Bhagavatgita a detailed study-chapter 6-yoga of meditation

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35.asamSayam mahaabaahoo manam dhurnigraham chalam

 

abhyaasena thu kountheya vairaagyeNa cha grhyathe

 

 

Oh Great armed one, of course the mind is difficult to grasp and fickle. But it can be empowered by practice and detachment.

 

36. asamyathaathmanaa yogo dhushpraapa ithi me mathiH

 

vaSyaathmanaa thu yathathaa Sakyo avaapthum

upaayathaH

 

Yoga is not possible for one who has no self control. But by the one who has controlled himself and tries, it is possible.

 

Do not despair, says Krishna, in the oft -quoted and one of the most important slokas of the Gita. Of course the mind is fickle and uncontrollable. But it can be controlled by abhyasa and vairagya. Dispassion, vairagya comes from renouncing the desires of the world as mentioned in an earlier sloka 'sankalpaprabhavaan kaamaan—` and the abhyasa consists in withdrawing the mind slowly and gradually on each and every occasion when it plays truant, as made out in the earlier sloka 'yatho yatho nischarathi--.'

 

In the beginning of the 6th chapter of the Gita it is said 'aarurukshormuneryogam karma kaaranam uchyathe.' In the beginning, to renounce the desires, karmayoga is practised. To do action without attachment to the fruit results in the removal of desire. When the agency is given up and all actions are done as the work of the Lord, one feels that he is the instrument in His hands.

 

In the modern times it is fitting to give the analogy of a computer to explain karmayoga. The computer does the work it is programmed for though very efficiently, more or less like a sentient being, yet it is only an instrument. Similarly we are programmed according to our karma and if we do our work efficiently without attachment to the fruit like the computer, which has no desire of its own, we will be the instrument of God through which His grace flows.

 

When the desires are removed one gets detachment, vairagya and the mind is no more agitated and become the slave of the yogi . But till one achieves this, constant practice, abhyaasa is essential. The phrase 'vairagyena cha,' is significant because no amount of practice will be fruitful without detachment. Only because of the absence of vairagya the mind is dhurnigraha and chala. Therefore Yoga is not possible without controlling the mind but can be achieved easily by one who ceaselessly tries with his mind under control.

 

Vairgya and abhyasa are like the two hands of the tongs of self control. One gets strengthens with the other.

 

Abhyasa means continuous application of mind on the Self by the method described earlier in this chapter. One way of doing it is to relate whatever one experiences, with the Divine as in the song, `kaakaicchiraginilE nandhalala,' where the poet Subrmanyabharathi associates everything he sees with the Lord. the black colour of the crow, the green trees etc. This attitude has been described beautifully by the azvars in their compositions on the nayaka- nayajki bhava of devotion.

 

This requires incessant contemplation of the divine by sravana, hearing about the divine manifestations and manana, ruminating on what is heard and nidhidhyaasana, deep contemplation and assimilating the divine thoughts.

 

The association with the saintly souls helps. The mind will be peaceful in the company of the good and spiritually inclined. It is difficult to control the mind in the company of evil. To get rid of raga and dvesha one must live in the atmosphere of the good vibrations.

 

Nowadays there is a sad tendency of people to involve themselves too much with the emotions and violence of the make- belief world, I mean the TV serials. If one watches the episodes displaying violent and negative emotions all day long the mind will accumulate more rubbish than it already has. The samsara is duhkha as it is, but why should you create an illusory samasara to add to the burden of our sorrow!

 

Vairagya detachment can be gained by the knowledge that all the pleasures and possessions of this world are temporary and end in grief. Man knows this and sees it happening all around Still it is the desire which prevents him from seeing the truth. Recently we saw that the millionaires were virtually on the streets due to the earthquake in Gujarath. This is what Sankara means by saying `harathi nimeshaath kaalaH sarvam,' the time carries away everything in a moment including our life. Yodhishtira was asked by the yaksha what was the most wonderful thing in the world and he said that men see people dying everyday but still he thinks not about his own death. This is greatest wonder.

 

Patanjali in his yoga suthra defines vairagya thus:

 

Dhrshtaanusravika vishayavithrshNasya vaSeekaara samjnaa vairagyam

..

Giving up all the desires of things of this world and the next is vairagya. Desire of the next world is not the desire of moksha but the desire for attaining heaven etc., which also belong to the world of their own. Hence desire-motivated karma, kaamya karma, like performance of yajna, vrata and other austerities for the sake of enjoyment in the next life or in the life after death is also to be avoided. Gita says later that one who attains other worlds due to his merit gained in this world also returns here only after the merit is exhausted. `ksheeNe puNye marthyalokam viSanhi.'

 

With this knowledge gained through studies of scriptures and of the lives of the holy men, one gets vairagya. Then he gets the supreme vairagya knowing that everything is Brahman and to attain that stage is the ultimate joy. Patanjali terms it as thathparam purushakhyaatheH guna vaithrshnyam. Knowledge and experience of Brahman can be gained by transcending the gunas of prakrthi, as detailed by Krishna in the earlier chapters.

 

Thus if abhyasa is the current of the river that takes the mind towards Brahman, vairagya is the dam that prevents the mind from running around towards the worldly desires.

 

In sloka 36, we find the declaration that by one who has controlled the mind and tries, yoga becomes attainable. vaSyaathmanaa thu yathathaa. There may be a doubt as to why the word yathathaa is used here. Vasyaathmaanaa refers to the one who has controlled his mind. But that is not the end. When the mind is completely in his power and ready to do his bidding, the yogi should make repeated efforts to unite the mind with the divine. This is possible only when he employs his mind all the time in contemplation of the Divine. If we want to meditate on the Lord for half an hour everyday, we should engage our mind in the thought of Him for the rest of 23 and a half hours. If we allow the mind to run around all through the day it will not come to rest when we sit on meditation. Like a dog which seems to be well controlled as long as it is on the leash but runs away to the garbage heap as soon as it is let off the mind can be treacherous and must always be kept on the leash of vairagya.