Gita Satsangh; Chapter 9 Verses 26 to 29

[Guest guest]

Namaste:

 

Our beloved ProfVKji, the coordinator of Gita Satsangh is on travel

and will be in India for during early next year. He has requested me

to coordinate the Satsangh for the next few months. As you may know

very well that ProfVKji will try his level best to participate in the

discussions. One of his major constraint to him is getting access to

the Internet. I am confident that with God's Grace, his constraints

will go away and God will provide him necessary time and tools to

guide the Satsangh.

 

The verses 26 to 29 posted below continue with the theme of

Devotion.

 

Let me once again request active participation from the general

membership. Every member is obligated to express his/her

opinion/thought on the verses under discussion. This list is full of

friendly and like minded individuals and this is a great opportunity

to show your devotion to your fellow members by sharing your insights.

 

Happy Holidays,

 

Ram Chandran

 

Gita Satsangh; Chapter 9 Verses 26 to 29

 

patraM pushhpaM phalaM toyaM yo me bhak{}tyaa prayach{}chhati .

tadahaM bhak{}tyupahR^itamashnaami prayataatmanaH .. 9\.26..

 

Whosoever offers Me a leaf, a flower, a fruit, or water with

devotion; I accept and eat the offering of devotion by the

pure-hearted. (9.26)

 

yatkaroshhi yadashnaasi yaj{}juhoshhi dadaasi yat.h .

yattapasyasi kaunteya tatkurushhva madarpaNam.h .. 9\.27..

 

O Arjuna, whatever you do, whatever you eat, whatever you offer as

oblation to the sacred fire, whatever charity you give, whatever

austerity you perform, do all that as an offering unto Me. (See also

12.10, 18.46) (9.27)

 

shubhaashubhaphalairevaM mokshyase karmabandhanaiH .

sa.nnyaasayogayuk{}taatmaa vimuk{}to maamupaishhyasi .. 9\.28..

 

By this attitude of complete renunciation (or Samnyasa-yoga) you

shall be freed from the bondage, good and bad, of Karma. You shall be

liberated, and come to Me. (9.28)

 

 

samo.ahaM sarvabhuuteshhu na me dveshhyo.asti na priyaH .

ye bhajanti tu maaM bhak{}tyaa mayi te teshhu chaapyaham.h .. 9\.29..

 

The Self is present equally in all beings. There is no one hateful or

dear to Me. But, those who worship Me with devotion, they are with Me

and I am also with them. (See also 7.18) (9.29)

 

 

Easy references;

 

The Gita Supersite http://www.gitasupersite.org/ contains most of

the commentaries including commentaries in many languages.

 

For Gita Dhyana Shlokas/Mantras and Mahatmya

 

/message/advaitin/6987

 

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

advaitinGita/Shankara1/gmbCH9.htm

 

Swami Chinmayananda's commentary at URL:

advaitinGita/Chinmaya/COMM9.HTM

[Guest guest]

Namaste

 

The sloka number 27 is a key sloka. It is a spiritual recipe for

daily living, that includes the secular living also. In fact the

sloka contains the essence of the entire Gita.

“Whatever you do, whatever you consume or experience, whatever

you offer to deities (through Fire or otherwise), whatever you

give away or renounce, whatever you perform (with or without an

end in view) -- do all this in dedication to Me” – says the

Lord.

I have said elsewhere that Sloka No.55 of Ch. 11 contains, as

per the commentary of Sankara himself, the essence of the entire

Gita. We shall see below the parallelism of the two slokas.

Sloka No.55 of 11th chapter says: “ Be engaged in actions

dedicated to Me, Have Me as your ultimate goal, Devote your

whole to Me, Avoid all attachment, Develop an attitude of ‘No

Hate’ to any being – He (who behaves this way) will reach Me”.

 

WHATEVER YOU DO, - ‘yat karoShi’ - DO IT IN DEDICATION TO HIM.

In other words all your engagement in actions must be in

dedication to Him. This is karma yoga.

WHATEVER YOU CONSUME OR EXPERIENCE, - ‘yad-ashnAsi’ - DEDICATE

IT TO HIM. In other words there is nothing that you experience

for yourself. Whether it is joy or sorrow, whether you enjoy or

suffer, it is all His. It is not only His will but also His

experience, not yours, because He is in you and there is nothing

else in you. This is the meaning of being devoted wholly to Him

and still living a life. This is the life of bhakti. ‘yad

ashnAsi, tat kuruShva mad-arpaNaM’ (sloka 9-27) therefore is

what ‘mad-bhaktaH’ of 11-55 means. This is bhakti yoga; and

more, it is advaita-bhakti.

WHATEVER YOU OFFER TO DEITIES – ‘yaj-juhoShi’ - THROUGH FIRE OR

OTHERWISE, DEDICATE IT TO HIM. This implies, there is no other

object for your worship, reverence or care. He is the goal; He

is the refuge. That is what the Lord says by the words

‘mat-paramaH’ in Sloka 11-55. This is the Surrender theory of

the Gita.

WHATEVER YOU PERFORM - ‘yat tapasyasi’ - WITH OR WITHOUT AN END

IN VIEW, DEDICATE IT TO HIM. This performance is tapas; meaning,

enduring the ‘shrama’ (effort or ‘pain’) while performing. Doing

something for the sake of some noble cause or someone whom you

revere, is tapas. Even ordinary acts of a difficult daily

commuting is also a tapas, if you adopt the attitude of

dedication to the cause that motivates you to undertake the

journey. All this has to be dedicated to Him, because if you

have no end in view, that is already a dedication, and if you

have an end in view, dedication to Him means you are not

attached to that end in view. Thus the whole process is a

sAdhanA (practice) for detachment. This is the ‘sanga-varjitaH’

of Sloka 11-55. This is the yoga-sAdhanA or the control of the

senses. That is surely one of the five major teachings of the

Gita.

WHATEVER YOU GIVE AWAY OR RENOUNCE, - ‘yad-dadAsi’ - DEDICATE

IT AS WELL AS THE ACTION, TO HIM. Because nothing belongs to

you, really. Everything belongs to Him. Even when you are giving

or renouncing, you are renouncing what you think you have, but

in reality you do not have. Nothing belongs to you or to

anybody. Therefore there is no reason to bear even an iota of

ill-will to anybody, even when you feel, in the worldly sense,

that the other person is possessing what you think must be, or

should have been, in your possession. Love every one; and more

importantly, hate no one. This is the attitude of equanimity –

‘samadR^iShTi’ - that is the hallmark-teaching of the Gita.

It requires you to renounce every feeling of ill-will. The Lord

describes it in Sloka 11-55 as ‘nirvairas-sarva-bhUteShu’. This

equanimity is also mentioned repeatedly in the Gita as

‘brahma-bhAva’ or ‘brahma-samsparshaM’, the attitude of seeing

everything and every one as brahman, the Supreme.

 

Thus all the five major teachings of the Gita, namely, (i) doing

one’s actions in dedication to God, (ii) advaita-bhakti, (iii)

the surrender of even one’s will to God, (iv) control of the

senses through a discipline of dispassion and (v) brahma-bhAva

or the attitude of seeing Him in everything -- all these, are

contained in this single sloka, sloka No.27 of Chapter 9 as also

in the single sloka, sloka No.55 of Chapter 11.

 

Happy New Year and praNAms to all advaitins.

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]

Namaste ProfVKji:

 

I really liked your beautiful explanations and thanks for providing

the connection from chapter 11. I am happy to report that Swami

Dayananda also has observed the beaty and importance of this sloka.

Let me provide Swamiji's explanations for the benefit of all

advaitins.

 

Warmest regards,

 

Ram Chandran

 

Swami Dayananda Saraswati's Explanation to Sloka 27:

===================================================

Whatever you do, whatever you eat, whatever ritual you perform,

whatever you give, whatever religious discipline you follow, Arjuna,

please do it as an offering to me. Various actions that you do,

whether they are secular or scripturally enjoined, either by the

Vedas or by smrti. please do all of them as an offering to me,

kurusva madarpanam.

 

Why is this said here?

Generally even though people perform these ritual acts, prayers, etc.

they do them for their own yoga and ksema. The same ritual can be a

kamya-karma or a niskamya-karma. Niskamya does not mean you do not

expect a result. Nobody can perform an action without a expecting

result. It means you expect no result except antahkarana-Suddhi.

You may do anything but if it is no longer a kamya-karma, you do it

with an entirely different attitude. What you want is antahkarana

Suddhi.

What exactly is the purification? Not to be in the hands of likes and

dislikes, the two words that really cover all other psychological

problems. If you analyze any problem you have, you find it comes

under raga-dvesa. Things did not happen as I wanted, therefore I have

a problem. Things do not happen as I want, therefore I have a

problem. I do not see that things will happen as I want, therefore I

have a problem. All problems, normal or abnormal, can be brought

under raga and dvesa.

 

CONNECTION OF PRAYER AND MENTAL PURIFICATION

This antahkarana Suddhi is so important and to achieve it, prayer is

inevitable. Why? Because, only a mind filled with prayer can accept

all this. Only seeing my helplessness, can I forgive myself. Only

understanding myself very clearly as a limited person can I totally

accept that I could only do as much as I did; I could not have done

anything better. Perhaps in the order of things this is how it

should have been. With that kind of recognition, that prayerful

attitude, there is serenity.

When the mind is settled like this, it can inquire properly. Here

Bhagavan is talking about a person who is interested in moksa. He

does karma for antahkarana Suddhl.

He may do the same action as a kamakami but he does not want this and

that. He wants only one thing, moksa, which is non-separate from

himself. As a karmayogi he has renounced the results of his actions,

karmaphalatyaga. He plays roles and performs karma etc. but he does

not work for dharma, artha, and kama, only antahkacana Suddhi. Or he

can be a sannyasi who gives up the karmas, duties, so that he has no

role to play. Both the Karmayogi and the sannyasi have a recognition

of Isvara called bhakti.

Tat kurusva madarpanam, whatever you do, please offer it to me. It

means may you not expect a result of yoga orksema; just do it and let

it go to the Lord. It is an expression of your devotion to Isvara.

All you want is antahkaranasuddhi. The very offering of such a

prayer brings about inner purification. Therefore whatever you do,

please offer it to me for the sake of antahka anasuddhi leading to

moksa. Bhagavan is not going to be elevated by your offering but you

are enriched in the process.

 

Yat kacosi, whatever you do. Bhagavan addresses Arjuna directly

here. Whatever you do is made into an offering and the result of that

karma /s taken as prasadam. Yad aSnasit whatever you eat. That is

why, while eating we offer the food saying, pranaya svaha, apanaya

svaha, vyanaya svaha, udanaya svaha, satnanaya svaha, then brahmane

svaha. Unto the Lord who is in the form of prana, the respiratory

function, apana, the system that throws things out of the body,

samana, the digestive system, vyana, the whole circulatory system, I

offer. Brahmane svaha, to the one who indwells every physical body

identified with the total subtle body, Hiranyagarbha, I offer this

food. Yad juhosi, whatever fire ritual you perform, whether it is a

srauta-karma or a smarta-karma, or any ritual that you perform daily

or on special occasions, please offer it unto me. Let it not be for

artha dharma, or kama. All that is important is your attitude.

Bhagavan is not going to be flattered by what you do or do not offer.

Still, through some association you make your offering more and more

real which creates in you a certain bhavana, attitude. Visnu is the

one who loves ornamentation, alankaraprjyah. Lord Siva loves a bath,

abhisekapriyah. Lord Surya loves salutations, namaskram. So you do

all this, for your own sake, really, to make your devotion more real.

It is only your attitude that counts. Two pieces of wood in the form

of a cross mean nothing; every telephone pole looks like that. But it

stands for something so there is an attitude, bhavana. A Muslim does

not have an idol but when he prays, he always faces a wall in a given

direction. If there is not enough money to build a mosque, a Muslim

will erect a wall facing the proper direction. He faces that and then

does namaskaram. Why? It stands for something so it creates a

bhavana, an attitude. So it will work. Nobody will be denied the

result of his prayer whether he is a Muslim, a Christian, a Jew, a

Parsi, or anybody. These things must be very clear. Any religion is

based on bhavana. That is what makes a person a devotee. Yad dadasi,

whatever you give as an offering, as charity - gold, food, ghee,

clothes etc. These are the things that we generally give to

brahtnanas, people like priests, dedicated to a religious life. In

former times, they were working for the society and the society took

care of them so danam was generally for brahmanas. Now it can be

anything you give in charity. Yad tapasyasi, any particular

religious discipline you undertake, There are varieties of tapas like

fasting and Japa. In all this, Bhagavan said whatever you do, do it

offering unto me. These are all very vague expressions which we have

to understand properly. Otherwise what does "Perform all action

dedicated to Lord" mean? Which Lord? Where? How? This is the problem.

 

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO OFFER EVERYTHING TO BHAGAVAN?

Therefore we have to understand that Isvara is in the form of moksa,

freedom. If you want that, you work for antahkarana Suddhi. When

dharma is Isvara, even duties are for Isvara. What is to be done

becomes important because it is looked upon as Isvara and thereby

raga-dvesas are relegated to the background. Then the special rituals

that you perform are meant for no other result than antahkarana-

suddhi leading to moksa. Wanting moksa means wanting Isvara because

moksa is non-separate from Isvara. Knowing I am Isvara. whose nature

is fullness and who is the cause of creation, is indeed moksa. When

you are seeking moksa, don't think that you are seeking anything

other than Isvara. When the various rituals, prayers, etc. that you

perform are all for the sake of antahkarana suddhi which is necessary

for moksa, they are all for Isvara. Because the svarupa of moksa is

nothing but Isvara. So when you perform these prayers and rituals

etc., they are ail meant-only for Isvara. Similarly, the other duties

which you are called upon to do in day-to-day life are also for

Is"vara if they conform to dharma. Your likes and dislikes,

tendencies etc., may be opposed to what you have to do, so they are

overruled and you conform to dharma, because that itself is Isvara.

===========================================

Note: Thanks again to Arsha Vidya Gurukulam for permitting me to

quote the Gita Homestudy Notes to this list.

============================================

 

advaitin, "V. Krishnamurthy" <profvk>

wrote:

> Namaste

>

> The sloka number 27 is a key sloka. It is a spiritual recipe for

> daily living, that includes the secular living also. In fact the

> sloka contains the essence of the entire Gita.