Bhagavad Gita - Daily - II CHAPTER 3-31 II

[Guest guest]

Gita 3-31

 

ye me matam idam nityam, anutishthanti manavah

shraddhavanto 'nasuyanto, mucyante te 'pi karmabhih

 

" Persons who always follow this teaching of Mine, with full faith and free from

cavil, are released from the bondage of all actions (Karma). "

 

Comment:

 

The Lord's teaching is – Those things that are attained (received) that later

separate (part away, disperse away) (i.e. objects and actions), are not ours and

they are not for us. The Lord's teaching in fact is the principle, simply by

following which all human beings can be liberated from the bondage.

 

From " Gita Prabodhani " in Hindi by Swami Ramsukhdasji

 

---

 

Chapter 3, Verse 31 is as follows;

 

Ye = those who

Me = my

Matam = teaching / doctrine

Idam = this

Nityam = constantly / always

Anu-tiShthanti = practise

MaanavaaH = men

Shraddhaa-vantaH = full of faith

Ana-SooyantaH = not cavilling

Muchyante = are freed / liberated

Te = they

Api = also

KarmabhiH = from actions

 

English translation:-

 

Those who constantly practise this teaching of Mine, full of faith and free from

cavilling, they too are liberated from actions.

 

Comment:

 

Those men, who maintain total `Shraddhaa' i.e. faith in Me, who have no feelings

of envy / jealousy towards anybody including Me, who invariably conform to this

doctrine of Mine; are also liberated from the bondage of all kinds of righteous

as well as unrighteous actions.

 

On the contrary, those who scorn at this doctrine of Mine and fail to conform to

it are invariably deluded in respect of all forms of superficial knowledge,

lacking in `Vivek Buddhi' i.e. ability to discriminate between the Real (the

knowledge of the Self) and the Unreal (everything else other than the knowledge

of the Self ).

 

" Haughty people are those who deride the ignorance, credulity and superstition

in others. They are always proud of their own achievements and attainments. Such

people hardly ever make any progress in spirituality. On the other hand, those

who are humble and meek, those who are ever dependent on the Supreme Lord,

gradually get over their defects if any. The gracious Lord sees to it that His

erring devotees come around soon. " ….. Shri Ramakrishna Paramahansa

 

`Shraddhaa' is a state of mind of a Sadhak that is conducive to his / her all

round advancement in every walk of life. Please refer the verse 3 in the chapter

17 in Shreemad Bhagawad Geeta, as the best definition of `Shraddhaa' offered by

Lord Krishna. Ardently dedicating oneself to an undertaking of his / her liking,

trying to be meek and accommodative to others while being constantly engaged in

that undertaking, building trust and generating confidence in fellow human

beings; these are the multiple facets of `Shraddhaa'. To be submissive to the

preceptor is the hallmark of a disciple having implicit `Shraddhaa' in him.

Please refer the verses 70 and 71 in the chapter 18 in Shreemad Bhagawad Geeta,

wherein Lord Krishna has declared that those who study Bhagawad Geeta on a daily

basis, with a feeling of `Shraddhaa', I treat that undertaking as the

performance of `My Poojaa' by means of `Dnyaana Yadnya'. Those un-envious ones,

who daily listen to the chanting of verses in Geeta with an implicit faith, are

also liberated.

 

The idea is quite plain and simple, that those who practice this yoga, with a

feeling of implicit as well as explicit faith that he or she is one with the

source of the Creative Energy behind the entire Universe, that the one Supreme

Cosmic Consciousness pervades all the beings and thus in such a realisation he /

she is merely like a bead in a common string – they are instantly freed from

ignorance and from all Karmas which give rise to multiple births and deaths.

Renunciation of egoism destroys the " bundle of Karmas " (Sanchita) waiting to

fructify. These " effects " of past actions, not yet ripe for fructification, are

deprived of the ego-centered body on which to spend their forces. Even

`Praarabdha Karma' i.e. action which has already begun to work itself out in

this birth through the present body, is deprived of its " sting " since the yogi

does not identify himself with the body and its experiences of pleasure and pain

etc. The actions that he now performs (the Aagami or Kriyamana) are not

performed by his ego; his mind is centered in the Self and therefore there is

direct realization that " Karma Brahmaat UtbhavaH' i.e. the actions spring from

the Divine. Hence the actions affect him in the least. Therefore, he is

liberated from Karma (the law of action and reaction, cause and effect). When

the body falls, he is totally absorbed into the infinite Brahman and thus the

iteration of life and death cycle comes to a grinding halt for him / her.

 

Only the faithful man will practice this but its effectiveness does not depend

on faith - in the sense of mere blind belief! It is not a naive doctrine to

hypnotize the gullible, but a scientific approach to divine life. Nor is there a

suggestion that it is the only path! There are many other means to freedom -

" they too are freed " !

 

Self-knowledge i.e. surrender to the Divine is common to all religions in this

World. All the religions encourage the seeker to surrender himself to the Divine

or to seek and discover that there is no being is independent of the Totality or

the Supreme Self. Regardless of what the religion is called, it will lead you to

this freedom. Please refer verse 62 in chapter 18 in support of this argument.

 

The Sanskrit word `Shraddhaa' has no exact equivalent in the English language. A

Christian scholar Joe Smith had defined faith as " a belief in a thing, which I

do not know until I come to know, what I believe in " . The famous Nobel Laureate

and Bengali Poet Shri Ravindranaath Tagore had defined, " Faith is the bird that

feels the warmth of the Sunlight and starts singing spontaneously, while the

dawn is still dark. " Shraddhaa is that all inclusive capacity of the intellect

to reflect upon the teachings, assimilating them after deep contemplative

thoughts and making it as if your own singular pursuit till you become one with

it, upon the metamorphosis of the knowledge into wisdom.

 

In this verse Lord Krishna humbly states that this technique of action is his

'Matam' i.e. personal opinion, which is applicable to those who are rearing for

action under the influence of Rajas GuNa. For those who are already outgrown the

need of action, this may not be the operative principle as they are already

engaged in the `Nishkaama Karma'.

 

Thanks & Best Regards,

 

Shrikant Joshi.

 

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

 

To learn more -

please visit Hindi website: www.swamiramsukhdasji.org

please visit English website: www.swamiramsukhdasji.net