Gita Satsangh Chapter 12 Verses 3 to 4

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--- On Sun, 8/31/08, Ram Chandran <ramvchandran wrote:

 

Gita Satsangh Chapter 12 Verses 3 to 4

 

Ye twaksharamanirdeshy amavyaktam paryupaasate;

Sarvatragamachintya m cha kootasthamachalam dhruvam. Verse 3

 

Sankara Bhashya (Swami Gambiranda's translation)

3. Those, however, who meditate in every way on the Immutable, the

Indefinable, the Unmanifest, which is all-pervading,

incomprehensible, change-less, immovable and constant.-

 

Ye, those; tu, however; who, pari-upasate, meditate in every way;

aksaram, on the Immutable; anirdesyam, the Indefinable- being

unmanifest, It is beyond the range of words and hence cannot be

defined; avyaktam, the Unmanifest-It is not comprehensible thrugh any

means of knowledge-.

 

 

Samniyamyendriyagra amam sarvatra samabuddhayah;

Te praapnuvanti maameva sarvabhootahite rataah.

 

4. By fully controlling all the organs and always being even-minded,

they, engaged in the welfare of all beings, attain Me alone.

 

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PraNAms - It is interesting that we are starting the Ch. 12 this Saturday in our

Giita navaneetam class.

 

As I am looking at these two slokas - it reminded me the story of a sage (forgot

the name) - as a boy he went to his teacher to learn - And they start with

adhyayanam - where he was reciting the mantras - satyam vada, dharmam chara,

etc. - Speak the truth and follow the righteousness, etc Every other student

learned and was going to the next mantras but the boy kept repeating again and

again and getting lost. While the other students who learned were looking down

at him, the teacher asked the boy if there is problem in learning those. The

student responded with humility - Reverend Sir, please forgive me. I find them

very difficult and I can recite them but I am unable to learn them and therefore

unable to graduate from these - they are so difficult to follow. Of course, the

teacher understood the boy's problem - The teacher with compassion said - yes my

dear - it is very difficult to graduate from those -sometimes it is a life long

struggle to follow

what the mantras say. Of course, as he graduated from those mantras, ended up

becoming a great sage.

 

Krishna starts with a big bang - if one looks down the chapter - he is using top

down approach in the bhakti yoga. He has already mentioned that there are four

types of bhaktas - aartho, arthaarthii, jignaasu and jnaani and among the four

he declared that the jnaani is his highest bhakta, never away from Him. Krishna

starts from that level - starting from uttama bhakta and down the level - which

is a top-down approach.

 

In these two slokas the bhakti that is involved is at that highest level. It is

not eka ruupa bhakti with ishTa devata or aneka ruupa bhakti as the considering

the whole world is nothing but Lord itself in different names and forms - but

aruupa bhakti where bhakti towards god manifests in formless form. The supreme

bhakti as bhakti swaruupam or as Narada says premaswaruupa bhakti.

 

Each of the words used is contemplative or meditative to take the mind away from

every form and name to that which is beyond the name and form.

Aksharam - anirdesyam - avyaktam - sarvatragam, achintyam, kuuTastam, acalam,

dhruvam - It is not the meaning - but one has to go behond the meaning to see

that eternal- all pervading that which is formless that which does not undergo

any change inspite of all peceptual changes (aksharam), that which can not be

pointed out as this or that, that which is beyond any conceptualization and

becuase of which all conceptualization is possible, that which is the basis for

all changes itself not undergoing any change, that which is infinite and hence

immovable and that which is absolute and firm - How can we think or meditate on

it - reminded of Bhagavaan Ramana's fist sloka in the Sat Darshan- he say Oh

Lord I want to think of you but you are beyond all thoughts - how can I think of

you - all I can be just BE - the very existence-consciousness that pervades

everyting, sarvatragam.

 

 

Here bhakti should culminate in the dissolution of bhakta and the object of

bhakti where cannot be any division - Pure love demands the unity or oneness -

and that oneness where there are no other distinctions whatsoever.

 

In order to have that unity, one has to have withdraw the senses that go

outwards to discriminate - hence Krishna emphasizes in the sloka 4 the necessary

ingredients needed to graduate to sloka 3. This is called attachment-detachment

technique - when mind is fully contemplative, the senses have to be withdrawn or

sanyaasa for all the sense objects - hence tyaagenaike amRitatvam - by

renouncing the entire lower one can go higher. At the mind level there cannot

be any likes and dislikes - sarvatra sama buddhi- viita raaga bhaya kRidhaH -

and of course compassion to all beings - if we have those qualifications then

those who meditate on the sloka 3 - they praapnuvati maam eva- they merge into

me only. There cannot be any division between me and him/her.

 

To graduate from these two slokas - is the very purpose of the life itself -

That is the vision of Vedanta - reminded of Shree Sastriji statement of jnaana

yoga - are shrotavyaH, mantavyaH, nidhidhyaasitayvaH. Krishna gave them with big

bang with the ultimate bhakti. If we are not ready then we need to study the

rest of the slokas.

 

Hari Om!

Sadananda