Re:Question On shloka 7-20 of the Gita

[Guest guest]

advaitin , moses yesupadam

<moses_yesupadam wrote:

>

> Om

>

> Respected friends of the group,

>

> Pranaams

>

> While reading BhagavadgIta the 20th sloka is a bit confusing. It

reads " People, deprived of their wisdom by desires for various

objects and guided by their own nature, resort to other deities

following the relevant methods. "

>

> As my comon sense goes or as per the little knowledge I got the

Lord is not bound by any Name or Form. He can be worshiped in any

Form and Name as his Ishta Devata. If the Lord is insisting

that he should be worshipped in the form of Krishna

Vaasudeva and to reject all other forms, what about the fate of

devotees who worship him in various other forms like Siva, Sakti

etc... All these people are not entitled for the grace of him. I

think this is not the actual intension of the Lord. Kindly help me

and clarify the real meaning of this Sloka.

>

 

Dear Moses Yesupadam

 

Even though you have not mentioned the chapter number, I guess it is

the 7th chapter Shloka #20 you are talking about. On that

understanding let me submit this note for you.

 

The Lord is not insisting that He should be worshipped only in the

form of Krishna Vasudeva. The interpretation that He so insists,

belongs to the ISKCON Group. The advaita interpretation is, as per my

understanding, the following.

 

We shall use shloka #17 (Ch.7) as our springboard for this

explanation. (There are other ways of giving the explanation, but

this is what suggests itself to me offhand).Shloka 17 says: Among the

four kinds of devotees, the jnAni (the Enlightened Devotee), who is

always in union with the Supreme Lord with one-pointed devotion, is

the dearest to the Lord. The key-words here are: " Always in union

with Him " (*nitya-yuktaH*) and " One-pointed Devotion " (*Eka-

bhaktiH*). So when in shloka #20 he refers to " Other deities " (*anya-

devatAs*) He is only reasserting the `One-pointed Devotion' aspect.

The `other deities' are all those distractions which take you away

from the thought of the supreme Lord who is none but the Self. Any

thinking about the non-self is a distraction and a subservience to

the `other deities'. Whether you worship Shiva or Shakti or Vasudeva

or Christ or Mohammed it does not matter. Are you identifying It with

the Self or not? That is the question. Anything which is identified

with the non-self, even if it be a sacred deity in a certain form or

representation, is considered to be a propitiation of deities other

than the Supreme. This is the implication of the use of the

words `other deities' in Shloka 20.

 

PraNAms to all advaitins.

profvk

[Guest guest]

I think slokas 21 and 22 of the same chapter 7 are also relevant

 

21. I give unswerving faith to such devotee who seeks to worship with

faith whatever divine form(of his choice)

 

22. Possessed of that faith, he desires the worship of that form.From

that divinity he secures the objects of his desires;for,I myself have

ordained them ( sankara's interpretation)

 

Vasudeva or I in the above slokas, refer to SELF

 

Ramana Sarma

In advaitin , " V. Krishnamurthy " <profvk wrote:

>

> advaitin , moses yesupadam

> <moses_yesupadam@> wrote:

> >

> > Om

> >

> > Respected friends of the group,

> >

> > Pranaams

> >

> > While reading BhagavadgIta the 20th sloka is a bit confusing. It

> reads " People, deprived of their wisdom by desires for various

> objects and guided by their own nature, resort to other deities

> following the relevant methods. "

> >

> > As my comon sense goes or as per the little knowledge I got the

> Lord is not bound by any Name or Form. He can be worshiped in any

> Form and Name as his Ishta Devata. If the Lord is insisting

> that he should be worshipped in the form of Krishna

> Vaasudeva and to reject all other forms, what about the fate of

> devotees who worship him in various other forms like Siva, Sakti

> etc... All these people are not entitled for the grace of him. I

> think this is not the actual intension of the Lord. Kindly help me

> and clarify the real meaning of this Sloka.

> >

>

> Dear Moses Yesupadam

>

> Even though you have not mentioned the chapter number, I guess it

is

> the 7th chapter Shloka #20 you are talking about. On that

> understanding let me submit this note for you.

>

> The Lord is not insisting that He should be worshipped only in the

> form of Krishna Vasudeva. The interpretation that He so insists,

> belongs to the ISKCON Group. The advaita interpretation is, as per

my

> understanding, the following.

>

> We shall use shloka #17 (Ch.7) as our springboard for this

> explanation. (There are other ways of giving the explanation, but

> this is what suggests itself to me offhand).Shloka 17 says: Among

the

> four kinds of devotees, the jnAni (the Enlightened Devotee), who is

> always in union with the Supreme Lord with one-pointed devotion, is

> the dearest to the Lord. The key-words here are: " Always in union

> with Him " (*nitya-yuktaH*) and " One-pointed Devotion " (*Eka-

> bhaktiH*). So when in shloka #20 he refers to " Other deities "

(*anya-

> devatAs*) He is only reasserting the `One-pointed Devotion'

aspect.

> The `other deities' are all those distractions which take you away

> from the thought of the supreme Lord who is none but the Self. Any

> thinking about the non-self is a distraction and a subservience to

> the `other deities'. Whether you worship Shiva or Shakti or

Vasudeva

> or Christ or Mohammed it does not matter. Are you identifying It

with

> the Self or not? That is the question. Anything which is identified

> with the non-self, even if it be a sacred deity in a certain form

or

> representation, is considered to be a propitiation of deities other

> than the Supreme. This is the implication of the use of the

> words `other deities' in Shloka 20.

>

> PraNAms to all advaitins.

> profvk

>