Category Archives: paapam

Bhagavad Gita Verse 28, Chapter 7

24 Sunday Jun 2012

Posted by in 7.28, actions te, antagatam, bhajante, chapter 28 verse 7, dridhavrataahaa, dvandvamoha, janaanaam, maam, nirmuktaa, paapam, punyakarmanaam, tu, yesham

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yesham tvantagatam paapam janaanaam punyakarmanaam |
te dvandvamohanirmuktaa bhajante maam dridhavrataahaa || 28 ||
 
But, those people of meritorious actions whose sins have been exhausted, they, freed from the delusion of duality, worship me with firm determination.
 
yesham : those who
tu : but
antagatam : exhausted
paapam : sin
janaanaam : people
punyakarmanaam : meritorious actions
te : they
dvandvamoha : delusion of duality
nirmuktaa : freed
bhajante : worship
maam : me
dridhavrataahaa : firm determination
 
The delusion of duality, as we saw earlier, is a condition that we are cast into right from birth. This delusion further strengthens maaya that prevents us from accessing Ishvara. Having explained the condition of most people who are trapped in this situation, Shri Krishna now describes the people who have come out of maaya. He says that only those who have conducted enough meritorious acts and wiped out their sins acquire the firm resolution to directly access Ishvara.
 
Let us revisit what exactly is meant here by merits and sins. What is a sin? Any time that our mind and senses drag us into the world, and force us to conduct actions born out of selfish desire, we commit a sin. When this happens again and again, it adds to the moha or delusion that blocks our discrimination or viveka.
 
Conversely, whenever we perform an unselfish action that is in line with our svadharma or duty, we commit a merit. In doing so, we do not add to the stock of delusion, but in fact purify our mind.
 
Therefore, Shri Krishna says that only those who perform unselfish actions are fit to approach Ishvara. The message is clear: do your duty because it is the only way to contact Ishvara. Karma yoga, seen from this vantage point, reasserts its importance.
 
Next, Shri Krishna begins to conclude this chapter by planting the seed of the next chapter in two shlokas. They deal with the fundamental question of our ultimate liberation.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 15, Chapter 5

18 Sunday Mar 2012

Posted by in 5.15, aadatte, aavritam, ajnyaanena, chapter 5 verse 15, jantavaha, jnyaanam, kasyachit, muhyanti, na, paapam, sukritam, tena, vibhoohu

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naadatte kasyachitpaapam na sukritam vibhoohu |
ajnyaanenaavritam jnyaanam tena muhyanti jantavaha || 15 ||

Neither does the eternal essence accept anyone’s sins, nor anyone’s merits. Ignorance veils knowledge, that is how creatures are deluded.

na : not
aadatte : accept
kasyachit : anyone’s
paapam : sins
na : not
sukritam : merits
vibhoohu : eternal essence
ajnyaanena : ignorance
aavritam : veiled
jnyaanam : knowledge
tena : that
muhyanti : deluded
jantavaha : creatures

In the sequence of shlokas describing the vision of the enlightened seeker, Shri Krishna provided the illustration of the city dweller and also asserted that the eternal essence is separate and distinct from action and its adjuncts including doership, results and enjoyership of result.

In this shloka, he takes us another step further in explaining the distinctness of eternal essence from action. He says that even sin and merit also have nothing to do with eternal essence. He also further says that action, result, doership, enjoyership, sin, merit – the notion that these belong to the “I”, the eternal essence, is termed as ignorance. This ignorance is caused due to our strong identification with the body, mind and intellect.

Let us refer to the Pac-Man example from the previous post. Based on his actions in the video game, the Pac-Man character can gain points (merits) or lose points (demerits). This gaining and losing of points is again based on rules of the video game. It, too, is a fully automatic system that does not require any external intervention to work.

Now, in some places in the Gita, Shri Krisha asks us to offer merit and sin to God. But here it is said that eternal essence does not take sin or merit. So how do we reconcile this seeming contradiction? The key thing to understand here is that the person who thinks he is associated with action, sin and merit is at one level, and the person who has identified himself with eternal essence is at another level. It is just like saying that the points accumulated in a Pac-Man game have no bearing in the real world. The game and the real world are two different realms.

Another way to look at it is as follows. Sin and merit are duality. They are two sides of the same coin, as it were, just like black/white, heat/cold and day/night. When you rise above it, duality has no bearing. Day and night do not mean anything when one is in outer space, when one leaves the earth and rises above it.

Here’s another noteworthy point. Shri Krishna has used an interesting word to refer to ignorant people in this shloka. He calls them creatures. It is a subtle hint that as long as we operate with body identification, we are similar to animals who also operate only at that level.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 36, Chapter 3

13 Friday Jan 2012

Posted by in 3.37, anicchan, api, atha, balaat, chapter 3 verse 36, charati, iva, kena, niyojitah, paapam, poorushah, prayutah, vaarshneya

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Arjuna uvaacha:
atha kena prayuktoyam paapam charati poorushah |
anicchannapi vaarshneya balaadiva niyojitaha || 36 ||

Then, what compels people to commit sin against their wishes, O Vaarshneya, as if commanded forcefully?

atha : then
kena : which
prayuktah : compels
paapam : sin
charati : commit
poorushah : people
anicchan : without one’s wish
api : also
vaarshneya : O Vaarshneya
balaat : forcefully
iva : as if
niyojitaha : commanded

In the last shloka, Shri Krishna completed his teaching of karmayoga. But Arjuna was not satisfied. He was listening attentively and wanted to know more details around the obstacles to karmayoga, how to spot them and how to get rid of them.

It is a wonderful question, because as we have seen earlier, obstacles to karmayoga pop up when we least expect them. Therefore, a deeper understanding of the obstacles is needed to fully overcome them. Note that Arjuna addresses Shri Krishna as “vaarshneya”, which means a member of the Vrishni dynasty.

Even in simple matters like our food intake, we face obstacles. Most of us are smart enough to know that foods containing a lot of oil and sugar are not good for us. But when we see our favourite dessert in front of us, we are propelled to eat it. All our intellect stops functioning. Well educated people, under the influence of greed, commit all kinds of scams today.

There is an interesting statement made by Duryodhana in the Mahaabhaarata. He says that even he knows that his actions are wrong, but there is something inside him that forces him to carry out those actions. This means that even a strong intellect is not necessarily able to check our behaviour.

In the final portion of the third chapter, Shri Krishna responds to Arjuna’s doubt to describe the obstacles in detail and the method to control their influence on us.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 38, Chapter 2

04 Friday Nov 2011

Posted by in 2.38, avaapsyasi, chapter 2 verse 38, kritvaa, paapam, tataga, yujyasva

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sukhaduhkhe same kritvaa laabhaalaabhau jayaajayau |
tato yuddhaaya yujyasva naivam papamavapsyasi || 38 ||

Treat joy or sorrow, gain or loss, victory or defeat with equanimity, and then engage in war. By doing so, you will not incur sin.

sukhaduhkhe : joy or sorrow
same : equal
kritvaa : make
laabhaalaabhau : gain or loss
jayaajayau : victory or defeat
tataha : then
yuddhaya : in war
yujyasva : engage
evam : in this manner
paapam : sin
na avaapsyasi : will not incur

This is one of the most important shlokas in the second chapter, and perhaps in the entire Gita. In essence, Shri Krishna instructed Arjuna to maintain equanimity, an “even keel” attitude, not just in war, but in any circumstance in life.

Let us take stock of where we are. We had seen that Shri Krishna was covering 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 the individual who follows this teaching. We are currently in the set of shlokas covering topic 2 – the correct reasoning and logic.

After the first sub-topic of the eternal essence concluded, we explored the second sub-topic of svadharma. Shri Krishna is now about to conclude this sub-topic by pointing us to the ultimate goal of our spiritual efforts.

Having reoriented ourselves with the scheme of the second chapter, lets now examine the current shloka. On first glance, the lesson in this shloka seems unapproachable and impossible to carry out, to some extent.

We encounter joy, sorrow, victory, defeat, gain and loss almost everyday, even several times a day. And each time we encounter any of these situations, we get emotionally and sometimes even physically affected by them. At work, a meeting with your boss does not go well. But on another day, your boss gives you an exemplary speech on a project well executed. How can we possible treat these as equal?

Shri Krishna fully understands this point. Here, he only lays out the ultimate goal for us: the goal of equanimity, or treating each and every life situation equally without getting agitated. Now that we know what the goal is, he will gently guide us through a path of practical advice throughout the rest of the teaching in the Gita.

So as we read the rest of the second chapter, if we think we have lost sight of the goal, let’s remember this shloka.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 33, Chapter 2

02 Wednesday Nov 2011

Posted by in 2.33, atha, avaapyasi, chapter 2 verse 33, chet, dharmyam, hitvaa, imam, karshyasi, keertim, paapam, samgraamam, svadharmam, tataha, tvam

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atha chetvamimam dharmyam samgraamam na karshyasi |
tataha svadharmam keertim cha hitvaa paapamavaapsyasi || 33 ||

On the other hand, if you do not undertake this righteous war, then by forsaking your duty and valour, you will incur sin.

atha : on the other hand
chet : if
tvam : you
imam : this
dharmyam : righteous
samgraamam : war
na : don’t
karshyasi : undertake
tataha : then
svadharmam : your duty
keertim : valour
cha : and
hitvaa : forsaking
paapam : sin
avaapsyasi : incur

The word “sin” could mean several things to several people. Let us understand the meaning used here. If you live in society anywhere, in a city, town, village etc. you are always bound by certain laws. If you conduct an act that goes against the law, then it is called a crime. Stealing a car, for example, is a crime.

Similarly, if someone does not perform their svadharma or duty, or does something counter to their svadharma, it is equivalent to a crime under a cosmic or universal law. That crime is termed as a sin.

Therefore, Shri Krishna urges Arjuna and us to consider the repercussions of not conducting our svadharma. Like a good teacher, he had explained the benefits of the teaching earlier, and now he elaborates on the downside of not following the teaching in this and the next shloka.