Category Archives: paartha

Bhagavad Gita Verse 55, Chapter 2

22 Tuesday Nov 2011

Posted by in 2.55, aatmanaa, chapter 2 verse 55, eva, kaaman, manogataan, paartha, prajahaati, sarvaan, sthitaprajnya, tada, tushtah, ucchyate, yadaa

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Shri Bhagavaan uvaacha:
prajahaati yadaa kaamaansarvaanpaartha manogataan |
aatmanyevaatmanaa tushthah sthitaprajnastadocchyate || 55 ||

Shri Bhagavaan said:
When an individual gives up all desires that enter the mind, O Paartha, and is self-satisfied in his own self, that individual is called a person of steady wisdom.

prajahaati : gives up
yadaa : when
kaamaan : desires
sarvaan : all
paartha : O Paartha
manogataan : that enter the mind
aatmanaaa : self
eva : only
aatmani : by his own self
tushthah : self-satisfied
sthitaprajna : person of steady wisdom
tada : then
ucchyate : called

Just before entering a forest when hiking, there usually are signs posted at the entrance that say “beware of these poisonous plants”. Similarly, from this shloka onwards, Shri Krishna lists all the factors that can destabilize our state of equanimity. If we keep track of these factors, and remain alert and aware when we encounter them, then we will never lose our mental balance and equanimity. This portion of the chapter is a very practical summary of the entire teaching of the Gita.

In this shloka, Shri Krishna advises us to monitor our material desires, i.e. track how many are arising, how many we have fulfilled, and so on. As we saw earlier, continual harbouring of material desires has the effect of destablizing our mental balance, and takes us further away from state of equanimity. Therefore, a man of steady wisdom is one who has learned to give up all such desires.

Now this is especially true when we have predisposition to some object, situation or person. This predisposition is also known as “vaasana”. Predispositions are the seeds of thought and desire. For instance, let’s say we have a sweet tooth. Then, anytime we see a piece of chocolate, that desire will enter the mind, and we will begin thinking of how we can acquire that chocolate. If we are performing some work, the constant thinking of the chocolate will destabilize our mind and prevent us from focusing on the task at hand. So this shloka asks us to closely examine our predispositions as well as our desires.

Since this person of steady wisdom has extinguished all his desires, he is always content and does not need to rush out into the world of material objects. This is because he has realized his association with the eternal essence, which pervades the entire universe and therefore is always complete and content. Therefore, he will be “self-satisfied in his own self”, as this shloka points out.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 39, Chapter 2

07 Monday Nov 2011

Posted by in 2.39, abhihitaa, buddhiryoge, buddhya, Chapter 2 Verse 39, eshaa, imaam, karmabandham, paartha, prahaasyasi, saankhye, shrunoo, te, yayaa, yuktaha

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eshaa tebhihitaa saankhye buddhiryoge tvimaam shrunoo |
buddhyaa yukto yayaa paartha karmabandham prahaasyasi || 39 ||

This discipline of knowledge has been stated to you. Now, listen to the discipline of action. Having equipped yourself with this understanding, O Paartha, you will cast of your bonds-of-action.

eshaa : this
te : for you
abhihitaa : has been stated
saankhye : Sankhya (discipline of knowledge)
buddhiryoge : discipline of action
tu : you
imaam : this
shrunoo : listen to
buddhyaa : understanding
yuktaha : equipped
yayaa : which
paartha : O Paartha
karmabandham : bonds of action
prahaasyasi : cast off

Shri Krishna uses this shloka to conclude the theoretical topic of correct logic and reasoning, and transition on to the means of attaining that knowledge. The remaining shlokas in the second chapter are extremely practical and can be immediately used in our daily lives. They will enable us to conduct our svadharma while always keeping the attitude specified in the prior shloka : treat any situation, joyful or sorrowful, with equanimity.

The word yoga comes twice in this shloka, so let’s examine it more closely. Usually, we think of yoga as an ancient art of physical exercise. However, the word yoga in the Bhagavad Gita has a different meaning. Translated into English, the meaning is a mix between the words technique and discipline. In fact, as we saw earlier, each chapter of the Gita is a yoga, or a technique and discipline, unto itself.

There is an interesting word in the last part of this shloka – “bonds of action”. It almost seems like a thick rope exists, one end tied to our leg and the other end tied to the action. What does is bondage?

An action that increases extreme attachment or hatred towards anything – an object, person or situation – “binds” us to that thing. It is similar to addiction. We may smoke a cigarette once, but unless we have high self control, we want to experience it again. This desire to repeat the experience eventually results in an addiction and we cannot live without it.

The important point here is that no action or object cannot bind us; it is the thought behind it that binds. For a non-smoker, a pack of cigarettes does not cause bondage. Conversely, for a smoker, just the mere sight of the pack of cigarettes prompts him to smoke. For things subtler than addiction, we can tell whether or not an action will cause bondage by checking whether it is for the service of one’s selfish ego or not.

Consider an executive making a presentation to her management team. One scenario could be that she makes the presentation with the motive of getting a promotion. Another scenario could be that she makes the presentation with the motive of increasing the sales of the corporation so that it benefits all the stakeholders. In the first case, the action binds her. In the second case, it doesn’t.

Alternatively, consider a musician performing on stage. If he performs with the sole motive to get applause and get nominated for an award, the action will bind him. But if he performs with the sole motive of entertaining the audience and honouring his craft, the action will not bind him.

Shri Krishna gently reveals the technique of cutting off these bindings in the rest of the chapter.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 32, Chapter 2

31 Monday Oct 2011

Posted by in 2.32, appaavritam, cha, chapter 2 verse 32, dvaaram, eedrisham, khsatiyahaa, labhante, paartha, sukhinaha, svarga, upapannam, yadrichchayaa, yuddham

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yadrichchayaa chopapannam svargadvaaramapaavritam |
sukhinaha kshatriyaaha paartha labhante yuddhameedrisham || 32 ||

Fortunate are those warriors who will fight such a war, O Paartha. Indeed, it is like a door to heaven that has opened without any effort.

yadrichchayaa : unsought, without effort
cha : indeed
upapannam : obtain
svargadvaaram : door of heaven
apaavritam : open
sukhinaha : fortunate
kshatriyaaha : those warriors
paartha : O Paartha
labhante : obtain
yuddham : war
eedrisham : this

Any singer or musician will look forward to performing in a large auditorium like Carnegie Hall rather than perform in a small 20 seat theatre. A doctor who genuinely cares about saving lives will tirelessly and joyfully work extra hard if she is handling an emergency room with a huge number of patients rather than serving only 1-2 patients a day.

In other words, a person performing his or her svadharma would always prefer working hard towards a challenging assignment rather than simply pulling along in a mediocre one. Shri Krishna pointed this out to Arjuna by reminding him that a true warrior would look forward to the challenge of fighting the Kaurava army, which was filled with world-renowned warriors.

How is this relevant to us? Our work should give us joy, our work should be its own reward. If we have chosen a profession that feels like drudgery, if we feel that any new work given to us is a chore rather than a challenge, if all we can do is complain, then we should re-examine whether we are really following our svadharma, or we are qualified to do something else.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 21, Chapter 2

19 Wednesday Oct 2011

Posted by in 2.21, ajam, avinaashi, avyayam, chapter 2 verse 21, enam, ghaatayati, hanti, kam, katham, nityam, paartha, purushaha, saha, veda, yaha

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vedaavinaashinam nityam ya enamajamavyayam |
katham sa purushaha paartha kam ghaatayati hanti kam || 21 ||

Whosoever knows this (eternal essence) to be imperishable, eternal, birthless and changeless, how can that individual, O Paartha, slay or cause anyone to be slain?

veda : knows
avinaashinam : imperishable
nityam : eternal
yaha : whosoever
enam : this
ajam : birthless
avyayam: changeless
katham : how
saha : that
purushaha : individual
paartha : O Paartha
kam : who
ghaatayati  : cause to be slain
hanti : kill
kam : who

Imagine that you are operating a laptop that is connected to a printer. You open a document on the laptop and click the print button. The laptop sends a signal to the printer, and the document gets printed.

Now imagine that the laptop and the printer have egos and can think for themselves. The laptop will say “I initiated the printing action” whereas the printer will say “I was the receiver of the printing action”.

But in reality, an electric current went from the laptop to the printer, which then caused the printing to happen. So, an engineer would never say “the laptop caused the printing to happen”. It was all a play of electricity.

So here, what Shri Krishna is trying to say is that “this”, the eternal essence does not act and nor does it get impacted by any action, just like electricity does not really act. It empowers material objects to act without actually acting. Therefore a wise person will never think that the eternal essence can slay or kill or act at all. It is like the sun.

The refrain is clear: “You are the eternal essence – birthless, changeless, eternal and imperishable. The eternal essence does not slay, nor does it get slain.” It is repeated throughout the Gita because it will take a significant effort on our part to truly understand and internalize this message.