Category Archives: manye

Bhagavad Gita Verse 14, Chapter 10

14 Friday Sep 2012

Posted by in 10.14, bhagavan, chapter 10 verse 14, daanavaahaa, devaaha, etat, hi, keshava, maam, manye, na, ritam, sarvam, te, vadasi, viduhu, vyaktim, yat

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sarvametadritam manye yanmaam vadasi keshava |
na hi te bhagavanvyaktim vidurdevaa na daanavaahaa || 14 ||
 
What you are speaking to me, O Keshava, I acknowledge all this to be true. For O Lord, neither the deities nor the demons know your manifestation.
 
sarvam : all
etat : this
ritam : truth
manye : acknowledge
yat : whatever
maam : to me
vadasi : speak
keshava : O Keshava
na : neither
hi : for
te : to you
bhagavan : O Lord
vyaktim : manifestation
viduhu : know
devaaha : deities
na : nor
daanavaahaa : demons
 
Since the start of the Gita, we have seen Arjuna speak whenever he has a doubt or needs further clarification. With this shloka, Arjuna acknowledges that he has completely understood the true nature of Ishvara since the knowledge is coming from the source, from Ishvara himself.
 
It is interesting to note the use of the name “Keshava” to refer to Shri Krishna. “Ka” represents Lord Brahma and “Isha” represents Lord Shiva. So Keshava is the one who harmonizes the powers of creation and destruction. In other words, Ishvara creates, sustains and dissolves the universe of names and forms.
 
Since Ishvara is the origin of everything, Arjuna says that no deity, human or demon can claim to know Ishvara in totality because Ishvara came before any of them. Another interpretation of this statement is that no sense organ such as the eye or ear can claim to know Ishvara. Unlike worldly knowledge about objects, the knowledge of Ishvara can only be known as a subject. Tulsidas says this poetically in the Tulsi Ramayana : “Jaanat tumahi tumahi hui jaayi”. One who knows you becomes you. All sense of individuality, the sense of I, the subject, goes away when one merges into Ishvara.
 
So then, if no deity, human or demon can know Ishvara, who can? Arjuna gives the answer in the next shloka.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 34, Chapter 6

08 Tuesday May 2012

Posted by in aham, balavat, chanchalam, chapter 6 verse 34, drudham, hi, iva, krishna, manaha, manye, nigraham, pramaathi, sudushkaram, tasya, vaayoho

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chanchalam hi manaha krishna pramaathi balavaddrudham |
tasyaaham nigraham manye vaayoriva sudushkaram || 34 ||
 
For, the mind is fickle, rebellious, strong and stubborn, O Krishna. To control it, I think, is as arduous as the wind.
 
chanchalam : fickle
hi : for
manaha : mind is
krishna : O Krishna
pramaathi : rebellious
balavat : strong
drudham : stubborn
tasya : it
aham : I
nigraham : control
manye : think
vaayoho : the wind
iva : like
sudushkaram : arduous
 
Arjuna further elaborates on the difficulty of controlling the mind for meditation to Shri Krishna. He says that it is as difficult as trying to harness the wind. Why is that so? The mind is fickle, rebellious, strong and stubborn. It will refuse any attempt to be controlled.
 
Shri Krishna had acknowledged the fickle nature of the mind in previous shlokas. We oursleves have directly experienced how fickle our mind is. Most of the time, our mind is jumping from one thought to another. Many analogies have been offered to illustrate this fickle nature of the mind. The most common one is a drunken monkey jumping from one branch to another. We can also tell how fickle someone’s mind is by observing their eyes. If they dart around too much, that means their mind is racing through thoughts.
 
Next, Arjuna says that the mind is “pramaathi”. It is difficult to exactly translate this world. The closest word is “rebellious”. It is like a wild horse that is being tamed for the first time. it will never let the rider stay on its back for more than a few seconds. Trying to control the mind becomes a wrestling match where the opponent does not let us get a good grip on him.
 
Furthermore, Arjuna refers to the mind as strong and stubborn. In other words, once the “mind is made up”, or the mind has decided that it wants a certain thing, it is very hard to change it. It is like a child throwing a tantrum – it will cry, yell and scream till it gets its way. The mind will resist all efforts to be controlled, and will start creating a list of desires which will throw us completely off track.
 
So therefore, Arjuna sums up the difficulty of controlling the mind by comparing this endeavour to taming the wind – something that is next to impossible. Coming from Arjuna, a mighty meditator who is said to have propitiated Lord Shiva through his meditation, makes it a valid question. Shri Krishna responds to Arjuna’s question in the next shloka.