Category Archives: mataa

Bhagavad Gita Verse 35, Chapter 18

23 Sunday Jun 2013

Posted by in 18.35, bhayam, chapter 18 verse 35, dhritihi, durmedhaa, madam, mataa, shokam, svapnam, taamasee, vimunchati, vishaadam, yayaa

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yayaa svapnam bhayam shokam vishaadam madameva cha |
na vimunchati durmedhaa dhritihi saa taamasee mataa || 35 ||
 
That by which one with an inferior intellect does not give up sleep, fear, sorrow, dismay and intoxication, that fortitude is considered taamasic.
 
yayaa : by which
svapnam : sleep
bhayam : fear
shokam : sorrow
vishaadam : dismay
madam : intoxication
eva : also
cha : and
na : not
vimunchati : one gives up
durmedhaa : inferior intellect
dhritihi : fortitude
saa : that
taamasee : taamasic
mataa : considered
 
Fortitude is the quality of the intellect by which it holds on to certain thoughts, and rejects others. From the start of a task to its end, our intellect is confronted with a barrage of thoughts. If it drops the thought of completing the task and starts holding on to other tasks, it will never be able to take the task to its conclusion. Sattvic fortitude is active for all tasks, raajasic fortitude is active only for tasks motivated by selfishness and sense enjoyment. The third kind of dhriti or fortitude, one which holds on to everything but the task at hand, is taamasic.
 
While performing any task, it is natural to expect obstacles, and some fear as well. There are moments when our body and mind is tired, and we need to take some rest. If some things do not go as planned, we feel sorrow. If things do not go as planned repeatedly, we may also feel depressed or dejected. Conversely, if we experience some temporary successes, we may get intoxicated with the mental high, with the pride generated by those successes. Shri Krishna says that the fortitude that drops the thought of completing the task and holds on to any of these temporary thoughts is taamasic.
 
What causes someone to develop such a negative kind of fortitude? It is the degree of discrimination inherent in the intellect. One with a moderate level of discrimination has raajasic fortitude. But one in which there is little to no discrimination has no clue that he is choosing to hold on to thoughts that will ultimately lead him to ruin. Or to put it another way, one who has perversely high level of attachment to a certain object, person or situation will lose whatever level of discrimination he has left, due to the pursuit of that object of desire.

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 1, Chapter 3

09 Friday Dec 2011

Posted by in 3.1, buddhih, chapter 3 verse 1, chet, ghore, janaardana, jyaayasee, karmanaha, karmani, keshava, kim, maam, mataa, niyojayasi, tat, te

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jyaayasee chetkarmanaste mataa buddhirjanaardana |
tatkim karmani ghore maam niyojayasi keshava || 1 ||

If knowledge is superior to action in your opinion, O Janaardana, why do you want me to perform this horrible action, O Keshava?

jyaayasee : superior
chet : if
karmanaha : action
te : you
mataa : opinion
buddhih : knowledge
janaardana : O Janaardana
tat : then
kim : why
karmani : action
ghore : horrible
maam : me
niyojayasi : perform
keshava : O Keshava

We begin the third chapter with a question from Arjuna. It is wonderful to see the give-and-take between a student and a disciple come up several times in the Gita, making it more accessible and human. Let us dig deeper into Arjuna’s question.

In the last chapter, Shri Krishna introduced the topic of karma yoga, where one performs selfless action. But later, he spoke about the knowledge of the eternal essence. Arjuna interpreted this as a statement that knowledge is superior to wisdom, and wanted to clarify whether it was so.

As an analogy, I remember the experience of learning music. In most cases, new students of music gave more importance to performing a popular song on stage, than to endure the rigour and discipline of daily finger drills that could get repetitive and boring. Similarly, Arjuna thought that knowledge was superior in action.

Arjuna also referred to his fighting in the war as a “horrible” action. This word speaks a lot about his mental state. Shri Krishna had taught him that one should maintain equanimity in pleasant and unpleasant situations. But Arjuna had not internalized and assimilated the teaching.

This is not uncommon. Our experience will usually indicate that a one-time hearing or “shravana” of any teaching will not be enough. We also need to reflect on the teaching, which is also known as “manana”. And finally, we have to internalize it so that it becomes part of our personality – “nidhidhyaasana”.

In the next shloka, Arjuna completes his question to Shri Krishna.