Bhagwad Gita - Post 146

Dear All,

Let us move on to the next few qualities of a devotee whom Lord considers as near to Him.

Quality#2

Maitrah, Karuna

Friendly & Compassionate to all

Maitri comes from the Sanskrit word for friend. The root of love for ourselves and others is friendship. 

You must learn to befriend yourself before even thinking of loving other people. 

If you are constantly at war with yourself, how do you think you can live peacefully with another? If you cannot love yourself, you cannot love anyone else.

Remember the talks on “Love All” in Sai Center in the context of  Loving the entire creation which is subsequent to Devotion transforming to Love. 

One who finds / discovers / realizes  God as love within himself, cannot help loving the entire creation of the same lord. 

Karuṇa

Compassionate

Compassion, in this case, is the desire to relieve the suffering of others. 

The notion of the word karuna is that having related to our own suffering we know how scary the darkest parts of our mind can be. 

We then see others grappling with similar afflictions and our heart goes out to them quite naturally. 

We have empathy for them. And, thankfully, because we have learned to befriend ourselves, we know how to skillfully help others do the same thing. 

When we realize that we can help others because suffering is the universal affliction, we can all be there for each other.

Quality# 3 & 4

Nirmamo, Nir Ahankarah

Free from attachment and ego

Nirmamo: They have no sense of ‘I’-ness and ‘mine’-ness. 

Free from attachment here means what??

Free from excessive attachment towards objects, human beings, relationships etc. which emerge due to our Ahankara, Ego. 

How??

You take up any excessive attachment you have in this world or you have had in the past, in this world and introspect the very base of such attachment.

You will realize that the attachment is 100% born out of your own attachment / identification with Body, Mind and Intellect. 

They never believe that they exist independently outside the supreme beatitude of God. Neither the devotee of the Supreme Person nor the devotee of the Universal Being ever considers himself or herself as existing independent of God. 

Free of Ego - it is an abolition of personality — either by self-surrender or by inner communion of spirit with Spirit. 

No sense of ‘I’-ness (Nirmamo). ‘I’ does not exist, because there is only one ‘I’ that can exist — the Supreme ‘I’ — and, therefore, nothing belongs to me. 

Neither have they any sense of existing independently by themselves, nor have they a sense of possession of any article whatsoever in this world. They are free from ‘I’-ness and ‘mine’-ness.

Dear All,

It may be noticed that out of the qualities given till now, No hatred towards any one, friendly, compassionate, free from attachment and ego, the subtlest quality observed, which cannot be seen or witnessed at a grosser level by anyone who comes into contact with such a devotee is,

FREE FROM EGO

And, how this quality, “Free from ego” is explained above??

Neither the devotee of the Supreme Person (in the path of devotion) nor the devotee of the Universal Being (in the path of Jnana) ever considers himself or herself as existing independent of God.

A whole theme “MANAS BUDDHI CHITTA AHANKARA (MBCA)” has been allocated only for explaining the process of  “getting free from ahankara”.

And, come to think of it, unless one is not free from ego, how can one be a friend, how can one be compassionate, how can one be free of attachment, how one can be free of hatred, as per the commentary on all these qualities??

Love.

Bhagwad Gita - Post 145

Dear All,

Let us start getting deeper on some of the qualities out of the 26 qualities given by Sri Krishna in the previous post.

Quality#1

Adweshta Sarva Bhootaanaam 

No Hatred towards any Being in the creation.

We will focus on Swami’s  direct instructions / discourse on this quality, referring to few discourses.

“It would be utter foolishness to give a golden cup to a child or to give a sword to a madman. A golden cup, which is highly valuable, should be given only to a person who would appreciate its value. Such a person will derive great joy from it and know how to use it. 

In the same way, the one who knows the value of devotion will use it to fill himself and others with pure joy. Genuine love will never give trouble to anyone, it will never lead one to hate another. 

In the 12th chapter of the Gita, the desirable qualities of a devotee are enumerated; they start with 'Let there be no enmity directed towards any creature in the world.' Repeating parrot-like, "Lord, I love You", "Lord, I love You", while at the same time giving trouble to others cannot be considered devotion.

You become a devotee, filled with love and devotion, when you surrender yourself completely and are ready to carry out every command of the Lord. Arjuna, out of pride and egoism was feeling dejected; but after listening to the Lord, Arjuna fell at the divine feet and said, "Lord, I am Your disciple. Teach me what is good for me. I surrender myself fully to You." 

Up until that time they were treating each other as brothers-in-law. Arjuna was married to Krishna's sister. But once Arjuna said, "I will do as You say. I will carry out Your commands!", he became a devotee. 

The transformation took place in his mind, as he changed the relationship from a brother-in-law to that of a disciple, with the Lord as his teacher. Such a mental transformation is absolutely essential for a devotee. Without this, whatever level of closeness you feel you may have developed with the Lord, your devotion will remain fruitless and useless.

Being aware of these high principles, do your duty in life. Maintain an even mind and make sure that the work you do is good, and that it is always appropriate to the occasion. 

These verses from the Gita should not merely be memorized but they must be put into practice. When you fully understand their meaning and practice them in your daily life, your worries will soon leave you and all your sorrows will disappear.

(Extract from divine discourse delivered in September 1984)

I quote Swami

“ Love is transformed into poison if hate contaminates it”.

“Devotion towards God goes ill with hatred towards fellow men”.

“Despising brother man, you cannot at the time worship God, if you do, God will not accept that hypocrisy”.

And Swami goes beyond all this when He says,

“The mere removal of hate from the heart will not ensure Ananda. Love must be cultivated, uproot hate and plant love…. The Bhakta must be free from hate and be full of Love. Besides, his love must express itself as service of the distressed and the grieving”.

Unquote.

(All the  above quotes are extracts  from the book -  "Message of the Lord".) 

Love.

Bhagwad Gita - Post 144

Verse 13

Adweshtaa sarvabhootaanaam

Maitrah karuna eva cha;

Nirmamo nirahankaarah

Samaduhkhasukhah kshamee.

He who hates no creature, who is friendly and compassionate to all, who is free from attachment and egoism, balanced in pleasure and pain, and forgiving,

Verse 14

Santushtah satatam yogee

Yataatmaa dridhanishchayah;

Mayyarpitamanobuddhiryo

Madbhaktah sa me priyah.

Ever content, steady in meditation, possessed of firm conviction, self-controlled, with mind and intellect dedicated to Me, he, My devotee, is dear to Me.

Verse 15

Yasmaannodwijate loko

Lokaannodwijate cha yah;

Harshaamarshabhayodwegairmukto

Yah sa cha me priyah.

He by whom the world is not agitated and who cannot be agitated by the world, and who is freed from joy, envy, fear and anxiety — he is dear to Me.

Verse 16

Anapekshah shuchirdaksha

Udaaseeno gatavyathah;

Sarvaarambhaparityaagee yo

Madbhaktah sa me priyah.

He who is free from wants, pure, expert, unconcerned, and untroubled, renouncing all undertakings or commencements — he who is (thus) devoted to Me, is dear to Me.

Verse 17

Yona hrishyati na dweshti

Na shochati na kaangkshati;

Shubhaashubhaparityaagee

Bhaktimaan yah sa me priyah.

He who neither rejoices, nor hates, nor grieves, nor desires, renouncing good and evil, and who is full of devotion, is dear to Me.

Verse 18

Samah shatrau cha mitre cha

Tathaa maanaapamaanayoh;

Sheetoshnasukhaduhkheshu

Samah sangavivarjitah.

He who is the same to foe and friend, and in honour and dishonour, who is the same in cold and heat and in pleasure and pain, who is free from attachment.

Verse 19

Tulyanindaastutirmaunee

Santushto yena kenachit:

Aniketah sthiramatir

Bhaktimaan me priyo narah.

He to whom censure and praise are equal, who is silent, content with anything, homeless, of a steady mind, and full of devotion—that man is dear to Me.

Dear All,

In the above verses, Sri Krishna has given the qualities of a true devotee whom He considers as dear to Him.

Let us list down all of them.

1	Advestha sarva bhhotanam	Hates no creature
2	Maitrah, Karuna	Friendly
3	Nirmamo	Free from attachment
4	Nir ahankarah	Free from ego
5	Sama Dukha sukha	Balanced in pleasure  and pain
6	Kshamee	Forgiving
7	Santushta   satatam	Ever content
8	Yogee	Steady in meditation
9	Yataatmaa dridhanishchayah	Possessing form conviction
10	Madbaktah	Mind and intellect dedicated to the Lord
11	Yasmaan nodwijate loko	By whom world is not agitated
12	Lokaan nodwijate cha yah	cannot be agitated by the world
13	Harshaam arshabhyod wegair Mukto	Free from joy, fear, envy, Anxiety
14	An apekshah	Free from wants
15	Suchi	Pure
16	Daksha	Expert
17	Udaseeno	Unconcerned
18	Gatavyatah	Untroubled
19	Sarva arambha parityagee	Renounced all undertakings and all commencements
20	Yona hrishyati na dweshti	Neither rejoices, nor hates
21	Na sochati na kaangkshati	Neither grieves nor desires
22	Shubha Ashubha parityagee	Renouncing good and evil
23	Tulya nindaa stutir maunee	censure, praise equal
24	Santushto yena kenachit	Silent, content with anything
25	Aniketah	Homeless
26	Sthiramatir	Steady mind

  

Dear All,

There was a time in his youth when the author used to write down these qualities, take up 3 qualities per month and used to practice them, rank himself daily whether he succeeded or failed in those qualities.

He could know at that time that it is impossible for anyone to possess all these 26 qualities, all the time, at any point of time.

Even if few striking qualities out of the 26 are practiced by a devotee, the Lord again and again assures that the devotee is near to Him (Me priyo narah).

In the coming posts, we will try to focus on some of them.

Love.