Gita Satsangh: Chapter 8 Verses 11 to 15

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The Yoga of the Imperishable Absolute.

Chapter 8 : Verses 11-15 [with Shankara-Bhashya, tr.

Sw.Gambhirananda]

 

yadaksharaM vedavido vadanti

vishanti yadyatayo viitaraagaaH .

yadich{}chhanto brahmacharya.n charanti

tatte padaM sa.ngraheNa pravakshye .. 8\.11..

 

I shall speak to you briefly of that immutable Goal which the

knowers of the Vedas declare, into which enter the deligent ones

free from attachment, and aspiring for which people practise celibacy.

 

Pravaksye, I shall speak; te, to you; samgrahena, briefly; tat, of

that; which is called the aksaram, immutable-that whch does not get

exhausted, which is indestructible; padam, Goal to be reached; yat,

which; veda-vidah, the knowers of the Vedas, the knowers of the

purport of the Vedas; vedanti, declare, speak of It as opposed to all

qualifications-'It is neither gross nor minute' (Br. 3.8.8) etc.-, in

accordance with the Upanisadic text, 'O Gargi, the knowers of Brahman

say this Immutable (Brahman) is that' (ibid); and further, yat, into

which, after the attainment of complete realization;

visanti, enter; yatayah, the diligent ones, the monks; who have

become vita-ragah, free from attachment; and icchantah, aspiring to

know (-to know being supplied to complete the sense-); yat, which

Immutable; people caranti, practise; brahmacaryam, celibacy-at the

teacher's house.

 

Commencing with, '"O venerable sir, which world does he really win

thereby who, among men, intently meditates on Om in that wonerful way

till death?" To him he said, "O Satyakama, this very Brahman that is

(known as) the inferior and superior is but this Om"' (pr.5.1-2), it

has been stated, 'Again, anyone who meditates on the supreme Purusa

with the help of this very syllable Om, as possessed of three

letters,...he is lifted up to the world of Brahma (Hiranyagarbha) by

the Sama-mantras,' (op.cit.5) etc. Again, beginning with '(Tell me

of that thing which you see as) different from virtue, different

from vice,' it has been stated, 'I tell you briefly of that goal

which all the Vedas with one voice propound, which all the

austerities speak of, and wishing for which people practise

Brahmacarya: it is this, viz Om' (Ka.1.2.14-15), etc.

 

In the above quotations, Om which is going to be spoken of is

presented as a name of this supreme Brahman, and also as Its symbol

like an image. This has been done as a means to meditation on it

(Om) for the attainment of the supreme Brahman by poeple of low and

mediocre intellect, in as much as this leads to Liberation in course

of time. Here also that very meditation on Om in the manner stated

above-which is the means of attaining the supreme Brahman introduced

in, '(He who meditates on) the Omniscient, the Ancient,' and in, '(I

shall speak to you birefly of that immutable Goal) which the knowers

of the Vedas declare,' and which (meditation) leads to Liberation in

due course [Realization of Brahman leads to immediate Liberation

(sadyomukti, whereas meditation (contemplation, upasana) leads to

gradual Liberation (krama-mukti).-Tr.]-has to be spoken of along

with 'adherence to yoga' as also whatever is connected directly or

indirectly with it. For this purpose the following text is begun:

 

sarvadvaaraaNi sa.nyamya mano hR^idi nirudhya cha .

muu{dh{}nyaa}.rdhaayaatmanaH praaNamaasthito yogadhaaraNaam.h .. 8

\.12..

 

Having controlled all the passages, having confined the mind in the

heart, and having fixed his own vital force in the head, (and then)

continuing in the firmness in yoga;

 

Samyamya, having controlled; sarva-dvarani, all the passages, the

doors of perception; niruddhya, having confined; the manah, mind;

hrdi, in the heart-not allowing it to spread out; and after that,

with the help of the mind controlled therein, rising up through the

nerve running upward from the heart, adhaya, having fixed; atmanah,

his own; pranam, vital force; murdhni, in the lead; (and then)

asthitah, continuing in; yogadharanam, the firmness in yoga-in order

to make it steady-. And while fixing it there itself,

 

omityekaaksharaM brahma vyaaharanmaamanusmaran.h .

yaH prayaati tyajandehaM sa yaati paramaa.n gatim.h .. 8\.13..

 

He who departs by leaving the body while uttering the single

syllable, viz Om, which is Brahman, and thinking of Me, he attains

the supreme Goal.

 

Yah, he who; prayati, departs, dies; tyajan, by leaving; deham, the

body-the phrase 'leaving the body' is meant for qualifying departure;

thereby it is implied that the soul's departure occurs by abandoning

the body, and not through the destruction of its own reality, having

abandoned thus-; vyaharan, while uttering; the eka-adsaram, single

syllable; om iti brahma, viz Om, which is Brahman, Om which is the

name of Brahman; and anusmaran, thinking; mam, of Me, of God who is

implied by that (syllable); sah, he; yati, attains; the paramam,

supreme, best; gatim, Goal.

Further,

 

ananyachetaaH satataM yo maa.n smarati nityashaH .

tasyaahaM sulabhaH paartha nityayuk{}tasya yoginaH .. 8\.14..

 

O son of Prtha, to that yogi of constant concentration and single-

minded attention, who remembers Me uninterruptedly and for long, I

am easy of attainment.

Partha, O son of Prtha, tasya yoginah, to that yogi; nitya-

yuktasya, of constant concentration, who is ever absorbed (in God);

and ananya-cetah, of single-minded attention, a yogi whose mind is

not drawn to any other object; yah, who; smarati, remembers; mam,

Me, the supreme God; satatam, uninteruptedly; and nityasah, for long-.

 

By satatam, uninterrupteldy, is meant 'without any break'. By

niryasah, is meant along duration. Not six months, nor even a year!

What then? The meaning is: He who remembers Me for his whole life,

continuously.

 

To that yogi aham, I; am sulabhah, easy of attainment. Since this

is so, therefore one should remain ever absorbed in Me, with mind

given to nothing else.

'What follows from Your being easy of attainment?' This is being

answered: 'Hear what follows from My being easy of attainment.'

 

maamupetya punarjanma duHkhaalayamashaashvatam.h .

naap{}nuvanti mahaatmaanaH sa.nsiddhiM paramaa.n gataaH .. 8\.15..

 

As a result of reaching Me, the exalted ones who have attained the

highest perfection do not get rebirth which is an abode of sorrows

and which is impermanent.

 

Upetya mam, as a result of reaching Me who am God-as a result of

realizing My nature; mahatmanah, the exalted ones, the monks; gatah,

who have attained; the paramam, highest; samsiddhim, perfection,

called Liberation; na, do not; apnuvanti, get; this kind of

punarjanama, rebirth. As to what kind of rebirth they do not get,

the Lord states its characteristics-duhkhalayam, which is an abode of

sorrows, a resort of physical and other sorrows, i.e. a birth to

which sorrows adhere. It is not merely an abode of sorrows, but also

asavatam, impermanent, having no fixity of nature.

 

On the other hand, those who do not reach Me, they come again.

Again, 'Is it that those who attain someone other than You return?'

This is being answered in the next of the verses.

 

For Gita Dhyana Shlokas/Mantras and Mahatmya

 

/message/advaitin/6987

 

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

advaitinGita/Shankara1/gmbCH6.htm

 

 

Swami Chinmayananda's commentary at URL:

advaitinGita/Chinmaya/COMM6.HTM

[Guest guest]

Geeta satsangh.

 

Shree Ram and others - I suggest that the discussion on the previous

sloka-s to complete before one takes up next set of slokas. It may

be good idea to give at least a week time before each new set of

slokas. I may be little slow. Just a suggestion.

 

Hari OM!

Sadananda

 

 

 

=====

What you have is His gift to you and what you do with what you have is your gift

to Him - Swami Chinmayananda.

 

 

 

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Namaste:

 

I agree with you, Sadaji and let us keep about 5 slokas for a

fortnight instead of per week. During this entire month, let us

discuss all the verses from 1 to 15 of chapter 8 as thoroughly as we

can and move on to next slokas first of september. From then on, we

will have 5 slokas biweekly and that will provide sufficient time for

discussion. Also, this will provide some breathing place to

contemplate on other questions and comments from scriptures and from

personal experience.

 

warmest regards,

 

Ram Chandran

 

 

 

advaitin, kuntimaddi sadananda <kuntimaddisada>

wrote:

>

> Geeta satsangh.

>

> Shree Ram and others - I suggest that the discussion on the previous

> sloka-s to complete before one takes up next set of slokas.

[Guest guest]

Namaste.

 

The following sloka is written by my father on the margin of one of

the pages of the gItA book which he was using.

 

OmahaM prakR^itiM nainam yogabhaktyA mayA yataH /

amAnitvaM sukhaM kAryaM IshvaraH purushaH sa yat.h // * //

 

By certain marks he has made at the various slokas in the book, I

find that the above sloka stands for a certain sequence of slokas in

the gItA, if you string together the first indicative words of these

slokas. These slokas are:

 

1. Ch.8 – 13: OmityEkAkSharaM brahma ...

2. Ch.10 – 8: ahaM sarvasya prabhavO ....

3. Ch.13 – 19: prakR^itiM puruShaM caiva ...

4. Ch.2 – 23: nainaM chindanti shastrANi ...

5. Ch.5 – 7 : yOgayuktO vishuddhAtmA ...

6. Ch.18 – 55: bhaktyA mAm abhijAnAti ...

7. Ch.9 – 4: mayA tatamidaM sarvaM ...

8. Ch.18 – 46: yataH pravR^ittir bhUtAnAM ...

9. Ch.13 – 7: amAnitvaM adambhitvaM ...

10. Ch.6 – 21: sukhamAtyantikaM yattat.h ...

11. Ch.18 – 9: kAryamityEva yatkarma ...

12. Ch.18 – 61: IshvaraH sarvabhUtAnAM ...

13. Ch.8 – 22: purushaH sa paraH pArtha ...

14. Ch.15 – 12: yadAdityagataM tejO ...

 

 

The fact there are only 14 slokas selected in this string was not

sounding very comfortable to me, knowing my father as I do. But the

fact that this * sloka was written on the margin of the page where

the 14th chapter begins, rather than on the margin where the first

sloka 8.13 appears (even though there is space there), was a further

puzzle. I did not want to buy the idea that there are 14 slokas

listed here and that is why it was written in the beginning of the

14th chapter. Recently I discovered, while going through some

miscellaneous notes left by him at the conclusion of his book

GitAmR^itamahodadhiH, that, his No.9 above, indicated by the word

amAnitvaM actually indicates also the four slokas following 13 – 7;

namely, 13 -8 to 13 – 11. which makes sense if you look at the

content of these slokas. Now the total number of slokas indicated by

his * sloka becomes 18. And this fits in with all thought processes

related to the gItA.

 

Shall we say that this * sloka is perhaps a capsule of the whole

gItA teaching? In what sense? Here is some food for thought on the

gItA.

 

Since the first sloka in this pnemonyM string is 8.13 and we are

discussing Ch.8 – slokas 11 to 15, I thought it fit to mention this

now.

 

praNAms to all advaitins

Yours, profvk

 

 

 

 

=====

Prof. V. Krishnamurthy

My website on Science and Spirituality is http://www.geocities.com/profvk/

You can access my book on Gems from the Ocean of Hindu Thought Vision and

Practice, and my father R. Visvanatha Sastri's manuscripts from the site.

 

 

 

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[Guest guest]

advaitin, "V. Krishnamurthy" <profvk> wrote:

> Shall we say that this * sloka is perhaps a capsule of the whole

> gItA teaching? In what sense? Here is some food for thought on the

> gItA.

>

> Since the first sloka in this pnemonyM string is 8.13 and we are

> discussing Ch.8 – slokas 11 to 15, I thought it fit to mention this

> now.

 

Namaste,

 

This theme reminds me of two others!

 

The legend of Vyasa choosing Ganesha as a scribe to write the

Mahabahrata. Ganesha accepted the assignment on condition that he

would write down everything only if Vyasa could dictate without any

interruption during the process. Vyasa said he would, but added a

counter-proposal that Ganesha would not write anything without

undestanding it! Ganesha accepted the challenge. In the process,

Vyasa is said to have included about 3000 verses which made Ganesha

stop and think, while it gave some breathing time for Vyasa to think

and compose other verses!

So I wonder how many such verses are in the Gita section itself!!

 

The other is related moe to modern-day 'computerese' - known

as 'Easter Eggs'!

Here is a definition: "What is an "Easter Egg"? - The term "Easter

Egg", as we use it here, means any amusing tidbit that creators hid

in their creations. They could be in computer software, movies,

music, art, books, or even your watch. There are thousands of them,

and they can be quite entertaining, if you know where to look."

 

One need not take the 'amusing tidbit' part to apply to Gita, but we

all notice that with successive readings of Gita, one encounters an

infinite number of 'hidden' creations/meanings/associations.

 

Prof.V.K. has hit upon a prime example, but which need not

necessarily be 'ultimate' - ananto vai vedAH | [infinite indeed are

the Vedas (knowledge)!]

 

For Ramana Maharshi, Gita 10:20, epitomized all knowledge and wisdom.

 

 

Regards,

 

Sunder

[Guest guest]

Some addtional thoughts and comments on the above verses.

 

Verse 11

That which imparts the knowledge of God is called the Veda. The life

and center of the Veda is the supreme Brahman or Paramatman. The Veda

and the Brahaman are synonymous and they represent the ultimate Truth.

The great men of wisdom who strive ceaselessly for the realization of

the ultimate Truth succeed in realizing it and they alone are the true

knowers of the Veda. Those great men of wisdom alone are qualified to

speak about the Brahman; no one else is entitled to do so. The Lord is

speaking here of the same nirguna (unmanifested) Brahman mentioned in

Chapter 12, verse 3. The word Yatayah here refers to those ascetic who

are men of strong dispassion qualified for God-Realization,

established in Brahman and possessed of spiritual qualifications of

the highest order.

 

The word Visanti in this verse denotes the process of identification,

which represents the climax of Sadhana. Brahman or God, being our own

self, is ever present with us. Our error or misconception lies in

mistaking that which is already attained as something unattained. The

removal of this misconception or ignorance is what is meant by

entering in God. Etymologically speaking, Brahmacarya means to live

and move in Brahman, or to walk in the path leading to Brahman. It is

such practices that are termed as the rule of conduct laid down for a

Brahmacari which form part of the obligatory duties attaching to the

stage of Brahmacaryam or student life.

 

Verse 12 & 13

The five senses of perception, viz., the sense of hearing etc., and

the five organs of action, such as the organ of speech etc.- these are

the ten media for contacting worldly objects; hence they are termed as

doors. Besides these, the different centers in the body which are the

seats of these senses and organs arc also called doors. Withdrawing

these from external object, that is, suspending all their functions

such as hearing etc., and at the same time controlling all their

seats, the senses should be turned inwards. This is what is meant by

closing the doors of the senses. The process is known as Pratyahara in

the terminology of Yoga.

 

Situated between the navel and the throat, the heart has been compared

to a lotus, and is supposed to be the seat of the mind and the vital

airs. Emptied of all thoughts, the ever-wandering mind is confined

within the region of the heart. The process is described in the verse

as fixing the mind in the heart. After fixing the mind in the heart,

the vital airs have to be raised upward through an ascending nerve,

and placed in the head. In course of this process the mind too follows

the breath, and gets fixed in the head. This very process is termed in

the Science of Yoga as Dharana. Restraining the senses as laid down

above, and fixing the mind and the vital airs firmly in the head is

the same as remaining steadfast in Yogic concentration. The use of the

word Atmanah before Yogadharanam is intended to convey that the mind

has to be concentrated on God, and not on any other deity or Nature.

 

The word Om is an appellation of the indestructible supreme Reality or

God, who is one without a second; and the name and the object named

being recognized as essentially one, it is quite in the fitness of

things to speak of Om as syllable one indestructible syllable and also

as Brahman,(Chapter 10, verse 25). The Kathopatiisad also says:"This

indestructible syllable is Brahman the supreme. Knowing this very

syllable we can attain whatever we like to have." As the verse refers

to the last moments of the Yogi who follows the path of Knowledge, the

word Mam here stands for the absolute formless Brahman, the embodiment

of Truth, Knowledge and Bliss. Just as by declaring in verse 4 that He

Himself is Adhiyajna in this body, the Lord has shown His identity

with the Adhiyajna aspect of God, even so He has used the word Mam in

this context to bring out His identity with Brahman.

 

One should not wonder here how to carry on together the mental

repetition of Om as well as meditation on Brahman, the meaning of Om.

For it is certainly within the power of the mind to carry on both the

practices together. The great sage Patanjali too says that till the

stage of what is called Savikalpa Samadhi the distinction of word, its

meaning and the consciousness of its meaning persists in the mind

(vide Yoga Sutras I.41). Hence it is but natural that a thought of the

name of the object meditated upon should exist in the mind side by

side with that of the object itself. Patanjali says: "The sacred

syllable OM (also called Pranava) is the name of God. Repetition of

this Name and meditation on the object signified by it, viz., God

should be carried on together."

 

In these verses, however, the subject of discussion being the mode of

worship in which the worshipper and the worshipped are one, no such

qualification has been used with reference to the worshipper, and

attainment of the supreme goal(absolute Brahman) has been declared to

be the fruit of his worship. Over and above this, verse 11 also under-

takes to broach a new subject. At the same time, if all the six verses

are treated as dealing with one subject, the references to Yoga

contained in them should have to be regarded as suffering from the

defect of repetition.

 

Verse 14

 

He whose mind having lost all attraction for everything else remains

constantly and lovingly attached to God alone, who is the repository

of supreme Love, is one who is said to be possessed of an undivided

mind. The word Satatam indicates that remembrance of God should go on

uninterruptedly without even a moment break; and the word Nityasah

shows that such uninterrupted remembrance should be carried on

throughout ones life without a days respite. When the

love-intoxicated devotee who remembers the Lord with exclusive

devotion can no longer bear his separation from Him, the Lord too

begins to feel His separation from the devotee unbearable. For His vow

is : "However men approach Me, even so do I seek them." (IV.l1) And

when God Himself Longs to meet the devotee, who can stand in His way ?

That is why the verse says that God is easily attainable by such a

devotee.

 

Is it an easy thing to be in constant thought of the Lord at all

times? The answer is yes to those who have great reverence and love

for God and to the God-realized saints. They firmly believe that by

remembering God at all times one can easily attain Him, and they find

it quite at ease to be in constant thought of the Lord through His

grace. The answer is an emphatic no to those who lack faith and love,

who have no knowledge of God's virtues and glory, and who do not

enjoy the privilege of being in touch with a God-realized saint.

 

Verse 15

 

Through constant practice of adoration and meditation carried on with

utmost faith and love when the seeker (sadhaka) reaches the climax of

Sadhana, after attaining which no Sadhana remains to be done, and the

sadhaka immediately obtains direct perception of God, he is said to

have reached the highest perfection. And the term Mahatmanah (great

souls) has been used with reference to those enlightened devotees who

have reached this state of perfection. The great souls referred to

above are no more subjected to rebirth only because those devotees,

possessed of exclusive love for God, succeed in realizing Him. The

rule is that he who is once able to realize God, who is an endless

ocean of all joys and the supreme support and asylum of all, and who

is also called the Supreme Spirit or the Supreme Person, is never and

under no circumstance disunited from Him. This is why the Lord says

that after God-Realization one is no more subjected rebirth.