Bhagawad Gita Ch2. Verses: 40-46 [Swamy Chinmayananda]

[Guest guest]

Namaste,

 

Great souls teach us how to meet the Divine Source of Nature, and

remind us to thank Him for such lessons. May Swamini's blessings be a

constant reminder of this for us.

 

I recall reading somewhere that before setting off on his missionary

work, Swami Chinmayanandaji sought the blessings of a Mahatma. The latter

advised him that as long as he expressed what he had to say as a soliloquy

or rather as a dialogue with God alone, he would be assured of success!

 

In like manner may the list members share their 'soliloquies'

that would ease the journey for others!

 

Ramana Maharshi's also defined Satsang as being in communion with

'sat' within one's heart; and where else would one have a better soliloquy?

 

Here was a question posed to me by a new college graduate (raised in

a Hindu family in N. America), and pertains to the discussion in these

verses:

 

in our

lives, how do we know what practises to hold and what practises we can

afford to/should let go (and let someone else preserve them, for example)?

 

I hope List Members extend their help to me. Thanks in advance.

 

 

Regards,

 

s.

 

 

 

 

 

>Ram Chandran <chandran

>advaitin

>Advaitin List <advaitin >

> Bhagawad Gita Ch2. Verses: 40-46 [swamy Chinmayananda]

>Mon, 17 Apr 2000 08:43:51 -0400

>

>Hari Om advaitins:

>

>Shri Madhav has gone to India to be with his Godmother, Swamini

>Sharadhapriyananda who is seriously ill in Thirupathy. Let us hope that she

>gets back to her normal nature.

>

>Now coming back to Gita Satsang, I request members to exchange their

>thoughts

>on this important chapter.

____

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[Guest guest]

Hari Om advaitins:

 

Shri Madhav has gone to India to be with his Godmother, Swamini

Sharadhapriyananda who is seriously ill in Thirupathy. Let us hope that she

gets back to her normal nature.

 

Now coming back to Gita Satsang, I request members to exchange their thoughts

on this important chapter. There are currently 230 members in the list and

those of you who want to relate Gita to your life, this is a great

opportunity. I believe that Gita is spiritual and most important practical.

The verses, meanings and commentaries are readily available in printed books

and the purpose of this list is not just to repost the materials from the

book. The main objective is to exchange how Gita helped us to be a better

human being, a better citizen and a better worker. Please take some time to

give some thoughts return something back to your fellow members!

 

Nature maintains and balances the principle of 'give and take.' Every living

entity in the nature follows this principle and we human beings can't take

exceptions to this rule. The rest of the nature other than us take a little

and give lots more. let us follow the examples of the Banana and coconut

trees, the cows, dogs and others.

 

We the human beings are obligated to give atleast a little back from what we

learnt in our life through Gita. If you believe that Gita has contradictions,

please put forward your thoughts and let us discuss and learn. We don't want

to be silent observers and it is time that we open up this forum with the open

mind and show our eagerness to learn, listen and speak.

 

regards,

 

--

Ram Chandran

Burke, VA

 

 

nehaabhikramanaasho.asti pratyavaayo na vidyate .

sval{}pamapyasya dharmasya traayate mahato bhayaat.h .. 2\.40..

 

40. In this there is no loss of effort, nor is there any harm

(production of contrary results) . Even a little of this knowledge,

even a little practice of the YOGA, protects one from the

great fear.

 

Unfinished ritualistic acts will yield no fruits just as ploughing

and sowing are not fulfilled, if the sequence of actions --- as

ploughing, watering, sowing, weeding, guarding, harvesting, etc., are

not kept up exactly in that order. Similarly, some ritualistic acts,

when they are not performed faithfully, following all the strict

injunctions, the chances are that the very same meritorious acts

might result in sins, accrued through the non-performance, or

imperfect performance, of enjoined acts. This sin is called, in the

language of ritualistic literature, a 'Pratyavaya.' In the

material world also, we can find corresponding instances wherein a

medicine misused may bring about a calamitous end for the patient.

These two are the dangers in the field of activities by which we are

cheated of all our expected results. Krishna here, as a pukka

publicity agent for his own philosophy, vigorously asserts that

his "Technique of Action," Karma Yoga, guarantees safety from these

two main dangers.

 

THE WISDOM CONCERNING SANKHYA AND YOGA THUS FAR DESCRIBED IS OF

THE FOLLOWING NATURE:

 

vyavasaayaatmikaa buddhirekeha kurunandana .

bahushaakhaa hyanantaashcha buddhayo.avyavasaayinaam.h .. 2\.41..

 

 

41. Here, O Joy of the Kurus, Kurunandana, there is but a single-

pointed determination; many-branched and endless are the thoughts of

the irresolute. In Karma Yoga, which the Lord is now explaining, even

the highest achievement of Self-realisation is possible because,

there, the man works with one resolute determination, with a

single-pointed mind. Those who perform actions, labouring under

endless desires for results, get their inner personality

disintegrated, and with a shattered, thousand-pronged

mind, they are not able, consistently, to apply themselves to any

line of action; therefore, their endeavours invariably end in

disastrous failure.

 

In this stanza lies the secret of Hindu success --- briefly hinted at

in hasty words herein. With a single-pointed mind, if an individual

can entertain any single resolute-determination and act consistently

towards its success, achievement must certainly result. But

invariably, man, victimised by his ego, entertains hundreds of

desires, often mutually contradictory, and

therefore, comes to play upon these fields with an impoverished and

exhausted mental strength. This is, psychologically, what we call

"self-cancellation of thoughts." When this comes to plague

the mental zone, it exhausts all the potentialities of man and loots

away all his chances of success.

 

yaamimaaM pushhpitaaM vaachaM pravadantyavipashchitaH .

vedavaadarataaH paartha naanyadastiiti vaadinaH .. 2\.42..

 

 

42. Flowery speech is uttered by the unwise, taking pleasure in the

eulogising words of VEDAS, O Partha, saying, "There is nothing else.

 

kaamaatmaanaH svargaparaa janmakarmaphalapradaam.h .

kriyaavisheshhabahulaaM bhogaishvaryagatiM prati .. 2\.43..

 

 

43. Full of desires, having heaven as their goal, they utter flowery

words, which promise new birth as the reward of their actions, and

prescribe various specific actions for the attainment of pleasure and

Lordship.

 

 

bhogaishvaryaprasak{}taanaa.n tayaapahR^itachetasaam.h .

vyavasaayaatmikaa buddhiH samaadhau na vidhiiyate .. 2\.44..

 

44. For, those who cling to joy and Lordship, whose minds are drawn

away by such teaching, are neither determinate and resolute nor are

they fit for steady meditation and SAMADHI.

 

Vyasa was one of the first daring revolutionaries in Hinduism who

ever came up to win back the Hindu culture from the decadence it had

fallen into, in his time. The Bible of the Revolution that

he created was the Geeta. His vigorous criticism is reflected in the

words of Krishna when he characterises the ritualistic portion of the

Vedas as "the flowery words of the unwise." We have

to live mentally in the orthodox atmosphere of that age to appreciate

the daring with which Vyasa then had put up this criticism so

strongly.

 

The ritualistic sections of the Vedas address those who are deeply

attached to pleasure and power, whose discriminative power --- the

capacity to distinguish the Real from the Unreal --- is stolen away

from them, for they are concerned about the results and rewards

of Karma. They were involved in the ritualism as such; not concerned

with the Higher, to reach which these are but the means.

These Karmas, which promised the performer a POST-MORTEM heavenly

existence, with supra-sensuous carnal pleasures, are to be undertaken

and laboriously pursued. In all these activities man's inner

personality has no time or chance to get integrated and evolved, and,

therefore, from the spiritual stand-point, Vyasa feels that they are

methods of impotent religion. The ritualist gets involved in the

means, without aspiring for the Real Goal!

 

Thus, as an expounder of the TRANSCENDENTAL and the INFINITE, Krishna

is here laughing at those who mistake the means for the end; the

ritualistic portion is the means and the Vedantic portion dealing

with realisation through meditation is the end. The Karma Kanda

prepares the mind to a single-pointedness, when it is pursued without

specific desires (Nishkama), and such a prepared mind alone is fit

for steady contemplation over the Upanishadic declarations.

The passage is concluded with the declaration that such persons,

tossed about by their desires, shall never discover and experience of

tranquillity in their inner life.

 

THE LORD NOW SPEAKS OF THE RESULT ACCRUING TO THOSE LUSTFUL

PERSONS WHO ARE THUS WANTING IN DISCRIMINATION:

 

traiguNyavishhayaa vedaa nistraiguNyo bhavaarjuna .

nirdvandvo nityasattvastho niryogakshema aatmavaan.h .. 2\.45..

 

 

45. The VEDAS deal with the three attributes; be you above these

three attributes (GUNAS) , O Arjuna, free yourself from the pairs-of-

opposites, and ever remain in the SATTWA (goodness) , freed from all

thoughts of acquisition and preservation, and be established in the

Self.

 

The three inseparable gunas always remain in the inner constitution

of every living creature, in varying proportions. The mind and

intellect are constituted of this triple-stuff. To go beyond

these three temperaments is literally to go beyond the mind. If there

is an alloy constituted of copper, zinc, and tin, and a pot is made

of that alloy, then to remove all tin, zinc and copper

from the pot is to destroy the pot completely. Tea is made of hot

water, tea leaves, sugar and milk; and from a cup of tea if you are

asked to remove these four components of tea, it amounts

to saying 'empty the cup.' In the direct language of the Upanishads,

man has been advised to transcend the mind and intellect, and they

promise that the individual shall thereby re-discover

himself to be God. This direct explanation came to frighten away the

Hindu folk out of the Aryan-fold, and so the CALL OF THE RENAISSANCE

here, though meaning the same, puts it in different words when it

says: "Arjuna, transcend the gunas."If a doctor were to prescribe a

medicine which is nowhere in the catalogue of any

pharmaceutical company in the world, and, naturally, therefore, not

available in any bazaar, that prescription is certainly useless.

Similarly, it may be a great prescription for Self-perfection when

the Lord advises: "Be free from the triad of the gunas," but it is

useless unless a student, practical-minded and adventurous enough to

try to live this advice, can be instructed as to how he can go beyond

these instinctive temperaments in man, viz., unactivity (Sattwa),

activity (Rajas) and inactivity (Tamas).

 

The second line in the stanza gives us a very practical and direct

method of transporting ourselves from the realm of imperfection to

the boundless regions of Bliss and Beatitude. Earlier,

Krishna had indicated how Arjuna should enter the field and wage the

war. The same mental equanimity is being advised here in a different

language. Pairs-of-opposites are the experiences in our life such as

joy and sorrow, health and disease, success and failure, heat and

cold, etc. Each one of them can be experienced and known only

with reference to and as a contrast to its opposite. Therefore the

term 'pairs-of-opposites' (Dwandwas) envisages, in its comprehensive

meaning, all the experiences of man in life.

 

Krishna advises Arjuna to be free from all pairs-of-opposites

(Dwandwas). NITYA-SATTWA-STHAH --- "Ever established in purity." The

purity, Sattwa, the subtlest of the three gunas, often becomes impure

by its contact with attachments and the consequent agitations (Rajas)

that attack the intellect with delusion and grief, and veil

it from the right cognition of the Real Nature of things (Tamas). To

be established in purity (Sattwa) would, therefore, mean keeping

ourselves least agitated, and so, least deluded in our perceptions of

things and beings, and in our estimation of their true nature.

Yoga and Kshema in their meaning include all the activities of every

living being in the universe. These are the two urges which goad

every one in all one's activities. 'Yoga' means 'to acquire'

for purposes of possessing; and 'Kshema' means 'all efforts at

preserving the acquired.' Thus the two terms Yoga and Kshema

encompass all our ego-centric activities motivated by selfish

desires to acquire and, compelled by equally selfish wishes, to hoard

and preserve what has been acquired. To renounce these two

temperaments is to get away immediately from the two

main fields that yield the poisonous harvest of extreme restlessness

and sorrow in life. It is very easy for a spiritual master to advise

an aspirant to be "free from the pairs-of-opposites,

and remain ever pure and free from the natural appetites for

acquisition, and the usual greed for preservation." But the

philosophy will be practical only when the seeker is

advised as to HOW he can do so. This 'how' of it all has been

indicated by the last word in the stanza: Atmavan ---

"be established in the Self." The persecutions of the pairs-of-

opposites, the instinct to be impure, the desire to possess and the

anxiety to preserve, all belong to the ego-centre, which is born

when the Self identifies with the body, mind and intellect, and when

the consequent ego suffers the pangs of anxieties, pains and sorrows.

To detach ourselves from these by keeping a constant sense of

awareness of our pure Divine Nature is the Path shown in the Geeta.

Established in the Self, the individual-ego, ever pure and

free from all anxieties, finds itself beyond the experiences of the

world. Necessarily, he will be trans-gunas. One who is beyond the

gunas has no more use for the Veda Text Books --- he is

the Master, thereafter, to amend the Vedas or to add to them; he is

the Master who shall give the Divine sanction for the very Vedic

declarations.

 

IF ALL THOSE ENDLESS PROFITS WHICH ARE SAID TO RESULT FROM THE

VEDIC RITUALS ARE NOT TO BE SOUGHT AFTER, THEN TO WHAT END ARE

THEY TO BE PERFORMED AND DEDICATED TO ISWARA? LISTEN TO WHAT

FOLLOWS:

 

yaavaanartha udapaane sarvataH saMp{}lutodake .

taavaansarveshhu vedeshhu braahmaNasya vijaanataH .. 2\.46..

 

 

46. To the BRAHMANA who has known the Self, all the VEDAS are of so

much use, as is a reservoir of water in a place where there is flood

everywhere. It is a wonderful simile that is used here, fully

applicable in the context in which it is used. So long as there is no

flood, everyone from the vicinity will have to reach the

well to collect drinking water, although everywhere there is a vein

of water running under our feet, but separated from

us by the crust of the earth. For the seeker, the Veda is the only

source of True Knowledge, and every one must necessarily go to the

Sacred Book for Knowledge. But when the area is flooded and the wells

and the tanks have disappeared in the spread of the flood, at that

time the reservoir of water, which used to be of service, becomes

merged in the spread of water that lies all round.

Similarly, the Vedas, meaning here "the ritualistic portion," which

promises fulfilment of the various desires, can be useful only so

long as the individual is ridled with delusory desires for

sensuous satisfactions. But, to a sincere student and seeker

(Brahmana) who has "come to experience the Self" (Vijanatah) these

ritualistic portions of the Vedas become useless inasmuch as the

benefits that they can give are comprehended in the perfection

that he has come to live.

 

The Karma Kanda only prescribes rituals for the satisfaction of

desires whereby the individuals can gain some finite joy, maybe here,

or in the hereafter. Thus, on discovering the Self in

oneself, the seeker comes to experience the infinite bliss of the

Divine, and all the pleasures derived from the performance of work

enjoined in the Vedas are comprehended in the Bliss, which the

realised soul experiences as the very Essence of his own Self.

Everyone must admit that all those limited "satisfactions" are

comprehended in the Infinite Bliss of the experience of

the Self. This does not mean that Vyasa is ignoring or ridiculing the

Karma Kanda of the Vedas as such. The whip of the Cowherd Boy is

descending upon the bare backs of the unintelligent, who have

mistaken the means for the goal, and who consider that through

ritualism and its promised joys, the Supreme or the Infinite can be

gained. Karma, when undertaken with no anxiety for the

results, integrates the personality; when a heart is thus purified, a

clearer discriminative power comes to play through it, and in its

light, Truth becomes self-evident. Having once realised the

Infinite-Self spreading out all round without dimensions or

frontiers, thereafter, the limited satisfaction promised by ritualism

has no more any charm for the man-of-Knowledge, the Self-

realised. The Knowledge the Veda indicates is comprehended in Pure

Knowledge, which is the nature of the Self. So long as the ego exists

it craves for the blessings of the Vedas; when the ego has

ended, the Self, in Its Infinite Divinity is capable of blessing even

the Veda. A student of mathematics, having successfully passed his

post-graduate course, need not read the arithmetic

table, since his greater knowledge comprehends this elementary study.

[Guest guest]

On Mon, 17 Apr 2000, Ram Chandran wrote:

> Hari Om advaitins:

> We don't want

> to be silent observers and it is time that we open up this forum with the open

> mind and show our eagerness to learn, listen and speak.

 

Hari Om!

 

Once a frog watched a millipede dancing gracefully on a sunny spot among

the grass. Eager to learn, he asked the dancer 'Dear, how do you know the

sequence in which you are moving all your legs so gracefully? Please,

explain it to me so I can learn the science of your dance... you look so

graceful and I want to be a fraction as graceful as you are... moreover,

I will write down you wisdom so other living beings can benefit from it

too... please share you secret!'

The millipede never thought about how to

move his legs and wiggle so nicely. He stopped his dance and was about to

start his explanations, then it struck him that he does not know from

which leg of his million to start the explanation... One leg moves after

another together with another which moves after another... it did not seem

to fit together at all... he tried to start from head and continue to the

tail and other way around... nothing was right. He decided to start

dancing again so he could watch himself dancing and decide on the best

way to describe his movements. But he could not make a step! he did not

remember now from where to start... He did not know how to move, let

alone dance any more...

 

Some chosen millipedes can speak, for the benefit of all. Most cannot...

Let some dance and some be silent observers...

 

Hari Om!

[Guest guest]

Namaste,

 

Poor frog! He chose to ask the millipede instead of its Divine

Teacher! and the millipede also forgot!!

 

When one dances to the tune of Krishna's flute, or to the beat of

Shiva's drum, or to the call of the Sermons of the Masters, only perfection

manifests itself.

 

Tukaram [1608-1650 A.D.] was an illiterate grocer in a village near

Pune in India. He wrote nearly 50 million verses, and wonderd how/why God

'straightened out' every word/line he uttered!! A scholar in the area became

so jealous of him that he threw all his compositions in the river, and lo!

they all floated. Ever since, Tukaram's lines are the most often quoted

verses in the Marathi language.

 

So let the Dance begin!!

 

Regards,

 

s.

 

 

 

 

>Lilia Stepanova <ls691035

>advaitin

>advaitin

>Re: Bhagawad Gita Ch2. Verses: 40-46 [swamy

>Chinmayananda]

>Tue, 18 Apr 2000 00:04:27 -0500 (CDT)

>

>

>

>On Mon, 17 Apr 2000, Ram Chandran wrote:

>

> > Hari Om advaitins:

> > We don't want

> > to be silent observers and it is time that we open up this forum with

>the open

> > mind and show our eagerness to learn, listen and speak.

>

>

>Some chosen millipedes can speak, for the benefit of all. Most cannot...

>Let some dance and some be silent observers...

>

>Hari Om!

>

 

____

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[Guest guest]

Hari Om Lilia:

 

Thanks for breaking your silence! There is no such

thing as 'success and failure' in our life. Life is

an experience and we can learn from our experience and

also learn from the experiences of others including

the frog.

 

We always apply our intellect to construct excuses in

order to avoid inevitable actions. Sunderji has said

it beautifully using the story of Tukaram. We all

think that we have a choice and this fallacy is the

cause for our inaction. We should speak when need to,

we should dance if necessary and eat when we feel

hungry. This is part of our nature and we need to

remind ourselves that we have our role to play and it

is inevitable!

 

All of us dance sometime, speak sometime and also be

silent observers at other times!

 

regards,

 

Ram Chandran

 

 

--- Lilia Stepanova <ls691035 wrote:

>

> Some chosen millipedes can speak, for the benefit of

> all. Most cannot...

> Let some dance and some be silent observers...

>

> Hari Om!

>

[Guest guest]

Hari Om,

 

I assume by practise , you mean spiritual practises.

 

Swami Vivekananda said , "Truth is strengthening , Truth is life giving and here

is the test for truth, if anything makes you weak, reject it as posion, there

can be no truth in it ".

 

Ex:- Practise of yoga asanas :

 

It is good if it gives you a healthy body and mind and so improves your

capability to meditate and contemplate on the truth. This means you have the

power to give up the materialstic for the spiritual.

It is bad if you are becoming more and more health conscious. This means all

your efforts are in just making for a healthy body.

 

Swami Vivekananda said ," When people come to me and tell me that they have

seen Sri Ramakrishna and when I see they have not imbibed even a bit of his

purity and renunciation, I tell them they might as well have seen a monkey."

 

Ex:- One becomes all happy and elated at the smallest spiritual experience. What

of it ? Am I a better person , then I was yesterday. If not , then that

experience was not of much use.

 

In short , I would think any practise that makes you "self less" and "Self more"

is valid.

 

anand

 

 

On Mon, 17 Apr 2000 12:33:52 Sunder Hattangadi wrote:

>in our

>lives, how do we know what practises to hold and what practises we can

>afford to/should let go (and let someone else preserve them, for example)?

 

 

 

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