Bhagavatgita a detailed study chapter 12 concluded

July 27, 2009

15.yasmaath na udhvijathe lokaH lokaath na udhvijathe

cha

yaH

harshaamarsha bhayodhvegaiH muktaH yaH sa cha me

priyaH

By whom the

world is not disturbed and who is not disturbed by the world and who is free

from joy, anger, and fear, he is dear to Me.

The devotee

described in the foregoing slokas is in

perfect harmony with the world. With the view that everything is nothing but

the Lord, he fits perfectly in the mosaic pattern of the world created by the

Lord. Neither is he elated over any situation nor he gets anger nor fear

because he sees everything that happens as the will of the Lord.

16. anapekshaH SuchirdhakshaH udhaaseeno gathavyaThaH

Sarvaarambhaparithyaageeyo madhbhakthaH s ame priyaH

One who is

without dependence on anything , pure, efficient but unconcerned, free of pain

and who renounces all actions , such a devotee is dear to Me.

The devotee

depends on no one or nothing for his living or for his happiness.. apekshaa means expectation of something

that will bring us joy. This creates dependence. We depend solely on getting

the object of desire to experience happiness. Dependence on one's own kith and

kin is included in this. The devotee feels that the Lord is there to look after him and never depends on people

or things, having faith in the declaration earlier ananyaaH chinthayatho maam----yogakshemam vahaamyaham,(Ch.9.22) where

the Lord says "I will take care of their yoga and kshema."

This does not

mean that one should not do their duty in looking after their family and earn

money by seeking a job which makes them dependant on it. But the devotee is not

overmuch worried for two reasons. One is that he believes in the above sloka

and puts his trust in the Lord for giving him ability to discharge his duty

well. The other is that since he is a true devotee and acts as an instrument in

the hands of God he naturally does his work well and hence need have no feeling

of dependence on anyone except the Lord,

SuchiH dhakshaH , pure

and efficient. This explains the above characteristic. He is pure at heart and

body and executes his duty well because

he is working as the instrument of the Lord.

udhaaseenaH- he is

unconcerned about the out come of his efforts not because of indifference but

because of his even mindedness in accepting whatever comes as the prasada of

the Lord.

Hence he is gathavyaThaH , without suffering.

sarvaarambha parithyaagee , renounces all actions which

does not mean that he desists from acting but he renounces the sense of agency,

working as the servant of the Lord.

17. yo na hrshyathi na dhveshti na Sochathi na kaankshathi

SubhaaSubhaphalatyaagee bhakthimaan yaH sa me priyaH

One who does

not get elated nor dislike , hence does not grieve nor desire anything and has given

up both good and bad karma, is dear to Me.

This sloka is

just an expansion of the previous one. The true devotee considers all he does

as the offering to the Lord, and any result that comes is by the will of the

Lord. Hence he neither rejoices nor

grieves over anything that happens. Thus he has given up the desire for result

whether pleasant or unpleasant.

18.samaH Sathrou cha mithre cha thaThaa

maanaapamaanayoH

Seethoshna

sukhaduhkheshu samaH sangavivarjithaH

One who is

equal towards both friend and foe, towards honour and disgrace and towards heat

and cold, joy and grief and detached, is

dear to Me.

19.thulyanindhaasthuthir mounee santhushto yena

kenachith

anikethaH

sThiramathiH bhakthimaan me priyo naraH

One who treats

insult and praise alike, is silent, contented with whatever he gets, has no

fixed abode and has firm mind, he is dear to Me.

The true

devotee is even minded towards enemies and friends and treats disgrace as well

as honour equally because he is free from desire and attachment. When he lives

as the sesha of the Lord, totally belonging to Him only he does not consider

his body , mind and intellect as his own, being completely free from ego, which

makes one feel bad when insulted and elated when honoured.

Jada bharatha

episode is an example of this. When he was insulted by the king he asked

whether the king was insulting his body and said that he was not the body and

it does not therefore refer to him. Also when he is praised the devotee feels

that all was through the will of the Lord and he had done nothing to deserve

the praise and all the praise belongs to the Lord only.

Mounee means one who

is silent . This does not merely denote silence of the tongue but of the mind.

It is not like some one following mounavrata

and does not talk but writes what he wants to say or having the thoughts in his

mind but does not say it out. It means total silence of the mind which is

engaged purely on the Lord and does not wander in the worldly activities.

santhushto yenakena chith- The true devotee is contented with what ever the Lord

gives as Sankara says in Bajagovindham, yallabhathe nijakarmopaattham vittham thena

vinodhaya chittham, be satisfied with whatever you get according to your

karma.

anikethaH- one with no fixed abode. This does not mean

that the devotee leads a nomadic

existence but only that he does not have any attachment to a particular place

or house, denoting absence of mamakara, the notion of `mine'.

We have a

beautiful picture by Sankara in Baja govindam,

SuramandhiratharummoolanivaasaH

Sayyaa bhoothalam ajinam vaasaH

sarvaparigrahbhogathyaagaH

kasya sukham na karothi viraagaH

One who is sarvaparigrahathyagi, one who has given up all possessions and their enjoyment. Such a person

lives under a tree outside a temple, suramandhiratharumoolanivasah, he sleeps on the ground and wears skin sayyaa bhoothalam ajinam vaasah, yet he is full of joy because he has no desires.

Shankara asks kasya sukham na karothi viragah, where is the unhappiness when one is detached?

Thiuvalluvar says,`vendaamai anna vizuchchelvam eendillai

aandum ahdhoppadhil, ` there is no greater wealth than contentment. Has there

been any example for this? There were many. like the saints Ramakrishna and Ramana in all ages.

Even in the west we read about people such as Diogenes who, when asked by

Alexander the great to express his wish , said that he wished only that

Alexander would move away as he was obstructing the Sun. Such was the inner joy

experienced by the realized masters.

20. ye thu Dharmyaamrtham idham yaThoktham

paryupaasathe

SraddhaDhaanaa mathparamaa bhakthaaH the atheeva me

priyaaH

Those who

follow this way of life outlined above which is like nectar with full faith

with their mind engrossed in Me, such devotees are extremely dear to Me.

The slokas 13

to 19 have portrayed a devotee who has attained the supreme state of Vasudevassarvam ithi which is similar to the

sthithaprajna described in the second chapter. In this sloka Krishna

declares that this is the way to immortality, amrtham dharmyam, and

who follows this as outlined above with full faith and engaging their minds in

the Lord they are the most loved by the Lord. Thus the discourse on Bhakthiyoga

ends.

In the chapter7

sloka 17 the Lord has said priyo hi

jnaanino athyarTham aham sa cha mama priyaH, meaning, "I am very dear to a jnani and he is very dear to Me. There also the jnani is the bhaktha who has

got jnana through bhakthi. He is described as one having ekabhakthi and nithyayukthaH

(ch7.17) He has devotion, single pointed and consistent. It is possible for any

one who has devotion to have single pointedness at one time or other but consistency

is very rare and found only in a devotion coupled with jnana. The ajanana being destroyed, the devotee has no

other thought or desire except towards the Lord. This kind of devotee is

described in the sloka 14 in the chapter 9 sathatham

keerthayantho maam --- as one having no other interest except to sing the

praise of the Lord and adoring Him.

Thus end the

six chapters extolling Bhakthi yoga.