, O scorcher of foes!

klaibyam : effeminate
maa sma gamah : do not yield
paartha : O son of Prithaa
etat: this
tvavi : in you
na : not
upapadyate : not worthy
kshudram : petty
hridaya: heart
daurbalyam : weakness
tyaktva : cast off
uttishtha : arise
paran-tapa : O scorcher of foes

Shri Krishna, an expert motivational speaker, used a “carrot and stick” approach towards Arjuna here. Let’s first look at the stick or negative aspect, followed by the carrot or positive aspect.

One of the worst things you can call a warrior is effeminate. Even young boys playing sports will get upset when someone says ‘Hey! You throw the ball like a girl!”. So imagine how Arjuna felt when Shri Krishna called him effeminate. Moreover, using the adjective weak-hearted to describe Arjuna was another jolt to the usually courageous and lion-hearted warrior.

But Shri Krishna also appealed to Arjuna’s better qualities. By addressing him as “Paartha”, he reminded Arjuna of his esteemed and respected mother Prithaa (Kunti), and how she would feel if Arjuna shirked away from war. Shri Krishna also reminded Arjuna of his battle prowess, that he was called a “scorcher of foes”.

The final point in this shloka is the powerful Sanskrit word “utthishta”, meaning arise, which evokes Swami Vivekananda’s famous statement “Arise! Awake! and stop not till the goal is reached!’. Arjuna is instructed not just to arise physically, but also to lift his mind from the depths of delusion to a higher plane of intelligence.