Bhagwad Gita - Post 239

Verse 58

Fixing thy mind on Me, thou shalt by My Grace overcome all obstacles; but if from egoism thou wilt not hear Me, thou shalt perish.

Having advised Arjuna what to do in the previous verse, Sri Krishna now declares the benefits of following his advice and the repercussions of not following it. 

The soul should not think that it is in any way independent of God. If we take full shelter of the Lord, with the mind fixed upon him, then by His Grace all obstacles and difficulties will be resolved. 

But if, out of vanity, we disregard the instructions, thinking we know better than the eternal wisdom of God and the scriptures, we will fail to attain the goal of human life, for there is no one superior to God, nor is there any advice better than His.

  

Verse 59

If, filled with egoism, thou thinkest: “I will not fight”, vain is this, thy resolve; Nature will compel thee.

Right at the beginning of the Mahabharatha war, when Arjuna asked Sri Krishna whether to fight or not, Sri Krishna could have given the answer right away. But He decided to deliver the discourse of the Gita instead, not just for Arjuna’s benefit but for the benefit of all future seekers. 

Having done so, he now vehemently points out the flaw in Arjuna’s decision. He says, in crystal clear language, that the decision to not fight is wrong. It is purely ego-driven, and not in line with Arjuna’s duty as a warrior.
 
In our personal experience, we come across stories of children who were misfits in their families and communities simply because their prakriti, their nature, their samskaaraas, were completely different. 
 
Parents have a strong sense of mine-ness with regard to their children. They prefer not to think of their children as independent entities. 

Similarly, Arjuna also assumed that he could override his nature as a warrior, and become a monk. Sri Krishna reminded him that his inherent nature as a warrior would compel him to fight, and that he should reconsider his decision.

At the highest level, this verse should be understood in this way,

“Our inherent nature being divinity, even if we undertake actions out of ego and ignore the inner divinity, ultimately, a stage comes in each and every one’s life when he/she turns towards God/ SELF and undertakes sadhana so as to act/think/ exist as per one’s real nature - DIVINE SELF”

Love.

Bhagwad Gita - Post 238

 Verse 56

Doing all actions always, taking refuge in Me, by My Grace he obtains the eternal, indestructible state or abode.

Doing all actions, taking refuge in me

If you do work as a worship of God, whatever be the work that you do—let it be anything, even the littlest of activities of yours—may these activities be dedicated to God as a humble offering. 

Here, Lord Krishna again reiterates the performance of sadhana or internal propitiation. In the phrase sarva-karmany api meaning all types of activities, the conjunction api meaning although denotes that without surrender and devotion to the Supreme Lord no actions should be offered to Him.

In the gayatri mantra talk to a group, in a talk of Prasad, in the affirmation talk on the Karma, the author emphasized and again and again re-emphasized that the intellect, mind, senses that take up the action, the actions themselves, the doer - all must be surrendered to God.

So, it is not about doing the act and leaving the fruits of action to the Lord, when it comes to the path of devotion.

A true devotee is ever in surrender to his Lord. So, all actions, the intellect (efficient cause) which show the approach to the action, the body, mind and senses (the material and instrument cause) – all of them are not surrendered afresh at the time of action but on the contrary, with all of them ever surrendered to the God, actions take place as per requirement of purushartha, depending upon the ashrama in which the devotee exists - Brahmacharya, grahastha, vanaprastha or Sanyasa. 

Such action is often explained with the example of a zoom camera where, the zooming takes place only when a picture is to be captured and immediately after the pic is captured, the zooming is withdrawn!!!!!

By my grace, he obtains the eternal

Given the level of surrender, the devotee does not even demand / aspire for obtaining the eternal, indestructible state (Realization).

The one in him who would cry to the Lord for granting, gracing liberation, has already been surrendered to the Lord.

Since, Lord ever waits for such a devotee with such state of surrender (Atma nivedanam), such an aspirant will  (rather must) receive the grace of the Supreme Lord and by their exclusive devotion to Him and attain His eternal association in the transcendental spiritual worlds.

Verse 57

Mentally renouncing all actions in Me, having Me as the highest goal, resorting to the Yoga of discrimination do thou ever fix thy mind on Me.

Resigning mentally all deeds to me 

Both the ego and the egocentric anxieties for enjoying are to be renounced at the altar of the Lord, and thus to act in the world is the 'path,' through which a man of action reaches the greater cultural climes. This idea of surrender has been discussed in the previous verse, very clearly. This spirit of surrender can come only when the student has infinite courage to maintain a steady aspiration for "having me as the highest goal." 

Resorting to buddhi yoga

The intellect's main function is discrimination. To discriminate the false from the true, and to fix ourselves on the path of seeking the true, is called Buddhi yoga. Controlling life and regulating its movements through discrimination is Karma Yoga. And thus the term 'Buddhi yoga' is an original coined-word, met with only in the Gita, to indicate in essence the "Path – of – Selfless - Action." It has been used in the very early portions of the Gita and there it has been very exhaustively explained.

It is interesting to know from the learning from previous verse that the only duty of a pure devotee is to surrender. Once surrendered, God takes over in such a way that even without any specific focus on undertaking purshartha only with discrimination (as learnt in Karma and in Manas Buddhi Chitta Ahankara sessions / blog posts), MBCA Post Summary (March 4, 2017), all actions get themselves routed through discrimination on their own.

In a recent talk to a group of devotees, talking on devotion with reference to Meera, the author ( from the source within) specifically said , “In Bhakti, in the penultimate state prior to realization / Atma nivedanam, even intellect faculty stands surrendered to the Lord, unlike the path of wisdom where, each and every purushartha is screened through pure intellect ”.

A devotee who has thus come to live all his activities in dedication to his goal, the Krishna- Consciousness, must necessarily come to live as Krishna, and experience the Eternal, Immutable State, of the Self.

Love.

Bhagwad Gita - Post 237

Verse 55

By devotion he knows Me in truth, what and who I am; and knowing Me in truth, he forthwith enters into the Supreme.

The Lord says, “A true devotee knows what kind of person I am, what kind of Reality I am”. This means knowing what God is, what is the characteristic of God, and what one actually attains after reaching God. All these things will become clear when the devotion intensifies. Then, one enters into the Absolute. 

In the path of Jnana, the student is taught about God (Brahman) and the teacher takes the student through Upanishads and teaches that the God is:-

* All pervading pure consciousness, non-dual, unborn, decay-less, causeless, self-luminous, indivisible, unchanging, destitute of all the differences caused by the limiting adjuncts,

*       support, source, womb, basis, and substratum of everything,

*    The ruler of all beings; he knows that I am the Supreme Purusha, the controller of Maya, and that this world is a mere appearance.

A conceptual appreciation of God’s existence is different from an appreciation of His Existence as He is in Himself. 

This is possible only if one totally annihilates one’s  egoistic individuality, does  not conceive God as if He is something outside him, and does not go on insisting on his  own individual existence. 

And, in pure devotion, para bhakti, the bhakta may not be aware of all the above but the devotion ultimately culminates into that state where, all the above is actually experienced by the devotee turned seer and the experience is not of God outside him but it is all within.

How this happens?

When God takes possession of all things, Bhakta’s existence ceases to be and he is no more there, and then it is that he has entered into the Absolute. 

The entering into the very substance of God is the final aim of life, which is possible only when one ceases to be, by a total abolition of one’s encrustations (hard coating) of physical and psychical personality. Then one’s soul merges in God.

The act of knowing and the act of entering are not two distinct acts. Knowing is becoming. Knowing is attaining Self-Knowledge. To know That is to become That. Entering is knowing or becoming That. Entering is the attainment of Self-Knowledge or Self Realization. Knowing and entering are synonymous terms. 

It is very difficult to understand or comprehend transcendental spiritual matters. The teachers use various terms or expressions, analogies, similes, parables, stories, etc. to make the aspirant grasp the matter clearly and lucidly. Words are imperfect and languages are defective. They cannot fully express the inner spiritual experiences. The teacher somehow or other expresses to the students or aspirants, these spiritual ideas. 

The aspirant himself will have to realize the Self. That is beyond the reach of words of expressions or analogies of similes. How can there be similes for that non-dual Brahman. These words are a sort of help or prop for the aspirants to lean upon in the beginning to understand spiritual matters. When he realizes the Self, these words are of no value to him. He himself becomes an embodiment of knowledge.

Mundaka Upanishad says,

Whoever knows this Brahman in which the universe in all its vastness is fixed, and which shines more radiantly than the Sun, and those people who are devoted to such a person without any kind of earthly desire, go beyond the chances of coming back to this world by rebirth.

Taittriya Upanishad says,

Love.

Bhagwad Gita - Post 236

Verse 54

Becoming Brahman, serene in the Self, he neither grieves nor desires; the same to all beings, he attains supreme devotion unto Me.

With constant self-effort, relative peace in the mind is to be maintained for longer periods of time and zealously guarded. Joys and sorrows will be constantly reaching our bosom from the outer world; we are helpless before them.

One who has read well, reflected upon and understood the theme of the Absolute Reality as discussed in the Scriptures, is indicated here by the term "Brahma-Bhootah."

(This is stated by Chinmayananda, which would be further taken up and explored ( the state of one who has understood and beyond that, also experienced ,later in this post )

To the extent an intellect realizes the existence of the divine aspect in it, and so automatically withdraws its all-out clinging to the matter-realm, to that extent it is not disturbed by the objects of perception, feeling and thought. Thus it discovers a growing tranquility (Prasannaatmaa) within itself.

Thereby he discovers in himself the courage to stand apart, both from grief and desire. He grieves not (Na Shochati) because he feels no incompleteness in himself, as he used to feel in the earlier days of his arrogant ego. 

Naturally, such a person grieves not in life desires not (Na Kaankshati) for the possession of anything to make his happiness complete.

Swami Chinmayananda describes how such a being exists as a true devotee, thus:-

  

“The previous verse indicated the methods of detachment

and it was said that he who has accomplished them in his inner composition is the only one who is capable of striving for and succeeding in a true identification with the play of the Infinite in and through the finite. The expansiveness of vision, the catholicity of love and the release from sense preoccupation --- all these are necessary in order to produce in the seeker, supreme love for the Lord. There is yet another stage in one's pilgrimage to Truth.”

Chinmaya’s Acharya, Swami Sivananda writes on this verse, on such Brahma Bhootah existing as true devotee 

“Such a devotee or aspirant attains supreme devotion to Me. The fourth or the highest of the four kinds of devotion mentioned in verse 16 of chapter VII”

Swami explains 4 kinds of devotees referred above, in Gita Vahini

Quote Swami 

“The four Types of Devotees

The first type is one who prays to the Lord when he is in difficulty or undergoing trials and tribulations. It is only at such times that he thinks of the Lord and worships him.

The second type is one who entreats the Lord for the blessings of wealth, position and power. He prays to the Lord for progeny and long life and yearns to gain houses, property, cattle, gold, jewels and such things to serve his fellow man. 

The third type of devotee is ever engaged in inquiry into truth. He constantly seeks to know, 'Where is God? Who is God? How can I reach God? What is my relationship to God? Who am I?' 

Finally, when you have fully absorbed the teachings within yourself, you leave this stage behind and become the fourth type of devotee, the highest knower of truth, the one of abiding wisdom. This wisdom is true spiritual knowledge, the transcendental knowledge. It refers to the experience of unity, the experience of the One without a second.”

Unquote

(Source - SAI BABA GITA)

Now, the author would share glimpses on “Brahma bhootah, Knower of Brahman, existing as Pure Devotee”, from his own, actual state of existence/experience, in all humility.

There is nothing like merely Knowing Brahman. Brahman cannot be known as we know all other things in this world (Objects)

Knower of Brahman is realizing Brahman within myself as my “SELF”

One would have been devoted to God (Sai, in the case of author), prior to realizing Brahman, but that devotion is duality, i.e., keeping Sai separate from me and being devoted to Sai)

Upon realizing, the duality ends in all aspects, including the jiva and Brahman, including Bhakta and Bhagwan.

How is devotion, then??

He still worships, he still remains at Lord’s lotus feet, he still sings Sai’s glory but what is the difference now?

Prior to realizing SELF, duality is there, so, God/SAI is perceived only in form.

Now, even in the form of SAI, what is experienced?

BRAHMAN, (FORMLESS, ATTRIBUTE LESS, ETERNAL EXISTENCE + AWARENESS OF ETERNAL EXISTENCE, INFINITE, CHANGELESS, AS ETERNAL EXISTENCE CANNOT BE SUBJECT TO CHANGE), is  the state of experience and in that state, how only Sai's form can be excluded???

What can be a higher state of devotion, where, one actually experiences Bhagwan actually as Bhagwan (without maya, without any form assumed by Bhagwan)?

Such a being, upon realizing Brahman, may even shed tears on reading leelas of God, his voice may choke while describing divine experience, but still, he is perfectly in terms with the Absolute Reality of God as Pure Consciousness, beyond manifest and un-manifest.

This is the Truth, This is the Truth.

Love.

Bhagwad Gita - Post 235

Verse 50

Learn from Me in brief, O Arjuna, how he who has attained perfection reaches Brahman, that supreme state of knowledge.

Verse 51

Endowed with a pure intellect, controlling the self by firmness, relinquishing sound and other objects and abandoning both hatred and attraction,

Verse 52

Dwelling in solitude, eating but little, with speech, body and mind subdued, always engaged in concentration and meditation, taking refuge in dispassion,

Verse 53

Having abandoned egoism, strength, arrogance, anger, desire, and covetousness, free from the notion of “mine” and peaceful,—he is fit for becoming Brahman.

People generally speak of Bhagavad Gita as a karma-sastra related to karma-yoga, and that alone. But the very first words Krishna uttered,  looking at Arjuna’s plight and hearing his confession, refer to the inmost Soul, spelling out its unborn, undying and all-fulfilling character. 

He clearly emphasized right then that by knowing this inner Soul alone, fear of death as well as questions and problems of living, would be led to extinction. In Self-knowledge alone lies a full redress and solution to all the torments of the mind and puzzles of the intelligence.

Sankhya denotes Knowledge of the Soul. This is what he first discussed in the second chapter. 

The Self in oneself is only to be known, realized. It is already present within oneself as the ‘I’. One does not have to gain it or reach it. There is, in truth, no distance-based journey or a time-bound effort. Nor is the Self something to be produced as an outcome by the seeker. Its presence is all along there. All that the seeker has to do is to know it in all its magnitude and magnificence, and by dint of that knowledge, make the mind free.

For anyone who knows this Self as unborn, undying, absolute and eternal, how can any questions like birth, death, sin or virtue arise – emphasized Krishna, during the discussion. 

Does this not clearly show that the knowledge of the Self itself becomes a panacea for all questions, doubts and problems of the mind and intelligence?

Here now in the 18th chapter, Krishna says that detachment is the core of spiritual life. Armed with that spirit, if one lives, moves and acts, his mind will be freed from the clutches of desire and whatever activities desire motivates or instigates. 

It is then that the seeker feels inclined to take up the real jnana-nistha, wherein he gets involved only with his mind and its vagaries, intelligence and its quests with a view to clear them forever. Outer pursuit of any kind has no place in such a state.

Disciplines that lead to knowledge of Brahman 

When one is purified by knowledge, he keeps himself in the mode of goodness. Thus one becomes the controller of the mind and is always in trance. Because he is not attached to the objects of sense gratification, he does not eat more than what he requires, and he controls the activities of his body and mind. He has no false ego because he does not accept the body as himself. Nor has he a desire to make the body fat and strong by accepting so many material things. 

Because he has no bodily concept of life, he is not falsely proud. He is satisfied with everything that is offered to him by the grace of the Lord, and he is never angry in the absence of sense gratification. 

Nor does he endeavor to acquire sense objects. Thus when he is completely free from false ego, he becomes non-attached to all material things, and that is the stage of self-realization of Brahman. When one is free from the material conception of life, he becomes peaceful and cannot be agitated.

To facilitate this kind of exclusive jnana-nistha, it is desirable to take to a solitary place, which will naturally be free of varied interactions (vivikta-sevi). 

To learn to eat moderately is the next discipline (laghvasi). The need to eat more will be there only when one needs more energy for excessive activities. Here, the activities being the minimum, such excess eating is not called for. 

Likewise, in speaking, physical activity and also in thinking, control and moderation should be practised (yatavāk-kāya-mānasaḥ).

The only interest and practice should be consistent meditation and inner absorption (dhyana-yoga-paro nityam). When no interactions are there to cause mental distractions, when Nature with its abundance surrounds the seeker, the mind will tend to plunge into its own inner depths. The effect of natural surroundings is quite forceful.

The one factor that facilitates this inner absorption is dispassion – intense and wholesome dispassion. Mind should start reveling in dispassion.

Scriptural and similar texts which discuss dispassion can be recited to inspire oneself. Earlier, the objects and their impressions were working on the mind. But now, thoughts and memories of dispassion-stimulating writings must have their sublime effect. 

Krishna now says that the sole object of exclusive meditation and the life in seclusion is to get into the inner chambers of the mind and identify the subtle negative traits lurking there. Thereafter each should be removed with relentless keen attention. How carefully Krishna leads the seeker to this kind of inward examination and helps the seeker spot the blemishes and stains one after another!

Egoism is a very subtle concept the seeker has to grasp well. For that, he has to reflect deeply upon it. Egoism is the feeling of ‘I’, as a separate entity, causing actions, inviting results, and enjoying and suffering in the process. 

The next trait to be detected and renounced is the feeling of power (balam). The seeker should not feel that seeking is itself a creditable means of strength: “I am a seeker, and therefore, am distinct from the rest. I have spiritual power.” 

Any such note takes away the purity and sublimity of seeking. It constricts the mind greatly. The seeker has to scrupulously avoid it throughout. Strength is always known to subdue the weak. Thus, the feeling of strength inevitably brings a note of superiority and dominance. 

For this reason it is antagonistic to spiritual humility and dispassion. The seeker has to be attentive to be free of any such notes. He must not have either superiority or inferiority. His focus should be on even-mindedness.

Krishna adds that one must search for the traces of desire, hatred and possessiveness and remove them carefully with diligence. 

The tendency to look for and expect any kind of favour or help from others, even to ensure bodily upkeep, should be carefully identified and renounced, says Krishna. Only thus can the mind become sufficiently quiescent.

The outer world with its glories is there, visible, no doubt. But the source that produces and displays it reigns inward, hosting far greater splendor and magnitude. Thus, to take to asceticism and austerity is a matter of loftier choice and benediction. 

This kind of deep inner sublimity and enrichment is the core of true spiritual life and pursuit. People yearn for acquiring and amassing riches, fame and other resources only to make the mind joyous and fulfilled. If the same joy and fulfillment can be had in a more abundant manner by virtue of the inner jnana-nistha, will not a rational human prefer to take to the inner path?

In fact, spirituality is no other than getting into the mind’s complexities, understanding its problems and pressures, and working the way out of these to realize the mystery of peace, contentment and fulfillment. 

Swami Sivananda describes such a being, to conclude this verse,

“The aspirant even abandons the things which are necessary for the bare maintenance of the body. He becomes a Paramahamsa Parivrajaka, a wandering or itinerant ascetic. 

He has no attachment to his body. He knows that even the body does not belong to him. He is ever peaceful, tranquil and serene.

Such an aspirant who has devotion to Self-Knowledge and who is endowed with the above virtues is fit to become Brahman”.

Love.