THE HOLY GITA, CHAPTER NUMBER 08, AKSHARA BRAHMA YOGA OR THE YOGA OF THE IMPERISHABLE BRAHMAN, VERSE NMBER 01 AND 02

THE HOLY GITA

CHAPTER NUMBER 08

AKSHARA BRAHMA YOGA OR THE YOGA OF THE IMPERISHABLE BRAHMAN:

VERSE NUMBER 01

Text in Transliteration:

                     arjuna uvaacha

kim tad brahma kim adhaatmam

      kim karma purushottama

adhibhootam cha ki proktam

     adhidaivam kim uchyate

Text in English:

                         Arjuna said:

What is that Brahman? What is Adhyatma? What is karma? O Best among men! What is said to be Adhibhta, and what is called Adhidaiva?

COMMENTARY BY DR.S.RADHAKRISHNAN:

What is present in the self (adhyaatmam)? What is present in the gods (adhidaivam)? What is present in the sacrifice(adhiyajnam)? What is present in all beings(adhibhootam)? The answer to these questions is that the Supreme Spirit pervades all created beings, all sacrifices, all deities and all work. These are only the varied expressions of the Supreme.

COMMENTARY BY SWAMI SIVANANDA:

In the last two verses of the seventh chapter Lord Krishna had used certain philosophical and technical terms such as Adhiyajnam. Arjuna does not understand the meaning of these terms. So he proceeds to ask the Lord the above questions for their elucidation. Lord Krishna gives the answers succinctly to the above questions in their order.

Some treat this chapter as Abhyasa Yoga because in this chapter verses 7,8,10,12,13, and 14 deal with spiritual practices. Verse 7 treats of Karma and Bhakti Yoga combined(giving the hands to the service of humanity or society and fixing the mind on the Lord). Verse 8 deals with Abhyasa Yoga. Verses 10, 12 and 13 treat of Hatha Yoga (how to raise the life-force to the Ajna Chakra and the Sahasrara and the Brahmarandhra). Verse 14 treats of the easy Yoga of constant Namasamarana or remembering the names of the Lord constantly. This alone will help the spiritual aspirant to approach the Lord easily.

The nature of Brahman, the individual Self (Adhyatma), the nature of action, the nature of the objective universe or phenomena (Adhibhootam), knowledge of the shining ones (Adhidaivam), and the secret of sacrifice (adhiyajnam) are described in this discourse. The perfect sage will have perfect knowledge. He will have perfect knowledge of not only manifested Brahman but also of the transcendental Brahman and the why of the Universe, etc. (Cf. IV. 16)

VERSE NUMBER 02

Text in Transliteration:

adhiyajnah katham ko ‘tra dehe ‘smin madhusoodana

prayaanakaale cha katham jneyo’si niyataatmabhih

Text in English:

Who and how is Adhiyajna here in this body, O Madhusudana? And how, at the time of death, art Thou to be known by the self-controlled?

The concluding two stanzas of the previous discourse induce Arjuna to raise these seven questions which are a sequel to the topics discussed. The Lord answers all of them.

COMMENTARY BY DR.S.RADHAKRISHNAN:

How are Thou revealed at the hour of death to the spiritual-minded?

COMMENTARY BY SWAMI SIVANANDA:

Arjuna puts seven questions to the Lord:

1.What is that Brahman? Is it Brahman with the Upadhis (limiting adjuncts) or Brahman without them?

2. Is it the aggregate of the senses or individual consciousness (Pratyk-Chaitanya) or distinct. Pure  consciousness?

3. What is Karma? Is it Yajna? Or, is it distinct from Yajna?

4. Adhibhutam is knowledge of the Bhutas. Is this the knowledge of the elements of something else?

5. Adhidaivam is that which is associated with the gods. Is this the medtationon the gods? Or, is it the consciousness associated with the Suryamandala, etc.?

6. Adhiyajna is that which is associated with Yajnas or Vedic rituals. Is this the Para Brahman (Supreme Being) or any special god? Is it of the same form (Tadatmyarupa) or any special god? Is it of the same form (Tadatmyarupa) or is it entirely non-different (Abheda)? Does it exist in the body or outside it? If it exists in the body, is it the intellect (Buddhi) or distinct from it?

7. At the time of death, when the memory is lost and when the senses become cold (i.e., when they lose their vitality) how can the man of one-pointedness and of steadfast mind know the Lord?

O Lord Madhusudana! Thou art all-merciful. Thou hast killed Madhu and removed the miseries of the people. even so Thou canst remove my difficulties and doubts very easily. This is nothing for Thee, the omniscient Lord. (This is the reason why Arnjua addresses the Lord by the name Madhusudana.)

Comments by the Blogger:

These seven questions are philosophical in nature. But, as we have seen hereto, high philosophy has been described by the Lord of Gita in a manner even the lay people could easily understand. Swami Sidbhavananda has compared the Upanishads to a cow and Gita its milk. We may buy a cow with calf and milk the cow daily for our use. This presupposes the purchase and stocking of the feed to the cow. And building a shed for it is a must. And we regularly maintain the cow and bathe it so it would not catch any infection. But if we just buy a glass of milk for our daily needs, we could look at other matters pertaining to our life. Upanishadic Seers like their Vedic counterparts have clothed their thoughts in highly allegorical and metaphoric language. So, apart from an unflinching faith, we must have a good imagination and intellectuality and scholarship to understand the texts. But in reading Gita, especially with any of the commentators we are daily seeing in this site, just about anyone could peruse and understand Gita. Great and contradictory philosophical stands have been set at rest with the Lord of the Gita declaring the Truth about them and thus ending all controversies. Gita is for the Lay people. Gita is for all, initiated and uninitiated. Those who make the regular study of Gita would find life bearable and solutions for all questions forthcoming.

          

THE HOLY YOGA, CHAPTER NUMBER 07, JNANA VIJNANA YOGA OR THE YOGA OF KNOWLEDGE AND REALIZATION, VERSE NUMBER 30

THE HOLY GITA

CHAPTER NUMBER 07

JNANA VIJNANA YOGA OR THE YOGA OF KNOWLEDGE AND REALIZATION:

VERSE NUMBER 30

Text in Transliteration:

saadhibhootaadhidaivam maam saadhiyajnaam cha ye viduh

prayaanakaale ‘pi cha maam te vidur yuktachetasah

Text in English:

Those who realize Me in the Adhibhuta, in the Adhidaiva and in the Adhiyajna, they of steadfast mind realize Me even in the hour of death.

COMMENTARY BY SWAMI SIDBHAVANANDA:

The details of the adhibhoota, adhidaiva and adhiyajna come in the next chapter. The way of the world is to be scared, confused and frightened in the hour of death. But the yogi accepts death calmly and as a matter of course. It has its due place in Nature. A true study of Nature develops into devotion to the Lord. A yogi’s knowledge and devotion reveal themselves best in the hour of death. His God-realization is at its zenith when he drops the body in death.    

COMMENTARY BY DR.S.RADHAKRISHNAN:

We are not asked to remember at the time of departure certain speculative doctrines, but to know Him in all aspects, trust Him and worship Him.

Certain new terms are used and Arnjuna in the next chapter asks for their explanations. The Supreme is to be known not only in Itself but also in Its manifestations in nature, in objective and subjective phenomena, in the principle of works and sacrifice. The teacher explains them all briefly in the next chapter.

COMMENTARY BY SWAMI SIVANANDA:

They who are steadfast in mind, who have taken refuge in Me, who know Me as the knowledge of elements in the physical plane, as the knowledge of the gods in the celestial or mental plane, as the knowledge of the sacrifice in the realm of sacrifice, are not affected by death. They do not lose their memory. They continue to keep up the consciousness of Me even at the time of their departure from this world. Those who worship Me along with these three know Me even at the time of death. (Cf. VIII. 25) (This chapter is also known by the names Vijnana Yoga and Jnana Yoga also)

Comments of the blogger:

Death is part of life. It is a release from all our worldly strivings. It is a release. It is a blessing in disguise. Death is an equalizer. It does not leave anyone untouched. But it touches everyone with a golden hand. There is nothing wrong or faulty in the scheme of the Universe. Every time, every micro-second death takes place in our system. We do not even know the fact. That is we do not even conscious of this fact. Unless we are conscious of a fact, we cannot be credited with the knowledge thereof.

Every micro-second tissues die and new tissues replace them.

Up to a certain stage, we call this constant change in us as growth. After thirty or thirty-five years of life, more tissues die that the birth of new tissues. But upto twenty-five new tissues outnumber the number of tissues that die.

Every year, great leaders celebrate their incidence of birth, not the fact of death in store.

We must salute our Master for having given us this innings as human beings. And those who spend a worshipful life or peruse holy Texts like Gita with unassailable and staunch conviction and those who live a life of sacrifice in their own even insignificant ways must of necessary necessity come back here as HUMAN BEINGS ONLY. Ther need not be any doubt about that fact.

But certain people are not afraid of Death itself as they are of the pain related to it. And those who are bedridden before death, have a nightmarish life. And others want to not go like that. They want to go in a flash!

But the great Guru Maharaj of Swami Vivekananda, Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa went through a period of pain. He used to tell his suffering disciples that there are two entities in his body like in everyone’s, and one is the body and the other is Kali or the Goddess. There is no death or disease for the Goddess in him, but only to his body. Then why should the disciples despair of his bodily condition? Ramana Maharishi also had a wart on his hand. It could be a cancerous one. And if it was, it should have been very painful indeed. But an English man who was present at the time of the great saint’s death, and wrote later about how the sky reacted just before the saint’s death. There were all of the sudden thick banks of clouds gathered in the sky. The sky which was clear and blue and the sun was shining brightly, this clouding over happened! But the saint was to have suffered because of the painful growth on his hand.

Are we greater than them?

And what of the Mahatma Gandhi? All of a sudden into his frail body sent three bullets. And he fell on the ground. But his lips were murmuring, “Hey, Ram” several times. So when the bullets were lodged in his chest the Mahatma had time only to God, and kept chanting, “Oh, Rama!”

Why can’t we chant the name of the Lord at the time of our glorious departure? We can. If we make a practice of chanting His or Her Holy Name, even at the time of death we may chant the Holy Name at the time of death.

The attitude of treating death as an inauspicious one should be changed first. That doesn’t mean that we should be ever in expectation of death. But we should indulge in great action throughout our life. And in between this daily exertions, we should not only allot time for the daily prayer but we should freely chant the holy name of our Lord.

Sri Krishna says death is like changing the old tattered dress for a set of new one. When this body becomes old and utterly useless and even to go to the kitchen to fetch a tumbler of water to drink is like an adventure, we must enjoy our senility. If we are careful, our body may become old and tattered but we could keep a razor-sharp mind.

In recent times I witness this factor in Cho Ramasamy, the late founder of a fine weekly, Thuglak. Before his death, he wrote the editorial column and the section in which he would write answers to the readers' questions. Both had not come from an old and senile mind. Indeed till the last breath, his mind was razor sharp! He was a staunch upholder of devotion to the Lord. He has left behind him numerous books and two of them were bulky volumes on Ramayana and Mahabharata. And another one of great merit is about the Hindu Scriptures.

We have read Geetanjali by Ravindranath Tagore. The author says please I am a flower, honour me with a pain and pluck me! Subramaniya Bharati, the Revolutionary Tamil Poet of the twentieth century writes and sends a memo to Kala or the God of Death to come up to him so that he could tread on Him a little!

By fearing death, we die every time we get gas pain in the chest. But even the real and massive heart attack could be rendered into an adventure by howling one last time His Holy Name: Narayana! Or Namahshivaya!

Iti srimad bhagavadgeetaasoopanisatsu brahmavidhaayaam yogsaastre sree krshnaarjuna samvaade jnaanavijnaana yogo naama saptamo ‘dhyaayah

In the Upanishadof the Bhagavad Gita, the knowledge of Brahman, the Supreme, the science of Yoga and the dialogue between Sri Krishna and Arjuna, this is the seventh discourse designated: THE YOGA OF KNOWLEDGE AND REALIZATION.

{DEAR READERS, APART FROM THIS BLOG, I AM ALSO WRITING 5 MORE BLOGS. THEY ARE:

theholygitaintamil.blogspot.com

kaviriyinselvan.blogspot.com

raguramkarikalanandthetimemachin.blogspot.com

raguramramayanaforchildren.blogspot.com

myresourcefulaunt.blogspot.com

KINDLY VIST THESE SITES AND STRENGTHEN MY HANDS.}

          

THE HOLY GITA. CHAPTER NUMBER 07, JNANA VIJNANA YOGA OR THE YOGA OF KNOWLEDGE AND REALIZATION, VERSE NUMBER 29

THE HOLY GITA

CHAPTER NUMBER 07

JNANA VIJNANA YOGA OR THE YOGA OF KNOWLEDGE AND REALIZATION:

VERSE NUMBER 29

Text in Transliteration:

Jaraa marana mokshaaya maam aasritya yatanti ye

Te brahma tad viduh kritsnam adhyaatmam karma chaa ‘khilam

Text in English:

Those who take refuge in Me and strive for deliverance from decay and death, they realize in full that Brahman, the individual self and all karma.     

COMMENTARY BY SWAMI SIDBHAVANANDA:

The mind of man may take its own time to be delivered from the delusion of the pairs of opposites. But there are two other factors in life which are ever staring at man. Decay and death are the two factors unwanted by him. But he can never escape from their clutches. To lose one’s hard-earned vigour and to become a prey to death—are these the end of human life? To do deeds of rarity, to achieve the impossible and then to quit the world as if in banishment—is this the reward of life on earth? Death drives man to the necessity of raising questions of this type. Death does not allow him to be dormant. It gives him rude knocks and wakes him up to realities with which he is not acquainted. When the right enquiries are thereby made, the sadhaka or practitioner comes to know of the truths about Brahman, about himself and about karma.

SRI RAMAKRISHNA AS QUOTED BY SWAMI SIDBHAVANANDA:

When a man wants to eat a fruit, he discards its shell and seeds and helps himself to the pulp. But when he wants to purchase that fruit or make a study of it, he has to take into account the shell, the seeds, the pulp and all the contents of the fruit. Very much like this, the seeker of God negates the world and goes to Him. But after God-realization he concludes that it is Brahman that puts on the appearance of the universe and the beings in it.

COMMENTARY BY SWAMI SIVANANDA:

They attain to the full knowledge of the Self or perfect knowledge of Brahman. They attain to the Brahma or the Highest or the Unconditioned. All their doubts are totally destroyed. They fully realize now, “All is Vasudeva. All indeed is Brahman. There is no such thing as diversity”

They are not reborn here and have thus conquered old age and death. They are liberated here and now.

Comments by the blogger:

Most of the people of the present times have no time to stand and think of one of the most profound questions of life. It is the irony of LIFE that every striving and question leads up to DEATH! Will the Scientists be able to find a solution for aging; aging in the proper sense of the term, I mean! Not these creams that are touted to be having the power of aging. Plastic surgery is one way to keep young for quite some time. One Hindi actress has undergone such a surgery, they say. And she has been treated with the tissues of the umbilical cord and placenta when she delivered a baby. They say she is insulated from cancer, the treatment and crafting of tissues are said to be capable of bringing in its wake. Let her keep her real beauty for a hundred years. Then what?

It is common to human beings to fall in love with one’s figure and face. And the psychiatrist would tell you that you must have self-worship. That if you lose self-worship, that would lead to depression. Well, it is a fact too. Our mirrors know our weakness. Our mirror at home is witness to our over-loving of ourselves. And the next fact is, howsoever beautiful we might be, we have to use facial cream and resort to facial massage and other things that prolong our beautiful look for some more time.

All these small frailties of human beings are all right. But great yogis never bothered about their looks. For example, when Swami Vivekananda was in America, he was to attend a meeting and give a speech. When he arrived at the building, the venue of the meeting, just as he was passing along the passage he found a full-length mirror and saw his beautiful figure reflected in it. Then he made to proceed further along the passage. But he could not. For he found himself coming back to the mirror and take a good look at his figure reflected back. When this practice went on for four or five times, a curious lady had come up to him and asked, “Is it really true that even great Swami like you cannot help appreciating his looks?” Well, that lady was not a hypocrite. She had come up with the first question that had popped up in her mind. After all, the handsome Swami was caught by her red-handed! But the Swami did not have to cut a sorry figure if you don’t mind the pun. Far from saying anything far-fetched and philosophic to throw the question back at the woman, the Swami exclaimed like a child to the woman, “Ma’am it wasn’t I was appreciating my looks. But every time I saw myself in the mirror something odd happened. I saw myself! But the moment I leave the mirror I seem to be forgetting how I looked!”

So that was the reason the great Yogi examined himself in the mirror so many times.

Nothing is wrong in our liking our own looks. Instead of being or becoming a depressed person, it is good we have healthy feelings and appreciation about our own looks.

But we fully know all this will not last forever. Yet this illusory world binds us.

When as a boy, Ramana Maharishi thought once that everyone around him and himself would go one day, he left the house with some rupees in hand and caught the next train to go where he had not known. That is the attitude only really great souls can have. Or we can say that they had evolved over the centuries to become attuned to God and God alone.

We can’t ape a Vivekananda or a Ramana Maharishi.

But at least we may have a healthy feeling and thinking about Death. One day we won’t be here and life would be the same for millions of people. All we thought, spoke and lived for would be forgotten within two generations even in our own families. Our spouse would think of us after we are gon till her or his death. Our children would often think of us. But when they themselves grow old and tottering, they would have little or no time to think of us, except for the yearly rites to our (departed) soul’s benefit. After that, our grandchildren’s child would have no time to think of us even as a young man or woman. SO, EVEN IN OUR OWN FAMILIES, NOT EVEN TWO THREE GENERATIONS WOULD THINK OFTEN OF US. THERE IS NOTHING WRONG IN IT, YOU KNOW? FOR HOW MANY TIMES DID WE THINK TODAY OF OUR DEPARTED GRANDPARENTS? SO... IT IS THE WAY OF THE WORLD, OK? SO NOTHING WRONG IN IT.

But for our own soul’s sake, how beautiful it would be if we could think of God, our millennial Master for a few times in between our work! Just try to chant the name of your favourite Deity for a hundred times a day as when you take a regular morning walk or some other times and see the liveliness it fills you with. The chanting of the Lord’s Name would be our way of withstanding our daily tension in life. Over the years it would become a habit for us. And chant Narayana or Namahshivaya as you prefer. But the result is the same. We can withstand any kind of pressure. We should cultivate the art of taking refuge in the Lord, our Master.   

          

THE HOLY GITA, CHAPTER NUMBER 07, JNANA VIJNANA YOGA OR THE YOGA OF KNOWLEDGE AND REALIZATION, VERSE NUMBER 28

THE HOLY GITA

CHPTER NUMBER 07

JNANA VIJNANA YOGA OR THE YOGA OF KNOWLEDGE AND REALIZATION:

VERSE NUMBER 28

Text in Transliteration:

yeshaam tv antagatam ;aa;am janaanaam punyakarmanaam

te dvandvamohanirmuktaa bhajante maam drdhvrataah

Text in English:

But those men of virtuous deeds whose sins have come to an end, who are freed from the delusion of the pairs of opposites worship Me remaining steadfast in their vows.

COMMENTARY BY SWAMI SIDBHAVANANDA:

Whatever action fosters the Jivahood in one, is condemned as sin by the wise. In contrast with it, whatever action contributes to self-abnegation is deemed as virtue. Selfless service has to be carried on incessantly lest the mind should lapse into lethargy and egotism. Purity of the mind ensues from constant self-denial. Unswerving adoration of the Lord is possible to him only whose mind is free from taint.

They only who remain unruffled and unaffected by the pairs of opposites such as victory and defeat, gain and loss, praise and censure and life and death, become steadfast in their vows. Worship of the Lord is possible to such dedicated souls.

SRI RAMAKRISHNA AS QUOTED BY SWAMI SIDBHAVANANDA:

A rusty piece of iron is not actively susceptible to magnetization; but when cleansed of the rust, it readily responds. Similarly in that mind which has become rusty with attachment and aversion and likes and dislikes, devotion to the Lord does not dawn. Whereas in a pure mind bhakti or devotion rises readily.

COMMENTARY BY DR.S.RADHAKRISHNAN:

Sin is not the violation of a law or a convention but the central source of all finiteness, ignorance, the assertion of the independence of the ego which seeks its own private gain at the expense of others. When this sin is renounced, when this ignorance is overcome, our life is spent in the service of the one in all. In the process, devotion deepens and knowledge of God increases until it reaches the vision of the One Self everywhere. That is the life eternal, release from birth and death. Tukaram says:

“The self within me now is dead

And thou enthroned in its stead

Yea, this I, Tuka, testify

No longer now is ‘me’ or ‘my’.”

COMMENTARY BY SWMAI SIVANANDA:

By the performance of good deeds the heart is slowly purified; Sattva(light) increases; Rajas(passion) and Tamas(inertia) are gradually thinned out. The mind becomes serene and calm. The little self-arrogating personality slowly dies. You grow in spirituality. The divine flame becomes brighter and brighter. You become impersonal.

Sin: To forget one’s identity with the Supreme Soul is the greatest sin. To see difference is sin. To take the body as the Self, to believe that this world is real is sin. Selfishness is sin. Egoism is sin. Ignorance is sin.

Steadfast in vows: the man steadfast in vows entertains a firm resolve: “I must realise the Self now; I will not budge an inch from my seat till I attain Self-realisation” He has the firm conviction that “Brahman is the only Reality. This world is unreal. It is like a mirage. I can attain immortality and eternal bliss if I realise the Self only. There is not an iota of happiness in the sensual objects”. Therefore the Lord says, “Those persons of pure deeds worship Me steadfast in vows”.   

Comments by the blogger:

Worshipping the Lord is all He wants and expects from us.

Then, doesn’t he take notice of the great sacrifice I performed spending a lakh rupees?

Actually, no is the answer; because we have already got the dividends from the public whom we fed after the sacrifice. Friends and relations adore us. That is enough returns.

Then what of the ten lac rupees I put into the Hundy (large vessel to get the offerings of the devotees in temples) of the Lord’s temple? Well, if you spend time about your contribution to your friends and relations, their adoration is enough dividends. And if you had placed such large amount of rupees into the Hundy secretly without the knowledge of even your wife, well that is a great act in so far as the amount of rupees had been earned by you in a lawful and justified manner. Otherwise, if the amount of rupees or gold you threw into the Hundy was ill-gotten, then you are trying to make the Lord a partner to your crime.

Ok, what if I regularly go to the temples and offer prayer and break the coco nuts and perform Archana or Pooja, if these things brought about a change in your attitude, then you must be lauded. But if you become arrogant and it is business as usual then there could ensue no merits.

So, what should I do to make the Lord happy and satisfied?

Well, we must give the Lord of which he is not in possession.

How could I ever offer to the Lord something He has not? The entire Cosmos belongs to Him!

Well done! Nicely put! You are near the answer now.

So what we should give the Lord is something He does not have!

But how? The entire Universe belongs to Him only!

Well, while the Lord possesses everything in the Cosmos, He has not one thing. And that is self-glorification!

We can adore the God. The Tamil Poet Subramaniya Bharti adores Sri Krishna as a lover, friend and even as his servant!

We must adore the Lord and worship Him. Because there is no Self-worship in Him like in us. Just think how many hours we spend in front of our full-sized mirror every week! We carefully dress our body. Scents and perfumes and talcum powder are used by us. God does not have these things!

Above all, He does not have self-worship.

So we can pay what the Lord does not have. We can praise Him. We can simply pine for Him. We can worship Him. Thus we not only please the Lord but get our hearts purified of the intense worldliness. Thus pure devotion to the Lord enhances our chances to the birthless state and emancipation. That is what the great Lord asks of us.     

          

THE HOLY GITA, CHAPTER NUMBER 07, JNANA VIJNANA YOGA OR THE YOGA OF KNOWLEDGE AND REALIZATION , VERSE NUMBER 27

THE HOLY YOGA

CHAPTER NUMBER 07

JNANA VIJNANA YOGA OR THE YOGA OF KNOWLEDGE AND REALIZATION:

VERSE NUMBER 27

Text in Transliteration:

icchaa dvesha samutthena dvandva mohena bhaarata

sarva bhootaani sammoham sarge haanti paramtapa

Text in English:

By the delusion of the pairs of opposites arising from desire and aversion, all beings, O Bharata, are subject to illusion at birth, O harasser of foes.

COMMENTARY BY SWAMI SIDBHAVANANDA:

Among the pairs of opposites the foremost and the most lasting is the one pertaining to life and death. Where life is its counterpart, death, should necessarily be. The existence of the one to the exclusion of the other is impossible. From birth onwards a being proceeds towards death. The interval between the two is what is called life, which is as impermanent as bubbles on water. Death may at any moment swoop and swallow up the embodied. Of the inseparable two, life and death, the desire for the former and aversion for the latter manifest themselves from birth onwards. But both of these attitudes are born of delusion.

The pair of opposites pertaining to pleasure and pain comes next. Sense-pleasures are always crowned with pain. From birth onwards beings hug the one and shun the other. But it is an illusion to seek sense-pleasure to the exclusion of pain.

Among the pairs of opposites, the desire for the one and aversion for the other are the foes of the seekers of knowledge and devotion. These foes have to be conquered.

COMMENTARY BY SWAMI SIVANANDA:

Where there is pleasure there is Raga or attachment; where there is pain there is Dvesha or aversion. There is the instinct in man to preserve his body. Man wishes to attain those objects which help the preservation of the body. He wishes to get rid of those objects which give pain to the body and the mind. On account of delusion caused by the pairs of opposites, desire and aversion spring up and man cannot get the knowledge of the things as they are, even of this external universe of sense-experience; and it needs no saying in a man whose intellect is overwhelmed by desire and aversion there cannot arise the transcendental knowledge of the innermost Self.

Raga (attraction) and Dvesha (repulsion), pleasure and pain, heat and cold, happiness and misery, joy and sorrow, success and failure, censure and praise, honour and dishonour are the Dvandvas or pairs of opposites. Desire and aversion (or attraction and repulsion) induce delusion in all beings and serve as obstacles to the dawn of the knowledge of the Self.

He who is a victim of Raga-Dvesha loses the power of discrimination. He wishes that pleasant objects should disappear immediately. How could this be? Objects that are conditioned in time, space and causation will perish. That which is agreeable and pleasant now will become disagreeable and unpleasant after some time. The mind is ever fluctuating. It demands variety and gets disgusted with monotony.   

Comments by the blogger:

Arjuna is called “O Bharata,” and then “O harasser of foes”

All beings, O Bharata, even a high caste beings like the people belonging to your clan, are deluded by attraction and repulsion. “O harasser of foes” the pairs of opposites are foes of humanity and you must harass them even as you are going to harass the enemies in human forms on the battlefield now.

So even people born in a good family are deluded! They are deluded at birth. You just look at a newborn baby. Once it learns to lie on its back it starts to grab at everything within reach and whatever comes to his or her hands must be immediately conveyed to the mouth to be tasted. And it learns Raga and Dvesha or attraction and repulsion quite at that stage. Sometimes it gets to grip some sharp instrument or object with a jagged edge which nicks the baby’s lips and it starts to cry. Then one should have seen one’s own child being breastfed by its mother. It is the time when it starts to sing even as it is sucking on the nipple and using its diversion, mothers usually examine the baby’s ears and other places for anything to be removed like wax. At other times the child would show its irritation. But when being breastfed and it is in a singing and dancing mood anything is possible for the mother. It is the proper time to clean the baby apart from the time of bathing.

Raga and Dvesha or attraction and repulsion are learned even while the baby is just a few months old. Then how could the grown-up children like us be not subject to the onslaught of attraction and repulsion?

We are ensnared at birth! It is a confessional statement by the Great Lord!  But He is not a harasser of human beings. Once this great and mighty Universe is thought of as a beautiful thought by the Lord, and He is readily accessible even to the lowest among us, our sense of injustice vanishes and we become a willing partner in the game of life and living the Lord wants us to lead. He actually wants us to play a game and foul play just makes us to play the game once more from where the game was left off at the next birth. See, He couldn’t be more understanding than that. He wants us to have moderation in all things. He is not an arbitrary dictator. He does not say do or die. Come on ladies and gentlemen, let’s play the game for the glory of the Lord. Swami Sidbhavananda has said that self-discipline is the unit of measurement of one sect’s culture. We must be self-disciplined. God does not deny us the sattvic food and sattvic life. In the concluding chapter or discourse, the Lord enumerates what kinds and items of food are sattvic. Those food items He says which are fresh, clean and sweet are sattvic food. So in life, we must practice sattvic tendencies.

There is a misunderstanding about Gita as a text inducing renouncement of the world.

Nothing could be farther from the truth. Just take for example, if all people become sanyasis or ascetics, who would irrigate the field? What would happen to our life dear? It would be a mass hara-kiri or suicide! If the Lord wants us to become ascetics, then why has he given us the reproductive system? But that doesn’t mean we could lead a life of butterflies which go from flower to flower all their lives. No! Marriage is one of the finest of institutions man has devised for his outlet of animal-like feelings. Just ask those pairs of people who have latched onto each other for well over fifty years of consummately beautiful marital life as to their sex life and they would reply that after their last child, it became a thing of the past or almost. That once in a bluest moon they would have sex! There is a virtue in clinging to each other throughout life. This automatically checks the number of times a couple has sex!

Far from urging asceticism, the Text of Gita urges us to indulge in unceasing action.

When Arjuna wanted to renounce the world, the Lord tongue-lashes him and asks him whereof he got this eunuch like sentiments. He does not glorify Arjuna when he wanted and opted to eat beggar’s bread. On the contrary, he wants him to enter the field of battle which had come as an opportunity to the warrior in him.

We must glorify our Lord by ceaseless action. But we must not be hankering after money, land, women, He says. These three things have the power to make one become immoderate and insatiable and senseless. Leaving the fruit of our ceaseless action to Him, we must continue to act till the last breath.       

          

THE HOLY GITA, CHAPTER NUMBER 07, JNANA VIJNANA YOGA OR THE YOGA OF KNOWLEDGE AND REALIZATION,VERSE NUMBER 26

THE HOLY GITA

CHAPTER NUMBER 07

JNANA VIJNANA YOGA OR THE YOGA OF KNOWLEDGE AND REALIZATION:

VERSE NUMBER 26

Text in Transliteration:

vedaa ‘ham samateetaani vartamaanaani chaa ‘rjuna

bhavishyaani maam tu veda na kaschana

Text in English:

I know, O Arjuna, the beings of the past, the present and the future, but no one knows Me.

COMMENTARY BY SWAMI SIDBHAVANANDA:

Iswara is the Lord of maya or illusion, having complete control over it. The appearance, stay and dissolution of the beings are all acts of maya. Time also exists in maya. The Lord being all-knowing, the destiny of all of these is within His ken. The beings that were in the past, that are in the present and that are to be in the future are all known to Him. But the individual souls do not know anything worth while about themselves; how then are they going to know about Iswara, the Cosmic Soul! The devotees, however, do not come within this limitation. They constantly adore the Lord and choose to be in His proximity. So they understand Him to some extent. The others neither adore nor understand Him.

SRI RAMAKRISHNA AS QUOTED BY SWAMI SIDBHAVANANDA:

It is possible for the swan to separate milk from water and partake of the former only. The other birds are unable to do this. Iswara is mingled with maya; He is non-dual with it. The ordinary people cannot distinguish Him from maya. But the Paramahamsas—the men of perfection—are able to cognize Iswara to the exclusion of maya.

COMMENTARY BY SWAMI SIVANANDA:

Persons who are deluded by the three qualities of Nature do not know the Lord. As they lack in the knowledge of His real nature, they do not adore Him. But the Lord knows through His omniscience the beings of the past, the present and the future. He who worships the Lord with single-minded devotion knows Him in essence. He has knowledge of His real nature.

Comments of the blogger:

If the Lord happens to not know the beings of the present, past and future, we can have no hope of salvation or Soul Realization.

Why and How?

It’s really very simple. If the Lord does not know us in our present state, it would mean He is blind to the present. Then who would reward the virtuous and punish the wicked?

Hello, the Delhi rapists and we cannot be measured and determined on the same scale, ok?

It is God’s knowledge about our present attitude, action and even thinking and imagination, that safeguards our future. Otherwise, people can behave in any way and there would be nobody to question us.

Then How Does the Great Lord Master weighs our even passing thoughts or imagination?

He has the very very minute unit of measurement. And it is called SAMSKARA. It is different from Samsara. Samsara is the worldly life. And Samskara is the basic and very accurate unit of measurement. When we see a leper and our heart melts, it is certainly taken into consideration. If we see a person suffering in life and pity him that is taken into account. If this is the case, what would be the case of a Mother Teresa? She cleaned the obnoxious festering wounds of the lepers! For her, those wounds were the wounds placed on the holy body of Her Saviour, Lord Jesus. Once a newly recruited nurse asked the Mother if she did not feel nauseated when cleaning the wounds of some suffering man, she, the Mother answered, “If you could put yourself in his position and feel the pain, your suffering would go and you would become a mother to him!

We are digressing. And I’m sorry.

Samskara is the basic unit of measurement.

This is why and how even our most private thoughts are either rewarded or punished.

The Lord knows our present state, and how we lead our life. So our future is safe in His ineffable Hands.

And of course, the Lord knows our past. Because past is in the present, as T.S. Eliot says.

What is present now becomes past in our next birth, OK?

So the immutable everlasting Lord knows our past, present and future.

But you shouldn’t be afraid of Samskara.

You shouldn’t moan, “O my Lord. Yesterday, I passed a beggar and he was very horrible to look at and without even a feeling of pity, I hurried to my office. I was already late by ten minutes.

No this kind of thing should never happen to us.

While the power of the Lord in having devising the most accurate measurement, Samskara, to measure even the passing thought of us, the Lord keep it elastic.

Elastic in the sense, if I pass by a suffering dog on the street, and hurry to my office, then when I sit for my daily prayer, I can always pray for the suffering people and the negative Samskara would be turned into a positive Samskara.

So, as I have said time and again, the key for us is prayer! Daily Prayer at the altar of the Lord burns up the daily accumulation of all the negative Samskaras into positive ones. So we should open our heart to the Lord, at the end of the day every day and beg the Lord’s mercy. That one thing will save us from many passing acts of unkindness we might have been party to during the day.

We all must be in possession of three books, at least. Number one is the Bhagavat Gita. Number two is Tiruvasagam or some book equal to it. And number three we must have a fine copy of Ramayana. The Lifco publishers have published a two-volume edition of Ramayana in English. We must have all these three books. We must make a holy study of these books apart from our daily prayer.

There is a tendency among youngsters that while Ramayana could be read after retirement, Bhagavat Gita is for those who want to take to Sanyasa!

Never!

Nothing could be more preposterous. Ramayana and Gita must be learnt while we are still young.

Once again we’re digressing.

The Lord knows our past, present and future.

While I was a small student, (I went to a school run by the Jesuit Brothers). And the Reverend fathers there would say, don’t think you could do anything behind the back of the Lord. He knows all. He has the know-how to tell exactly how many hairs are there on your head.

Well, now I am 57 and I only have a few hairs left on my head. But at that stage, I used to muse if God didn’t have a better job to pass His time, instead of enumerating our hairs on the head?

I have always been a critical thinker.

That’s why some eighteen years ago when I first read Git the great discourse between Arjuna and the Lord appealed to me immensely. All the questions are answered in the Gita.

So the Lord knows our past, present and future.

And what about Himself? Is he subject to Time?

While the prakriti or nature itself is an illusion for those knowing guys, how could Time be the essence for the Lord. Albert Einstine has proved that Time can be stopped and along with it our aging if we could invent a machine that can travel at the speed of Light!

If the machine is there, all we have to do is to get into it with our family and travel in it for about a hundred years and then come back to earth. All would have gone. But we would be none the worse for the passage of a hundred years!

So Time itself is an illusion, see?

And the Lord created Light and so He is the author of Time.

There is a name for Lord Eshwara; kaalaatheeshwara. That is one who is the master of Time.

So we are safe in the hands of our Lord Master so long we pray and make a study of the three books mentioned by me. I would even say and go to the extent of saying that if we are so very busy that we cannot make a regular study of the holy books, then at least we must allot time for praying the Lord who is watching over us during our millennial journey.

{Dear Readers, apart from this blog, I’m writing four more, and they are:

kaviriyinselvan.blogspot.com

myresourcefulaunt.blogspot.com

raguramramayanaforchildren.blogspot.com

raguramkarikalanandthetimemachin.blogspot.com

and Please strengthen my hands by visiting those sites too.}

    

          

THE HOLY GITA, CHAPTER NUMBER 07, JNANA VIJNANA YOGA OR THE YOGA OF KNOWLEDGE AND REALIZATION, VERSE NUMBER 25

THE HOLY GITA

CHAPTER NUMBER 07

JNANA VIJNANA YOGA OR THE YOGA OF KNOWLEDGE AND REALIZATION:

VERSE NUMBER 25

Text in Transliteration:

naa ‘ham prakaasah sarvasya yogamaayaasamaavrtah

moodho ‘yam naa ‘bhijaanaati loko maam ajam avyayam

Text in English:

 I am not revealed to all, as I am veiled by yoga Maya. This deluded world knows Me not, the Unborn the Unchanging.

COMMENTARY BY SWAMI SIDBHAVANANDA:

The magician throws a spell on his audience and keeps it in illusion in regard to his performance. But what seems a magic to the onlookers is not so to the kith and kin of the magician. The nature of his play is well known to himself and his own people. The Lord is the magician who has produced the magic of this world. Its nature is well known to Him only and His devotees.

The sun that cannot be hidden by anything seems to be covered by a patch of cloud; but that patch itself cannot be located except with the aid of sunlight. The originator of this cloud is none other than the sun. The cloud is the yoga maya (the yoga of illusion) concealing the sun. The Prakriti (Nature) made up of the three Gunas(tendencies or inclination) is the yoga maya of Iswara. As it has no existence apart from Iswara, it is held to be in yoga with Him; and because of its veiling capacity it is called Maya or illusion. Iswara (God) the akhanda sat cit aananda seems to be concealed by His yoga maya while actually He remains unaffected by it. Further He is sarvajna—the all-knowing one.

COMMENTARY BY DR.S.RADHAKRISHNAN:

yoga; Shankara means by it union of the three gunas; for Madhusoodana it is samkalpa or will.

The Supreme is not only in the world but beyond the world. We mistake Him for this or that limited form.

Cp. Bhaagavata: “O Lord, All pervading Supreme Self, Lord of Yoga, who is there in the three worlds who can penetrate Thy mystery, know where, when, in what manner and in how many forms Thou engages Thyself in sport? Only Pure Being is unmanifest, everything else belongs to the world of manifestation.

COMMENTARY BY SWAMI SIVANANDA:

I am not manifest to all the people, but I am certainly manifest to the chosen few who are My devotees, who have taken sole refuge in Me alone. I am not visible to those who are deluded by the three Gunas(tendencies or inclination) and the pairs of opposites, and who are screened off by this universe which is a manifestation of the qualities of Nature, My Yoga-Maya or My creative illusion. This veils the understanding of worldly-minded people. So they are not able to behold the Lord Who keeps Maya under His perfect control.

Yoga-Maya is the union of the three qualities of Nature. The illusion or veil spread thereby is called Yoga-Maya. The worldly people are deluded by the illusion born of the union of the three qualities. Therefore, they are not able to know the Lord Who is unborn and immutable.

This Yoga-Maya is under the perfect control of the Lord. Ishvara is the wielder of Maya. Therefore it cannot obscure His own knowledge,  just as the illusion created by the juggler cannot obstruct his own knowledge or deceive him. The illusion which binds the worldly people cannot in the least affect the Lord Who has kept Maya under his perfect subjugation. (Cf. VII.13; IX.5; X.7; XI. 8)

Comments by the blogger:

God is the great creative writer. He is a writer of mystery. He has written only one mystery. Prakriti or Nature and is the background for His novel. And we all are His characters.

The greatest creative writers never write to a set pattern. They have the loose plot or structure and some main characters. Then they start to weave their magic. Creativity can never be subjugated to a set pattern. The great writers give freedom to their main characters, and as and when they sit to write even they don’t know what they are going to write in that sitting. This happens only when the main characters are given a good freedom of choice.

The Lord can never ever be beaten in this art of writing a mystery novel. He has written only one mystery novel. And he is not afraid of giving His main characters full freedom and freedom of choice. We all are His Main Characters. Every single one of us are His Main Character. Just nobody, howsoever low he/she might be called or dubbed as non-characters of God or small characters. In Tamil and Hindi Films, item songs are shot. That item dance girl would have nothing to do with the main and even subplot of that film. But in God’s mystery film each and everyone is a main character. From saints to sinners everyone is equally important to the Lord. Saints and Sages are those who have been able to pierce the veil of the Lord.

He is not afraid of giving full freedom of choice to His characters. Each and every one of us can become a saint or sinner. The Delhi rapists of Nirbhaya too had their own freedom of choice. There are workers, agriculturists, shop owners, Professionals, Rapists, beggars, etc in His novel. Some people are adroit enough to not become victim to the prakriti and God’s yoga maya or yoga of illusion.

But God treats all His characters with equal importance. There is no bigwigs for Him. His mystery is the mystery that has endured from the time when the ape became a thinking Man and Woman. 99.99999% of his characters are not able to understand him. Each time we come to this world is an innings or a sitting of reading of God’s mystery novel. And each of us has read the novel by the Lord one million times. Still, we are unable to fully pierce His veil of magic.

But don’t lose heart. Losing your heart is as foul as killing or raping.

God has given us so many chances. And we are the choosers. If we really mean it we can call it a day for reading His mystery novel once more and become a saintly being.

Even otherwise, except the killers and rapists, everyone has got a fine chance of piercing the Lord’s mysterious veil. Even the killers and rapists have their own chance. But only in their cases, it will take forever, so to speak, to even understand the plot of the Lord’s mystery novel.  

{Dear Readers, apart from this blog, I’m also writing four more blogs:

myresourcefulaunt.blogspot.com

kaviriyinselvan.blogspot.com

raguramkarikalanandthetimemachin.blogspot.com

raguramramayanaforchildren.blogspot.com

Please strengthen my hands by visiting these sites also.}

    

          

THE HOLY GITA, CHAPTER NUMBER 07, JNANA VIJNANA YOGA OR THE YOGA OR KNOWLEDGE AND REALIZATION, VERSE NUMBER 24

THE HOLY YOGA

CHAPTER NUMBER 07

JNANA VIJNANA YOGA OR THE YOGA OF KNOWLEDGE AND REALIZATION:

VERSE NUMBER 24

Text in Transliteration:

avyaktam vyaktim aapannam manyante maam abuddhayah

param bhaavam ajaananto mamaa ‘vyayam anuttamam

Text in English:

Men of poor understanding think of Me, the unmanifest, as having manifestation, not knowing My supreme state –immutable and unsurpassed.

COMMENTARY BY SWAMI SIDBHAVANANDA:

A benevolent and charitably-minded millionaire may be in rags occasionally just for the fun of it. If a beggar misunderstands him as one in rags and passes by without availing himself of the rich man’s charity, the poor man becomes poorer for his ignorance. Such verily is the lot of those ignorant of the glory of Iswara.

An incarnation of God, like Sri Krishna, assumes a human body, just as the bound souls do. But he is no more bound in the manisfested body than the sky seen through a window is bound within the frame of that window. The manifested body of Sri Krishna is mutable; but in reality He is immutable and unsurpassed by the ordinary human beings. His supreme state remains unknown to the people of poor understanding. They do not therefore seek to worship Him.

COMMENTARY BY DR.S.RADHAKRISHNAN:

The forms we impose on the Formless are due to our limitations. We turn away from the contemplation of Ultimate Reality to contemplate upon imaginative reconstructions. All gods except the One Unmanifest Eternal are forms imposed on Him. God is not one among many. He is the one behind the ever changing many, who stands beyond all forms, the immutable centre of endless mobility.   

COMMANTARY BY SWAMI SIVANANDA:

The ignorant take Lord Krishna as a common mortal. They think that He has taken a body like ordinary human beings from the unmanifested state on account of the force of Karma of the previous birth. They have no knowledge of His higher, imperishable and self-luminous nature as the Highest Self. They think that He has just now come into manifestation, though He is self-existent, eternal, beginningless, endless, birthless, deathless, changeless, infinite and unmanifest.

Comments by the blogger:

I would like to say that Lord Krishna here in this stanza does not make out a good case!

Swami Sidbhavananda has given us an illustration. According to it, a millionaire occasionally dresses himself in rags. And if a beggar passes him thinking the millionaire is a fellow but nicely fed and so fortunate beggar, whose fault is it.

Remember, in the beginning it was not us who begged the Lord to be born in the illusion-filled world. It was the Lord Himself suo moto takes the decision and indulges in creation for his own sport. It is just a sport to the Lord. But for us, to have been tossed into the Samsara (worldliness) which is like an ocean and we are infested by maya (illusion)which presupposes our forgetting all about our former state as God Himself or a little pin-point expression of the Lord Himself, and this Maya of the Lord has the power to give us desire (kama) for the worldly objects. So we indulge in action with no choice open to us. Either we are beings with a preponderance of Sattva(the light and knowledge pure) or we are imbued with a preponderating tendency towards Rajas (passion) or we are imbued with a preponderating tendency towards Tamas (the darkness and lack of knowledge and understanding), we have to indulge in action. We are thoroughly forgetful of our former lordly state. Then how can the Lord who has come up this world as a human being, who drinks, eats and sleeps like anyone, blame the fellow human beings for their so-called ignorance. It was the Lord’s Maya to blame. We are but piteous creatures indulging in never-ending action as though we were automatons.

HAVING SAID THAT, IF A PERSON FOLLOWS THE LORD OF GITA WHEN HE SAYS THAT EVERY SENTIENT AND INSENTIENT BEINGS AND THINGS IS FILLED WITH HIM ONLY, THEN WE MIGHT BE IN A POSITION TO WORSHIP THE LORD ALSO IF AND WHEN HE COMES UPON THIS WORLD!

 That said, it is very interesting to note the difference between the Lord of Gita and Rama, both being the incarnations of the Lord Vishnu.

While Lord Krishna knows his Lordly state during his entire sojourn in the world. Lord Rama was quite oblivious of His real Self and thought Him to be a human being. But Visvamitra knows the Godly state of Rama. When Rama and Lakshmana are taken by him to slay the Rakshasas who were pouring blood and flesh on the sacrificial fire, they stay at an Ashrama where Mahadeva had once done His austerities and reduced kama to ashes. On the early morning, Visvamitra comes to wake up the princes and he goes into an ecstatic condition when he sees the SLEEPING GLORY OF LORD RAMA. WE TOO ARE TRANSPORTED ALONG WITH THE SAGE AT THE SLEEPING GLORY OF THE LORD.

{Dear Readers, I’m writing four other blogs along with this one. I would appreciate it much if you take the time and trouble to visit them;

myresourceful.aunt.blogspot.com

kaviriyinselvan.blogspot.com

raguramramayanaforchildren.blogspot.com

raguramkarikalanandthetimemachin.blogspot.com}

          

THE HOLY GITA, CHAPTER NUMBER 07JNANA VIJNANA YOGA OR THE YOGA OF KNOWLEDGE AND REALIZATION, VERSE NUMBER 23

THE HOLY GITA

CHAPTER NUMBER 07

JNANA VIJNANA YOGA OR THE YOGA OF KNOWLEDGE AND REALIZATION:

VERSE NUMBER 23

Text in Transliteration:

antavai tu phalam tesaam tad bhavaty alpamedhasaam

devaan devayajo yaanti madbhak taa yaanti maam api

Text in English:

But the fruit that accrues to those men of small intellect is finite. The worshippers of the gds go to the gods; My devotees come to Me.

COMMENTARY BY SWAMI SIDBHAVANANDA:

Endeavours are practically the same in all the mines. But there is a difference between seekers of iron and seekers of the diamond. All men seek to enrich life and to add to happiness. Men of small intellect are they who are unable to distinguish between the fleeting happiness and the lasting happiness. The earthly impermanent attainments and happinesses deified are called the little gods; whereas the permanent spiritual attainments and bliss ever belong to Iswara. The ignorant seek the former while the enlightened seek the latter.

COMMENTARY BY DR.S.RADHAKRISHNAN:

As the Transcendent Divine cannot be known easily we resort to aspects of the Supreme and offer our worship. We realize the results we seek, for the Supreme is patient with our imperfect vision. He accepts our prayers and answers them at the level at which we approach Him. No devotion is worthless. Gradually even the illiterate devotee will seek his highest good in the Divine and grow into it. Those who rise to the worship of the Transcendent Godhead which embraces and transcends all aspects realize and attain to the highest state, integral in being, perfect in knowledge, absolute in love and complete in will. All other goods are partial and limited and have a meaning only at lower levels of development.

COMMENTARY BY SWAMI SIVANANDA:

The exertion in the two kinds is the same yet people do not attempt to worship the Supreme Being in order to attain the maximum benefits or the infinite reward (Liberation or Moksha). The reward obtained by men of small understanding and petty intellect who worship the minor deities is small, perishable and temporary.

Yajnas (Vedic rituals), Homas (rituals in which oblations are offered into the sacred fire) and Tapas (penance) of various sorts can bestow only temporary rewards on the performer. Liberation from the wheel of transmigration alone will give everlasting bliss and eternal peace.

Those who worship Indra and others are Sattvic devotees; those who worship Yakshas and Rakshasas (demoniacal beings) are Rajasic devotees, and those who worship the Bhutas and Pretas (discarnate spirits) are Tamasic devotees.

The knowledge of those who worship the small deities is partial and incomplete. It cannot lead to liberation. (Cf. IX. 25)

Comments of the blogger:

The worshippers of gods go to the gods; My devotees come to Me.

There is an intelligent choice in taking to the worship of the Lord of Gita. They go to Him.

But this should not be taken to mean that the worshippers of Lord Krishna go to Him after the present birth.

Why?

The Lord Himself has said of the thousand who seek me only one seeks vigorously and of the thousand who seek me vigorously only one stays the course and comes to me. Moreover, when describing of the Yoga of Meditation in chapter 6 He openly says that the yogi who meditates on Him is perfected through the series of rebirths before they give up completely the worldliness and come to Him!

The problem here is one of preparedness to give up everything for the sake of the Lord. The yogi Pattinathar spent his life in yoga and as and when he needed food, he used his two hands to get alms in the form of food only. He refused to take with him even a small vessel lest he should develop an attachment to that vessel which is used generally by the ascetics to get food!

Nothing is mine here would at one moment and at a different angle becomes the whole Universe is mine, it being the body of my God. That kind of realization is very sattvic or knowledgeable.

“But the fruit that accrues to those men of small intellect is finite.” This is what the Lord of Gita states as the opening class of this verse. Why should the fruit that accrues to those men of small intellect be finite? Because he is after the worldly benefits or remedy! Here it must be said the Lord has already enumerated His own devotees. One type of devotees worship Him to get away from a crisis. The other type want wealth. The third worship the Lord of Gita for knowledge. And the fourth worship the Lord for the sake of worship alone. But the Lord of Gita Has gone on record that all the four types of devotees are virtuous.

He wants people to worship Him alone even for the sake of getting away from a crisis and those who want wealth. Why? Because, in their case, there is a chance absolute to get up the ladder, birth after birth. But in the case of lower intellect men and women who resort to small deities who is propitiated only for the purposes of getting away from a crisis and ward of danger and secondly for wealth, there is no scope for the embodied beings to rise up the ladder. Because the deities and the form of worship involved is mostly Rajasic. Animal sacrifices are common in this kind of worship. Whereas in the worship of the Lord of Gita, sacrifices involve internalization of the Vedic sacrifices! One sacrifice anything dear to him in his MIND AND INTELLECT and in the ultimate analysis, one sacrifices one’s own Atman for the sake of the Lord. This kind of libation is not known to the Rajasic and Tamasic worshippers of gods.

So we should only worship the Lord of Gita or if those belong to the Saivaite Sect, Lord Siva, alone. The Lord has been very explicit. Even for warding off danger or getting away from a crisis and asking for wealth in the material world SHOULD BE MADE BEFORE THE LORD ALONE.    

   {Dear Readers, apart from this blog, I’m writing four more blogs; they are as follows:

kaviryinselvan.blogspot.com

raguramkarikalanandthetimemachin.blogspot.com

raguramramayanaforchildren.blogspot.com

myresourcefulaunt.blogspot.com

Please visit them all and strengthen my hands}

          

THE HOLY GITA, CHAPTER NUMBER 07, JNANA VIJNANA YOGA OR THE YOGA OF KNOWLEDGE AND REALIZATION, VERSE NUMBER 22

THE HOLY GITA

CHAPTER NUMBER 07

JANANA VIJNANA YOGA OR THE YOGA OF KNOWLEDGE AND REALIZATION:

VERSE NUMBER 22

Text in Transliteration:

sa tayaa sraddhayaa yuktas tasyaa ‘raadhanam rhate

labhate cha tatah kaamaan mayai ‘va vihitaan hi taan

Text in English:

Endowed with that faith, he engages in the worship of  that form, and from it he obtains his desire, which are being actually ordained by Me.

COMMENTARY BY SWAMI SIDBHAVANANDA:

The river, the well, the lake, the spring –these are the sources from which water can be availed of; but the grand source for all of these is the rain, without which all these come to nought. Similar to this is the grace of the Lord which gives the start, sustenance and support to all beings. All the needs of all the beings come from the same Cosmic Source. But the men of mediocre understanding take it that help comes to them from the gods they worship.

SRI RAMAKRISHNA AS QUOTED BY SWAMI SIDBHAVANANDA:

Water seems to be flowing out from the mouths of cows, tigers and lions attached to the drain pipes from the roof of the house. But all these waters have actually come from the heavens in the form of rain. Similarly the words uttered by the holy ones are very often the inspiration come from Iswara.

COMMENTARY BY DR.S.RADHAKRISHNAN:

All forms are forms of the One Supreme; their worship is the worship of the Supreme; the giver of all rewards is the Supreme. Sridhara

COMMENTARY BY SWAMI SIVANANDA:

The last two words Hi and Tan are taken as one word, Hitan meaning ‘benefits’ this is another interpretation. The devotee who worships the lesser gods attain the objects of his desire (minor psychic powers, etc.) those objects are ordained by the Lord only as He alone knows exactly the relation between the actions and their results or rewards and as He is the Inner Ruler of all beings. Unwise or undiscriminating people only take recourse to the means of getting these finite rewards which can hardly give entire satisfaction. Pitiable indeed is their lot! They have no power of inquiry (Vichara-Sakti) or right understanding. They get hold of pieces of glass instead of attaining the jewel of the Self, of incalculable value.        

Comments by the blogger:

The Universe came from the Lord. Nature also came from the Lord. This Earth came from the Lord. Nature works to set rules. The rules were set by the Lord. The nature is a school for the imperfect people. Imperfect people mean those who have not realized their Soul.

 If we strive for anything, it is the Nature or prkrity which makes that striving success or failure according as our power of continuous striving. If we strive continuously and earnestly for something, we get it. Nature or prakrity gives that. This is so if we belive in God or small psychic forces.

Even the agnostic Gautama the Buddha was able to attain salvation.

The fact of the matter is even the totally unbeliever in the existence of God who call him/herself as a rationalist can strive studiously and attain success in any matter he sets his heart to.

What does that mean?

The God says that even if a man worship any other form than Him but with faith, the Lord sees to it that he gets his fruit of that striving.

Here God claims merit for what Nature does!

Why and how?

It is very simple, actually. Nature or prakriti was created by the Lord. The entire Universe was created by his power of Maya or illusion. So God lays claim for what His prakriti does.

We have seen repeatedly that evolution of species had started well before the single cell animal came around. Indeed Big Bang itself was part of the action prakriti did by way of the evolutionary process.

The Prachna Upanishad says, when God wanted to create this world, He meditated. Out of His meditation were born the sky or Ether and Prana (Power). Then the Lord believed that these two would get Him the world created. The Tamil Writer (late) Sujatha says that if an atom is magnified to the level of a circus shed, the proton, neutron and other particles’ size is as small as that of a mustard seed! The rest of the place in the circus tent is ether or sky only! Thus matter is formed by the Sky and the Pranan or Power. Swami Vivekananda says that that out of the sky or ether come other elements like, water, fire, etc. The personality of the atom is the personality of Man. What is in the Universe (five elements) are there in us. The educated people would say the preponderating material in our body is water. Water is made of hydrogen and oxygen. The atom of these things also are like the atom of the bone or various parts, inner and outer, of our body. So the ether is the preponderating nature of our bodies! When it is joined up with the pranan, we get power of speech and moving!

So the entire Univers was created by the Lord from out of the sky.

The Lord of Gita says elsewhere the prakriti is in Him and He is no in it.

God formed the prakriti. And we are endowed with endless actions. It is prakriti which gives kooli or wages for our striving.

But in verse 22 the Lord says that the worshippers of other forms also get their fruits out of Him and His grace. Since the prakriti itself was created by Him, He can meritoriously lay claim to the fruits enjoyed by the worshippers of other forms

This is how the Rationalists also get the fruits for their striving. A lyricist who does not have faith in and vociferously deny God is able to write fine lyrics. How? Because, it is the look out of the prakriti or Nature to join fruits with the striving.

If we directly pray to the lord to Lord our fruits come from the prakriti but we go to our Lord after our sojourn on earth is ended at some point of time. Then we would realise how fortunate we were to worship the Lord alone instead of other forms. For their number of rebirths are legion.

{Dear Readers, my other blogs are:

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THE HOLY GITA. CHAPTER NUMBER 07, JNANA VIJNANA YOGA OR THE YOGA OF KNOWLEDGE AND REALIZATION, VERSE NUMBER 21

THE HOLY GITA

CHAPTER NUMBER 07

JNANA VIJNANA YOGA OR THE YOGA OF KNOWLEDGE AND REALIZATION:

VERSE NUMBER 21

Text in Transliteration:

yo-yo yam-yaam tanum bhaktah

       sraddhayaa ‘rchitum icchati

tasya-tasyaa ‘chalaam sraddhaam

        taam eva vidadhaamy aham

Text in English:

Whatever form any devotee with faith wishes to worship, I make that faith of his steady.

COMMENTARY BY SWAMI SIDBHAVANANDA:

Children are very particular to have sweetmeats shaped to their liking, such as a cow, a horse or an elephant. The confectioner supplies them sweets according to their tastes. The way of the Lord is more generous than that. His grace descends suited to the attainments of individuals. The worship of the little gods is not altogether erroneous or sinful as some theologians would have it. It is but a stepping stone to the adoration of the Almighty. The Lord therefore provides the ways and means for the ordinary people to evolve stage by stage in their paths of devotion. Chapter four, stanza eleven and chapter nine, stanza twenty-three may also be looked into for clarification.

COMMENTARY BY DR.S.RADHAKRISHNAN:

The Supreme Lord confirms the faith of each and grants the reward each seeks. Exactly as far as the soul has risen in its struggle does God stoop to meet. Even seers who were so profoundly contemplative as Gautama the Buddha and Shankara did not repudiate the popular belief in gods. They were conscious of the inexpressibility of the Supreme Godhead as well as the infinite number of possible manifestations. Every surface derives its soil from the depths even as every shadow reflects the nature of the substance. Besides, all worship elevates. No matter what we revere, so long as our reverence is serious, it helps progress.

COMMENTARY BY SWAMI SIVANANDA:

Tanu or body is used here in the sense of a Devata (god).

The Lord, the indweller of all beings, makes the faith of that devotee who worships the lesser divinities, which is born of the Samskaras (latent tendencies) of his previous birth, steady and unswerving.

Comments by the blogger:

It is but natural if you keenly watch the general and unsaid Law of the Universe.

When the whole universe is filled to the brim by the Lord and none other than the Lord, let an ordinary man worship a goat, or a cow, or some electric gadgets like the ceiling fan or some electronic gadgets like a smartphone!

A person came to Sri Ramakrishna and said he could not meditate peacefully even for a minute without his mind straying away. The saint asked him if he has no faith in God and His power to deliver. The man said that he fully believed in the Lord’s power to deliver. But still, he could not concentrate. Day after day the problem was assuming a monstrous proportion. Then Sri Ramakrishna asked the man if there was one being he loved the most. The man immediately answered that he loved his goat. Then the saint said with no hesitation to concentrate on his goat from that day. Within a few days, he returned back, a fully restored person, and said to the saint, “Now I can sit for hours without any problem and meditate on my goat!” After that man went away, the great saint said to others that everyone should learn to meditate on the object most lovable to him. Since this man loves his goat let him meditate on it. “But, sir,” somebody said, “It doesn’t sound good to me. After all, it is a goat!” The saint replied, “Let him meditate on the goat first, and when he has mastered the art of meditation and concentration, the object of meditation could easily be substituted. Instead of the goat, he may be asked to meditate on the Lord who has created that goat!”

It is basically very simple. A man/woman can meditate almost on anything. The only condition is it should not be an object that goads him to anger or lust. Even an innocuous thing like an apple may be taken as an object of meditation. But if a person finds it not easy to meditate on the apple as the moment he closed his eyes and started meditation, he wants to eat the apple! Then the apple is not an ideal object for him.

The whole Universe is the body of the Lord for those who have not improved much on the spiritual path, and a beautiful thought by the ineffable Lord for those who have improved enough on their spiritual quest.

“Whatever form any devotee with faith wishes to worship, I make that faith of his steady,” is one of the central messages of Srimat Bhagavat Gita.

Only the Lord of Gita could say, “But those whose discrimination has been led astray by this or that desire go to other gods, following this or that rite, constrained by their own nature,” in verse number 20 and say, “Whatever form any devotee with faith wishes to worship, I make that faith of his steady,” in the very next stanza!

The reason is not far to discern.

Srimat Bhagavat Gita is not for imbeciles! It is better for the weak-kneed person not to make a study of Gita for he would only become a hypocrite and a defeated and arrogant person.

“Knowledge is strength” is an Upanishadic saying. It is true in converse too: that is, IGNORANCE BREEDS FEAR!

Profound faith is equal to knowledge in some cases, especially with regard to God and worshipping Him. We should have unassailable faith in Gita and develop a strong belief that every syllable therein has come from the Lord’s lips. Then we would have no problem with stanzas like the previous one.

{Dear Readers, apart from this blog, I am also blogging at the following sites, the URL of the same are as follows:

myresourcefulaunt.blogspot.com

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raguramramayanaforchildren.blogspot.com

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THE HOLY GITA, CHAPTER NUMBER 07, JANA VIJNANA YOGA OR THE YOGA OF KNOWLEDGE AND REALIZATION,VERSE NUMBER 20

THE HOLY GITA

CHAPTER NUMBER 07

JNANA VIJNANA YOGA OR THE YOGA OF KNOWLEDGE AND REALIZATION:

VERSE NUMBER 20

Text in Transliteration:

kaamais tais-tair hrtajnaanaah prapadyante ‘nyadevataah

tam-tam niyamam aasthaaya prakrityaa niyataah svayaa

Text in English:

But those whose discrimination has been led astray by this or that desire go to other gods, following this or that rite, constrained by their own nature.

COMMENTARY BY SWAMI SIDBHAVANANDA:

When it is Vasudeva who has become all that is, the question of other gods existing independent of Him does not arise. His limited aspects are, out of courtesy, called other gods. The minor officers of a government are necessarily under its sovereign. When the goodwill of the head of the regime is obtained, those of the petty officers are contained it. But the courtier must be worthy of the sovereign. To get at the king is difficult; but the benefit that ensues from it is great. To get at the little office-holders is easy; and the returns thereof are correspondingly small. Analogous to this, getting the grace of God is difficult, but conducive to jnana,(wisdom) bhakti (devotion) and mukti(salvation). People given to worldly desires do not betake to the worship of Iswara. The devil of the low desire in them makes them mistake little ends for great ones. Accordingly they choose to propitiate minor deities with suitable rites. Their attainments and nature are so low as that.

SRI RAMAKRISHNA AS QUOTED BY SWAMI SIDBHAVANANDA:

Healing disease, winning litigation, walking on water—trifling psychic powers such as these, appeal most to men of base mental make. But the true devotees give no thought to those vulgar things. They are solely intent on gaining the gracious vision of the Lord.

COMMENTARY BY SWAMI SIVANANDA:

Those who desire wealth, children, the (small) siddhis, (small skills like walking on the water), etc., are deprived of discrimination. They devote themselves to other minor gods such as Indra, Mitra, Varuna, etc, impelled or driven by their own nature or Samskaras (latent tendencies) acquired in their previous births. They perform some kind of rites to propitiate these lower deities. (Cf. IX. 23)

Comments by the blogger:

Who are the other gods?

Sri Krishna is never afraid of using words and phrases that could be interpreted by the unbelieving fools who are only so much better than the congenital idiots. We have already seen this tendency in the Lord. For example, when urging on Arjuna to fight, inter alia, He would argue like this: “Have you thought of what your enemies would say if you go away without giving them fight, O, Arjuna? Wouldn’t they speak ill of you? Wouldn’t they say that you ran away from the battlefield? Could you put up with such ill repute? Wouldn’t be worse than death for a warrior of your might that your enemies, who cannot stand before you, should speak derisively about you? What is a kshathriya expected to do? If you leave out of love for your enemies, they wouldn’t think of that. But they would indulge in innuendos. It would be worse than death for a warrior like you, no?”

The Lord who had taught the culture of Atman or Soul and say Arjuna must not get himself incarcerated by the good and bad, sorrow and happiness, light and darkness and dualities like these, would make a somersault and speak in the above-said manner!

He is a teacher. He should and willingly would resort to all types of argument to drive home His point! Gita is not for the imbeciles. Stout intellectual argument would be of no avail at times in deciphering the convoluted meaning of Gita. This is not to say Sri Krishna is always taking umbrage at self-contradictory arguments. In this world, there are enough proofs to argue that there is God and that there is no God! This is how the Lord challenges and provokes us. Sometimes mother sports a stern look at the child and the child wonders whether she is the same mother who just a while back was all love and affection. Sri Krishna is fond of adding some stuff here and there for the sake of naysayers and persons who stoutly disbelieve the existence of the Lord.

Unless we have an abiding faith in the Lord we would be unfit to understand Gita. The Lord will test us here there and if we fall short of the mark, He will not mind it one wee bit. It is the faithful people who get often tested. Each test and victory would strengthen the sinews of the devotion. While reading Gita, we should be prepared to encounter passages like this.

the Gita that because of delusion one might worship manes and other lower beings and all their prayers are directed to Him only. He takes care of such wayward souls too!

Constrained by their own nature, people worship trees, rock, and other things. But all such faith and devotion would go to the Lord only.

{Dear readers, my other blogs are:

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myresourcefulaunt.blogspot.com

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THE HOLY GITA. CHAPTER NUMBER 07,JNANA VIJNANA YOGA OR THE YOGA OR KONLEDGE AND REALZATION, VERSE NUMBER 19

THE HOLY GITA

CHAPTER NUMBER 07

JNANA VIJNANA YOGA OR THE YOGA OF KNOWLEDGE AND REALIZATION:

VERSE NUMBER 19

Text in Transliteration:

bahoonaam janmanaam ante jnaanavaan maam prapadyate

vaasudevah sarvam iti sa mahaamaa sudurlabhah

Text in English:

At the end of many births, the man of wisdom takes refuge in Me, realizing that Vasudeva is all that is. Rare indeed is that great soul.

COMMENTARY BY SWAMI SIDBHAVANANDA:

Vasudeva connotes the pratyagaatman—that which is immanent in everything sentient and insentient, movable and immovable, good and bad.

When a sadhaka or practitioner begins to give a practical shape to his learning that it is God who has become everything, he is styled a Jnani even in that initial stage. But quite a number of sadhakas take innumerable births before they gain complete realization and get fixed in the truth that God alone puts on the appearance of the phenomenon. The man who attained this acme of realization is indeed rare in the world. He is verily a god among men. The third stanza also of this chapter refers to this great soul.

The practice of this tenet of Vedanta contributes directly and indirectly to the welfare of the world. By viewing all beings as veritable divinities, the sadhka or practitioner elevates himself in spiritual stature. The indirect benefit consists in the others being unconsciously divinized. The more one is deified, the more the devil in one is eradicated.

SRI RAMAKRISHNA AS QUOTED BY SWAMI SIDBHAVANANDA:

Beholding diversity is born of delusion; beholding unity is born of enlightenment.     

COMMENTARY BY DR.S.RADHAKRISHNAN:

bahoonaam janmanaam ante: at the end of many lives. The realization of the truth is a work of ages. One cannot expect to obtain the reward until one has sounded well the depths of experience in its varied complexity, and all this takes time. God lets the plant grow at its own pace. It takes nine months to make a natural baby and it will take a much longer time to make a spiritual one. The total transformation of nature is a long process.

Vaasudevah sarvam: Vaasudeva is all. Vaasudeva is the lord of the life which dwells in all. God is all in virtue of His two natures.

Ramanuja means by this phrase that “Vasudeva is my all.” it refers to God’s imperishable majesty felt by the devotee who is humble and trustful. God is all while we are nothing. Like everything else, man cannot exist without God also existing at the same time. We trustfully resign ourselves to His hands confessing that He is all. It is a consciousness of humility towards God who is everything and who truly is.

“Vasudeva is the cause of all.” Madhva.

Other forms of entreaty and prayer are not without their value. They have their reward.

COMMENTARY BY SWAMI SIVANANDA:

Vasudeva is a name of Lord Krishna as He is the son of Vasudeva. He is the all-pervading Brahman.

The aspirant gradually evolves through Yogic practices, selfless service, devotion and constant meditation in many births and ultimately attains the inner Self. He realises that all is Vasudeva. It is very difficult to find such a great soul, who has attained to perfection. No one is equal to him. That is the reason why the Lord has said, “One in a thousand perchance strives for perfection; even among those successful strivers, only one perchance knows Me in essence.” (Cf. VII.3)   

Comments by the blogger:

Everything here is known and understood as “Vasudeva Kutumbaka” that is, “The family of Vasudeva.”

There is nothing that the Lord does not pervade. In good as well as bad, in perfume and bad smell, in majestic animals like the tiger and lion and the detestable ones like the Skunk. If there is anything extraneous to God here then the question who is the owner of that will arise. Every single person, the millionaire and the slimy beggar, of this world, is but the little expression of God. Not just the flower and fauna of this world is pervaded by God, but every insential thing also is pervaded by God. The whole world is a reflexion of God. This world, in its large meaning, is called a Veda, not just the Four Vedas written and given expression to by the divine beings and sages thousands of years ago.

To take complete refuge in God tantamount to give up every iota of the worldliness! Those who go to Kasi takes a wow to give up something they very much like. Then for the rest of their lives they never touch that thing, whether it is eatable or other things of value and utility.

At the end of many births, the man of wisdom takes refuge in the Lord!

What a shame.

Then how many more million of trillion births the ordinary average but good man and woman should take!

That is why it is good to desist from the five kinds of sins.

But that is not enough; we have to worship regularly. Then alone we can come back as human beings time and time again, birth and birth again.

One way of ensuring that we would come back at the next birth as a human being with all the necessities fulfilled and born in a good family is to make a regular study of Srimat Bhagavat Gita. Because, we will come back to re-read and understand more fully the Gita! We need not perform any Latcharchana or contributing money to the telling and invoking the Lord’s name by the trained priests one lac times. It is enough to obtain Heaven and come back here as a human being born in a good family where Gita is learned by the elders, all we need to do is to make a regular study of Bhagavat Gita!

          

THE HOLY GITA, CHAPTER NUMBER 07, JNANA VIJNANA YOGA OR THE YOGA OF KNOWLEDGE AND REALIZATION, VERSE NUMBER 18

THE HOLY GITA

CHAPTER NUMBER 07

JNANA VIJNANA YOGA OR THE YOGA OF KNOWLEDGE AND REALIZATION:

VERSE NUMBER 18

Text in Transliteration:

udaaraah sarva evai ‘te jnani tv aatmai ‘va me matam

aasthitah sa hi yuktaatmaa maam evaa ‘nuttamam gatim

Text in English:

Noble indeed are all these; but the wise man, i deem, to be My very Self. For, steadfast in mind, he is established in Me alone, as the supreme goal.

COMMENTARY BY SWAMI SIDBHAVANANDA:

The devotees are all favourites of the Lord. Among them again, he who practises the devotion of non-separation stands foremost. As the fuel consigned to fire becomes itself fire, the Jnanai absorbed Iswara who is a blaze of jnana, becomes one with Him.

 SRI RAMAKRISHNA AS QUOTED BY SWAMI SIDBHAVANANDA:

A master is naturally drawn to a servant who serves him whole-heartedly and to the best of his ability. When their mutual love and fidelity get firm-rooted the master may someday entrust the management of his entire property to the servant. Akin to this act of man, the Lord holds His devotee as His own Self.

COMMENTARY BY DR.S.RADHAKRISHNAN:

udarah sarva evai’te; noble indeed are all these. We pray to avoid emotional suffering (aartah), gain practical advantages (arthaarthi), obtain intellectual satisfaction (jinaasuh) or gain things, turn prayer into a formal routine of use ig as a mascot we recognize the reality of the religious sense. Prayer is the effort Presence in the world. if we ask, it shall be given to us. Through the exercise of prayer, we kindle a light in our consciousness which shows up our silly pride, our selfish greed, our fears and hopes. It is a means for the building up of an integral personality, a harmony of body, mind and spirit. Slowly we feel that it is degrading to pray for luck in life or success in examinations. We pray that we may know the Divine and be more and more like Him. Prayer is a way of life. Slowly it becomes the practice of the presence of God. It is jnana, integral wisdom, divine life. The jnani who know God as He is, loves God for what He is. He lives in the Divine. God is dear to him as he is dear to God. While the first three types attempt to use God according to their ideas, the knowers belong to God to be used according to His will. Therefore they are the best of them all. It is possible that, when we are in deep distress, we may pray with such single-heartedness and intensity, to be relieved of our agony. If such a prayer be answere, it may be thwarting the purpose of God which we are unable to see in our blindness. The jnanai, however, has the purity of heart and singleness of will to see the plan of God and ask for its realization. “Thy will, not mine, be done.”

COMMENTARY BY DR.S.RADHAKRISHNAN:

Are not the other three kinds of devotees dear to the Lord? They are. They are all noble souls. But the wise man is exceedingly dear because he has a steady mind: he has fixed his mind on Brahman. He does not want any worldly object, but only the Supreme Being.  He seeks Brahman alone as the supreme goal. He practises Ahamgara Upasana (meditation on the Self as the all). He tries to realise that he is identical with the Supreme Self. Therefore I regard a wise man as my very Self. (Cf/ II.49)

Comments by the blogger:

The stanzas 16 and 17 are repeated here. The essence of those two stanzas gets repeated here. Repletion is the key all the philosophers use as a method of inculcating an idea firmly in the mind of the students. Sri Krishna is a great and the best teacher. And Arjuna is His ardent and best and studious student. Still, repletion is resorted to here and there in the Gita Text. Sri Krishna was not speaking to Arjuna alone. Through him, his best student, He speaks to the entire world. In Gita ideas and truth are stacked one by one sometimes it becomes necessary to repeat one or more stanzas for the sake of the crystallization of the Principles being taught.

Some twenty years ago I started to read the Swami Sivananda’s version. I used to read one sloka or stanza for a day. This went on for two years. It was later I came to understand that that was not an ideal one. It was the time when I had been reading Mahatma Gandhi’s Autobiography, by name, “My Experiments With Truth” for the second time. First time reading had been done when I had been a teenager. I came across a passage in  Mahatma Gandhi’s autobiography that while he was in South Africa he used to memorize several Slokas while he was getting a shave! This inspired me to not just read one stanza of Gita at bedtime, but I must allow several hours to Gita every day. Then only I came to have the hang of Srimat Bhagavat Gita proper. Soon it became an adventure. I took to the study of one chapter every day. This helped me a lot. But I still had my own doubts with regard to fifty or so stanzas. Then I chanced upon a commentary by Swami Sidbhavananda of Thiruchrapally. Without a second thought, I bought the book in Tamil. I read and re-read and all my doubts had been sufficiently answered in the able commentary. Then, from the same volume, I came to know that it had an English version! I went to Thiruchi for the specific purpose of getting one. For I couldn’t wait for a book post! Several times I read the English version. The beauty of the language made such an impact that I started to read the pages aloud for hours together! Then I made it my purpose to get a new commentary as and when I chanced upon one. Thus Dr.S.Radhakrishnan’s able commentary came to my hand. I am a huge fane of Dr.S.Radhakrishnan. I had read his, “The Hindu View of Life” several times. Now I have a dozen commentaries on my shelf.

Bhagavat Gita, The Upanishads and The Brahma Sutra are called the trinity of Hinduism. These three works form the sum total of the Philosophy of Hinduism. Matters contained in other works must be substituted to these three work.

But those who lead a busy life, and the housewives who work without any weekend holidays need only study the Srimat Bhagavat Gita. Because it is the essence of all the Upanishads. The Upanishads are an improvement of the highly allegorical Vedas. Those who have no time and always busy must allow time for a forty minutes’ walking and forty minutes’ study and perusal of Srimat Bhagavat Gita.

(Today I strayed away for too long a time. I sincerely regret the same)

I also blog at myresourcefulaunt.blogspot.com

kaviriyinselvan.blogspot.com

raguramkarikalanandthetimemachin.blogspot.com

 raguramramayanaforchildren.blogspot.com

You are humbly requested to visit those sites too.