Gita Satsang - Chapter 6 : verses 41 & 42: Swami Dayananda's Commentary

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Namaste,

 

On behalf of all of you I sincerely express my appreciation to

Pujyaswami Dayanandasaraswati for providing his commentary to the

benefit of the advaitin list members.

 

regards,

 

Ram Chandran

 

Part II : Verses 41 and 42

THE SANNYASI NEVER COMES TO A BAD END

Destruction here can only mean that the person comes back to a life

that is worse than before, meaning that he gains a worse birth, a

lower birth, than the one he previously had. But this will not happen,

Krsna says. There will be a higher birth, a better birth, because the

person has lived a good life, he is a kalyanakrt. Kalyana means moksa

and this person has taken a step towards moksa by living the life of

sannyasa. The kalyanakrt is not a drop-out or a hippie. For the sake

of moksa, which implies an understanding of Isvara, the person has

given up everything. And, being a kalyanakrt, the person does not come

to a bad end — durgatim na gacchati.

Anyone, kascit, who has done good action, charitable action, does not

gain an undesirable end. At the worst, such a person, just proceeds

from birth to birth, depending on the accumulated karma that

precipitates a new body. But, once a person makes a step for the sake

of moksa, whatever he or she has done before has already paid off. The

moment the person turns his or her attention towards himself or

herself, there is no going back.

TAKING CARE OF ANATMA IS FOR ATMA ALONE

Generally, a person only goes after anatma, not atma. For example, the

physical body being anatma how to take care of it is also anatma. How

to take care of my mind is with reference to anatma. How to take care

of my money, power, family is all with reference to anatma. How to

take care of my future, meaning my next body, is also regarding

anatma. Like this, everyone is interested in taking care of anatma

alone — and struggles to do so constantly!

In fact, all this taking care of anatma, is only for taking care of

atma. Taking care is not for the sake of anatma. You do not take care

of the body for the body's sake; it is for your sake, atma's sake.

Therefore, you take care of the anatma, for the sake of atma and, in

the process, you totally neglect the atma! This, indeed, is the wonder

and we call it maya.

The moment a person begins to question whether he or she is doing the

right thing, atma is being taken care of. And this does not take place

in everyone. To ask, `What is this atma that is so anxious to take

care of anatma' is to question atma itself and is for atma's sake, for

one's own sake, alone. The person who begins to pay attention to atma,

whether successful or not, has already traced his or her way back. To

question what is considered to be normal is to discover that the

normal is abnormal. Such a person has made a step towards moksa and

therefore, he or she is kalyanakrt.

Kalyana means `auspicious.' Therefore, moksa is kalyana. Marriage is

also called kalyana because it marks the end of the brahmacarya stage

of life and the auspicious beginning of the grhasthasrama which will

finally prepare one for moksa — the most auspicious. Moksa is the

ultimate kalyana and marriage is a sadhana, a means for gaining the

grand finale called moksa.

CHANGING THE COURSE OF KARMA

Therefore, anyone who has made a step towards moksa is called

kalyanakrt, whether the person is a karma-yogi or a sannyasi. Both of

them are kalyanakrts alone because some action has been taken for the

sake of moksa. Thereafter, progress is assured. Any karma waiting to

take the body of a frog, a celestial, or anything else is all

subjugated and no longer has any chance to express itself. Once the

person is kalyanakrt, the entire order, the entire flow, changes.

Whereas, if you are simply going along with the flow, then all the

accumulated karmas have the same chance. But when a particular set of

karmas exerts more pressure for expression, then it has a greater

chance of getting fulfilled.

Once you have changed the course, the order has to change. Therefore,

for the person who has sraddha, all other karmas have to wait and the

one for pursuing the knowledge proceeds. And how long will the others

have to wait? Until the person gains kalyana, moksa. And once moksa is

gained, all karmas disappear. They are finished for good; they do not

exist at all. Therefore, to question whether one is a karta is no

ordinary question. Assuming one is a karta, one performs good and bad

actions. But, here, the very karta is questioned. One asks, `Am I a

karta?' This, then, is the question that makes one a kalyanakrt and,

having asked it, no one reaches a bad end.

Krsna addresses Arjuna here as tata, a name used affectionately for

either a father or a son in recognition of the closeness between them.

A father is one who protects himself in the form of his son, the son

being as good as himself. When the son is happy, the father is happy.

When the son grows up nicely, the father feels that he too has grown

nicely. If the son is successful, the father also feels successful.

Like this, whatever happens to the son happens to the father in that,

it very much affects him. Therefore, there is no distance between the

son and the father. For this reason, they are both called tata.

Here, Arjuna is not Krsna's son. But he is a father in the sense that

a creator can be called `father,' janaka. There is the father who

creates a body for you —deha-janaka, and a father who creates wisdom

in you — vidya-janaka. Because the wise person who is a teacher,

acarya, is one who gives you a complete rebirth in the form of wisdom,

he is called `father.' Therefore, the author of the body and the

author of the knowledge are called tata — `father.'

The word tata is used for a son as well as for a disciple, sisya.

Arjuna is not Krsna's son, but he is his sisya, and a sisya is like a

son — equal to a son. Therefore, Krsna affectionately addresses him

here as tata, telling him that the sannyasi who has sraddha, but who

does not gain the knowledge, does not come to a bad end. In the next

verse, Krsna begins his explanation about what does happen to this

person.

prapya punyakrtam lokanusitva sasvatih samah

sucinam srimatam gehe yogabhras¶o'bhijayate Verse 41

yoga-bhras¶ah — one who has fallen from (did not succeed in) yoga;

punya-krtam — belonging to those who do good actions; lokan — worlds;

prapya — having gained; sasvatih samah — countless years; usitva —

having lived (there); sucinam — of the people committed to dharma;

srimatam — of the wealthy (and cultured); gehe — in the home;

abhijayate — is born

Having gained the worlds belonging to those who do good actions (and)

having lived (there) for countless years, the one who did not succeed

in yoga is born in the home of the wealthy (and cultured) people who

are committed to dharma.

Both the here, iha-loka, and the hereafter, paraloka, are covered in

this verse. Punya-krtam loka refers to the worlds, lokas gained by

punyakrts, punya-karmakrts, those who have lived a life of dharma,

performing good actions that produce punya. And, having gained these

worlds, prapya punya-krtam lokan, how long does this person live in

those worlds? For countless number of years — sasvatih samah, Krsna

says. That is, he will live there for a very long time.

It must be remembered that the person being discussed here is the same

yoga-bhras¶a mentioned earlier, one whom Arjuna thought would lose

both worlds by not having succeeded in the pursuit of yoga, meaning

the knowledge that is moksa. In fact, the person is not a bhras¶a at

all because there is no falling here, as was mentioned before. Krsna

uses the word yoga-bhras¶a here because, in Arjuna's mind, the person

had fallen somehow. Therefore, Krsna wants to negate any kind of

falling with reference to this person by telling Arjuna that the

person he thought of as yoga-bhras¶a is born, abhijayate, into

surroundings that are conducive to the pursuit of this knowledge.

Krsna describes these surroundings with the words, sucinam srimatam

gehe, meaning in the house of a person of wealth and culture who is

also committed to dharma — therefore, called a suci. The word srimat

suggests wealth and abundance of comforts, etc. By the word suci,

culture is emphasised here because there can be an abundance of wealth

in a home where, for example, the father is a Mafia don. Such a house

is not conducive to the pursuit of knowledge; it is more like a prison

than a home with its high spiked walls and sentries posted everywhere.

In such circumstances, wealth itself becomes a prison. This kind of

wealth, then, is not referred to here, the point being made by the

word suci.

ONE'S SURROUNDINGS SHOULD BE CONDUCIVE

The words, `sucinam gehe,' implies a family that has a value for

values, a value for living a life of dharma. This, then, is the kind

of family into which the yoga-bhras¶a is born, Krsna says. In these

conducive surroundings, the person will pick up certain values. To be

born into such a family is not easy and is to be recognised as a great

advantage since a person can also be born into a place with some

handicap or other. To have a father or mother who is an alcoholic is

considered to be a wrong start. A wrong start, however, does not mean

that there is nothing to be gained. Perhaps the person can exhaust

something, which makes it a good start since all's well that ends

well.

What is to be appreciated here is that to get out of a wrong start is

very difficult. Whereas, where the start is conducive, then the

person's pursuit of moksa can proceed. In the very beginning of his

life, he will show the signs of a sannyasi because he has to fulfil

what he has started. The conducive surroundings enable him to live a

life of prayer and think constantly of Isvara. Thinking always of

Isvara, he looks into what Isvara is, questions what the truth of

everything is, what the cause of everything is — all of which is

thinking of Isvara, isvara-smarana.

>From this we can see that there is no such thing as a bad lot for the

person either in terms of this life or in the hereafter. Even coming

back to this life, he picks up the thread and continues. And to

facilitate his pursuit, his birth will be in a better place, meaning

that it will be more conducive for gaining the knowledge.

Krsna then mentions another possibility for the person who had not yet

gained the knowledge.

athava yoginameva kule bhavati dhimatam

etaddhi durlabhataram loke janma yadidrsam Verse 42

athava — or; dhimatam — of people who are wise; yoginam — of yogis;

eva — indeed; kule —in the family; bhavati — is born; yat idrsam janma

—this birth of this kind; hi —indeed; loke — in the world; etat

durlabhataram — this (is) very difficult to gain

Or he is indeed born into the family of wise yogis. A birth such as

this is indeed very difficult to gain in this world.

We have seen that there is no such thing as a bad lot, durgati, for a

yogi, a sannyasi, who has the desire to know the self. Anyone who has

taken a step towards knowing oneself has already initiated a process

of unwinding oneself from samsara. You wind yourself in samsara by

karma without even questioning whether you are a karta, a doer or not.

Then, within the samsara, retaining the doership centred on the self,

you try to accomplish various ends. And these ends are accomplished on

the basis of the desire for something other than atma, all of which we

saw earlier.

But, here, you are questioning the very svarupa of atma. You may not

know whether you are a karta or not, but at least you are questioning,

you are inquiring into it. By asking, `What is atma?' you are not

taking whatever atma is for granted. Generally, people only try to

avoid the duhkha that results from the limitations and bondage

experienced by the karta, the subject, without ever questioning the

subject itself. Therefore, all their activity is only to bring about

something desirable. This kind of life is called samsara.

SAêSARA IS A DISEASE AND NO ONE GOES FOR THE CURE

Samsara is a disease and no one goes for the cure. But, once you pay

attention to the very subject and ask, who is this subject, what is

this `I,' etc., then you have initiated an auspicious desire –

subheccha, a desire for atma – atma-iccha, that has to result in

moksa. Thus, Krsna's assurance that there is no way that the person

will come to a bad end. He also gave Arjuna a little inside

information, as it were — `The one you call yoga-bhras¶a, Arjuna, just

picks up the thread in his next birth and continues his pursuit of

knowledge.' The person's prayerful life itself produces certain punya.

And because of that punya, the person gains a pleasant stay in the

hereafter followed by rebirth in a situation conducive to his pursuit

of knowledge.

The idea being conveyed here is that if there is a life after death, a

world other than this one, that world will be good for the person. All

experiences there will be happy experiences. Therefore, even in the

hereafter, there is no such thing as a bad lot for the person. And,

having enjoyed the result, the punya, of his prayerful life in the

hereafter, he then comes back to this earth with an adhikari-sarira, a

body that is qualified to gain the knowledge, meaning that the person

returns as a human being. He will not come back in a lower form but

will definitely be born as a human being into a set-up that is

conducive for his pursuit. Therefore, there is no question of a bad

lot anywhere.

Any physical body is called yoni, yoni meaning `womb,' of which there

are three types — deva-yoni, a celestial body; manusya-yoni, the body

of a human being; and adho-yoni, the body assumed by lower-life

beings. Manusya-yoni is the incarnation in which a physical body

enjoying a free will is assumed, meaning a human body or its

equivalent, here or anywhere else. A person need not be born on this

particular planet necessarily, but in some set-up or other he will be

born.

Here, Krsna describes the set-up into which the person under

discussion will be born as the home of a person who is highly cultured

and wealthy, and at the same time, righteous — sucinam srimatam gehe.

There may be wealth, but there will also be culture. And, if there is

no wealth, there will definitely be a lot of culture. The family will

also be highly ethical and committed to living a life of values. In

this way, the person does not have a false start, a start that is

handicapped in any way, and therefore, can easily pick up the thread

of his pursuit of the knowledge.

EVEN BETTER IS TO BE BORN INTO A FAMILY OF YOGIS

Or, Krsna goes on to say, that the person can be born into the family

of a karma-yogi, a mumuksu. A father can be a cultured person, a

religious person, and perhaps a wealthy person, without being a

karma-yogi. Even to be born into such a family gives a person a good

chance to gain the knowledge that is moksa. But, if the person is born

into the house of a karma-yogi, he has an even better chance, is the

point Krsna is making here.

In this verse, yogis refer to karma-yogis since sannyasis do not have

families. And these karma-yogis are also well-informed people,

dhimats. Because the word `dhimatam' is used here, the father can be

either a jnani or a mumuksu. The very least he will be is a mumuksu.

In either case, from childhood onwards, the person picks up certain

values and has no problem taking to his pursuit again without any

hindrance whatsoever. In other words, he will not need to work through

problems related to his past, etc., because there is no problem.

In his commentary of this verse, Sankara took the family of yogis to

mean a family in which there is a lack of wealth, he said `daridranam

yoginam kule' but where the father is a yogi. A poor man can also be a

beggar and to be born into such a home implies all kinds of problems.

Whereas, here, the father is a karma-yogi and also a well-informed

person who has no wealth whatsoever. He is a pandita, a brahmana.

There is no such thing as a rich brahmana because, to be a true

brahmana, the person must have no wealth. Therefore, Sankara was

actually praising poverty here.

To be born as a human being there has to have been some punya and

papa. The poverty of the person will exhaust all his papas and his

punya will be available for yoga. In this way, the person can take to

the yoga track, the jnana track, without any let or hindrance. This is

why Sankara said that it is better to be born into a family of

karma-yogi who may not be rich than to be born into a rich family that

has a lot of culture.

Riches have a way of getting into your head and creating certain

complexes that become problems. Poverty can also create complexes, it

is true. Both inferiority complex and superiority complex are problems

that have to be dealt with. But, if you are born into a family where

there may not be riches but where the parents are yogis, there is no

problem. Because they are yogis, the value structure is sound and the

person does not have a complex that `I am poor.' Even though there is

no money, he does not think of himself as a poor person. Instead, he

thinks of himself as a blessed person. To have the parentage where

both parents feel blessed to be what they are, even though they have

no money, is the right parentage. The point being made here is that if

there is money, that is fine, but if there is no money, it is better —

provided, of course, the parentage is proper.

WHY TWO DIFFERENT KINDS OF FAMILIES?

Why does Krsna mention two different kinds of families in these two

verses? Should not every yoga-bhras¶a be born into the same kind of

family? No; the family one is born into depends upon the person's

karma, their accrued punya and papa, and everyone's punyas and papas

differ. These punya-papas determine where a person is born, who his

parents are, whether there is money or no money, etc. Wherever the

person is born, however, he retains his yoga-samskaras, those

impressions, those tendencies, that he had gathered before; in other

words, he comes along with his previous impressions, in the form of

potential tendencies, which often manifest very early in life. A baby

who cries all the time may become a musician and the child who

destroys everything in sight may become a civil engineer. Let's see!

These tendencies are what we call samskaras and they manifest in your

life without your cultivating them. This is why two children who are

born to the same parents are so different. One child has certain

tendencies and the other child has other tendencies. One child goes

for music and the other for art because of their samskaras. These

samskaras are what is meant by prarabdha-karma, the karma that results

in a certain body being born into a given situation and having a

particular set of experiences. The samskaras have to manifest

themselves and they do so through certain professions, etc.

Yoga-samskaras are the same; they will be there in the psyche of the

child whether he is born into a cultured family committed to dharma or

into the family of karma-yogi.

Therefore, the criterion is not to be born into a particular kind of

family. This does not come into the picture at all because there is no

necessity for it. Wherever the person is born is fine because he is

born with the yoga-samskaras. However, certain opportunities are

necessary so that the yoga-samskaras that manifest will not be

overwhelmed by adharma-samskaras, which is also possible. Because

wrong tendencies can be gathered as a child, these can overpower the

yoga-samskaras you had previously gathered. In order for the

yoga-samskaras to manifest naturally in the form of a serious pursuit

of knowledge on the part of a person who was previously a yogi, the

`born-again' yogi should not be overpowered by a life of adharma,

wrong values, false values, etc. Therefore, it is important for this

person to have the proper set-up to pick up the thread and continue

from where he left.

A SEEKER CAN BE BORN ANYWHERE

These two verses do not imply that everyone who takes to this pursuit

has to be born in one of these two places either in a rich, cultured

family or in a family of karma-yogis. That is not the point here. The

point is that those who desire self-knowledge are born everywhere. But

we are not talking about all seekers here; we are talking specifically

about people who were sannyasis or seekers before and did not

accomplish what they had set out to accomplish before they died away.

These are the people whom Arjuna thought of as fallen people because

they seem to have lost both worlds, the world of samsara and the

worlds produced by performing karma, and they did not gain the yoga,

the vision of sameness. Therefore, in response to Arjuna's concern,

Krsna tells him here that they are born in a set-up where there is no

obstacle to their pursuit of knowledge.

The yoga-samskara will always be there; once the person directs his or

her attention there, the yoga-samskara never dies. But it can be

overpowered by adharma. And, even if it is overpowered by adharma,

provided the person realises it, the adharma can be exhausted,

purified, by living prayerfully. In this way, whatever

adharma-samskara are there are all exhausted; you are rid of them for

good. Then the yoga-samskara comes up again and the person continues.

And, to pick up this thread naturally, without any obstacles

whatsoever, the person has to be born into a certain environment. For

example, an environment, where the father is seriously studying

vedanta-sastra and the mother is always talking about it, is a

wonderful start indeed. As a child, I used to hear such talk

constantly. For instance, if I asked my mother for something before

going to bed, she would never say, `I will give it to you tomorrow.'

Instead, she would say, `If you get up tomorrow, then I will give it

to you.' This is a wonderful thing `if you get up' means `if you

survive.' And my mother was not the only person saying this; every

other mother in India did the same thing. It is the culture. There are

no promises, only the attitude, `If we survive, we shall see.' This

means that, from childhood onward, you accept the fact that you do not

have complete control over things.

THE IMPORTANCE OF AN ATTITUDE OF ACCEPTANCE

Control is a problem. Because you want to control, all the problems

come. Whereas, if you accept that there can be many a slip between the

cup and the lip, that there are certain things that you have no

control over, then there is an attitude towards life that is very

healthy. You do what you can and you are ready to take what comes. To

have this attitude from childhood is a very good start, whatever other

problems there may be. If everything else is also conducive, if there

is education, values, and communication, it is a very wonderful start

indeed.

Such a start is what Krsna is referring to in these two verses. First,

he says that to be born into the highly cultured and ethical family of

a rich man is great. And then he says that there is another birth that

is even greater, meaning rarer, more difficult to accomplish — a birth

enjoying the parentage of well-informed karma-yogis.

Well-informed yogis are those who know they are yogis, which means

they are mumuksus. They know they are seeking knowledge, that they

have to gain knowledge to gain moksa. To be born to parents of such

wisdom, to have a birth of this nature — yat idrsam janma, is very

difficult to gain in this world — etat hi durlabhataram loke, Krsna

says here, definitely more difficult than being born in a rich man's

family, which is also difficult. Having gained the parentage of yogis,

however, the situation is much better, much more conducive, than the

other, there being absolutely nothing to stop the person from pursuing

yoga further.