Gitajyothi Week No. 47 discourse is ready

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Priya Bhagawatas,

 

Gitajyothi Week No. 47 discourse is ready at the following sites

 

http://www.geocities.com/krk1961

http://gitajyoticurrentweek.tripod.com

 

sarva dharma:n parithyajya

ma:m e:kam saranam vraja |

aham thva: sarva pa:pe:bhyo:

mo:ksha yishya:mi ma:suchaha || 18-66

 

Lord SriKrishna says to Arjuna

"Abandoning all righteous deeds, seek me as thy sole Refuge ; I will

liberate thee from all sins ; do thou not grieve. Righteous deeds

(dharma) ; including unrighteous deeds (adharma) also, since naishkarmya

or freedom from all action is intended to be taught here. Here may be

cited such passages of the sruti and the smriti as the following Not he

who has not abstained from evil deed .can attain It.(KathaUp. 1224),

abandon dharma and adharma So, the passage means renouncing all works.

Me alone ; the Isvara, the Self of all, dwelling the same in all. Seek

Me as thy sole Refuge: in the belief I myself am that Isvara ; i e, do

thou understand that there is naught else except Me. When thou art firm

in this faith, I shall liberate thee from all sins, from all bonds of

dharma and adharma, by manifesting Myself as thy own Self. So it has

been already said here, I destroy the darkness born of ignorance by the

luminous lamp of wisdom, abiding in their self.(x. 11.) Wherefore do

thou not grieve. "

 

Notes:

The compound word `Sarvadharman' in this verse denotes all those duties

enjoined by the sastras, which have been prescribed for a particular man

according to his grade in society, stage in life, temperament and

circumstances, and which have been referred to in verse 6 of Chapter

XII

[[

But those who worship Me, renouncing all actions in Me regarding Me

Supreme, meditating on Me with exclusive devotion (Yoga) ; for them

whose thought is fixed on Me, I become ere long, O son of Pritha, the

deliverer out of the ocean of the mortal sansara.

]]

as `Sarvani Karmani' and by the term `Sarvakarmani' in verse 57 of the

present chapter.

[[

Mentally resigning all deeds to Me, regarding Me as the Supreme,

resorting to mental concentration, do thou ever fix thy heart in Me.

Mentally: with discriminative faith. All actions: producing visible and

invisible results. Me: the Lord. As taught in ix. 27, do thou dedicate

all thy actions to Me. Regarding: regarding Me, Vasudeva, as the highest

goal ; his whole self centered in Me. Regarding, & resorting to the

Buddhi·Yoga (samahitabuddhitva, steadymindedness, firm faith as thy sole

refuge.

]]

 

Laying down all these duties in God in the manner suggested in the

commentary on the verses mentioned above is what is meant by the verb

`Parityajya'. For, while discussing the conception of `Tyaga' in the

course of this chapter, the Lord has unequivocally declared in verse 7

[[

But even those actions should be performed, setting aside attachment and

the fruits ; this, O son of Pritha, is My firm and highest belief.

Those actions, &c: the acts of worship, gift and austerity which have

been said to be purifiers, should be performed, setting aside attachment

for them and abandoning their fruits.

]]

that it is not justifiable to abandon one's allotted duties, so that

giving them up through ignorance is what has been characterized as

Tamasika Tyaga. Therefore, by no stretch of imagination can the word

`Parityajya' be interpreted in the sense of abandoning all duties.

Besides this, the Lord has commanded Arjuna at more than one places

III.3O;

[[

30. Renouncing all action in Me with thy thought resting on the Self,

being free from hope, free from selfishness, devoid of fever, do thou

fight. To Me, Vasudeva, the Divine Being, the Supreme Lord, the

Omniscient, the Self of all, surrender all actions, with the wise

thought that I, the agent, do this for the Isvaras sake as his liege:

Fever: anguish, grief.

]]

 

VIII. 7;

[[

7. Therefore at all times do thou mediate on Me and fight: with mind and

reason fixed on Me thou shalt doubtless come to Me alone. Meditate:

According to the Teaching (sastra). Fight: do thou perform thy proper

duty of fighting. Vasudeva. Come to Me: as meditated upon by thee. The

Divine Being to be meditated upon.

]]

XI.34

[[

Drona and Bhishma, Jayadratha, Karna and other brave warriors,these,

killed by Me, do thou kill ; fear not, fight, thou shalt conger the

enemies. The lord speaks of these warriors whom Arjuna had any reason

to fear as killed by Himself. Now it is evident why there should be any

hesitation (on the part of Arjuna) concerning Drona and Bhishma Drona

was his teacher in the science of archery, was possessed of celestial

weapons and was especially his (Arjunas) own dear greatest Guru Bhishma

had his death at his own command and was possessed of celestial weapons.

He once entered into a single combat with ParasuRama and was not

defeated. As to Jayadratha, his father was engaged in austerity firmly

resolved that whoever causes my sons head to drop down on earth, his

head too shall fall: Karna, too, was furnished with an unerring Sakti

(missile) given him by Indra. He was a son of the sun, born of a maiden.

Wherefore he is also mentioned by name. Enemies: such as Duryodhana.

Arjunas adoration of the Universal Form Sanjaya said:

]]

 

not to desist from fighting, which is a sacred duty with the Ksatriyas,

but to participate in war resigning all duties to Him. And having

carefully listened to the Gita, Arjuna himself not only expresses his

willingness to do His bidding in verse 73 of the present chapter,

[[

73. Destroyed is delusion, and I have gained recognition through Thy

Grace, O Achyuta. I am firm, with doubts gone. I will do Thy word.

Delusion: born of ajnana or ignorance, the cause of the whole evil of

samsara, hard to cross like the ocean, who have sought Thy Grace.

Recognition: of the true nature of the Self. When this recognition is

obtained, then will all the ties of the heart be loosened: This

questioning and answering about the destruction of delusion shows

conclusively, what the purpose of the knowledge of the teaching of the

whole Sastra is, namely, the destruction of delusion and the attainment

of a recognition of the Self. So the sruti begins with the words. Not

knowing the Self, I grieve and then speaks of the loosening, of all ties

by means to Selfknowledge. There are also scriptural passages such as

The tie of the heart is broken (Mund. Up. 228) and To him who sees

unity, what delusion is there, what grief ? (Isa. Up· 7), I am firm: in

Thy command. Do thy word: Arjuna means to say Through Thy Grace I have

achieved the end of life: I have naught to do.

]]

' but actually participated in the Mahabharata war and thus discharged

his sacred obligation. `Sarvadharman parityajya' should, therefore, be

taken to mean laying down all one's duties in the Lord, and not actually

giving them up. And the man who has laid down his duties in the Lord

regards everything as belonging to Him; and completely renouncing the

feeling of `I' and `mine', as well as attachment and desire in respect

of his mind, senses and body and with regard to all actions performed by

them as well as to their fruit, continues to perform such duties only

for His sake and according to His behest's and prompting like a mere

tool in His hands.

Having resigned all his duties to God in the above manner, the devotee

who has solely taken refuge in the Lord regards Him as his supreme goal,

safest retreat, chief support, dearest object of love, greatest

well-wisher, most intimate friend and nearest relative, and looks upon

Him as his supporter, lord and guardian. He constantly thinks of Him at

all times with supreme reverence and exclusive love even while sitting

or standing, awake or asleep, eating and drinking, walking and moving

from one place to another and carrying out His behest's in every way. He

ever remains contented with His dispensation and like the celebrated

devotee, Prahlada, entirely depends on Him and Him alone. All this is

covered by taking refuge in the Lord. The idea has been clearly brought

out in the commentary on verse 6 of Chapter XII, the concluding verse of

Chapter X

[[

But, of what avail to thee is this vast things being known, O Arjuna ?

I stand sustaining this whole world by one part (of Myself). Of what

avail to you can be this .knowledge of vast but imperfect details

Listen, I will tell you completely of it. I stand sustaining firmly this

whole world by one part, by one limb, by one foot ; i.e one part of

Myself constitutes all beings.

]]

and verse 57 of this very chapter.

 

The word `Papa' forming part of the compound word `Sarvapapebhyah' in

this verse stands for the bondage of action in the shape of fruits of

good and evil deeds, under which this Jiva or embodied soul has been

revolving from birth to birth through different species of life; and the

absolution from sins referred to here consists in freeing one from the

above bondage. Therefore, the idea underlying the freedom from sins

promised by the Lord is the same as has been conveyed in verse 31 of

Chapter III

[[

Men who constantly practice this teaching of Mine with faith and

without caviling, they too are liberated from actions.

Men who always follow this teaching of Mine without caviling, i.e

without cherishing any feeling of envy towards Me, Vasudeva, the Supreme

Master (ParamaGuru)they too are released from actions, i,e from dharma

and adharma, from the merit and demerit of actions.

]]

by the words `Karmabhih mucyante' by the words `Mrtyusamsarasagarat

samuddharta bhavami, in verse 7 of Chapter XII,

and by the words `Matprasadat sarvadurgani tarisyasi' in verse 58 of the

present chapter.

[[

Fixing thy heart in Me, thou shalt, by My Grace, cross over all

difficulties ; but if from egotism thou will not hear (Me), thou shalt

perish. Difficulties: the impassable obstacles arising from (avidya),

the cause of samsara. Egotism: the idea that thou art a learned man. If

thou wilt not abide by my advice, then thou shalt be ruined. Neither

shouldst thou think, I am independent ; why should I obey the dictates

of another ?

The Lord winds up the teaching of the Gita by comforting Arjuna in the

words "Ma Sucah" (worry not). Concluding with these words the teaching

which He commenced in verse 11 of Chapter II with the words

`Asocyan'(not worth grieving for), the Lord exhorts Arjuna, who had

already betaken himself to Him, to urrender himself completely and

thereby be rid of all worries, and having shed all grief and fear,

abandon himself to His care for ever. This total absence of sorrow and

realization of God form the principal theme of the Gita.

 

(Courtesy Multimedia book on the Gita by ISRA www.bhagavadgita.com)

 

For more details, please listen/download the discourse of His

Holiness Sri Sri Sri Tridandi Srimannarayana

Ramanuja Chinna Jeeyar Swamiji in Telugu, placed in the above sites

courtesy Gemini TV (2nd March 0600 IST 2003)

 

P.S. 1. Links to gitajyoti discourse archives and other bhakti sites

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Jai Srimannarayana

Jai Govinda Jai Jai Govinda Jai Jai Jai Govinda

 

Sarva aparAdhamulatow

Dr. Kilambi Ramakrishna Ramanuja Dasan