Category Archives: yogah

Bhagavad Gita Verse 3, Chapter 4

24 Tuesday Jan 2012

Posted by in 4.3, aam, adya, asi, bhaktah, cha, chapter 4 verse 3, etat, eva, hi, iti, mayaa, me, proktah, puraatanaha, sah, sakhaa, tahasyam, te, uttamam, yogah

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sa evaayam mayaa te dya yogah proktah puraatanaha |
bhaktosi me sakhaa cheti rahasyam hyetaduttamam || 3 ||

That same ancient yoga I have taught you now, for you are my devotee and my friend. This (yoga) is the ultimate secret.

sah : that
eva : same
ayam : this
mayaa : I have
te : to you
adya : now
yogah : yoga
proktah : taught
puraatanaha : ancient
bhaktah : devotee
asi : you are
me : my
sakhaa : friend
cha: and
iti : that is why
rahasyam : secret
hi : because
etat : this
uttamam : ultimate

Shri Krishna very affectionately tells Arjuna that he regards him as a devotee and a friend, and finds him fit and capable to receive this supreme knowledge. Arjuna was of course quite happy to receive it, but why was he chosen? Let us investigate this point further.

Whoever received this knowledge needed to be capable of communicating it to others. It was not enough that this person was wise. Shri Krishna also needed a capable evangelist, one who had a mix of sattva and rajas, in order to both understand and spread this knowledge. A brahmana is predominantly saattvic by nature, and may not have been able to communicate and establish this knowledge in the world. Therefore Shri Krishna revealed this knowledge to Arjuna, the ultimate kshatriya warrior.

Moreover, Arjuna was Shri Krishna’s devotee and friend. He had the best rapport with Shri Krishna, as well as profound reverence for him. So much so that Arjuna confided his fears to him in the first chapter, something that a kshatriya would hesitate to do. Arjuna also had the courage to ask any doubts without any fear of reprimand, and in doing so get a clear understanding of the teaching.

Many commentators believe that the 108 shlokas starting from shloka 11 of chapter 2 to this shloka comprise the entire message of the Gita. They say that Shri Krishna essentially completed the entire teaching and stopped speaking, having provided the paramparaa as the conclusion. The remainder of the Gita is an exposition of the teachings packed into these 108 shlokas. And it is Arjuna who helps us dig deeper into these teachings with his well-timed and thoughtful questions, like the one we will see in the next shloka.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 2, Chapter 4

23 Monday Jan 2012

Posted by in 4.2, chapter 4 verse 2, evam, iha, kaalena, mahataa, nashtah, paramparaa, parantapa, praaptam, raajarshayo, sah, viduh, yogah

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evam paramparaapraaptamimam raajarshayo viduh |
sa kaaleneha mahataa yogo nashtah parantapa || 2 ||

In this way, scholar-kings knew about this yoga through tradition, (but) through the long passage of time, this yoga has been lost here, O scorcher of foes.

evam : in this way
paramparaapraaptam : obtained through tradition
imam : this
raajarshayo : scholar-king
viduh : known
sah : that
kaalena : through passage of time
iha : here
mahataa : long
yogah : yoga
nashtah : vanished
parantapa : O scorcher of foes

Shri Krishna gives Arjuna the reason for resurrecting the Gita in this shloka. He begins by stating that this knowledge has come from teacher to student. If we trace it back to its roots, we will find that the cosmic intelligence is the origin of this knowledge. This illustrates a beautiful aspect of the spiritual tradition: no one person claims authorship of knowledge. Even Tulsidas asserted that he did not write the Ramayana, but that it came from Lord Shiva.

When any teaching passes from generation to generation, the original message gets distorted. Shri Krishna says that even though this knowledge was prevalent in ancient times, is become distorted due to the long passage of time. Sant Jnyaneshwar in his commentary states that the distortion was further compounded by people becoming more materialistic and extroverted over the passage of time.

One example of distortion is musical raagaas. The raagas that we hear today are but a distorted version of the original raagas. Another example is that of rain water. When rain water falls from the sky, it is extremely pure like distilled water. But as it falls to the ground, it gets contaminated with pollutants in the air, dust and so on. We have to process that water in order to make it potable.

Therefore, now and then someone has to come to refresh the original message of the Gita, and that is what Shri Krishna is doing now. But he also needs to communicate it to the right person so that the message is properly understood. He addresses this point in the next shloka.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 50, Chapter 2

16 Wednesday Nov 2011

Posted by in 2.50, buddhiyuktaha, chapter 2 verse 50, iha, jahaati, karmasu, kaushalam, sukritadushkrite, tasmaat, ubhe, yogaaya, yogah

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buddhiyukto jahaateeha ubhe sukritadushkrite |
tasmaadyogaaya yujyasva yogah karmasu kaushalam || 50 ||

One who is equipped with equanimity in this life discards both merit and sin. Therefore remain established in yoga; yoga results in perfect action.

buddhiyuktaha : with equanimity
jahaati : give up
iha : here, in this life
ubhe : both
sukritadushkrite : merit and sin
tasmaat : therefore
yogaaya : in yoga
yujyasva : established
yogah : yoga
karmasu : in action
kaushalam : perfect

In the last chapter, Arjuna raised several concerns to Shri Krishna while debating whether or not to fight the Kaurava army. One of the concerns was that he would incur sin if he killed his kinsmen. Having given the overview of the topic of Karmayoga, Shri Krishna wanted to now address Arjuna’s concern around sin.

In this shloka, Shri Krishna told Arjuna that if one follows the path of Karmayoga, i.e. performs svadharma with equanimity, one doesn’t have to constantly ponder whether an action will beget merit or sin. In fact, one goes beyond the accumulation of merit or sin. Why is that the case? If we begin to detach ourselves from the results or fruits of our actions, we will also not get attached to merit and sin. Both merit and sin, like results of an action, are future-oriented expectations, and have no place in Karmayoga.

For instance, consider a grapevine that produces grapes. It fully carries out its svadharma, which is to produce tasty grapes. But it is upto the one who processes the grapes to make grape juice out of those grapes, or to produce alcohol that probably ends up ruining an alcoholic’s family. The grapevine does not incur merit or sin, it simply performs its svadharma.

There is another important point in this shloka. Earlier, we came across the definition of yoga as “yoga is equanimity of mind during the performance of action”. Now, Shri Krishna instructed Arjuna on another benefit of yoga. If one maintains equanimity of mind at all times, one’s actions become perfect since they will be performed with total attention and dexterity, without any distractions. Therefore, there is no need worry about the result. The result will, without question, be beneficial.

Earlier, we had discussed trying Karmayoga using a simple exercise: washing dishes while giving complete and undivided attention to the task at hand. If you tried it, you may have noticed that it is almost impossible to focus the mind on the task. The mind, much like a child, darts either into the future or into the past. For now, let’s continue to practice Karmayoga by doing simple household chores like washing dishes, but with focused attention. In the forthcoming shlokas, we will encounter more tools to bring equanimity to the mind.