Category Archives: tattvavit

Bhagavad Gita Verse 8-9, Chapter 5

12 Monday Mar 2012

Posted by in 5.8, 5.9, ashnan, chapter 5 verse 8-9, gachchan, grihnan, jighran, manyeta, nimishan, pashyan, pralapan, shrunvan, shvasan, sparshan, svapan, tattvavit, unmishan, visrijan, yuktaha

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naiva kinchitkaromeeti yukto manyeta tattvavit |
pashyan-shrunvan-sparshan-jighran-ashnan-gachchan-svapan-shvasan || 8 ||

pralapan-visrijan-grihnan-unmishan-nimishan-api |
indriyaaneendriyartheshu vartanta iti dhaarayan || 9 ||

Never do I perform any action – in this manner asserts the one established in yoga, who has realized the eternal essence. 

Seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, eating, moving, dreaming and breathing; speaking, discarding, grasping, opening and closing of the eyelids. All this is the senses interacting with the sense objects – this is his understanding.

na : not
eva : ever
kinchit : anything
karomi : I act
iti : in this manner
yuktaha : one established in yoga
manyeta : asserts
tattvavit : who has realized the eternal essence

pashyan : seeing
shrunvan : hearing
sparshan : touching
jighran : smelling
ashnan : eating
gachchan : moving
svapan : dreaming
shvasan : breathing

pralapan : speaking
visrijan : discarding
grihnan : grasping
unmishan : opening eyelids
nimishan : closing eyelids
api : even during

indriyaani : senses
indriyartheshu : sense objects
vartanta : interacting
iti : this
dhaarayan : understanding

In prior shlokas, we learned that one who has realized the eternal essence understands that he is not the enjoyer and doer. So to make this as explicit as possible, Shri Krishna provided a detailed illustration of that teaching in this shloka. Here, he gives a comprehensive list of all activities performed by the body, mind and intellect. By providing this illustration, Shri Krishna demonstrates that one who has realized the eternal essence knows, in fact asserts, that he is not doing anything, and all these activities are happening automatically through the body, mind and intellect.

Having looked at this list of activities, we say  – yes we understand that blinking, hearing, dreaming and so on is automatic. But what about the process of thinking? Shri Krishna says that even the process of thought also happens automatically. Till such time as the ego is sublimated, it drives our mind to generate selfish thoughts. As the ego gets sublimated through karma yoga, selfish thoughts slowly transition to selfless ones. But the self , or the “I”, is just the witness of all these actions for one who has realized the eternal essence. Till then, the “I” thinks that it is the doer.

Only one who has realized the vision of the eternal essence truly knows that he is not the doer. What then, should be the vision of the karmayogi who wants to ultimately have this vision? This topic is tackled in the next shloka.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 28, Chapter 3

05 Thursday Jan 2012

Posted by in 3.28, chapter 3 verse 28, guna, gunesh, iti, karma, mahaabaaho, matvaa, na, sajjate, tattvavit, tu, vartanta, vibhagayoh

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tattvavittu mahaabaaho gunakarmavibhaagayoh |
gunaa guneshu vartanta iti matvaa na sajjate || 28 ||

But he who knows the truth, O mighty-armed, about the divisions of gunaas as well as their functions, recognizes the interplay of gunaas (everywhere). Having known this, he does not get attached.

tattvavit : knower of truth
tu : but
mahaabaaho : O mighty-armed
gunaa : gunas
karma : functions
vibhaagayoh : distinction
gunaa : gunas
guneshu : in gunas
vartanta : act
iti : this
matvaa : having known
na : does not
sajjate : get attached

Previously, we learned about the ignorant individual who is deluded by the notion that he is the doer. But then, what does the wise person know that the ignorant one does not? Shri Krishna explains that point here.

The wise person is termed a “tattva-vit” – one who knows the truth – by Shri Krishna. The truth, as we saw earlier, is that all actions in this world are performed by prakiriti. And prakriti is comprised of the three gunaas and their respective functions, termed in this shloka as “guna-karma-vibhaaga”. But how exactly do we know that prakriti causes the actions, not the “I”?

Our sense organs are like agents that send messages to the mind when they perceive an object. For instance, if you hold a rose in your hand, the eyes, skin and nose send different signals to the mind. The mind creates a holistic picture from all those signals – “this is a red rose” – and sends it to the intellect. The intellect analyzes that information and makes a decision – “buy this rose”, having consulted its memory of past experiences with roses.

This means that perception, thinking, decision-making – all these functions are part of prakriti, operating based on laws set by prakriti. The “I” is the eternal essence, different from prakriti.

So therefore, if one knows that he is not the doer, and that things are happening of their own accord, he does not get attached to anything in this world. He becomes a witness or a “saakshi”, just like someone watching a play does not get attached to one actor or another. Another example is the process of digestion. We are not attached to it because we know that we are not the doer in that instance. The notion that everything is an interplay of gunaas may seem abstract and theoretical. One can only gain a first-hand experience of this truth in deep stages of meditation.

This teaching is beneficial in our day-to-day lives as well. If we contemplate on this teaching, it has the effect of thinning our ego. Once that happens, it makes us very humble and reduces several negative emotions like fear, anger, stress and so on. Now, we may fear that this teaching makes us lackadaisical. On the contrary, it makes thinking clear and actions more efficient by getting rid of negative emotions that drain our mental energy.