Bhagavatgita adetailed study chapter9 Brahmavidhya the royal secret

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11. avajaananthi maam mooDaaH maanusheem thanum

aaSritham

param bhaavam

ajaananthaH mama bhoothaahesvaram

 

The

fools show disrespect to Me in human form, because they do not know Me to be

the higher self , the master of all.

This secret is not known to

the dull-witted and those of deluded intellect. They consider the Lord, like

Kamsa or Duryodhana, to be a human being and not knowing His higher nature

detest Him, or ridicule Him and waste

their lives.

 

This statement of Krishna.

should not be merely considered in its historical implication. The essence of

every being is Brahman and due to ignorance man identifies himself and others

with only body, mind and intellect and get deluded. In other words the true

nature of the self is not understood and hence man behaves like asuras and

rakshasas,as described in the next sloka.

 

 

12. moghaaSo moghakarmNaHmoghajnaanaa vichethasaH

raakshaseem

aasureem chaiva prakrthim mohineem

SrithaaH

 

Their

desires, actions and knowledge are all in vain. They exhibit the deluded

personalities like rakshasas and asuras.

 

Mogha means wasteful or in vain. aaSaah, desires are of no

use if they do not lead one towards the Lord. The desire , kama must be in

accordance with dharma and should be for Moksha. All the other karma,

desire-motivated activities, including those prescribed in the Vedas for

acquiring the object of desire in this world or in the next, are termed as mogha,

wasteful and those who indulge in them are moghakarmaaNaH.

 

moghajnaanaah are those who waste their time in acquiring

knowledge other than brhmajnana. This is what Sankara means in his bajagovindam

sloka as sampraapthe sannihithe kale na hi nahi rakshathi dkrjnkaraNe, "when

your end approaches this suthra will not protect you," to an

old man who was committing to memory the Paninisuthra `dkrjnkarane' instead

of chanting the name of Govinda.

 

There

are 64 subjects mentioned in the sasthras to be learntin the secular field.

Though these are not undermined by the

term moghajnana, these are not conducive to spiritual progress and hence one

who concentrates on these only for

material gains is wasting his life which was to be used in getting him nearer

to God. At the same time the knowledge acquired thus can be utilized for

uplifting oneself by infusing divine outlook in whatever one learns or does.

 

13.mahaathmaanasthu maam paarTha dhaiveem prakrthim

aasrithaaH

 

bajanthi

ananyamansaH jnaathvaa bhoothaadhim avyayam

 

The

great souls, Oh Arjuna, possessing of divine nature , worship Me with

single-pointed mind, knowing Me as the primal immutable cause

of all beings.

 

14. sathatham keerthaynatho maam yathanthaScha

dhrDavrathaaH

 

namasyanthyaScha

maam bhakthyaa nithyayukthaa

upaasathe

 

They

worship always, Singing My glory all the time persisting with steadfast vow,

bowing down to Me with devotion.

 

The

great souls referred to here are the devotees who have divine nature as

described subsequently in chapter 16 where Krishna enumerates

the divine and demonic qualities. They have no other attachment except that towards

the Lord and think of Him all the time. This devotion is described again later

in chapter 10 in sloka 9.

 

The

attitude described here and in chapter 10 , sloka 9 is that which makes a

devotee say, kaayenavaacha mansaendhriyairvaa budDhyaathmanaa vaa prakrtheH

svabhaavaath karomi yath yath sakalam

parasmai narayaaNaayaethi samarpayaami.

 

`Whatever

I do physically, by speech or by my mind, or intellect or my indhriyas,or by

my inherent nature , I offer all to Lord Narayana.'

 

To them later in the chapter the Lord says yogakshemam

vahamyaham. "I will look after their welfare."