Category Archives: oordhvam

Bhagavad Gita Verse 2, Chapter 15

07 Thursday Mar 2013

Posted by in 15.2, adhaha, anusantataani, chapter 15 verse 2, gunapravriddha, karmaanubandheeni, manushyaloke, moolani, oordhvam, prasritaahaa, shaakhaa, tasya, vishayapravaalaahaa

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adhashchordhvam prasritaastasya shaakhaa gunapravriddha vishayapravaalaahaa |
adhashcha moolanyanusantataani karmaanubandheeni manushyaloke || 2 ||
 
Its branches are spread below and above, nourished by the gunas. Sense objects are its sprouts, and, below in the human realm, stretch its roots that bind through actions.
 
adhaha : below
cha : and
oordhvam : above
prasritaahaa : spread
tasya : of that
shaakhaa : branches
gunapravriddha : nourished by gunas
vishayapravaalaahaa : sprouts are sense objects
adhaha : below
cha : and
moolani : roots
anusantataani : stretching
karmaanubandheeni : binding due to actions
manushyaloke : human realm
 
Shri Krishna began describing an upside-down tree as a metaphor for the material world in the prior shloka. Here, he continues to describe it in more detail. When its buds or sprouts grown into branches and touch the ground, they turn into roots that embed firmly into the ground, and then grow into several additional trunks around the main tree. Such gigantic tree structures are common in the Banyan tree family. Over a period of time, a small tree with one trunk becomes a mini forest in itself.
 
Our lives are no different. For many people, the American dream comprises owning a large house, two cars, good schools for children, a big screen TV and so on. First, the newly married family takes out a big loan to buy a house. The house is empty, so it needs furniture and appliances. The garage is empty, so two cars need to be purchased. The living room is empty, so a large screen TV is needed. The TV requires a cable connection, a DVD player, a Playstation and so on endlessly. The one purchase of a house led to other purchases, which led to other purchases and so on. This is nothing but the upside down tree of samsaara playing out in our lives.
 
So this tree of samsaara, made up of the three gunas of Prakriti, grows and expands through repetitive chasing of sense objects. Each sense object generates desires, desires generate actions to get those sense objects, and attainment of sense objects creates further desires. Actions bind us by making us giving importance to the branches of the tree, by making us run away from Ishvara, who is at the root of the tree. How do we tackle this problem? Shri Krishna gives the solution in the next shloka.
 
Notes
1. Computer scientists will recognize the tree of samsaara as a recursive process.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 18, Chapter 14

23 Saturday Feb 2013

Posted by in 14.18, adhaha, chapter 14 verse 18, gacchanti, gunavrittisthaahaa, jaghanya, madhye, oordhvam, raajasaahaa, sattvasthaa, taamasaahaa, tishtanti

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oordhvam gacchanti sattvasthaa madhye tishtanti raajasaahaa |
jaghanyagunavrittisthaa adho gacchanti taamasaahaa || 18 ||
 
Those established in sattva go upwards, those in rajas stay in the middle. Those under the influence of the lowest guna, established in tamas, go downwards.
 
oordhvam : upwards
gacchanti : go
sattvasthaa : established in sattva
madhye : middle
tishtanti : stay
raajasaahaa : established in rajas
jaghanya : lowest
gunavrittisthaahaa : influence of guna
adhaha : downwards
gacchanti : go
taamasaahaa : established in tamas
 
Parents are always watchful of their children’s behaviour, because the values that are inculcated in childhood stay with us throughout our life. If parents notice that their child is lazy and remains idle all the time, they will first motivate him through selfish desires. They will teach him that if he studies hard and works hard, he will be able to buy fast cars, electronic gadgets, a big house and so on. Once he has risen from a tamasic state to a rajasic state, and has made enough money, his parents will encourage him to slowly start transitioning from rajasic action to selfless, sattvic actions like donating money to charity, volunteering and so on.
 
Shri Krishna gives us a similar roadmap for our evolution in this shloka. He says that once we have determined our degree of rajas and tamas, we should consciously perform the actions necessary to uplift our mental state. If we are primarily tamasic in nature, we should perform rajasic actions. If we are primarily sattvic in nature, we should perform sattvic actions. He also puts the responsibility of self improvement squarely on our shoulders. No other person can make this happen. The will to self improve must come from within.
 
Let us imagine for a moment that we are able to uplift ourselves to the level of sattva, where we are able to remain in a sattvic state for a majority of the day, as a consequence of performing sattvic, selfless actions. Is this our goal, or is this yet another milestone in our spiritual journey? The thirteenth chapter taught us that we have become the individual soul, the jeeva, the Purusha, by forgetting our true nature as the eternal essence. We have further become entangled in Prakriti by identifying with a mind and body that are under the influence of the gunas. Once we are able to stay in sattva, and minimize the effects of rajas and tamas, how do we then disentangle ourselves from Prakriti? Shri Krishna picks up this topic next.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 8, Chapter 12

17 Monday Dec 2012

Posted by in 12.8, aadhatsva, ataha, buddhim, chapter 12 verse 8, eva, manaha, mayi, na, nivasishyasi, niveshaya, oordhvam, sanshayaha

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mayyeva mana aadhatsva mayi buddhim niveshaya |
nivasishyasi mayyeva ata oordhvam na sanshayaha || 8 ||
 
Fix your mind only in me, place your intellect in me, thereafter you will dwell in me only, no doubt.
 
mayi : in me
eva : only
manaha : mind
aadhatsva : fix
mayi : in me
buddhim : intellect
niveshaya : place
nivasishyasi : you will dwell
mayi : in me
eva : only
ataha : this
oordhvam : after
na : no
sanshayaha : doubt
 
In this series of four shlokas, Shri Krishna prescribed four paths or yogas to attaining Ishvara, each one more easier than the previous one. This shloka describes the path of jnyaana yoga or the yoga of knowledge. Shri Krishna says that the seeker should fix both his intellect and mind in Ishvara constantly, without any interruption. When this happens, that attainment of Ishvara is guaranteed. There is no room for “sanshaya” or doubt of attaining Ishvara when one practices jnyaana yoga. But doing so is not easy.
 
As a new year approaches, many of us start making new year resolutions such as losing weight, giving up a bad habit, cleaning the house and so on. It is our buddhi or intellect that sets firm long-term goals, targets and resolutions. Ultimately all types of plans and resolutions stem from our desires to achieve something in this world. Now, Jnyaana yoga requires us to have just one resolution and nothing else: to merge with Ishvara. But as we have seen in the second chapter, our stock of desires influences our intellect to make innumerable resolutions. This multitude of resolutions makes jnyaana yoga difficult.
 
Furthermore, our condition is such that it is not just the intellect that has many resolutions. The mana, our faculty of mind, is fickle to begin with due to the distractions of the senses. Jnyaana yoga requires the fixing of both the intellect and the mind onto Ishvara. It is in rare instances that we can achieve intellectual and mental harmony, such as studying for an exam, where we know that the stakes are high. But even that happens for a few minutes or a few hours at most.
 
So clearly, jnyaaya yoga, the foremost type of yoga, is difficult for most of us, atleast at our current stage of spiritual evolution. Is there something easier? Shri Krishna answers next.