Category Archives: vah

Bhagavad Gita Verse 12, Chapter 2

20 Tuesday Dec 2011

Posted by in 3.12, apradaaya, bhaavitaah, bhogaan, bhumgte, chapter 3 verse 12, daasyante, dattaan, devaah, ebhyah, eva, hi, ishtaan, sah, stenah, taih, vah, yah, yajna

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ishtaanbhogaanhi vo devaa daasyante yajnabhaavitaah |
tairdattaanapradaayaibhyo yo bhumgte stena eva sah || 12 ||

The deities, nourished by yajna, will also provide you the objects you desire. One who consumes these objects without offering them to others, he is a thief.

ishtaan : desired
bhogaan : objects
hi : also
vah : your
devaah : deities
daasyante : give you
yajna-bhaavitaah : nourished by yajna
taih : they
dattaan : objects
apradaaya : without offering to them
ebhyah : to others
yah : one who
bhumgte : consumes
stenah : thief
eva : is
sah : he

So far, Shri Krishna spoke about the need for karmayoga, the actions to perform under karmayoga, and the attitude with which those actions should be performed. He also emphasized the notion of yajna or selfless dedication. Now Shri Krishna gives three levels of action that a person can operate under.

In this shloka, Shri Krishna points out the lowest level of action. This is when an individual consumes objects without making any contribution whatsoever. Shri Krishna uses a strong word to describe such an individual : a “thief”. Such a selfish person does not care about anyone but himself due to his large ego.

An obvious example is someone who is part of a project team. He does not do any work in team but claims all the credit. In today’s language we would call such a person a freeloader. Such people are never held in good standing by anyone.

In traditions all over the world, we see evidence that we are encouraged to give back something each time we take something. In Indian culture, it is customary that before one eats a meal, one offers it to the less fortunate, the wise and learned, and to animals. In most cultures, when you cut down a tree, you are encouraged to plant few more. Even in the corporate world, when a company earns profits, it invests a portion back into the business before handing out the dividends.

Therefore, taking without giving back is the lowest level of action. The next shloka illustrates the two higher levels of action. We need to gauge which level we belong to, so that we can start moving to the highest level of selflessness.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 10, Chapter 3

18 Sunday Dec 2011

Posted by in 3.10, anena, astu, chapter 3 verse 10, eshah, isthakaamadhuk, prajaah, prajaapatih, prasavishyadhvam, puraa, sahayajnah, srishtvaa, uvaacha, vah

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sahayajnah prajaah srishtvaa purovaacha prajaapatih |
anena prasavishyadhvamesha vostvishtakaamadhuk || 10 ||

In ancient times, Prajaapati created humanity along with yajna. He said “through this (yajna) let everyone prosper,  and may it become your fulfiller of wishes”.

sahayajnah : with yajna
prajaah : humanity
srishtvaa : created
puraa : in ancient times
uvaacha : said
prajaapatih: prajaapati
anena : through this
prasavishyadhvam : may you prosper
eshah : this
vah : for you
astu : become
ishtakaamadhuk : fulfiller of wishes

A common question for many of us is: “I understand the concept of selfless dedication. However, how do I know that I will be able to fulfill my material needs if I give up caring for the fruits of action altogether?” Shri Krishna has the answer : perform actions with selfless dedication or yajna, and your material needs will be provided for automatically.

If we work for a corporation, we do several different things everyday to fulfill our job responsibilities: respond to emails, attend meetings, draft project plans, make excel documents and so on. Do we ever think : “how much money will I get paid for opening this email? how much money do I get for attending this meeting?” If we have done our job right, the results will automatically come to us in the form of a monthly salary.

Shri Krishna explains that yajna is embedded within the fabric of humanity since time immemorial. It is a universal law. Once invoked, that law provides us with all that we need in this world. It becomes the “fulfiller of wishes”. And the key to invoke that universal law is to perform selfless action dedicated to a higher ideal.

This is the essence of karmayoga.

Footnotes
1. Some commentators interpret the word “isthakaamadhuk” to mean “kaamadhenu”, the mythological cow that grants any wish asked of her. But even with this interpretation, the essence of this shloka remains unchanged.