Category Archives: yeshaam

Bhagavad Gita Chapter 6, Verse 10

05 Wednesday Sep 2012

Posted by in 10.6, chapter 10 verse 6, chatvaaraha, imaahaa, jaataahaa, loke, maanasaaaha, madbhaavaahaa, maharshayaha, manavaha, poorve, prajaahaa, sapta, tathaa, yeshaam

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maharshayaha sapta poorve chatvaaro manavastathaa |
madbhaavaa maanasaa jaataa yeshaam loka imaahaa prajaahaa || 6 ||
 
The seven great sages and the four before them, and the Manus were contemplating me. They were born out of my mind, (they) of whom are the creatures in this world.
 
maharshayaha : great sages
sapta : seven
poorve : prior to that
chatvaaraha : the four
manavaha : the Manus
tathaa : as well as
madbhaavaahaa : comptemplating me
maanasaaaha : my mind
jaataahaa : born out of
yeshaam : of whom
loke : in this world
imaahaa : these
prajaahaa : creatures
 
Previously, Shri Krishna spoke about Ishvara as the cause of several subtle expressions including non-injury, penance and so on. He now enumerates Ishvara’s manifest, visible expressions. Per tradition, the entire universe was created by seven great sages and fourteen individuals known as “Manus”. Shri Krishna asserts that these sages and Manus, the creators of all living and inert beings in this universe, were themselves created by Ishvara through his mind.
 
The Srimad Bhagavatam described the creation of the universe in great detail. Ishvara first created Lord Brahma and entrusted him with the responsibility of creating the universe. Lord Brahma then created the four child-sages Sanaka, Sanandana, Sanaatana and Sanatkumaara. When he asked them to populate the world, they refused, because they did not want to get tangled in any material pursuits. They took the vow of celibacy and roamed the world, constantly contemplating upon Ishvara.
 
Next, Lord Brahma created the saptarishis or the seven great sages Bhrigu, Marichi, Atri, Pulastya, Pulaha, Kratuhu and Vasishtha. He then created Manu was who was entrusted with further procreation and establishment of the moral code, which is known as Manusmriti. There are fourteen Manus that correspond to fourteen Manvantaras or periods of Manu.
 
Having enumerated the creators of his universe, Shri Krishna says that all those original individuals are expressions that were created from Ishvara’s mind, just like we create whole new worlds in our dreams in a matter of seconds without any external materials. This shloka is similar to the biblical verse “Let there be light”. The idea is the same – that Ishvara is the original cause of everything.
 
What is the result of knowing Ishvara’s vibhootis or expressions? This is given in the next shloka.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 19, Chapter 5

22 Thursday Mar 2012

Posted by in 5.19, brahma, brahmani, chapter 5 verse 19, eva, hi, iha, jitaha, managa, nirdosham, saamye, samam, sargaha, sthitaa, sthitam, taiha, tasmaad, te, yeshaam

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ihaiva tairjitaha sargo yeshaam saamye sthitam manaha |
nirdosham hi samam brahma tasmaadbrahmani te sthitaaha || 19 ||

Here in this world itself, they have conquered creation, those who establish their intellect in equanimity. For, the eternal essence is defect-free and harmonious; therefore, they are established in the eternal essence.

iha : here in this world
eva : itself
taiha : they
jitaha : have won
sargaha : creation / duality
yeshaam : those who
saamye : equanimity
sthitam : established in
manaha : intellect
nirdosham : defect-free
hi : for
samam : harmonious
brahma : eternal essence
tasmaad : therefore
brahmani : in the eternal essence
te : they
sthitaaha : are established

In the last shloka, Shri Krishna spoke about the wise person who sees the same eternal essence in everyone. Here, he goer deeper into this point and addresses some questions that could come up when trying to understand that shloka.

Consider a hardened criminal. Most of us would classify his behaviour as defective. Now, given the context of the previous shloka where the wise person perceives a criminal and a saint with the same vision. How does it actually happen? To address this point, Shri Krishna mentions in this shloka that the personality of the criminal has the defect, not the eternal essence. The eternal essence is inherently defect-free.

Another question that may arise is this. When and where does one attain the eternal essence? How much time will it take and how far away is it? The answer is that notions such as near/far, and slow/fast are dualities. Any such duality belongs to nature, not the the eternal essence. Therefore, one whose intellect has transcended duality immediately attains the eternal essence. Notions such as near/far, and slow/fast cease to have meaning.

Finally, Shri Krishna explains that attaining the eternal essence is possible here and now. We do not have to wait for another birth. Following the technique of karma yoga, we have to purify our mind and make it steady and harmonious, so that it can meditate on the eternal essence.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 16, Chapter 5

19 Monday Mar 2012

Posted by in 5.16, aadityavat, aatmanaha, ajnyaanam, chapter 5 verse 16, jnyaanam, jnyaanena, naashitam, param, prakashayati, tat, teshaam, tu, yeshaam

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jnyaanena tu tadajnyaanam yeshaam naashitamaatmanaha |
teshaamaadityavatjnyaanam prakashayati tatparam || 16 ||

For those who have destroyed ignorance through knowledge, such knowledge illumines the eternal essence, just like the sun.

jnyaanena : through knowledge
tu : for
tat : that
ajnyaanam : ignorance
yeshaam : those who have
naashitam : destroyed
aatmanaha : their
teshaam : for them
aadityavat : like the sun
jnyaanam : knowledge
prakashayati : illumines
tat : that
param : eternal essence

In this shloka, Shri Krishna compares the dispelling of ignorance to the dispelling of darkness by the sun. The light of the sun does not create anything new. It just shows us what was already there, but was hidden by darkness. Similarly, the knowledge of the eternal essence does not create anything new in us. It just reveals our true nature.

Why does Shri Krishna emphasize knowledge so much? The central theme of the Gita is the removal of delusion. The root cause of delusion is ignorance, which is nothing but our identification to the body, mind and intellect. All our efforts should be towards uprooting this ignorance through the correct knowledge. However, our lives are spent in trying to solve problems at the worldly level.

There is always one aspect of our lives that is incomplete or imperfect. For some of us, it could be our job. For others, it could be our family and friends. For some others, it could be our health. Given these various imperfections, we try to better our situation by changing our job, friends and so on. This results in a roller coaster ride of joys and sorrows.

But if we take a truly objective look at this situation, it turns out that we are looking for perfection in the material world, which will always be imperfect. Shri Krishna says here that the only way to get to the root of this problem is to remove our ignorance of the eternal essence.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 33, Chapter 1

11 Sunday Sep 2011

Posted by in arthe, avasthitaa, ime, kaankshitam, yeshaam

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yeshaamarthe kaankshitam no raajyam bhoogaha sukhani cha |
te imevasthitaa yudhde praanaamstyaktvaa dhanaani cha || 33 ||
 
Those, for whose sake we seek kingdom, enjoyment and happiness, are present here in war, ready to give up their desire for life and wealth. 
 
yeshaam : those
arthe : for whose sake
kaankshitam : desire
naha : our
raajyam : kingdom
bhogaaha: enjoyment
sukhaani : happiness
cha : and
te : those
ime : their
avasthitaa : present here
yudhdhe : in the war
praanaam : their lives
tyaktvaa : given up
dhanaani : desire for wealth
 
Here Arjuna continues his fall into delusion by justifying why there is no point in living, or in carrying out the mission that he had committed to carry out. In his confused state, his mind mixed up his personal relationships with his mission-wise relationships.
 
In work, we are often asked to “not take things personally”. Here we see an example of what happens when someone in war inserts personal aspects of his life into his work, resulting in complete confusion and breakdown of the mission.