Devotional Self-abidance: Bhagavad Gita Chapter 18 verse 65

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Namaste Friends,

 

>From The Garland of Guru's Sayings:

 

731 It is said that meditation

On one's own being is supreme

Devotion to all-transcending God,

Because, though spoken of as two,

They are in substance one.

 

And ,

 

Meditation on the Self

Is devotion to the Lord

Supreme, since He abides as this

Our very Self.

--Sri Bhagavan 13

 

I would like to share with you a rather different interpretation of

what are normally considered Krishna bhakti verses in the Bhagavad

Gita. These excerpts come from Paramahansa Yogananda's translation

and commentary. The text is over 1100 pages and is written from a

yogi's perspective. However, the verse commentary below is of

interest to practitioners of Atma Vichara and devotional Self-

abidance.

 

================begin excerpt===============

9:34 On Me fix thy mind, be thou My devotee, with ceaseless worship

bow reverently before Me. Having thus united thyself to Me an thy

Highest Goal, thou shart be Mine own.

 

18:64 Again listen to My supreme word, the most secret of all.

Because thou are dearly loved by Me, I will relate what is

beneficial to thee.

 

18:65 Absorb thy mind in Me; become My devotee; resign all things to

Me; bow down to Me. Thou are dear to Me, so in truth do I promise

thee: Thou shalt attain Me!

 

Commentary on 18:65. A critical mind might wonder why God, promising

the gift of Himself, is asking the already devoted Arjuna to become

absorbed in Him, devoted to Him and to perform ceremonial sacrifices

to Him. And to bow down to Him.

 

Further, since this counsel was prefaced in the preceding

verse with: "Again listen to My supreme word, the most secret of

all," the obvious question is, what is so profoundly

secret? "Secret" means hidden, an experience of realization

transcending the activities and ordinary observations of the mind

and senses. Thus, this verse must be read as more than a simple

formula for the single-minded bhakta. It is stating "again" the

ultimate realization requisite to liberation.

 

…To know God as that Spirit which is the origin and end of all

beings is indeed the ultimate knowledge. But knowledge of God as

the All-in-All is possible only when the devotee realizes first the

great "Myself"—that Spirit present within himself, as well as

omnipresent in the universe. Ordinarily, when the devotee speaks

of "myself," he has in mind his ego, but when by meditation he

succeeds in uniting his ego consciousness with the intuitive

consciousness of his soul, he knows what is the true "Myself." This

is why the Lord as Krishna is now urging Arjuna to lift his mind

from the plane to the senses and be absorbed in the inner "Myself"

or God, whose reflected presence in the devotee is his true Self.

 

…Manmana bhava, "absorb thy mind in Me," signifies abosorption

in the true "Myself" in ecstasy. Madbhakta bhava, "become My

devotee," signifies perception and remembrance of the

blessed "Myself" during that state of human activity in which the

devotee's actions are not performend under the influence of the

physical ego. Madyaji bhava, "resign all things to Me," signifies

dissolving mind and life force and desires in the fire of true

perception of the inner "Myself." Mam namaskuru. "bow down to Me,"

has a very deep meaning. The act of bowing consists in placing the

hands, palms pressed together, over the heart, then touching the

fingertips to the forehead to express devotion to a person or to

God. Hands symbolize activity, the heart symbolizes love, and the

head symbolizes wisdom. So a person bowing to man or God symbolizes

by this act of obeisance: "My activity, my love, and my mind are at

Your service."

 

…[T]he Lord asks Arjuna to dissolve his heart's love, his

impulse to physical activity, and his discriminating thoughts in the

inner "Myself" by repeatedly concentrating his attention therein,

even though the mind whats to run away and to be engrossed in

physical or emotional activities on the plane of the senses. The

Lord further intimates to Arjuna: "You have endeared yourself to Me.

I truly promise you that if you become absorbed in your

inner "Myself," you will know it is none other that the great Myself

pervading everywhere.

================end excerpt====================

 

>From this commentary we can reinterpret 18:65 as:

 

Absorb thy mind in "Me";

Become a devotee of "Me";

Resign all things to "Me";

Bow down to "Me".

Thou are dear to Me, so in truth do I promise thee:

Thou shalt attain "Me"!

 

Or, if we equate "Me" with "I AM", the verse could be interpreted as

 

Absorb thy mind in the "I AM";

Become a devotee of the "I AM";

Resign all things to the "I AM";

Bow down to the "I AM".

Thou are dear to Me, so in truth do I promise thee:

Thou shalt attain "I AM"!

 

Armed with this understanding, various bhakti verses of the Bhagavad

Gita can be seen as clear instruction in devotional Self-abidance.

For example, these verses from the chapter on Bhakti Yoga (PY's

translation again):

 

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

12:2 Those who, fixing their minds on Me, adore Me, ever united to

Me with supreme devotion, are in My eyes the perfect knowers of yoga.

 

12:8 Immerse thy mind in Me alone; concentrate on Me thy

discriminative perception; and beyond doubt thou shalt dwell

immortally in Me.

 

12:9. O Dhananjaya (Arjuna), if thou are not able to keep thy mind

whole on Me, then seek to attain Me by repeated yoga practice.

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

 

Where yoga practice is now seen to mean repeated effort at Self-

abidance.

 

Om Namo Bhagavate Sri Ramanaya

 

David