Category Archives: proktam

Bhagavad Gita Verse 37, Chapter 18

25 Tuesday Jun 2013

Posted by in 18.37, aatmabuddhiprasaadajam, agre, amritopapam, chapter 18 verse 37, parinaame, proktam, saattvikam, sukham, visham

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yattadagre vishameva parinaamemritopapam |
tatsukham saattvikam proktamaatmabuddhiprasaadajam || 37 ||
 
That which is like poison initially, but is like nectar in its result, that joy is said to be saattvic, born of one’s mental purity.
 
yat : that
tat : which
agre : initially
visham : poison
eva : like
parinaame : in its result
amritopapam : like nectar
tat : that
sukham : joy
saattvikam : saattvic
proktam : is said
aatmabuddhiprasaadajam : born of one’s mental purity
 
Most of us dread going to the doctor’s office for a vaccination. Some of us will try to postpone, or even cancel, an upcoming vaccination. What causes such fear? It is just a little bit of a pinch, that too for a few seconds, caused by the needle of the syringe. Fear is also caused by the anticipation of this pain. But we all know that any vaccination is given to us for our own long term benefit. It will prevent us from catching all kinds of diseases that can cripple us or even kill us.
 
So therefore, the reward for bearing pain is extremely beneficial to us. Shri Krishna says that sattvic joy is similar, in that when we first begin to experience it, it is quite unpleasant, but in the end, it is as pleasant as nectar. No spiritual path is easy to take up in the beginning. In karma yoga, one has to work selflessly, chipping away at the ego. The leap of faith needed for bhakti is difficult for people who have grown up doubting everything. Jnyaana yoga requires a high degree of awareness, whereas most of us lead automated robotic lives where someone else has done out thinking for us.
 
All of these practices have their goal as the purification of the mind, and of removing its three main doshas or faults: mala or selfish desire, vikshepa or lack of focus, and avarana or ignorance. Unless these three faults are diminished to a great extent, we will be unable to comprehend the nature of sattvic joy. This is unlike any joy we know so far, because it does not depend on any external factors such as objects, people or situations. It comes from inside, from the intellect that has turned inward towards the self.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 18, Chapter 17

08 Wednesday May 2013

Posted by in 17.18, adhruvam, chalam, chapter 17 verse 18, dambhena, kriyate, maanaha, poojaartham, proktam, raajasam, satkaaraha, tapaha, yat

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satkaaramaanapoojaartham tapo dambhena chaiva yat |
kriyate tadiha proktam raajasam chalamadhruvam || 18 ||
 
That which is performed for praise, honour, worship and ostentation, that praise is called raajasic, is said to be of this world, and is unstable and temporary.
 
satkaaraha : praise
maanaha : honour
poojaartham : for worship
tapaha : penance
dambhena : for ostentation
cha : and
eva : also
yat : that which
kriyate : performed
tat : that
iha : this world
proktam : is said to be
raajasam : raajasic
chalam : unstable
adhruvam : temporary
 
The Puraanaas are filled with stories of all kinds of demons who performed extremely severe penance and austerities. It is said that Raavana chopped off each of his ten heads until Lord Shiva granted him a boon. Hiranyakashipu performed such severe penance that his entire flesh dropped off and only his bones remained. However, none of these demons desired self realization or liberation as the outcome of their penance. They wanted some boon, some power such that they could vanquish their enemies.
 
Shri Krishna says that whenever we conserve our energy and put in a lot of effort towards any material goal, any goal which is “of this world”, such type of penance will be called raajasic. This penance could be for boosting our ego, in other words, for praise, honour, worship or for showing off. People spend years working extremely hard so that they can buy a fancy house or a car that can be shown off. Dictators do everything they can to ensure that people fall at their feet and worship them.
 
Ultimately, any effort that is expended towards an earthly goal will be temporary. A simple illustration to explain this notion is that of a ball thrown by a person in the air. No matter how hard the throw is, the ball will eventually fall down and stop moving. Furthermore, any result that we see in the world is also unstable. Several people go on crash diets that, in addition to giving temporary results, may actually harm the body. Any result in the material world is subject to the laws of Prakriti, to the three gunaas themselves, which are inherently unstable.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 11, Chapter 13

12 Saturday Jan 2013

Posted by in 13.11, adhyaatmajnyaanam, ajnyaanam, anyathaa, artha, ataha, chapter 13 verse 11, darshanam, etat, iti, jnyaanam, nityatvam, proktam, tattvajnyaana, yat

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adhyaatmajnyaanamnityatvam tattvajnyaanaarthadarshanam |
etajjnyaanamiti proktamajnyaanam yadatonyathaa || 11 ||
 
Steadfastness in the knowledge of the self, contemplation on the goal of the knowledge of reality. This has been spoken of as knowledge. That which is other than this is ignorance.
 
adhyaatmajnyaanam : knowledge of the self
nityatvam : steadfastness
tattvajnyaana : knowledge of reality
artha : goal
darshanam : contemplation
etat : all this
jnyaanam : is knowledge
iti : this
proktam : has been spoken
ajnyaanam : ignorance
yat : that which
ataha : of this
anyathaa : other than
 
Shri Krishna adds two final entries to the list of twenty attributes that help us reduce the importance we give to the kshetra or the field. “Adhyaatma” refers to the self, the “I” in us. “Jnyaanam” is knowledge, and “nityatvam” is constant dwelling in that knowledge. For instance, once we know that the sun is a star and that the earth revolves around it, we never forget it, even when we appreciate the beauty of a sunrise or a sunset. Similarly, we can mourn the loss of a loved one, without letting that incident obscure our knowledge that the human body is ephemeral.
 
“Tattva jnyaana artha” is the goal or the culmination of the knowledge of reality, which is moksha or liberation. We will constantly contemplate on the self only if we feel that liberation is worthwhile, that it is valuable. On the other hand, if we value material goals more than liberation, we will waver in our commitment to inquiring about the self. Therefore, if we are able to make liberation our end goal, we will easily practice all the other attributes that we have studied in the previous few shlokas.
 
Shri Krishna concludes this topic by asserting that what has been spoken of so far is the means of knowledge, it is jnyaanam. Anything that does not provide this means of knowledge is ignorance, it is ajnyaanam, it will only serve to further entangle us in the material world. For instance, if we practice arrogance instead of humility, that is out of ignorance. It will lead us away from the path of liberation. We are urged to lead an intelligent, ignorance-free life in the Gita, right from the beginning when Shri Krishna glorified buddhi yoga in the second chapter.
 
So then, if all this was the means of knowledge, what knowledge does it reveal to us? This topic is taken up next.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 1, Chapter 8

29 Friday Jun 2012

Posted by in 8.1, adhibhootam, adhidaivam, adhyaatma, brahma, cha, chapter 8 verse 1, karma, kim, proktam, purushottama, tat, uchyate

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Arjuna uvaacha:
kim tadbrahma kimadhyaatmam kim karma purushottama |
adhibhootam cha kim proktamadhidaivam kimuchyate || 1 ||
 
Arjuna said:
What is that “brahman”? What is “adhyaatma”? What is “karma”? O supreme person. What is termed as “adhibhoota” and “adhidaiva”?
 
kim : what is
tat : that
brahma : “brahman”
adhyaatma : “adhyaatma”
karma : “karma”
purushottama : O supreme person
adhibhootam : “adhibhoota”
cha : and
proktam : what is termed as
adhidaivam : “adhidaivam”
uchyate : what is termed as
 
Shri Krishna ended the previous chapter by referencing some technical terms, and stressed the need for Arjuna to understand these terms completely so that he could realize Ishvara. Here, Arjuna does a favour to all future students of the Gita by asking Shri Krishna to clearly define these terms. In that regard, Arjuna asks the definition of four terms in this shloka: adhyaatma, karma, adhibhoota and adhidaiva.
 
This chapter is perhaps one of the more philosophical and esoteric chapters of the Gita. It deals with the theme of life after death, something that has not been addressed so far in the Gita. Furthermore, The definition of the aforementioned technical terms is provided, but has been interpreted differently by various commentators, so we need to chose the most clear and straightforward explanation. We will also get a sweeping glimpse of the Gita’s view on the origin of the cosmos.
 
To better understand these technical terms, let us set up an illustration. First, let us quickly look at how a movie projector works. A projector consists of a bright light that shines onto a strip of film. This film strip contains a series of images that are shot by a movie camera, or drawn by an animator in case of an animated movie. When the film strip is run through the projector, the images are projected onto the movie screen. The fast speed of the moving images creates the illusion of movement on the screen.
 
Let us further say that there is an animated movie called “Tom” that shows a day in the life of Tom who is a teenager. Tom wakes up, eats breakfast, goes to school, comes back home, plays with his friends and goes to sleep. It is a very simple movie. Like any other animated movie it follows a script written by a scriptwriter, and is in fact a sequence of images drawn by an animator.
 
Now, here’s where we have to stretch our thinking. Imagine that by some inexplicable magic, the light that shines on Tom on the film strip begins to think that it is different than the light that shines on the other part of the film strip. It develops an identity of its own. It even begins to think that it is actually waking up, going to school and so on.
 
The light of the projector has identified itself with Tom. What happens next? We will continue to develop this illustration further in the explanation of the next shloka.