Topics:
The basis and the based
the subtlety of Atma –It is everywhere but nowhere visible
the banyan tree.
The awareness of being only the witness of everything is the secret of self-realization. Self-realization is either the knowledge that "I am the truth of Me" or "I have known Myself" or "All are one Atma" or "I have experienced that the individual and the universal are not distinct". This is what every person has to discover for themself; mere asceticism without this is sheer waste of time and energy. People are not mere animals. They have the spark of the Divine in them, and they should not allow it to be quenched dead.
Why, even when the senses operate, they are prompted by the presence of Atma. When the sun rises, birds take wing, flowers bloom, the human community starts its varied activities. The sun does not directly engage in any of these; it is the prompter, that is all. The sun is not the cause; He is just the activator, the witness, the onlooker.
He is ...
Topics:
The world as a permutation and combination of the 5 elements
qualities of demonic and divine natures
the highest dharma.
“Krishna! You say that those who recognize the world as mere world cannot claim to know the Vedas; they must recognize it as God (Paramatma). The world is an effect, so it cannot be different from the Cause. How is this possible? The world that is seen by us is subject to growth and decay. God, on the other hand, is eternal, true, unaffected by change. There can be no affinity between water and fire, right? How can these two be one? Please tell me; I shall be most happy to hear you,” said Arjuna.
“Well, Arjuna! In the cognizable world, every single thing displays its characteristic (guna). The characteristic depends upon the owner, the possessor. There is a basis (adhara) for the characteristics possessed by every object and being in the world. That basis is the Atma. Fix your attention on the unchanging basis - not on the fluctuating man...
Topics:
Regulation of food and recreation
pure, passionate, and dull food
physical, mental, and vocal disciplines
pure, passionate, and dull charity and recreation.
“Krishna! You say that the divine (daiva) and demonic (asuric) natures of people are the consequences of acts and feelings that had impact on the individual in previous births. Since it is impossible to escape from such impacts, what is the fate of those who are condemned to carry this burden with them? Are there any means by which this can be avoided? Or can their consequences be mitigated? If such exist, please tell me those, for I could save myself thereby”. Arjuna asked thus in order to draw out from the Lord the remedy for all mankind.
Krishna answered immediately. “There is no paucity of means. Listen. There are three types of qualities (gunas):
pure, passionate, and dull (sathwic, rajasic, thamasic). They are based on the inner consciousness (anthahkarana).
That too depends on the intake of foo...
Topics:
Abandoning pride in the ego and in possessions
(feelings of I and mine) and surrendering.
Just as the healthy glow of the body is hidden from sight by the clothes that cover it, so the individual soul obscured by egotism (ahamkara) is not able to reveal the splendour of the true knowledge of Brahman (Brahmathathwa), which is its treasured possession. For egotism is at the root of all evil, all defects, all deficiencies. It is born in desire (kama). Be free from egotism too.
The state of desirelessness is really the state of egolessness. And what is liberation (moksha) except liberation from bondage to the ego? You deserve liberation when you break away from the bond of desire.
People engage themselves, by and large, in activities prompted only by the desire to benefit from the results.
They withdraw from acts that bring no benefit. But the Gita condemns both attitudes. For whether consequences follow or not, one cannot escape the obligation to be active. People can...
Topics:
For whom the Gita was spoken
the stages “I am Thine, Thou art mine, and Thou art I”
Arjuna surrenders
Arjuna’s objections to fighting are caused by delusion. I
t is more useful for students to search for their own faults with a view to remove them than to seek excellences so that they might exult over them. Students who do the former can progress fast; they are not dragged behind by fear or anxiety; they can move on with faith in the Lord, on whom they have placed all their burdens. They reach a state of mental calm, which is the sign of the true aspirant. Arjuna arrived at that stage, and then Krishna gave him (and, through him, all humanity) the teaching that confers immortality.
For whom was the Gita spoken? Just think of that for one moment. Milk is not taken from the udder for the sake of the cow, for cows do not drink their own milk. Arjuna, the calf, has had his fill; Krishna is ever-content and needs nothing, not to mention milk! For whose sake wa...
Topics:
Further discussion of grief at killing
cultivating fortitude, and its benefits
action without desiring the fruit
the yoga of intelligence.
Arjuna was still doubt-ridden. “Oh Lord,” he began. “You said that bodily changes are like the stages of wakefulness, dream, and sleep. But we do not forget our experiences when we awake from deep sleep, while experiences of previous births are destroyed in memory by the incident called death.” Krishna replied that it was not possible to recall to memory all experiences, but it was possible to recall some. For the Atma persisted, although the vehicle changed.
Arjuna then shifted to another point, a point that pesters many besides Arjuna. That is why, Krishna says, “the wise person is not deluded by this (dheeras thathra na muhyathi).” He does not say that Arjuna should not be deluded by this; he intends to teach all wavering minds. Krishna solves every doubt as soon as it arises. He said, “Arjuna! While passing...
Topics:
Detachment from the fruits of action
the person of steady wisdom. I
f you have an eye on the fruits of your actions, you are liable to be affected by worry, anxiety, and restlessness.
The question may arise: if the fruits have to be given up, how can one manage to live? But why this weakness of heart, this nervousness? He who has assured you, saying, “I will care for your well-being (Yoga-kshemam vahamyaham),” will certainly look after that. He will give the means and the wherewithal. All you have to consider is: which is more important, a happy life or liberation from the circle of life and death? Happy living is of only short duration; the joy of liberation is eternal, unshakeable.
On this point, many commentators have exercised their intelligence and written differently. Many have said that the giving up of fruit is advised because there is no right or authority for the doer to desire the fruit. This is a great blunder. The Lord has said in the Gita, “refu...
Topics:
The importance of action
Krishna has no need to do action
why realized souls do action
wisdom is the final goal of action
the path of wisdom
Surya, the sun. I
n the 17 verses 56-72 of Chapter II, Krishna described the characteristics of the person of steady wisdom (sthitha-prajna) and the excellence of that stage. Then, saying that He Himself had established the yoga of spiritual knowledge (jnana-yoga) for the Sankhyas and the yoga of action (karma-yoga) for the yogis as a means of attaining liberation, He spoke of the importance of action.
Everyone has to bow to the demands of nature and engage in action (karma). It is inevitable. Therefore, Krishna said, “Do the action that is your bounden duty. Being engaged in action is to be preferred to being inactive.
If you desist from action, the task of living becomes difficult, nay, impossible.
“Actions that don’t bind by attachment to consequence are referred to as sacrifices or offerings to God (yajna).
A...
Topics:
Dharma - its decline and resurrection
Arjuna as Krishna’s closest devotee
Arjuna wonders how Krishna could know Surya and Manu.
“When the dharma that has been laid down declines, I incarnate in a human form, from the state of formlessness, in order to revive it and protect it and save the good from fear,” said Krishna. Now, this statement might cause some misgiving. You may ask: will not common people then conclude that dharma is something liable to decline and decay? Will they not condemn dharma as neither eternal nor truth?
Well. You will grasp the importance of the task of protecting dharma only when you consider its origin and purpose. God created this world of change on His own initiative, and He ordained various codes for its upkeep and smooth running. There were rules of correct conduct for every being. These form the dharma.
The word dharma is derived from the root dhri, meaning “wear”; dharma is that which is worn. The nation (desa), the body o...
Topics:
The Avatar comes to protect the virtuous, punish the wicked, and support dharma
the four types of seeker
the reason for the caste system.
Krishna continued, “Avatars have no merit or demerits accumulated in former births, which, like ordinary mortals, they have to pay off in this birth. Theirs is a divine sport (leela), a birth taken on. The goodness of the good and the wickedness of the bad provide the reasons for the Avatar of the Lord. For example, take the Avatar of Narasimha. The merit of Prahlada and the wickedness of Hiranyakasipu combined to cause it.
“As a result of the coming of the Lord, the good will be happy and the bad will suffer. The Avatar, however, has no joy or grief, even when It is enveloped in the body It has assumed. The Avatar is not constituted of the five elements; It is spiritual or consciousness (chinmaya), not material (mrinmaya). It can never be disturbed by egotism or the sense of mine and thine; It is untouched by the delusion ...
