Gita Dhyana Slokas -1

In the last class I mentioned there are some prayer verses known as Gita Dhyana slokas which are generally studied before we enter into the actual Gita study. The purpose of studying the prayer verses is to invoke the grace of the Lord so that we can successfully complete the study of the Bhagavad Gita. To ward off the obstacles that may come. You know Bhagavad Gita is part of Mahabharatam but these prayer verses are not from Mahabharatam. The prayer verses were written by a great acharya by name Madhusudana Saraswati before he wrote his commentary on the Bhagavad Gita. The name of his commentary is called Gudhartha Dipika, a lamp which illumines the hidden and deeper meanings of the Bhagavad Gita. It is a very famous commentary on the Gita. Before starting the actual Gita we study of the nine verses of Dhyana Sloka written by this acharya.

In these verses the Acharya offers Namaskarams to Mahabharatam (for it is the greatest book), Bhagavad Gita (looking upon Gita as mother Saraswati the embodiment of wisdom), Vyasacharya (the author of Mahabharatam and therefore the author of Gita also), and Krishna (who gives the Gita teaching to Arjuna). The teaching belongs to Krishna while Vyasa is just a reporter as it were. Thus we have four namaskaras:

a)      Mahabharatam namaskara

b)      Gita namaskara

c)      Vyasacharya namaskara

d)     Krishna namaskara.

We will study these prayer verses and we will start each Gita class with these verses as we study the Gita in depth.  Once you know the meaning of the Dhyana slokas you will enjoy it when we chant later.

I will rearrange the order of the verses while seeing the meaning, so that we can go from one Namaskara to another Namaskara. The first namaskaram is Mahabharata which comes in the seventh verse.

Mahabharatam namaskara

Bhārata Pankajam Naha Shreyase Bhūyād. Mahabharata is a work composed by Vyasacharya which comes under the scriptural literature known as Itihasa. Itihasa is a scriptural literature which is partially based on history. The actual events are taken and modified here and there and some masala added. The main theme is based on history, but ideas are added to make it attractive. Itihasa is part history and part fiction. The very word itihasa means “thus it happened” – “Asa” means “happened” and “iti hasa” means “really in this manner”. Mahabharata stories are supposed to be real events with slight modifications presented. Since Mahabharata deals with Bharatavamsha, the dynasty of Bharata, it is called Bharatam. It is called Mahabharatam for it is a voluminous literature, perhaps the biggest in the entire world, with 1 lakh verses. The verse says let the scripture be “Naha Shreyase” – let it be a source (Bhuyad) of Shreyas (wellbeing, prosperity, happiness, health, mangalam) for us (nah). May the study of Mahabharata enrich and transform my personality and help me grow physically, emotionally, intellectually and spiritually for us (nah). Not for Vyasah but nah, us who are students of Mahabharatam.

Parāsharya Vachas Sarojam

In this, Mahabharata is compared to a lotus. Just as a lotus is attractive flower due to its beauty (attractive to the eyes), its fragrance (attractive to the nose) and honey (attractive to the tongue).  Therefore Mahabharatam is compared to a pankajam, a lotus. Bharata Pankajam means Mahabharatam lotus. May it be a source of happiness to me. From this it is clear that the study of Mahabharata at home is good only. There is a general misconception that only Ramayana must be studied at home and not Mahabharata for it deals with family quarrels. And if you read it at home even in our homes there will be family quarrels. As though it is not there already!..(laughs). This is only a blind belief and no proof at all. Therefore Mahabharatam study and Gita study is only an auspicious thing for me and all. Let it bring happiness to all. The rest of the words are adjectives to Bharata Pankajam. “Parāsharya Vachas Sarojam”, since a lotus is born in a pond and if Mahabharatam is compared to a lotus then the pond is it born from? Here Madhusudhana Saraswati says Parāsharya (Vyasacharya or Parasharaha’s son) Vachaha (means words or speech). The speech of son of Parasharya. Therefore from the mouth of Vysacharya has come the beautiful lotus of Mahabharatam.  Hence Vysa’s mouth is compared to a Saraha (pond).

Amalam Gītārtha Gandhotkatam

Amalam - It is a flower without any impurity. It is a pure thing. Interestingly one of the words for a lotus is Pankajam - Panka meaning slush or muddied water. Just as a lotus is born despite being born in muddied water similarly the Mahabharatam is also very very pure. Amalam means without any dosha; it is shudham. It is pure with respect to the teaching and it is pure with respect to the language also. There are neither grammatical defects nor content defects. Therefore Mahabharatam is shuddam. This Mahabharatam lotus is extremely attractive Gītārtha Gandhotkata. Utkatam means prominent, popular, famous, well-known, attractive, and draws the attention of people. Hence the Mahabharatam lotus is attractive for its powerful fragrance that anybody around and be attracted. Then the next question is what is the fragrance of Mahabharatam? The author says Gītā Arthaha – the teaching of the Bhagavad Gita is the fragrance. If Mahabharata is a lotus then Bhagavad Gita is the fragrance coming out of it. In fact Mahabharatam is attractive only because of the Gita. The popularity of Mahabharata is because it has Bhagavad Gita in it. Therefore gandhotkam; its taste is popular.

Nānākhyānakakesaram Hari Katha Sambodhanā Bodhitam

Any flower has thread like filaments. The Mahabharatam is like a lotus then what are its filaments? “Nānā Akhyānakam” – Akhyānakam meaning stories. Even though Mahabharatam is one book it has hundreds of small stories. In fact many people have written stories from smaller stories including Kalidasa on Shakuntala that are found in the Mahabharatam. So these stories are compared to filaments hanging from the lotus flower. Kesaram means filaments. These small stories like Satyaharichandra and others add to its glory. Lotuses are of two types – lotus bud and another is fully bloomed ones. Of the two the fully blossomed lotus is more beautiful. That is why they buy the bud and with the hand they separate the petals! Similarly the Mahabharata lotus, is a fully blossomed lotus, expanded (Abodhitam or blossomed) through narration (Sambodhana) of stories of Lord Krishna (Hari Kathā). Even though Mahabharatam deals with bharata vamsham it is filled with stories and exploits of Lord Krishna. Hari katha sambodhana means stories of Krishna. Through such stories it has expanded to hundred thousand verses.

Loke Sajjana Shatpadair Ahar Ahaha Pepīyamānam Mudā

Wherever flowers are there, the honey bees will be attracted to them. Similarly the Mahabharata contains deep wisdom on all subjects under the sun – religion, philosophy, psychology, politics, sociology, human relationship etc. Any Science you can think of, Vyasacharya has dealt with them very brilliantly. All these sciences are discussed in the Mahabharatam. It is said that what is not there in bharatam it cannot be found anywhere. And whatever is there anywhere all those are discussed in Mahabharatam. It is no work of superstition but a live and valid treasure house of wisdom dealing with every science. Therefore all the students, whoever wants to learn, are like honey bees (Shatpada – six legged ones). Sajjana refers to noble people who have an open mind when approaching the scriptures. Those who have reverence for Mahabharatam, such people are called sajjanah. These noble people are like honey bees; they know it is not mere stories for children. Behind every story there are lessons on psychology, lessons on family problems, lessons on human relationships, lessons on the ultimate truth of creation. Superficially it is a story but in and through it is full of various sciences. And Ahar Ahaha Pepīyamānam, they drink the honey of wisdom by enquiring into, by the analysis of Mahabharatam in general and Bhagavad Gita in particular. Pepiyamanam means repeatedly suck its wisdom. And when do they do that? Loke means people and they study the Bharatam day in and day out (Ahar Ahaha). First time they study they get one meaning, another time they study another meaning and various facets of life are brought out. Many psychologists study it lifelong; like the study of Karna’s life can be a lifelong study. Study of Duryodhana, the study of Draupadi, study of Kunti, study of Dharmaputra…any character you analyze you get valuable lessons. Muda means happily; they drink the nectar of Bharatam happily.

Kali Mala Pradhvamsi

This Mahabharata is a literature which can destroy the problems prevalent in the materialistic universe. Kaliyuga is known for predominant materialism, competition, compromise. The very word Kali means fight and quarrel. Even in sports there will be cheating, betting! When there is materialism and valueless-ness are rampant even our minds will be coloured by them. If we should not be affected by the evils of Kali yuga Mahabharatam is the medicine for kali malam. Even within families they are quarrel and there is no family stability at all. The psychological problems of the children will become the sociological problems of the next generation. When families break down the children will suffer from having single parent or no parent. Each parent may be busy with some others! If such things happen in kali yuga and if you want to avoid such problems there is only one medicine, the Mahabharatam medicine. Therefore Kali (Yuga)’s impurity (mala) is removed by the destroyer (Pradhvamsi). Therefore Mahabharatam is the remover of malam belonging to kali yuga which is the name of the present materialistic age. May that Mahabahratam strengthen me, strengthen my family and strengthen our society. This is bharata namaskara. Now we will go to Gita Namaskara.

Gita Namaskara

Verse number one, I will give you the meaning. Here the author is addressing Bhagavad Gita as the mother. Hey Amba, you are Saraswati Devi, the mother, who will nourish my internal personality. The local mother, by feeding me the right material food at the right stage, will nourish my material personality. Similarly, the Bhagavad Gita mother, by feeding me with the food of wisdom, will nourish my inner personality. The mother knows what type of food is to be given when; liquid food in the beginning, semi-solid food when the baby is old and solid food on growing up. Right food at the right time; the child does not know but the mother knows and out of compassion feeds the child appropriately. Similarly the Bhagavad Gita mother feeds me with wisdom of Karma Yoga in the beginning stages, wisdom of Upasana Yoga in the later stages, and also wisdom of Jnana Yoga, really solid food, when I am substantially grown up. Therefore wonderful, compassionate, loving, nourishing and kind mother you are, O Gita. Tvām Anusandadhāmi: I meditate upon you with reverence. And what is this Bhagavad Gita? We get the description. Pārthāya Pratibodhitām: A teaching which has been taught (Pratibodhitām) to Arjuna (Pārthaha). Not by in ordinary person but by Lord (Bhagavatā) Nārāyanā (Nārāyanena) himself (Svayam). The omniscient God and so there will be no defect in this teaching. That is why this is a time-tested wisdom; it has blessed the society from beginningless time and it blesses the society even now. We can ourselves see whether the Gita is benefiting us or not. It is given by sakshat Bhagawan himself. It is compiled by whom? Krishna did not write. The compilation or reporting (grathitham) is done by Vyasacharya (Vyāsena) who is supposed to be an Avatara of Vishnu. Vysaya-Vishnu rupayeh. Therefore his report would be correct. And what type of journalist is he? He is purana munina, the most experienced rishi who has given us 18 puranas like Bhagavatam puranam etc. And where has he given the Bhagavad Gita? This occurs in the middle of Mahabharata (Madhye Mahābhāratam) in Shānti Parva when Arjuna faces a crisis when all the resources he has does not help him. His knowledge, his courage, his strength, his popularity, his beauty, all those things do not help him. At that time Krishna gives him this teaching. So Vyasa complied the Bhagavad Gita in the middle of the Mahabharatam. Vysane Grathitham purana muninah Madhya mahabharatam. And what kind of Gita did he compile? Amrutha Varshinim; it showers the wisdom of of Advaitham, the non-dual infinite truth. How many infinites are possible? Only one. Therefore truth is advaitham which is amrutham, the nectar. The wisdom of advaitham that is satyam jnanam it showers. And how big is the Bhagavad Gita?  It has eighteen chapters (Ashtādashadhyāyinīm) and Bhavadveshinim, bhavah means samsara. It means dissatisfaction with oneself which alone makes a person go from one activity to the other. Either I am not satisfied physically; I am not satisfied with my complexion or colour of my hair or teeth arrangement or some issue or the other. Or emotional dissatisfaction like my children don’t love me. Or intellectual dissatisfaction like I want to know what is this life, why are we born and where are we going etc. All dissatisfactions put together is samsara. And what is moksha? Total satisfaction with myself as I am. This prunatvam is called moksha. And Bhagavad Gita is the destroyer of Samsara. Therefore bhavadveshinim is the enemy, destroyer of samsara. And such a Bhagavat Gita I meditate upon before I start the study. Then there is one more Gita Namaskara verse. Verse number defines what is the Bhagavad Gita?  Here Madhusudhana Saraswati says Gita is not the philosophy of Lord Krishna or even Vyasacharya. Gita is the teaching which is contained in the Vedas. Vedas are the original scriptures which have been existing in our culture from beginningless time. The end portion of the Vedas is called Upanishads which alone gives us the self-knowledge and Bhagavad Gita is the essence of the Upanishads. To convey this, the author gives us an analogy. Here he compares all the upanishads of all the four Vedas – sama, yajur, rig, and atharvana - to a cow. All (Sarvo) Upanishads (Upanishado) are like cows (Gāvo). We know Krishna is an expert shepherd and who knows how to milk cows. Similarly Krishna knows how to handle Upanishadic cows also. HE extracted the essence from the Upanishads. The expert milker (Dogdhā) of the Upanishadic essence, is Krishna the son (Nandanaha) of Gopala (Gopāla). And if the cow has to give milk, generally the calf is kept in front of the cow. Arjuna (Pārtho Vatsa) is like the calf and Krishna milked the Upanishadic cow. Out of this came the milk of wisdom. He says Gita amrutham dugdham. The teaching of Bhagavat Gita is the milk

 Vyasa Namaskara.

Verse number two. Hey Vyasa vishala buddhe, the student is addressing Vysacharya. The word “Vyasa” means one who has divided the scriptures into four. And one who has expanded the Vedic teaching through the 18 puranas. So Vyasa means the divider and the expander. Before doing this job what was his name? Vysacharya’s original name is Krishnah. Because both of them were dark in complexion. To differentiate between Vyasacharya and Lord Krishna, Vyasa was called Krishna Dvaipayanaha – the island born Krishna. How great Vyasa was? Vishala Buddhe, you are an acharya of great erudition. His knowledge is so vast and also in depth. Vyasa had both the width and depth of knowledge. One whose knowledge was very great. The one who had beautiful eyes (Netra) like the petals of a fully bloomed lotus (Phulla Aravindāyata Patra Netra). You (Tayā – through you) are so great because you have lighted (Prajvālito) the lamp (Dīpaha) of wisdom (Jnānamayaha) with the help of oil of Mahabharata (Bhārata Taila Pūrnam). You have kindled the wisdom through the oil of Mahabharatam. Through Mahabharatam story you have lighted the lamp of wisdom. Therefore I offer you a Namaskara because with that lamp I can remove the ignorance from my gloomy intellect. This is Vyasa namaskarah. These are four verses on Bharatam, Gita and Vyasa and we have five more verses on Krishna which we shall see in the next class. Hari Om.