Category Archives: uktam

Bhagavad Gita Verse 20, Chapter 15

25 Monday Mar 2013

Posted by in 15.20, anagha, bhaarata, buddhimaan, buddhvaa, chapter 15 verse 20, etat, guhyatamam, iti, kritakrityaha, mayaa, shaastram, syaat, uktam

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iti guhyatamam shaastramidamuktam mayaanagha |
etadbuddhvaa buddhimaansyaatkritakrityashcha bhaarata || 20 ||
 
Thus, this foremost secret has been taught to you by me, O sinless one. Having known this, one becomes wise and accomplishes all his duties, O Bhaarata.
 
iti : thus
guhyatamam : foremost secret
shaastram : science
idam : this
uktam : taught
mayaa : by me
anagha : O sinless one
etat : this
buddhvaa : having known
buddhimaan : wise
syaat : becomes
kritakrityaha : one who has accomplished all duties
cha : and
bhaarata : O Bhaarata
 
When you ask the question – can you stop working right now and retire, you get a couple of answers. Some people say that they have still so many desires, so many plans to fulfill, that’s why they cannot retire. Other people say that they still have so much to learn from the world, so much knowledge to acquire. Shri Krishna concludes this chapter by asserting that one who has truly understood the teaching of this chapter has accomplished whatever anyone can accomplish in this world, plus he has also known whatever can be known in this world.
 
Why does he say that whatever has to be known has been covered in this chapter? The highest knowledge to be known in this world is the understanding of three topics. What is the nature of the individual soul (who am I), what is this world and where did it come from, and what is beyond this world (is there a God). Any text that conclusively answers these three questions is termed a shaastra, a science. The fifteenth chapter of the Gita does so, and hence it is worthy of being termed a shaastra.
 
The method used to reveal Purushottama, the pure eternal essence, is to gradually move from the tangible to the intangible, from the visible to the subtle, from the visible universe to the invisible Prakriti to Purushottama who is beyond both. This method is known as Arundhati nyaaya, the technique of revealing the location of the star known as Arundhati. Here the teacher first points to a tree, then to one of its branches, then to one of its leaves, and then to the star that is right next to the tree. Without doing this step by step revelation, it would not have been possible to reveal the position of the star.
 
So then, the teaching of this chapter is called the foremost secret. It is secret because such knowledge is not accessible to any of these sense organs. It has to be revealed through a teacher who has had direct experience of the eternal essence. Furthermore, it has to be taught to a student who is straightforward and without sin like Arjuna. Shri Shankaraachaarya goes so far as to say that this chapter summarizes the teachings of all of the Vedic scriptures.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 18, Chapter 13

19 Saturday Jan 2013

Posted by in 13.18, chapter 13 verse 18, http://schemas.google.com/blogger/2008/kind#post, jneyam, jnyaanam, kshetram, madbhaavaaya, madbhaktaha, tathaa, uktam, upapadyate, vijnyaaya

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iti kshetram tathaa jnyaanam jneyam choktam samaasataha |
madbhakta etadvijnyaaya madbhaavaayopapadyate || 18 ||
 
In this manner, the field, as well as knowledge, and that which is to be known, has been described in brief. By understanding this, my devotee becomes qualified to attain my state.
 
iti : in this manner
kshetram : the field
tathaa : as well as
jnyaanam : knowledge
jneyam : which is to be known
cha : and
uktam : has been described
samaasataha : in brief
madbhaktaha : my devotee
etat : this
vijnyaaya : understanding
madbhaavaaya : my state
upapadyate : qualified
 
Shri Krishna concludes the current topic in this shloka. He spoke about “kshetra”, the field, in shlokas five and six. The field comprises twenty four aspects which are the building blocks of the universe. This includes the five great elements, the intellect and others. The field also comprises seven modifications by which the individual comes into contact with the world. These include desire, hatred and others. The field works like a machine, but is devoid of awareness in itself and is inert. It need to borrow awareness from some other source. This source is the eternal essence, it is “jneyam”, that which is to be known. The field acts as an upaadhi, something which as though limits and conditions the eternal essence.
 
If we are attracted by the dance of an ocean’s waves, we will never be able to appreciate the grandeur and beauty of the entire ocean, because our attention will be on the waves which are upaadhis that as though limit our understanding of the ocean. Similarly, if we need to understand the eternal essence, we have to learn how to gradually minimize the impact of the upaadhis of the field, and shift our attention to the eternal essence. “Jnyaanam”, the means of knowledge that enables us to mentally remove these upaadhis, is elaborated in shlokas seven to eleven.
 
Once we have learnt how to mentally remove upaadhis, we are ready to understand the eternal essence. From shlokas twelve to seventeen, Shri Krishna uses paradoxes and contradictions to explain the nature of the eternal essence. Our intellect is a product of the field, and will never grasp what the eternal essence is. Paradoxical statements like “it is near, yet it is far” are used so that our intellect doesn’t mistakenly turn the eternal essence into yet another concept.
 
Shri Krishna says that those who have inquired into the eternal essence in the manner prescribed above are qualified to attain the state of Ishvara, which is liberation. But this state cannot be attained unless we become devotees of Ishvara. A devotee means one who knows that whatever he sees, hears or touches is nothing but Ishvara, and that Ishvara is residing in him as his self. Only one who has such a firm conviction through meditation that everything, including himself, is ultimately Ishvara, will attain liberation.
 
Now, does all this explanation help me understand what ultimately causes me to experience sorrow in my life? In the next shloka, Shri Krishna begins a new topic to explain this issue in detail.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 20, Chapter 12

30 Sunday Dec 2012

Posted by in 12.20, ateeva, bhaktaaha, chapter 12 verse 20, dharmyaamritam, idam, mat, me, paramaahaa, paryupaasate, priyaha, shradyadhaanaa, te, tu, uktam, yatha, ye

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ye tu dharmyaamritamidam yathoktam paryupaasate |
shradyadhaanaa matparamaa bhaktosteteeva me priyaha || 20 ||
 
Therefore, those who partake of this nectar of law described here, endowed with faith, keeping me as the goal, those devotees are extremely dear to me.
 
ye : those who
tu : therefore
dharmyaamritam : nectar of law
idam : this
yatha : here
uktam : described
paryupaasate : partake
shradyadhaanaa : endowed with faith
mat : me
paramaahaa : goal
bhaktaaha : devotees
te : those
ateeva : extremely
me : me
priyaha : dear
 
Shri Krishna began listing the attributes of perfected devotees starting from the thirteenth chapter. In this shloka, he concludes this topic by highlighting two key attributes of such devotees: shraddha or faith, and making Ishvara as their ultimate goal, “matparamaahaa”. He terms the teaching of this chapter as the nectar of dharma. We can interpret the word dharma to mean the universal law of nature from the ninth chapter, or also as the nine fold bhaagvat dharma of Prahlaada that was explained earlier in this chapter.
 
Why are faith and goal-setting given such importance in bhakti or the path of devotion? Consider a child who eventually wants to study at one of the top universities in the world. Until he reaches a stage where he can qualify to attend that university, get selected for admission and begin his coursework, he needs to have faith in the notion that graduating from that university will significantly improve his life. That faith will propel him to set the single-pointed goal of academic success, work hard, to keep aside all distractions and to not give up. Only when he actually graduates will he not need faith anymore, because he has achieved what he set out to achieve. But until them, it is only faith in the goal that keeps him going.
 
Therefore, Shri Krishna says that those devotees who have fixed Ishvara as the goal, and that who have unwavering faith in that goal, are extremely dear to him. Devotees who love Ishvara without having known him first are devotees of the highest caliber, since it is more difficult to love something without having first known it. Such devotees, who do not need to become monks but just diligently worship Ishvara with form, are assured of liberation by Ishvara himself. This is the concluding message of the twelfth chapter.
 
om tatsatiti shreematbhagavatgitasupanishadsu brahmavidyaayaam yogashaastre shreekrishnaarjunsamvade bhaktiyogo naama dvaadashodhyaayaha || 12 ||

Bhagavad Gita Verse 41, Chapter 11

24 Saturday Nov 2012

Posted by in 11.41, api, chapter 11 verse 41, he, idam, iti, krishna, mahimaanam, matvaa, mayaa, pramaadaat, pranayena, prasabham, sakhaa, tava, uktam, vaa, yaadava ajaanataa, yat

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sakheti matvaa prasabham yaduktam he krishna he yaadava he sakheti |
ajaanataa mahimaanam tavedam mayaa praamadaatpranayena vaapi || 41 ||
 
Thinking of you as a friend, I addressed you rashly as O Krishna, O Yaadava, O friend. Not knowing your greatness, I said it in this manner out of carelessness or also out of affection.
 
sakhaa : friend
iti : in this manner
matvaa : thinking
prasabham : rashly
yat : whatever
uktam : said
he : O
krishna : Krishna
yaadava : Yaadava
ajaanataa : not knowing
mahimaanam : greatness
tava : your
idam : this
mayaa : I
pramaadaat : in carelessness
pranayena : in affection
vaa : or
api : also
 
Arjuna and Shri Krishna were childhood friends. Growing up together, Arjuna never realized the divine nature of Shri Krishna’s birth. He had treated him as he would treat any other friend of his. Now, having understood his divine nature having viewed the cosmic form, he wanted to acknowledge his ill-treatment of Shri Krishna, and beg for forgiveness for all the times he had acted imprudently. After all he was Arjuna, whose name meant “one who is extremely straight-forward”.
 
In Arjuna’s time, just like in the present time, insults with respect to people’s skin colour or caste were quite popular. Arjuna recounts his insults to Shri Krishna where he used to call him dark-skinned, refer to his caste, or call him a friend instead of a more respectable title. And like any of us, his intellect knew that insulting anyone was not the right thing to do, but he did it anyway. Knowing this well, Arjuna owned up to his ignorance, carelessness and rash behaviour.
 
But Arjuna also gave another side of the story. Although he did insult Shri Krishna out of carelessness in some instances, there were other instances when he did it out of sheer affection for his friend. When there is affection from both sides between friends, it is totally acceptable to insult each other. Arjuna was going to ask for forgiveness very soon, and hoped that Shri Krishna would keep this side of the story in his mind.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 1, Chapter 11

15 Monday Oct 2012

Posted by in 11.1, adhyaatma, ayam, chapter 11 verse 1, guhyam, madanugrhaaya, mama, mohaha, paramam, sangitam, tena, tvayaa, uktam, vachaha, vigataha, yat

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arjuna uvaacha:
madanugrhaaya paramam guhyamadhyaatmasangitam |
yattvayoktam vachastena mohoyam vigato mama || 1 ||
 
Arjuna said:
Out of compassion for me, you have spoken about the supreme secret known as the knowledge of the self. By those statements, my delusion has been destroyed.
 
madanugrhaaya : out of compassion for me
paramam : supreme
guhyam : secret
adhyaatma : knowledge of the self
sangitam : known as
yat : that
tvayaa : you have
uktam : spoken
vachaha : statements
tena : by those
mohaha : delusion
ayam : this
vigataha : destroyed
mama : my
 
We begin the eleventh chapter with Arjuna’s words. He recalls the root cause of his panic attack from the first chapter which is moha or delusion which caused confusion between his duty as a warrior and as a family member. He now says that his delusion has been dispelled. How did that happen? It is only because Shri Krishna revealed the knowledge of the self, Adhyaatma vidyaa, to Arjuna, the answer to the question “who am I?”
 
When Arjuna understood his true nature as the self, the aatmaa, the eternal essence, he came to know that the self does not kill or be killed, it is neither the doer of action or the enjoyer of the results. He then realized that even if his body died, or his body killed another body, nothing would happen to the eternal essence in each of those bodies. Given the power of this knowledge to destroy the biggest delusion about who he was, he terms it “paramam” or supreme. And since it requires a sincere student and a rare teacher, he terms it “guhyam” or secret.
 
Now, we may think that there was something special in Arjuna that qualified him to receive this supreme knowledge. Arjuna was humble enough to acknowledge that it was purely out of compassion that Shri Krishna showered his grace upon him and gave him this knowledge. Only through the grace and compassion of Ishvara and a qualified guru can one receive this knowledge.
 
Another aspect of the teaching was Ishvara’s involvement with the universe. Arjuna highlights it in the next shloka.