Gita Satsangh Chapter 16 Verses 17 & 18

[Guest guest]

Dandavat pranams to all!

 

 

Tasmaat shaastram pramaanam te kaaryaakaaryavyavasthitau; Jnaatwaa shaastravidhaanoktam karma kartumihaarhasi. Therefore, let the scripture be the authority in determining what ought to be done and what ought not to be done. Having known what is said in the ordinance of the scriptures, thou shouldst act here in this world. (BG 16.24)Gita Satsangh Chapter 16 Verses 17 & 18To listen to Swami Brahmanananda of the Chinmaya Mission chanting this Chapter...

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B50lu0Oilak & feature=related

 

Aatmasambhaavitaah stabdhaa dhanamaanamadaanvitaah; Yajante naamayajnaiste dambhenaavidhipoorvakam. 17. Self-conceited, stubborn, filled with the intoxication and pride of wealth, they perform sacrifices in name, through ostentation, contrary to scriptural ordinances.

Sankara Bhashya (Swami Gambiranda's Translation and Commentary)17. Self-conceited, haughty, filled with pride and intoxication of wealth, they perform sacrifices which are so in name only, with ostentation and regardless of the injunctions. Atma-sambhavitah, self-conceited, considering themselves by themselves to be possessed of good qualities-not considered to be so by holy men; stabdhah, haughty, having minds that are not humble; dhana-mana-mada-anvitah, filled with (anvita) the pride (mana) and intoxication (mada) of wealth (dhana); te, they; yajnate, perform sacrifices; namayajnaih, which are so in name only; dambhena, with ostentation, with religious hypocricy; avidhi-purvakam, regardless of the injunctions-without subsidiary rites and proper methods of performance as enjoined.

Swami Chinmayananda's Translation and Commentary

 

 

17. Self-conceited, stubborn, filled with pride and drunk with wealth, they perform sacrifices in name (only) out of ostentation, contrary to scriptural ordinance. Yajna need not necessarily be considered as the elaborate ritualism described in the Vedas. But it can be interpreted, in the Geeta style (III) as "A CO-OPERATIVE ENDEAVOUR IN WHICH EACH INDIVIDUAL POURS HIS BEST INTO THE ACTIVITY OF LIFE, AS AN OBLATION TO PROPITIATE THE POTENTIAL GOODNESS IN EXISTENCE, AND WHICH, WHEN INVOKED, IS TO BE DISTRIBUTED EQUALLY TO ALL." This spirit of selfless effort in the service of mankind was described by Krishna as the greatest Yajna; WORK IS WORKSHIP. SELF-CONCEITED, STUBBORN, FULL WITH PRIDE AND DRUNK WITH HIS OWN POSSESSIONS AND WEALTH --- When an individual enters the fields of social work or national service, he does not always do so with a true yajna-spirit only. Inspite of very many of the leaders and workers striving hard for the upliftment of their country, we find that the world of our age is falling away from peace, plenty, and prosperity. When a man of the 'Diabolically Fallen' type reaches any field of activity, in spite of his vociferous claims of selfless service, he is incapable of it, because of the very nature of his personality and character. Such friends of society can perform a yajna in name only. Unconsciously, their actions will be poisoned by their vanity, coloured by their sensuality, distorted by their arrogance, and generally polluted by their false philosophy. As a result of all their actions, sorrow alone will be the result.

Ahankaaram balam darpam kaamam krodham cha samshritaah; Maamaatmaparadeheshu pradwishanto’bhyasooyakaah. 18. Given over to egoism, power, haughtiness, lust and anger, these malicious people hate Me in their own bodies and those of others. Sankara Bhashya (Swami Gambiranda's Translation and Commentary)

18. Resorting to egotism, power, arrogance, passion and anger, hating Me in their own and others' bodies, (they become) [As the finite verb is missing in the verse, we have supplied 'they become'. S. adds the verb prabhavanti, wax strong, from verse 9, and constructs the last portion thus: '...the envious ones wax strond.' Following S. S., however, one may combine this verse with the preceding verse by taking 'perform sacrifices' as the finite verb.-Tr.'] envious by nature. Ahankaram, egotism-that which considers the Self to which have been imputed actual and imaginary qualities as 'I am this', which is called ignorance and is most painful, and is the source of all ills as also of all evil deeds; so also balam, power, which seeds to defear others and is associated with passion and desire; darpam, arrogance, a particular defect abiding in the mind, on the upsurge of which one transgresses righteousness; kamam, passion with regard to women and others; krodham, anger at things tha are undesirable;-samsritah, resorting to these and other great evils; and further, pradvisantah, hating; mam, Me, God-transgression of My commands is hatred (towards Me); indulging in that, atma-para-dehesu, in their own and others' bodies as the witness of their intellects and actions; (they become) abhyasuyakah, envious by nature, intolerant of the qualities of those who tread the right path.

Swami Chinmayananda's Translation and Commentary

 

 

SUCH LOW MEN CONTINUE FALLING LOWER AND LOWER EACH DAY:

 

18. Given to egoism, power, haughtiness, lust and anger, these malicious people hate Me in their own bodies, and in those of others. Once egoism takes possession of an individual, he steadily sinks to the ugliest depths of animalism. Drunk with passions, he abdicates from all the dignity of a cultured man and behaves as an ineffectual beast, strutting about precariously on its hind legs! Such a biological freak, who is physiologically a man but temperamentally an animal, is the type that is now being discussed as the 'Diabolically Fallen' (Asura). Enumerating the inner contents of such an individual, Lord Krishna says that he is "FULL OF EGOISM, BRUTE STRENGTH, ARROGANCE, PASSION AND ANGER." Any one of these is sufficient to pull one down to the depths of depravity, but the Lord characterises the Asura --- type of man as having all these qualities, all at once. Not only does he have these qualities --- and who does not have? --- but, unlike an evolver, the Asuric man comes to pin his faith on these qualities, and he struggles to discover his fulfilment only in the expression of these tendencies. What is the harm if an individual lives these values? This is a question that is often asked by an indulgent youth, when he is advised by his elders not to live yielding readily to his low urges and ugly temptations. The Geetacharya here explains that the consequence of disrespecting all cultural values, and living an uncultured ego-centric existence of passions and desires would be nothing short of total destruction of life. Persons who are entertaining the above-mentioned attitudes, would ignore the sanctity of life, and without any compunction whatsoever, desecrate it. They will grow malignant, and in order to satisfy the low urges of egoism, would come to "HATE ME IN THEIR OWN BODIES AND IN THOSE OF OTHERS." The Sacred Life, the Paramatman, does not come out to express Its full play when blanketed by the low sensuous urges. Ethical values are disciplines of the thought-life, whereby a mind so tuned up becomes the right instrument to serve faithfully the seeker of the Self. Unethical values and immoral intentions choke the great Melody of Life and reduce it to a discordant, purposeless noise, shattering peace and contentment within one's own and in another's bosom.

 

to be continued....

 

 

Hare Krishna!!!

[Guest guest]

advaitin , " Radhe " <shaantih wrote:

 

Dandavat pranams to all!

 

Tasmaat shaastram pramaanam te kaaryaakaaryavyavasthitau;

Jnaatwaa shaastravidhaanoktam karma kartumihaarhasi.

Therefore, let the scripture be the authority in determining what ought to be

done and what ought not to be done. Having known what is said in the ordinance

of the scriptures, thou shouldst act here in this world. (BG 16.24)

 

Gita Satsangh Chapter 16 Verses 17 & 18

 

To listen to Swami Brahmanananda of the Chinmaya Mission

chanting this Chapter...

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B50lu0Oilak & feature=related

 

Aatmasambhaavitaah stabdhaa dhanamaanamadaanvitaah;

Yajante naamayajnaiste dambhenaavidhipoorvakam.

17. Self-conceited, stubborn, filled with the intoxication and pride of wealth,

they perform sacrifices in name, through ostentation, contrary to scriptural

ordinances.

 

 

Sankara Bhashya

(Swami Gambiranda's Translation and Commentary)

 

17. Self-conceited, haughty, filled with pride and intoxication of wealth, they

perform sacrifices which are so in name only, with ostentation and regardless of

the injunctions.

 

Atma-sambhavitah, self-conceited, considering themselves by themselves to be

possessed of good qualities-not considered to be so by holy men; stabdhah,

haughty, having minds that are not humble; dhana-mana-mada-anvitah, filled with

(anvita) the pride (mana) and intoxication (mada) of wealth (dhana); te, they;

yajnate, perform sacrifices; namayajnaih, which are so in name only; dambhena,

with ostentation, with religious hypocricy; avidhi-purvakam, regardless of the

injunctions-without subsidiary rites and proper methods of performance as

enjoined.

 

 

Swami Chinmayananda's Translation and Commentary

 

17. Self-conceited, stubborn, filled with pride and drunk with wealth, they

perform sacrifices in name (only) out of ostentation, contrary to scriptural

ordinance.

 

Yajna need not necessarily be considered as the elaborate ritualism described in

the Vedas. But it can be interpreted, in the Geeta style (III) as " A

CO-OPERATIVE ENDEAVOUR IN WHICH EACH INDIVIDUAL POURS HIS BEST INTO THE ACTIVITY

OF LIFE, AS AN OBLATION TO PROPITIATE THE POTENTIAL GOODNESS IN EXISTENCE, AND

WHICH, WHEN INVOKED, IS TO BE DISTRIBUTED EQUALLY TO ALL. " This spirit of

selfless effort in the service of mankind was described by Krishna as the

greatest Yajna; WORK IS WORKSHIP.

 

SELF-CONCEITED, STUBBORN, FULL WITH PRIDE AND DRUNK WITH HIS OWN POSSESSIONS AND

WEALTH --- When an individual enters the fields of social work or national

service, he does not always do so with a true yajna-spirit only. Inspite of very

many of the leaders and workers striving hard for the upliftment of their

country, we find that the world of our age is falling away from peace, plenty,

and prosperity. When a man of the 'Diabolically Fallen' type reaches any field

of activity, in spite of his vociferous claims of selfless service, he is

incapable of it, because of the very nature of his personality and character.

Such friends of society can perform a yajna in name only. Unconsciously, their

actions will be poisoned by their vanity, coloured by their sensuality,

distorted by their arrogance, and generally polluted by their false philosophy.

As a result of all their actions, sorrow alone will be the result.

 

 

Ahankaaram balam darpam kaamam krodham cha samshritaah;

Maamaatmaparadeheshu pradwishanto'bhyasooyakaah.

18. Given over to egoism, power, haughtiness, lust and anger, these malicious

people hate Me in their own bodies and those of others.

 

Sankara Bhashya

(Swami Gambiranda's Translation and Commentary)

 

18. Resorting to egotism, power, arrogance, passion and anger, hating Me in

their own and others' bodies, (they become) [As the finite verb is missing in

the verse, we have supplied 'they become'. S. adds the verb prabhavanti, wax

strong, from verse 9, and constructs the last portion thus: '...the envious ones

wax strond.' Following S. S., however, one may combine this verse with the

preceding verse by taking 'perform sacrifices' as the finite verb.-Tr.'] envious

by nature.

 

Ahankaram, egotism-that which considers the Self to which have been imputed

actual and imaginary qualities as 'I am this', which is called ignorance and is

most painful, and is the source of all ills as also of all evil deeds; so also

balam, power, which seeds to defear others and is associated with passion and

desire; darpam, arrogance, a particular defect abiding in the mind, on the

upsurge of which one transgresses righteousness; kamam, passion with regard to

women and others; krodham, anger at things tha are undesirable;-samsritah,

resorting to these and other great evils; and further, pradvisantah, hating;

mam, Me, God-transgression of My commands is hatred (towards Me); indulging in

that, atma-para-dehesu, in their own and others' bodies as the witness of their

intellects and actions; (they become) abhyasuyakah, envious by nature,

intolerant of the qualities of those who tread the right path.

 

 

Swami Chinmayananda's Translation and Commentary

 

SUCH LOW MEN CONTINUE FALLING LOWER AND LOWER EACH DAY:

 

18. Given to egoism, power, haughtiness, lust and anger, these malicious people

hate Me in their own bodies, and in those of others.

 

Once egoism takes possession of an individual, he steadily sinks to the ugliest

depths of animalism. Drunk with passions, he abdicates from all the dignity of a

cultured man and behaves as an ineffectual beast, strutting about precariously

on its hind legs! Such a biological freak, who is physiologically a man but

temperamentally an animal, is the type that is now being discussed as the

'Diabolically Fallen' (Asura).

 

Enumerating the inner contents of such an individual, Lord Krishna says that he

is " FULL OF EGOISM, BRUTE STRENGTH, ARROGANCE, PASSION AND ANGER. " Any one of

these is sufficient to pull one down to the depths of depravity, but the Lord

characterises the Asura --- type of man as having all these qualities, all at

once. Not only does he have these qualities --- and who does not have? --- but,

unlike an evolver, the Asuric man comes to pin his faith on these qualities, and

he struggles to discover his fulfilment only in the expression of these

tendencies.

 

What is the harm if an individual lives these values? This is a question that is

often asked by an indulgent youth, when he is advised by his elders not to live

yielding readily to his low urges and ugly temptations. The Geetacharya here

explains that the consequence of disrespecting all cultural values, and living

an uncultured ego-centric existence of passions and desires would be nothing

short of total destruction of life.

 

Persons who are entertaining the above-mentioned attitudes, would ignore the

sanctity of life, and without any compunction whatsoever, desecrate it. They

will grow malignant, and in order to satisfy the low urges of egoism, would come

to " HATE ME IN THEIR OWN BODIES AND IN THOSE OF OTHERS. " The Sacred Life, the

Paramatman, does not come out to express Its full play when blanketed by the low

sensuous urges. Ethical values are disciplines of the thought-life, whereby a

mind so tuned up becomes the right instrument to serve faithfully the seeker of

the Self. Unethical values and immoral intentions choke the great Melody of Life

and reduce it to a discordant, purposeless noise, shattering peace and

contentment within one's own and in another's bosom.

 

 

to be continued....

 

 

 

 

Hare Krishna!!!

 

--- End forwarded message ---

[Guest guest]

Namaste Satsanghis:

 

Let me take this opportunity to add some additional observations on these two

verses. These are the people we all come across in our daily life – with full of

ego and no respect for ethical rules. These people demand services from others

without any gratitude and without paying respects to those superior to them.

When they organize parties or programs, the purpose is to " impress others " and

use them for their selfish goals. Whenever we read the verses, it will be more

beneficial if we can relate the reference with the real world. By doing so, it

will help us to adopt good practices in our life and also help us to avoid

arrogance and avoid taking advantage of others.

 

Verse 17:

 

`Atmasambhavitah' are those who are in their own estimation superior to all in

every respect, honorable, noble and worthy of adoration. Similarly `Stabdhah'

are those who are too arrogant to behave politely with anybody, not even with

those who are worthy of their adoration. The sacrifices they perform are merely

nominal and devoid of faith and are only intended to impress others, They are

thus Tamasika in character and that is why they lead to hell; for the Lord says

in Chapter 14 above that men of a Tamasika disposition fall into hell. A

detailed exposition of what is called `Tamasaika Yajna' is explained through

Chapter 17, verse 13:

Vidhiheenam asrishtaannam mantraheenam adakshinam;

Shraddhaavirahitam yajnam taamasam parichakshate.

They declare that sacrifice to be Tamasic which is contrary to the ordinances of

the scriptures, in which no food is distributed, which is devoid of Mantras and

gifts, and which is devoid of faith.

 

'Vidhihinam' is that which is not enjoined by the Sastras or in which there is

no respect for the scriptural injunction or which has been performed in an

arbitrary way setting aside the injunctions of the scriptures.

 

`Asrstannam' is that in which there in no feeding of Brahmanas and no gifts of

food.

 

`Mantrahinam' is that in which there is no sacred chant as enjoined by the

Scriptures, -in which either no sacred formulas have been employed at all or

they have not been employed in accordance with the scriptural injunctions, or in

which such formulas have been occasionally omitted for want of respect for them.

 

`Adaksinam' is that in which no sacrificial fees have been paid to the

officiating priests and no gifts made to other Brahmanas.

 

Lastly, `Sraddhavirahitam' is that which is actuated by self-conceit, arrogance,

delusion, hypocrisy, and egotism.

 

 

Verse 18

 

Full of egotism, these people possessing a demoniac disposition proclaim

themselves as the lord of all, the enjoyer of all luxuries, accomplished in

every way, mighty and happy. Nothing is impossible in their eyes. Resorting to

brute force, they antagonize others and continue to intimidate assault and

involve them into trouble. They consider none a match for their might. Full of

arrogance they boast of their big fortune and large family. They recognize none

as their equal. Given over to lust, they indulge in immoral acts of various

kinds. And obsessed by anger they threaten to harm whosoever acts in opposition

to their will or dares to offend them. Abandoning themselves in this way to

egotism etc, they indulge in dreams and idle talks of various kinds; and

whatever they do is prompted and backed by all these evil propensities. They

never take their stand on God, religion or sacred lore. This is what is meant by

the first half of this verse.

The use of the conjunctive particle `Ca' is intended to cover many more evils

besides those explicitly mentioned in the verse, viz., hypocrisy, greed,

infatuation and so on.

 

`Asuya' consists in discovering and condemning the faults of others, repudiating

their virtues and painting them as a vice. Men possessing a demoniac disposition

are habituated to this. To say nothing of others, they cavil even at God and

holy men. This is what is sought to be conveyed by adding the prefix `Abhi'

before `Asuyakah', which shows that none escapes their censorious eye.

 

In the latter half of this verse the Lord shows that men of a demoniac

disposition, who antagonize others and seek to oppress them in various ways.

 

Finally it is quite important for us to understand the nature of demonic

personalities so that we learn how to avoid ourselves becoming demonic. Our

great epics both Ramayana and Mahabharat provide us contrasting characters

possessing Divine and also Demonic qualities. Rama, Bharatha, Lakshmana,

Hanuman, Sita, Dharma, Bhisma, Arjuna, Vidhura etc provide us examples of

`divine qualities.' Also the demonic qualities are also portrayed by Ravana,

Dhryodhana, Sakuni, etc. to help us to remove those qualities. This chapter

beautifully spells out the importance of `divine qualities " and help us their

importance.

 

With my warm regards,

 

Ram Chandran

 

advaitin , " Radhe " <shaantih wrote:

 

> Aatmasambhaavitaah stabdhaa dhanamaanamadaanvitaah;

> Yajante naamayajnaiste dambhenaavidhipoorvakam.

 

> 17. Self-conceited, stubborn, filled with the intoxication and pride of

wealth, they perform sacrifices in name, through ostentation, contrary to

scriptural ordinances.

>

>

> Ahankaaram balam darpam kaamam krodham cha samshritaah;

> Maamaatmaparadeheshu pradwishanto'bhyasooyakaah.

 

> 18. Given over to egoism, power, haughtiness, lust and anger, these malicious

people hate Me in their own bodies and those of others.

>