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Category Archives: shaucham

Bhagavad Gita Verse 42, Chapter 18

30 Sunday Jun 2013

Posted by in 18.42, aaarjam, aastikyam, brahmakarma, chapter 18 verse 42, damaha, jnyaanam, kshaantihi, shamaha, shaucham, svabhaajavam, tapaha, vijnyaanam

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shamo damastapaha shaucham kshaantiraaarjameva cha |
jnyaanam vijnyaanamaastikyam brahmakarma svabhaajavam || 42 ||
 
Restraint of mind and sense organs, penance, purity, forgiveness, and also, knowledge, wisdom and faith, these are the natural duties of a braahman.
 
shamaha : mental restraint
damaha : sensual restraint
tapaha : penance
shaucham : purity
kshaantihi : forgiveness
aaarjam : straightforwardness
eva : also
cha : and
jnyaanam : knowledge
vijnyaanam : wisdom
aastikyam : faith
brahmakarma : duties of a braahman
svabhaajavam : natural
 
Sant Raidas was a cobbler. Sant Tukaram was a farmer. Mirabai was a princess. Sant Namdev came from a family of tailors. Swami Vivekananda was born into an aristocratic family. Sant Chokhamela came from a family that was treated as untouchable. Although all these saints came from different occupations and externally imposed castes, their mental makeup, was that of a braahman. Shri Krishna says that one who is born with, or comes to imbibe, a certain set of qualities and a certain kind of mental makeup, acts according to that mental makeup, and therefore is a braahman.
 
Restraint of mind and senses is seen in actions of braahmans. They never get agitated or perturbed even in the worst of situations. They have an immense capacity to bear and withstand these situations, which comes from leading a life of austerity and penance. Their mind is pure since it does not entertain thoughts of selfishness or hatred. Any mental or physical harm caused by someone else is instantly forgiven. They are extremely straightforward in their dealings with the world, since their mind, speech and actions are in line with each other.
 
Every action performed by a braahmana comes out of knowledge and discrimination. They never perform actions thoughtlessly or carelessly. This knowledge is not purely academic, it becomes wisdom due to the braahman’s ability to apply it to practical situations. Braahmanas also have faith in the teachings of the scriptures, regardless of whether they have learned formally, or have first hand experience of those teachings. Broadly, all these characteristics are the product of a high degree of sattva in the mind, and only a tinge of rajas and tamas.

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Bhagavad Gita Verse 14, Chapter 17

04 Saturday May 2013

Posted by in 17.14, aarjavam, ahimsaa, brahmacharyam, chapter 17 verse 14, deva, dvija, guru, poojanam, praajnya, shaareeram .tapaha, shaucham, uchyate

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devadvijagurupraajnyapoojanam shauchamaarjavam |
brahmacharyamahimsaa cha shaareeram tapa uchyate || 14 ||
 
Worship of the deities, the twice born, teachers and the learned, purity, straightforwardness, chastity and non violence, these are called penance of the body.
 
deva : deities
dvija : twice born
guru : teacher
praajnya : learned
poojanam : worship
shaucham : purity
aarjavam : straightforwardness
brahmacharyam : chastity
ahimsaa : non violence
cha : and
shaareeram : of the body
tapaha : penance
uchyate : called
 
So far, Shri Krishna described the three types of food and worship so that we can use them to analyze the texture of our faith. He now begins the topic of tapas, which means penance or austerity. Through tapas we ensure that the energy that we derive from consuming food can be conserved and channeled into our actions. This tapas or penance is also of three types, saattvic, raajasic and taamasic. But penance itself needs to be broken down into its three main components first. Here, we examine the first component which is bodily or physical penance, shaaririka tapas.
 
Penance of the body begins with bowing down to, respecting, and serving our deities, our elders and our teachers. Deities also means the gods representing elemental forces such as Varun, lord of the seas. This means that we should worship and take care of all the natural resource this world has to offer. Offering service to something greater than us also has the effect of checking our aham, our ego, our illusory notion of who we are. It increases our humility and decreases our individuality.
 
Shaucham refers to purity of our body and our surroundings. If we keep our room unclean or cluttered, it is an indication that our mind is also unclean, or is cluttered with useless thoughts. Aarjavam or straightforwardness refers to our posture. We will not be able to meditate unless we are able to maintain an erect posture. This straightforwardness of the body is also a pointer to making our thinking straightforward, without any trace of deceit. Brahmacharyam refers to stopping our checking the excessive straying of our sense organs into their respective objects, like watching too much TV or consuming a lot of rich food. Ahimsa or non violence prevents us from harming anyone or anything using our body.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 7, Chapter 16

02 Tuesday Apr 2013

Posted by in 16.7, aasuraahaa, achaaraha, chapter 16 verse 7, janaahaa, nivrittim, pravrittim, satyam, shaucham, teshu, viduhu, vidyate

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pravrittim cha nivrittim cha janaa na viduraasuraahaa |
na shaucham naapi chaachaaro na satyam teshu vidyate || 7 ||
 
Whether to engage or to disengage from action, those people with devilish tendencies do not know. Neither purity nor proper conduct nor truth exists in them.
 
pravrittim : engaging in action
cha : and
nivrittim : disengaging from action
cha : and
janaahaa : people
na : not
viduhu : know
aasuraahaa : those with devilish tendencies
na : not
shaucham : purity
na : not
api : also
cha : and
achaaraha : proper conduct
na : not
satyam : truth
teshu : in them
vidyate : exists
 
Shri Krishna begins his explanation of the materialistic viewpoint by examining its value system. He says that those people who come from a purely materialistic viewpoint have a shaky value system. In other words, they do not know what to do and what not to do, when to engage in something and when not to. They focus only on artha or wealth and kaama or desire. They forget that there are two other goals in life, dharma or duty and moksha or liberation, and that each goal is to be picked up and left off at a certain stage in life.
 
Now, since such people are unclear about the pros and cons of everything, they are bound to do things in a haphazard and messy way. Shri Krishna says that such people do not have shaucha, they do not have purity. He refers not just to external purity but also internal. When someone does not have a systematic way of thinking through things, there is a strong chance that they will lead messy lives. Furthermore, their conduct towards others, their aacharana, will also be messy and haphazard. They will lack good manners, courtesy and politeness.
 
It also follows that when someone does not know the pros and cons of anything, they will not place a lot of importance on satyam, truth, doing things the right way. So if they do not get the result they want, they have no qualms in getting their results by lying, cheating and deceit. They do not want to wait for the result, because waiting takes time. If there is a shortcut, they will go for it. Such is the value system of the aasuri, the devilish, the materialistic viewpoint.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 3, Chapter 16

29 Friday Mar 2013

Posted by in 16.3, abhijaatasya, adrohaha, bhaarata, bhavanti, chapter 16 verse 3, daiveem, dhritihi, kshamaa, naatimaanitaa, sampadam, shaucham, tejaha

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tejaha kshamaa dhritihi shauchamadroho naatimaanitaa |
bhavanti sampadam daiveemabhijaatasya bhaarata || 3 ||
 
Radiance, forgiveness, fortitude, purity, lack of enmity, lack of arrogance, these are found in one who has obtained divine qualities, O Bhaarata.
 
tejaha : radiance
kshamaa : forgiveness
dhritihi : fortitude
shaucham : purity
adrohaha : lack of enmity
naatimaanitaa : lack of arrogance
bhavanti : are
sampadam : qualities
daiveem : divine
abhijaatasya : one who has obtained
bhaarata : O Bhaarata
 
Shri Krishna adds more entries into the list of divine qualities. Tejaha refers to brilliance that comes to dedicated seekers. Energy that is normally wasted through relentless contact with sense objects is conserved when we control our sense organs. Tapaha, conservation of energy, results in tejaha. Even if we control our food cravings for a short period of time, we will feel an influx of additional energy that will radiate out of our body.
 
A long term vow of never to get angry in the first place is termed kshamaa, which means forgiveness. If we feel someone has hurt us in any way, we want to punish him in the future. But when we forgive someone on the spot, we do not leave room for grudges to accumulate in our mind, cutting the very root of this attitude of punishment. The way to do this is to not expect any joy or sorrow from anyone or anything.
 
Next, we come across dhritihi which means fortitude. There will be situations in our life when our mind, body and senses will reach their breaking point. We will begin to say – I cannot take it anymore. The ability to keep holding on to our goal in the face of such fatigue is called dhritihi. It can only come out of training our mind to follow the direction of the intellect. This topic is covered in great detail in the eighteenth chapter.
 
Shaucham refers purity and cleanliness. External cleanliness, which means keeping our body, our surrounding and our environment clean is a given. But shaucham also refers to internal purity, which refers to keeping our mind and intellect free of likes, dislikes and attachments. Getting rid of the most stubborn dirt of the mind, ignorance of our true nature, is the highest act of cleaning we can perform.
 
The next quality Shri Krishna mentions is that of adroha. Here, we do not have any notion of hatred or enmity towards anyone. Droha actually means betrayal. It is the feeling of revenge we harbour against someone who we believe has wronged us, has betrayed us. Adroha means not to harbour such feelings. When one’s goal is the supreme, they will never stoop to harbour feelings of revenge against anyone.
 
Maanitaa refers to the notion of always demanding respect from our peers. Atimaanitaa refers to extreme arrogance, of always demanding respect from our superiors. It comes from an inflated sense of self worth, by giving emphasis to our individuality. Naatimaanita is the opposite of atimaanitaa. As our sense of individuality merges into Ishvara through constant spiritual practice, qualities that are associated with an exaggerated ego or self worth automatically correct themselves.
 
Shri Krishna concludes the list of divine qualities in this shloka. Very few people are born with all these qualities. So even if we focus on cultivating a handful of these qualities within ourselves, we would have made a good start.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 7, Chapter 13

07 Monday Jan 2013

Posted by in 13.7, aachaaryopaasanam, aarjavam, aatmavinigrahaha, adambhitvam, ahimsaa, amaanitvam, chapter 13 verse 7, kshaantihi, shaucham, sthairyam

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amaanitvamadambhitvamahimsaa kshaantiraarjavam |
aachaaryopaasanam shaucham sthairyamaatmavinigrahaha || 7 ||
 
Humility, unpretentiousness, non-injury, forgiveness, straightforwardness, service of the teacher, purity, steadfastness, self control.
 
amaanitvam : humility
adambhitvam : unpreteniousness
ahimsaa : non-injury
kshaantihi : forgiveness
aarjavam : straightforwardness
aachaaryopaasanam : service of the teacher
shaucham : purity
sthairyam : steadfastness
aatmavinigrahaha : self control
 
Let us do a quick recap. Shri Krishna began this chapter with a brief explanation of what is the field or kshetra, and who is its knower or kshetragnya. He then asserted that there is only one knower of all the fields in the universe. After that, he categorized twenty four items that can be each considered as a field. From this shloka, Shri Krishna changes the topic from theoretical description to extremely practical techniques that help us bring this teaching into our daily lives. These techniques train us to spot the field or upaadhi that we are giving importance and subsequently reduce the level of importance we give to it. The less importance we give to any of these twenty four upaadhis, the closer we are to realizing our oneness with the eternal essence that is beyond any field or upaadhi.
 
“Maana” means overestimation of one’s own self-worth. This self-worth can be derived from health, wealth, power, beauty, control, position, any of these characteristics. Acknowledgement that we have one or more of these characteristics, a correct assessment of these characteristics is fine, but when pride or “abhimaan” derived from these characteristics makes us crave extra attention or put down someone else, it is to be avoided. “Amaanitvam” is an absence of pride about any of the above-mentioned characteristics. “Dambha” means pretentiousness or falsehood. In the case of abhimaana, we had some characteristic in us that made us puff up with pride. In dambha, we derive a false sense of pride where there is no positive trait to speak of whatsoever. It is completely hollow pride. We see examples in bollywood movies where the boy will rent or steal a fancy car in order to impress his girlfriend. If we have this trait in us, very few people will trust us to do any task well. It is easy to see through people who have dambha. So then, “adambhitvam” is utter absence of pretentiousness.
 
“Himsaa” means injury in a very broad sense of the word. There are five afflictions that are mentioned in the Yoga school of philosophy: ignorance, arrogance, desire, hatred and fear of death. Whenever we cause any of these afflictions or kleshas in any other person, we are injuring that person. When we do not cause any of these afflications, we demonstrate ahimsaa or non-injury. “Kshaantihi” is an attitude of forgiveness that comes out of extreme titkshaa which is forbearance and tolerance. If we do not have this quality, we will get angry, flare up and lose our equanimity at every little jab or insult that anyone throws at us. In the second chapter Shri Krishna had emphasized the quality of forbearance as a means to achieve equanimity as well. The attitude of forgiveness developed through forbearance is similar to that of a mother who forgives any mistake committed by her child.
 
“Aarjavam” refers to straightforwardness, an absence of crookedness in dealing with the world. It is derived from the root “riju” which is the root of the word “Arjuna” as well. This quality is reflected in us when our thoughts are aligned with our actions. Even children can see through someone who says one thing and does something else. “Aacharya” refers to someone who collects the essence of the scriptures, like a honeybee collects nectar from flowers. Giving respect to such a learned master is called “aacharya upaasanam”. By doing so, we acknowledge that we do not know everything, and that we are ready to follow the path laid out by the teacher, no matter how much it hurts our ego.
 
“Shaucham” is purity of the body and the mind. The ritual of pooja is emphasized in Indian children because in that short period of time, we learn to maintain a high degree of external purity. If we reflect on this as we get older, that notion of external purity slowly seeps into our mind, and encourages us to develop purity in thought as well. “Sthairyam” is the strength to remain firm in one’s convictions, to remain steadfast in what we do. If we decide to meditate for ten minutes daily but cannot even do so for a couple of days, we will not be able to tackle much more challenging aspects of our material and spiritual journeys. “Aatmaa vinigraha” is our ability to control our mind from its natural tendency to run after sense objects. The sense organs, which are under the control of the mind, have a natural tendency to go outwards. Through self control, we learn to turn them inward.
 
Shri Krishna covered nine qualities in tihs shloka. There are eleven more that are covered in the next few shlokas.