Category Archives: ubhayoha

Bhagavad Gita Verse 4, Chapter 5

08 Thursday Mar 2012

Posted by in 5.4, aasthitaha, api, baalaaha, chapter 5 verse 4, ekam, na, panditaahaa, phalam, pravadanti, prithak, saankhya, samyak, ubhayoha, vindate, yogau

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saankhyayogau prithagbaalaaha pravadanti na panditaahaa |
ekamapyaasthitaha samyagubhayorvindate phalam || 4 ||

Only children say that the yoga of knowledge and the yoga of action are different, wise people do not. One who is perfectly established in one, obtains the result of both.

saankhya : yoga of knowledge
yogau : yoga of action
prithak : different
baalaaha : children
pravadanti : say
na : not
panditaahaa : wise people
ekam : one
api : also
aasthitaha : established
samyak : perfectly
ubhayoha : both
vindate : obtain
phalam : result

Shri Krishna reiterates his message from third chapter in this shloka. He says that the path to attain self-realization is one, but it has two stages. In the first stage, the seeker performs actions per his svadharma, but focuses on checking and sublimating the ego while performing his actions. This stage is called karma yoga. When the seeker has exhausted the majority of his desires, he becomes ready for the next stage.

In the second stage, the seeker minimizes actions other than those performed for gaining knowledge through the guidance of a teacher. The second stage is possible only after the ego has been sublimated through renunciation. This stage is called karma sannyaasa.

Shri Krishna then goes on to say that only people who are ignorant of the connection between these two stages say that karma-sannyaasa and karmayoga are different paths. They also think that it is possible to bypass stage one and go straight to stage two. This ability to bypass stage one is only possible for a handful of advanced seekers in this world, seekers who have already sublimated their desires.

Therefore, having known this, he urges us to become wise people and to not think of the path to self-realization as two different paths. If we become established in one stage, we will automatically get the result of self-realization that one gets from pursuing the other stage. In other words, we should follow the one path that we are qualified for, and follow it properly.

How should a wise person look at these two stages? We will see in the next shloka.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 16, Chapter 2

12 Wednesday Oct 2011

Posted by in 2.16, abhaavaha, anayoha, antaha, api, asataha, bhaavaha, chapter 2 verse 16, datshibhihi, drishtaha, na vidyate, sataha, tattva, tu, ubhayoha

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naasato vidyate bhaavo naabhaavo vidyate sataha |
ubhayoropi drishtontastvanayostattvadarshibhihi || 16 ||

The unreal has no existence, and there is no non-existence of the real; the truth about both of these has been experienced by seers of the essence.

asataha : unreal
bhaavaha : existence
vidyate : situation
na : no
tu : and
sataha : real
abhaavaha : non-existence
tattva : truth
darshibhihi : seers of
anayoha : of these two
ubhayoha : both
api : also
antaha : essence
drishtontaha : experienced

Here we encounter one of the most profound shlokas of the Gita, with layers and layers of meaning. It begins to lead us into understanding this thing called the eternal essence, and how we can experience it. At present, we may not have the capability to go too deep into it, but we can try to get its gist.

The best example I heard in connection with this verse is the animal cookie example. We may have come across animal cookies. They are a brand of children’s cookies shaped like tigers, elephant etc. Now, some children will only want to eat the tiger shaped cookie and not the others, whereas other children may only want to eat the elephant shaped ones and not the others. But, most adults would not care about the shape of the cookie, they will eat any shape.

Why is this so? The adult has the wisdom to go straight to the essence of the cookie. He or she does not care about the name or the form taken by the cookie. And this wisdom has come by maturity, by knowing that the animals were “un-real” and they did not have “existence”. Only the cookie dough was “real”, just like this verse indicates.

Another example is about the newly married wife who has just received a beautiful gold bangle from her husband. Although she cares about the shape and ornamentation of the bangle, a pawn shop owner would not not really care about those things. He only cares about the weight of the bangle.

The prior verse indicated that a wise person is one who stays balanced in joy and sorrow. This verse explains that the balanced person will slowly achieve wisdom and reach a state where any object or situation will begin to lose its “real-ness”. Only the eternal essence will remain as the common element behind every object or situation. This vision is called “tattva-drishti” or “vision of the essence”.

Moreover, the word “bhaava” has another meaning: finitude. So it means that the real is infinite, and the unreal is finite. Therefore, the wise person does not go on chasing material objects that have a finite existence and give only finite happiness.

Footnotes
1. The Jnyaneshwari has several examples to illustrate this verse, for further reference.