THE HOLY GITA
CHAPTER NUMBER 08
AKSHARA BRHMA YOGA OR THE YOGA OF THE IMPERISHABLE BRAHMAN:
VERSE NUMBER 07
Text in Transliteration:
tasmaat sarveshu kaaleshu maam anusmara yudhya cha
may arpitamanobuddhir maam evai ‘shyasy asamsayah
Text in English:
Therefore at all times think upon Me only and fight. With mind and understanding set on Me, you will surely come to Me. You will surely come to Me.
COMMENTARY BY SWAMI SIDBHAVANANDA:
The immediate duty of Arjuna is to wage the righteous war, as it is his svadharma (self-ordained duty). The Lord commands him to fight. Every individual has to discharge faithfully the duty that is his.
There are people who neglect or give up their earthly duties on the plea that they have taken to spiritual life. And there are the others who excuse themselves from spiritual practices on the plea that in the midst of their worldly engagements they have neither the time nor the inclination for anything else. The sacred and the secular are incompatible is their view. But the Lord’s message is to sanctify the entire life. The so-called secular duty may be converted into the service of the Lord. Whatever man does or thinks ought to be for the glory of the Maker. By this way man’s life gets perfectly enriched.
SRI RAMAKRISHNA AS QUOTED BY SWAMI SIDBHAVANANDA:
The singing mendicant on the street artfully plays on the stringed instrument with one hand and with the other, gracefully beats the drum fastened round his neck. These two items of music serve as accompaniments to his songs. In this manner, man ought to discharge his worldly duties carefully and at the same time be inclined Godward. He should imbibe godly tendencies more and more.
COMMENTARY BY DR.S.RADHAKRISHNAN:
sarveshu kaleshu: at all times. Only then shall we be able to remember God in the critical last moments, Sridhara.
Maam anusmara yudhya: remember Me and fight. It is not fight on the material plane that is intended here for it cannot be done at all times. It is the fight with the powers of darkness that we have to carry on perpetually.
We must engage in the work of the world retaining our consciousness of Eternity, the brooding presence of the Unchanging God. “Just as a dancing girl fixes her attention on the water pot she bears on her head even when she is dancing to various tunes, so also a truly pious man does not give up (his attention) to the blissful feet of the Supreme Lord even when he attends to his many concerns.” All actions of our lives are to be surrendered to God who encloses, penetrates and gives meaning to our lives. The mere remembrance of God purifies all work. Cp. “I bow to the infallible. By thinking of Him or calling on His name, every defect in austerities, sacrifice and ritual is removed.”
COMMENTARY BY SWAMI SIVANANDA:
The whole mental machinery should be dedicated to the Lord. You must work with the mind and intellect devoted to Him.
Fight: perform your own Dharma, the duty of a kshatriya or person belonging to warrior class. It will purify your heart and you will attain to knowledge and come to Me. The term fight is Upalakshana (suggestive). It means: “do your duties according to your caste and order of life.” Varnashrama-Dharmas (the duties pertaining to the various castes and orders of life) and Nitya-Naimittika karmas are the Upalakshnas (factors suggested or alluded to). Nitya karmas: These are obligatory duties. Their performance does not produce any merit; but their non performance produces demerit. Sandhyavandana, (prayers Brahmins offer to the Sun)etc belong to this category. Naimittika Karmas: These Karmas are performed on the occurrence of some special events such the birth of a son, eclipse, etc.
The Chitta-Vritti which is of the form of the object meditated upon is the Bhavana.(Chitta-Vritti is mental modifications).The Bhavana is for those who practise Saguna Upasna. Bhavana at the time of separation of the body is not necessary for a sage or a Jnani who has attained to the knowledge of the Self or Self-realisation. (Cf. IX.34; XII. 8, 11)
Comments made by the blogger:
“Therefore at all times think upon Me only and fight. With the mind and understanding set on Me, you will surely come to Me.”
Sri Krishna says to Arjuna to think upon Him only and He also asks Arjuna to fight.
How can one fight with one’s mind thinking Him only? Is it possible?
Okay, take for example the parents of a girl who is going to be given in marriage in a month’s time.
Marriages consist of all sorts of arrangements. That is why in Tamil there is a proverb that goes like this: “Try to build a house and Try to conduct a marriage!” Both draw all your strength and resourcefulness out into the open. For building a house, the bricks, sand, broken stones, cement, iron rods, wooden things and all sorts of material that go into the building of the house. Even before that the land must be purchased from the land sharks. And then the engineer must be chosen. A wrong choice would tell upon the quality of the house. And the longevity would be affected also. Then the mason and his assistants must be watched along with the engineer. The engineer would be building several buildings at the same time. So at times when he is not there on the building spot, the future owner of the house must be fully present there. One of the important points in the building of the house is the choice of good red bricks. And then the choice and the quality of the cement and it's proper mixing each time with the high-quality sand! Thus each and every minute matter must be given full consideration.
And then, our original example: take for example the parents of a girl spend their time one month prior to the marriage. Even before that, the proper would-be bridegroom must be selected with an intense mind to the demand of dowry. After that, the one month period prior to the marriage, the parents would be busy in various arrangements including finding and reserving a proper KALAYANA MAHAL or the Marriage venue. And then the food arrangements. Buying or making the gold jewellery for the bride. Buying the two-wheeler or four-wheeler for the groom depending up on the dowry arranged at the outset. JUST HOW MANY TIMES THEIR GIRL IS BEING THOUGHT OF. They would speak marriage, marriage and marriage. But they would not be thinking of their daughter always. BUT THEIR DAUGHTER WOULD BE IN THEIR SUBCONSCIOUS! So with the daughter as the propelling power, they would be carrying on their duty.
Like this the Lord of Gita wants Arjuna to think always of Him only and fight!
He is a warrior. Arjuna is bound to give battle to his adversaries. But at the subconscious, the Lord must be there.
We can arrange a marriage without always thinking of the bride in the manner above said. Likewise, Arjuna can fight with his subconscious filled with the Lord.
That is why the Lord says, “With the MIND AND UNDERSTANDING set on Me...” in the subconscious mind and our understanding the Lord must be filled, and with him there as a motivating force, we should carry on our daily duties according to our self-ordained duty or swadharma.
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