Category Archives: maanaha

Bhagavad Gita Verse 18, Chapter 17

08 Wednesday May 2013

Posted by in 17.18, adhruvam, chalam, chapter 17 verse 18, dambhena, kriyate, maanaha, poojaartham, proktam, raajasam, satkaaraha, tapaha, yat

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satkaaramaanapoojaartham tapo dambhena chaiva yat |
kriyate tadiha proktam raajasam chalamadhruvam || 18 ||
 
That which is performed for praise, honour, worship and ostentation, that praise is called raajasic, is said to be of this world, and is unstable and temporary.
 
satkaaraha : praise
maanaha : honour
poojaartham : for worship
tapaha : penance
dambhena : for ostentation
cha : and
eva : also
yat : that which
kriyate : performed
tat : that
iha : this world
proktam : is said to be
raajasam : raajasic
chalam : unstable
adhruvam : temporary
 
The Puraanaas are filled with stories of all kinds of demons who performed extremely severe penance and austerities. It is said that Raavana chopped off each of his ten heads until Lord Shiva granted him a boon. Hiranyakashipu performed such severe penance that his entire flesh dropped off and only his bones remained. However, none of these demons desired self realization or liberation as the outcome of their penance. They wanted some boon, some power such that they could vanquish their enemies.
 
Shri Krishna says that whenever we conserve our energy and put in a lot of effort towards any material goal, any goal which is “of this world”, such type of penance will be called raajasic. This penance could be for boosting our ego, in other words, for praise, honour, worship or for showing off. People spend years working extremely hard so that they can buy a fancy house or a car that can be shown off. Dictators do everything they can to ensure that people fall at their feet and worship them.
 
Ultimately, any effort that is expended towards an earthly goal will be temporary. A simple illustration to explain this notion is that of a ball thrown by a person in the air. No matter how hard the throw is, the ball will eventually fall down and stop moving. Furthermore, any result that we see in the world is also unstable. Several people go on crash diets that, in addition to giving temporary results, may actually harm the body. Any result in the material world is subject to the laws of Prakriti, to the three gunaas themselves, which are inherently unstable.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 10, Chapter 16

05 Friday Apr 2013

Posted by in 16.10, aashritya, asadgraahaan, ashuchihi, chapter 16 verse 10, dambhaha, dushpooram, griheetvaa, kaamam, maanaha, madaanvitaahaa, mohaad, pravartante, vrataahaa

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kaamamaashritya dushpooram dambhamaanamadaanvitaahaa |
mohaad griheetvaasadgraahaanpravartanteshuchivrataahaa || 10 ||
 
Filled with insatiable desires, with pretentiousness, pride and arrogance, holding untrue views in delusion, they work with impure resolve.
 
kaamam : desires
aashritya : filled
dushpooram : insatiable
dambhaha : pretentiousness
maanaha : pride
madaanvitaahaa : with arrogance
mohaad : in delusion
griheetvaa : holding
asadgraahaan : untrue views
pravartante : work
ashuchihi : impure
vrataahaa : resolve
 
A major aspect of the materialistic world view is greed. Shri Krishna refers to this greed using the phrase duspooram kaamam, meaning selfish desires that can never be satisfied or fulfilled. People who follow the materialistic world view believe that one who is without selfish desires is as good as dead. They do not believe that selfless action, work that benefits someone other than themselves, is worth anything.
 
This greed propels them to dambhaha or pretentiousness. They do not see the harm in putting on a show in order to gain favours or get what they want. As they accumulate more wealth and power, they feed their superiority complex, resulting in maanaha or excessive pride. When their pride reaches greater and greater heights, they become drunk with their ill-gotten accomplishments and possessions. This is mada, intoxication.
 
We keep coming back to the theme of ignorance and delusion, of moha, when we analyze the materialistic world view. When one cannot tell right from wrong, one begins to develop views that are not based on truth or rationality, termed in the shloka as moha-asat. It is no surprise that the activities or undertakings of such people are impure, lawless, without any consideration of duty or the big picture. Defrauding others or destroying others property are illegal in the eyes of the law, but perfectly legal from their standpoint.