Category Archives: yathaa

Bhagavad Gita Verse 37, Chapter 4

27 Monday Feb 2012

Posted by in 4.37, agnihi, arjuna, bhasmaat, chapter 4 verse 37, edhaamsi, jnyaana, kurute, samiddhaha, sarvakarmaani, tathaa, yathaa

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yathaidhaamsi samiddhognirbhasmasaatkuruterjuna |
jnyaanaagnihi sarvakarmaani bhasmasaatkurute tathaa || 37 ||

Just as a burning flame turns fuel into ashes, O Arjuna, so does the fire of knowledge turn all actions into ashes.

yathaa : just as
edhaamsi : fuel
samiddhaha : burning
agnihi : flame
bhasmasaat : ashes
kurute : turn into
arjuna : O Arjuna
jnyaana-agnihi : fire of knowledge
sarvakarmaani : all actions
bhasmasaat : ashes
kurute : turn into
tathaa : so does

Previously, Shri Krishna mentioned that having gained knowledge, we will be able to cross over all our sins. But does that mean that the sins remain hidden somewhere? In this shloka, he says that all sins or karmaas get destroyed with knowledge. Just as fire has the capability to burn fuel in the form of wood or coal into ashes, so does knowledge totally destroy karmaas.

Karmaas accumulate in our psyche due to ignorance of our true identity. Now, knowledge and ignorance are mutually exclusive. One cannot remain when the other is present. Take an example from early school. Once you what the addition symbol “+” does, you no longer get confused when you see a question on addition.

So when knowledge comes, ignorance is destroyed, as well as karmaas that were created a result of ignorance. And when the sense of doership and enjoyership vanishes, then situations do not cause joy or sorrow. No more karmaas are accumulated.

In this manner, Shri Krishna continues to praise knowledge in this shloka and the following two shlokas.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 11, Chapter 4

01 Wednesday Feb 2012

Posted by in 4.11, aham, anuvartante, bhajaami, chapter 5 verse 11, eva, maam, mama, manushyaah, paartha, prapadyante, sarvashaha, taan, tathaa, vartam, yathaa, ye

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ye yathaa maam prapadyante taanstathaiva bhajaamyaham |
mama vartmaanuvartante manushyaah paartha sarvashaha || 11 ||

In whichever manner one approaches me, in that manner I favour them. People follow my path in different ways, O Paartha.

ye : one who
yathaa : in which manner
maam : me
prapadyante : approaches me
taan : him
tatha, eva : in that manner
bhajaami : favour them
aham : I
mama : my
vartam : path
anuvartante : follow
manushyaah : people
paartha : O Paartha
sarvashaha : in different ways

Earlier, Shri Krishna said that only those who take refuge in him realize the eternal essence and are liberated. On this note, a doubt may arise: Is he partial to those who take refuge in him, compared to those who do not? He advises us to be free of desires and aversions – isn’t this an example of aversion towards those who do not take refuge in him?

Shri Krishna responds to this doubt in this shloka. First, he asserts that whenever we have a strong desire, whether it is a material one or a spiritual one, that desire reaches Ishvaraa. If we approach the world with a desire for a promotion in our career, or we want better health, that desire reaches Ishvaraa because the world is part of Ishvaraa. The world is a part of Ishvaraa, as we saw earlier.

Having learned of the desire, how does he respond to the request? He says that he treats all requests like an impersonal computer system. Whatever we input, similar will be the output. If someone truly and deeply desires a promotion, and works hard towards it, he will get it. Similarly, if someone truly and deeply desires moksha, or realization of the eternal essence, and puts in the effort, he will get it.

The power of Ishvaraa is impartial. It is without any prejudice or hatred, just like electricity. One may harness electricity to power a fan, to light a room, to watch television and so on. Electricity will never say “I do not like television, so I will not power it, but I will power the fan”. Ishvaraa’s actions are based on laws, just like the laws of nature.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 38, Chapter 3

15 Sunday Jan 2012

Posted by in 3.39, aadarshah, aavritaha, aavritam, aavriyate, cha, chapter 3 verse 38, dhoomena, garbhaha, idam, malena, tathaa, tena, ulbena, vahinaha, yathaa

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dhoomenaavriyate vahinyarthaadarsho malena cha |
yatholbenaavrito garbhastathaa tenedamaavritam || 38 ||

Just as smoke covers fire, dirt covers a mirror, and a womb covers a foetus, so does this (desire) cover that (wisdom).

dhoomena : by smoke
aavriyate : covers
vahinaha : fire
yathaa : like
aadarshah : mirror
malena : dirt
cha : and
yathaa : like
ulbena : womb
aavritaha : covers
garbhaha : foetus
tathaa : so does
tena : that
idam : this
aavritam : cover

Earlier Shri Krishna explained that when likes and dislikes morph into desire and hatred, they increase the rajas in our system, creating a vicious cycle. So what is the end result? Here, he says that when desire and hatred arise, they shut off or conceal our wisdom.

Our wisdom, or ability to discriminate, resides in our intellect. Due to a lifetime’s worth of conditioning, this wisdom does not become our second nature. Wisdom is like a shining light, which can easily be covered if we are not careful. So desire, or anger, arise from the deeper, subconscious aspects of our mind and cover this light of wisdom. We then lose any ability to decide right from wrong, and behave foolishly. Shri Krishna says here that our wisdom can be covered in three ways.

The thickest, most dense covering occurs due to taamasic desires. These are desires that have lived inside our system for ages, and once they get activated, they totally cover the wisdom just like a womb covers a foetus. And just like there is no other way to see the foetus other than to wait for its birth, the only way to get rid of taamasic desires is to wait. They are so strong, and so in tune with our likes and dislikes, that nothing can be done once they are activated. Examples of taamasic desires are excessive drinking, drug usage, or even the overpowering desire to be “right” which can lead you into violent fights and arguments.

Less potent than taamasic desires are raajasic desires. As Shri Krishna says in this shloka, their veiling of wisdom is less thicker than taamasic desires. They are like dust on a mirror, where one stroke of the hand cleans the mirror. Raajasic desires are usually motivated by greed. Examples include buying the latest gadget, boasting of one’s accomplishments to one’s friends and so on.

Finally, saatvic desires are those that cover our wisdom very lightly. The desire to attend a satsang, or to attain moksha, is a saatvic desire. Our wisdom shines the brightest, or in other words, operates at the greatest capacity through saatvic desires.

As we progress in our journey, let us try to be alert and at least try to track the desires that we harbour. How many desires are we living with? What is the proportion between saatvic, raajasic and taamasic? Are we slowly changing the proportion in favour of saatvic desires?

In this shloka, the mysterious phrase “this covers that” was used. Although we got a sense of what that means here, Shri Krishna goes into more detail in the next shloka.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 25, Chapter 3

02 Monday Jan 2012

Posted by in 3.25, asaktah, avidvaansah, bhaarata, chapter 3 verse 25, chikeershuh, karmani, kurvanti, kuryaat, lokasangraham, saktaah, tathaa, vidvaan, yathaa

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saktaah karmanyavidvaanso yathaa kurvanti bhaarata |
kuryaadvidvaanstathaasaktashchikeershulokasangraham || 25 ||

Just as an ignorant individual performs action with attachment, O Bhaarata, so does a wise person perform action without attachment, wishing for the welfare of society.

saktaah : with attachment
karmani : in action
avidvaansah : ignorant
yathaa : just as
kurvanti : act
bhaarata: O Bhaarata
kuryaat : act
vidvaan : wise
tathaa : so does
asaktah : without attachment
chikeershuh : wishing
lokasangraham : societal welfare

Here, Shri Krishna offers a guideline for Arjuna in regards to working with other people. He says that one who is working with the attitude of karmayoga should learn to work in harmony with others who may have not yet understood or learned that technique. In other words, Shri Krishna warns us from adopting a “holier-than-thou” attitude with others when performing action.

For instance, imagine a little girl playing by herself, and pretending to make tea in a small cup. She brings an empty cup to her aunt and asks her to drink that tea. The aunt should enjoy that fake tea, not start questioning the reality of that team. There is no need to do so, the child is doing what is appropriate. Similarly, just because one is studying karmayoga does not make him or her eligible to behave differently with others.

Now, most of our actions are either performed individually or in a team. If we are performing actions individually, it is very straightforward to adopt the attitude of karmayoga. If we are working in a team, we could be playing the role of peers, leaders or followers. In all three of these situations, Shri Krishna urges us to maintain the attitude of karmayoga regardless of whether our peers, leaders or followers have the very same attitude. Their attitude in no way should impact the efficiency of our work.

This “live and let live” approach is extremely practical and sensible. But is there a reason behind it? Shri Krishna will explain in the next verse.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 22, Chapter 2

19 Wednesday Oct 2011

Posted by in 2.22, aparaani, aynyaani, chapter 2 verse 22, dehee, grihnaati, jeernaani, naraha, navaani, samyaati, shareerani, tathaa, vaasaamsi, vihaaya, yathaa

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vaasaamsi jeernaani yathaa vihaaya navaani grihnaati naroparaani |
tathaa shareeraani vihaaya jeernaanyanyaanisamyaati navaani dehee || 22 ||

Just as an individual will discard old clothes and wears new one, so does the body-dweller discard old bodies and obtain other new bodies.

vaasaamsi : clothes
jeernaani : old
yathaa : just like
vihaaya: discard
navaani : new
grihnaati : wears
naraha :  individual
aparaani: other
tathaa : so does
shareeraani : bodies
vihaaya : discard
jeernaani : old
ayanyaani : other
samyaati : obtains
navaani : new
dehee : body-dweller

This is an oft-quoted shloka, and has several aspects and interpretations, just like many shlokas we have seen in this chapter. For our purposes, the main point here is that the eternal essence, or the body dweller, is separate from the human body. When the human body has outlived its purpose, the body dweller discards it and subsequently inherits a new body.

If we have followed the line of reasoning so far, a doubt emerges. How does the eternal essence, which is all-pervading and infinite, enter and leave human bodies? Shouldn’t there just be one eternal essence, one body dweller? This question will be answered later in subsequent verses. For now, we should still consider the eternal essence as one but know that the one eternal essence gets attached to this body or that body, and perceives itself to be that body out of an error.

Note the change of meter in this verse.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 13, Chapter 2

09 Sunday Oct 2011

Posted by in 2.13, asmin, chapter 2 verse 13, dehaantara, dehe, dehinaha, dheeraha, jaraa, kaumaram, muhyati, praaptihi, tatra, yathaa, yauvanam

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dehinosminyathaa dehe kaumaram yauvanam jaraa |
tathaa dehaantarapraaptirdheerastatra na muhyati || 13 ||

Just as in this body, the body dweller passes through childhood, youth and old age, so also does it obtain another body (after death); the steadfast person does not grieve over this.

dehinaha : body dweller
asmin : this
yathaa : just like
dehe : body
kaumaram : childhood
yauvanam : youth
jaraa: old age
tathaa : similarly
dehaaantara : another
praaptihi: obtain
dheeraha : steadfast person
tatra : by that
na muhyati : do not grieve

It is our experience that we pass through childhood, youth and old age. We can agree that this concept is familiar to us. But note the language used in the first line. It is not you or I that passes through these phases, it is something called the “dehina” or the “body dweller”. The body is born, it undergoes changes, and eventually perishes. But the body dweller remains constant through these changes. So, this means that the body dweller is something that is separate, distinct and different from the body.

Remember the example of Mr. X and his car from the first verse? Let’s revisit it. Mr. X is excited when his car is brand new. After 5-6 years, it starts to develop engine problems. After another 4-5 years, the problems have become so bad that Mr. X decides to sell this car and buy a new Mercedes S-class. Mr. X can be called a “car dweller”.

As the old car’s engine degraded over the years, Mr. X remained the same from the car’s perspective. But when the car had lived its life, he discarded that car for another new car. And there was nothing to be sad about this point. An extreme scenario is some unscrupulous people deliberately crash their old car just so that they can get insurance money to buy a new one.

Similarly, our body undergoes modifications of birth and aging, and eventually perishes. But the body dweller remains constant through these modifications. When the old body has become unfit to dwell in, the body dweller discards it and obtains a new body. The key point here is that the body dweller remains constant through the changes in its body, and also through the change from one body to another. And just like in the car example, a wise person should not grieve about growing old or dying, because the body dweller will always remain constant.

The body dweller is, therefore, the eternal essence that was highlighted in the prior verse. And since it is different than the physical body which perishes, it cannot be “found” in any part of the physical body.

So what exactly is this body dweller, this eternal essence? And how should we acquire the wisdom to see this eternal essence?

Footnotes

1. In one day we have several thoughts such as “I am happy”, “I am sad”, we join a condition to our “I”. Each time do so, we are “born” as a happy person, as a sad person and so on, even if there is no new physical body that is born.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 11, Chapter 1

24 Wednesday Aug 2011

Posted by in abhirakshantu, avasthitaaha, bhaagam, bhavaytaha, chapter 1 verse 11, eva, hi, sarvaeshu, sarve, yathaa

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Ayaneshu cha sarveshu yathaabhaagamavastithaaha |
Bheeshmamevaabhirakshantu bhavantaha sarva eva hi || 11 ||
 
All of you should completely protect Bheeshma at all points, situated in each of your various formations.
 
bhavavtaha: all of you
eva hi: must certainly
abhirakshantu: completely protect
bheeshman: Bheeshma
eva: foremost
sarveshu ayaneshu ca: at all points
avasthitaaha: situated
sarve: respectively
yathaa-bhaagam: in your various formations
 
Duryodhana instructed his main warriors to ensure Bheesma’s safety since the Mahabharata war was about to begin.
 
Let’s do a quick recap. The first chapter opened with Dhristrashtra asking Sanjaya to elaborate on the progress of the war, and that led to Duryodhana’s monologue to Drona. After the statement Duryodhana makes in the current verse, he no longer has a “speaking part” in the Gita anywhere.
 
After this verse, we will encounter a series of verses that get us closer to the start of the battle, and closer to the core of the Gita.