Category Archives: sharanam

Bhagavad Gita Verse 66, Chapter 18

24 Wednesday Jul 2013

Posted by in 18.66, ekam, maam, mokshayishyaami :, paritajya, sarvadharmaan, sharanam, shuchaha, vraja sarvapaapebhyaha

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sarvadharmaanparitajya maamekam sharanam vraja |
aham tvaa sarvapaapebhyo mokshayishyaami maa shuchaha || 66 ||
 
Abandoning all duties, take refuge in me alone. I shall liberate you from all sins. Do not grieve.
 
sarvadharmaan : all duties
paritajya : abandoning
maam : me
ekam : alone
sharanam : refuge
vraja : take
aham : I
tvaa : you
sarvapaapebhyaha : from all sins
mokshayishyaami : shall liberate
maa : do not
shuchaha : grieve
 
When someone joins a large corporation for the first time, they take several months to understand the lay of the land. This is because their boss may tell them to do one thing, but their boss’s boss may tell them to do something else. The sales team may offer suggestions that are completely opposed to the marketing team’s view. The new employee will be totally confused till they figure out a sort of compromise. But, if by chance, the new employee meets the CEO of the company and gets their opinion, they will have a clear and unambiguous direction.
 
It is said that this shloka, containing the sum and substance of the entire Gita, is the one “take home message” for any student who feels bewildered or overwhelmed with the teaching. There are four parts to the shloka. The first part instructs the seeker to abandon all of their duties. Let us look at this deeper meaning since we should not take it literally. This means that Shri Krishna wants the seeker to stop analyzing which actions they should stop performing, which actions should they continue pursuing and which new actions should they take up. They should simply stop worrying about all these questions.
 
So then, what should the seeker do? The second part of the shloka gives the answer – take refuge in Ishvara alone. All our thoughts, words, actions, feelings, everything should be dedicated towards Ishvara. By doing so, we will automatically arrive at the answers to our questions regarding what to do and what not to do. If we eat our food by first offering it to Ishvara, we will automatically stop eating food that is not appropriate. If we offer all of our actions to Ishvara, we will not perform any illegal or unethical actions. Everything will automatically fall into place.
 
What is the result of taking refuge in Ishvara? The third part of the shloka assures the seeker that they will be liberated from all of their paapa, their sins. Sins in this context refers to the bondage of actions caused by our ego. If we perform all actions in service to Ishvara, and accept any success or failure as a gift from Ishvara, we will never harbour any worry or anxiety about the past or future. We will simple continue to fill our time in relentless service to Ishvara. Ultimately, we will reach a stage where our mind is purified of all selfishness, leading to the fourth part of the shloka, complete freedom from sorrow.
 
Shri Krishna ends this shloka with the words “do not grieve”. It is said that the core teaching of the Gita is complete, since the teaching was begun with a view to eliminate the cause of Arjuna’s sorrow, which is his ignorance of his true nature as the self.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 62, Chapter 18

20 Saturday Jul 2013

Posted by in 18.62, bhaarata, chapter 18 verse 62, gaccha, http://schemas.google.com/blogger/2008/kind#post, praapsyasi, sarvabhaavena, shaantim, shaashvatam, sharanam, sthaanam, tatprasaadaat

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tameva sharanam gaccha sarvabhaavena bhaarata |
tatprasaadaatparamaam shaantim sthaanam praapsyasi shaashvatam || 62 ||
 
Take refuge wholeheartedly in him only, O Bhaarata. With his grace you will attain supreme peace and the eternal abode.
 
tam : him
eva : only
sharanam : refuge
gaccha : take
sarvabhaavena : wholeheartedly
bhaarata : O Bhaarata
tatprasaadaat : with his grace
paramaam : supreme
shaantim : peace
sthaanam : abode
praapsyasi : you will attain
shaashvatam : eternal
 
Imagine that a mother is cooking in the kitchen. Her twins are playing in the hall. It is time for their next meal. One twin has learned how to walk before the other twin, and so, walks across the hall to drink his glass of milk. Frustrated at his efforts to walk, the second twin cries out to his mother. The mother immediately rushes to lift him up and give him his glass of milk. She knows that the first child does not need her help, but the second one does.
 
Shri Krishna says that for people who are still in stuck in the material world, who cannot renounce it in order to gain knowledge about the eternal essence, do have a shot at liberation. This can only happen by taking refuge in Ishvara. But this is no ordinary kind of refuge. It is sarve bhavena, it is wholehearted surrender, also known as sharanaagati. We cannot partially take refuge in Ishvara and also take refuge in material entities such as wealth, power and influence. We cannot hedge our bets in this manner. It has to be complete surrender to Ishvara.
 
So what is the result of sharanaagati? It is the grace, the prasaada, of Ishvara. It is like the mother automatically lifting the child, without any effort of the child. This grace removes all impurities from the mind, resulting in supreme peace, parama shaanti. We stop worrying about our food, clothing and shelter, since we realize it was always in the hands of Ishvara. We simply carry on performing our duty. In time, through the grace of Ishvara, the seeker attains the eternal abode, the shaashvata sthaanam of Ishvara, which is liberation from all sorrow.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 18, Chapter 9

13 Monday Aug 2012

Posted by in 9.18, avyayam, beejam, chapter 9 verse 18 bhartaa, gatihi, nidhaanam, nivaasaha, prabhavah, prabhuh, pralayah, saakshi, sharanam, sthaanam, suhrita

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gatirbhartaa prabhuh saakshi nivaasaha sharanam suhrita |
prabhavah pralayah sthaanam nidhaanam beejamavyayam || 18 ||
 
I am the outcome, nourisher, master, witness, abode, refuge and well-wisher. I am the origin, dissolution, sustenance, repository and the imperishable seed.
 
gatihi : outcome
bhartaa : nourisher
prabhuh : master
saakshi : witness
nivaasaha : abode
sharanam : refuge
suhrita : well-wisher
prabhavah : origin
pralayah : dissolution
sthaanam : sustenance
nidhaanam : repository
beejam : seed
avyayam : imperishable
 
Shri Krishna gives 12 single-word pointers or indicators of Ishvara. These are considered the foundation of many bhakti traditions. A more exhaustive list is provided in the Vishnu Sahasranaama, the thousand names of Ishvara as Lord Vishnu.
 
“Gatihi” means goal, destination or outcome. The karmaphaa, the fruit of our action, leads us to our destination or goal. The actions are the means, and the fruit of the actions is the goal. Shri Krishna says that Ishvara is the highest goal that we can aspire to. “Bhartaa” is the controller and supporter of the entire universe. It literally means someone who provides for his family. Ishvara nourishes and takes care of all beings in this universe, hence he is the provider of the universe. Since he is also the ultimate controller and master, he is known as “Prabhuhu”.
 
When we are kids, we aspire to become like our parents. They provide for us and also control our activities. They are our gatihi, bhartaa and prabhuhu. But if they get too attached to us, they will continue planning our life even when we become adults. That is why Ishvara remains an unattached witness, or “saakshi”.
 
Furthermore, Ishvara is the “nivaasaha” or container of the universe. He is “sharanam”, the ultimate refuge when there is no one else left for us to turn to. He is a well wisher or “suhrita”, someone who does not expect anything in return. Ishvara creates, dissolves and maintains the universe therefore he is “prabhavaha”, “pralaya” and “sthaanam”. He is also “nidhaanam”, the repository where all beings become unmanifest at the end of creation.
 
Finally, Ishvara is the seed that has created the universe. Unlike most seeds that can only generate one plant, Ishvara continues to create the universe infinitely, without modification. Hence he is called the imperishable seed “avyayam beejam”.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 49, Chapter 2

15 Tuesday Nov 2011

Posted by in 2.49, anviccha, avaram, buddhau, buddhiyoga, chapter 2 verse 49, dhananjaya, doorena, hi, karma, kripanaah, phalahetavaha, sharanam

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doorena hyavaram karma buddhiyogaaddhananjaya |
buddhau sharanamanviccha kripanaah phalahetavaha || 49 ||

Selfish action is far lower than unselfish action, O Dhananjaya. Seek refuge in the knowledge of equanimity. Pitiable are those who are motivated by results.

doorena hi : far
avaram : lower
karma : selfish action
buddhiyogaat : unselfish action
dhananjaya : O Dhananjaya
buddhau : knowledge of equanimity
sharanam : refuge
anviccha : seek
kripanaah : pitiable
phalahetavaha : those motivated by results

So far, Shri Krishna described the performance of unselfish actions while maintaining equanimity of mind. In this shloka, he expresses his views on individuals acting with a selfish motive. To indicate his level of contempt for them, he calls them “pitiable”.

Lets say there is a large family living under one roof. Everyone has a part to play: some people work to bring in money, some are students, some take care of the house etc. Now, there is a large TV in the living room and anyone in the family can watch it. But, if one person starts monopolizing the TV and prevents others from watching it, what would you call that person? Wouldn’t you call him selfish and pitiable? Well, the world we live in is no different than this large family. Any selfishly motivated actions eventually causes more harm than good.

Now, all of us will agree that acting in an unselfish manner is a good thing, in theory. But we very rarely practice it in our lives. Why is this so? The most common argument is that if we become unselfish, other selfish people will take advantage of us and we will probably “lose” in life.

So how do we address this argument? Acting with an unselfish attitude does not mean that we become weak-minded wimps. If someone is obstructing us from performing our svadharma, we should deal with that individual in a firm manner appropriately. And if we truly practice equanimity of mind while performing actions, we will respond to the situation using our intellect and not our emotions. Therefore we will not do something rash and harmful to the situation at hand.

Therefore, the teaching of Karmayoga encourages us to slowly change our attitude to one of unselfish action, and maintain equanimity of mind while performing actions.