Category Archives: prakritihi

Bhagavad Gita Verse 59, Chapter 18

17 Wednesday Jul 2013

Posted by in 18.59, aashritya, ahankaaram, chapter 18 verse 59, esha, manyase, mithyaa, niyokshati, prakritihi, vyavasaayaha, yotsye

≈ Comments Off on Bhagavad Gita Verse 59, Chapter 18

yadahankaaramaashritya na yotsya iti manyase |
mithyaisha vyavasaayaste prakritistvaam niyokshati || 59 ||
 
Relying on that egoism, you think – I will not fight. This determination of yours is wrong. Your nature will compel you.
 
yat : that
ahankaaram : egoism
aashritya : relying
na : not
yotsye : fight
iti : in this manner
manyase : think
mithyaa : wrong
esha : this
vyavasaayaha : determination
te : your
prakritihi : nature
tvaam : you
niyokshati : compel
 
Right at the beginning of the Mahaabhaarata war, when Arjuna asked Shri Krishna whether to fight or not, Shri Krishna could have given the answer right away. But he decided to deliver the discourse of the Gita instead, not just for Arjuna’s benefit but for the benefit of all future seekers. Having done so, he now vehemently points out the flaw in Arjuna’s decision. He says, in crystal clear language, that the decision to not fight is wrong. It is purely ego-driven, and not in line with Arjuna’s duty as a warrior.
 
In our personal experience, we come across stories of children who were misfits in their families and communities simply because their prakriti, their nature, their samskaaraas, were completely different. A family of doctors cannot get along with their son because he wants to become a musician. A family of traders is upset because their daughter wants to join the government civil service. Such conflict is a cause of endless frustration for families across the board, and there is no easy solution, because it is hard to change one’s mental makeup.
 
Why do parents want to foist its career path onto their children? It is purely due to ego. Parents have a strong sense of mine-ness with regards to their children. They prefer not to think of their children as independent entities. The egos of parents derive strength from this sense of mine-ness, and insist that they have the power to reshape the destiny of their children. Similarly, Arjuna also assumed that he could override his nature as a warrior, and become a monk. Shri Krishna reminded him that his inherent nature as a warrior would compel him to fight, and that he should reconsider his decision.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 10, Chapter 9

05 Sunday Aug 2012

Posted by in 9.19, adhyakshena, anena, chapter 9 verse 10, hetu, jagat, kaunteya, mayaa, prakritihi, sacharaacharam, sooyate, viparivartate

≈ Comments Off on Bhagavad Gita Verse 10, Chapter 9

mayaadhyakshena prakritihi sooyate sacharaacharam |
hetunaanena kaunteya jagadviparivartate || 10 ||
 
Under my supervision, Prakriti generates this universe of moving and motionless (beings). With that purpose, O Kaunteya, the universe revolves.
 
mayaa : my
adhyakshena : supervision
prakritihi : Prakriti
sooyate : generates
sacharaacharam : moving and motionless universe
hetu : purpose
anena : in this manner
kaunteya : O Kaunteya
jagat : universe
viparivartate : revolves
 
Shri Krishna concludes the topic of Prakriti and its mechanisms by re-asserting that Prakriti is subservient to Ishvara. He describes Ishvara as the supervisor, the “adhyaksha”. He says that Ishvara does not physically have to “do” anything in order to create, sustain and dissolve the universe. Ishvara’s mere presence enables Prakriti to function, just like electricity enables a television to function. Without his presence, Prakriti remains inert and is incapable of doing anything whatsoever.
 
From Ishvara’s standpoint, there is no notion of “doing work” or “obtaining the result”; he knows that ultimately it is Prakriti that runs the show, and therefore he remains detached. He is like the owner of a theatre that has employed a magician to perform a show. The owner is unconcerned whether the magician cuts a woman in half with a saw, or pulls a rabbit out of a hat.
 
Let us now look at the practical implication this shloka. If we substitute the word Ishvara in the previous statement with the word “jeeva” or individual, we come to the same conclusion from the previous chapters on karma yoga. Only through disassociation with the notion that “I am the doer” and “I obtain the result” can we truly be liberated from the cycle of creation and dissolution.
 
The key question is : who controls whom? If we let Prakriti control us, if we let our lower nature drag us towards sense pleasure, we can never be liberated. We should re-assert our control of our lower self through our higher self.
 
Furthermore, Shri Krishna also gives us a technique to deal with life’s ups and downs with this shloka. Whenever we encounter a sorrowful or hurtful situation, all we need to do is to know that (a) we have obtained this situation through our own actions and (b) it is yet another name and form that Prakriti has created.
 
Once we know that something is a name and form, we will immediately know that it is Prakriti’s handiwork, just like we know that something is an April fool’s joke or a magician’s trick. This will enable us to pierce through Prakriti’s pranks and to know that Ishvara the supervisor is behind everything.
 
So then, Shri Krishna has explained to us “how the universe revolves”, in other words, how the magic trick works. This is how we should develop our vision of the world. However, instead of trying to see Ishvara behind everything, many people still try to box Ishvara into a finite concept. More on this is taken up in the next shloka.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 4, Chapter 7

29 Tuesday May 2012

Posted by in 7.4, aapaha, ahankaaraha, analaha, ashtadhaa, bhinnaa, bhoomihi, buddhihi, cha, chapter 7 verse 4, eva, iti, iyam, kham, manaha, me, prakritihi, vayuhu

≈ Comments Off on Bhagavad Gita Verse 4, Chapter 7

bhoomiraaponalo vayuhu kham mano buddhireva cha |
ahankaara iteeyam me bhinnaa prakritirashtadhaa || 4 ||
 
Earth, water, fire, wind and space, along with mind, ego and intellect, in this manner, this is my eight-fold differentiated nature.
 
bhoomihi : earth
aapaha : water
analaha : fire
vayuhu : wind
kham : space
manaha : mind
buddhihi : intellect
eva : along with
cha : and
ahankaaraha : ego
iti : in this manner
iyam : this
me : my
bhinnaa : differentiated
prakritihi : nature
ashtadhaa : eight-fold
 
Shri Krishna, having promised Arjuna that he will reveal his true essence, begins to do so in this shloka. He says that five primordial elements, as well as mind, ego and intellect, comprise his prakriti or nature.
 
Earth, water, fire, wind and space here do not mean tangible physical elements that we can perceive through our senses. They refer to the qualities of the physical elements. For example, water here refers to the quality of liquids that enable them to flow. Fire refers to the quality of a flame to generate light and heat. When these elements combine with each other, they have the potential to create every object in this universe. In other words, Shri Krishna says that the building blocks of the universe are nothing but his manifestation.
 
What is the implication here? For many of us that have a set image of Ishvara as a certain deity, this is a whole new way of understanding. It means that Ishvara is within our grasp 24 hours a day, seven days a week. All of the objects, situations and people that we interact with are made up of these elements.
 
This means that if we realize that everything comes from Ishvara, then we should not have room for any negative emotions such as jealousy, anger etc. Why? When we know that everything is created and owned by Ishvara, we do not get agitated if our neighbour buys a bigger car or gets a better job. We see everything as ultimately belonging to Ishvara, so it does not matter who temporarily claims it as his or hers.
 
Now, having discussed the five elements, let us take up the other three through an illustration. In the morning, just before we are about to wake up, our mind is in an unmanifest state. We are not aware of anything. As we begin to get up, the first thought that comes to mind is subject awareness, i.e. “I am so-and-so”. Soon after, we begin thinking that “I am so-and-so in this bedroom and it is 7 am now”. The mind goes from unmanifest, to the ego (I am), to awareness of objects.
 
The creation of the universe per the Saamkhya school of philosphy follows these three stages as well. The universe originally lies in an unmanifest state. The first manifestation or transformation in this state is the ego-principle, which is also known as self-assertion or the “I-principle”. It creates the notion of the subject and object, or of the experiencer and experienced. Finally, this ego-principle learns how to manifest itself in terms of objects, which is known as the cosmic mind. These three states – unmanifest, ego-principle and cosmic mind are denoted in the shloka as mind, ego and intellect.
 
The cosmic mind then begins to manifest itself from the most intangible elements to the most tangible ones, step by step. The first element produced is space, which is invisible. Next is air, which we cannot see but can infer from its effects. Next is fire, which we can see but not touch. This is followed by water, which we can see and touch. Finally, earth is produced which is the most tangible element of all. If you reverse the order of elements given in this shloka, it exactly follows the doctrine of creation in Saamkhya.
 
So, if we take all of these 8 factors into account, we realize that all the material aspects of the universe is Ishvara. Ishvara has not created this world like a sculptor creates statues out of clay. He has created the world out of himself. It is like the spider that creates the web out of himself, like the Mundaka Upanishad says.
 
The entire world of experience is Ishvara. But what about the experiencer himself? This is taken up in the next shloka.