Bhagwad Gita- Post 195

Verse 1

  

The Blessed Lord said:

Fearlessness, purity of heart, steadfastness in Yoga and knowledge, alms-giving, control of the senses, sacrifice, study of scriptures, austerity and straightforwardness.

Abhayaṁ is an inward feeling of fearlessness born of inner contentment. People with wants of every kind are afraid of so many things. Fearlessness is a quality of desirelessness. 

It is the state of freedom from concern for present and future miseries. Inordinate attachment of any kind causes fear. Attachment to wealth leads to dread of impoverishment, attachment to social prestige causes fear of infamy, attachment to vice leads to anxiety about the consequences of sin, attachment to bodily comfort causes the fear of ill-health, and so on. Detachment and surrender to God vanquish all fear from the heart.

The author used to teach few:

“Total surrender=Total fearlessness=Self realized state"

Sattva saṁśuddhiḥ is the manifestation of the sattva guna, resulting in clarity of perception, radiance in the face, and inward satiety.

This is the state of inner cleanliness. The mind generates and harbors thoughts, sentiments, feelings, emotions, etc. When these are ethical, wholesome, positive, and uplifting, the mind is considered pure.

Jñāna yoga vyavasthitiḥ is an intense aspiration to get established in the yoga of the wisdom of God. 

It is said: tattva vismaraṇāt bhekivat. “When human beings forget what is right and what is wrong they become like animals.” Thus, the path of virtue is forged by remaining steadfast in the awareness of spiritual principles.

Dānaṁ is a charitable nature, a giving nature, large-heartedness, not a selfish nature. 

Material charity, done for the welfare of the body, helps others temporarily. Spiritual charity, done at the platform of the soul, helps eliminate the cause of all suffering, which is separation from God. Consequently, it is considered higher than material charity.

Damaḥ is the restraint of the organs of knowledge as well as the organs of action.

The senses are notorious in their ability to drag the mind deeper into material illusion. They tempt the living being to seek immediate gratification. However, walking the path of virtue requires forsaking the lower sensual pleasures for achieving the higher goal. Thus, restraint of the senses is an essential virtue for treading the path to God.

This is one of the 6 virtues (shad sampat) taught to all aspirants in the initial stage, in the Sadhana Chatushtaya session by the author. 

                               

Yajñaḥ ca is a daily consciousness of it being necessary for us to adore gods, the divinities superintending over the cosmos, by external ritualistic sacrifice as well as internal sacrifice that is described in the Fourth Chapter, to which you may revert for brushing up your memory. 

Svādhyāyaḥ is daily sacred study of the Vedas, the Upanishads, the Gita or any holy scripture in order to enable lofty thoughts in the mind—without which, the mind will think of dirt and stink and very low things of the world on account of the strength of the activity of the sense organs. To prevent one’s subjection to sensory demands and the evaluation of things in terms of the sense organs, the study of sacred scriptures—which are the words of the saints, sages, prophets and incarnations—will be of great assistance. 

Tapaḥ means austerity. It also means mental and sensory control—the ability not to allow the energy of the system to leak out through the apertures of the sense organs, and conservation of energy in oneself. This, essentially, is tapaḥ.

Ᾱrjavam is straightforwardness. We should not say something, do another thing, and think a third thing altogether; that is crookedness. Actually, we should speak what we think, and behave in that manner. That is what is called straightforwardness—ārjava. 

Simplicity in speech and conduct unclutters the mind and engenders the sprouting of noble thoughts.

For those who have been fortunate to be in Sai fold, to visit Puttaparthi, to see Swami, to read about Swami’s stories, only they would know, even as Lord, when He descended in human form, how simple, how straight forward Swami was, to teach the lesson to all His devotees, this unique quality.

Out of personal experience, the author can say, this quality cannot be planned, pursued and got. 

This is a virtue which a true Bhakta/Sadhaka gets as a grace, when he takes up sadhana sincerely and follows the instructions of Lord/ Master to the minutest level. 

Straight forwardness is a reward, a grace which an aspirant gets when his thoughts, words and deeds are perfectly aligned.

When a master teaches something, when the same is not taken as it is without bringing in any past vasanas, any unnecessary intellect, when the thoughts are filled with the teachings, when the lips utter only the truth in the teachings, when all actions are in alignment with the teachings, then the gift a sadhaka gets is straight forwardness. When one of the three explained here is missed, then Straight forwardness is not achieved.  

Love.