Bhagavat gita adetailed study-chapter 9 -Brahmavidya the royal secret

May 16, 2009

The statement that they are not eternal needs an explanation, The pots are not eternal but the mud is , that is relatively speaking. In visishtadvaita also where it is said that everything is real, it is accepted that the forms are not eternal. Nothing is destroyed permanently as when the pot id destroyed it exists as potsherds and later as n mud. And even when all forms are destroyed they exist in unmanifest form in Brahman. In this sense all beings are not eternal. As the real self of all is the Lord all beings as such do not exist in Him as the body , mind and intellect do not exist in Athman which has no contact whatsoever with them. That is, when you see the mud or gold you do not see the pot or the ornament. Similarly when you see the Lord everywhere as the azvar says 'uNNum soru parugum neer thinnum vettrilaiyum ellaam kaNNan, When one sees the Lord other things do not exist , meaning they do not count. In other words they are not in Me means that everything is the Lord Himself and has no separate existence. , "sarojram18" <sarojram18 wrote:>> > 4. mayaa thatham idham sarvam jagath avyaktha moorthinaa> > mathsThaani sarva bhoothaani na chaaham theshu> > > avasThithaH> > The entire world is pervaded by Me, in my unmanifest form; All beings> dwell in Me but I do not dwell in them..> > idham sarvam denoted the entire world of sentient and insentient beings.> This is a reflection of the upaishaduc statement eeSaavaasyam idham> sarvam yath kincha jagathyaam jagath(Isa.up.1.1) whatever exists in this> world all that is pervaded by Brahman. yatho va imaani> bhoothaanjaayanthe yena jaathaani jeevanthi yasmin abhisamviSanthi thath> vijijnaasasva thath brahma (Thath.Up.) From which all these beings> emerge, by which they are sustained and into which they merge in the end> , know that to be Brahman. The Lord is like the outer circle of two> concentric circles in which the smaller is in the larger but not the> larger is in the smaller.> > 5. na cha mathsThaani bhoothaani paSya me yogam aisvaram> > bhoothabrth na cha bhoothasTho mamaaathmaa> > > bhoothabhaavanaH> > Neither do things exist in Me. Behold My sovereign yoga. It is My Self> bringing the beings into existence and sustain them yet does not dwell> in them.> > In the previous sloka Krishna said that all the beings are in Me but I> am not in them and now He says " neither are they in Me.'> > These two statements appear to be self-contradicting and Krishna> illustrates the idea contained in these two slokas by the next one:> > Yogam aisvaram means the power of the Lord in pervading all but not> connected with them in any way. He is bhoothabhrth the support of> everything but na cha bhoothasThaH , He is not in them.> > He is the sustainer in the sense that all exists because of His support> like the spokes of the wheel are supported by the axle. Yet He is not> different from the universe He supports not like a basket which> supports the fruits but like the soul to the body.> > Upanishad says `vaachaarambhaNam vikaaraH naamaDheyam> mrttthikethyeva sathyam `(Chandhogya) which means that when you see> a pot or a jar or a plate made of mud, the differences are due only to> name and form but the essential and basic material is the mud which> alone is real while others ,viz.name and form changes. Thus the only> reality in the universe of sentient and non-sentient beings is the Lord> without whom nothing can exist. In this sense He is the bhoothabhrth.> > Mamaaathmaa- The universe is His sarira, body of which He is> > the self being the antharyaamin, indweller. `Esha tha aathmaa> > antharyaamyamrthah' (Brhadhaaranyaka up.)> > > > `eko vasI sarva bhUtAntarArmA rUpam rUpam pratirUpo bahisca'> (Katopanishad)> > The One Lord manifesting Himself as the souls of all beings who have> > different external forms.> > > > bhoothabhaavanaH-> > > > He creates everything and gives them existence, bhoothaani> > bhaavayathi and saththayaa sthaapayathi. It also means He makes them> flourish. and grow, vikaasayathi,pushpyathi, vardhayathi vaa.> > > > He makes all things grow by providing what makes them sustained,> nourished and making them enjoy.> > > > tAni dhAraka poshaka bhogyapradAnena vardhayati iti bhUta-bhAvanah> > > > For example if plant has to grow it needs earth to sustain it, water to> nourish it and air and sunshine for it to enjoy. All this are provided> by the Lord and the whole nature is provided for the sake of man for him> to grow.> > > > 6. yaThaa aakaasasthiTho nithyam vaayuH sarvathrago> > > mahaan> > thaThaa sarvaaNi bhoothaani mathsThaani ithi upaDhaaraya> > Just as the vast air eternally subsists in space and moves everywhere> even so all beings exist in Me.> "They are in Me and I am not in them," and neither do things exist in> Me," have to be understood as in the case of wind which stays in the> akasa and moves in it yet the akasa is not in any way connected with the> wind. Another example can be given by the sky in which the clouds exist> and move, is not in any way connected with them. This is what is meant> by ."they are in Me but I am not in them." The sky or akasa remain the> same with or without the clouds or the wind. But the next statement> "neither do they exist in Me ," is not that easy to comprehend. This can> be illustrated by an example. When we say things are in something else> like the fruits in a basket, which supports them they are two different> things and have separate existence apart from each other. But Brahman ,> though the supporter of all is not the container like a basket and has> independent existence not connected with the beings created and> supported by Him. But the beings have no separate existence apart from> Brahman, as the fruits in the basket . Hence they are not really in> Brahman as they are non-etern>

May 28, 2009

26. pathram pushpam halam thoyam yo me bhakthyaa

prayacachathi

thadhaham bhakthyupahrtham aSnaami prayathaathmanaH

Whatever you give Me, a leaf, a flower, a fruit or even water, with devotion , I will take it with pleasure.

Bhishma says to Yudhishtira about the highest dharma of all, yadbhakthyaa pundareekasham sthavairarcheth narah esha dharmassanaathanah,' the worship of the Lotus eyed Lord is the age old dharma. This is aadhikyena abhimatham, considered the greatest because it can be done without depending on anything or anybody and without disturbing others, can be done by anyone without distinction of caste, creed or sex. The last point is stressed by Krishna later in the chapter.

It is said in the Mahabharatha that the Lord expects nothing more than poornakumbha, offering of a pot of water, , padhasevana, worshipping His feet and kusalaprasna, loving words.;.'anyath poorNodhapAm kumbhAth anyath pAdhAvvanejanAth anyath kuSalasampaSnAth na chECCHathi janArdhanah.

The Lord accepted the humble food in the house of Vidhura offered with bhakthi, bhakthyupahrthamm, and refused the grand feast offered by Duryodhana without love. Similarly He took by force and relished the flaked rice which Kuchela brought, but was ashamed to offer, and enjoyed the fruits given by Sabari with devotion.

This sloka shows that the path of devotion is the easiest.

Why and how the path of devotion is the easiest is denoted by the next sloka

27. yathkaroshi yadhaSnaasi yajjuhoshi dhdhdaasi yath

yatthapasyasi kountheya that kurushva madharpaNam

Whatever one does, eats, offer, give away and whatever austerity one practises he should do it all as an offering to God.

Once Krishna and Arjuna were going towards devaloka when Arjuna saw huge heaps of flowers on the way. Arjuna asked Krishna about it and Krishna replied that they were the flowers offered to him in worship by Bheema. Arjuna was surprised as he had never seen Bhima doing any pooja. Arjuna thought that the flowers offered by himself in worship must be a bigger heap as he used to do pooja everyday and asked Krishna where were the flowers he himself worshipped and Krishan pointed to a miserable small heap and said that those were the flowers Arjuna offered. When Arjuna was piqued Krishna said that Bheema used to offer what ever he saw to Krishna by way of worship but Arjuna offered only those he had at the time of his pooja. This illustrates the importance of offering everything one does to the Lord.

This seems easily said than done but there is a lot of sense in it. For instance when a servant is doing a job for his master whom he adores, he will do it in the best of his ablity but he does it with the attitude that the result and the agency of action belongs not to him but to his master. Thus he is not riddled with anxiety and hence will be able to do it well.

This actually combines karmayoga and bhakthiyoga as the former is easier to do with the spirit of bhakthi. The simplest method for spiritual evolution is to surrender to the Lord and do everything as His kainkarya, may it be for sustenance of the body, or maintaining a family or vaidika karma. This attitude will rid one of ego and desire. It is not at all difficult but to have that attitude one must first acquire devotion for which also we require His grace. So the first and foremost prayer should be to ask for unswerving devotion and rest will automatically fall in place.