Bhagwad Gita - Post 143

Verse 8

Mayyeva mana aadhatswa

Mayi buddhim niveshaya;

Nivasishyasi mayyeva ata

Oordhwam na samshayah.

Fix thy mind on Me only, thy intellect in Me, (then) thou shait no doubt live in Me alone hereafter.

Verse 9

Atha chittam samaadhaatum

Na shaknoshi mayi sthiram;

Abhyaasayogena tato

Maamicchaaptum dhananjaya.

If thou art unable to fix thy mind steadily on Me, then by the Yoga of constant practice do thou seek to reach Me, O Arjuna!

Verse 10

Abhyaase’pyasamartho’si

Matkarmaparamo bhava;

Madarthamapi karmaani Kurvansiddhimavaapsyasi.

If thou art unable to practice even this Abhyasa Yoga, be thou intent on doing actions for My sake; even by doing actions for My sake, thou shalt attain perfection.

Types of practices are described in the coming verses, almost referring to the four yogas — jnana yoga, raja yoga, bhakti yoga and karma yoga.  

JNANA

The first makes reference to the jnana yoga technique. 

Mayy eva mana ādhatsva : “Let your mind be fixed on Me”; 

Mayi buddhiṁ niveśaya: “Let your intellect also be rooted in Me”; 

Nivasiṣyasi mayyeva: “You are already in Me”; 

Ata ūrdhvaṁ na saṁśayaḥ: “There is no doubt that you are in Me only, provided that your mind and intellect shake not.”

The same point is also mentioned in the definition of yoga given in the Katha Upanishad. 

Yadā pañcāvatiṣṭhante jñānāni manasā saha, buddhiś ca na viceṣṭati, tām āhuḥ paramāṁ gatim (Katha 2.3.10): 

When the mind and the intellect are unified, and they do not stand as separate faculties of observation and perception, and this united psyche gets rooted in God Himself, the abode is immediately reached. But, we may find this difficult.

Lord says here, “Arjuna, if you really want to worship me, you don’t have to go hither and thither, I am always with you as  your indweller. So, all you have to do is to look inwards and I am always there!!

If Arjuna has to ask, “O Lord, how do I undertake this worship, the reply from the lord as though is, “Fix your mind on me”.

RAJA / DHYANA

If Arjuna has to think, “Krishna gave a while discourse on how to control the mind and here he says, “Fix your mind on me, give your mind to me, as if it is in my control”, then Krishna has a solution to this problem.

Sri Krishna anticipates the difficulty of the devotee in continuously establishing the unity of the mind and intellect in God always. “If you cannot do this, I shall prescribe to you another method,” says the Lord. 

That  next method is almost the same as the raja yoga. 

“Continued practice at concentration on Me may be attempted if whole-souled fixing of attention on Me is difficult. If you can unite yourself with Me wholly, fine; that should be considered as the jnana yoga technique. 

But if that is not possible, repeated attempts have to be made in fixing your mind on Me by techniques of daily routine — abhyasa yoga.”

KARMA YOGA

Arjuna might say,  “This is not going to work for me Krishna. Why don’t you give me something more practical and feasible?”

Krishna says, 

“If this is also not possible — neither are you able to completely unite yourself with Me, nor are you able to practice concentration with effort every day — then devote yourself to Me in your daily behavior.” Here matkarma means ‘all actions devoted to Me’.

Krishna says, “Do selfless service, if you pursue this path steadily and without wavering, then eventually, you will come to me!!

Dear All,

Author has dealt with the above verses in few other theme posts, as the three stages in spiritual path - Karma, Upasana (Dhyana yoga which is prescribed in today’s verses as yoga of constant practice can also be considered for constantly practicing devotion in one way) and Jnana.

A man filled with  avidya / ignorance of his true identity, passes through these stages one by one.

He takes up Karma , Actions  which reduces his ego a little bit.

Then he moves to Upasana / Devotion, which further purifies his heart.

The heart purified, is now  ready to take up the path of Jnana. 

Swami Sivananda writes,

“In the mind there are three defects, viz., Mala or impurity, Vikshepa or tossing, and Avarana or veil. 

KARMA

The impurities of the mind should be removed by the practice of Karma Yoga, by selfless service. 

UPASANA
The tossing should be removed by worship or Upasana, by Japa and devotion. 

JNANA

The veil should be torn down by the practice of Jnana Yoga, i.e., by study of Vedantic literature, enquiry, self-analysis, service to the Guru, and deep meditation. Only then Self-realization is possible.

If you want to see your face clearly in a mirror, you must remove the dirt in the mirror, keep it steady, and remove the covering also. You can see your face clearly in the bottom of a lake only if the turbidity is removed, if the water that is agitated by the wind is rendered still, and if the moss that is lying on the surface is removed. Even so is the case with Self-realization.

Action , emotion and intelligence are the three horses that are linked to this body-chariot. They should work in perfect harmony or unison. Then only the chariot will run smoothly. There must be integral development. You must have the head of Sankara, the heart of Buddha, and the hand of Janaka.

To become harmoniously balanced in all directions is the ideal of religion and of Yoga.”

Love.