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Category Archives: parichakshate

Bhagavad Gita Verse 17, Chapter 17

07 Tuesday May 2013

Posted by in 17.17, aphalakaanshibhihi, chapter 17 verse 17, naraihi, parayaa, parichakshate, saattvikam, shraddhayaa, tapaha, taptam, trividham, yuktaihi

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shraddhayaa parayaa taptam tapastattrividham naraihi |
aphalakaanshibhiryuktaihi saattvikam parichakshate || 17 ||
 
This three fold penance, performed by balanced people with supreme faith, without expectation of reward, is called sattvic.
 
shraddhayaa : with faith
parayaa : supreme
taptam : is performed
tapaha : penance
tat : this
trividham : three fold
naraihi : by people
aphalakaanshibhihi : without expectation of reward
yuktaihi : balanced
saattvikam : sattvic
parichakshate : is called
 
So far, we saw that tapas or penance comprises three aspects. Bodily or shaaririka tapas, speech or vaangmaya tapas, and mental or maanasika tapas. Tapas is used to conserve and channel our energy in the pursuit of a goal or objective, whether it be material or spiritual. Shri Krishna now describes three types of tapas, and how they can be used to assess the texture of our faith. He first describes the conditions under which penance is revealed to be sattvic.
 
The unique nature of sattvic tapas is that it is performed in the pursuit of the highest possible goal, which is self realization. It is not performed for any material gain, or the pursuit of physical or mental powers. Furthermore, it is performed with the utmost faith in the statements of the scriptures. Shri Krishna uses the word naraha or human in this shloka, and not in the shlokas that described the other two types of penance. He implies that only humans have the ability to perform penance without expectation of material gain.
 
Who has the ability to perform this highest level of penance, this sattvic penance? It is one who is yukta, one who has integrated his mind with his intellect, one who can remain balanced in success and failure. Only such a person is able to incorporate all the three aspects of penance, physical, mental and speech, referred in the shloka as three fold. Even if one of these is missing, the tapas loses its sattvic aspects. Mental penance is the toughest of all the three, since it is hardest to conquer the mind.

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Bhagavad Gita Verse 13, Chapter 17

03 Friday May 2013

Posted by in 17.13, adakshinam, asrishtaannam, chapter 17 verse 13, mantraheenam, parichakshate, shraddhaavirahitam, taamasam, vidhiheenam, yajnyam

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vidhiheenamasrishtaannam mantraheenamadakshinam |
shraddhaavirahitam yajnyam taamasam parichakshate || 13 ||
 
They call that sacrifice to be taamasic which is contrary to scripture, in which no food is distributed, without chanting of hymns or donations to priests, and performed without faith.
 
vidhiheenam : contrary to scripture
asrishtaannam : without distribution of food
mantraheenam : without chanting of hymns
adakshinam : without donation to priests
shraddhaavirahitam : performed without faith
yajnyam : sacrifice
taamasam : taamasic
parichakshate : they call
 
Here, Shri Krishna describes the attitude of taamasic individuals towards action, using the symbolism of a sacrificial ritual once again. He says that taamasic attitude towards action totally disregards shaastra or scripture. Scripture refers to a higher law, any notion of ethics or morality. There is no thought as to the consequence of the action to oneself and to other individuals whatsoever. Any task done without proper planning or performed haphazardly falls into this category.
 
Next, Shri Krishna says that there is no distribution of food in the sacrifice. In the taamasic attitude, the person not only claims the results of the action as their own, but goes to great lengths to ensure that no one else gains the benefit of the action, even if it is their due. For instance, if a business has a good year, the owner may hoard the profits instead of giving employees a bonus. Furthermore, the taamasic attitude does give respect or listen to advice of senior people, referred to as “priests” in this shloka.
 
The main problem with the taamasic attitude is that all actions are performed with lack of faith. In other words, actions are performed for all the wrong reasons – someone else told us to perform the action, we are just doing it for the sake of doing it, we are doing it grudgingly, we are not putting our heart into it, we are not involved in it and so on. The performance of actions is as if it is being done by a lifeless entity, a corpse.