Category Archives: ucchyate

Bhagavad Gita Verse 28, Chapter 18

16 Sunday Jun 2013

Posted by in 18.28, alasaha, ayuktaha, chapter 18 verse 28, deerghasootree, kartaa, naishkritikaha, praakritaha, shataha, stabdhaha, taamasa, ucchyate, vishaadee

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ayuktaha praakritaha stabdhaha shatonaishkritikolasaha |
vishaadee deerghasootree cha kartaa taamasa ucchyate || 28 ||
 
Unsteady, immature, unbending, fraudulent, wicked, lazy, dejected and procrastinating, such a doer is called taamasic.
 
ayuktaha : unsteady
praakritaha : immature
stabdhaha : unbending
shataha : fraudulent
naishkritikaha : wicked
alasaha : lazy
vishaadee : dejected
deerghasootree : procrastinating
cha : and
kartaa : doer
taamasa : taamasic
ucchyate : is called
 
Having described characteristics of the saatvic and the raajasic doer, Shri Krishna concludes this topic by describing the characteristics of a taamasic doer. It is the longest list of the three types of doers. Even if we will take a long time to cultivate saattvic qualities, it is fine. But we should strive to reduce, and eventually eliminate, any trace of these taamasic characteristics within us. Forget holding us back on the spiritual path, these qualities will become a detriment even to success in our material world.
 
If the state of mind is taamasic while performing a task, the mind will be ayukta or unsteady. It will never be able to focus on one thing, and will jump from thought to thought, or from distraction to distraction. Praakrita, opposite of samskrita, refers to a mind that is uncultured, uncouth, without proper values or the ability to think logically. Taamasic doership comes from taamasic vision, which always hangs on, perversely, to one particular object, viewpoint, person or situation. Therefore, the mind becomes stabdha, unyielding, arrogant, unwilling to accept a different position.
 
Now, some more dangerous characteristics are presented. A taamasic mind will not step at anything to accomplish its task. It will be shataha, which means malicious, deceptive, fradulent, playing games rather than being straightforward. This type of mind will also resort to creating a negative environment for others. It will be naishkritaha, which means wicked. Conversely, if the task is not upto its liking the mind will be alasaha or lazy. It will always remain in a state of vishaada, which means forever dejected, despondent and depressed. It will find ways to pawn the task off to someone else by procrastinating. A somewhat funny word is used to describe this characteristic – deerghasootree which means long string or long length. Shri Shankaraachaarya says in his commentary that such a person will take months to do a one day task.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 26, Chapter 18

14 Friday Jun 2013

Posted by in 18.26, anahamvaadee, chapter 18 verse 26, dhrityutsaahasamanvitaha, kartaa, muktasangaha, nirvikaaraha, saattvika, siddhyaasiddhyoho, ucchyate

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muktasangonahamvaadee dhrityutsaahasamanvitaha |
siddhyaasiddhyornirvikaaraha kartaa saattvika ucchyate || 26 ||
 
One who is free from attachment, who does not support egoism, filled with fortitude and enthusiasm, unperturbed in success and failure, such a doer is called saattvic.
 
muktasangaha : free from attachment
anahamvaadee : one who does not support egoism
dhrityutsaahasamanvitaha : filled with fortitude and enthusiasm
siddhyaasiddhyoho : in success and failure
nirvikaaraha : unperturbed
kartaa : doer
saattvika : saattvic
ucchyate : is called
 
Let us recap what we have seen so far. Jnyaana or knowledge shapes our world view and prompts our actions. It is a product of Prakriti and is of three types. Karma or action itself is also of three types. Now, Shri Krishna starts a new topic and describes three types of the kartaa, the doer. The doer is nothing but the state of our mind from the start of an action to its end. In other words, the same action can be performed differently by different types of doer. We see this in our lives as well. No two people will perform a task in quite the same way.
 
This shloka describes a doer who is of the nature of sattva, of is sattvic. Shri Krishna says that a saattvic doer is prepared for any outcome of the action, be it success or failure. They will not let external circumstances change their state of mind. If the action fails, they do not dwell on it but learn from their mistakes and move on. Many top athletes have this quality, since they have to continually compete throughout their career, and cannot afford to get depressed or elated with each outcome.
 
In addition to success or failure, we also encounter temporary setbacks during the action. A sattvic doer possess extreme endurance to deal with these setbacks. Their enthusiasm to do their duty lifts them out of any temporary sense of sorrow. In the second chapter, Shri Krishna had emphasized the importance of fortitude, also known as titikshaa. Their utsaaha, their enthusiasm makes them stronger since they are not perturbed by outcome. They are also not concerned about egoism, about tooting their horn in front of others, since they are unconcerned about how good or bad they will look in front of others.
 
Freedom from attachment of any kind is the crucial quality of the saattvic doer. They are not attached to the outcome of the action, to the action itself, or to their sense of individuality, their ego. They have achieved a high level of vairagyaa, of dispassion from the pulls of the material world.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 25, Chapter 18

13 Thursday Jun 2013

Posted by in 25.18, aarabhyate, anapekshya, anubandham, chapter 25 verse 28, himsaam, karma, kshayam, mohaat, paurusham, taamasam, ucchyate

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anubandham kshayam himsaamanapekshya cha paurusham |
mohaadaarabhyate karma yattattaamasamucchyate || 25 ||
 
That which is begun in delusion, without considering its consequence, loss, harm and capability, that action is called taamasic.
 
anubandham : consequence
kshayam : loss
himsaam : harm
anapekshya : without considering
cha : and
paurusham : capability
mohaat : in delusion
aarabhyate : begun
karma : action
yat : which
tat : that
taamasam : taamasic
ucchyate : is called
 
Shri Krishna now explains the nature of a taamasic action, listing its characteristics. As an example, a lot of new college graduates start a career path just because they get a lot of money, but they do not fully learn about the impact on their health, whether there is any ethical compromising going on etc. They also do not stop to think whether they have the aptitude, capability, training and passion for their role. Whenever we begin any action without fully understanding its impacts and consequences, that action becomes taamasic.
 
On similar lines, many people invest money in new ventures without having done the due diligence on the business plan, understanding the market and so on. They do not take into account the potential loss of their investment, since they only focus on the potential game. Furthermore, they do not assess whether their new venture could harm the economic, political or natural environment. Even if they know what the harm is, they conveniently choose to overlook those facts. Such kind of action is also called taamasic action.
 
The root of taamasic action is taamasic knowledge, which creates a highly perverse sense of attachment towards certain object, person, situation or end goal, that everything else becomes inferior and worthless. The underlying connectedness or unity of things is forgotten. Even a simple thing like cutting our face when shaving is a taamasic action, which has happened because our mental noise shifted our focus and attention away from the action. Similarly, whenever we eat food that is tasty but creates negative long term health impacts, whenever we give importance to our tongue, we are committing a taamasic action.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 16, Chapter 17

06 Monday May 2013

Posted by in 17.16, aatmavinigraha, bhaavasamshuddhihi, chapter 17 verse 16, maanasam, manaha, maunam, prasaadaha, saumyatvam, tapaha, ucchyate

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manahaprasaadaha saumyatvam maunamaatmavinigraha |
bhaavasamshuddhirityetattapo maanasamucchyate || 16 ||
 
Mental cheerfulness, kindness, silence, self control, purity of intent, this is called penance of the mind.
 
manaha : of mind
prasaadaha : cheerfulness
saumyatvam : kindness
maunam : silence
aatmavinigraha : self control
bhaavasamshuddhihi : purity of intent
iti : in this manner
etat : this
tapaha : penance
maanasam : of the mind
ucchyate : is called
 
So far, we came across the qualities needed for penance of the body and speech. Shri Krishna now lists the qualities that indicate penance of mind, maanasika tapas. He begins with prasaadaha, a cheerful, joyful attitude towards situations in life. It comes from maintaining our balance and composure in troublesome as well as in happy situations. Saumyatvam refers to developing a gentleness and gracefulness when dealing with people. It requires us to remain free from negative attitudes towards people that manifest as jealousy, violence, cruelty and so on.
 
The next quality is maunam. Literally, maunam mean silence, but here it means silence that comes out of contemplation. Now, we cannot stop negative thoughts from arising in our mind, but we can always control how much time and attention we give to such thoughts. Whenever such negative thoughts arise, we have to be able to switch to a positive thought immediately. Doing so requires high levels of self control or aatma vinigrahaha, also known as shamaha. If we do not learn how to do this, the mind will hold onto a negative thought and get swept away in a mental whirlpool of negativity.
 
When we constantly maintain all the above mentioned qualities, our mind will automatically begin to harbour good intentions, even against so-called evil people and tough situations. The key to do this comes back to our outlook towards the world. We need to do one of two things. If we have faith in Ishvara, we need to surrender to him and reduce our dependence on the perishable material world. Alternatively, we treat the entire world as mithyaa, as an illusion, and negate everything in it. As long as we give absolute reality to the world, mental penance is next to impossible.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 15, Chapter 17

05 Sunday May 2013

Posted by in 17.15, abhyasanam, anudvekaram, chapter 17 verse 15, priyahitam, satyam, svaadhyaaya, tapaha, ucchyate, vaakyam, vaangmayam

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anudvekaram vaakyam satyam priyahitam cha yat |
svaadhyaayaabhyasanam chaiva vaangmayam tapa ucchyate || 15 ||
 
Those words that do not perturb others, that are true, pleasant and beneficial, and also the practice of recitation of scriptures, that is called the penance of speech.
 
anudvekaram : do not disturb others
vaakyam : words
satyam : true
priyahitam : pleasant and beneficial
cha : and
yat : those which
svaadhyaaya : recitation of scriptures
abhyasanam : practice
cha : and
eva : also
vaangmayam : speech
tapaha : penance
ucchyate : is called
 
Having described the penance of the body, Shri Krishna now describes penance of the mind, mental austerity or vaangmaya tapa. He mentions four conditions of speech : that it should be true, it should be pleasant to hear, it should benefit the other person, and it should not cause any disturbance in the other person’s mind. Whenever we speak statements that fulfill all these four conditions, we are practicing penance of the mind. Putting it differently, we are not wasting or dissipating the energy of our speech when we speak like this.
 
Initially, we may think that satisfying even two or three of these conditions is impractical. However, speaking tactfully is a skill needed in our daily lives. For instance, what is true may not always be the most pleasant thing to convey. In the office, we have to deliver all kinds of messages to people without them losing face. Even in the home, while talking to spouse, just conveying information factually does not always work best. Therefore, putting thought into choosing our words carefully has practical as well as spiritual benefits.
 
Now, many of us have an urge to say something when we are by ourselves. Here, Shri Krishna suggests that we recite scriptures daily, like chanting the second chapter of the Gita, for instance. Doing so satisfies our urge of speaking, and also forces the mind to contemplate the Gita teaching rather than stray here and there. In fact, it becomes a form of meditation as well. Once we memorize the shlokas, we can contemplate upon them whenever we want, without having to rely on a book.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 25, Chapter 14

02 Saturday Mar 2013

Posted by in gunaateetaha, maanaapamaanayoho, mitraaripakshayoho, saha, sarvaarambhaparityaage, tulyaha, ucchyate

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maanaapamaanayostulyastulyo mitraaripakshayoho |
sarvaarambhaparityaagee gunaateetaha sa ucchyate || 25 ||
 
Alike in honour and in dishonour, alike towards friend or foe, abandoning all activities, such a person is called one who has transcended the gunas.
 
maanaapamaanayoho : in honour and dishonour
tulyaha : alike
mitraaripakshayoho : towards friend or foe
sarvaarambhaparityaagee : abandoning all activities
gunaateetaha : transcended the gunas
saha : such a person
ucchyate : called
 
Imagine that you are watching a stage production of Shakespeare’s King Lear. Suddenly, in the middle of the play, the actor playing King Lear starts speaking his own dialogue instead of following the script. After a few minutes of commotion, the curtain is lowered. Later, when asked as to why he spoke his own lines, the actor asserted that he thought his own lines were better than Shakespeare’s. It will be quite difficult for such an actor to get any more roles, or keep his existing roles, if he were to force his own views onto the script.
 
Shri Krishna says that the one who has truly renounced all activities, given all up notions such as “I am doing this, I am doing that”, such a person can be called the one who has gone beyond the three gunas. Like actors in a play, all activities in the world are nothing but the gunas interacting with the gunas. If we harbour the notion that our “I” is somehow involved in these activities, we have identified ourselves with our body, which is nothing but a product of the gunas. Through discrimination and detachment, we can see ourselves as distinct and separate from the gunas.
 
Such a person who can maintain this detachment from the gunas is indifferent to what the world thinks of him. Honour and dishonour are the same to him. If a friend helps him, he does not get elated. If a foe troubles him, he sees it as an opportunity to further increase his vairagya or dispassion towards the world. Any time the thought that “I did this” or “I earned this” enters his mind, he immediately discards it and brings back the awareness that everything is happening in Prakriti, the three gunas.
 
So, with this shloka and the previous one, Shri Krishna answers the question, what is the conduct of one who has transcended the gunas.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 55, Chapter 2

22 Tuesday Nov 2011

Posted by in 2.55, aatmanaa, chapter 2 verse 55, eva, kaaman, manogataan, paartha, prajahaati, sarvaan, sthitaprajnya, tada, tushtah, ucchyate, yadaa

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Shri Bhagavaan uvaacha:
prajahaati yadaa kaamaansarvaanpaartha manogataan |
aatmanyevaatmanaa tushthah sthitaprajnastadocchyate || 55 ||

Shri Bhagavaan said:
When an individual gives up all desires that enter the mind, O Paartha, and is self-satisfied in his own self, that individual is called a person of steady wisdom.

prajahaati : gives up
yadaa : when
kaamaan : desires
sarvaan : all
paartha : O Paartha
manogataan : that enter the mind
aatmanaaa : self
eva : only
aatmani : by his own self
tushthah : self-satisfied
sthitaprajna : person of steady wisdom
tada : then
ucchyate : called

Just before entering a forest when hiking, there usually are signs posted at the entrance that say “beware of these poisonous plants”. Similarly, from this shloka onwards, Shri Krishna lists all the factors that can destabilize our state of equanimity. If we keep track of these factors, and remain alert and aware when we encounter them, then we will never lose our mental balance and equanimity. This portion of the chapter is a very practical summary of the entire teaching of the Gita.

In this shloka, Shri Krishna advises us to monitor our material desires, i.e. track how many are arising, how many we have fulfilled, and so on. As we saw earlier, continual harbouring of material desires has the effect of destablizing our mental balance, and takes us further away from state of equanimity. Therefore, a man of steady wisdom is one who has learned to give up all such desires.

Now this is especially true when we have predisposition to some object, situation or person. This predisposition is also known as “vaasana”. Predispositions are the seeds of thought and desire. For instance, let’s say we have a sweet tooth. Then, anytime we see a piece of chocolate, that desire will enter the mind, and we will begin thinking of how we can acquire that chocolate. If we are performing some work, the constant thinking of the chocolate will destabilize our mind and prevent us from focusing on the task at hand. So this shloka asks us to closely examine our predispositions as well as our desires.

Since this person of steady wisdom has extinguished all his desires, he is always content and does not need to rush out into the world of material objects. This is because he has realized his association with the eternal essence, which pervades the entire universe and therefore is always complete and content. Therefore, he will be “self-satisfied in his own self”, as this shloka points out.