THE HOLY GITA, CHAPTER 6, DHYANA YOGA OR THE YOGA OF MEDITATION, VERSE NUMBER 04

THE HOLY GITA

CHAPTER 6

DHYANA YOGA OR THE YOGA OF MEDITATION:

VERSE NUMBER 04

Text in Transliteration:

yada hi ne ‘ndriyaartheshu na karmasv anusajjate

sarvasamkalpasamnyaasee yogaaroodhas tado ‘cyate

Text in English:

Then alone is one said to have attained to yoga, when, having renounced all Sankalpas, one does not get attached to sense-objects and actions.

COMMENTARY BY SWAMI SIDBHAVANANDA:

Yogaaroodha is one who has attained the acme of yoga. Human perfection reaches its zenith in him. deep dhyana or the meditation of the yogi develops external world which is the projection of the mind, is no more for him. there is no mentation in him to manipulate the senses. As in sound sleep, so in this self-sufficiency and beatitude of Samadhi the obligatory duties even get suspended. Freed from sankalpa, his mind is calm like an ocean without waves. In this plenitude of bliss the thoughts of this world and of any others likely to come, are all blotted out. The Eternal Presence alone is.

MANU AS QUOTED BY SWAMI SIDBHAVANANDA:

Desires and doings are all born of sankalpa.

Mahabharata, Santi Parva 177-25 as quoted by Swami Sidbhavananda:

O desire, I know wherefrom you take your origin. You are born of sankalpa. I shall refuse to make sankalpa of you. Annihilation then, is your lot.

SRI RAMAKRISHNA AS QUOTED BY SWAMI SIDBHAVANANDA:

The brilliant presence of Iswara cannot be perceived in that mental firmament which is disturbed by the gale of desires.

COMMENTARY BY DR.S.RADHAKRISHNAN:

Sarvasamkalpasanyasi; one who has renounced all purposes. We must give up our likes and dislikes, forget ourselves, leave ourselves out. By the abandonment of all purposes, by the mortification of the ego, by the total surrender to the will of the Supreme, the aspirant develops a condition of mind approximating to the Eternal. He partakes in some measures the undifferentiated timeless consciousness of that which he desires to apprehend.

The freed soul works without desire and attachment, without the egoistic will of which desires are born. Manu says that all desires are born of samkalpa or thought. Maha Bharata says: “O desire, I know thy rot. Thou art born of samkalpa or thought. I shall not think of thee and thou shalt cease to exist.”

COMMENTARY BY SWAMI SIVANANDA:

Yogarudha: “he who is enthroned or established in Yoga”. When a Yogi, by keeping the mind quite steady, by withdrawing it from the objects of the senses, has attachment neither for sensual objects such as sound, nor for the actions (Karmas, cf. Notes to V.13), knowing that they are of no use to him; when he has renounced all thoughts which generate various sorts of desires for the objects of this world and of the next, then he is said to have become a Yogarudha.

Do not think of sense-objects. The desires will die by themselves. How can you free yourself from thinking of the objects? Think of God or the Self. Then you can avoid thinking of the obhects. Then you can free yourself from thinking of the objects of the senses.

Renunciation of thoughts implies that all desires and all actions should be renounced, because all desires are born of thoughts. You think first and then act (strive) afterwards to possess the objects of your desire for enjoyment.

“Whatever a man desires, that he wills;

And whatever he wills, that he does.”

             Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, 4.4.5

Renunciation of all actions necessarily follows from the renunciation of all desires.

“O desire! I know where thy root lies. Thou art born of Sankalpa (thought). I will not think of thee and thou shalt cease to exist along with the root.”

                                                               Mahabharata, Santi Parva, 177.25

“Indeed desire is born ofthought (Sankalpa), and of thought, Yajnas are born.”                             

                                                                Manu Smriti, 11.2

Comments by the blogger:

This verse spells out the attributes of a Yogi: he is not attached to the sense-objects or to actions. He has renounced all thought. Renouncement of all thought amounts to the renunciation of the whole sense world!

Aristotle said, “I think, therefore I am.” Only thinking makes the worldly man or yokes him to the sense world. When we withdraw completely from the sense world, we become free of the prakrity or enslaving nature. Then no amount of sensual pulls exerted by Her could have any influence on us. And we become perfected yogis.

Now, not everyone could become a yogi of this type all of a sudden. Thousands of rebirths must precede such an elevated state which makes us understand we are coextensive with the Maker.

So what do we do?

This chapter or discourse is endowed to dhyana yoga or the yoga of meditation.

But the average ordinary men and women like me can take seriously to karma yoga and move toward the Maker by gradation, birth after birth. The trick is to come back to the plane of this earth repeatedly as human beings only. This will ensure our shedding of craving for sensual pleasures gradually. And at one stage we would become ready to turn into a yogi.

Here, in this chapter, the word yoga relates to meditation.  

        

THE HOLY GITA, CHAPTER 6, DHYANA YOGA OR THE YOGA OF MEDITATION, VERSE NUMBER 03

THE HOLY GITA

CHAPTER 6

DHYANA YOGA OR THE YOGA OF MEDITAION:

VERSE NUMBER 03

Text in Transliteration:

aaruruksor muner yogam karma kaaranam ucyate

yogaaroodhasya tasyai ‘va samah kaaranam ucyate

Text in English:

Karma is said to be the means of the Muni who seeks to attain to yoga; serenity is said to be the means when he has attained to yoga.

COMMENTARY BY SWAMI SIDBHAVANANDA:

He is a Muni in the making who applies himself ardently to the practice of meditation. Though practising regularly, his mind does not easily get concentrated. It wanders away in spite of himself. In that case the yogi ought to engage himself eagerly in karma yoga. The non-yogi who busies himself with the work he undertakes, is rewarded by nature with sound sleep at night. The yogi is busier definitely in the discharge of his duty, but with no attachment and selfish motive. Good concentrated work. He can know this fact by experience day by day. Clarity of mind is the result of deep meditation. it is this clarity that gets itself settled as serenity. It is this clarity that gets itself settled as serenity. Through proper meditation the mind gets poised in equilibrium. As the crystallization of a stuff takes place in a restful condition, so the mind gets fixed in equilibrium through meditation. On the attainment of serenity it becomes fit for all purposes personal and public. Deep meditation is the yogi’s personal activity in which he delights in the sublimity of the Self. At other times the external work that he carries on is done to perfection. Serenity is the sure means for his attaining all these excellences.

   Serenity is the foremost of all the accomplishments of the yogi. From this divine gift emanate merits such as unison, equality, truthfulness, good conduct, steadfastness, straightforwardness, non-injury to beings and detachment from the world. (What are the marks of the yogi who has attained perfection in yoga? The explanation comes in the next verse).

 COMMENTARY BY DR.S.RADHAKRISHNAN:

When we are aspirants for liberation (saadhanaavasthaa), work done in the right spirit with inner renunciation helps us. When once we achieve self-possestion (siddhavasthaa)  we act, not for gaining any end but out of our anchorage in God-consciousness.  Through work we struggle to obtain self-control; when self-control is attained, we obtain peace. It does not follow that we then abandon all action. For in VI, I, it is stated that the true yogin is one who performs work and not one who renounces it. Sama does not mean the cessation of karma. It cannot be the cause (karana) of wisdom, for the perfected sage has already attained wisdom. V, 12 says that the yogin attains complete tranquillity by abandoning the fruits of action. He performs action with a perfect equanimity. He overflows with a spontaneous vitality and works with a generosity which arises from his own inexhaustible strength.

COMMENTARY BY SWAMI SIVANANDA:

For a man who cannot practise meditation, actiong is a means to get himself enthroned in Yoga. Action purifies his mind and makes the mind fit for the practice of steady meditation. action leads to steady concentration and meditation.

For the sage who is enthroned in Yoga, Sama or renunciation of actions is said to be the means.

The more perfectly he abstains from actions, the more steady his mind is, and the more peaceful he is , and the more easily and thoroughly does his mind gets fixed in the Self. “For a Brahmana there is no wealth like unto the knowledge of oneness and homogeneity (of the self in all beings), truthfulness, good character, steadiness, harmlessness, straightforwardness and renunciation of all actions” (Mahabharata, Santi Parva, 175.38)

Comments by the blogger:

For an aspirant yogi, action is the means. But his actions are different and done with a different intent and spirit. He is not on an activated mode like a thoroughly worldly man. A thoroughly worldly man is spurred on to act continuously till death with a phenomenal selfishness. For him he and his family come first than the whole country itself; his actions are grossly tainted. They give rise to much too many rebirths. He is overenthusiastic if he gets what he wants and is spurred by sorrow or anger, as the case may be, if he does not get the fruits of his actions. Fruits of his actions are the sole motive for his life on earth. Even worship of the Lord is made with intent to get from Him the fruition of his endeavours.

But the actions of the Muni, an aspirant who’s only motive is attainment of Yoga, is different. He is not selfish. To the core he is beautifully unselfish. His actions are nitya karma doing of which does not get merits to one but a refrain from the same attach demerits. Plus actions like begging or doing the minimum acts to earn money enough for the upholding of his person and fulfilment of his bare necessities.

And when he attains to Yoga even these minimal actions cease to exist and the Lord takes due care of his person and personal needs. Serenity born of non-action becomes his mode when he has attained to Yoga!

         

THE HOLY GITA, CHAPTER 6, DHYANA YOGA OR THE YOGA OF MEDITATION, VERSE NUMBER 02

THE HOLY GITA

CHAPTER 6

DHYANA YOGA OR THE YOGA OF MEDITATION:

VERSE NUMBER 02

Text in Transliteration:

yam samnyaasam iti praahur yogam tam viddhi paandava

nah y asamnyastasamkalpo yogee bhavati kaschana

Text in English:

Know that as yoga, O Pandava, which is called Sanyasa; for none becomes a yogi without renouncing Sankalpa.

COMMENTARY BY SWAMI SIDBHAVANANDA:

It is “sankalpa” to create a formative imagination in the mind about the fruits of action. “Sankalpa” is the selfish motive behind an action. Endless projects taking place in the mind, one nullifying or modifying the other are all born of “sankalapa”. He who is a prey to it can never become a yogi. “Sanyasa is the renunciation of “sankkalpa. He who succeeds in renouncing it qualifies himself for the practice of yoga. Strength of mind is his who practises yoga. Only a man of strong mind can meditate as well as discharge his duties very efficiently. This is how “sankalpa sanyasa” and karma yoga become identical. (How sanyas augments yoga is being explained in the next stanza).

COMMENTARY BY DR.S.RADHAKRISHNAN:

samnyasa: renunciation. It consists in the accomplishment of the necessary action without an inward striving for reward. This is true yoga, firm control over oneself, complete self-possession.

 This verse says that disciplined activity (yoga) is just as good as renunciation (samnyaasa)

COMMENTARY BY SWAMI SIVANANDA:

“Sankalpa” is the working of the imagining faculty of the mind that makes plans for the future and guesses the results of plans and schemes and expects fruits for his actions. No devotee of action who has not renounced the thought of the fruit of his actions can become a yogi of steady mind. The thought of the fruits will certainly make the mind unsteady.

Lord Krishna eulogises Karma Yoga here because it is the means or an external aid (Bahiranga Sadhana) to Dhyana Yoga. It leads to Meditation in due course. In order to encourage the practice of Karma Yoga it is stated here that Karma Yoga is Sannyasa. (Cf. V.4)

Comments by the blogger:

Here Arjuna is addressed as “Pandava” or one of the five Pandava Kings. There is much significance in the way Arjuna is called. That he is not addressed as “Parantaba” (scorcher of foes) is also   significant!  Because, here, Arjuna is viewed as one of the average ordinary men who have their own weakness of heart, mind and spirit. “Sankalpa” is endless imagination and thoughts. This will only lead to various and unceasing acts which give rise to endless rebirths. “Sankalpa” is the modification of which faculty mind is helplessly capable of! Where there is nil action in mind, its real power to see into the life of things is realized. “Sankalpa” saps the power of the discerning mind. Anyone given to endless imaginations is helplessly yoked to this world of action. When “Sankalpa” or thinking and imagining faculty is firmly held in check, the real power of the mind is realized which is endless. “Sankalpa” also deprives one of discrimination.

But “Sankalpa” can be made use of to check imagination if we make a firm “Sankalpa” to give ourselves unto yoga.

And what about the US, poor folks, who cannot be the Lord of the Senses?

Well, we have studious and steady Prayer to the Lord which has a tendency to reduce the modification of the mind and reduce “Sankalpa”.

Arjuna is addressed as Pandava, a high caste by yet given helplessly to endless “Sankalpa” and mighty actions. And Arjuna’s pleading against killing his kith and kin and Acharya puts him in league with others of his type. He could easily be called as Parantaba (the scorcher of foes) without much damage to the rhythm of the verse. But, since he suffered from high volatile modification of mind to the extent of foregoing his dharma or righteous duty as a warrior and eat beggars bread even!        

THE HOLY GITA, DHYANA YOGA OR THE YOGA OF MEDITATION, CHAPTER 6, VERSE NUMBER 01

THE HOLY GITA

DHYANA YOGA OR THE YOGA OF MEDITATION

CHAPTER 6

VERSE NUMBER 01

Text in Transliteration:

                                      sri bhagavaan uvacha

anaasritah karma phalam kaaryam karma karoti yah

sa samnyaasee cha yogi cha na niragnir na chaa ‘kriyah

Text in English

                                      The Blessed Lord said:

He who discharges his duty without seeking its fruit, he is the Sanyasin, he is the yogi; not he who is without sacred fire and without rites.

COMMENTARY BY SWAMI SIDBHAVANANDA:

People in general have a misconception about sanyasa. That the Sanyasin should not shoulder any responsibility and that he should be a drone, is the prevalent notion. Lighting fire is a symbol of performing Yajna. The general wrong belief is that the Sanyasin is not to do any altruistic work. Arjuna’s plea that he would not engage himself in the impending war and that he would beat a retreat and live on holy alms, is an example of this wrong idea. But the Lord’s contention is different. What He upholds is the true practice of Vedanta. No person should ever discard action. Each has his duty and it has to be well executed. Among the doers of duty, he is a Sanyasin, he is a yogi, who discharges duty for duty’s sake and in no way attached to the fruits of his action. Because of the renunciation of attachment to work and its effect, he is a Sanyasin and because of his doing the duty very efficiently he is a karma yogi. (The next stanza deals with the relationship between karma snayasa and karma yoga).

COMMENTARY BY DR.S.RADHAKRISHNAN:

The teacher emphasizes that samnyaasa or renunciation has little to do with outward works. It is an inward attitude. To become a samyasin it is not necessary to give up the sacrificial fire and the daily ritual. To abstain from these without the spirit of renunciation is futile.

Shankara, however, by the use of the word “kevalam,” makes out that “he who does not light the sacred fire and performs no rites is not the only samnyasin.” This does not seem to be quite fair to the text.

COMMENTARY BY SWAMI SIVANANDA:

Actions such as Agnhotra, etc., performed without the expectation of their fruits purify the mind and become the means to Dhyana Yoga or the Yoga of Meditation. karyam karma: bounden duty.

Niragnih: Without fire. He who has renounced the daily rituals like Agnihotra, which are performed with the help of fire.

Akirya: without action. He who has renounced austerities and other meritorious acts like building rest-houses, charitable dispensaries, digging wells, feeding the poor, etc.

The Sannyasi performs neither Agnihotra nor other ceremonies. But simply to omit these without genuine renunciation will not make one a real Sannyasi.

Comments by the blogger:

Fire was the symbol of Agni god of the Vedas. Fire has different properties according to the Vedic Sages. It the god Agni who takes care of the sacrifices and brings to different gods their due share of the oblation. And Agni Himself takes and consumes his own share offered at the sacrificial fire. Agni is not just fire, but all knowing god’s one of the properties. Agni has the knowledge of the different lokas or worlds of consciousness. Agni acts as a go-between in a sacrifice. All other gods depend on Agni for their share of the oblations. As human beings die, it is the god Agni who takes them to the different worlds of consciousness according to their doings here.

This was why much importance was given to Agni god in the Vedantic philosophy. Even after the external sacrifices got internalized during the Upanishadic period, Agni and fire were given their due importance. Sharpness of the mind gives birth to sharpness of the intellect and this leads to a better understanding of the scheme of the universe. The sun god is made of scintillating fire. And the sun is said to be the externalized form of Prana.

So Agnihortra or tending fire and worshipping of it is one of the predominant duties of a householder. But an accomplished Yogi who has seen in himself Brahman is not subject to even this predominant duty. It is posited differently when the Lord says that he who discharges his duty without seeking its fruit is the Sanyasin and Yogi and not he who is without sacred fire and without rites. Here fire is eulogised in a negative manner. But, at the end of the Universal day, even fire rites are not important for the Sanyasin and Yogi is the real meaning.     

THE HOLY GITA, CHAPTER 5, SANYASA YOGA OR THE RENUCIATION, VERSE NUMBER 29

THE HOLY YOGA

CHAPTER 5

SANYASA YOGA OR THE RENUNCIATION:

VERSE NUMBER 29

Text in Transliteration:

Bhoktaaram yajnatapasaam sarvaloka mahesvaram

Suhrdam sarvabhootaanaam jnaatvaa maam saantim recchati

Text in English:

Having known Me as the Lord of Yajnas and asceticisms, as the Ruler of all the worlds, as the Friend of all beings, he attains Peace.

COMMENTARY BY SWAMI SIDBHAVANANDA:

It is through the grace of the Lord that the earnest souls take to the performance of Yajnas and practice of asceticism. The Lord again is the goal of their great endeavours. Not only does He rule over all, but also protect them as their genuine Friend. He resides as Conscience in the hearts of all being and assigns the fruits of their various activities. As karma emanates from Him, knowledge and wisdom also come to beings from Him. The Muni who gives his ceaseless thought to these divine glories of the Lord gains supreme Peace.

COMMENTARY BY DR.S.RADHAKRISHNAN:

The transcendent God becomes the lord of all creation, the friend of all creatures, who does good to them without expecting any return. God is not merely thje distant world ruler but an intimate friend and helper, ever ready to assist us in overcoming evil, if only we trust Him. The Bhaagavata says: “Of whom I am the beloved, the self, the son, the friend, the teacher the relative and the desired deity.”

 COMMENTARY BY SWAMI SIVANANDA:

I am the Lord of all sacrifices and austerities. I am their author, goal and their Cod. I am the friend of all beings, the doer of good to them without expecting any return for it. I am the dispenser of the fruits of all actions and the silent witness of their minds, thoughts and actions as I well in their hearts. On knowing Me, they attain peace and liberation or Moksha (deliverance from the round of birth and death and all worldly miseries and sorrows. (Cf. V.15; IX.24)

Comments by the blogger:

Vishnu, the Lord, says elsewhere in Bhagavat Gita that He is the eater of sacrifices. That He, in the beginning, created beings along with sacrifices. So the scheme of the Universe is well understood by one who sacrifices. When he sacrifices, other knowledge about the scheme of the Universe and mother Nature comes to him with the recommendations that he should live in peaceful knowledge with Nature. He should not be afraid of anyone or anything. Any one or anything should not be afraid of him. Thus he becomes a cog in the great wheel that was set in motion by the Lord in the beginning. It is also is the Dharma Chakra or the Wheel of Dharma or Righteousness.

The yajnas (inner or mental sacrifices as distinguished from the external ones) and asceticism made by countless Sages of the world over helps the rta or rhythm of the world as found out by the Vedic Sages thousands of years ago. There is none who does not sacrifice in the world. Every one sacrifices. This happens even without being aware of the fact. Giving a seat to an elder on a bus travel is an act of sacrifice. Taking time to help an old man across the road is an act of sacrifice. A Man and Wife with five children in a small house have nowhere to go to make love so they cease to indulge in the carnal act. The very act of giving alms, howsoever infinitesimally small it might be, is a sacrifice. That is why it is good to give a five rupee coin when we decide to dole out one rupee coin. The more we give the more becomes our resources to give more. Only the well off which water is drawn regularly has the benefit of replenishment of water through underground channels. And the well in disuse does not get this benefit. It is just a hole in the ground and stinking and stagnating water!

We will never let ourselves become such a well in disuse. We will give alms and our bodily and mental help to all others who are in need of it. Praying for others is a good form of mental sacrifice. If we do this without telling anyone, it gains greater efficacy. We join in hand with the Lord in ameliorating other people’s problems. And when we deeply pray for someone’s good and that man attains it and treats us without regard and if we say to him nothing of our prayers for his good, we become enriched in pure asceticism. This will ennoble us and prepare us for further sacrifices and austerities. And the ultimate sacrifice is putting our dear Atman at the Altar of God as oblation in the fire of immaculate devotion and unbearable love for Him!

( In the Upanishad of Bhagavad Gita, the knowledge of Brahman, the Supreme, the science of Yoga and the dialogue between Sri Krishna and Arjuna, this is the fifth discourse designated:

                                                                 SANYASA YOGA