THE HOLY GITA
CHAPTER NUMBER 08
AKSHARA BRAHMA YOGA OR THE YOGA OF IMPERISHABLE BRAHMAN:
VERSE NUMBER 08
Text in Transliteration:
abhuaasauogayuktena cetasaa naa ‘nyagaaminaa
paramam purusham divyam yaati paarthaa nuchintayan
Text in English:
With the mind not wandering after anything else, made steadfast in the yoga of constant practice, he who meditates on the Supreme, Resplendent Purusha, reaches Him, O Partha.
COMMENTARY BY SWAMI SIDBHAVANANDA:
Each sadhaka has his own concept of Iswara, known as his Ista-murti or chosen Deity. Life-long meditation on that phase of Iswara is abhyasa-yoga. because of his residing in the Puri of the body, He is known as Purusha. As the sun is resplendent in the physical plane, He is Resplendent in the sadhaka (practitioner) of body-consciousness, after the way of the ripening fruit getting itself separated from its skin. The yogi’s spiritual attainment becomes evident at the time of death. It is described in the following stanza.
COMMENTARY BY DR.S.RADHAKRISHNAN:
It is not death-bed repentance that will save us but constant practice and unwavering dedication to the Supreme.
COMMENTARY BY SWAMI SIDBHAVANANDA:
Abhyasa means practice. Practice is the constant repetition of the one idea of God. In the practice of meditation Vijatia Vrittis (worldly thoughts and thoughts of a type different from the object of meditaion) are shut out and there is Sajatiya Vrittipravaha (continuous flow of thoughts of the Self or the Absolute alone). This is Abhyasa. Abhyasa is Yoga. This will terminate in Nirvikalapa Samadhi. The Yogi with Samahita Chitta (equanimity of mind) attains Paramatma or the Supreme Soul. Just as the rivers abandoning their names and forms become one with the ocean so also the sage or the Vidvan, being liberated from names and forms, and virtue and vice, becomes identical with the Supreme Self.
The most vital factor in this practice is regularity. Be regular in your meditation. You will soon reach the goal.
Purusham Divyam: The resplendent, transcendental Being or the Inner Ruler (Antaryamin) in the solar orb.
He who meditates constantly without allowing the mind to wander among the sensual object, in accordance with the instructions of the Scriptures and the preceptor reaches the Supreme Purusha.
Comments by the blogger:
In this verse, Abyasa yoga or the constant practice of meditation is described by the Lord. The mind should not wander after anything else. It should be made steadfast in yoga of constant practice. Thus he who meditates on the Supreme, Resplendent Purusha reaches Him.
Immediately our mind, in most of the cases, would think it is not for us. That we cannot for long without any let-up indulge in the yoga of meditation! How true! But here the Lord calls Arjuna as Partha. That means the son of Prithi, Kunti. Wherever the Lord of Gita calls his friend and disciple as the son of Kunti, He means an average ordinary man born of the womb of a woman. That is, the Lord means it is possible to all the average ordinary men and women!
But the question is if we are ready to indulge in the constant practice of Yoga of meditation and thus become quite oblivious to all the worldly things of senses.
Some ten days ago I perused in a newspaper of a Jain couple. They were quite young, both of them. They had just one girl child. The child was not more than a year’s of age. The couple was millionaires. They both took to Sanyasa or monkhood having left the child and their crores of rupees with the husband’s father!
So it is possible to every man and woman born of the womb of a woman!
But the question is if you are ready for such an exclusive practice of meditation in favour of the Supreme, Resplendent Purusha or not.
Before asking the question, I must put the same question to myself. I have been reading the Gita for the past 18 years. Still, I am not ready for such an exclusive practice of the yoga of meditation! The worldliness exerts a strong pull on me. I am fifty-seven. Come December I would turn 58. I have two daughters. The older one has finished her educational career. The younger one has just joined in a BE course. I want both the children to get married. And then I want to see my grandchildren and with my wife wish to help our girls bring up the grandchildren!
For writing seven blogs, the Google team have been trying to connect four of my sites, including this one, to Adsense. I want to earn. For I have no other means of earning. I write content writing for money. I want to save up and spend the money on my second child’s education. So I am full of worldliness. When it comes to praying the Lord, I pray for the well being of the world and manes in general and my children and ourselves in particular and give the Lord a list of necessities. Of the four types of devotees, I am the one who gives the Lord a long list of needs and their due fulfillment. I am hard up for money and so I pray for that.
If this is my case, how can I force you to take to the constant practice of meditation?
But there is nothing wrong in knowing that such people, the chosen and blessed ones, are there who give up themselves to the constant practice of meditation. I worship them, touch their feet. I do this fully knowing it would take some more rebirths for me to come to that stage. But there is nothing wrong in knowing such a way of spiritual life is open to all of us and worship such blessed souls. I pray all of us, at some stage, become Yogis and Yoginis of such a type as explained by the Lord of Gita.
No comments:
Post a Comment