Category Archives: shochitum

Bhagavad Gita Verse 30, Chapter 2

28 Friday Oct 2011

Posted by in 2.30, arhasi, avadhyaya, ayam, bhaarata, bhootani, chapter 2 verse 30, dehe, dehi, nityam, sarvaani, sarvasya, shochitum, tasmaat, tvam

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dehi nityamavadhyooyam dehe sarvasya bhaarata |
tasmaatsarvaani bhootani na tvam shochitumarhasi || 30 ||

This eternal and imperishable body-dweller dwells in all bodies, O Bhaarata. Therefore, you should not grieve for any or all beings.

dehi : body-dweller
nityam : eternal
avadhyaha : imperishable
ayam :  this
dehe : bodies
sarvasya : in all
bhaarata : O Bhaarata
tasmaat : therefore
sarvaani : all
bhootani : beings
tvam : you
shochitum : grieve
na arhasi : should not

With this shloka, Shri Krishna concludes the topic of the eternal essence. Now, having followed the teaching so far, we would probably have some questions. Let’s try to address some of them.

So if we were to ask ourselves “I have studied the Gita for a while now, what is the message in a nutshell so far?”. Or in management-speak “What is the net-net?”. It is this shloka. Therefore, even if we may not remember all the shlokas about the eternal essence, we should not forget this shloka.

Here’s another question: “We have covered the entire first chapter, as well as some part of the second chapter. Where is God in all of this?” We have purposely avoided the word “God” in our discussions because Shri Krishna has not yet uttered that word in any teaching so far. As we proceed through the Gita, Shri Krishna will bring up this topic at the appropriate time. For now, if we go to a place of worship like a temple, we can still continue to pray to God, knowing that the eternal essence is an integral part of God as well.

The pragmatist among us would ask “All this abstract stuff is well and good, how do we apply it in our daily life?”. And the answer is – stay tuned! The topics will become more practical starting with the next shloka. All we need to remember is the examples from these shlokas: the eternal essence is like the sun, actionless and changeless. It is like the water that pervades the entire cloth. And it is like the car-dweller who occupies and leaves the car once it is old.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 27, Chapter 2

25 Tuesday Oct 2011

Posted by in 2.27, aprihaarya, arhasi, artha, chapter 2 verse 27, dhruvaha, hi, jaatasya, janma, mrityuha, shochitum, tasmaad, tvam

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jaatasya hi dhruvoo mrityudhruvam janma mritasya cha |
tasmaadaparihaaryerthe na tvam shoochitumarhasi || 27 ||

Since one who is born certainly dies, and one who dies certainly is born. Therefore you should not grieve over this inevitable fact.

jaatasya : one who is born
hi : since
dhruvaha : certainly
mrityuha : die
janma : born
mritasya : who is dead
cha : and
tasmaad : therefore
aparihaarye:  inevitable
arthe : fact
na : not
tvam : you
shoochitum : grieve
arhasi : should

In the last shloka, Shri Krishna told Arjuna: Even if you think that the eternal essence undergoes birth and death, you should still not grieve. He continues the argument in this shloka.

The notion that birth eventually results in death, and death eventually results in birth is sometimes difficult for us to accept emotionally, but at the intellectual level, most of us acknowledge and accept it. I remember watching a TV show that showed a time lapse (high speed) video of a rodent’s corpse decaying into the soil, and small plants and flowers emerging from the soil shortly thereafter. I thought that it very vividly and visually illustrated the cyclical nature of birth and death.

If we look at this example closely, we conclude that the physical body of the animal transformed into the raw material for the body of the flowers and plants. And although we could not see it, we can guess that the eternal essence of the animal “died” and is now “born” as the life force that sustains the plants and flowers.

Therefore we would not grieve for death the animal’s body, nor for the death of the life force in it, because both were born again after they died. Similarly, Shri Krishna wanted Arjuna not to grieve for the imminent death of his kinsmen.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 26, Chapter 2

24 Monday Oct 2011

Posted by in 2.26, arhasi, atha, cha, chapter 2 verse 26, enam, evam, mahaabaaho, manyase, mirtam, nityajaatam, nityam, shochitum, tathaapi, tvam, vaa

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atha chainam nityajaatam nityam vaa manyase mritam |
tathaapi tvam mahaabaaho naivam shochitumarhasi || 26 ||

But on the other hand, if you believe that this (eternal essence) constantly takes birth and dies, then also you should not grieve, O mighty armed.

atha cha : but if
enam : this (eternal essence)
nityajaatam : constantly being born
nityam : constantly
vaa : or
manyase : believe
mritam: die
tathaapi : then also
tvam : you
mahaabaaho : O mighty-armed
na : not
evam : this
shochitum : grieve
arhasi : should

Shri Krishna imparted the teaching of the eternal essence to Arjuna in the shlokas we’ve been seeing. Now, the teaching becomes slightly less abstract and a little more “down-to-earth” as it were. Shri Krishna understands that people like us may find it hard to comprehend the notion of imperishability. Our mind will find a hard time comprehending that something was never born/created, and something will never die/get destroyed.

For example, we may think of the Earth as relatively imperishable, but even then we know from our school geology class that it was formed billions of years ago out of cooling of gases.

Therefore, Shri Krishna says : “O Arjuna, even if you cannot comprehend that the eternal essence is imperishable, it is ok, you can also believe that the eternal essence, which is present in human bodies, undergoes birth and death with the body”. In the next few shlokas, Sri Krishna will convince Arjuna that his grief is unfounded even if he accepts that the eternal essence undergoes birth and death.

We may have a question here: Why did Shri Krishna begin his teaching of the Gita by describing the eternal essence? Isn’t it a complex, abstract topic that all of us, including Arjuna, would have a hard time understanding? Couldn’t he have started with something simpler?

Here’s a possible answer. What is described as the eternal essence is the goal, the final result of the Gita teaching. Like a good teacher, Shri Krishna described the end goal to his students before describing the means to attain that goal. Any good teacher will always describe, elaborate upon, and glorify the end goal in the first lecture of a course. This will generate interest, curiosity, focus and dedication from the student. The student may not necessarily understand everything about that goal, but that is ok.