Gita Satsangh Chapter 14 Verses 9 through 11

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Dandavat pranams to all!

 

Gita Satsangh Chapter 14 Verses 9 through 11

 

To listen to Swami Brahmanananda of the Chinmaya Mission

chanting this Chapter...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jn3Hro5Ib4U & feature=channel_page

 

To listen to Meena Mahadevan of KailashMusic

chanting this Chapter...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9FyEwbZAOs

 

Sattwam sukhe sanjayati rajah karmani bhaarata;

Jnaanamaavritya tu tamah pramaade sanjayatyuta.

9. Sattwa attaches to happiness, Rajas to action, O Arjuna, while Tamas,

shrouding knowledge, attaches to heedlessness only!

 

Sankara Bhashya

(Swami Gambiranda's Translation and Commentary)

 

9. O scion of the Bharata dynasty, sattva attaches one to happiness, rajas to

action, while tamas, covering up knowledge, leads to inadvertence also.

 

O scion of the Bharata dynasty, sattva, sanjayati, attaches one; sukhe, to

happiness; rajas (-attaches is understood-) karmani, to action; tu, while;

tamas, avrtya, covering up, veiling; jnanam, knowledge, the discrimination

produced by sattva; sanjayati, leads pramade, to inadvertence; uta, also.

Pramada means non-performance of a duty on hand.

 

Swami Chinmayananda's Translation and Commentary

AGAIN, THE ACTIONS OF THE 'GUNAS' IN OUR INNER WORLD ARE BRIEFLY INDICATED:

 

9. SATTWA attaches to happiness, RAJAS to action, O Bharata, while TAMAS,

verily, shrouding knowledge, attaches to heedlessness.

 

These are the ideas that have already been described in the three stanzas; but,

the Geeta is given out as a conversation between two individuals; a Divine

Man-of-Wisdom, anxious to help the other, who is an ordinary man of average

intelligence.

 

SATTWA ATTACHES ITSELF TO HAPPINESS --- An individual, who has experienced the

thrills of the creative moments in life --- a scientist, an artist, a poet, or

for that matter any independent thinker --- will not ever like to come down to

the passionate world of Rajas, or into the dark sorrows of Tamas. Sattwa makes

us attached to the inward happiness, arising from life fully lived.

 

RAJAS TO ACTION --- If, on the other hand, one is under the influence of Rajas,

it makes one naturally passionate with hundreds of thirsty 'desires' and deep

'attachments,' and in the course of their fulfilment, one is made to sweat and

toil in the fields of endless activities.

 

TAMAS, SHROUDING KNOWLEDGE ATTACHES ONE TO HEEDLESS-NESS --- When Tamas comes to

play, by its very nature, it veils right judgement, and in the resultant

indiscriminations, we get attached to wrong comprehensions. We become heedless

to the calls of the Higher in us.

 

WHEN DO THE 'GUNAS' PRODUCE THE EFFECTS DESCRIBED ABOVE?

 

Rajastamashchaabhibhooya sattwam bhavati bhaarata;

Rajah sattwam tamashchaiva tamah sattwam rajastathaa.

10. Now Sattwa prevails, O Arjuna, having overpowered Rajas and Tamas; now

Rajas, having overpowered Sattwa and Tamas; and now Tamas, having overpowered

Sattwa and Rajas!

 

Sankara Bhashya

(Swami Gambiranda's Translation and Commentary)

 

When do the qualities produce the effects stated above? That is being

answered:

 

10. O scion of the Bharata dynasty, sattva increases by subduing rajas and

tamas, rajas by overpowering sattva and tamas, and tamas by dominating over

sattva and rajas.

 

O scion of the Bharata dynasty, sattva bhavati, increases, comes into being;

abhibhuya, by subduing both rajas and tamas. When sattva increases, then,

coming to its own, it produces its own effects-knowledge, happiness, etc.

Similarly, when the quality of rajas increases by overpowering both sattva and

tamas, then it produces its own effects-activity and hankering. When the

quality called tamas increases by similarly dominating over sattva and rajas, it

then produces its own effects-obscuring of knowledge, etc.

 

Swami Chinmayananda's Translation and Commentary

 

10. Now SATTWA rises (prevails) , O Bharata, having over-powered RAJAS and

inertia (TAMAS) ; now RAJAS, having over-powered SATTWA and inertia; and inertia

(TAMAS) , having over-powered SATTWA and RAJAS.

 

At this level of our discussion, any intelligent student should wonder whether

these gunas produce their effects, or act, at different times, each by turn. If

they act, all at one time, do they act in perfect concord, or in mutual discord?

Naturally, the Lord, in His Divine Song, anticipates this doubt, and answers it

in this stanza. He explains how these gunas act at different times --- each one

of them becoming prominent and powerful for the time being.

 

SATTWA RISES --- The stanza clearly shows that at any given moment, a human

personality, if analysed, can be found to work under the influence of one

predominating guna, wherein the other two gunas are not totally absent, but are

only of secondary importance. When we say that one is under the influence of

Sattwa, it means that Rajas and Tamas in him are, at that given moment, not

quite prominent to contribute enough of their particular nature.

 

Thus, when Sattwa predominates over Rajas and Tamas, it produces, in that bosom,

at that time, its own nature of happiness and knowledge.

 

When Rajas predominates over Sattwa and Tamas, it expresses its own nature of

passions and desires, attachments and actions.

 

When Tamas predominates over Sattwa and Rajas, it produces its own effects of

shrouding knowledge and making the personality heedless of its nobler duties.

 

BUT HOW ARE WE TO KNOW WHEN A PARTICULAR 'GUNA' IS PREDOMINATING OVER THE OTHER

'GUNAS'?

 

Sarvadwaareshu dehe'smin prakaasha upajaayate;

Jnaanam yadaa tadaa vidyaa dvivriddham sattwamityuta.

11. When, through every gate (sense) in this body, the wisdom-light shines, then

it may be known that Sattwa is predominant.

 

Sankara Bhashya

(Swami Gambiranda's Translation and Commentary)

When any quality preponderates, then what is its indication? This is being

answered:

 

11. When the illumination that is knowledge radiates in this body through all

the doors (of the senses), then one should know that sattva has increased

greatly.

 

Yada, when; prakasah, the illumination-prakasa, illumination, is a function of

the internal organ, intelligence; that itself is jnanam, knowledge; when this

illumination called knowledge upajayate, radiates; asmin, in this; dehe, body;

sarva-dvaresu, through all the doors-all the sense organs, (viz) ear etc., are

the Self's doors of perception; through all those doors; tada, then; through

this indication, viz the illumination that is knowledge, vidyat, one should

know; iti, that; sattva has vivrddham, increased; uta, greatly [see A.G.-Tr.].

 

Swami Chinmayananda's Translation and Commentary

 

11. When, through every gate (sense) in this body, the light-of-intelligence

shines, then it may be known that 'SATTWA' is predominant.

 

Here follows a discussion of three stanzas, each giving us a more subjective

insight into the symptoms produced by the guna concerned, from which we can

understand, under the influence of which guna the personality is working at any

given moment.

 

WHEN THROUGH EVERY GATE (SENSE) IN THIS BODY, THE LIGHT-OF-INTELLIGENCE SHINES

--- The apertures of the physical structure, through which the perceived

world-of-objects enters us, are the windows-of-knowledge, the " sense organs. "

Through these holes, the Light-of-Awareness, goes out, AS IT WERE, to illumine

the various objects of the world. The Knowledge in me pouring out through the

eyes, becomes the power of vision and illumines for me all the forms and colours

of the world. The same Eternal Awareness, through the ears, which cannot

illumine form, brings within my comprehension the world-of-sound around me. So

too, the Divine Light of Cognition beaming out through the tongue illumines the

taste.

 

Thus, " seven tongues of flame " shoot out from the same Fire-of-Knowledge, the

Self, in us. Each beam of light, as it emerges from each window in the body,

illumines one aspect of the world outside. It must be the experience of all

that, while we are perceiving something, and efficiently illumining it, we are

really in a state of Sattwa, at this moment. If there be at the time Rajas and

Tamas in us, our perception is hampered.

 

If the mind is agitated by Rajas and the intellect is veiled by Tamas, even

ordinary, efficient perceptions become almost impossible. Thus, the more often

and more completely we go beyond Rajas and Tamas, and thereby make our bosom

full of Sattwa, the more grows our capacity to observe, to analyse, to

understand and to become aware of the world outside and judge it correctly.

 

It has already been explained that the mechanism of knowing the world outside is

the intellect; and, the Consciousness, reflected in the intellect, is the

light-of-intelligence by which we illumine the world of ideas, feelings and

objects available in our life. The sunlight outside never comes directly to a

room to illumine the things in the room. It is always the light of the Sun

reflected on the walls that illumines a cosy room. Similarly the Light of

Consciousness, reflected in the intellect, is the beam of light that illumines

the world-of-objects. The gunas are the influences under which the mind and

intellect live.

 

It is very well known that a clean and steady reflecting medium will reflect

more efficiently than an unsteady, unclean surface. Rajas creates agitations and

makes the intellect unsteady; Tamas created veilings and makes the intellect

unclean. Naturally, the greater the proportion of Rajas and Tamas in a bosom,

the lesser will be its quota of intelligence. Therefore, it is highly scientific

to say that, " at the moment of knowing and comprehending the world, " one's bosom

is surely in its pure Sattwik-MOOD.

 

 

to be continued...

 

 

 

Hare Krishna!!!