Sunday, September 28, 2014

Gita summaries - chp 18

The eighteenth chapter is the last chapter of the Bhagavad Gita and it gives a summary of the entire teaching. Krishna sums up the whole Gita and this chapter does not contain any new ideas but only represents what has been taught earlier.
            I will classify this chapter into four parts. In the first part Krishna talks about three types of sadhanas, sadhana triy vidyam. As we saw in the previous chapter like satvic yagna, dana, or tapa we should only cultivate satvic traits and immediately drop tamasic qualities and rajasic qualities must be gradually given up. Next Krishna summarizes karma yoga which HE has talked throughout the Gita as a preparation for jnana yoga. Then HE summarizes jnana yoga also as a direct mean of liberation. And finally Krishna summarizes the entire Gita as upasamharah or conclusion.
            Sadhana triy vidyam: Here HE takes up seven topics and in each Krishna talks about the three varieties. They are sanyasah, jnanam, karma, kartha, budhi, drithihi or willpower, and finally sukam or pleasure where Krishna analyzes as per the three gunas, satvik, rajasic, or tamo. So we have three types of renunciation, knowledge, action, doer, intelligence, willpower and pleasure. Our aim is that in all of them we have to take the satvik type only. It is not enough we have willpower but we should have satvik willpower; it is not enough we have pleasure we should have satvik pleasure. Krishna defines each one of them which I briefly run through them.
            Taking sanyasa, is doing action while renouncing anxieties of the future. Performance of duties and renouncing anxieties regarding future is satvika sanyasa. Rajasic sanyasa is renouncing of duties even after knowing the importance of the duties. He renounces duties so as to escape physical struggles and go easy on efforts. This deliberate renunciation of duties is rajasa sanyasa. Tamasic sanyasa is renunciation of duties out of ignorance. He does not realize how performing duties contribute to inner growth. Of these three, one should perform the duty and renounce the anxiety.
            Then three types of jnanam. Satvik jnanam athma ekatvam jnanam. That there is one athma which is different from the body and which inheres all the bodies. Just as one thread behind the different beads of the mala, in and through the mala invisibly there is a thread that keeps all the beads together. Beads are many but sutram is ekam. This understanding is satvika jnanam. Rajasic jnanam is athma bhutvatam jnanam. These people know that athma is different from the body (to that extent they are wise) but their problem is “each one has a different athma”. Like the Sankhya or Naiyayika philosophers. Tamasa jnanam is taking the body as athma and not accepting anything other than the body as athma. Deha athmagya jnanam. Of these three we have develop athma ekatvam.
            Then Krishna talks about satvika, rajasic and tamasic karmas. That karma which is motivated by dharma, those actions which is good to the entire world and society and in which one’s personal raga-dvesha is kept low, loka samastha sukino bhavatu. When I working for the welfare of everybody, I will also be the beneficiary of that action. There dharma pradhana karma and raga-dvesha apradhana karma is satvikam. Raga-devesha pradhana karma is rajasic or prakruthi karma and driven by one’s selfish motives. Tamasic karma are those karma directed to harm the society; those deliberate dvesha pradhana karma is tamasic. So dharma pradhana is satvik, raga pradhana is rajasic and dvesha pradhana is tamasic.
            Then three types of kartha, the agent or the doer. Whoever performs satvika karma that person is a satvika kartha. Similarly whoever does rajasic karma is a rajasic kartha; tamasic karma is tamasic kartha. But Krishna gives a different definition in verses 26, 27 and 28 but we can take this simple definition for now.
            Then the next quality is budhi or intelligence. Satvik intelligence is that which knows everything comprehensively. That which has complete knowledge is satvik intelligence. At the lower level as to know what is dharma and what is adharma. Dharma-adharma vivekah in the empirical field and at the metaphysical level the knowledge regarding truth and untruth. Satya anrutha vivekh. Rajasic intelligence is something that knows everything but incomplete; jack of all trades and master of none. Everything incomplete or doubtful. You ask them,” When does a train leave?” He says. “7 pm” and when you are about to start he’ll add,” I think so.” Then I cannot rely on that information and this is as good as ignorance. Doubtful knowledge is rajasic knowledge and it is as good as ignorance. Nishchya jnanam is satvika budhi and samshaya budhi is rajasic. Tamasa budhi is that which has got all the knowledge in the opposite direction. Not doubtful and he is very definite about it, and what he definitely knows is wrong knowledge. Suppose there is a rope and the light is not clear. One person this is rope and rope alone (satvika budhi), another person says,” It may be a rope or it may be a snake” and this samshaya jnanam or samshaya budhi (rajasic budhi) and the tamasic budhi is certain that it is a snake. And he will not listen to anyone and this is called vipariya budhi. In the first chapter Arjuna said that fighting this war is adharma saying that by killing these criminals we will be committing paapam. This is maha tamas. The only good thing is Arjuna realized that he had some problem within and sought Krishna’s help.
            Next is three types of willpower or dhritih. Satvik willpower is continuing with one’s satvik pursuits despite whatever obstacles in the way. Rajasic willpower is that willpower in which a person continues with material pursuits whatever be the obstacle. I came to Chennai with just a counterfeit rupee note and now I have built a multi-crore empire. This also requires willpower and hard work. This is rajasic willpower. And tamasic willpower is one which pursues neither of them! Neither spiritual pursuit nor material pursuit; I will just eat and sleep. This animalistic, purposeless, lazy life is tamasic willpower. He does not achieve anything either spiritually or materially.
            Finally Krishna deals with three types of sukham. Any ananda born out of spiritual growth and without depending upon external factors – money, status, people, possessions - is satvika sukham. Without external factors but discovering ananda within oneself is satvika sukham. All the pleasures born out of external conditions is rajasic sukham. I am happy because I have wealth. I am happy because my children listen to me now! I am happy because I am the Director. This is a pleasure but which can become a potential sorrow. This is conditional pleasure and when the conditions go away I feel pain to the extent it gave me pleasure. Tamasic pleasure is born out of sleep. There is neither spiritual pursuit nor material pursuit because they both require dynamism. One requires internal dynamism, another require physical dynamism. Like the buffaloes enjoying slush!
            This is Krishna vasanas of dividing everything into three from the last chapter! So whatever subject came to his mind he divided them as per the three gunas. Now we will come to the second part which is the summary of Karma yoga. Krishna defines karma yoga as proper actions with proper attitude which we have seen in the third chapter. Proper actions are those professions which contribute to the wellbeing of the society. We sadly look upon a profession as something that gives me food. So any profession where you contribute to the society and incidentally eat also is proper action. Primary is welfare and incidental is eating! So choosing a profession that serves society is proper action. What are the criteria? The best is choosing a profession best suited for my swabhava. First I love what I do, there is commitment and satisfaction already built in. I don’t expect any special benefits because the very performance of an action is rewarding. Then the salary itself becomes a bonus as I enjoy doing my job. Then the madhyama, someone may say,” I don’t know my swabhava” then go by heredity. In most cases swabhava itself is hereditary as we absorb those from the womb itself. Like a musician’s child will imbibe music even when the baby is in the womb. It listens to music from early age as the parents practice. The first is guna based while this is jati or birth based. The third norm which is the worst way of choosing one’s profession is income based. You choose a profession which involves less work and pays more money. Gita prefers the first two norms and never the last. O Arjuna you are kshthriya and dynamic by nature. Even if you go to Rishikesh and become a sanyasi you cannot but act. You will form a sanyasa welfare association because of your dynamic nature. svabhāva-jena kaunteya nibaddhaḥ svena karmaṇā kartuḿ necchasi yan mohāt kariṣyasy avaśo 'pi tat. Arjuna never did tapas when he was in forest but he was waiting for the Mahabharata war and when you have come to the battle you say will go to the forest! From this itself it is clear that you are confused. So accept your dynamic nature, be active and do good to the society and go by dharma. So whether it is brahmana karma which is learning and propagation or kshthriya karma of administration or vaishya of doing business or shudra karma of serving the other three. Any karma according to your swadharma or according to your jati; you choose. Having chosen, develop a proper attitude. I must learn to enjoy my profession. If I am brahmana I should not say,” Chanting rudram daily I am getting bored.” The major cause of stress is dissatisfaction with one’s profession. Stress is due to conflict between my personality and what I do; I have to sit and perform those actions for eight hours a day. So if one is at it for 50 years till retirement I get stressed and there is a lot of strain and it takes a toll on my health. When you do what you love you’ll be physically healthy too. So Arjuna, for you ksthriya karma is suitable. And if you are involved in dharma yudha you must fight even your loved ones. Emotional attachment should not cloud your thinking. Therefore fight this war and dedicate all your actions as an offering to the Lord. Convert your duties itself as a form of worship. Don’t think worship can be done only in the puja room and with flowers and temple. Worship can be done anytime and anyplace including a battlefield. Even violent actions can become an offering of flowers. What you offer is not worship but how you offer becomes a worship or not. Even regular worship is not worship if the attitude is not there. So a proper attitude is very important when doing any action. Therefore convert this war into worship. So if you are priest continue to be a priest, if you are a businessman be a businessman, and if you are a warrior act as a warrior. What is important is having a proper attitude. Don’t say,” I am only a housewife” and saying thus would be to belittle it or show lack of respect. Being housewife itself can be a Ishwara aradhana. So proper action + proper attitude is karma yoga and it will lead to purity of mind.
                  Then Krishna gives a summary of jnana yoga. It consists of two stages. First separating consciousness from the body.  Not physical separation which is impossible but intellectually, cognitively in terms of understanding that consciousness is different. I gave the five steps of consciousness.
a)      Consciousness is not a part, product or property of the body.
b)       Consciousness is an independent entity separate from the body, and which pervades the body and enlivens it
c)       Consciousness, which is independent of the body, is not limited by the boundaries of the body. It is not limited by the size of the body; colour or gender etc but it is all pervading. Therefore only formless
d)      Consciousness, which is independent and boundless entity and different from the body, continues to exist even after the disintegration of the body. It survives the death of the body.
e)       The consciousness which survives the death of the body cannot interact and transact with the world. Not because consciousness is absent but it does not have the medium to transact. The body is the medium. Like when the bulb is fused it is not that electricity is absent but the medium through which electricity will manifest in the form of light is gone.
To understand this I gave the example of “light on the hand”.  Then lesson number two which is the most important is having separated consciousness from the body I have to train myself to identity with the consciousness rather than with the body. This is the toughest step.  Instead of saying I am the body with a consciousness I must learn to say that I am consciousness operating through an incidental body. Once body goes away the transacting medium goes away, transactions end. The end of transactions is not the end of me. Suppose if you ask: how will I be when the body is gone? Bhagawan has given that experience of temporary maranam to us. Temporary death that HE gives us is sleep sometimes even in the middle of class also….(laughs). In sleep I continue to exist even though all the mediums of transactions are resting. The non-transactor, I ,continue to exist even in sleep. From this it is very clear that body is only an incidental medium of transaction which comes and goes like death but I am na jāyate mriyate kadācin nāyaḿ bhūtvā bhavitā na bhūyaḥ ajo nityaḥ śāśvato 'yaḿ purāṇo na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre. Krishna says,” First learn to identify with athma”. Then you will learn to look upon your own body objectively. Then you learn to accept the laws that govern the body. The three laws are desha, kala and prarabda. The body is affected by space, it is determined by place. If you are in tropical climate your body will be dark. And in a colder climate your complexion is fair. Then body is determined by time. Wrinkles, grey hair etc. It is also governed by past karma. That is why some 40 year old look very old while another 40 year old may look very young. Place remaining the same, age remaining the same, one is healthy and another is sick. Body is influenced by these three factors and even a jnani cannot stop this. But the advantage of a jnani is I am objective with respect to my body. I learn to accept the universal laws without protest, without resistance.
            Consciousness has many features that we saw in the second chapter. In this chapter Krishna takes one particular feature. tatraivaḿ sati kartāram ātmānaḿ kevalaḿ tu yaḥ paśyaty akṛta-buddhitvān na sa paśyati durmatiḥ. yasya nāhańkṛto bhāvo buddhir yasya na lipyate hatvāpi sa imān lokān na hanti na nibadhyate. This athma, I am, this consciousness is akartha and abogtha. This athma is ever free from all punyams and paapams. While the body is never free from punya and paapa. So if you identify yourself with the body you’ll be in trouble. You cannot escape from punya-paapa onslaught. But if you own up your athma swarupam then you transcend both punya and paapa and that is called mokshah. So owning up the akartha and abogtha athma will give liberation which is the essence of jnana yoga. Krishna towards the end of 18th chapter also emphasis meditation as a part of jnana yoga. Meditation involves shravanam, mananam, and nidhidhyasanam and meditation of the fact that I am akartha and abogtha athma different from the body. Thus Krishna summarizes karma yoga as purification of mind and HE summarizes jnana yoga as the means of liberation. And Bhakti yoga is a common name for both karma yoga and jnana yoga; there is bhakti in every sadhana as without bhakti no sadhana is complete.
            Krishna concludes with this well-known verse sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaḿ śaraṇaḿ vraja ahaḿ tvāḿ sarva-pāpebhyo mokṣayiṣyāmi śucaḥ. This verse is not just the essence of this chapter but also the essence of the entire Gita. But particularly this verse has very divergent interpretation. But I will take up Shankaracharya’s interpretation. Sarva-dharman parityajya, here dharman refers to karma yoga way of life means for chitta-shuddi. Parityajya means you have to give up. Once the mind is sufficiently purified a day should come when you transcend karma yoga. Schools are important and class is important but you cannot spend the entire life in that classroom. You have to enter college and after acquiring knowledge you have to leave the place. Similarly after attaining mental purity you must renounce karma so that you have time for jnana yoga. When karma yoga is totally dropped it is sanyasa yoga or one can be a grishta where karma yoga is sufficiently reduced. Mam ekam saranam vraja means jnana yoga anusttanam. The final stage of saranagati is surrendering the ego itself. Shankara says that the ego is never physically surrendered, it is never surrendered through a process of action. Ego is born out of ignorance. There is no such thing as ego just as there is no such thing as a wave. Wave is just a name and form of water. Water always existed in the past, in the present and in the future. Similarly I don’t exist except in the form of Ishwar who ever exists. Since ego is born out of confusion it has to go away only by knowledge. So the first line of the verse means: transcend karma yoga and practice jnana yoga. Then what happens I will release you from all paapam aham tvam sarva-papehbyo. So don’t grieve. Vedas say that jnana yoga is the only means of liberation. You can get liberation without knowledge only in one condition. You have to roll the sky like a carpet and offer it to Lord! Which means knowledge is the only means of liberation. So the essence of Bhagavad Gita in two sentences: follow karma yoga and purify the mind. Follow jnana yoga and be free.
            Now Krishna winds up the teaching giving a few information. This Gita knowledge should be given to one who fulfills the four conditions. It should not be freely given. It needs a entrance exam. idaḿ te nātapaskāya nābhaktāya kadācana na cāśuśrūṣave vācyaḿ na ca māḿ yo 'bhyasūyati. The first condition is tapa, second is bhakti, third is shushruya and finally anasuya. One who is given to disciplines in life, moderation and not given to excesses is tapa. One who is devoted to the Lord, one who considers God as a destination is bhakti. And one who wants to learn the Gita shushruya; intense desire for shravanam is shushrutha. Finally the most important is anasuya, not finding fault in Gita teaching. You don’t need a proofreader’s mentality ready to spot errors. If you don’t understand any part of Gita don’t criticize it rather criticize your understanding. Again go to a guru until you arrive at the meaning; never question the validity of the teaching but question your understanding whenever you are not able to accept it. This open mindedness is anasuya.
            Finally the phalla shruthi. Krishna says that whoever teaches and propagates the Gita is very dear to me. And all the students are dear also and they will get either of these two benefits. If a person listens Gita without understanding the benefit is swarga. And if a person listens and understands the benefits is moksha. So swarga is minimum.O Arjuna, which category do you come? naṣṭo mohaḥ smṛtir labdhā tvat-prasādān mayācyuta sthito 'smi gata-sandehaḥ kariṣye vacanaḿ tava. I belong to superior quality Krishna and I did understand and mama moha nestta. I have now understood what is my duty. So without any murmur or grumbling I will do my duty. And in the last verse it is said, yatra yogeśvaraḥ kṛṣṇo yatra pārtho dhanur-dharaḥ tatra śrīr vijayo bhūtir dhruvā nītir matir mama. Wherever Krishna the Gitacharya is there and wherever Arjuna is there with his bow. Here dhanuh refers to Arjuna’s swadharma as at the end of first chapter he had dropped his bow. By keeping the bow it means he is doing his swadharma. So wherever I remember the Gita teaching and when I do my swadharma then there will be moksha and prosperity. With this the entire Gita teaching is over. 

6 comments:

  1. Sathyanarayanan,

    Thank you very much for your transcriptions! I have been listening Swami Paramarthananda's Gita lessons but it was sometimes difficult to understand when he speaks Sanskrit. Then I found your site! Since then it got much easier to listen to his talks. You must have spent a lot of time to complete the whole Gita lessons. I really appreciate your hard work. This is so valuable.
    Thank you again!

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  2. Thanks a lot! Secondary blessing as transcriptsconverted from primary blessing as shabda to help eyes and ears in shravanan. Nishkam seva for others which also benefits self.

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  4. Thanks a lot! Secondary blessing for the eyes in addition to primary blessings converted from 'shabda'/sound for the ears to assist in listening/shravanam. Nishkam seva for others also benefits self as mentioned in the chapter.

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  5. Thanks a lot! Secondary blessing for the eyes in addition to primary blessings converted from 'shabda'/sound for the ears to assist in listening/shravanam. Nishkam seva for others also benefits self as mentioned in the chapter.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Thanks a lot! Secondary blessing for the eyes in addition to primary blessings converted from 'shabda'/sound for the ears to assist in listening/shravanam. Nishkam seva for others also benefits self as mentioned in the chapter.

    ReplyDelete