Bhagwad Gita - Post 93

CHAPTER 8

THE YOGA OF THE IMPERISHABLE BRAHMAN

Dear All,

Now, we are getting into the very core of Vedanta, from this chapter onwards. 

Lord Krishna explains how those who attain Him do not have to come again into this impermanent world of sorrow and pain. 

All beings, including even the Gods, come again and again into this created universe from the state of unmanifest being wherein they remained at the end of an age-cycle. 

But the Lord exists even beyond this unmanifest being. That radiant, imperishable Divine Reality is the highest goal to be attained. Single-minded devotion of our heart is the means of attaining this highest blessed state.

Even though there are auspicious and inauspicious circumstances of departing from the physical body and journeying forth, yet if one steadily abides in the Lord through firm devotion and faith, then these conditions do not matter. 

By always remaining in tune with the Lord through pure love, everything is made auspicious, if one can ever remain united with the Divine through deep devotion, constant remembrance, regular meditation and continuous communion, then all times, places, conditions and situations become auspicious and blessed. This is the secret of invoking His Grace and attaining Him and becoming eternally free and blissful.

Arjuna here asks Lord Krishna about the meaning of the different terms referred to by Him in the last two verses of the previous chapter. 

Those who strive for liberation from old age and death, taking refuge in Me, realize in full that Brahman, the whole knowledge of the Self and all action.( Chapter 7-29)

Those who know Me with the Adhibhuta (pertaining to the elements), the Adhidaiva (pertaining to the Gods), and Adhiyajna (pertaining to the sacrifice), know Me even at the time of death, steadfast in mind. (Chapter 7-30).

Arjuna asked, “What is this that You are speaking? You said there is Brahma, the Absolute; then You said there is adhyatma; then You said there is karma; then You said there is adhibhuta; then You said there is adhidaiva; then You said there is adhiyajna. I cannot understand what all this is, and You want me to bring them together into a total focus?” 

Kiṁ tad brahma (8.1): “Which is that Supreme Absolute that You are speaking of, O Lord?” 

Kim adhyātmaṁ: “Which is that subjective self?” 

Kiṁ karma: “Which is that action that You refer to?” 

Adhibhūtaṁ ca kiṁ proktam: “Which is the objective world that You are speaking of? What does it actually mean?” 

Adhiyajñaḥ kathaṁ kotra (8.2): “Which is that transcendent element which You spoke of as being between the subject and object? 

You refer to adhiyajna as an activity that You are performing in the cosmos. What does it mean, Bhagavan Sri Krishna?” 

The last question was: “Also, how am I to think of You at the time of death?”

He wishes to know what is the Supreme Being, what is Karma or action that He refers to, and what is the meaning that pertains to this spirit, the elements and the center of all things within this human body.

Beyond all things manifest and unmanifest, beyond these names and forms, there is the Supreme Being — Brahman. He indwells this body as the center of all things, including even our own self (individual soul). 

The secret of reaching the Divine Being and thus freeing oneself forever from birth and death and the pains and sufferings of this earth-life, is to constantly practice unbroken remembrance of the Lord at all times, in all places and even amidst one’s daily activities. 

If one practices such steady remembrance through regular daily Sadhana, then he will be rooted in His remembrance even at the time of departing from this body at death. Thus departing, he will go beyond darkness and bondage and attain the realm of eternal blessedness.

One must practice sense-control. The senses must be well disciplined and gradually withdrawn from outside objects. The mind should be centered within upon God, by uttering Aum or any Divine Name. By such steady practice daily the Lord is easily attained.

Love.

Bhagwad Gita - Post 92

Yeshaam twantagatam paapam

Janaanaam punyakarmanaam;

Te dwandwamohanirmuktaa 

Bhajante maam dridhavrataah.

But those men of virtuous deeds whose sins have come to an end, and who are freed from the delusion of the pairs of opposites, worship Me, steadfast in their vows.

If man is deluded by Yoga maya of Lord and is not able to know the Unmanifest Lord, then how is it that some people are seen to exclusively pursue Unmanifest Lord and are able to get free from the delusion of pairs of opposite.

The delusion of duality, as we saw earlier, is a condition that we are cast into right from birth. This delusion further strengthens maya that prevents us from accessing Eswara. 

Having explained the condition of most people who are trapped in this situation, Sri Krishna now describes the people who have come out of maya. He says that only those who have conducted enough meritorious acts and wiped out their sins acquire the firm resolution to directly access Eswara.

 
Let us revisit what exactly is meant here by merits and sins. What is a sin? Any time that our mind and senses drag us into the world and force us to conduct actions born out of selfish desire, we commit a sin. When this happens again and again, it adds to the moha or delusion that blocks our discrimination or viveka.

The vicious cycle of Karma, depicted through diagram in the MBCA post, is worth a re-visit at this juncture.

The diagram is reproduced below, which  explains the same.

Also, the  5 kinds of coloring / ego, how they impact our acts/decisions were learnt, which is given through a visual flow below. How our first act/karma in our first ever birth and then, how all subsequent karmas have shaped up is captured below.

(Readers may go through Karma theme posts / MBCA theme posts one by one, which will be of immense use)

Conversely, whenever we perform an unselfish action that is in line with our swadharma or duty, we commit a merit. In doing so, we do not add to the stock of delusion, but in fact purify our mind.

  
Therefore, Sri Krishna says that only those who perform unselfish actions are fit to approach Eswara. The message is clear: do your duty because it is the only way to contact Eswara. 

Once the reactions to past sinful activities are terminated the obstruction to realization is neutralized and one is freed from the delusion arising from attraction and aversion to the dualities such as pleasure and pain, joy and grief, success and failure, etc. 

(Readers may recall that this was the exact exposition on "Paapavidhoora" in the Jaya Shankara bhajan talk shared with few of you separately in the last week)

At this time, one becomes qualified and is able to become steadfast in his vow, in his faith towards the Lord. 

Here, the vow (with steadfastness)  means, vow to realize and merge with the un-manifest Lord, Brahman, through intense  spiritual sadhana.

Love.

Bhagwad Gita - Post 91

Verse 25

Naaham prakaashah sarvasya

Yogamaayaasamaavritah;

Moodho’yam naabhijaanaati

Loko maamajamavyayam.

I am not manifest to all (as I am), being veiled by the Yoga Maya. This deluded world does not know Me, the unborn and imperishable.

Yogamāyāsamāvṛtaḥ: “I have covered Myself with the veil of the presentation of this world of prakriti — sattva, rajas and tamas.” The Absolute has put on a dress, as it were, and we see only this dress of the manifestation in the form of the three gunas of prakriti.

When we open our eyes and see, we see only the manifestation of prakriti in the form of this world — the three gunas. The essence behind it, the purusha behind the prakriti, is not cognized by the vision of our eyes or the action of any of our sense organs. 

Nāhaṁ prakāśaḥ sarvasya yogamāyāsamāvṛtaḥ. Here, yoga maya means the veil that God seems to be putting on Himself in the form of His creation. The radiance of the sun may blind our eyes to such an extent that we may not be able to see the sun. 

Tat tvaṁ pūṣan āpāvṛṇu satyadharmāya dṛṣṭaye  is a prayer in the Isavasya Upanishad: “O Sun! Withdraw your rays, the golden cover that You are hiding Yourself with, so that I may behold You in Your essence.” The glory of God in the form of this creation blinds our eyes to such an extent that we cannot see God behind this glory. The radiance of a nugget of gold may blind us to the real perception of it. 

So too is the wonder of this world that tantalizes us, attracts us, promises us all things, and gives us immense satisfaction. It is a cover that God has put on Himself so that we may be blinded with the attraction for the things of sense — which is the veil that is referred to as maya — and, therefore, we will not be able to behold Him that is behind. We will see the dramatic personae, but the director Himself is not seen.

Mūḍho’yaṁ nābhijānāti loko mām ajam avyayam: “I am the eternal in the process of time, but the temporal mind that is in this world of space and time concentrates itself only on that which is visible to the eyes.” Mūḍha is the word that is used here. Fools are they, idiots, who think that the visible is the real while the invisible alone is the real. They go for the objects of visible perception. 

The invisible does not attract them in any way whatsoever because all attraction is sensory, and the senses cannot see or behold that which is un-manifest. They see only the manifest world of sense objects. Therefore, deluded are these people. 

Mūḍhoyaṁ nābhijānāti loko mām ajam avyayam: “The immortal and uncreated essence that I am cannot be beheld by deluded people who only look through their eyes, hear through their ears, and enjoy through their physical personality.”

Swami answers to a question thus:-

Qn:-It has always happened that many people around the Avatar knew that the Avatar was God in human form; yet, they often forgot that fact. Why? Swami explains: 

Swami:-When the Avatar appears in human form, we find that He exhibits human consciousness along with Divine Consciousness. Ordinary people cannot grasp the Divine Consciousness of the Avatar. 

God appears to be an ordinary human being to the limited intelligence of lay people because of the co-existence of the Divine and the human aspects of the Consciousness exhibited by Him. Man's perception is limited to the level of human consciousness. 

Therefore, human comprehension is restricted by the limits of human consciousness. But the sages of yore were able to cognize the Formless God in the visible Form because they had imbued themselves with Divine Consciousness. Thus, according to their levels, different people regard an Avatar as a mere human being or the Cosmic Reality.

Love.