Gita Satsangh Chapter 10: Verses 37 to 40

[Guest guest]

Namaste:

 

Lord Krishna continues to spell out the Divine Glories to facilitate

us to recognize His Presence in every action that we undertake and

everything that we come across. The message is, "the divine is very

near still due to our ignorance we look for Him everywhere instead of

see Him within!" There are no external objects other than Him who is

everpresent withing our heart!!

 

Harih Om!

 

Ram Chandran

 

Gita Satsangh, Chapter 10: The Yoga of Divine Glories(VibhuutiyogaH)

Verses 37 to 40.

 

Vrishneenaam vaasudevo'smi paandavaanaam dhananjayah;

Muneenaamapyaham vyaasah kaveenaamushanaa kavih. 37

 

Among Vrishnis I am Vasudeva; among the Pandavas I am Arjuna; among

sages I am Vyasa; among poets I am Usana, the poet.

 

By calling Vasudeva His own self, the Lord establishes identity

between a manifestation of God and God himself. The intention is to

show that it is the integral Brahma or the Supreme Person, the

unborn, immortal and almighty Over lord of all created beings, who

manifested Himself as Sri Krsna, son of Vasudeva (IV.6). Therefore,

he who regards the Lord as an ordinary human being commits an

egregious blunder. Even though Yudisthira was the eldest of the

Pandavas, a highly virtuous soul and a great devotee of God, yet it

is Arjuna who is recognized as the greatest of the Pandavas. The

reason for this is that when the Lord appeared as the sage Narayana,

Arjuna was present with Him as Nara. More than this, he was the

dearest friend and a great lover of the Lord. That is why the Lord

declares him to be His very self.

 

A 'Muni' is one who meditates on God and makes a deep study of the

Vedas and other scriptures. Bhagavan Vedavyasa divided the Vedas

after thoroughly examining them, and is the author of the

Mahabharata, the various Puranas and many other scriptures. He is a

part manifestation of God, and a repository of all noble virtues.

Being thus the foremost of all sages, Vyasa has been declared by the

lord as the same as Himself. The word 'Kavih' stands for a learned

and wise man. The great ukracarya is the lord of the Bhargavas (sons

of Bhrgu), an adept in all branches of learning, and in the science

of reviving the dead, and for most of the wise. Hence he has been

declared to be the very self of the Lord.

 

Dando damayataamasmi neetirasmi jigeeshataam;

Maunam chaivaasmi guhyaanaam jnaanam jnaanavataamaham. 38

 

Among the punishers I am the scepter; among those who seek victory I

am statesmanship; and also among secrets I am silence; knowledge

among knower I am.

 

Deterring the unrighteous and unruly element from sinful conduct, the

fear of punishment urges them to right action. It is through self-

restraint that the mind and senses of man are controlled and help him

in God-Realization. It is through fear of punishment that all living

beings perform their respective functions. Hence the authority

possessed by gods, kings and rulers who rule according to law has

been declared by the Lord to be the same as Himself.

 

The word 'Niti', in this verse, stands for righteousness. It is

righteousness alone which brings one true victory. A Government that

abandons righteousness, and follows the path of unrighteousness, is

doomed. Therefore, righteousness is the best means for the attainment

of victory. Hence the Lord declares that He and righteousness are

the same.

 

Secrets can be maintained only through silence. Without restraint

over speech, it is exceptionally difficult to preserve a secret.

Silence being thus the best custodian of secrets, the Lord speaks of

it as His own self. The word 'Jnanavatam', stands for those truly

wise men who have realized the supreme Brahma or God. Their knowledge

alone is the best of all knowledge. Hence the Lord declares such

knowledge to be His own self. In verse 17 of Chapter XIII to the Lord

likewise declares Himself to be the same as "Knowledge".

 

Yachchaapi sarvabhootaanaam beejam tadahamarjuna;

Na tadasti vinaa yatsyaanmayaa bhootam charaacharam. 39

 

And whatever is the seed of all beings, that also am I, O Arjuna!

There is no being, whether moving or unmoving, that can exist without

Me. I am the primeval seed from which all creation has come into

existence. I am the seed of everything. I am the Self of everything.

Nothing can exist without Me. Everything is of My nature. I am the

soul of everything.

 

God alone is the ultimate support and substratum of the whole of this

animate and inanimate creation; it is from Him that everything

originates. Hence He alone is the seed or ultimate cause of all. It

is for this reason that in VII10. He has been declared as

the "eternal seed" of all beings, and in IX18 as the "imperishable

seed". Hence, in the present verse, He proclaims His identity with

the seed of all beings.

 

By the latter half of this verse the Lord reveals His omnipresence

and His identity with all. That is to say, all creatures, animate or

inanimate, are pervaded by Him, and there is no creature whatsoever

which is devoid of His presence. Therefore, regarding all beings as

identical with God, and knowing them as pervaded by Him, one should

think of God alone in the form of whatever presents itself before his

mind. This concludes the reply to Arjuna's question contained in X.

17, viz., in what particular forms He should be meditated upon by

him. In verse 19 the Lord stated that there was no end to His divine

glories, and therefore undertaken to enumerate only His conspicuous

glories. Accordingly, from verse 20 to 39, He described those

glories. Now He winds up the topic revealing again the infinite

variety of His divine glories.

 

Naanto'sti mama divyaanaam vibhooteenaam parantapa;

Esha tooddeshatah prokto vibhootervistaro mayaa. 40

 

There is no end to My divine glories, O Arjuna, but this is a brief

statement by Me of the particulars of My divine glories!

 

By the first half of this verse the Lord indicates that even His

divine glories are unlimited, much more His ordinary glories. Even as

the particles of water and earth cannot be counted, so it is

impossible to count His glories. They are so numerous that they can

neither be known nor described by anyone. His glories are endless in

the countless universes, and none can ever expect to find their

limit. By the second half of the verse the Lord intends to convey

that the extent of His divine glories described in this chapter

represents only a small fraction of them and that their full

description is very difficult. Hence He concludes the discussion of

those glories.

 

 

Easy references:

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

commentaries including commentaries in many languages.

 

Access Adi Shankara's commentary and Swami Chinmayananda's commentary

at URL: advaitin/files

First click and open the folder: <Bhagawad Gita Commentaries and

References>

Then click on the Gita related folders such as Sankara1 and Chinmaya

to access the files.

[Guest guest]

Namaste Satsanghis:

 

Gita in subtle terms imply that the recogniztion of Divine is only

possible with the Divine Grace. Everything that we recognize through

our sense organs are 'transient' and they have a begining, a middle

and an end. Alternativley, everything that we see, hear, touch,

smell, and taste undergo changes. First, our sense organs themselves

undergo changes (our sensing faculties do not remain constant all the

time even within a day!) We are very alert in the morning but by

nighttime, we become tired and we refuse to function. Our confusion

will likely remain as long as our recognition is bounded by our

senses. The Divine is changeless with no beginning, middle and end

and if so, how can we recognize Him as long as we are bounded. Gita

provides the answer to these questions through chapters 9, 10 and 11.

 

In chapter 9, the Divine Secret is injected to us for contemplation

through Arjuna. In chapter 10, the Divine spells out that His glories

can be recognized if we have Faith in Him and everything that He

explains has to be necessarily the Truth! Chapter 11 is the climax

with the Divine showering His Grace to Arjuna by providing Him with a

Divine Vision. Verse 8 of chapter 11 illustrates that only with

Divine Vision with His Grace the seeker can recoginize the Divine!

 

Na tu maam shakyase drashtum anenaiva swachakshushaa;

Divyam dadaami te chakshuh pashya me yogamaishwaram..

(Chapter 11, verse 8)

 

But surely you can't see Me with your physical eyes and therefore I

vouchsafe you with the divine eye. With this you behold My divine

power of yoga.

 

Harih Om!

 

Ram Chandran

 

advaitin, "Ram Chandran" <ramvchandran

wrote:

>

> Namaste:

>

> Lord Krishna continues to spell out the Divine Glories to

facilitate

> us to recognize His Presence in every action that we undertake and

> everything that we come across. The message is, "the divine is very

> near still due to our ignorance we look for Him everywhere instead

of

> see Him within!" There are no external objects other than Him who

is

> everpresent within our heart!!

>

> Harih Om!

>

[Guest guest]

post 30725

 

Sri Ramji writes :

 

(Maunam chaivaasmi guhyaanaam ) 38

 

( and also among secrets I am silence)

 

Secrets can be maintained only through silence. Without restraint

over speech, it is exceptionally difficult to preserve a secret.

Silence being thus the best custodian of secrets, the Lord speaks of

it as His own self. )

 

This sounds great. But i am looking for a more 'profound' explanation

.. Is it possible to give a more metaphysical explanation of this

seemingly simple statement 'i am silence among secrets' .... subbuji,

sadaji and others can you throw some light on this with the help of

Upanishads ?

 

regards

[Guest guest]

advaitin, "dhyanasaraswati"

<dhyanasaraswati wrote:

>

> post 30725

>

> Sri Ramji writes :

>

> (Maunam chaivaasmi guhyaanaam ) 38

>

> ( and also among secrets I am silence)

>

> Secrets can be maintained only through silence. Without restraint

> over speech, it is exceptionally difficult to preserve a secret.

> Silence being thus the best custodian of secrets, the Lord speaks

of

> it as His own self. )

>

> This sounds great. But i am looking for a more 'profound'

explanation

> . Is it possible to give a more metaphysical explanation of this

> seemingly simple statement 'i am silence among secrets' ....

subbuji,

> sadaji and others can you throw some light on this with the help of

> Upanishads ?

>

> regards

>

Respected Madam,

 

Namaste. In the context of the particular Gita verse under

reference, what Sri Ram ji has said is quite adequate. But as you

are asking for some 'profound' explanation, an attempt is here

made. Instead of giving a note on mounam i present some instances

that bring out the meaning of mounam:

 

1. Lord SriDakshinamurti is the Silent Teacher of the Tattvam which

is itself silent. 'Mouna-vyaakhyaa-prakatita parabrahmatattvam...'

is a well-known prayer on this Lord.

 

2. Bhagavan Ramana Maharishi has said that our True Svarupam is

itself Mauanm. The practice of maunam is to ultimately identify

oneself with the Svarupa-maunam and be one with It.

 

3. In His Brahmasutra bhashyam, Acharya Shankara has recounted an

interesting Vedic tale that is pertinent here. Baskali was desirous

of knowing Brahman. So, he approached the enlightened sage Badhva

and requested, 'Please teach me about Brahman'. Badhva remained

silent. Baskali repeated his appeal but again the sage did not

respond. Being earnest, Baskali asked for the third time, 'Please

teach me about Brahman'. The sage said, 'I have already taught you

but you have failed to comprehend. This Atma is quiescence'.

 

4. Atmavidya is the Greatest Secret, 'guhyatamam', 'Raja-guhyam',

the Sovereign Secret says the Gita of this. Naturally, such a great

Secret has to be protected from falling into those not qualified to

receive it. It is mounam that enables to protect this. Hence, the

teaching in the form of mounam. When a sadhaka meditates, it is

ideally intended to maintain 'mental mounam', that is, even the

thoughts have to be restrained. When this reaches a significant

stage, the 'grasping' of the Silent Tattvam is possible, for the

mouna-vyakhyaa is constantly going on inside our being; only that we

have to tune ourselves to it properly.

 

5. In the Vivekachudamani, the Acharya has said that the first step

to Yoga is vaang-nirodha, restraint of speech, mounam. Sadhakas

take up a vow of silence and practice it at regular intervals. Some

people observe it for a whole day, for some hours in a day, etc.

depending upon their circumstances.

 

6. A story: A holy man was seated in front of his Hut. A family

that was being hounded by some bandits came running that way and

took refuge behind the hut. Shortly thereafter the bandits reached

that place and asked the sage about the family. As the sage did not

want to lie, he directed them to the hiding place. The bandits

immediately massacred all of the family and left the place. The

moral of the story is: Had the sage remained silent, mounam, in

safeguarding the secret place of the hiding, he would not have

incurred the sin for his role in the massacre of the family.

 

7. Numerous devotees have reported that in the presence of Bhagavan

Ramanar's silence, many of their questions and doubts had vanished

for answers became clear to them even without any verbal

communication.

 

 

 

8.Here is an excerpt from the book 'The Saint of Sringeri' by Sri

Jnanananda Bharati Swamigal (formerly Sri R. Krishnaswamy Iyer of

Tirunelveli):

 

On another occasion, I happened to enter the room where His Holiness

Sri Chandrasekhara Bharati Swamigal was seated quite alone. After a

slight gesture asking me to sit down, HH relapsed into silence and

continued in it for about twenty minutes. The peace and exaltation

that i felt and enjoyed during that period can never be adequately

expressed. I thought I noticed a smile flickering on the face of HH

and looked up. HH asked 'Shall I tell you?' I naturally

replied 'If your Holiness so pleases'. Then HH said, 'I was in

perfect peace when a thought disturbed it. I realised that you were

sitting near me and perhaps expected me to speak. This led me to

the further thought that, if I had to meet your expectations, I must

speak. I recollected immediately that 'to speak' was a verb

requiring an object. I thought therefore I must find an object as

otherwise there could be no speech. Then I recollected that all

objects in the universe came under either of two categories, the

True and the False. The True is Brahman and the False is the world

of form. Either of these two things must therefore be spoken of.

But the Vedanta has declared in unmistakable terms that Brahman the

True is beyond all speech and even all thought. So Brahman as an

object of speech was out of the question. There was thus only the

world to be talked about. But regarding the world, the Vedanta was

equally emphatic that it was Anirvachaniya or incapable of being

explained in words. So the world also seemed to be out of the

question as a fit object of speech. There was no tird entity

available. There was therefore no fit object of speech. For want

of an object, there could be no speech. When I came to this

conclusion, I realised that i had come back only to wherefrom I

started and that I need not have allowed these thoughts to disturb

me. The example of the cartman who drove his cart through the

byepaths to avoid the toll-gate but found himself at break of dawn

just in front of it suggested itself to me. Evidently I smiled at

myself for all this waste of thought and you looked up.'

 

Having said this much, He relapsed into silence. This was far more

of a lesson to me in practical Vedanta than anything I could learn

from the books. I realised keenly that I might have quite

unconsciously entertained a passing thought that HH was silent and a

vague hope that He would break the silence. I realised at the same

time that I was the unconscious cause of bringing HH to the level of

the ordinary world. I immediately rose up and took leave of HH.

When HH is revelling in a higher sphere, is it not profanity to make

Him care for us if only as a matter of etiquette?

(End of the excerpt)

 

9. An excerpt from 'Exalting Elucidations':

 

So powerful was Acharyal's (Sri Abhinava Vidyateertha Mahaswamigal)

anusandhaana that it had a profound impact on those nearby, provided

they suitably attuned themselves. I vividly recall one such

instance. I was accompanying Acharyal on His Kundapur camp. I was

going in the pilot jeep when I noticed that Acharyal had ordered His

car to stop. HH asked me to sit in the front seat of His car and

sent His attendant Mahabala to the jeep. No conversation ensued.

Acharyal lost Himself in the contemplation of the import of the

Upanishads. The effesct on me was extreme, to say the least.

(Contributed by Sri P.S.Venkatasubba Rao, an enlightened person

himself.)

 

 

Warm regards,

subbu

[Guest guest]

Namaste Subbu-Ji:

 

The Sanskrit saying, "Moune Sarvartha Sadhakam" explains fully the

secret meaning and reward to those who observe 'real' Mounam. The

above quoted saying that the best understanding of all secrets that

we want to uncover can only through silent contemplation. What a

profound one-liner explaining the entire vedanta in a nutshell. There

is no wonder why Swami Dayanada and most of the others who wrote

detailed commentaries did not elaborate any more than what has been

presented. Also Bhagawan Ramana Maharishi has proved the validity of

the above quoted saying through 'self-enquiry' in SILENCE!

 

Anything more I say will against what Lord Krishna's emphasis on the

importance of observing silence!

 

Warmest regards,

 

Harih Om!

 

Ram Chandran

 

advaitin, "subrahmanian_v"

<subrahmanian_v wrote:

>

..

[Guest guest]

post number 30766

 

Thank you , Subbuji - this was the kind of explanation i was looking

for.

 

Yes. Maunam is not mere absence of speech. That is the most commonly

accepted meaning of this word . But Sri Ramana used to say 'maunam is

not merely silence of speech - it is also silencing of thoughts. ' He

even said Silence means the 'annihilation of the ego. '

 

Thayumanavar, the great saint-poet , used to follow his Guru's

advice 'summa eru' ( be quiet) - this quietitude involved not just

silencing the tongue but also restrining the senses and calming the

mind ! Be still ! when the mind is still, one can hear God's

footsteps- even the christians say that!

 

Subbuji , you are right ! Mahatma Gandhiji used to dedicate every

monday to observing Silence - He advocated this as a means of great

spiritual discipline . Sometimes , he also used 'silence' as a means

of protest !

 

Most saints also observe 'mauna' amavasya in spiritual practices.

 

subbu-ji, Brahma vidya is param guhyam ( a great secret) and only

those who are qualified should receive it. (adhikaratvam) Have you

heard of the great Shakta text - Tripura Rahasya - onlt those

initiated in Sri Vidya are qualified to read this great text and

understand its true meaning.

 

the word 'mauna' itself is derived fronm the word 'Muni' - the silent

one. Buddha himself was called Sakhayamuni - the silent sage. If one

goes to a buddhist monastry , one will notice that all monksdo every

activity silently even walking and eating.

 

However, when social justice is threatened , it is time to speak up.

The abolition of 'sati(widow burning) would not have taken place if

social reformers like sri Raja Rma Mohan Roy had not 'spoken' up

against the evils of Sati! When one keeps quiet (silent) on such

issues which threaten the moral fabric of a society, it appears that

we are giving our consent! On such occassions, we should 'voice' our

opinions!

 

Henry David Thoreau says

 

" In human intercourse the tragedy begins, not when there is

misunderstanding about words, but when silence is not understood. "

 

 

thank you , once again

[Guest guest]

advaitin, "dhyanasaraswati"

<dhyanasaraswati wrote:

>

> post number 30766

>

> Thank you , Subbuji - this was the kind of explanation i was

looking

> for.

>

Madam.,

 

I forgot to include a small humorous piece on mounam:

 

1. Mounena kalaham naasti - One can avoid quarrel by resorting to

silence.

2. Mounena kavalam jaasti - One is supposed to be silent while

eating. The result is that many morsels can be consumed !!

 

Then, during shraaddham, there is an instruction to the two

brahmanas who are fed: Mounena bhoktavyam.....Be silent while eating

and whichever dish you want to be served again, you must point to it

with your fingers.

 

Regards,

subbu

>

[Guest guest]

Subbuji and respected members :

 

It is now time to say 'goodbye' as i am leaving for my trip to my

motherland , India.

 

Yes - i do not plan to participate for the next month or so in these

discussions. So that will be a period of 'forced' silence for me.

 

Sri Ramji and other moderators , thank you so much for letting me

post in the group in my different i.d.s - i started out as

adi_shakthi16 and ended up as Dhyanasaraswati with a 'purushartha' in

between. What is in an i.d anyway? The true id is the one we should

all honor -Tat Twam Asi!

 

Subbuji, mauna is a great instrument in spiritual sadhana.

 

The Brahma sutras say

 

Maunavaditareshamapyupadesat III.4.49 (474)

 

Subbuji, may be you can elaborate on this ! smile!

 

Well, it is wise for the ignorant among us to be 'silent' lest we

should reveal our ignorance while speaking up , the learned among us

must continue to 'speak' and enlighten others in this Satsangha ! In

any case, the 'tongue' is there only to sing the praises of the Lord

just as the hands are there only to worship the Lord!

 

let me now enjoy the sweetness of slience- Mauna madhuri!

 

love and best wishes to one and all!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

advaitin, "subrahmanian_v"

<subrahmanian_v wrote:

>

> advaitin, "dhyanasaraswati"

> <dhyanasaraswati@> wrote:

> >

> > post number 30766

> >

> > Thank you , Subbuji - this was the kind of explanation i was

> looking

>