Category Archives: smaran

Bhagavad Gita Verse 6, Chapter 8

03 Tuesday Jul 2012

Posted by in 8.6, ante, bhaavam, bhaavitaha, chapter 8 verse 6, eva, iti, kalevaram, kaunteya, sadaa, smaran, tadbhaava, tam, tyajati, vaa api, yam

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yam yam vaapi smaranbhaavam tyajante kalevaram |
tam tamevaiti kaunteya sadaa tadbhaavabhaavitaha || 6 ||
 
When (one) thinks of whatever state, while leaving the body at the end, O Kaunteya, (one) always having been absorbed in that, attains only that.
 
yam : whichever
vaa api : any
smaran : thinking
bhaavam : state
tyajati : leave
ante : at the end
kalevaram : body
tam : that
eva : only
iti : that
kaunteya : O Kaunteya
sadaa : always
tadbhaava : having thought of it
bhaavitaha : attains
 
The Srimad Bhagavatam contains the story of the great king Bharata. He was an accomplished king. He ran his kingdom well during his lifetime, and later retired into the forest to lead a life of austerity. But he developed a soft corner for a baby deer and became so attached to it that he would only think of the deer instead of focusing on his austerities. It is said that in his next life, he was born as a deer.
 
In this shloka, Shri Krishna asserts that whatever we think about at the time of death will determine our fate. But more importantly, he also states that the thought at the time of death is not really something that we can control. It is in fact, an outcome of our pattern of thinking throughout our lives.
 
If we examine our thoughts over the course of our day, we will notice a great variety of thinking. For most of us it will be a mix of mostly family-related and work-related thoughts, mixed with some thoughts about spirituality. But in the background, we will always have a thought that is going on all the time. It will come to the forefront when we are alone, or when we have opened our eyes after sleeping, but not fully woken up. For King Bharata, that persistent background thought was that of the deer.
 
So then, our deepest love, our deepest interest and our deepest longing will bear fruit in our next life. Having known this, what should we now do? This is taken up next.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 5, Chapter 8

02 Monday Jul 2012

Posted by in 8.5, antakaale, asti, atra, cha, chapter 8 verse 5, eva, kalevaram, maam, madbhaavam, muktvaa, na, prayaati, saha, samshayaha, smaran, yaati, yaha

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antakaale cha maameva smaranmuktvaa kalevaram |
yaha prayaati sa madbhaavam yaati naastyatra samshayaha || 5 ||
 
One who, even during the time of departure, abandons his body while remembering me, he achieves my true nature, in this matter there is no doubt.
 
antakaale : during the time of departure
cha : and
maam : me
eva : even
smaran : remembering
muktvaa : abandons
kalevaram : body
yaha : one who
prayaati : goes
saha : he
madbhaavam : my nature
yaati : achieves
na : no
asti : is
atra : in this matter
samshayaha : doubt
 
The remainder of this chapter is the answer to the fundamental questions raised by Arjuna : “How does one attain Ishvara at the time of death?” Having addressed all the other questions, Shri Krishna begins to answer that most important question in this shloka. He says that only the one who remembers Ishvara at the time of death will attain Ishvara.
 
We now have a definite “action item” from Shri Krishna. He asserts that our final goal in life should be this: to remember Ishvara at the time of death. Shri Krishna assures it is so, because he says “in this matter there is no doubt”. It is clearly spelled out for us.
 
At first glance, it may seem straightforward. All we have to do is to remember Ishvara at the time of death. But it is not so. In most cases, we may not know when we die. We could die in an accident. We could have lost our mental faculties. Our attachment towards our family will occupy our minds. There are so many factors that will prevent us from remembering Ishvara only at the time of death.
 
So then, how do we get around this problem? Shri Krishna addresses it shortly. First, he explains why our thought at the time of death is so important.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 6, Chapter 3

14 Wednesday Dec 2011

Posted by in 3.6, aaste, chapter 3 verse 6, http://schemas.google.com/blogger/2008/kind#post, indriyaarthaan, manasaa, mithyaachaarah, sah, saiyamya, smaran, uchchyate, vimoodhaatmaa, yah

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karmendriyaani saiyamya ya aaste manasaa smaran |
indriyaarthaanvimoodhaatmaa mithyaachaarah sa ucchchyate || 6 ||

One who sits, forcibly restraining his organs of action, yet keeps thinking about objects, that foolish individual is known as a hypocrite.

karmendriyaani : (sense and action oriented) organs
saiyamya : forcibly restrain
yah : one who
aaste : sits
manasaa : in the mind
smaran : thinks
indriyaarthaan : (sense) objects
vimoodhaatmaa : foolish individual
mithyaachaarah : hypocrite
sah : that
ucchchyate : known as

The second chapter of the Gita informed us that the way to achieve the ultimate spiritual goal is by eliminating our vaasanaas, because they are the source of selfish desires. But this message has the potential to be dangerous if it is misinterpreted.

Under the banner of becoming more spiritual, some people put their bodies through extreme fasting, while some forcibly repress their urges. We see a milder version of this behaviour when individuals are trying to rid themselves of addictions by simply cutting off the supply or going “cold-turkey”.

For example, if one has an addiction to alcohol, one tries not to keep alcohol in the house to avoid temptation. That may work in the short term, but an addiction is not in the body, it is in the mind. It is like any other vasanaa and will come up as a desire when one sees alcohol the next time.

So in this shloka, Shri Krishna issues a strong warning to anyone who thinks that they can advance on the spiritual path through extreme repression of the body or of the mind. He uses a strong term to admonish such individuals by calling them hypocrites.

Let’s connect this shloka to the previous one. It informed us that the body, mind and intellect comprise the three gunaas. These gunaas born of prakriti will always compel us to perform actions. But the current shloka tells us that repression of action will not lead to elimination of desires. We have no choice but to perform action, yet we need clear up our desires and vasanaas.

So what’s the conclusion? We have to find a way to eliminate vasanaas WHILE we are performing actions. That technique is karma yoga.