Bhagavad Gita Verse 7, Chapter 14

12 Tuesday Feb 2013

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rajo raagaatmakam viddhi trishnaasangasamudhbhavam |
tannibandhaati kaunteya karmasangena dehinam || 7 ||
 
Know rajas to be of the nature of passion, the source of thirst and attachment. It binds the body dweller by attachment to action, O Kaunteya.
 
rajaha : rajas
raagaatmakam : nature of passion
viddhi : know
trishnaa : thirst
sanga : attachment
samudhbhavam : source
tat : it
nibandhaati : binds
kaunteya : O Kaunteya
karmasangena : attachment to action
dehinam : body dweller
 
Rajas is our state of mind when it is agitated, like a glass of water that is being stirred. Imagine that we have to attend an extremely important meeting at 5 PM. It is 4:50 PM and the taxi is stuck in a traffic jam. Our mind will be in a state of rajas. A series of thoughts will suggest that we wait in the car, while another series of thoughts will suggest that we leave the taxi and start walking. Whenever our mind is agitated by a thoughts that propel us to act, we are in a state of rajas.
 
Shri Krishna says that rajas creates trishnaa or thirst for what we do not possess, and sanga or attachment towards what we already possess. Furthermore, rajas creates a vicious cycle. It fuels our desires, creates thoughts that compel us to act so that we can acquire objects, then it creates attachment to those objects which further increases rajas. Typically, rajas dominates our mind from sunrise until sunset.
 
To understand how rajas can bind, consider the case of a multi-millionaire who has recently married his young girlfriend. The millionaire is self sufficient and does not need to work to support himself. But his wife’s brothers, relatives, friends and acquaintances slowly approach him for capital to start their business, connections to get them jobs, advice on their career and so on. Soon, the millionaire ends up working all day, every day. Even though the millionaire does not need to move a finger, he gets bound by his relationship to his wife.
 
Similarly, even though the self, the “I” does not act, rajas binds the self through attachment to action and its results. It makes us say “I am the doer” and “I am the enjoyer” whereas it is actually Prakriti that is acting and providing the results. Karma yoga helps us come out of this bondage and entrapment. It teaches us to continue to act in this world, but do it in a way that removes our identification with Prakriti. We slowly start submitting the results of our actions to Ishvara, then we slowly start letting Ishvara take over the doership of our actions as well.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 6, Chapter 14

11 Monday Feb 2013

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tatra sattvam nirmalatvaatprakaashamanaamayam |
sukhasangena badhnaati jnyaanasangena chaanagha || 6 ||
 
Of these, sattva is pure, bright and healthy. It binds through attachment to joy and attachment to knowledge, O sinless one.
 
tatra : of these
sattvam : satvva
nirmalatvaat : pure
prakaasham : bright
anaamayam : healthy
sukhasangena : attachment to joy
badhnaati : binds
jnyaanasangena : attachment to knowledge
cha : and
anagha : O sinless one
 
In simple terms, our mind is in a state of sattva whenever we experience joy, peace and calmness. We are alert, our mind is able to think very logically, we are able to grasp the most complex statements that we read or hear, and we don’t feel the need to rush out into the world.
 
Shri Krishna says that sattva refers to purity, brightness and health. Our mind can be compared to the water in a glass cup. When the pond is free from agitation, and all the dirt has settled down, it is crystal clear and is able to reflect light beautifully. Similarly, when our mind is in a state of sattva, there is absence of dirt in the form of selfish desires. There is brightness because it is able to reflect the light of the self, the awareness of the self, without any hinderance. There is health because it enables us to get as close to our natural state of joy as is possible in the human body.
 
Now, no matter how enjoyable or pleasant this state is, Shri Krishna reminds us that sattva has the ability to bind us, to trap us, because anyone will like to remain in a state of joy and calmness. Furthermore, if we foresee that this state will go away, we would like to hold on to this state of joy tightly and not let it go. Sattva can also bind us through attachment to knowledge. Since sattva enables our mind to accumulate more and more worldly knowledge, read more books, attain more academic qualifications, and ultimately pump up our ego, we get attached to it even more.
 
Why is sattva able to bind us to joy and knowledge? We mistake the joy provided by sattva because we have not experienced what real joy is. That can only happen in meditation when we are able to access the joy that is inherent in the “I”, in the self. All other joys are in the realm of Prakriti – temporary, perishable, and illusory. True joy is in the subject, the “I”, not in the object. Sattva, though preferable to rajas and tamas, is to be used for getting us closer to the goal of liberation, and has to be ultimately discarded, just like the fire is turned off after we cook our meal.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 5, Chapter 14

10 Sunday Feb 2013

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sattvam rajastama iti gunaahaa prakritisambhavaahaa |
nibandhanti mahaabaaho dehe dehinamavyayam || 5 ||
 
Sattva, rajas, tamas, these gunaas born of Prakriti, O mighty-armed warrior, bind the imperishable body dweller to the body.
 
sattvam : sattva
rajaha : rajas
tamaha : tamas
iti : these
gunaahaa : gunaas
prakritisambhavaahaa : born of Prakriti
nibandhanti : bind
mahaabaaho : O mighty-armed warrior
dehe : to the body
dehinam : body dweller
avyayam : imperishable
 
Shri Krishna beings the detailed analysis of Prakriti with two points. First, he breaks down Prakriti into its three components: the gunaas which are sattva, rajas and tamas. We have to note that the phrase “born of” in the shloka does not mean that Prakriti creates the three gunaas. It means that Prakriti itself is nothing but the three gunaas. Next, Shri Krishna states the effect of Prakriti on the Purusha, also known as the jeeva, the individual soul. He says that Prakriti binds or ties down the imperishable body dweller, the “dehi”, the jeeva, to the body.
 
Let us begin by understanding what the term “gunaa” means. From our point of view, gunaa is a state of mind. In just one day, we experience calmness, passion and lethargy, which are roughly equal to sattva, rajas and tamas respectively. From a broader point of view, gunaas refer to building blocks of the universe. Inert matter is tamas, action or dynamism is rajas, and harmony is sattva. Since we are primarily interested in liberation from our sorrow, we shall focus on the impact of the gunaas on our mind rather than their impact on the universe.
 
Now, if we have repeatedly heard that our self is imperishable and can never be bound, then how can the perishable gunaas bind the self? The answer is : the gunaas by themselves do not bind us. Ignorance of our true nature, followed by our mis-identification with the body, puts us in a situation where we ourselves allow the gunaas to take over control of our life.
 
Imagine that you have parked your car on the left side of road. A car that looks just like your car is also parked on the same road, but on the right side of the road. After you come out of the building and absent-mindedly think that the other car is yours, you are trapped. You see a new scratch on the car and get upset, you get a parking ticket and have to pay the fine, and so on. The other car has not “bound” you, but your incorrect knowledge has done so. We can also go back to the example of the child watching the boxing match. He is as though glued to the screen, while his grandmother is not. The TV does not bind him since it is is nothing but millions of red, blue and green dots of light. It is the child’s strong identification with the boxer that binds him.
 
Similarly, the individual soul which has mis-identified itself with the body, gets entrapped in the play of the three gunaas. In the next three shlokas, Shri Krishna takes up each gunaa one by one, and explains its power to bind the body in detail.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 4, Chapter 14

09 Saturday Feb 2013

Posted by in 14.4, aham, beejapradaha, brahma, chapter 14 verse 4, kaunteya, mahat, moortayaha, pitaa, sambhavanti, sarvayonishu, taasaam, yaahaa, yonihi

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sarvayonishu kaunteya moortayaha sambhavantiyaahaa |
taasaam brahma mahadyoniraham beejapradaha pitaa || 4 ||
 
Of the many forms that are born from all wombs, O Kaunteya, the great brahman is their womb, I their seed-giving father.
 
sarvayonishu : all wombs
kaunteya : O Kaunteya
moortayaha : forms
sambhavanti : born
yaahaa : many
taasaam : of those
brahma : brahman
mahat : great
yonihi : womb
aham : I am
beejapradaha : seed giving
pitaa : father
 
We may be wondering, how does Ishvara split himself into his two aspects of awareness and matter or Prakriti? Doesn’t it sound far fetched? Something quite similar happens to us every night. When we dream, our minds splits, as it were, into two. One aspect becomes the watcher, and the other aspect projects our dreams. In other words, the mind watches its own show. The Mandukya upanishad provides a detailed comparison of our waking, dreaming and deep sleep states.
 
Shri Krishna says that Ishvara, having divided himself into his two aspects, is both the mother and father of every thing and every living being in the universe. After he deposits the seeds or the jeevas into Prakriti, he creates the state of Hiranyagarbha. This state contains the potential to generate an entire sequence of creation, sustenance and dissolution of several universes. It is comparable to a DVD that contains within it the potential to create an entire two hour movie with several characters and locations.
 
Also, the ultimate womb, the ultimate source of the birth of all beings is the great brahman or Prakriti, which is nothing but the three gunaas. If we have to remove the impact and influence that the three gunaas exert upon us, we need to study what they are, how they impact us, how we fall under their sway, and how does one remain unaffected by them. Shri Krishna, having summarized the relevance of the three gunaas, proceeds to analyze the three gunaas in significant detail from the next shloka.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 3, Chapter 14

08 Friday Feb 2013

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mama yonirmahadbrahma tasmingarbham dadhaamyaham |
sambhavaha sarvabhootaanaam tato bhavati bhaarata || 3 ||
 
My womb is the great brahman. In it, I place the seed. From that, O Bharaata, is the birth of all beings.
 
mama : my
yonihi : womb
mahadbrahma : great brahman
tasmin : in it
garbham : seed
dadhaami : place
aham : I
sambhavaha : birth
sarvabhootaanaam : all beings
tataha : from that
bhavati : happens
bhaarata : O Bhaarata
 
According to the theory of karma, each jeeva or individual soul generates new unfulfilled desires or vaasanaas. These vaasanaas are created as a result of karma phala or fruits of action. Each action of eating a sweet creates a new desire to eat a sweet later, for instance. One lifetime is not enough to exhaust these vaasanaas, causing the jeeva to continuously take birth in the world to fulfill its desires. This is the explanation of birth and rebirth of jeevas. But how does the universe itself begin? Shri Krishna describes this topic in extremely poetic language in two shlokas.
 
Ishvara, at the beginning of creation, splits himself into his two aspects. One aspect is Prakriti, referred to here as the “great brahman”, which comprises three gunaas or qualities. Prakriti has the power to generate an infinite variety of forms through innumerable permutations and combinations of its three gunaas. But it is inert. It cannot create the universe by itself. The awareness aspect of Ishvara, the kshetrajnya, is needed to infuse Prakriti with life. This happens when Ishvara places all of the jeevas into Prakriti, just like seeds are placed into soil.
 
Let’s examine this in more detail. How exactly does the jeeva come into contact with Prakriti? It is due to avidyaa or ignorance. Each jeeva’s vaasanaas or unfulfilled desires are caused by its ignorance of its true nature which is infinite. Instead, the jeeva, also known as the Purusha, thinks that it is incomplete, and mistakenly rushes out into Prakriti to make itself complete again. This illusory link between the Purusha and Prakriti becomes the source of its birth and rebirth in the cycle of samsaara.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 2, Chapter 14

07 Thursday Feb 2013

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idam jnyaanamupaashritya mama saadharmyamagataahaa |
sargepi nopajaayante pralaye na vyathanti cha || 2 ||
 
Those who have taken refuge in this knowledge, and have attained identity with me, are not born even during creation, and not afflicted during dissolution.
 
idam : this
jnyaanam : knowledge
upaashritya : taken refuge
mama : my
saadharmyam : identity
aagataahaa : attained
sarge : creation
api : even
na : not
upajaayante : born
pralaye : dissolution
na : not
vyathanti : afflicted
cha : and
 
Actors who work in the daily soap opera world lead interested lives. If an actor is selected to play a part in a well-established and long running soap, they are overjoyed since their career has just skyrocketed. But once the actor is selected, they are afraid when they read each day’s script, since their role can be killed off at any time by the director. The director and actor have two different visions. The director is concerned with moving the story forward, whereas the actor is concerned with preserving his role.
 
Now, if we identify with the various roles or the various parts that we play each day, we will face a fate similar to that of the actor. We experience birth and death every day, every minute, throughout our lives. When we get a new job, for instance, a new “senior manager of marketing” is born. When we lose that job, that senior manager “dies”. If a marriage happens in the family, several new “in-laws” are born. If something goes wrong in that marriage, all those in-laws “die”. If something makes us angry, an angry man is born, and will die in a short while once the anger dissipates. Birth and death are part and parcel of Prakriti’s functioning.
 
Shri Krishna urges us to identify with Ishvara so that we are not disturbed or agitated when any kind of birth or death, even that of our own body, occurs. If the actor has the same vision as the director, he will take the end of his role in good stead and go on to do a wonderful job in his next assignment. If we have removed our ignorance through knowledge, if we have realized our true nature as identical to that of Ishvara, we will see things from Ishvara’s perspective and stop identifying with the ups and downs experienced by our body.
 
How exactly does this creation, this birth take place? Shri Krishna explains next.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 1, Chapter 14

06 Wednesday Feb 2013

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Shree Bhagavaan uvaacha:
param bhooyaha pravakshyaami jnyaanaam jnyaanamuttamam |
yajnyaatvaa munayaha sarve paraam siddhimito gataahaa || 1 ||
 
Shree Bhagavaan said:
I shall again speak of that highest knowledge which is superior to any other knowledge. Having known this, all the sages, (liberated) from here, have attained the highest accomplishment.
 
param : highest
bhooyaha : again
pravakshyaami : speak
jnyaanaam : knowledge
jnyaanamuttamam : superior to any knowledge
yajnyaatvaa : having known
munayaha : sages
sarve : all
paraam : highest
siddhim : accomplishment
itaha : here
gataahaa : attained
 
Shri Krishna described the fundamental ignorance of our true nature in the previous chapter. The supreme self, which is our true nature, mistakenly identifies itself with one body within Prakriti or Maaya and becomes the Purusha. It further gets trapped in Prakriti when it gets enchanted by play of the three gunaas of Prakriti. Shri Krishna uses this chapter to explain the nature of these three gunaas, their characteristics, their effects and their remedy in detail.
 
This shloka is in the form of “anubandha chatushtaya”, the four-fold curriculum covered in a text. It systematically lists the subject matter of the chapter, the student who is qualified to study this chapter, the goal of this chapter and the relationship of the subject to the goal. The subject matter is brahmavidyaa or the knowledge of brahman. One who is a muni, one who has a contemplative mind, is fit to study this chapter. The highest accomplishment one can aspire to – liberation from sorrow – is the goal of this chapter. When we know brahman as our our own self, the goal is attained. This is the prayojanam, the relationship of the subject matter to the goal of this chapter.
 
Before the topic is begun, however, we notice that Shri Krishna repeats the statement that he has made in earlier chapters about the glory of this knowledge. He does so because knowledge for us usually means academic, professional or any other type of worldly knowledge. It is always knowledge about some person, object, substance, concept, technique, something that can be accessed with the senses and mind. However, the knowledge of the self is that knowledge that reveals what the subject is, what the “I” is. In order to remove this hard conditioning, this deep programming within us, Shri Krishna has to repeat the importance of this knowledge.

Summary of Bhagavad Gita Chapter 13

05 Tuesday Feb 2013

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Shri Krishna begins the chapter by describing what is meant by the field and the knower of the field, kshetra and kshetrajnya. He reminds us that this knowledge is not something new, that it has come directly from the Vedas and the Brahma Sutras. He then describes the field in detail by listing its modifications such as the great elements, the ego, the senses and so on. A list of attributes or qualities that are needed in order to escape the influence of the field is given. These qualities include humility, lack of arrogance and so on. These qualities are termed as “jnyaanam” or means of knowledge.
 
The topic of the supreme self, brahman, the knower of the field or kshetrajnya, is taken up next. The “sat” or existence aspect of brahman is indicated first with attributes such as hands, legs and so on. It is then indicated with negation of those same attributes, following the “adhyaaropa apavaada” technique used in Vedanta. Brahman, which can never become an object of our knowledge, is explained through a series of paradoxes – it is near, yet it is far and so on. The “chit” or awareness aspect of brahman is also highlighted using the phrase “it is the light of all lights”.
 
The field and its knower are now explained from the point of view of the individualized self, jeeva by using the terminology of Purusha and Prakriti. Shri Krishna first defines these terms, points out their beginningless nature, and also points out how they become the cause of enjoyership and doership respectively. The fall of the immaculate supreme self is explained by the apparent relationship of Purusha and Prakriti due to ignorance of our true nature as the supreme self that resides as Ishvara in all bodies. Release from this ignorance leads to liberation.
 
In order to get to a stage where we can discriminate or distinguish between the field and its knower, we have to go through a curriculum of saadhanaa or spiritual practice. Shri Krishna provides this roadmap of steps as karma, bhakti, raaja and saankhya yoga. The key thing, however, is to orient or attach ourselves to the imperishable Ishvara, and to detach ourselves from identification with Prakriti, which is the storehouse of all action and diversity.
 
Shri Krishna concludes the chapter with two illustrations highlighting the existence and awareness, the sat and chit aspects of the supreme self. The analogy of space is used to illustrate the all-pervading, unattached, untainted and singular nature of the supreme self. The analogy of the sun is used to illustrate the knowledge, awareness and non-acting nature of the supreme self. The chapter ends by asserting that the fruit of knowing the true nature of the supreme self is moksha or liberation.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 34, Chapter 13

04 Monday Feb 2013

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kshetrakshetrajnyayorevamantaram jnyaanachakshushaa |
bhootaprakritimoksham cha ye viduryanti te param || 34 ||
 
Those who, by the eye of wisdom, perceive the distinction between the field and its knower in this manner, and relinquishment from the cause of all beings, they attain the supreme.
 
kshetrakshetrajnyayoho : field and its knower
evam : in this manner
antaram : distinction
jnyaanachakshushaa : eye of wisdom
bhootaprakriti : cause of all beings
moksham : relinquishment
cha : and
ye : those who
viduhu : perceive
yanti : attain
te : they
param : supreme
 
After having understood the true nature of the self, the nature of the ignorance we are in, and also having understood the method of how to remove this ignorance, what is the result? Shri Krishna concludes this chapter by asserting that the one who has removed his ignorance through knowledge attain the supreme, which is moksha or liberation from the cycle of Prakriti’s creation and dissolution. The key to understanding this chapter is “viveka”, or discrimination, which was hinted at the beginning of this chapter by the words “idam shareera” or “this body”.
 
Take the case of a forensic investigator who is hired to detect counterfeit currency notes. On the first day of his job, he will not be able to spot the difference between a fake note and a genuine note. After learning about the visual differences between what’s fake and what’s genuine, and after practising to spot those differences over a period of time, his eye will begin to see minute details that the average eye cannot see. This ability to separate the real from the unreal is discrimination, which is the “eye of wisdom” mentioned in the shloka.
 
So then, the one who knows how to conduct his life in a manner such that he can distinguish between the unreal aspects and the real aspects, between the field and its knower, between Purusha and Prakriti, and learn to see the imperishable in the perishable as Ishvara, such a person is freed of the mechanisms of Prakriti, the cause of all beings. This is the goal of jnyaana yoga, which is summarized in the thirteenth chapter of the Gita. We will be able to attain this goal if we bring this teaching into our lives through constant reflection and meditation.
 
om tatsatiti shreematbhagavatgitasupanishadsu brahmavidyaayaam yogashaastre shreekrishnaarjunsamvade kshetrakshetrajnyavibhaagayogo naama trayodashodhyaayaha || 13 ||

Bhagavad Gita Verse 33, Chapter 13

03 Sunday Feb 2013

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yathaa prakaashayatyekaha kritsnam lokamimam ravihi |
kshetram kshetree tathaa kritsnam prakaashayati bhaarata || 33 ||
 
Just as the one sun illumines the entire world, so does the knower of the field illumine the entire field, O Bhaarata.
 
yathaa : just as
prakaashayati : illumines
ekaha : the one
kritsnam : entire
lokam : world
imam : this
ravihi : sun
kshetram : field
kshetree : knower of the field
tathaa : so does
kritsnam : entire
prakaashayati : illumines
bhaarata : O Bhaarata
 
The example of space in the previous shloka was meant to illustrate the unaffected and untainted nature of the self. In this shloka, the example of the sun is given to highlight the actionless nature of the self. The sun is located millions of miles away from the earth, yet it enables life on earth to exist. Minerals, plants, animals and humans, everything and every being survives only from the sun’s energy. But the sun never acts. All of the actions happen on our planet distinct and separate from the sun.
 
Shri Krishna says that the self in us, the “I” in us is similar in nature to the sun. The self or the knower of the field, the kshetrajnya, illumines or knows the actions taking place in the kshetra, the field, our body, which is a part of Prakriti. Furthermore, the self does not take on the notion of pride or doership in the actions of the body, neither does it get differentiated due to the differences or modifications of Prakriti, just like the sun never claims doership nor gets differentiated due to the variety of form on our planet.
 
So, if the self is the sole knower of all of the actions in our body, how does our intellect know things? With respect to the analogy of the sun, the intellect can be compared to a pool of water that reflects the light of the sun. The intellect is just an instrument that functions due to tje knowledge of the self. If the intellect is calm and steady, it works perfectly in interpreting the information sent to it from the mind and senses. If it is agitated or dull, it cannot work perfectly, just like the sun’s reflection is disturbed when the pool of water is agitated or muddy.
 
Here, Shri Krishna asserts that the self is of the nature of “chit”. It is knowledge, awareness, consciousness personified.