Category Archives: naa

Bhagavad Gita Verse 30, Chapter 6

02 Wednesday May 2012

Posted by in aham, cha, chapter 6 verse 30, maam, mayi, me, na, naa, pashyati, pranashyaami, pranashyati, saha, sarvam, sarvatra, tasya, yaha

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yo maam pashyati sarvatra sarvam cha mayi pashyati |
tasyaaham na pranashyaami sa cha me naa pranashyati || 30 ||
 
One who sees me in all, and sees all in me, to him I am not lost, and he is not lost to me.
 
yaha : one who
maam : me
pashyati : sees
sarvatra : in all
sarvam : all
cha : and
mayi : in me
pashyati : sees
tasya : to him
aham : I
na : am not
pranashyaami : lost
saha : he
cha : and
me : me
naa : is not
pranashyati : lost
 
Shri Krishna now speaks to us directly as Ishvara. He says that the devotee who sees him in everything, and also sees everything in him, will have a permanent connection to him. In other words, Shri Krishna will never appear as distant or invisible to that devotee. It may seem a little confusing to hear this statement right after the previous shloka that said that one should see everything in the eternal essence. How does Ishvara fit into the picture?
 
Let us refer to our running example of the wave and the ocean. Imagine that a young child sees the ocean for the first time. Her intellect can only grasp visual, grosser objects. So her attention will immediately go towards the ocean, its colour, its size, the sounds it makes, the waves and so on. It will not be obvious to her that everything is water, because she has not reached that intellectual level yet.
 
Shri Krishna fully knows that most of us are children, even babies, on the spiritual journey. It will take a long time for our intellects to see the eternal essence everywhere. So until our perception stops operating on the level of names and forms, we have to find an easier way to see the eternal essence everywhere.
 
Therefore, Shri Krishna says that first, we should try to see everything in Ishvara and Ishvara in everything. Ishvara could be the form of Shri Krishna. It could be any other deity that we feel an affinity towards. It could also be our guru. No matter what form we choose, we should be able to view the form of Ishvara as the highest.
 
Now, most of us have the notion that Ishvara or God is a mysterious figure or force that is sitting far away in Kailash or Vaikuntha or somewhere us. But Shri Krishna, in the Gita, is telling us in this shloka that he is everywhere. It requires a radical shift in order to think this way. That is why in Indian culture, everything can become an object of worship, from a tree to a stone to a book, because Ishvara is present in everything. What is required is the understanding that comes through contemplation.
 
So therefore, if we truly begin to think that the whole world comprises Ishvara in our chosen form, there will never be a single moment where we are far from Ishvara.
 

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.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 25, Chapter 2

23 Sunday Oct 2011

Posted by in 2.25, achintaha, anushochitum, arhasi, avikaryaha, avyaktaha, ayam, chapter 2 verse 25, enam, evam, naa, tasmaad, uchyate, viditya

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avyaktoyamachintoyamavikaryoyamuchyate |
tasmaadevam viditvainam naanushochitumarhasi || 25 ||

This (eternal essence) is imperceptible, this is incomprehensible, this is unchanging, it is said. Therefore, having known this, it is not worthy of grief.

avyaktaha : imperceptible
ayam : this
achintaha : incomprehensible
avikaryaha : unchanging
uchyate : it is said
tasmaad : therefore
evam : thus
viditva : having known
enam : this
naa : not
anushochitum : grieve
arhasi : worthy

Let’s take stock of where we are. In the second chapter, Shri Krishna covers 4 main topics: 1) Informing Arjuna that his logic and reasoning was incorrect 2) Explaining the correct logic and reasoning to Arjuna 3) Providing practical guidance to implement this correct logic and reasoning 4) Describing the attributes of a person who follows this teaching.

We are still exploring the second topic, and this shloka marks the end of the argument that Shri Krishna began in shloka 17. The argument was whether the eternal essence can slay or be slain. Shri Krishna, in this shloka, concludes the argument by saying the following:

“Arjuna, associate yourself with the eternal essence and not the body. The eternal essence is eternal and imperishable; it cannot slay or be slain. Therefore do not grieve for the opposing army’s warriors on their imminent death. Their bodies will perish anyway, so you shouldn’t grieve for what is bound to perish. The eternal essence which is common between them and you is imperishable, so you should not grieve for that either. Therefore you have no reason to grieve at all.”

Let’s look further. If something is imperceptible, that means it is beyond the realm of our sense organs. If something is incomprehensible, it is beyond the realm of the intellect. If something is unchanging, then no physical effort will have an impact on it. We are dealing with something that is not of this material world, it is beyond it.

In the next few shlokas, Shri Krishna provides a simpler alternative of logic and reason to Arjuna, after which the teaching takes a turn towards more practical and concrete topics.