Gita Satsang - Ch. 6 - v. 5-9

[Guest guest]

Namaste,

 

mat chittaaH mat gata-praaNaaH bodhayantaH parasparam.h .

kathayantaH cha maa.n nitya.n tushhyanti cha ramanti cha ..

 

shriimad-bhagavad-giitaa 10:9

 

'With their thought on Me, with their life absorbed in Me,

instructing each other, and ever speaking of Me,

they are content and delighted.'

Ch.10:v.9.

______________________________\

______

 

atha shhashhTho.adhyaayaH . Chapter 6 : Verses 5-9 [with

Shankara-Bhashya, tr. Sw.Gambhirananda]

 

dhyaana-yogaH. The Yoga of Meditation

 

When one is thus established in Yoga, then by that very fact one's

self becomes uplifted by oneself from the worldly state which is

replete with evils.

 

Hence,

 

uddharet aatmanaa aatmaanaM na aatmaanam avasaadayet.h .

aatmaa eva hi aatmanaH bandhuH aatmaa eva ripuH aatmanaH .. 5..

 

5. One should save oneself by oneself; one should not lower oneself.

For oneself is verily one's own friend; oneself is verily one's own enemy.

 

uddharet, one should save; aatmaanam, oneself sunk in the sea of the

world; aatmanaa, by oneself; one should save, ut-haret, should uplift

(oneself) from that, i.e. make it attain the state of being

established in Yoga. na avasaadayet, one should not lower, debase;

aatmaanam, oneself. hi, for; aatma eva, oneself is verily; aatmanaH

one's own; bandhuH, friend. Certainly there is no other friend who

can bring about liberation from this world. In fact, even a friend is

an obstacle to Liberation, he being the source of such bondages as

love etc. Therefore the emphatic statement, 'For one is one's own

friend, is justifiable.

aatma eva, oneself verily; is aatmanaH, one's own: ripuH, enemy.

Anyone else who is an external harmful enemy, even he is of one's own

making! Therefore the firm conclusion, 'oneself verily is one's own

enemy' is reasonable.

 

It has been said that 'oneself is verily one's own friend, oneself

verily is one's own enemy.' As to that, (the self) [Ast. has this

additional word, aatma, self.-Tr.] of what kind is one's own friend,

or (the self) of what kind is one's own enemy? This is being answered:

___________________________

 

bandhuH aatmaa aatmanaH tasya yena aatmaa eva aatmanaa jitaH .

anaatmanaH tu shatrutve varteta aatmaa eva shatruvat.h .. 6..

 

6. Of him, by whom has been conquered his very self by the self, his

self is the friend of his self. But, for one who has not conquered

his self, his self itself acts inimically like an enemy.

 

tasya, of him; yena, by whom; jitah, has been conquered, subdued; his

eva aatmaa, very self, the aggregate of body and organs; that aatmaa,

self; is bandhuH, the friend; aatmanaH, of his self. The idea is that

he is a conqueror of his senses. tu, but; anaatmanaH, for one who

has not conquered his self, who has no self-control; aatmaa eva, his

self itself; varteta, acts; shatruvat, like an enemy; shatrutve,

inimically, with the attitude of an enemy. As an enemy, who is

different from oneself, does harm to oneself, similarly one's self

behaves like an enemy to oneself. This is the meaning. [if the body

and organs are under control, they are helpful in concentrating one's

mind on the Self; but, if they are not under control, they oppose this

concentration.]

___________________________

 

jita aatmanaH prashaantasya paramaatmaa samaahitaH .

shiitoshhNa-sukha-duHkheshhu tathaa maana-apamaanayoH .. 7..

 

7. The supreme Self of one who has control over the aggregate of his

body and organs, and who is tranquil, becomes manifest. (He should

be equipoised) [These words are supplied to complete the sentence.] in

the midst of cold and heat, happiness and sorrow, as also honour and

dishonour.

 

parama-aatma, the supreme Self; jita-aatmanah, of one who has control

over the aggregate of his body and organs; prashsantasya, who is

tranquil, who is a monk with his internal organ placid; samaahitaH,

becomes manifest, i.e. becomes directly manifest as his own Self.

Moreover, (he should be equipoised) shiita-ushNa-sukha-duhkheshhu, in

the midst of cold and heat, happiness and sorrow; tathaa, as also;

maana-apamaanayoH in honour and dishonour, adoration and despise.

__________________________

 

 

Gyaana-viGYaana-tR^ipta-aatmaa kuuTasthaH vijita-indriyaH .

YuktaH iti uchyate yogii sama-loshhTa-ashma-kaa~nchanaH .. 8..

 

8. One whose mind is satisfied with knowledge and realization, who is

unmoved, who has his organs under control, is said to be

Self-absorbed. The yogi treats equally a lump of earth, a stone and gold.

 

A yogi, jnaana-vij~naana-tR^ipta-aatmaa, whose mind is satisfied with

knowledge and realization-jnaana is thorough knowledge of things

presented by the scriptures, but vij~naana is making those things

known from the scriptures a subject of one's own realization just as

they have been presented; he whose mind (aatmaa) has become contented

(tR^ipta) with those j~naana and vij~nana is

j~naana-vij~naana-tR^ipta-aatmaa-; kuuTasthaH, who is unmoved, i.e.

who becomes unshakable; and vijita-indriyaH, who has his organs under

control;- he who is of this kind, uchyate, is said to be; yuktaH,

Self-absorbed. That yogi sama-loshhTa-ashma-kaa~nchanaH, treats

equally a lump of earth, a stone and gold.

___________________________

 

Further,

 

suhR^id mitra ari udaasiina madhyastha dveshhya bandhushhu .

saadhushhu api cha paapeshhu sama-buddhiH vishishhyate .. 9..

 

9. He excels who has sameness of view with regard to a benefactor, a

friend, a foe [ari (foe) is one who does harm behind one's back.], a

neutral, an arbiter, the hateful, [dveshhyaH is one who openly

hateful.] a relative, good people and even sinners.

 

The first line of the verse beginning with 'benefactor,' etc. is a

single compound word.

 

vishishhyate, he excels, i.e. he is the best among all those who are

established in Yoga-(a different reading is vimucyate, he becomes

free); sama-buddhiH, who has sameness of view, i.e. whose mind is not

engaged with the question of who one is and what he does; with regard

to a suhR^id, benefactor-one who does some good without consideration

of return ; mitram, a friend, one who is affectionate; ariH, a foe;

udaasiinaH, a neutral, who sides with nobody; madhyasthaH, an arbiter,

who is a well-wisher of two conflicting parties; dveshhyaH, the

hateful, who is repulsive to oneself; bandhuH, a relative;- to all

these as also saadhushhu, with regard to good people, who follow the

scriptures; api ca, and even; paapeshhu, sinners, who perform

prohibited actions-with regard to all of them.

 

 

[ to be cotd. 3-29-01

 

 

 

 

 

For Gita Dhyana Shlokas/Mantras and Mahatmya

/message/advaitin/6987

--\

-------------

Adi Shankara's commentary, translated by Swami Gambhirananda, at URL:

[kindly supplied by Madhava-ji]

advaitinGita/Shankara1/gmbCH6.htm

______________________________\

______

 

Swami Chinmayananda's commentary at URL:

[kindly supplied by Ram-ji]

advaitinGita/Chinmaya/COMM6.HTM

[Guest guest]

Namaste.

I would like to post my understanding and request other members do

try the same. It is okay to tell a lie; there is nothing to fear.

 

The 4 verses 5 thru 9 focus on "lifting the self thru Self".

 

 

Sita(self) lifts the self(mind-intellect-body aggregate) thru the

help of Rama(Self-Brahman) in overcoming the multi-faceted desires

(Ravana).

 

The twins Vali(lower-self) and Sugrava(higher-self) could not be told

apart. Not even intellect(Hanuman) could tell. It took the Self-

Brahman(Rama) to tell them apart.

-- Above, I read elsewhere, which I posted long time ago.

 

Arjuna(self) lifts himself from the 100 forms of maya-related-

delusions thru the help of Self(Krishna) guiding his way. Though

capable, he could not do it on his own. It took Self to lift the self.

 

Sometimes when maya completely deludes in the battle(Bhishma) and

seems victorious over the self(Arjuna), upon seeing the Brahman

(Krishna) coming to the rescue of the self, offers itself away.

 

When Maya as in the above case seems overwhelming, by reading the

Scriptures and contemplating on the Self, we use the said knowledge

from Scriptures to lift self from maya.

 

With Love,

Raghava

[Guest guest]

Comments on Verses 6 & 7

 

Human birth is the greatest opportunity for all of us to get liberated

if we recognize that this is a rare boon to conduct spiritual

practice. It is His grace that we got this golden opportunity and let

us not throw away our good fortune. Lord Krishna's advises that we

should make the best out of human life (The Gift of God) by pursuing

Karmayoga, Sankhyayoga or Bhaktiyoga. This is what is meant by lifting

oneself by one's own efforts. Those who indulge in sinful deeds under

the impulse of evils like attraction and repulsion, lust and anger,

greed and infatuation are consequently likely deprived of the supreme

fruit of human existence. We have choose between God-Realization and

the bondage of the cycle of birth and death. These two feasible

options have dramatically opposite consequences, the first uses the

human life as the prospect for Self-Realization and the second is a

pitfall and eventually a trap for spiritual suicide!

 

Lord's wants us to lift the self with own efforts (sadhana) and

gives us the assurance that Prarabdha or destiny, howsoever ill-omened

it may be, will not stand in our progress. In other words, it is up to

us to elevate or degrade the purpose of human birth. The choice is

very clear and we should constantly strive with the utmost care and

diligence to engage in activities that take us to the ultimate goal of

liberation. The Lord suggests that we should prepare to renounce

attraction and repulsion, lust and anger, enjoyment of worldly

objects, lethargy, negligence, as well as sinful conduct and we should

practice virtues like sense-control, mind-control, forbearance,

discrimination and dispassion. Giving up thoughts of the world, we

should try to concentrate our mind on God with reverence and love, and

should endeavor to realize God through practices of adoration and

meditation, service and association with saints. And until this

consummation is reached we should not recede an inch nor pause even

for a moment. Our progress is measured by the extent to which we have

been able to reform our nature and mend our ways.

 

Those whom we regard as our friends due to attachments and worldly

relations are in reality no friends at all since such friendship only

contribute to our bondage. Saints, sages and even selfless strivers on

the spiritual path are our true friends without any doubt because

their association will eventually help us to attain freedom from the

bondage. But their friendship and good-will too can be realized if

and only if we take the initiative by developing genuine reverence

and love for them in our hearts. We should prepare our mind and heart

to follow the line of conduct laid down by those true friends. In

other words in life we have to make our choice everyday and that

choice takes us to where we want to go. Friends and enemies are our

own creation by our own action. No one can ever be held responsible

for the consequences that resulted from our actions! No one can cause

any spiritual harm to us unless we invite and entertain such events by

our own action. Really speaking, one's own self is one's enemy or a

friend. This is the main emphasis of these two verses and the Lord

goes further in the next several verses and explains how to subdue the

self in the shape of the body, mind and senses. (To be continued)

 

regards,

 

Ram Chandran

[Guest guest]

Gita Chapter 6: Comments on verse 7 to 9

 

Verse 7

The words `heat and cold', `joy and sorrow' and `honor and ignominy'

are only symbolical. They stand here for all worldly objects,

experiences and events connected with the body, mind and senses. The

state of mind referred to in this verse is the one in which contact

with or passing away of any object or experience or occurrence' does

not produce any unhealthy reaction on the mind in the shape of

attraction and aversion, joy and grief, desire, fear, jealousy, lust,

anger, distraction etc. In this state the mind remains equipoised and

unruffled under all circumstances. Those who have mastered body,

senses and mind can remain calm, and above all modifications of the

mind at every time and under all circumstances, and can realize God

and thereby redeem from the quagmire of mundane existence. Therefore

we can become our own friend! This is the essence of the message

conveyed by this verse.

 

Verse 8

The word `Jnana' stands here for true Knowledge of, and insight into,

the glory and greatness of the Nirguna Brahman. `Vijnana' means true

Knowledge of formless God with attributes (Saguna Brahman) as well as

of God endowed with a form, and His sports, secret, glory, greatness

and virtues etc. Those who have thoroughly grasped the true nature of

both the qualified and unqualified, as well as the manifest and

un-manifest aspects of God, and who has no desire left in to know

anything more, is referred to here by the adjective

`Jnanavijnanatrptatma'.

 

Having realized all objects of the world as illusory and fleeting such

aYogi ceases to have the least attachment for any of them. Finding no

relish in worldly objects, his/her senses, therefore, recoil from such

objects and embrace only those objects to which he/she directs them

according to own will and discretion in the interests of the world

order. They neither act nor move independently, nor create any

disturbance in the mind. These are the marks of one whose senses are

completely mastered. As sees God in everything, earth, stone and gold

make no difference. The Yogi feels no special attraction for gold as

one who is merged in ignorance does, nor does he'she entertain any

aversion for earth and stone, but regards all of them as equal. This

is what is sought to be. conveyed by the adjective

`Samalostasmakancanah'

 

Verse 9

A `Suhrd' or well-wisher is one who is naturally disposed to love and

oblige others without any motive or condition and without expecting

any return for his services and love; whereas `friendship' involves

mutual benevolence and service. That is the difference between a

friend and a well-wisher.

An `Ari' or foe is one who seeks or tries to harm under provocation,

and a `Dvesya' or object of hatred is the one who behaves inimically

without any rhyme or reason and thus provokes hatred or aversion.

A `Madhyastha' or mediator is the one who, intervenes between two

contending parties with a view to reconciling them and tries to do

justice to both by impartial judgment; while an `Udasina' or neutral

is the one who is absolutely unconcerned or unconnected with either.

 

One is naturally apt to be partial to one's well-wishers and friends,

neutrals, mediators, men of virtue and one's own relatives. Even so

one is naturally inclined to entertain a feeling of aversion or hatred

for foes, objects of hatred and sinful persons. Men of judgment and

reason too are found to have a natural attraction for the former and a

natural aversion for the latter. It is exceedingly difficult to be

free from attraction and repulsion with respect to types of men so

diametrically opposed to one another in nature, and to lose all sense

of distinction between them. The Yogi. who looks upon these two

antagonistic types of men with the same eye will have no difficulty in

maintaining such in attitude on respect of all others. It is in order

to bring out this point, that the Lord has used the word `Api' in this

verse. Since such a man sees God everywhere and in all beings, the

differences of conduct, nature and behavior or such diverse types of

men as friends and foes, saints and sinners, fail to produce any mind

reaction. In other words, the idea of diversity never enters the mind

under any circumstances and on any account whatsoever. This is what

the Lord seeks to convey by the word Samabuddhih'.

 

regards,

 

Ram Chandran