quote from Gandhi - more from Gitopanishad

[Guest guest]

Jaya Sri Radhey! Namaste.

 

Here the Lord carifies the fact -

 

"The same ancient yoga

has been TODAY TOLD YOU BY ME,

FOR YOU ARE MY DEVOTEE AND FRIEND;

AND THIS SECRET IS SUPREME INDEED." (4.3)

 

Secrecy is maintained in regard to many things worldly, BECAUSE OF

SELFISHNESS or BECAUSE OF THEIR BEING HARMFUL IF ABUSED.

 

The Science of Yoga REMAINS SECRET NOT FOR THESE REASONS, BUT BECAUSE

OF THE IMCOMPETENCY OF MAN TO "PURSUE IT PROPERLY".

 

It becomes OBSCURE WHEN THE RIGHT SORT OF PEOPLE BECOME RARE IN

SOCIETY.

 

Now Arjuna, A WORTHY RECIPIENT HAS APPEARED AND THEREFORE, A NEW

REVELATION OF YOGA ALSO ENSUES.

 

WHAT A MAN HAS MADE HIMSELF WORTHY OF, THAT COMES TO HIM

SPONTANEOUSLY.

 

This FULFILLMENT is called the law by some and GRACE BY OTHERS."

 

-Swami Sri Chidbhabhavananda of Sri Ramakrishna Mission.

 

zrI bhagavAnuvAca:

 

"bahUni me vyatItAni janmAni tava cA 'rjuna

tAnyahaM veda sarvANi na tvaM vettha paraMtapa"

 

(Gita 4.5)

 

The Lord said:

 

"MANY are the births taken by

Me and you, O Arjuna.

I KNOW them ALL while you know NOT,

O Paramtapa (Arjuna)."

 

Arjuna is a 'Jivatma' (soul) bound by karma and ignorance. So he has

NO MEMORY of his previous births. But Lord Krishna is an Incarnation

of Iswara, Supreme. He is therefore EVER PURE, EVER FREE, and

OMNISCIENT. He can call to the MIND how the Cosmic Inteligence

assumed a form to PREVIOUSLY and ENLIGHTENED the seekers.

 

"Incarnations are ALL the Personifications of Iswara, the Supreme

Lord. In the ocean of Sat-Chit-Ananda a WAVE rises up at ONE PLACE at

ONE TIME and it is called Krishna. Another wave rises at ANOTHER

PLACE some time LATER and it is called Christ."

 

- Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa.

 

(Another wave at another time and place is called Buddha)

 

The bound ignorant souls are BORN to work out their 'karma'.

But the Lord is ABOVE 'karma'. How then DOES He INCARNATE?

 

The revelation comes:-

 

"ajo 'pi sann avyayAtmA bhUtAnAm Izvaro 'pi san

prakRtiM svAm adhiSThAya saMbhavAmy AtmamAyayA"

 

(Gita 4.6)

 

"Though I AM UNBORN, IMPERISHABLE and

the Lord of beings, yet SUBJUGATING

My external Power of Prakriti,

I COME into BEING by My OWN Internal Power."

 

The material Power called Prakriti has its part to play both

with 'Jivatma'(individual soul) and with the Incarnations of Iswara

(Universal Supreme Soul), but its function with these TWO entities is

diametrically OPPOSITE bases. It ENSLAVES the former and is ENSLAVED

by the latter.

It is by manipulating His material Power called Maya Sakti that

UNBORN Lord puts on the APPEARANCE of being BORN and of GROWING.

 

The Lord supremely ABOVE 'karma' APPARENTLY ASSUMES it. That 'karma'

again is NOT capricious. His ADVENT simply explains the SUBLIME PLAN

and PURPOSE of the human life. He is the Benign Model to be FOLLOWED

by the others.

 

Every thing in Nature has ITS TIME to APPEAR. Does the Incarnation of

God ALSO come under this LAW in any way? The statement comes:-

 

"yadA yadA hi dharmasya glAnir bhavati bhArata

abhyutthAnam adharmasya tadA 'tmAnaM sRjAmy aham"

 

(Gita 4.7)

 

"Whenever there is DECAY of 'Dharma'

(Righteousness and Religion)

and rise of 'Adharma'

(Irreligion and unrighteousness),

then I EMBODY Myself, O Bharata (Arjuna)."

 

'Dharma' is verily the 'karma' that is CONDUCIVE to man's spiritual

growth and progress; what IMPEDE them is 'Adharma'.

At every time 'Adharma' PREVAILS and PREVENTS man's evolution, the

Cosmic Intelligence EMBODIES Itself, as the visible material entity

of course.

 

Having PERSONIFIED Himself, what does the Lord DO???

He PROCLAIMS:-

 

"paritrANAya sAdhUnAM vinAzAya ca duSkRtAm

dharma saMsthApanArthAya saMbhavAmi yuge yuge"

 

(Gita 4.8)

 

"For the PROTECTION of the GOOD and righteous,

for the DESTRUCTION of the WICKED and cruel and

for the ESTABLISHMENT of 'Dharma'

I AM APPEARING age after age."

 

Purgation is an unfailing process of Nature. The cleansing takes

place at all LEVELS in VARIOUS ways.

In agricultural field it goes on as weeding and manuring.

When the wicked and cruel become MORE in number in the

world, 'Dharma' would not thrive in their midst. War, pestilence,

famine, and much like forces INEVITABLY come in both to strike a

balance of population and to set aright the perverts.

 

Among the three 'Gunas' of material nature the predominance

of 'Rajas' and 'Tamas' AGGRAVATES 'Adharma' which THREATENS to topple

down the social and spiritual fabric.

 

The function of the Incarnation is to INDUCE 'Sattva', the chief and

foremost of the three 'Gunas' into the world. And along with

it 'Dharma' begins to THRIVE.

 

A BALANCE of power among the three 'Gunas' is necessary for social

and spiritual order to WORK on RIGHT lines.

 

"A viceroy is deputed by the monarch to qwell LAWLESSNESS and

DISORDER in a DISTANT dominion. Similarly an Incarnation is the Man

of Authority sent by 'Iswara' into world. He comes to PUT in ORDER

ALL LAPSES and DEVIATIONS in the PRACTICE of 'Dharma'."

 

-Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa

 

Is the living of a RIGHTEOUS life on earth, an END in ITSELF, or is

it MEANS for SOME OTHER end ??

The elucidation comes in this verse:-

"janma karma ca me divyam evaM yo vetti tattvataH

tyakttvA dehaM punarjanma naiti mAmeti so 'rjuna"

 

(Gita 4.9)

 

"He who thus KNOWS My divine birth

and exploits in TRUE LIGHT,

having dropped the body,

comes NOT to birth again,

but COMES to Me, O Arjuna."

 

Unborn Iswara, Supreme Soul puts on the APPEARANCE of birth and

growth of Incarnation by His Divine Power.

The actionless Divine Being STAGES Holy activities for the GOOD of

the world. Those spiritually evolved men and women who INTUIT these

FACTS about the Lord are able to live UNAFFECTED by the world and

Maya even as the Incarnation does.

 

Ultimately, while yet in the human frames and after casting them off,

those blessed ones get themselves UNITED in the Absolute.

 

Pondering over the human PLAY of Divine is a SURE MEANS to get at

this GREAT GOAL.

 

"TREAT NOT the Personalities such as Rama, Sita, Krishna, Radha,

Buddha, Yasodhara and some others as MERE allegorical entities.

They were in body and flesh as you are now.

 

But because of SPIRITUAL PERFECTION they seem MORE fictitious than

FACTUAL.

Iswara and His Incarnations are ONE and the SAME even as the Ocean

and the Waves are.

 

A visitor to a palace can see ONLY SOME portions of it. But the

PRINCE apparent can have FREE ACCESS to ALL parts of the palace.

Likewise Incarnations of God EASILY get into the VARIOUS STATES of

Spiritual Consciousness.

 

It is rather DIFFICULT to COMPREHEND the Infinite sporting in the

finite Human Form.

 

During the advent of Sri Rama it was given to SEVEN Rishis (Great

Sages) ONLY to UNDERSTAND His Divine descent. This way ALL

Incarnations are UNDERSTOOD by ONLY a FEW during Their life time."

 

-Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa

 

By WHAT process did the WISE make themselves WORTHY of COMPREHENDING

the Divine ? The explanation comes:-

 

"vIta rAga bhaya krodhA manmayA mAm upAzritAH

bahavo jJAna tapasA pUtA mad bhAvam AgatAH"

 

(Gita 4.10)

 

"FREED from passion, fear and anger,

MIND ABSORBED in Me, TAKING REFUGE in Me,

purified in the FIRE of Knowledge,

MANY have ATTAINED My Being."

 

It is only after FILTERING that muddy water becomes fit to be mixed

with PURE water. MIND purged from passion, fear, and anger ASSUMES

COMPETENCY to GRASP the Divine.

 

Then getting ABSORBED in Him becomes EASY. Through ABSORPTION the

Glory of the Divine is INCREASINGLY realized.

 

There is then NO DIFFICULTY whatsoever in TAKING REFUGE in Him.

 

Fuel consigned to fire becomes FIRE itself.

 

It is PENANCE when indivividuals SEEK to know of the Divine and GIVE

THEMSELVES OVER to Him.

 

This way many have ASCENDED and ATTAINED the Divine.

 

Jaya Sri Radhey!