Category Archives: pravartate

Bhagavad Gita Verse 8, Chapter 10

07 Friday Sep 2012

Posted by in 10.8, aham, bhaavasamanvitaahaa, bhajante, budhaahaa, chapter 10 verse 8, iti, maam, mattaha, matvaa, prabhavaha, pravartate, sarvam, sarvasya

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aham sarvasya prabhavo mattaha sarvam pravartate |
iti matvaa bhajante maam budhaa bhaavasamanvitaahaa || 8 ||
 
I am the cause of everything, everything originates from me. Realizing this, wise individuals filled with this attitude worship me.
 
aham : I
sarvasya : everything
prabhavaha : cause
mattaha : from me
sarvam : everything
pravartate : originates
iti : this
matvaa : realizing
bhajante : worship
maam : me
budhaahaa : wise individuals
bhaavasamanvitaahaa : filled with this attitude
 
“Avikampena yoga”, the unwavering, unshakeable yoga, is defined by Shri Krishna as knowing that Ishvara is the cause of everything, and that everything originates from Ishvara. Those who have established themselves in this yoga are “budhaa”, they are wise. They only worship or contemplate upon Ishvara, remaining unaffected by the ups and downs in life.
 
Imagine an adult and a child walking inside a haunted house within an amusement park. Though both of them see and hear the same things, they have different reactions. The child thinks that the ghosts and the eerie noises are real and becomes afraid. The adult knows that everything inside is fake, it is unreal. So enjoys the thrill of the haunted house without being afraid.
 
The difference between the adult and the child is that the adult has knowledge about the cause of the ghosts and the noises. Similarly, Shri Krishna says that one who knows Ishvara as the cause of everything will develop an extremely positive attitude towards life. He will take failures as learning opportunities, not as triggers for depression. He will never question why something bad happened to him, knowing that it is a result of his prior actions.
 
One who has developed such an outlook towards life will worship Ishvara at all times. This is indicated by the worlds “maam bhajante”. He will experience sorrow only if he forgets that Ishvara is the cause of everything. When one has understood that Ishvara, as the cause of everything, also is the ultimate goal, then they become totally immersed in Ishvara, as described in the next shloka.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 14, Chapter 5

18 Sunday Mar 2012

Posted by in 5.14, chapter 5 verse 14, karmaani, karmaphala, kartritvam, lokasya, na, prabhuh, pravartate, saiyogam, srijati, svabhaavaha, tu

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na kartritvam na karmaani lokasya srijati prabhuh |
na karmaphalasaiyogam svabhaavastu pravartate || 14 ||

Neither agency nor actions, in this world, are created by the eternal essence, and neither does it connect actions to results; for nature organizes (all this).

na : not
kartritvam : agency, doership
na : not
karmaani : actions
lokasya : in this world
srijati : create
prabhuh : eternal essence
na : not
karmaphala : results and actions
saiyogam : connect
svabhaavaha : nature
tu : for
pravartate : organizes (all this)

Earlier, Shri Krishna provided the example of the dweller in the city to illustrate the distinction between the eternal essence and the body, mind and intellect. In this shloka, he takes us one step further by saying that the eternal essence is beyond the realm of action. Furthermore, since action implies doership, results and their enjoyership, action and everything that comes with it is in the realm of prakriti or nature. The eternal essence is separate and distinct from action.

Any self-contained system has inherent rules which govern its operations. For example, let us consider the Pac-Man video game. The game is played in a computer that has four buttons which are used to move Pac-Man up, down, left or right. The rules of the game are programmed into the system. If the player manages to get the fruit while evading the monsters, he wins the game. All this happens automatically. It does not require external intervention by any divine or human entity.

But if we take a step back, the Pac-Man character does not really “move” anywhere. It is an illusion created by the computer by projecting the Pac-Man image to different parts of the screen. One who is watching the game very objectively knows that there is no movement of left, right etc.

Similarly, one who sees the world from the absolute standpoint of the eternal essence knows that in reality, there is no action. Action only exists from the standpoint of nature or prakriti. And if action only exists in nature, so does doership, enjoyership, and connection of actions to their results. It is a self-governing automatic system.