Category Archives: tasya

Bhagavad Gita Verse 6, Chapter 6

08 Sunday Apr 2012

Posted by in 6.6, aatmaa, aatmanaa, anaatmanaha, banduhu, chapter 6 verse 6, eva, jitaha, shatrutve, shatruvat, tasya, yena

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banduraatmaatmanastasya yenatmaivaatmanaa jitaha |
anaatmanastu shatrutve vartetaatmaiva shatruvat || 6 ||

For one who has conquered oneself by oneself, only his own self is his friend. But for one who has not conquered oneself, it is only his own self that behaves in animosity, like an enemy.

banduhu : is a friend
aatmaa : oneself
aatmanaa : by oneself
tasya : for him
yena : who has
aatmaa : oneself
eva : only
aatmanaa : oneself
jitaha : conquered
anaatmanaha : for one who has not conquered oneself
tu : but
shatrutve : in a spirit of animosity
varteta : behaves
aatmaa : his own self
eva : only
shatruvat : like an enemy

As further elaboration on the previous shloka, Shri Krishna explains exactly what he means by the statement “we are our own friend and we are our own enemy”. He says that for the person that has used his intellect to conquer the mind and senses, he becomes his own friend. But for one who is unable to conquer the mind and senses, he becomes his own enemy. Note the repeated use of the word “aatmaa” or self in this shloka and the prior shloka to mean different things.

Now, what exactly is a “shatru” or enemy? It is someone who constantly creates trouble for us – a trouble maker. The mind, if not under our control, can be the world’s most creative and impactful trouble maker. We tend to think it is our boss, our mother-in-law, our neighbour and so on to be our enemy, the troublemaker. But nothing beats that mind when it comes to creating problems for us.

Consider an example. Let’s say the doctor has told us that sweets are bad for us. Now, imagine that we are at a social gathering and someone offers us a sweet. The intellect instantly knows what is the right thing to do. But the mind is different from the intellect. If the mind is not under control, it will say “go ahead, there is no harm in taking one piece of the sweet”.

At this point, we fall prey to the lower self and eat the sweet. The mind now says, “this is a very tasty sweet. I think I will have this again tomorrow, first thing in the morning”. Again we succumb to the lower self on the next day and eat the sweet again. Now, having eaten the sweet twice, the mind says “why did I eat this sweet twice? The doctor had said that it is bad for me. I hope this does not impact my health. I absolutely hate myself”.

Here is someone who caused us trouble three times – before, during and after eating the sweet. But it was not someone from the outside. It was something within – our own mind. This is why Shri Krishna calls the uncontrolled mind to be the worst enemy possible in regards to our growth. The sweet is a small example of how the uncontrolled mind creates trouble for us day in and day out. Through conditioning by the sense organs, it repeatedly reinforces our likes and dislikes without regard to what is rational.

So the message is clear: progress towards meditation is not possible unless we use karmayoga to bring our mind under control and eliminate as many desires as possible.

In the shlokas so far, Shri Krishna gave an introduction to the topic of meditation. In the rest of this chapter, he will cover all aspects of meditation including: what is meditation, what is the process, what do we have to do internally and externally, what are the obstacles and how do we remove them, and how does such an individual that is established in meditation live in this world, which is the topic he takes up next.

The world for us comprises three aspects: situations that we encounter, objects that we use, and people that we interact with. In the next three shlokas, Shri Krishna takes up each aspect and paints a picture of the meditator’s attitude towards each of these aspects.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 3, Chapter 6

05 Thursday Apr 2012

Posted by in 6.3, aarurkshoho, chapter 6 verse 3, eva, kaaranam, munehe, shamah, tasya, uchayte, uchyate, yogam, yogaroodhasya

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aarurukshormuneryogam karma kaaranamuchyate |
yogaroodhasya tasyaiva shamah kaaranamuchyate || 3 ||

For that contemplative person who desires to ascend to yoga, action is said to be the means. For one who is established in yoga, tranquility is said to be the means.

aarurukshoho : one who desires to ascend
munehe : contemplative person
yogam : yoga
karma : action
kaaranam : means
uchyate : is said to be
yogaroodhasya : one who is established in yoga
tasya : that person
eva : only
shamah : tranquility
kaaranam : means
uchyate : is said to be

In the shlokas so far, Shri Krishna has pointed out the similarity between a karmayogi and a monk in regards to their suitability for practicing meditation. Now, he begins to go one level deeper and tell us where we stand, and how should we prepare ourselves for meditation.

Let’s first understand what is meant by a muni or a contemplative person. Most people in this world harbour the notion that worldly objects, people and situations yield happiness. The contemplative person is one who has spent enough time observing the world and understood that notion to be false. He need not have retreated to the forest to contemplate on this. He knows from his daily life experience that the world cannot give joy. Such a muni, who has the desire to go higher, ascend above the material world, is called “aarurkshoho”.

So for such a muni, there are two possibilities. One is that he is not established in dhyaana yoga or meditation. His mind still harbours desires. His proportion of sattva guna is lower compared to rajas and tamas. For such a seeker, the only means to get established in meditation is karmayoga. Diligent observance of karmayoga will develop the qualities of discrimination and dispassion (viveka and vairagya), which will ultimately purge desires from the mind.

The second possibility is the muni who has achieved a high level of viveka and vairagya. His mind does not harbour desires due to the predominance of sattva. He only performs the bare minimum of actions that are in line with his obligatory duties. Such a person is “aarudha” or elevated. For such a person, meditation will come naturally. All he has to is to follow the instructions given later in this chapter towards “shamaha”, which is quietening the mind.

Consider this illustration. When a child wants to ride a heavy bicycle, he usually cannot climb it directly. He has to put one foot on the pedal and kick the ground with the other foot till the bicycle gathers speed. Only then can he climb the bicycle. So in the initial stage, the child is “aarurkshoho” and has to kick the ground until the bike gathers speed. Then when he ascends the bicycle, he becomes “aarudha”.

Now, when exactly does the seeker become ready to meditate? This is tackled in the next shloka.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 13, Chapter 4

03 Friday Feb 2012

Posted by in 4.13, akartaaram, api, avyayam, chaatur, guna, karma, kartaaram, maam, mayaa, srishtam, tasya, varnyam, vibhaagashaha, viddhi

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chaaturvarnyam mayaa srishtam gunakarmavibhaagashaha |
tasya kartaaramapi maam viddhyakartaaramavyayam || 13 ||

Four classes have been created by me, based on the division of guna and action. Even though I created them, know me as the non-doer and imperishable.

chaatur : four
varnyam : classes
mayaa : by me
srishtam : created
guna : guna
karma : action
vibhaagashaha : division
tasya : that
kartaaram : being the doer
api : even though
maam : me
viddhi : know
akartaaram : non-doer
avyayam : imperishable

Earlier, Shri Krishna mentioned that humans cannot avoid action at any cost. So how can we achieve liberation from bondage while still performing action? To that end, Shri Krishna advises us to act per our svadharma. By efficiently performing svadharma, we can liberate ourselves while performing actions. This is the “why” of karmayoga.

Knowing that one should perform one’s svadharma or duty in this world is core to karmayoga. But how does one know what is one’s svadharma? Shri Krishna addresses this point briefly in this shloka. He says that human beings are categorized into four classes or varnaas. These classes are based on the 3 gunaas, and the corresponding action that each guna prompts us to do.

The three gunas and their corresponding actions are as follows. Rajas is expressed as as activity or agitation. Tamas is expressed as lethargy or laziness. Sattva is expressed as knowledge and peace. So we have to perform self-analysis in order to understand how the gunaas behave within us and in what proportion to each other.

We will find that we will fall into one of these four categories. A brahmana who is predisposed to gaining knowledge, faith, sharing knowledge will usually have a prominence of sattva. A kshatriya who demonstrates courage, likes to organize and protect people, face challenges, take risks, try new things will have a prominence of sattva and rajas. A vaishya who likes to be creative and produce something will have a prominence of rajas and tamas. A shudra who likes to execute tasks but requires a lot of motivation will have prominence of tamas.

As we can tell, this shloka was heavily misinterpreted to support the incorrect notion that varna is determined by birth. There is no such thing. Just like we have career counselling in modern times, the Gita offered a scientific manner of selecting a career that is suitable for oneself both from a practical perspective, and also from a karma yoga perspective.

In the second part of the shloka, Shri Krishna reminds us that although he has set up this classification of varnaa, he is not the doer even in this act. It is maayaa alone that is acting in this world, whereas he is only the witness to its actions. We can think of ourselves as playing different parts in a cosmic play. Each part is different based on our svadharma.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 18, Chapter 3

27 Tuesday Dec 2011

Posted by in 3.18, akruten, apaashrayah, arthaha, arthavya, asya, cha, chapter 3 verse 18, eva, iha, kashchana, kashchit, kruten, na, sarvabhootehsu, tasya

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naiva tasya krutenaartho naakruteneha kashchana |
na chaasya sarvabhooteshu kashchidarthavyapaashrayah || 18 ||

For that (realized individual), there is nothing to be gained by action or inaction here. Also, he does not have even the slightest dependency on anyone for any object.

na : not
eva : only
tasya : that realized individual
kruten : from action
arthaha : gained
na : not
akruten : from inaction
iha : here
kashchana: any
na : not
cha : also
asya : for him
sarvabhooteshu : with anyone
kashchit : slight/even a little
arthavya : object
apaashrayah : dependency

In the last shloka, Shri Krishna explained that one who has found delight solely in the eternal essence loses all sense of doership. In other words, all his actions become selfless and spontaneous, like an artist who cares only about creating paintings without any expectation (art for art’s sake).

Shri Krishna further elaborates that point in this shloka. He says that for such a person, the concept of gain or loss does not exist, nor does the notion of dependency or support from anyone or anything.

To better understand this shloka, let us imagine a situation where one is at the end of a critical chapter in one’s life, e.g. imagine that a person has submitted his resignation and is in the last week of his job. What will be his mindset? He will suddenly become the nicest guy in the office, and the most fun guy to hang out with. Why is that? Everyone knows that he has no agenda with anyone anymore, since it does not really matter. And he can surf the web all day long, because it does not really matter whether he works or doesn’t work.

Another example could be a person who at age 65 has just retired. He has made a decent fortune with his savings, and can live comfortably till his last day. In addition, he is quite healthy and can still work if needed. But just like in the earlier example, it does not matter whether he performs any action or doesn’t. Moreover, since he does not have any dependency on anyone, his savings make him self sufficient. Therefore, for the individual that has realized the worth of the eternal essence “treasure”, any other material gain or loss does not hold any meaning.

Ultimately, these 2 shlokas reveal the state of a realized person, who by losing all sense of doership, renounces all action. Renouncing doership is renouncing action. The topic of renunciation is covered in detail in the forthcoming chapters.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 17, Chapter 3

26 Monday Dec 2011

Posted by in 3.17, aatma, aatmani, cha, chapter 3 verse 17, eva, kaaryam, maanavaha, na vidyate, ratih, santushtah, syaat, tasya, truptah, tu, yah

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yastvaatmaratireva syaadaatmatruptashcya maanavaha |
aatmanyeva cha santushtastasya kaaryam na vidyate || 17 ||

But, one who revels only in the eternal essence, and is content and satisfied in the eternal essence, no duty exists for him.

yah : one who
tu : but
aatma-ratih : revels in the eternal essence
eva : only
syaat : remains
aatma-truptah : content in the eternal essence
cha : and
maanavaha : individual
aatmani : in the eternal essence
eva cha : and
santushtah : satisfied
tasya : for him
kaaryam :duty
na vidyate : do not exist

While hearing Shri Krishna extol the need to act in this world, many of us – whether we admit it or not – may want to know whether there is an exception to this instruction. In other words, are there any circumstances where do not need to perform actions anymore? Shri Krishna gives the answer in this shloka and the next.

If we examine ourselves, we realize that we derive pleasure and satisfaction from external sources: material objects, people, relationships and so on. Pleasant memories, which can be considered internal to us, do give us joy but were generated from some external source in the past. But, in reality, the source of happiness is the absence of desires experienced when we finally attain a material object.

For instance, if we want to buy a new shirt, a desire is created in the mind. Till such time that we get the shirt, we will be unhappy because of that desire. But once the desire is fulfilled, we experience happiness for a brief period of time. Is that happiness caused by the shirt, or by the temporary absence of desires? The wise person knows that it is the latter.

So in this shloka Shri Krishna makes a bold statement. He says that till we derive pleasure and satisfaction from things external to us, we have to act in this world. Conversely, one who no longer derives pleasure and satisfaction from external sources does not need to act in this world. He “revels” in the eternal essence which he has learned to recognize within himself. He no longer has to look outside for happiness.

Is there a contradiction here? Earlier it was mentioned that if one is human, one has to act. But here, it is mentioned that the realized individual does not need to act? The answer is that once that individual has understood the true source of happiness, he loses the sense of doership. In other words, the notion that “I am doing this action” goes away, and all his actions become natural and spontaneous.

As an example, if you truly love painting, and have mastered all the skills, then your painting becomes effortless and spontaneous. You experience a feeling that some people call “being in the zone”. In fact, there may come a stage where you will feel that the hand is moving by itself, and the painting is happening on its own.

Similarly, all the actions of this wise individual become like that spontaneous painting.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 68, Chapter 2

03 Saturday Dec 2011

Posted by in 2.68, chapter 2 verse 68, indriyaani, mahaabaaho, nigriheetaani, prajna, pratishthitaa, sarvashaha, tasmaad, tasya, yasya

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tasmaadyasya mahaabaaho nigriheetaani sarvashaha |
indriyaaneendriyaarthebhyastasya prajnya pratishthitaa || 68 ||

Therefore, O mighty armed warrior, one who always restrains his senses from objects, his wisdom his steady.

tasmaad : therefore
yasya : that individual
mahaabaaho : O mighty armed warrior
nigriheetaani : under control
sarvashaha : everywhere

indriyaani : senses
indriyaarthebhyaha : objects
tasya : that individual
prajya : wisdom
pratishthitaa : steady

With this shloka, Shri Krishna concludes the topic of sense restraint. Let us summarize the main points of this topic.

The senses have the power to destabilize the mind, and consequently, destroy the intellect’s capability to make proper judgements. The best way to control the senses is to practice one’s svadharma with devotion to a higher ideal. If we don’t, then even a stray thought about a material object will escalate into a chain of events that will bring about our downfall.

Changing the quality and direction of thoughts towards a higher ideal will result in a tranquil psyche, enabling us to move in the world of material objects without attachment or revulsion. And ultimately, this will result in peace and happiness.

A pictorial description of this topic was provided in the form of a rudderless ship at sea, that is blown here and there by wind. The wind represents the senses, the ship our mind, and the direction, our wisdom.

In the next shloka, Shri Krishna begins to conclude the second chapter of the Gita.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 61, Chapter 2

28 Monday Nov 2011

Posted by in 2.61, aaseeta, chapter 2 verse 61, hi, indriyaani, mat, paraha, prajna, pratishthitaa, samyamya, sarvaani, taani, tasya, vashe, yasya, yuktah

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taani sarvaani samyamya yukta aaseeta matparaha |
vashe hi yasyendriyaani tasya prajna pratishthitaa || 61 ||

The disciplined individual should restrain them all and sit with devotion to me. Having brought the senses under control, his wisdom is steady.

taani : those
sarvaani : all
samyamya : restrain
yuktah : the disciplined individual
aaseeta : sit
mat : me
paraha : devoted
vashe : control
hi : for
yasya : those whose
indriyaani : senses
tasya : his
prajna : wisdom
pratishthitaa : steady

Shri Krishna begins to go deeper into the subject of how senses and thoughts impact our lives. This subject comes under the umbrella of the “sthitaprajna lakshana”, or the signs of a wise individual, and comprises the final portion of the second chapter. As a reminder, the four major portions of the second chapter are : 1) Shri Krishna convincing Arjuna that his logic was incorrect 2) providing the correct logic and understanding to Arjuna 3) providing the practical aspects of the teaching 4) describing the attributes of the man of steady wisdom. We are the the final topic right now.

In the last shloka, Shri Krishna described how the turbulent senses can ruin the mind. In this shloka, he provides a prescription to remedy the impact of the senses: set a goal that is higher than yourself, and channel your mind and your senses towards that higher goal. The senses, along with the mind, will detach from material objects only when they are shown a higher goal. They cannot detach without attaching themselves to a higher goal. Otherwise, we end up forcibly suppressing the senses, which we all know is not healthy.

This shloka also hints at the topic of meditation, which is a disciplined technique of fixing the mind to a higher goal. In meditation, an individual sits and gradually brings attention to one and only one thought. And that thought is nothing but the higher goal that we have set for ourself. The most unique thing in this shloka is that Shri Krishna uses the word “me”, in other words, he asks us to make him the higher goal.

Now, at this stage in the spiritual journey, if you feel comfortable with making devotion to Shri Krishna your ultimate goal, that is fine. Otherwise, you can set any selfless goal that is greater than you – for example, serving your parents, serving your family, serving your organization, serving the country etc.

Setting a higher goal is the only way that your senses and your mind will come under control. It also ensures that your ego does not puff up thinking that it has controlled the senses.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 58, Chapter 2

25 Friday Nov 2011

Posted by in 2.58, angaani, ayam, cha, chapter 2 verse 58, indriyaani, indriyaarthabhyaha, iva, koormah, prajna, pratishthitaa, samharate, sarvashaha, tasya, yada

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yada samharate chaayam koormangaaneeva sarvashaha |
indriyaanindriyaarthabhyastasya prajna pratishtitaa || 58 ||

When, just like a tortoise withdraws its limbs from all sides, he withdraws his senses from objects, his intellect is steady.

yada : when
samharate : withdraws
cha : also
ayam : he
koormah : tortoise
angaani : limbs
iva : like
sarvashaha : all sides
indriyaani : senses
indriyaarthabhyaha : sense objects
tasya : his
prajna : intellect
pratishtitaa : steady

So far, Shri Krishna gave us a checklist of factors that could disturb our equanimity: joy, sorrow, gain and loss. Let’s say, we detect that one of these factors has presented itself to us. What should we do? He gives a beautiful example from the world of nature to address this point.

Whenever a tortoise senses danger, he withdraws his limbs into his shell. The shell is strong enough to withstand any adverse situation. And once that situation passes, he brings his limbs back into the world. Similarly, if we detect that an object, person or situation is about to disturb our equanimity, Shri Krishna advises us to bring our intellect into the picture, and completely withdraw our attention from that object, person or situation.

In one commentary on this topic, we learn that most animals have one sense organ as their weakness. The deer has sound, the elephant has touch, the moth has sight (fire), the fish has taste, and the bee has smell as its weakness. So for example, if a moth sees fire, it loses all control and flies straight into the fire. However, human beings have all five senses as their weakness, making this technique all the more important.

The most practical application of this technique is dieting. If we have a sweet tooth like we saw earlier, and we see a large slice of black forest chocolate cake in front of us, we have to apply the “tortoise technique” and move some steps away from that cake. It also means that we do not keep large stocks of chocolates, cakes etc. in our house because we may be tempted very easily.

Here’s another related point. In India, many aspects of spiritual practices are embedded in our customs, but sometimes we do not realize their significance. We may have noticed a sculpture of a tortoise outside many Indian temples, which is an instruction to withdraw our worldly matters and enter the temple with a devotional mindset. But instead of doing so, we tend to whisper about worldly matters into the tortoise’s ear, which is exactly the opposite of the original intent.

Footnotes
1. The example on 5 animals and their weaknesses is from Vivekachoodamani by Adi Shankarachaarya

Bhagavad Gita Verse 57, Chapter 2

24 Thursday Nov 2011

Posted by in 2.57, abhinandanti, anabhisneha, ashubham, chapter 2 verse 57, dveshti, na, praapya, prajna, pratishthitaa, sarvatra, shubha, tasya, tat, yah

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yah sarvatraanabhisnehastattatpraapya shubhaashubham |
naabhinandanti na dveshti tasya prajna pratishthitaa || 57 ||

He who remains without affection everywhere, is not elated in gain, and is not dejected in loss, his wisdom is steady.

yah : he who
sarvatra : everywhere
anabhisneha : without affection
tat tat : those
praapya : receive
shubha : gain
ashubham : loss
na : not
abhinandanti : elated
dveshti : dejected
tasya : his
prajna : wisdom
pratishthitaa : steady

In the prior shloka, we saw how a person of steady wisdom responds to joyful and sorrowful situations that he encounters in life. In this shloka, Shri Krishna points out how that person responds to beneficial and adverse outcomes of his expectations.

This shloka uses an interesting word “anabhisneha”, which means without affection. The root of this word is “sniha” which means “to stick”. Most of us tend to get stuck to objects, people and situations that we encounter in our lives. And it is that stickiness which gets us into trouble.

An example from the corporate world would be a consultant who is hired for a 3 month assignment verses a full time employee who is given a similar assignment. The consultant comes in, does what she is supposed to do, submits her report and moves on to the next assignment, without getting entangled in office politics. Whereas the employee gets “stuck” to the job and gets entangled in all kinds of office politics, who he should align himself with, etc.

So therefore, if one remains unattached and works towards a goal, he gains the objectivity to remain the same whether he succeeds or fails in accomplishing that goal. He knows that he was there before that success or failure happened, he was there during it, and he will be there after it as well. Therefore whatever happened can be easily dealt with. In no way does he let any adverse outcome demotivate him.

How can we apply this practically? For example, if we worked hard for a project and someone criticizes us, internally we should remain steady and evaluate whether the criticism is valid or mean-spirited. If it is valid, we take the feedback positively. If it is mean-spirited, we ignore it. But if we are too attached to the work, we will lose our equanimity each time someone criticizes us.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 12, Chapter 1

25 Thursday Aug 2011

Posted by in chapter 1 verse 12, dadhamau, harsham, kuru, naada, pitaamaha, prataapavaan, sanjayanan, shankham, simha, tasya, uchchaiha, vinadya, vriddhaha

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tasya sanjanayanharsham kuruvriddha pitaamaha |
simhanaada vinadyochchai shankamdadhamau prataapavaan || 12 ||
 
Then the valiant Bheeshma, elder of the Kuru dynasty, blew his conch loudly, a sound as mighty as the roar of a lion, delighting Duryodhana.
 
prataapavaan: valiant
kuru-vriddhaha pitaamaha: Bheeshma, an elder of the Kuru dynasty
simha-naada vinadya: roaring like a lion
shankham dadhamau: blew his conch
uchchaiha: very loudly
tasya harsham sanjayanan: increasing delight of the king
 
This is the first verse in a series of verses which indicate the beginning of the Mahabharata war. Traditionally, conches were blown to announce the start of the war. Bheeshma, sensing the fear in Duryodhana, blew his conch so that Duryodhana felt confident that his army was still on his side.
 
It also indicates the dependence of Duryodhana’s ego on external circumstances, such as the roar of conches, in order to strengthen itself, instead of an innate belief that his army was on his side.